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Illysook
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
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 Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:21 am Post subject: new class on monday |
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| I haven't been in Korea for 2 whole weeks yet. I've never taught before and I have to teach a class that is new to the school on Monday. I will be teaching from "Phonics 1" The first few pages consist of the alphabet, followed by pictures and words that start with the letter b. I'm totally freekin' lost. All I can think of is to spend a bunch of time learning names, which is going to be pretty tough if these kiddies don't know any english. They are supposed to be kindies. |
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losing_touch
Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Location: Ulsan - I think!
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:43 am Post subject: |
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| I would imagine that you will be fine. A lot of people have no idea what they will be teaching before they are thrown into a class of students of various levels. You just have to make the jump, be flexible, and adapt to whatever is thrown your way. Undoubtedly, you will be apprehensive and a bit clueless at first. This is not a problem. You will have to find your way through those first couple of weeks somehow. Looking back, you will laugh about this apprehension in the future. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:57 am Post subject: Re: new class on monday |
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| Illysook wrote: |
| I haven't been in Korea for 2 whole weeks yet. I've never taught before and I have to teach a class that is new to the school on Monday. I will be teaching from "Phonics 1" The first few pages consist of the alphabet, followed by pictures and words that start with the letter b. I'm totally freekin' lost. All I can think of is to spend a bunch of time learning names, which is going to be pretty tough if these kiddies don't know any english. They are supposed to be kindies. |
Is multi-media an option for you? Youtube can be your friend.
IF it is NOT an option, flash cards with "B" words, draw and color a big and small "B", sing a short song...
"B" is for bubble, that's good enough for me,
"B" is for bubble, that's good enough for me.
"B" is for bubble, that's good enough for me.
Oh, bubble, bubble, bubble starts with "B".
"B" is for baby, that's good enough for me,
"B" is for baby, that's good enough for me.
"B" is for baby, that's good enough for me,
Oh, baby, baby, baby starts with "B".
(show flash cards (a4 size - color them if you need to)).
Make a small dance to go with it and show them. After a couple times they will start to follow your actions and try to repeat after you. (say "hey-baa" to get them to repeat after you (one or two words at a time).
Learn / teach the ABC song or some of it's varieties (youtube if you need some ideas).
If you are teaching kindy, think Sesame street (if you are from North America).
Little kids are all about see and do, listen and repeat. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:04 am Post subject: Re: new class on monday |
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| Illysook wrote: |
| I haven't been in Korea for 2 whole weeks yet. I've never taught before and I have to teach a class that is new to the school on Monday. I will be teaching from "Phonics 1" The first few pages consist of the alphabet, followed by pictures and words that start with the letter b. I'm totally freekin' lost. All I can think of is to spend a bunch of time learning names, which is going to be pretty tough if these kiddies don't know any english. They are supposed to be kindies. |
Make sure they are actually saying "B" and not "P" . I could go on, but google "minimal pairs" |
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losing_touch
Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Location: Ulsan - I think!
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:07 am Post subject: Re: new class on monday |
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| Kimchieluver wrote: |
| Make sure they are actually saying "B" and not "P" . I could go on, but google "minimal pairs" |
Oh, who cares about minimal pairs. Now you are talking about two sounds which are in no way allophones in English. No native speaker would make such a mistake. The place of articulation might be the same, but the manner is different. The voiced quality of the [b] will be present from a native speaker. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:12 am Post subject: Re: new class on monday |
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| losing_touch wrote: |
| Kimchieluver wrote: |
| Make sure they are actually saying "B" and not "P" . I could go on, but google "minimal pairs" |
Oh, who cares about minimal pairs. Now you are talking about two sounds which are in no way allophones in English. No native speaker would make such a mistake. The place of articulation might be the same, but the manner is different. The voiced quality of the [b] will be present from a native speaker. |
Tell that to the kindy student who I had to teach that "yes" wasn't "yex". I still think about that kid and I have seen his English improve so much that he actually won a trip to Washington D.C. |
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losing_touch
Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Location: Ulsan - I think!
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:26 am Post subject: Re: new class on monday |
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| Kimchieluver wrote: |
| Tell that to the kindy student who I had to teach that "yes" wasn't "yex". I still think about that kid and I have seen his English improve so much that he actually won a trip to Washington D.C. |
Ok, some emphasis on segmentals are important, but they are not nearly as important as supersegmentals. The difference between /s/ and /x/ is far greater than the difference between /s/ and /z/ for example. Sure, that should be corrected, but I don't see a native speaker making such a mistake.
When allophones are considered in the L2, they might be very, very difficult to overcome. /r/ and /l/ come immediately to mind. |
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DavePuff
Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Location: Daegu, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:28 am Post subject: |
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I'm not sure if your hagwon would allow this, but I print out a sheet of paper for each students with whatever letter they happen to be learning (using a huge font to cover at least a quarter of the page centred).
Then you draw pictures around it of things starting with the same letter; ie A: apple, alligator, etc. It doesn't matter if you can't draw, because they can't either and you can have a good laugh together.
It really breaks down the barriers after a while. Stick them on the wall when they are finished and coloured.
And then every day practice the letter sound and the word pronunciation. |
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scorpiocandy
Joined: 27 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:53 am Post subject: |
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I hate teaching phonics but I hate Kindergarten even more so I know it can be a bit daunting.
I found a great site that most people on here probably already know but I found it to be a lifesaver.
www.mes-english.com
Phonics, alphabet cards, flashcards for almost every topic you can imagine. You can make your own board games and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.
I wish I had known about this in my previous years in Korea.
So with the flashcards of the letters you can practice the sound that "A" makes. My kindergarten kids are pretty good already so you may get lucky. We usually try to think of all the words we know that make the "A" sound, "B" sound etc.
We sing the ABC song everyday because they love to dance to it ( I discovered by accident!)
This alone takes up a good 15 minutes because you can dance on the spot, dance in a circle, all sorts of goofy things.
Also practice writing the alphabet.
Just don't show them you feel lost. I made the mistake on my first ever day of teaching and they had me for breakfast 
Flashcards I think are a good start and the site above is a great resource for a Kindergarten beginner like me.
Good luck! |
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