ESOL Teaching Ideas
It's impossible to cover every type of activity in the course, so this is a (hopefully helpful) forum for sharing additional ideas. If you have any great ideas/ activities etc that you would like to share, please email me
TEACHING MIXED-LEVEL CLASSES
Teaching mixed- or multi-level classes is something that many of us will encounter at some stage in our careers. It presents special challenges as we try and cater to the needs of all of our students - who all have different linguistics needs. Here are some tips that will hopefully be helpful for you:
TIPS
1. Can have self-access phase in lesson
2. Set activities that are open-ended so that Ss can respond to their own level
E.g. (a) Brainstorming 'things going on now' - Ss can say "I'm sitting." OR "There is an elderly man talking with his friend on his cell phone."
(b) Cloze activity - Ss can choose vocabulary at their level. (Another option is to give lower Ss the words to choose from)
3. Mix groups up so that sometimes they are mixed-level and sometimes are same-level
4. Arrange activities so collaboration is involved
E.g. Memorizing: - Ss memorize new words a set of new words, then divide the class into 2 mixed-level groups. The number of words that each student memorized correctly is added to the scores of the other team members. If Ss can give each other hints, this is a great way of promoting peer teaching and collaboration. This can also be used for using vocabulary or grammar correctly in a sentence.
5. Use different criteria for 'success'
E.g. sometimes 'speed' sometimes imagination
6. Ensure Ss listen to each other, by asking "What did - say?"
7. If some Ss don't know words, have the higher Ss explain in complete sentences - they are then practicing structures they know and the lower Ss are getting input in different ways
8. For homework, ask the students to write something about the topic you covered in class. At the beginning of the following class the students present their homework. So students can use their different levels as the write their essays, dialogues, etc. and everybody learns when they read and listen to each others.
( Thanks to Bernadette Ludwig for her suggestions)
(Click here for example of cloze activity)
