Upload
antonio-quinn
View
223
Download
2
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Meeting Middle School students’ needs through a theme-based approach
Sheila Brannigan
Elementary M2 Theme: Space (lesson 6/8)
Learners have just watched a video clip of the 1969 moon landing.
Tomás: “How do you say ‘pegada’?”Teacher: “It’s footprint”Tomás: “In my book ‘Fisicoquímica’ I have this picture.” (He’s talking about the moon landing footprint) Rita: “Nikki, why they put the capsule in ocean?”Teacher: “Yes. Why did they put the capsule in the ocean?
Can anybody say?”
A theme-based approach:
Aims to get learners using English ‘in a purposeful way to find out things and do things which have meaning and interest for them and to communicate the results to others’
Jayne Moon Children Learning English
In theme-based teaching
…many different activities are linked together by their content; the theme or topic runs through everything that happens in the classroom and acts as a connecting thread for pupils and teacher.
Lynne Cameron Teaching Language to Young learners
Benefits of a theme-based approach enhancing language learning by providing
motivating topics to communicate about enhancing language learning by providing
meaningful, purposeful language practice opportunities drawn from a variety of topics
Myriam Met
Topic web: Spies Beginner level
maths
technology
History/geography
citizenship
art
stories
drama
Spies
Spies
Stories: Spycat
Write a story about a spy character
Lexis related to spies
Present simple and continuous tenses
Spies
citizenship
Find out about CIA K-9 Corps(Spy dogs)
Reading (website) Info swap
Lexis: spy dogsProcess language
Hi, my name is Arno. I am a Belgian Malinois. I was born in the Netherlands. At the CIA, my main job is to find explosives, but I am also trained to find bad guys.
Spies
Maths
Read and write messagesusing secret codes
Consolidation of alphabetLexis related to codes
theme: subject areas: tasks: language outcomes
maths
technology
History/geography
citizenship
art
stories
drama
Spies
CONTENT-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING:
A CONTINUUM OF CONTENT AND LANGUAGEINTEGRATION (Myriam Met)
Content-Driven
Language-Driven
Total and Partial Immersion
Subject Courses Taught in L2 Sheltered classes (Brinton, Snow & Wesche) Foreign language-enriched university courses (Jurasek, et al.) LxC (Straight) Content-based FLES (Curtain & Pesola)
Subject Courses Plus Language Instruction Adjunct model (Brinton, Snow & Wesche) English for Academic/Social Purposes, Business French Content-enriched FLES (Curtain & Pesola)
Language Classes Based on Themes Theme-based courses (Brinton, Snow & Wesche) Thematic units Area studies (Leaver & Stryker)
Language Classes with Frequent Use of Content for Practice Multi-disciplinary activities used to improve language proficiency Content-related FLES (Curtain & Pesola)
Benefits of a theme-based approach enhancing language learning by providing
motivating topics to communicate about enhancing language learning by providing
meaningful, purposeful language practice opportunities drawn from a variety of topics
Myriam Met
Researching 10-12 year old learners’ wants and needsWhat things do you want to do in class? We want play games, listen music and see a
film; songs; school work; never, never read!; group work
What other topics do you want to study? Animals, the UK, favourite food, ‘Dog hotel’,
sports, ‘Brainiac’, football players, countries and nationalities, celebrities, ordinal numbers and dates
Meaning in YLs’ language learning
Language learners develop their language by: accumulating memory-based chunks of
language which they then combine to build language.
inducing underlying rules from the language they see and hear (gaining implicit knowledge of the language rules), or become consciously aware of rules by studying the language (gaining explicit knowledge of the language rules).
McKay
Meaning in YLs’ language learning
…older elementary age learners still tend to rely strongly on a formulaic system (using chunks to understand and get their meaning across).
Skehan’s theory helps to highlight the differences between adult and child SLA, in particular children’s greater reliance on the formulaic system, and their subsequent need for a rich language use environment. McKay
Theme: Adventures in the Past Beginner level (Week 1/5)The class were looking at a page from a factual authentic book on the
first people (show page)Diogo: How do you say ‘extinto’?T: It’s ‘extinct’.Diogo: The mamuth (Portuguese word) is extinct.T: Yes, that’s right Diogo. Mammoths are extinct. Which other animals
in the picture are extinct? … (No responses from students) OK, are elephants extinct?
Various learners: No.T: What about tigers? Etc. through the animals. What about sabre
toothed tigers?Gonçalo: ExtintoT: Yes, they are extinct, aren’t they.
Two weeks later:
T: Who are they? (Showing an image of cavemen)
Ana Rita: The cavemen live in Africa and they espalhar for the rest of world.
T: They spread to the rest of the world. That’s great Ana Rita.
Language in a theme-based approach Language is used to explore content, and
language growth emerges as students need to comprehend or produce language related to content.
Myriam Met
Create a classbook
Film clipNight at Museum
Make a map:the American
west
Story:Sacagawea
Orderpast peoples
Read: the first people
Quiz: Ancient Egypt
AdventuresIn thepast
The first people: Reading comprehensionRead and complete the sentences Ancestor = antepassado
The first people lived on the continent of ……………………………..Other animals have ……………………. and …………………… to
protect them. Other animals have ………… to keep them warm.The first people didn’t have …………………….. or
………………………….They had to use their brains to …………………………. things.The first people invented ……………………., ………………,
…………………….. and ways of making ……………………………
Adapted from ‘Wow! People and Places’ by Gerard Cheshire, Salariya Books 2008
The first people: speaking activity
Student A: Look at the map. Talk about the animals to your partner. Try to say a lot.
The bear has got fur. The tiger has got … and ….
Student B: Look at the map. Talk about the people to your partner.
The people have got clothing. That man has got ... and …
Theme: Space Elementary M2 Create an invention for an astronaut
My invention is a special cooker that prepares and cooks food for the astronaut. The astronaut puts ingredients in the cooker. The cooker prepares a delicious meal. The ingredients don’t float away. The astronaut puts her face inside the cooker and eats the meal. I think you will agree it is an excellent invention.
Draw and describe your invention
Theme: Up in the sky (4/6 lessons)Pre-intermediate level M3 Children learn about Daedalus and
Icarus and reconstruct the text in groups through dictogloss.
Children learn about wings, flying and birds.
Theme: Roald Dahl project term 1Intermediate level M4 Roald Dahl Find out about Roald Dahl Class reader: Fantastic Mr Fox Term ends with a project related to Dahl and Fantastic Mr Fox.
Input in relation to Intake
How much of the language learning that goes on in a classroom is in the control of the teacher?
Dave Willis
Input in relation to Intake
…students learn a great deal directly from exposure to language through reading
and listening, without the need for the teacher to impose a description on what is
learnt.Dave Willis The Lexical Syllabus Collins ELT iv
A theme-based approach requires:
Knowledge of a wide repertoire of activity types and resources for planning
Avoiding children spending too long on activities like drawing or making without using English
Time to find or create or adapt materials Process language which is essential for a large number
of activities Language outcomes suitable for level and a language
rich environment giving learners sufficient exposureGood idea to plan with other teachers – experiment, learn
English for the future
Learning how to communicate in English in meaningful ways drawn from a variety of discourse areas is essential for our YLs’ future use of English
Sheila Brannigan