Help: New ESL Teacher
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Help: New ESL Teacher
I am a new ESL teacher in a rural district in Eastern Oregon. I have a total of forty designated ESL students. There was no program in place when I began, whcih meant no curriculum or materials of any kind, no prgram guide, no team or mentor or support. It's preety much the same now. My classes are jam packed with kids of differing ages and proficiencies. How do I teach a class of ten high school students with frosh to seniors from beginner to early advanced English abilities? It's maddening. Is there any curriculum out there that is designed to teach at all levels at the same time? Are there tips on activities or units that can reach everyone in class? I feel like I hav ehtis blanket apraoch that gives just a sprinkling ot each kid regarding the instruction they need. Please help!
New To ESL
I mentioned my high school class because it isd the most extreme in the variety of student ability and age. My other classes , k-8, pose similar problems, so any advice for any grade band would be helpfull.
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Sally Olsen
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- Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:24 pm
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Jill Bell has written "the" book on mixed classes and it seems it would work for any age. "Teaching Multilevel Classes In ESL"
How about a theme for a week or longer and students contribute what they can to the theme. Lots of writing and reading - you can get a variety of level of books from the library on Transportation, Friends, Animals and so on. For the younger children there are lots of themes on enchantedlearning.com but most of them work well at any age. Have the older ones using the computer to find articles to read. On Monday and Tuesday you all gather and chose materials and read. Wednesday you start to figure out some project you can do with the material. Thursday complete the project and Friday present them. Of course they can work in groups.
You would be the facilitator to get materials, provide materials for the projects from poster boards to craft materials to make models to computers to get information and print out reports.
Then you would gather the reports in a binder for further reading for future classes and display the posters, models, videos and so on for all to read. Invite other classes in for the Friday presentations or specific teachers who are on break or parents or local people, etc.
Each student contributes what they can on their level and reviewing lower levels is good for the older students who might have missed vocabulary or ideas and can help if the lower level student has gone off the mark.
If you can take away the desks and get round tables that will increase the interaction. If you can get a camera, it will allow the students to take pictuers that will fit in with their theme and they can label them or create stories for your binders. If you can get a video camera, they can make up plays to show and you can help them to edit them so they are educational as well as fun or interesting..
How about a theme for a week or longer and students contribute what they can to the theme. Lots of writing and reading - you can get a variety of level of books from the library on Transportation, Friends, Animals and so on. For the younger children there are lots of themes on enchantedlearning.com but most of them work well at any age. Have the older ones using the computer to find articles to read. On Monday and Tuesday you all gather and chose materials and read. Wednesday you start to figure out some project you can do with the material. Thursday complete the project and Friday present them. Of course they can work in groups.
You would be the facilitator to get materials, provide materials for the projects from poster boards to craft materials to make models to computers to get information and print out reports.
Then you would gather the reports in a binder for further reading for future classes and display the posters, models, videos and so on for all to read. Invite other classes in for the Friday presentations or specific teachers who are on break or parents or local people, etc.
Each student contributes what they can on their level and reviewing lower levels is good for the older students who might have missed vocabulary or ideas and can help if the lower level student has gone off the mark.
If you can take away the desks and get round tables that will increase the interaction. If you can get a camera, it will allow the students to take pictuers that will fit in with their theme and they can label them or create stories for your binders. If you can get a video camera, they can make up plays to show and you can help them to edit them so they are educational as well as fun or interesting..