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ESL for OSY
Steps to Creating a Successful
Volunteer-based ESL Program
Created by Brittany Moore and Melanie Sadur
AmeriCorps Vista members
NC Migrant Education Program
March 2013
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Table of contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................2
Recruiting the Migrant Students.................................................................................................3
Presenting the Program to the Farmworkers ……………………………………………………4
Volunteer Recruitment................................................................................................................6
Volunteer Training......................................................................................................................7
Organizing the Tutors…………………………………………………………………………..10
Monitoring the Classes..............................................................................................................11
Wrapping up the program ……………………………………………………………………...11
Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………….……12
Introduction
The following is a simple guide to use in creating an ESL program for migrant farmworkers.
This is a low budget program that utilizes volunteer tutors and limited supplies within an
alternative classroom. The guide will outline steps to take in order to recruit and train
volunteers, find interested migrant students, administer English-language assessments,
confirm a place to hold class, and evaluate the progress of both the students and the volunteer
tutors.
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Recruiting the Migrant Students
The first step in creating an ESL program is to find eligible students that are truly interested in an
ESL class.
Finding the farmworkers:
 Use your MEP recruiters: The method that worked for our program was to enlist the
help of the regional recruiters. Together we looked for camps in our specific county and
met with the farmworkers. Utilize your LEA or regional MEP recruiters to connect you to
migrant camps and homes, especially ones where you know there are OSY. Go to the
camps and homes with your recruiter, because many of the farmworkers have seen this
recruiter before and trust them. Visiting camps and migrant homes will allow you to
promote the ESL classes and find perspective students and also recruit any new eligible
students into MEP.
o Recruiting Note: Although the ESL classes are meant for OSY, as long as there
are OSY present the other farmworkers at the camp are allowed to attend the ESL
classes as well. This is especially important because some OSY might not be
interested in participating if the other older farmworkers cannot participate as
well.
Outside of your recruiters, there are several other methods that have proved effective in finding
interested students:
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Local mobile health clinic: Many promotoras, outreach workers or medical staff from
local mobile health clinics are responsible for having migrant clinics and health
screenings at migrant camps and trailers. One of our great camps that were very
interested in an ESL program was found by riding with the health staff. While the
farmworkers were getting their check-ups we gave an overview of our program, found
interested farmworkers and asked which days and times would work best.
Department of Labor: The Department of Labor Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau
does heat stress presentations throughout North Carolina in the summer. We contacted
them and found out if and when they have any presentations in our counties. We joined
them for one of their presentations at a farm in Pitt County. After DOL finished their
presentation, we were able to introduce our ESL opportunity to the farmworkers, recruit
new OSY, and get contact information for interested participants. Contact the DOL:
(919)-807-2923
Call growers: Although many growers are not invested in educating their migrant
farmworkers, some growers want their farmworkers to learn basic English survival skills.
If you have friendly connections with any of these growers in your county, contact them
and see if there is a time you can come present your ESL program. Try to do this
presentation either during or right after the work-day when you know all of the
farmworkers will be there. You can get contact information for growers through the
registered grower list in your county
o Note: Be careful when calling growers. Some growers are not welcoming to
outside services for their farmworkers.
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
Other methods include finding students in grocery stores, flea markets, and churches as
well as creating flyers (appendix a) to place in frequented areas.
Getting the Grower’s Permission:
 It is always polite to ask for permission to hold a class for the farmworkers, even though
permission isn’t technically needed. Getting permission and support from the growers can
be beneficial because they sometimes offer a warehouse space on their farm for the
classes to be held, so the classes can be held indoors and at a centralized location.
 If you anticipate the grower will say no to your classes but there are many interested
students, you are still legally allowed to provide classes. Use discretion!
Presenting the program to the farmworkers:
When you arrive at a camp or migrant homes to find perspective students for ESL, you have to
promote the program to them since they have probably never heard of something like this before!
Here are some steps to follow:
1. Introduce yourself and explain what the Migrant Education Program does (even if they
already know)
2. Explain what the ESL program is:
a. Example program description: Estamos proveyendo clases de inglés gratis para
que trabajadores migrantes puedan aprender las frases en inglés que son
importantes para sobrevivir en los Estados Unidos. Tenemos maestro/as que
pueden venir una vez cada semana para 1-2 horas para hacer clases cortas y
divertidas. Queremos asegurar un espacio (quizás aquí, o circa de aquí) en que
podemos hacer las clases. Algunos de las temas en Inglés que vamos a cubrir en
las clases son: saludos, números, contando dinero, ir al doctor, ir al supermercado,
y más. Para ser candidato para hacer las clases en este campo, tenemos que buscar
por lo menos una persona que tiene menos de 22 años, y si hay una persona joven
podemos proveer la clase para todos en este campo.
3. Ask the farmworkers the following questions:
1. Are you interested in learning English through this free ESL program?
o Many people are VERY shy at first. Some people might not respond when
you ask them at first, so try to warm up to them, make conversation, and make
them feel comfortable. Ask them if there are ever situations when they needed
to speak English (talking to their grower, going to Wal-Mart, going to the
doctor, etc.) and weren’t able to.
2. Are there any farmworkers here that are under 22?
o If there are OSY at the camp or trailer homes, make sure they have been
recruited into MEP. If they have not, do a COE and needs-assessment with
that OSY.
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
o If there aren’t any OSY at the camp ask the farmworkers if they know of
nearby camps where there may be younger farmworkers.
3. What day would be the most beneficial for ESL classes? What time?
o In our case, many farmworkers said that Sunday afternoon/evening would be
ideal.
4. How long will you be at this location for before you move?
o Find out how long you will be able to have the class at this particular site.
Lead a mini-ESL lesson (5-10 min) and pass out some sort of English cheat-sheet
(appendix b) with some basic phrases, so that the farmworkers can get an introduction to
ESL, see what the classes will be like, and become excited for the program.
Lay out some ground rules for the ESL classes:
a. Students should not be drunk during class, and no drinking during class.
b. If you want the classes, you have to show up at the time and day we decide on. If
you don’t show up, the teachers will think you don’t want the class anymore, so
they will stop coming!
Get contact information (phone number) for a few farmworkers that are interested in the
classes so you can be in further contact with them.
a. If possible, get more than one person’s phone number, to ensure that you will be
able to contact that group of perspective students.
If they are not sure if they are interested: Some students will be unsure if they are
interested in the ESL class at first. Also, some students might be interested, but want to
ask the others at their camp before committing to a class. If the farmworkers don’t
commit to saying yes right away, call them within a week of when you met them to ask
them if they are interested.
If farmworkers are not interested: Leave your contact information in case they change
their mind, but don’t force the class onto them!
Where can we hold the classes?
 Migrant Camp
o Common space
o The kitchen (comedor)
o Outdoors (shaded area)
 Trailer park
o Shaded area
o Common space
 Church or community center
o If there is no space at the location of the migrant students, you can arrange to
transport them to another space such as a church or community center. Utilize the
community around the migrants to find a space.
 School
 OTHER: BE CREATIVE!
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Volunteer Recruitment
Depending on the location of classes, this piece might involve a bit of creative thinking.
Create flyers for volunteer recruitment (appendix c):
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
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Placing flyers in community centers, libraries, and other facilities can help you find local
volunteers.
Send flyers to universities, community colleges, libraries, literacy centers and volunteer
organizations.
Flyers can also be electronically posted on websites
o Idealist.org
o Craigslist.com
o VolunteerMatch.org
An example of a flyer for volunteer and student recruitment are in appendix a and c.
Where to look for volunteers?
Reach out to local community centers or universities and community colleges:


If you have a county with a University, that might be your greatest resource when it
comes to finding willing and eager tutors. A community college can also bring in
volunteers as well.
o Contact the following departments through emails or phone calls:
 English, Linguistics, International Studies, Foreign Language, ESL,
Education
o Contact student organizations if there are any that have to do with literacy, ESL,
or volunteering
Connect with the local library, literacy centers and other organizations that promote
literacy and English-language learning. You might be able to use their volunteer list,
common space to hold volunteer meetings, or to hang flyers to solicit volunteers.
Who can be a volunteer?
Anyone! Since this is a volunteer-based ESL program, the volunteers are not required to have
any ESL experience or teaching background. Spanish speakers are a plus, so try to look for some
Spanish speakers, but not all of your volunteers need to know Spanish.
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Volunteer Training
Once you’ve recruited enough volunteers you need to hold a 4-8 hour training on how to
implement the ESL curriculum, give an overview of the culture of farmworkers, reveal teaching
tips and to create tutor groups.
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Use a PowerPoint presentation to conduct the training: A PowerPoint presentation makes
the meeting more organized and visual. Our tutor training PowerPoint presentation is
under appendix d.
Prior to your presentation, ask all tutors to fill out the tutor placement survey (appendix
e). This will allow you to match up tutors into tutoring groups.
Put some interactive activities into the tutor training to get volunteers moving and
thinking creatively.
Training presentation content:
1. Overview of Migrant Education
2. The role of ESL in MEP, and the eligibility requirements of OSY.
 Many volunteers have not heard of MEP before this training
3. Life of a migrant farmworker:
 The routes the migrant population tends to take (migrant stream)
 Typical crops of North Carolina
4. Educating migrant farmworkers
 Interactive activity: Ask the volunteers to brainstorm reasons why
education might be difficult for farmworkers. Divided them into groups
and have them write their ideas on a large sheet of paper to present to the
whole group.
 What are the barriers migrant farmworkers face in reaching their
educational goals? What is disruptive to their educational success?
 What are some ways we can fight these challenges?
 Discuss the diverse educational backgrounds migrant farmworkers have
(some dropped out when they were in elementary school, some went
further in schooling but had to drop out later). Not all of your students will
be starting at the same English level. Not all students are familiar with a
classroom setting.
5. Overview of the curriculum
 31 lessons
 Some lessons are required, and the others should be chosen based off of
the students’ interest in the topics
 REQUIRED Student assessments: Tutors must do assessments each
class so that MEP can know that they have made progress. There are pre
and post-tests provided for each lesson on the ESL website!
 You do not have to use the lesson plans provided on the ESL website!
That is a suggested lesson plan and is meant to be a guide. Volunteer
tutors are free to make up their own lesson plans and their own creative
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6.
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8.
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activities, as long as they cover the learning objectives and vocabulary for
that lesson.
 It is okay if you don’t finish a lesson! You can continue the lesson next
time!
 Look on the website under “Summer 2013 curriculum” to find the “How
to use this curriculum” page. This will answer many questions on how to
use the curriculum!
Teaching tips (appendix f)
Review of materials
 Tutor materials
 ESL website- http://migranteduesl.wordpress.com/
o Has resources and lesson plans for 31 lessons
 All teachers receive whiteboards, whiteboard markers, large chart
paper, construction paper, and colored markers. They also received
folders, notebooks and pens/pencils to hand out to their students.
 Student materials
 All students should receive folders, notebooks and pens/pencils.
They can keep their notebooks and pens in their folders.
Overview of teaching groups and how to work in a group to conduct classes.
Interactive activity: Put the volunteers into groups and ask them to pick a basic
lesson topic from the curriculum and create a lesson plan together. Ask them to
come up with a brief lesson entirely on their own and what materials they would
need for activities and how those activities will be implemented in a classroom.
To get the group comfortable, first you (the presenter) can demonstrate a lesson
and lead at least one of the activities from the lesson. That will give the volunteers
a better idea of what their lesson should be like.
 **While students are brainstorming and planning their lessons, you
should be observing the volunteers to see where their strengths and
weaknesses are. This will help you in creating the teaching groups.

The groups then present the lesson plan ideas to the class and lead at least
one of the activities in the lesson plan with the group.
 The group can then give them positive and constructive feedback on their
lesson plan and teaching performance.
 Next, explain to the students that each ESL lesson has a lesson plan on the
ESL website, but they are also free to not use that lesson plan and create
their own entire new lesson plan or new activities, as long as they teach
the new vocab and learning objectives!
10. Cultural differences.
 Explain the differences in the concept of time, farmworker lifestyle and
appropriate dress for the tutors.
 Discuss some behaviors they might encounter at migrant
camps/homes. Show pictures of what migrant camps might look
like, so that tutors aren’t alarmed.
 Tell volunteers that their students are NOT allowed to come to
class drunk.
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
Because of the nature of migrant farmwork, sometimes the
students will have to work unexpectedly and the class might be
cancels. This program requires you to be very FLEXIBLE, because
there might be cancellations.
 Dress code for volunteers (for girls especially): No short shorts or
crop tops
11. Tutor responsibilities:
 Attendance: Tutors are responsible for showing up to their class each
week.
 Tutor communication: Tutors should communicate with their teaching
group prior to the lesson, to organize materials, discuss the lesson plan,
and make changes to the lesson as they see fit.
 Tutor cancellations: If a tutor cannot attend a class, they must email or
call the volunteer coordinator (you) at least 1 day before the class.
 You can find a replacement tutor, attend the class yourself, or
cancel the class if needed.
 Sign in sheet: Must provide a sign in sheet at the beginning of each
lesson. Write down what lesson topic you are teaching, the date, and get
the names of all the students who come that day. Volunteers should keep
these sheets and give them to the ESL coordinator at the end.
 Student assessments: In order to monitor student’s progress, the students
will fill out a very brief pre-test and post-test before and after each lesson.
Pre and post-tests can be found on each lesson on the ESL website
(http://migranteduesl.wordpress.com/). Tutors should hold onto all
assessments and hand them into the coordinator at the end.
 Tutor survey: All tutors must fill out the tutor survey (Appendix g). Our
tutor survey is located on the homepage ESL
website(http://migranteduesl.wordpress.com)
 You can use these surveys to troubleshoot, update
lessons/curriculum, and to resolve issues in a timely fashion.
12. Resources for the tutors
 Go over the resources and contact info for the tutors
 Give them your contact info
 Tell them where they can pick up extra materials if they need more
13. The First ESL lesson: You (coordinator) should accompany your tutors at their
first ESL lesson. This ensures that the volunteers are comfortable going into a
new place and meeting new people and gives you the opportunity to troubleshoot
early on to prevent future problems.
 Tutor responsibilities during the first lesson:
1. Hand out materials (folder, notebook, pen) to students, and tell
students to bring it each week.
2. Do the Lesson 1 pre-test
3. Lead lesson 1
4. Make sure to lead the interest survey, to find out what topics
students are interested in learning.
5. Do the Lesson 1 post-test
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
6. Remind students that you will be there at the same time/place next
week!
Dividing the class: (optional)
 Depending on the English level of the students in each class, the
tutors keep the class as one large class, or choose to divide the
class into levels. If you decide to divide the class into levels, 1-2
tutors should lead each level, and feel free to slow down or speed
up the pace and alter the content of the lesson based on the levels
of the students.
 Keep the class together as one whole group if the class size is
small. Keeping the class together will also foster a better sense of
community.
Organizing the tutors:
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

There should be at least 2 tutors per class.
Groups of 3-5 works best.
o If someone is absent there are still others that can teach the class that day.
o Everyone can work together to lighten the workload of preparing for each class.
o Larger teaching groups allows for tutors to work individually with ESL students
who need extra help, or split ESL class up into various levels.
Volunteer tutors should never teach alone!
Teaching Groups:
o Throughout the training, observe where strengths and weaknesses are within the
group of volunteers.
o Mix together volunteers of different backgrounds and education levels.
o Use the tutor placement surveys to put students into teaching groups
 Balance each group so there is at least one person who speaks Spanish in
every group
 Those with teaching or ESL backgrounds should be placed with others
that do not have a teaching background.
 Pair up volunteers who have cars with those that don’t, so that they can
carpool to the ESL site
 Pair up volunteers with access to free or cheap printing capabilities or
copy machines (through school or work) with those that don’t, so they can
print or copy materials!
 If possible, pair up volunteers who live near each other, or near the camp
site.
o Once you have created teaching groups, contact the tutors to let them know of
their groups, and give them the group member’s contact information. Also, find 1
person in the groups who you can arrange to give them their classes’ materials.
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o
Give the tutors the location of their ESL class site, and any specifics regarding
their particular class.
Monitoring the Classes
Ensure that the students follow the guidelines below.
o
o
No drinking during or before classes.
If at any time the students decide that they do not want classes anymore, then you
need to inform the tutors and hopefully divide them up among other classes that
are already in place.
Communicating with tutors:
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Make sure to send out weekly emails to the volunteers to keep them motivated and
updated with the program’s development and make sure that they are filling out the tutor
survey. Also include any time or location changes in these emails.
Look at the feedback from the weekly surveys, and have meetings with tutors that are
struggling or need extra help.
Cancellations:

If there happens to be a day when only 1 volunteer or no volunteers can make it to the
scheduled class, either show up in place of that missing volunteer or cancel the class
(though cancellation should only be used as a last resort).
o One of our main goals is to make sure that the farmworkers create a relationship
of trust with the volunteers and with you, and if the classes are cancelled that
might affect the student attendance for the remaining classes.
Communicating with the migrant farmworkers:
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
Make sure at least one farmworker at each site has your phone number.
Establish a contact person at each ESL site, and text/call them 2 days before the ESL
class to confirm that they don’t have to work that day and call/text them that morning.
Also, give that person your number, so if something comes up they can call/text you.
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Wrapping up the program:
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Have a fiesta for the final class period:
o Food, music, and hand out certificates of completion
Have a meeting with the volunteers to discuss final thoughts on the program and have
them fill out a final evaluation for the program.
Make sure to collect the sign-in sheets and student assessments from each volunteer.
Please email Brittany Moore or Melanie Sadur if you would like a PDF of any of
these documents!
Appendix A: ESL flyers
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Appendix B: English Cheat Sheet
Inglés (English)
Shovel
Tractor
Gloves
Pesticides
Water
Hot
I am sick
I am hungry
I am thirsty
Pronunciación
Shoval
Traktor
Glovs
Pest-e-sayds
Gua-ter
Hawt
Ay em sik
Ay em jon-gri
Ay em zersti
Inglés (English)
Hello
My name is _________
How are you?
I am fine
I don’t speak English
I don’t understand
Speak more slowly, please
Pronunciación
Jelo
Mai neim is ________
Jau ar yu
Ay em fayn
Ay dont spik Inglesh
Ay dont ondorstand
Spik more slo-li, plis
Can you repeat that?
Where is __________?
Ken yu repit that?
Guehr is _______?
Español
La Pala
El Tractor
Los Guantes
Las Pesticidas
El Agua
Caliente
Estoy enfermo
Tengo Hambre
Tengo Sed
Español
Hola
Mi nombre es _____
¿Cómo estás?
Estoy Bien
No hablo Inglés
No entiendo
Hable más despacio, por
favor
¿Puedes repetir eso?
¿Dónde está _____?
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Appendix C: Tutor flyers
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Appendix D: Tutor training presentation
What is the Migrant Education Program?
MISSION : The mission of the North Carolina Migrant Education Program is to help
migrant students and youth meet high academic challenges by overcoming the obstacles
created by frequent moves, educational disruption, cultural and language differences, and
health-related problems.
HOW :
◦ Identifying and recruiting migrant students;
◦ Providing high quality supplemental and support services;
◦ Fostering coordination among schools, agencies, organizations, and businesses to
assist migrant families;
◦ Collaborating with other states to enhance the continuity of education for migrant
students.
WHO:
 Age 3-21;
 Have not yet received a high school diploma or its equivalent;
 Have moved into a school district within the last 36 months;
 Whose parents, guardians, spouses, or selves have moved due to economic necessity to
obtain or seek work in agricultural production or fisheries.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/mep/
Definitions and Demographics
Definition of “Out of School Youth”
◦ According to the Migrant Education Program, Out of school youth (OSY) are
youth that are school-aged (under 22) and therefore could be enrolled in free
public education in the state of North Carolina, but are not in school due to
various reasons. Migrant farmworkers are often “out of school youth” because
they work in the fields instead of going to school.
Demographics of Farmworkers and “Migrant Stream”
o
Due to economic reasons and the
migrant seasons, migrant workers
move around throughout the year,
following the seasons of the crops
and the availability of work. A very
common “migrant stream” of the
workers is from Florida to North
Carolina, and often up to
Ohio/Michigan and back down to
Florida.
Why is Education Important?
Language:
 81 % of farmworkers surveyed spoke Spanish
 18 % spoke English,
 2 % spoke other languages
Education:

Basic outline of the Eastern, Central and Western migrant streams.
The median level of completed education was
sixth grade, with the majority (38 percent) of
farmworkers completing fourth to seventh grades.
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Activity!

Educational Barriers to Overcome
◦
◦
◦
◦
In groups, brainstorm this question:
◦ What barriers do migrant workers face in
accessing educational opportunities?
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
 Reminder: Don’t ask about documentation/social security
numbers!
Record your thoughts in order to present
them to the rest of the class
◦
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◦
◦
The team who thinks of the most wins!
Why are ESL Classes Important?
You all are absolutely pivotal in the
success of this project
Constantly moving for their job
Lack of Transportation
Language differences
Immigration status-
Lack of information on US Education system
Fear
Have to work
Personal reasons (eg. Pregnancy, drug abuse, etc)
Teaching Tips

General Guidelines/Reminders:
◦ English is one of the most difficult languages to learn!
◦ As the pilot of this project, we are relying on
you, as English tutors, to:
◦ Respect the knowledge, skills, and experience of the learners in
your program.
 Help iron out our curriculum
 Make connections with local farmworkers
 Document observations of the efficacy of the
curriculum and the class
 Aid us in preparing for a summer-long ESL
programs for many camps across Wayne and Pitt
county
◦ Having or not having had access to formal education does not
correlate to cognitive functioning, interest, and energy.
◦ Language components that might seem easy to learn, such as
using the correct personal pronouns, or distinguishing between
definite and indefinite articles, may take a long time for learners
to use appropriately

Teaching Tips: The whole list of selected teaching tips is in your
manual as well as website address to full lists of teaching tips.
Curriculum

You don’t have to finish all the lessons and
objectives
◦ They are simply a guide. Follow along the path laid down
for you through these lessons and objectives, but don’t
stress if your class doesn’t finish all the goals provided

We have provided lesson plans and worksheets
◦ Feel free to use these lesson plans and worksheets OR
create your own! The lesson plans are a guide, but you
can create your own lesson as long as it follows the
learning objectives and the vocab!
◦ Worksheets are fine to hand out every once in a while,
but don’t use them as a crutch

Materials
◦ We will provide you with dry erase boards and markers
and poster board
Creating Your Own Lesson Plans
If you don’t want to use our lesson plans, you can create your own. Here’s a general template!
Warm-up:
 This includes a review of the previous lesson. This can be done by
providing questions and answers relating to the previous lesson and
creating conversation using the past lessons
Presentation:
 Note the target language to be taught – and how you will teach it. Speak
slowly and deliberately, and try to include as many pictures and examples
as possible
Practice:
 Include the specific activities and attach any handouts to the lesson
plan. Include up to three practice activities – sequencing them from most
to least structured – slowly giving the students more freedom.
Production:
 This is where students really learn and generalize a new language
skill. Allow/encourage the students to talk about themselves, their lives,
or specific situations using their own information – but focusing on the
target language that was taught in the presentation – and practiced in the
previous activities. Include exactly what you will ask the students to do –
and that you (as throughout the lesson) intend to monitor students and
encourage and correct them as needed in their use of the target language.
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Group Lesson Planning
Co-Teaching Strategies
You will all be teaching with 1 or 2 other people.You will need to communicate with
your co-teachers to plan the lessons each week. Here are some various strategies you
might use:
 Planning:
◦ Co-teachers can meet during the week to co-plan the lesson, and pick out what
activities and materials they want to use.
◦ Co-teachers assign one of the tutors to “lead” each week. The leader that week
will write out a lesson plan, gather the materials, and create the activities, and then
email the lesson plan to the other co-teachers prior to the lesson.
 In the classroom:
◦ Co-teachers can take turns introducing new topics. (eg. Melanie teaches first topic,
Brittany teaches second, and continue switching off)
◦ Co-teachers can have a lead teacher and assistant teachers each week, and
delegate different tasks to each role.
◦ Multi-level classroom: Teachers can split up the classroom if there is a noticeably
large difference in learners’ levels. If part of the classroom knows a good amount
of English and part of the classroom knows none, split them up. The co-teachers
can then split up and teach at different speeds.
 After the lesson:
◦ All teachers are required to fill out a post-lesson survey (located on the website).

Create a lesson plan with your group,
using the materials we give you.

Present it to the class

Discuss strengths/weaknesses of the
lesson plan
Advice and Responsibilities
Your First ESL Class

Start first class by introducing yourselves and throughout the first
lesson you will learn your students’ names, since the first lesson
covers “what is your name”?
◦ Feel free to give them large nametags to place in front of them

At the end of each lesson make sure to remind the students you will
be there again the following week at the same date/time. If possible,
get one of their phone numbers as a main contact person

Cultural differences and things to note when tutoring:
◦ Don’t be alarmed if your students show up late. It is very
common in Hispanic culture to show up late, so it is not
necessarily any sort of reflection on your tutoring.
◦ Clothing: Don’t wear short shorts or skirts. Dress comfortably, in
a way that your students will respect you.
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Share any past experience with ESL teaching
Fill out survey on website each week
If for any reason you are unable to attend a
lesson, you must let your co-teachers know, as
well as Brittany/Melanie. If there is a case where
no tutors can go, we will find substitutes.
You are responsible for creating your own lesson
plans and getting your own materials.This means
there is a lot of room for creativity in your
lessons! There is no RIGHT way to teach these
lessons!
The link to the lessons and objectives online:
◦ http://migranteduesl.wordpress.com/
Appendix E: Tutor Placement survey
ESL Tutor Placement Sheet:
Name:
Email:
Address:
Cell Phone:
ESL experience: Please check all that apply

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I have never taught ESL before
I have had some ESL teaching experience
I have a lot of ESL teaching experience
I am a certified ESL tutor or teacher
Spanish language skills:
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



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No Spanish speaking skills
Basic/Beginner knowledge of Spanish
Intermediate Level of Spanish
Advanced/Conversational Level of Spanish
Native Spanish Speaker/Fluent Speaker
Do you have access to a free copy machine or printing capabilities (through school, work, etc)


yes
no
Do you have access to a car?


yes
no
Please check your availability on Sundays during the months of June to October. Use the comments
section if needed to explain availability:

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

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
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11 AM – 1 PM
12 PM -2 PM
1 PM -3 PM
2 PM – 4 PM
3 PM – 5 PM
4 PM – 6 PM
5 PM – 7 Pm
6 PM – 8 PM
Comments:
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Appendix F: Teaching Tips
ESL Teaching Methods and Tips
The following are guidelines for teachers who are new to working with adults learning English.
1. Respect the knowledge, skills, and experience of the learners in your program.
Adult English language learners come to class to learn English, not because they are
deficient in cognitive skills. Making overgeneralizations about learners is disrespectful and
counter-productive (e.g., "My students can't understand that because they are from {name
of country}" or "because they can't read and write in their own language!").
2. Where possible, build on learners' knowledge, skills, and experience in instruction.
In most cases, adult English language learners do not come to class with negative feelings
about past education. They are excited about and committed to learning English.
3. Be interactive.
Although learners (and the teacher) may be more familiar with traditional teacher-led
classes, interactive, communicative activities and classes give learners the opportunity to
use the language they need to acquire.
4. Be Patient.
Depending on learners' native languages and other factors (e.g., amount of time spent in
school, exposure to print, experience with focusing on language structures), language
components that might seem easy to learn, such as using the correct personal pronouns, or
distinguishing between definite and indefinite articles, may take a long time for learners to
use appropriately.
5. You will encounter various literacy levels, and that’s okay.
Some teachers—especially those new to teaching adult English language learners—express
concern about teaching learners who aren’t literate in their native language or never went
to school. In many ways, this concern is unwarranted. Having or not having had access to
formal education does not correlate to cognitive functioning, interest, and energy. Most
literacy-level learners will need explicit instruction in basic literacy skills (e.g.,
phonological processing, vocabulary development, syntactical processing). However, these
learners bring an array of life skills knowledge (often including some oral proficiency and
knowledge of American culture) problem-solving skills and enthusiasm to the process.
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6. The new, hip term: “Pre-literate”
Some confusion also lies with deciding who the literacy-level learners are. Some educators
and texts talk about low-level literacy students or use the term illiterates when talking about
adult immigrants who cannot read or write. The first term, while descriptive, has a mildly
negative connotation. The second term has an even stronger negative connotation. The
current term used is “pre-literate”.
7. Be aware of your English knowledge
A second step to being a successful ESL teacher is to become aware of the language and
how it is used. Be aware that certain concepts may come easily to you as an English
speaker, but may be less obvious to new English learners. Even though you have probably
spoken English for years (maybe even all of your life) and have been taught the language
formally in school, you may not be aware of many of its aspects that give non-native
speakers a hard time. Very often the things that give your students the hardest time are
things that come most naturally to a native speaker. There is not time nor space in this
manual to teach everything about the language.
Teaching Tips:
1. Maximize Student Talking Time
How: Put the students into pairs or small groups
Why:
1. Making students speak to each other instead of the teacher maximizes STT (Student
Talking Time) and minimizes TTT (Teacher Talking Time). This is a good thing because
the students are the ones who need to practice their English - you, hopefully, don't!
2. A lot of students will be using their English to speak to non-mother tongue speakers
anyway so they might as well start getting used to it. For example, my students are
Italian and they often need English to speak to other European clients and colleagues.
Some of them never use English to speak to mother-tongue English speakers at all!
2. Error Correction
How:
1. Let the students make mistakes. They need to. We all learn best through making
mistakes. Trial and error is the name of the game.
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2. Give the students time to realize they've made a mistake and try to correct it
themselves. If they can't, maybe someone else can help them. If nobody can help then
you can either step in and give the correct form or make a note of it for later.

As far as possible, correct mistakes anonymously. Do this, by making notes of
students' mistakes as you monitor then putting them on the board later and give the
students themselves the opportunity to correct them, in pairs or small groups. If no
one knows the right answer, give it to them, but only as a last resort. Anonymous
error correction is a kind way to deal with mistakes. It isn't important who made the
mistake originally - the point is, can the students all correct it? I tend to doctor the
mistakes so that even the perpetrator doesn't recognize them as his/her own.
Essentially, don’t call students out individually on their errors, since many students
are already not very confident in their ability to speak another language. Correct
them in positive ways; don’t put them down.
Teaching tip- avoid translating (especially if you know Spanish)
3. Translating
How to avoid doing it:

Refuse to give translations for new vocabulary yourself. Pretend/admit you don't speak
the student's language.

Encourage the students to guess the meaning of words they don't know or to ask each
other for help or to look it up in a monolingual dictionary instead.
Try to avoid using Spanish, even if you know Spanish. There are certain lessons however
where you are teaching a more complicated topic (such as the dangers of heat stress in the
fields), and it is okay to speak in Spanish. Also, if learners are really struggling with
understanding directions to activities, you can explain in Spanish. The most effective ESL
classes are full-immersion however, so don’t use Spanish as a clutch!
4. Common Mistake
 Taking up all of the talking time
o In an ESL class, what is the most common reason students are enrolled? They
want to speak English! And what happens when the teacher speaks most of the
time? They don’t have enough chances to actually practice their speaking skills.
Those who are new to ESL teaching often make this very crucial mistake: They
take up too much of the talking time, either because they feel uncomfortable
around silence or long pauses, or because they are over-enthusiastic to share
their knowledge. So clearly, hogging most of the talking time is out of the
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question. But, how to find the right balance between student talking time and
teacher talking time?
 As a general rule of thumb, students should speak for 70% of the class
time, while teachers speak for the remaining 30%. This means that in
most cases, your participation should be limited to giving instructions
and explaining essential points, but above all to eliciting response from
students and facilitating all types of speaking activities.
Lesson plan guide: (in your manual you have an “ESL Planning Sheet”)
o Warm-up: This includes a review (revision) of the previous lesson linked to this new
lesson; questions and answers you have written above, used to elicit conversation
using the new structures and function; to show examples of what your students will
learn in this lesson. In some countries and with some age groups this may come in
the form of a specifically designed game.
o Presentation: Note the target language to be taught – and how you will teach
it. Include how you will stimulate the student’s interest in the language and how
you might elicit from the students the language you are planning to teach. Include
details as specific as when you might model structures and dialog – and when you
will require a repeated response (choral response) from the students. Include a
structure chart for the grammar – or the dialog you intend to teach.
o Practice: Include the specific activities and attach any handouts to the lesson
plan. Include up to three practice activities – sequencing them from most to least
structured – slowly giving the students more freedom.
o Production: This is where students really learn and generalize a new language
skill. Allow/encourage the students to talk about themselves, their lives, or specific
situations using their own information – but focusing on the target language that
was taught in the presentation – and practiced in the previous activities. Include
exactly what you will ask the students to do – and that you (as throughout the
lesson) intend to monitor students and encourage and correct them as needed in
their use of the target language.
Co-teaching strategies:
o You will all be teaching with 1 or 2 other people. You will need to communicate with
your co-teachers to plan the lessons each week. Here are some various strategies
you might use:
 Planning:
 Co-teachers can meet during the week to co-plan the lesson, and pick
out what activities and materials they want to use.
 Co-teachers assign one of the tutors to “lead” each week. The leader
that week will write out a lesson plan, gather the materials, and
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

create the activities, and then email the lesson plan to the other coteachers prior to the lesson.
In the classroom:
 Co-teachers can take turns introducing new topics. (e.g. Melanie
teaches first topic, Brittany teaches second, and continue switching
off)
 Co-teachers can have a lead teacher and assistant teachers each
week, and delegate different tasks to each role.
 Multi-level classroom: Teachers can split up the classroom if there is a
noticeably large difference in learners’ levels. If part of the classroom
knows a good amount of English and part of the classroom knows
none, split them up. The co-teachers can then split up and teach at
different speeds.
After the lesson:
 All teachers are required to fill out a post-lesson survey (located on
the website).
Your first ESL class (tips):


At the end of each lesson make sure to remind the students you will be there again the
following week at the same date/time. If possible, get one of their phone numbers as a main
contact person
Cultural differences and things to note when tutoring:
◦ Don’t be alarmed if your students show up late. It is very common in Hispanic culture to
show up late, so it is not necessarily any sort of reflection on your tutoring.
◦ Clothing: Don’t wear short shorts or skirts. Dress comfortably, in a way that your
students will respect you.
Full online resources:

http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/faqs.html

http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/Teacher/sectionone/aboutlanguage.html


http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Andrews-Beginners.html
http://www.tefl.net/teaching/teaching-tip_05.htm

http://busyteacher.org/4113-5-worst-mistakes-all-beginner-esl-teachersmake.htmlhttp://teflbootcamp.com/tefl-skills/tefl-lesson-planning/

http://www.esl-galaxy.com/forum/
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Appendix G: ESL Weekly Survey- Google Form
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