Korean Job Discussion Forums

JAMZ · Joined: 18 May 2004 Location: Ori Station, Bundang

ok so i've got this mixed age beginner class... range from 7-12 years old (4 kids: 12-female, 10 male, 9-female, 7-male)... and im teaching them the alphabet right now... none of them know it...

as a result im having alot of difficulty though getting the class do do their work, pay attention, keeping their interest etc.... basically i've figured that the problem is because the older kid really hates being in a class with all the younger kids and the youngest guy learns at a lot slower pace than the rest of the class... i dont have a problem with the 9 and 10 year old kids... my fear is that my teaching pace/style is either too fast for the 7 year old or too boring and slow for the older kid...

so does anyone have any suggestions on good activities or teaching strategies to help remedy this?

john · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Teach them the Alphabet:

Do an ABC test with UPPERCASE and lowercase letters every class. If they dont know the Alphabet send them home with a test as homework. Once half the class knows the Alphabet only give the Alphabet test to the kids that dont know the Alphabet and play a game with the students that know the Alphabet.

Games:
Memory game- make UPPERCASE and lowercase ABC cards. Use 5 to 10 pairs. Have them say the case and the letter (i.e. "lowercase k").

Running game - Place ABC cards on a table across the room. Make two teams and say the letter ... "Ready set k" and they run over and the student that finds the "k" say the name of the letter "k". And if the student can say a word that starts with "k" give them two points or two tosses of the ball.

Organize the Alphabet game- Give the boys the UPPERCASE and the girls the lowercase Alphabet cards and have them race to put them in order. If the whole Alphabet is to hard just use 5 or 10 letters.

Bingo - Make 5x5 bingo cards and have the students write the letters in a random order in the boxes. I usually write the letter "a" and "b" in a random boxes so that the students can t copy each other exactly.

Whisper - Whisper the letter to one student then they tell the next student and so on.

I like to have them toss a ball at a can or box. I keep score and sometimes give the winning team a balloon.

Words and sentences:
Have them read/mimic simple sentences. "My name is_____." "I am 6 years old."

Make them write words and simple sentences too.

Read them stories.

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

Don't teach them the alphabet, it's not important.

whatthefunk · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Dont have a clue

Repeat, repeat, reapeat. Every day sing the alphabet song and then go through the phonics of each letter using a ABC wall chart or something. So I say 'ah-ah-apple' and then the kids repeat. Then we do a worksheet or something so that the kids can have practice writing the letters.
Have the older kids in the class be class leaders or something so maybe they could take turns pointing to the ABC chart or they could help the little kids with their writing. If this fails, drink soju and blame the kids inability to learn on your hagwon boss.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

margaret · Joined: 14 Oct 2003

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

Ajuma, are you Korean? You are as gullible as a Korean.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

weatherman · Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: Korea

buymybook · Joined: 21 Feb 2005 Location: Telluride

I agree, it is more important for the students to understand the sounds represented by the letters than the names of the letters.[/quote]

By saying the name of most English letters students begin to understand the sounds. I will begin teaching students the alphabet, good idea! Really, maybe we should do more of this. Some good ideas of teaching the ABC's, thanks folks. They think they know the alphabet when they can sing it, but they really can't pronounce the L M N O P or other sections. I focuss on teaching the alphabet in parts!

Zenpickle · Joined: 06 Jan 2004 Location: Anyang -- Bisan

The trouble with beginners is that many know how to sing the ABC's but don't know them. That's why I begin beginner classes with the ABC's and then do them backwards.

After they start getting that down, I teach them the Phonetic ABC's, where we have certain faces and ways to pronounce each letter that the kids find fun.

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Maybe you can show them examples of the alphabet too: KFC, USA, SK telecom, TGI Fridays, TV channels....
Just a thought.