November 4, 2016

Week 7: Civics

TEACHING RESOURCES Many ELT student books come with audio scripts at the back. However, these are sometimes not exploited to the full. Here are 25 ideas for how to make better use of this resource. There are suggestions for using the audio script before listening to the audio, while listening to the audio and after listening to the audio. 25 Ideas for Using Audio Larry Ferlazzo The Best Resources for Teaching Current Events The Best Places Where Students Can Tell Their Immigration Story 18 National Flags Made From Each Country’s Traditional Foods National Flags from Traditional Foods -    -     -     -    -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     - THE GREAT DEPRESSION - TABE E Reader - Story (Word Doc and PDF in the TABE E Reader, see Civics Wiki: alc-civics.wikispaces.com/home) Harlem TABE E teacher Pat Lynden and Elke added 1-4 questions for each paragraph of the story, for group/class discussion or writing activities: Download Word doc. TABE E Reader Story: “The Great Depression” (pages 67-72) Discuss the questions with a partner or in a group. Write down short answers. In class, depending on time, answer the first two questions for each paragraph (or more). Intro Paragraph: Who had money trouble in the 1930s? How many people were out of work? When was the Great Depression? (Total 25 questions) The word doc/PDF on the wiki also includes a Huffington Post article about Donald Trump. The article compares Donald Trump's policies with the Great Depression. While the article is biased (not Trump friendly), it is great practice for "Fact and Opinion" Literacy Skills (also different exercises in "Achieving TABE E Success "Book, pp 197-200). Great for Literacy students, also useful with ESOL students. Here are two websites comparing Clinton and Trump policies: Washington Post InsideGov.com Have you had student elections? If I were president... If so, please share :)

FROM YOUR COLLEAGUES

CLASS PROJECT SHARED BY LIZZ KAUNE (BLC) Hi Teachers, Here is a very brief description of what we did in class.  If you want more details, please email me directly (elizabethkaune@nypl.org). Tuesday  I passed out the 3 pictures of the 3 buildings that represent the 3 branches of govt I elicited the names of the buildings Ss watched the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt5K4ZK0ILY I passed out some information on word strips and Ss matched each strip to the correct building (see the first picture below) Next, I  passed out some "discussion questions" from the video (What are the 3 branches of govt? Where does the President live? Who works in the Capitol Building? How many Supreme Court Justices are there?) Ss discussed these questions in the group  Watch the video a second time Answer the questions in the group T writes their answers on the boards (in complete sentences) For HW Ss had to find out who the mayor of NYC is, the governor of NY, the 2 senators for NY, etc Thursday T passes out the 3 pics of the 3 buildings again As a quiz to start the class, Ss must organize the word strips again - this time without looking at their notebooks or binders  (AND BE CLEAR TO TELL THEM NO PHONES!) T and Ss check to make sure everyone has the correct word strips matched to the correct buildings before moving on Ss watch the youtube video again T passes out some more information (new word strips, ex. - "make the laws" "execute the laws" "final say in the laws" "100 seats" "435 seats" "9 seats") Ss match this info to the correct buildings T and Ss check it over Ss glue everything on to the buildings using glue sticks T realized that she could use the "discussion questions" from last class to help Ss focus on question words T elicited the questions from last class and wrote them on the white boards (see pictures below) T and Ss discuss the questions "where" "who" and "how many" (We didn't discuss the question word "What" because the answers can be so varied) We talked about where - location, who - person or people, how many - number Ss created their own questions following the examples on the boards (see pictures below) Some groups struggled much more than others to create their own questions, but T circulated to help out when needed T wrote some of their examples on the board Next week, we will probably use the questions they created to quiz each other about the 3 branches of government. Lizz Kaune

From David Fobair Here's a couple things I recently created or adapted.  The first is the class motto that Sarah Lynn mentioned in her TNS/LAC plenery, "Mistakes are to be expected, respected, inspected, and corrected."  I used this as an activity with errors in the motto and had ss correct them and we had a discussion about mistakes as learning opportunities. The next attachment two can be used as a NYC/NY State civics and geography lesson. Best, David Note: Below are only EXCERPTS.  For the complete documents, word doc and PDF, go to the civics wiki (Teacher Uploads): alc-civics.wikispaces.com/Teacher+Uploads+%28various%29

Next week, we'll talk about highlights from the NYS TESOL Conference (Nov 4/5 in Syracuse.)

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Elizabeth & Elke