TIPS (from article linked here):
1) Students do something during (write, physical response, draw, etc)
2) Make student responses visible to you as the teacher
3) Keep it short
4) Play it again
5) Change it up -- vary the voice, content, and mode of response to keep activities interesting
Sources of Audio (click here) for use in ELD Focus and other classes.
Strategy 1: Picture Dictation
Imagine you are studying animals, geometric shapes, geographical features, architecture… anything that has features that can be put together in novel ways. Let’s go with the geometric shapes.
1) The teacher draws a “monster” using geometric shapes (but does not show it to the students).
2) The teacher describes the monster to the students, who draw what they hear.
example: The monster’s head is a long, skinny rectangle. On top of its head, it has three horns shaped like triangles. It’s body is a wide oval. It has four circular eyeballs on its stomach…
3) The students compare their drawing with the teacher’s.
4) Now it is the student’s turn! They draw a secret monster and describe it to a friend.
This activity can be done many times without becoming boring, giving students many opportunities to practice listening and speaking with the academic vocabulary you are targeting.
Extensions:
Make it a center!
Have students write the description.
Animal features: draw a mythical animal mashup.
geographical features: make a map of an imaginary island.
Architecture: design a building for… or draw your dream house.
Strategy 2: TPR for listening practice
On the board, draw a grid similar to the one below (can be adapted for any response set).
Wave your hands above your head
Hop on one foot
Cross your arms
Next, read statements that model the vocabulary and language structures you are targeting (examples below). Students respond physically to what they hear.
Sample statements (adapt to align with currently-taught standards):
Presidents are elected for four years.
Kings are chosen by the citizens of a country.
This could be a great way to practice new vocabulary and can be adapted in so many different ways. For example, the top row of the chart could be changed to Yes / Maybe / No or made to mirror a Venn diagram (one / both / the other). Informal assessment is built in with a glance around the room and misconceptions can be fixed on the spot. Feel free to contact me if you would like to bounce ideas around about how to make this work with your content.
From:
Practical Tips for Increasing Listening Practice Time
McCaughey, Kevin
English Teaching Forum, v53 n1 p2-13 2015
Strategy 3: Adobe Spark Video
This service makes it easy and very fast to create a listening file supported by visuals. Students can then listen multiple times without teacher support. If your technology resources permit, it is a great way to get students to record their own voice files, as well. The possibilities are endless.
Strategy 4: Cloze
Choose a song or or audio sample that includes the vocabulary and/or structures that you are targeting. Print the lyrics. Delete some of the words and leave spaces. As students listen to the audio sample several times, they fill in the blanks. Then, they share with a partner and with the class. Here is a tiny example of lyrics that model the conditional tense.
If I _____ a million dollars,
Well, I'd buy you a ______.
If I _______a million dollars
I’d ________a tree-fort in our ________
If I had a _________dollars
You ________help it wouldn’t be that _____... (from the Barenaked Ladies--flashback to the '90s :-)