DATE: 04/15/2008 13:07:20 / MOOD: teaching

Color poems are the next poems that I introduce to my students. This is another type of poem that is easy for the students to understand and reproduce one of their own. Color poems can be surface level or it can be very deep. When teaching color poems explain to the students that they can write about things that are the color, but what we are trying to do is describe colors in creative ways. Here are some examples of my students work.

Red is fire.Red is love.Red is passion.Red is my love.-by Wendy (age 11, living in the US for 2 years)

Black is like the night.Black is like the dark. Black is burned cookies.Black is me.-by Fernando (age 13, living in the US for 19 months)

Dictionary Poems are fun, but can often be challenging. Before class you need to copy a page from the dictionary. I use a dictionary that gives the word, the defintion, a sentence and a picture. Give each student a page of the dictionary and instruct them to write a poem using at least 7 of the words from that page. Do the first one together as a class, the teacher needs to guide the process. First make a list of the words you know and think you could use in the poem. Then think aloud with the students and write a poem with the whole class on chart paper. Then give the students another page from the dictionary and have them create their own.

Dictionary Poems:

I wish that in winterI going to be a winnerwith a wonderful smile. -by Claudia (age 13, living in the US for almost 2 years)

I wish to be with my wolfbut one woman take my wonderful wolf. -by Daniela (age 13, living in the US for almost 2 years)

Try to use these poems in you class, you will be surpried with how expressive your students can be!

 

Check out my blog at www.esl-melissa.blogspot.com

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DATE: 04/15/2008 12:37:42 / MOOD: teaching

April is Poetry Month and this is a perfect time to take advantage of all the benefits that poetry has for our ESL students. Poetry is a very powerful tool for ESL because it provides the students with structure, rhythym and rhyme.

I start each unit with introducing my students to many different types of poems that they will be able to recreate with little difficulty, then we move into more complex issues.

Here is how I start the unit: Biography, Color, Acrostic, Color, Dictionary and Concrete. Biography Poems are about the author. In this blog I am goign to focus on Biography Poems. I am going to give you a few examples of my students work.

I am a boy. I am little. I am beautiful. I am intelligent. I am smart.I am from EcuadorI am the best. I want to be a great man. -by Diego (age 12, been in the US for 9 months)

WendyBeautiful, shine, smartSister of SharonWho is a good friend and a good studentWho loves her family and she love to help the peopleWho fears monster, and some peopleWho finished with her boyfriendsWho wants to be a doctorBorn in Puerto Rico and living in New YorkSantos-by Wendy (age 11, been in the US for 2 years)

Before my students wrote these poems, I gave them examples of each poem and they wrote their own version. The first biography poem, "I am", needs to have 7 sentences starting with I am, the last sentence starts with I want to be.

The next poem has a very specific format. It is very important to explain what each line means and what is required for each line. Some students will not understand what an adjective is but if you ask them to describe themselves they will understand. So we need to break it down for them. Line 1 - First nameLine 2 - Three adjectives that describe the personLine 3 - Important relationship (mother of ... son of) Line 4 - Two or three things, people, or ideas that the person lovesLine 5 - Three feelings the person has experiencedLine 6 - Three fears the person has experiencedLine 7 - AccomplishmentsLine 8 - Two or three things the person wants to see happen or wants to experienceLine 9 - Where the person livesLine 10 - Last Name

Poetry can be done thorough out the year, and should be a time for your ESL students to express themselves. Stay tuned I will be posting more examples and student work.

 

Check out my blog at www.esl-melissa.blogspot.com

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DATE: 04/14/2008 10:28:07 / MOOD: teaching

In your ESL classroom you need to have balance. There are four necesaary areas that we need to be addressing everday - reading, writing, listening and speaking. These four areas are essential components in the ESL students mastery of English. You can incorporate all four skills into one activity - the Read Aloud.

Every period there should be a Read Aloud. A Read Aloud is a piece of literature that is read out loud to the students. You can read picture books, comics, articles, poetry, etc. Choose a soemthing that will be interesting for your group of students and something that is a little higher than their reading level. Since you will be reading the story to them you can help them understand what is going on.

While reading, the teacher needs to model good reading strategies. For example, when you come to a difficult word stop and sound it out. During the read aloud the students are practicing listening. Stop in the middle of reading and ask students to turn and talk to the person sitting next to them, talk about what you think will happen next. This allows each student time to practice speaking in a non-threating environment. Read a few more pages stop and ask the students to write down what has happened in the story so far. This gives students a chance to practice writing.

Once you are finished with the read aloud you can send students back to their seats to read their own book and pratice one of the skills you modeled during the read aloud (skills - retell, prediction, make a connection, compare and contrast). This time of course will give students pratice reading.

As much as you can incorporate these four skills into your daily routine. Try to avoid spending a whole period on writing or a whole period on reading. Make the class an interactive approach to learning English through these four skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening.

 

Check out my blog at www.esl-melissa.blogspot.com

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DATE: 04/14/2008 10:25:52 / MOOD: teaching

Hi everyone, my name is Melissa. I am a middle school ESL teacher in New York. I have a my bachelors in Elementary Education and my Masters in ESL. I teach students from all over the world: Mexico, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Benin, Guinea and more. The school that I teach in is in a tough neighborhood and my students are faced everyday with the pressures of fitting in. So that is a little about me and my wonderful students.

What makes my job so great is that my students are so eager to learn. They come to the US for one specific reason ... a better life. They are reminded by their parents daily why they are here in the US. For this reason, they come to school with a thirst for knowledge and it is our responsibility to capture and quench that thirst. To keep your students engaged you need Consistency and Creativity!

Consistency is key! Take a good look at your schedule with your students whether you have your students for a 45 minute period or a 90 minute period there needs to be consistency in the structure of the class. Start the class with an agenda and warm up. Have students copy the agenda and do the warm up (4-6 minutes). This will allow them to get settled and ready for class. At the end of the period have a Share Out time (3-4minutes), where a few students can share what they have learned in the class.

Creativity ... make it fun! Don't be afraid to laugh and have fun with your class. Think about your class and where they are in their lives and plan appropriate lessons for them. For example, on Fridays I take one period and watch a movie with my students (the last two weeks we have been watching "Game Plan"). I stop the movie every 10-15 minutes and ask "what just happened" or "what do you think will happen next". These questions allow students to retell and make predictions; two necessary skills to becoming a good reader.

So when you are planning for your next class ask yourself "how can I add Consistency and Creativity to my class". Have a great week !

 I just started a blog you can check it out at www.esl-melissa.blogspot.com

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