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Do you use Easy True Stories in your class?
How do you use it?
There are so many great things you can do,
please share with us!
Adult Learning Centers, NYPL
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
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I'm actually going to be using Genesio's Gift from Very Easy True Stories tonight with my beginner class. We are talking about work and this story is about a custodian. I give student the pictures first without the words and see what words and sentences they can come up with on their own. Then we read it all together with the sentences, using the pictures to point out vocabulary and concepts. In addition to the accompanying activities in the book, I usually try to pick one grammar point to focus on. This story talks a lot about things that Genesio does and things that he doesn't do. I have them categorize those sentences and then point out the use of the -s ending in the positive sentences and the lack of the -s ending in the negative sentences. "He doesn't drive a big car. He drives a small car." Then students have to write positive and negative sentences of their own, making sure to use the -s ending where appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI do activities similar to what Dalena does. I also like to use the stories as a listening exercise. I start by activating their prior knowledge of the topic by showing a picture or asking questions about the topic. Then I show them pictures of some of the main vocabulary in the story or new words that they might not know. I hang pictures of this vocabulary on the board and then read the story aloud to them 2x pointing to the pictures when appropriate. After, I ask yes/no questions (they hold up yes/no cards to respond) to see if they understand what they have heard. Once I distribute the story I have the students read it in pairs. (With a more advanced class I might distribute a Cloze version of the story to the students and have them fill in the missing words as I read the story the second time.)
ReplyDeleteI recently modified "Mary Walks Home" to use in my NRS 2-3 class to practice the past tense which we had been working on for a while. The story's about an 82 year old woman who lives 8 miles from work and spends 3 hours walking home every night. I introduced the subject matter by asking students how they came to class and how long it took them. Then I said I was going to tell a story, but there were going to be many mistakes; students would have to hit the desk (alt. use a buzzer) and correct me. As a quick review, I wrote some (but not all) of the verbs they were going to hear in the present tense on the board and elicited the past tense. Then I read the story, repeating as necessary and having students correct me (e.g "she goed home and eated dinner") . Students loved it, both being able to correct the teacher and the unbelievable nature of the story. As a follow up activity, I handed out three cards to each students, each with a present tense verb we had seen before. I tasked them to form the past tense of these words and write a short story of a couple sentences using all three.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI’m currently teaching a beginner class and I have been using the stories to as prescribed. After reading the modifications you have all made I feel more confident in trying something new. You all have made great connections between reading for understanding and teaching grammar. Your ideas are very helpful! Thank you!