Key Strategies for Developing Oral Language

Being able to talk and express your thoughts clearly is vital in life. Yet, too many students are graduating without sufficient experience with group discussions, or arguing their ideas effectively, and they are finding themselves unprepared for the communication demands of college and their careers.

How can we prepare our students for these rigors?

To lay a better foundation for this learning, we can do a few things: we can value oral language development, we can value communication of ideas over grammatical correctness, and we can value oral language as a powerful way to learn and remember content.

Here are three strategies to help develop oral language skills.

Strategy One: Adapt Activities to Include Authentic Talk

Adapting current activities to include more authentic, original, and extended discussions gives students opportunities to contribute more than one sentence to a conversation. Sometimes, we miss the opportunity to encourage language development. For example, many teachers use some form of a jigsaw activity, in which students get into expert groups, read a text, and answer questions or fill in charts. They then go to mixed home groups to share their information. Yet, often what happens is this: students just read aloud what another student has copied from a resource — and opportunities for oral language development are lost.

To improve this strategy, you can have the experts engage in a discussion of what to put, in their own words, onto paper. Then, they can rehearse what they’ll say — covering their papers to avoid reading aloud. Then in home groups, you can have each person glance at their notes, cover them again, and share with the group members, who listen and take notes. You can even ask students to try to speak in paragraphs, starting with a general claim or topic sentence, and then support it with evidence sentences. For example, in this video, notice how the talk evolves as students prepare their ideas for sharing.

Strategy Two: Use Activities that Develop Strong Language

Use activities that allow students to develop a “stronger and clearer” answer, as they talk to different partners successively in an activity. Instead of the all-too-common whole class discussion, with the teacher asking questions and a few students answering, ask a question and have students talk to three different partners. Or have students talk in different groups (see this 1-3-6 activity video).

A crucial aspect of this strategy is that students shouldn’t say the same thing each time; rather, they need to build on the language and ideas of previous partner(s) to improve, expand, clarify, and support their evolving answer each time they share it.

Example Activities (from Zwiers, O’Hara, Pritchard, 2014):

Interview Grid: Students talk with one different partner each time, making their answers stronger and clearer each time, taking minimal, if any, notes on the chart. Note that this activity can also work using inner-outer conversation circles, such as the one in this Debrief Circles video.

Opinion Formation Cards: Students receive a quotation from the text (before it’s read) that includes evidence for one side or the other of an issue. Students share their quotations and their evolving opinions, with reasons and evidence for them.

Opinion Continuum: Students share where they fall on the continuum of a two-sided issue and why. At the end, they share if they shifted at all along the continuum based on their conversations with partners.

Strategy Three: Use Strong Discussion Prompts

Try to use discussion prompts that foster evaluation in some way. Evaluation is usually needed for ranking, prioritizing, and choosing. For example, if you ask for evidence of a theme or a claim, many students just find the first three remotely evidence-y things they can, and stop there. But if you prompt students to rank the evidence from strongest to weakest, or to find the most influential cause of some war, you can often get deeper thinking and better conversation.

When students evaluate, their ideas often differ. And if you allow them time to argue and negotiate the ideas, lots of learning can happen.

Fun with homophones!

9 Ways to Correct Students Without Correcting Them

Try These 9 Simple Ways to Correct Your Students Without Correcting Them

1. 1

   The Stare

   If a student answers a question incorrectly or grossly mispronounces a word, fail to respond to him and rather stare blankly or with a raised eyebrow, like you heard no words. You will convey there was a failure in communication without correcting with your body language cues, and those cues are actually a more powerful way of encouraging a second, third, and even fourth attempt for a right answer. The student will naturally want to try harder to communicate with you.
2. 2

   “Is There Another Way to Say That?”

   Do not tell her she is wrong, but ask if maybe there is another way (with the implication of better way) to answer your question or communicate. The question will trigger a thought process in which she scans her mental thesaurus.
3. 3

   “What Word Did We Learn Yesterday?”

   This question inspires recall of lessons taught, and your student will not think you are correcting her, only seeking a different answer based on your lesson plans. It will trigger her brain to replace the incorrect word or usage with what you taught as well.
4. 4

   “Does Anyone Else Have A Thought?”

   Do not correct your student, but immediately ask if anyone else has a different answer. Keep asking until someone gives you the right response. Positively respond to all of the participation, but very positively respond to the correct answer once you find it and stop asking for more answers. The final answer will sit in their heads as the best and the most correct.
5. 5

   “Who Else Thinks That Answer Is Correct?”

   Turn it around on your students! Poll who thinks the answer is correct. The correct answer will emerge, but the student who was wrong will have commiseration from classmates that voted for her answer, diffusing the culpability in a lighthearted way.
6. 6

   “I Do Not Quite Understand You”

   This phrase indicates that the student is on the right track, but is not quite conveying what he wants to communicate. He will keep trying and rephrase his words or try another grammatical construction naturally to attempt to explain. This is much more effective than “That is not how you say that” or other negative correction tools.
7. 7

   The Repeat

   Nod in agreement with the student and then repeat what she is trying to say correctly. This shows she said it well enough to be understood and that her communication was relayed, but the correct pronunciation or grammar will stick in her mind. For example, if she asks, “I go to bathroom?” say, “Can I go to the bathroom? Yes you can go to the bathroom.”
8. 8

   Ask Someone Else

   If someone answers incorrectly, just ignore her and ask someone else until you receive the right response!
9. 9

   A Game with Rewards

   Do not correct wrong answers, but reward the right answer. This is the oldest teacher trick to inspire participation. Give candy, points, prizes, etc. if students answer you correctly, but do not even acknowledge wrong answers.

With a little bit of practice, you can succeed at never correcting your students but always finding the right answer! You will notice higher participation in your activities as well as increased learning in your classroom by employing these techniques and always making wrong right.

More from the author Devon Reeser

Great vocabulary games!

Here´s an excellent page to find new ways to practice, review and recycle vocabulary, get flashcards and overall teaching ideas.

Hello fellow PNIEB teacher, here are some easy steps to correctly plan your social practice, let´s begin:

1. Identify the product for your specific competency
2. Identify the achievements for your specific competency. 

3. Analyze how these achievements are related with the product and the specific competency. 

Tip: The achievement must always be present and will be reviewed at different moments. 

4. Analyze the suggested product stages for your specific competency in the syllabus

a. Identify the opening, development and closure stages.

5. Select and write on separate pieces of paper the stages that will be used in your team’s planning. From the suggested stages, some may be eliminated, or additional stages can be included.

You should have at least 3 main moments: 

Initial

Development

Closing 

6. Review the contents for the unit being planned and relate them to the different project stages.

7. Identify which contents are necessary for the initial, development and closing stages of the development of the product. 

Contents may be repeated

8. Answer the following four questions:

Is the relationship between the product and the specific competency clear?

Do the stages on your plan guarantee the elaboration of the product and the development of the specific competency?

Are the three types of content articulated in the different stages?

Will the achievements be reached with this plan?

9. Decide how long the development of the product will take. 

10. Assign times to each product stage

11. Choose one of the stages of the product development to be designed.

12. Brainstorm different activities (communicative situations) that could be carried out to work on this stage of the product. 

Write a list of possible activities.

13. Plan a Stage.

14. Consider the following elements and write them on a sheet of paper: 

Clarify the purpose of this stage.

Determine the logical sequence of activities and the time for it.

Identify assessment methods.

15. Determine the final activities in your classroom.


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Guidelines for new (and not so new) teachers Part 1

One of the most significant things you can do to affect student conduct is to establish effective daily events in your classroom. Doing so will allow you to be organized and appear in control. It will also allow students to take responsibility for themselves because they will know what to do. Time is also used more effectively in classrooms with established daily procedures. The tips that follow offer suggestions that will help you establish effective daily procedures in your classroom.

What You Should Do:
Set up procedures for the following classroom activities:

• Entering the classroom
• Taking roll
• Dealing with tardy students 
• Dealing with students who lack materials 
• Labeling student papers 
• Preparing to leave at the end of class 

  How To Do It: 

Entering the Classroom 

Begin each lesson with a brief warm-up or ice breaker activity such as a game, vocabulary review, etc, in the following link you can find many warm-ups or ice breaker activities to use in your classes:
Warm-ups and Icebreakers for classroom games and activities

Before students arrive, post the warm-up activity on the board and make a list of the materials needed for the lesson. If there is a new homework assignment, post it on the board, too. If necessary, remind students to sit in their assigned seats. It may be helpful (and even necessary) to attribute a small portion of a daily grade to these warm-up exercises, you can then include it as a participation grade, but being a fun, short and interactive activity, everyone would be delighted and eager to participate.

Taking Roll
Use a quick method of taking roll as students participate in the opening activity or as they turn in their homework. On the first day of school, set up a seating chart, which you can use to support the students in sitting in their assigned seats. Throughout the year, use the chart to take roll quickly. If students say someone is not absent, but the student is not in the room, simply state that to be considered present a person needs to be working or sitting down when the bell rings or when you enter the classroom.

Dealing with Tardy Students 
Have a plan for dealing with tardy students. An alternative would be to allow a small interruption, quickly update your attendance sheet and move on. Be sure to point out to the tardy student the consequence of habitual tardiness. You may be able to prevent a majority of late students by holding them accountable for lateness. For example, you might dock a student's participation grade by half a point for every three times tardy.

Dealing with Students Who Lack Materials
If you are unable to get extra copies of your books, have students who arrive without their book share with classmates whom you designate. But not bringing the school materials should have a consequence; permitting students get by without the required materials might send the signal that it is okay to leave materials at home.

Labeling Student Papers
Ask students to write their name, the date, your name, the period number, and the assignment on every paper they turn in to you. You will probably need to remind students of this often. Don´t accept any unlabeled paper, returning it immediately to the student that turned it to you and asking him to write the proper information. Explain that if you cannot determine to whom a paper belongs or which assignment it might be, you cannot give credit for the work.

Preparing to Leave at the End of Class
Everything that has a beginning should have an end to be complete, have a signal for when students may prepare to wrap up the class. For most students, the bell means it is time to drop everything, stuff it all in their backpacks, and leave or wait for their next class, lunch, or home. You can ask students not to leave until you have signaled that class is over. Request that they not pick up their backpacks or other bags until they are dismissed. Allow time for closure and clarification of assignments. Then give your dismissal signal. Try always to include a game, a song, an activity which is fun, short and interactive as a wrap-up to leave them craving for more, but also that has something to do with the day´s lesson.

To be continued………………………

 If you have any comments or more ideas on this topics, please share your insights and knowledge!

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Some tips for English Language Teaching

The number of English Language Learners is growing  all over the world, as teachers we try to respond to the needs of these students, here are a few basic best practices that might help.  Using these practices makes our lessons more efficient and effective. I include a few "worst" practices in the hope that they will not be repeated!

Modeling

Do model for students what they are expected to do or produce, especially for new skills, vocabulary or activities, by explaining and demonstrating the learning actions, sharing your thinking processes aloud, and showing good teacher and student work samples. Modeling promotes learning and motivation, as well as increasing student self-confidence -- they will have a stronger belief that they can accomplish the learning task if they follow steps that were demonstrated.

Don't just tell students what to do and expect them to do it.

Rate of Speech and Wait Time

Do speak slowly and clearly, and provide students with enough time to formulate their responses, whether in speaking or in writing. Remember, they are thinking and producing in two or more languages! After asking a question, wait for a few seconds before calling on someone to respond. This "wait time" provides all students with an opportunity to think and process, and especially gives ELLs a needed period to formulate a response.

Don't speak too fast, and if a student tells you they didn't understand what you said, never, ever repeat the same thing in a louder voice!

Use of Non-Linguistic Cues

Do use visuals, sketches, gestures, intonation, and other non-verbal cues to make both language and content more accessible to students. Teaching with visual representations of concepts can be hugely helpful to ELLs.

Don't stand in front of the class and lecture, or rely on a textbook as your only "visual aid."

Giving Instructions

Do give verbal and written instructions -- this practice can help all learners, especially ELLs. In addition, it is far easier for a teacher to point to the board in response to the inevitable repeated question, "What are we supposed to do?"

Don't act surprised if students are lost when you haven't clearly written and explained step-by-step directions.

Check for Understanding

Do regularly check that students are understanding the lesson. After an explanation or lesson, a teacher could say, "Please put thumbs up, thumbs down, or sideways to let me know if this is clear, and it's perfectly fine if you don't understand or are unsure -- I just need to know." This last phrase is essential if you want students to respond honestly. Teachers can also have students quickly answer on a Post-It note that they place on their desks. The teacher can then quickly circulate to check responses.

When teachers regularly check for understanding in the classroom, students become increasingly aware of monitoring their own understanding, which serves as a model of good study skills. It also helps ensure that students are learning, thinking, understanding, comprehending, and processing at high levels.

Don't simply ask, "Are there any questions?" This is not an effective way to gauge what all your students are thinking. Waiting until the end of class to see what people write in their learning log is not going to provide timely feedback. Also, don't assume that students are understanding because they are smiling and nodding their heads -- sometimes they are just being polite!

Encourage Development of Home Language

Do encourage students to continue building their literacy skills in their home language, also known as "L1." Research has found that learning to read in the home language promotes reading achievement in the second language as "transfer" occurs. These "transfers" may include phonological awareness, comprehension skills, and background knowledge.

While the research on transfer of L1 skills to L2 cannot be denied, it doesn't mean that we should not encourage the use of English in class and outside of the classroom.

Don't completely "ban" students from using their native language in the classroom. Forbidding students from using their primary languages does not promote a positive learning environment where students feel safe to take risks and make mistakes. What you can do is turn it into a competition, assigning or taking away points for using L1.

This is certainly not a complete guide -- they are just a few of the most basic practices to keep in mind when teaching English Language Learners or a Second Language Learner.  If you agree with the previous tips and practices or would like to add more of your own, feel free to leave a comment!

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Who took the cookie?.... Teaching tips (chant used in the Rassias workshop).

Song: "Who took the cookie?"

Here´s a fun way to sing and play this chant!

Chant used in the Rassias workshop!