Couchsurfing ESL Curriculum

[nice gaijin]

I've been working on this the past few weeks, and now that I've got the ball rolling, I figured I might share it, in case there are any ESL teachers out there.

This isn't just a single lesson, but a multi-handout project that could be spread over a camp or an entire semester. The general concept can be adapted for just about any level. I'm using them for my intermediate middle schoolers, but I think the more advanced the class, the more interesting things can get.

It's a bit of work, but it has a lot of potential. I'm still developing and testing the lesson plans, and my students haven't yet started "surfing" yet, but so far it's shown a lot of promise.

If you're interested in trying this, here's the brief I wrote. There's a lot there, so I don't want to repeat it.

I only ask that you let me know either here, in a comment on my article or as an email, and let me know what level and age group you'll be teaching. I would REALLY appreciate updates and feedback on how it goes.

I hope this proves useful for you, and in turn, I thank you for your help in providing feedback on its effectiveness.

one of the three or four handouts I've made so far:

 

[Glenski]

You have an extremely long-winded way of getting to the point: student-student introductions. I know this is still an ongoing project for you, but really! No wonder your students are "glassy-eyed" in class. Sorry, but that is an objective viewpoint.

 

[nice gaijin]

The point is not just student-student introductions, they could do that without all the prompting, but that's boring and they already know each other. The overall point is to create an opportunity to be creative, to build a narrative for their imaginary travels, and to share knowledge with one another. I can't just tell them to do this; they wouldn't know where to start. The project is meant to provide them a framework to practice the grammar and vocabulary they've been learning, in a series of practical situations to roleplay. It gives them a chance to be partially responsible for the scenarios they will act out, as they choose what information to record about themselves and their cities.

As it stands, the project does require a lot of set up; the students need to know about the cities they're teaching each other about, and that knowledge (along with the information they've put into their own profiles) should provide them with enough material to keep the conversation flowing. Since the handouts set an important foundation for the roleplay later on, making sure the students understand their tasks is vital in the first steps.

This is the first time it's being taught, so I'm working out the bugs as I go along. What I meant with the glassy-eyed comment was that the kids in the beginning of the week are getting an untried, unpolished lesson, and I do indeed have a bad habit of over-explaining. It doesn't help that my 1st graders are generally lower-level and their behavior is poorer than last year's 1st graders; The older students are responding to it surprisingly well, and I'm excited to see how it goes for my friends teaching advanced groups. I think the higher the student's level, the more they stand to gain from this project. I might scale back the project for my 1st graders if I can't get them to complete the first steps in a timely fashion... it would help if more than half the class actually brought their homework with them.