The lesson outlined below went quite well last night. I did make a few changes which I will describe here. Students commented that it was interesting and that they understood the article with my scaffolding. So that was WONDERFUL! The area where I made my change was after we did the Read Aloud. It was getting late, people were tired and I did not want them to read the article in groups or individuals for fear of losing them. I also did not do the quiz. They had only been in class for two days and the reading was really much much higher than their level. So this is how it was adapted. After doing a read aloud with me. We did a choral reading. As we came across the words on the vocabulary list, we decided as a group what a good definition would be in English. For some words like rubber raft and air mattress, we made silly drawings. Next I ask each student to highlight one sentence that they liked. We talked about why they might like a sentence such as a new fact, something they learned, a new vocabulary word, etc. I then had them copy the sentence on an index card which they handed into me. I used these cards to create a dictation. During the read aloud we talked about how many people live in Houston and compared it to LA. We found out that LA is about twice the size of Houston. We talked about why the mayor did not want people to leave. The visual I gave the class is by asking them how is the parking lot when they leave class on time. They told me the parking lot had a long line of cars. I said hmmmm..There are maybe 200 people leaving. What would happen if 2 million tried to leave. We also talked about the fatalities and casualties. The article we read said there were 2. I knew the article was old and that there were more. What was interesting is that I found different numbers on every spot we traveled to on the Internet. So we just decided it was around 20. Next we looked a the number of Katrina casualties. There were over 1000. We talked about possible causes and reasons. That was it. The class was over. We had a big round of applause for being able to read a newspaper article on day 3. I took some pictures of students highlighting and will share them here.
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This is the first week of my last semester before retirement. This semester I have access to the pro version of NEWSELA. Many people are doubtful whether NEWSELA is useful at as low a level as I have. However, I am a proponent of extensive reading. I am very tired of reading the terrible readings in my text book. I want our reading to be relevant and interesting. I will start by printing out the readings and teaching students how to read using highlighters, and how to wade through vocabulary. After I feel that they have some techniques down, I will get them their NEWSELA accounts and see if they use them. I plan on giving them extra points for ever article they complete.
Here is how I plan on starting. I have the article on Hurricane Harvey which is at a second grade level. It is attached here. Before Reading 1) Ask students if they have any experiences with Hurricanes. Research with the class what the difference is between a typhoon and a hurricane. Have students talk about their experiences with the class. Try to elicit some key words. There may be a lot of native speak at this time but that is ok. What we are looking for is a shared experience to bond the class. 2) Handout the vocabulary sheet. Located here.
We will be using a Read Aloud to cover this first reading. We will start with the picture and try to make a few sentences about what they see in the picture. We will make note of the method of travel and relate it to some of the vocabulary for other possible methods of travel. 1)I will read it with the students and explain in English any difficulties in understanding. I will define the vocabulary in English and have the students write down the English definition in column 3 of the vocabulary worksheet. 2)I will then have them read it in small groups. 3)I will then have them read it individually. I will ask questions for comprehension for each process. Post Reading We will take the quiz together and I will students locate where the answer for each question is. I will teach them the following sentence frame. The answer is on line ____________. I will ask students to take the reading home and reread it again. We will stay on this topic with another reading from NEWSELA (next week if we have time) Today in New York City, my husband and I packed up to go out for the day at the 911 Memorial Museum. I had my phone, chargers, and cables at the ready along with my wifi hotspot to ensure that I had enough charge and battery power to last the day. Note: it was the day of the eclipse. As we got downtown, my phone blacked out. Oh no. I tried restarting it, nothing happened. I then reset it and was able to get a boot screen which I was able to figure out how to reset the settings. Still a black screen. Unfortunately, I had a dinner date with a colleague and now I didn't know the address where we were to meet because it was in my text messages. So I tried logging onto Google but I had two step authentication which required a text message. No luck. Then I tried to use another option but I had not saved my backup codes. No luck. So, fortunately, I had memorized the OTAN support number and called the Director who gave me Branka Marceta cell phone number. I text her in Denver to text my friend Nell Eckersley with whom I had the dinner appointment. She directed Nell to text my husband. When I went to Nell's office, I googled Project Fi support and within 20 minutes they had trouble shot the problem and are sending me a new phone that will be in my hands by Thursday. What did I learn from this?
1) Keep two step authentication but download the back up codes, put them in Google Keep and share the file with a significant other. 2) Have a critical number memorized to help you locate your friends LOL 3) Go with Project FI. The best cell phone service ever. No BS just great customer service. |
Susan Gaer
A veteran teacher tackling the lowest levels of ESL instruction. Archives
August 2017
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