Beginning ESL
Instructor: Vanessa Kirchner
Activity: Morning Message
Morning Message is a letter that I write to my class
every morning. I put it up on the white board. This message
serves several purposes; 1) Introduce new vocabulary 2)
Review Vocabulary 3) Reading practice aloud 4) Informs
students of what we will be doing that day 5) Gives them an
opportunity to copy the message and respond to me in their
notebooks.
Example of a Morning Message:
Dear Class,
Today is Tuesday, November 26, 2008. It is cold
outside!
We will begin with our presentations. Remember, you
had to interview another student in class about the foods
they like! After the presentations, we will do a Thanksgiving
“brainstorm”. A brainstorm is when you try to think of all
the things you know about something.
Sincerely,
Your Teacher
Students come in and copy the letter into their notebooks.
Next, I ask students if there are any words they do not
know! After we underline those words in a contrasting color
and discuss them, I call on students to read sentences. The
entire class repeats words that are being mispronounced. If
it is an especially difficult word I listen to each student
pronounce it individually. Students seem to like this activity
and they often ask questions about punctuation and grammar
as well... If the Morning Message contains a question, they
are to write their answers in their notebooks and they then
read it to the class. It must be written in a complete
sentence.
Questions are such that answers will consist of only one or
two sentences. Example: What is your favorite season?
Why? (Prerequisite: Weather vocabulary from a previous
lesson).
Beginning ESL
Instructor: Kirchner
Activity: Conjugation Sign Language
I use this activity every time I conjugate a new verb
and to practice verbs we have already learned. It is simply
putting motions to go along with the “I, You, He, She, We,
You (Plural), and They”. I do this with the verb “To Be”
first. It goes like this:
I am - Point to yourself using your thumb and right
hand.
You are – Point using the index finger of your right hand
away from you (toward the front).
He is – Use your thumb and your right hand over your
right shoulder.
She is – Use your thumb and your left hand over your
left shoulder.
We are – Use your index finger on your right hand and
circle and then point up with an upward motion.
You are (plural)- Use your right hand, palm up and sweep
across the front of your body.
They are- Use both hands, index fingers up by shoulders
making circles (simultaneously) and then pointing (also
simultaneously) in each direction.
*Note: You will develop your own “style” over time!
Beginning ESL
Instructor: Kirchner
Activity: Describe It To Me
I did this for the clothing unit with my Basic ESL class.
This lesson is presented after we have gone over basic
clothing vocabulary.
Bring in a variety of different articles of clothing. Give
1 or 2 items of clothing to each group of 2 or 3
students. Students take time in their groups to discuss
“their” items of clothing. (10 minutes) Each group
takes turns describing the article of clothing to the
class. Each group member must say something: Name(ie...T-shirt), color, zipper, buttons, short sleeves, a
collar, etc...
The students really surprised me on how much they could
tell me about each clothing item!
Beginning ESL
Instructor: Kirchner
Activity: “I am from...”
Students are able to do this activity early on
because they may use vocabulary from their native
language. Students write a poem about where they are
from. I read to them a sample poem and explain that “I
am from...” not only means a place but also foods,
landscapes, weather, sayings, values, etc.. You will
understand better by reading the sample poem that
follows:
“I am From Quisquella la Bella”
By Amiris Ramirez
I am
From Quisquella la bella,
From merengue, bachata, perico ripiao,
And church bells on Sundays
I am
From the words
Dios, patria, libertad
From the feeling of sadness, but also of not giving
up.
I am
From the promise of friendship and love,
From “always be yourself”,
“believe in who you are.”
I am
From rice and beans,
Roast chicken, pernil,
Platanos, mangos, coconuts, corn.
I am
From beautiful
Gardens with palm trees,
From mountains and precious blue sky.
I am Latina.
Dominican.
Proud.
As you can see from the poem, there is a lot of
native language used. Students are encouraged to use
English where they can. We talk a lot about the
foods typical to where they are from, what the
landscape looks like where they are from, the things
they heard their parents say to them as children when
they were young, sounds they heard, dances they
danced etc... I used the example that when I was a
child I lived by train tracks and when the noon whistle
blew I was to go home for lunch if I was outside
playing.
Then they end the poem just like the example but
unique to them of course.
They practice reading to each other and then we have
readings in front of the class.
Beginning ESL
Instructor: Kirchner
Activity: Draw It in the Square
In this activity students receive a piece of
unlined white paper. I instruct them to fold it so
that they have 16 squares or 8 squares depending on
how large you want the squares to be. This activity
helps students to visualize vocabulary words.
Students put a small number in each square in the
bottom right hand corner. You give the students the
vocabulary words one at a time. They do not write
the words at first, they draw a simple picture to
represent the word. This way the students are not
just translating a word; they are visualizing the
meaning in their heads and “thinking” in English.
Beginning ESL
Instructor: Kirchner
Activity: “Lights, Camera, Action!”
I put vocabulary words onto individual squares of
paper and put them into a hat. We have already gone
over vocabulary words in class. The student pulls a
paper square from the hat and reads the word silently
to him/her self. When the student indicates that
he/she is ready I say, “Lights, camera, action!” Class
members try and guess the word. Students may use
other words to help classmates guess the vocabulary
word. It is more fun if the class is divided into
teams. We did men vs. women. I have them name
their teams. If the ladies go first and the women in
class do not guess the word, then the men take a turn
at guessing and vice-versa. The team to earn a
predetermined number of points first wins.
Beginning ESL
Instructor: Kirchner
Activity: A Favorite Recipe
When we did our unit on food I put a recipe on the board and
we discussed the ingredients and how to read the instructions.
Students had to write a simple recipe for something they like
to make. They make a presentation to the class that includes
listing the ingredients and the instructions for how to make it.
Making a small recipe booklet of class recipes is a good
culminating activity. Then have a party where students bring
the food to class to share.