teaching partitives and /or collectives

mamos · Post by **mamos** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:51 am

i am researching how partitives (a pinch of salt, three jars of jam) and collectives (gaggle of geese) can be difficult for ESL students. is there anyone who has some ideas for how to each these two parts of speech? (any level of proficiency and at any age)

i appreciate all input!

Tessa Olive · Post by **Tessa Olive** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:59 am

I recently got my ESL class (adult beginners/ lower-intermediate) to write up their favourite recipes with the aim of creating a cookbook. We first wrote a recipe together on the board for a banana cake. I elicited vocab from them along the way re: ingredients, and then asked, "How much flour/sugar/milk?" A cup of sugar, 3 cups of flour, a dash of vanilla essence, a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of baking powder, etc. After going through the ingredients and working through the method, students were then asked to write their own recipes which were later compiled and made into a class cookbook.
It worked well. The students were pleased to see their recipes (and names) in print.
Hope this helps!
Tessa!