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Teacher Judy (March 2023)
Teacher Judy (March 2023)
Morning Session
Judy 外師 co-teaching Taitung 1.pdfAfternoon Session
Judy____Engagement____2sharing_____Compatibility_Mode.pdfAngel's Presentation (December 2023)
Angel's Presentation (December 2023)
Angel's Presentation 20231226.pptx
DI.docxDifferentiated Instruction With Ben LU
Differentiated Instruction With Ben LU
Thanks to Ben Lu for his workshop on differentiated instruction (DI).
Here's his padlet.
The posters made as part of the workshop are shared below and on the left is Ben's handout. The handout has lots of background info on DI and suggested resources for those interested. Among the practical strategies mentioned during the workshop, seating students by ability level (either homogenous or heterogenous) and using multi-colored sticky notes during differentiated activities were two techniques that stuck out.
111學年度國小用書各版本單字句型彙整表_3-5年級.xlsxCounty-Wide Final Test Resources
County-Wide Final Test Resources
It's 共評 season! That means the County-Wide Final Test is approaching. Here are some resources to help prepare your students for the test.
This is spreadsheet has the main sentence patterns for different English textbooks used throughout Taitung. Download it, print it on a big sheet of A3 and see how it stacks up with the textbook you use. Big thank to Director Yvonne at Fushan Elementary for putting this together.
Click here for John-Michael's review Kahoots. These are a fun way to prep students for the test. Teachers can look through the questions to see what type of material they might need to spend a bit of extra time on!
AI & Lesson Design
AI & Lesson Design
Here's an example of lesson designed with the help of AI.
Follow Me 8 Units 3 & 4 cover illnesses and locations. For a story-based lesson, ChatGPT was given this prompt:
Please write a story for four year old non-native English speakers. I want to include the words cold, fever, headache, stomachache, train station, bookstore, coffee shop, nearby, restaurant, movie theater. The story should be funny, have a twist and be no longer than 100 words.
Here's the reply:
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a little girl named Lily. One chilly morning, Lily woke up with a fever, a headache, and a stomachache. Her mommy decided to take her to the train station to see if they could find a cure. As they walked, they passed a bookstore and a coffee shop. But guess what? The train station was closed! Lily's mommy had an idea. They went to a nearby restaurant, where the chef made them a special soup. After eating, they felt better and went to the movie theater instead. Lily learned that laughter is the best medicine. The end!
To make the story conform more closely to students' previously learned content, the story was changed as such (new words are underlined):
Lily is sick. She has a fever, a headache, and a stomachache. She needs a doctor. There isn’t a hospital nearby. Lily and her mom go to the train station. The train station is on Red Street. Oh no, there isn’t a train today. Lily’s mom has an idea. There is a restaurant nearby. The restaurant is on Blue Road. The cook has a special soup for Lily. Lily eats the soup. Wow, she is better, now! Lily and her mom go to the movie theater. Today is a good day.
Sentence by sentence, this story was fed into Padlet's image generator feature using the instruction A realistic painting of... See the images on the right to see what it came up with.
The images were put into a PPT which will accompany a story told by the teacher with supplemental sentences and drawings on the whiteboard. Students will then read the story and answer comprehension questions in a Kahoot to end the lesson.
Standards-Based Oral Assessment Activities
Standards-Based Oral Assessment Activities
Dr. Liu, a professor at National Taipei University of Education, gave a workshop on the theory and design of effective oral assessments and related instruction. See the notes below and links to relevant resources for more info!
Dr. Liu began his presentation by posing an important question: How do you show students the value of learning English? He posited that one way to do this is to provide the most stimulating and interesting learning environment possible. In this context, Dr. Liu argues that students are able to see English as an interesting and valuable subject to learn. He recommended a low-stress environment that exposes students to a high volume of input (similar to Stephen Krashen's Optimal Input Hypothesis).
In discussing the importance of aligning assessment and instruction, Dr. Liu encouraged teachers to consult the curriculum guidelines. For English teachers, follow the link and go to p.53 of the Curriculum Guidelines for the subject of English. Here one will see that official MOE policy states, "Oral tests, listening quizzes, written reports and portfolio evaluations are viable alternatives to pen-and-paper tests" (MOE, 2018). Dr. Liu encourages teachers to move away from written methods of assessment in favor of an approach that focuses on speaking and communication skills.
Finally, Dr. Liu had some interesting thoughts on phonics instruction. Dr. Liu suggested that the main focus for English learners with low to no proficiency should be on the development of speaking instead of on phonics and reading instruction. For those who are interested in this subject, please click the link below to view Dr. Liu's PPT- phonics are discussed between slides 8-10.
Useful Links
English Subject Curriculum Guidelines (Please see the 'Websites & Helpful LInks' section of the 'Suggested Resources' page on this site for other useful websites)
English Subject Section of Standards-Based Assessment of Student Achievement Website (a Chinese-language website that provides teachers with resources for designing their own oral assessments)
Sample Oral Test Question & Rubric for Follow Me! 8
Matt's notes from the workshop
Teaching Speaking & LIstening
Teaching Speaking & LIstening
Ting Dai, an advisor for the Fulbright Program, presented both theory and practical activities for teaching listening and speaking. Here are some highlights from her talk along with her presentation PPT and a PDF of listening activities. Enjoy and thanks Ting!
Here are some things to keep in mind while teaching listening. To help build students’ listening skills, we can maximize input & incorporate listening activities. Think about the following when considering the listening input you wish to provide to your students:
Simple & Comprehensible: Not too hard, not too easy
Authentic: Consider using real-life audio examples to supplement what the book provides
Specific: Input created to achieve a particular learning objective
Intentional: Repetition and routine are important; spend time on classroom English
Click the link below for some practical listening activities...
Ting reminded us that when teaching speaking, it's important to remember that in a classroom students need an authentic reason to speak. Speaking activities should be low-stress and provide students with an authentic and interesting task that gives them a reason to speak.
Click the PPT link below for some practical speaking activities (the speaking activities begin around slide 57).
5 Strategies to strengthen instruction of speaking and listening
5 Strategies to strengthen instruction of speaking and listening
Megan Gilmore, an advisor for the Fulbright Program, offered 5 useful strategies for planning lessons designed to increase student opportunities to practice speaking and listening. Whether you're a new teacher or a seasoned veteran, these are great strategies to keep in mind when lesson planning. Contact Matt for more info about the practical applications.
Be Expressive
Make space for creativity and humor in the class
Practical application: Ask students to create and compare intentionally false sentences: instead of I'm a doctor, students could say I'm a hospital. It's funny, it gets attention and offers a chance to correct and expand on the original sentence- I'm a doctor, not a hospital.
Keep it Relevant
Keep lessons relevant and interesting for students by connecting instruction and activities to things students are interested in.
Practical application: Try bringing real objects (realia) into the classroom. Mystery Box is a great activity for any topic for which you can find representative objects to bring into the classroom.
Keep the Whole Class Involved
The goal of learning a language is communication: don't let students get through an English class without communicating in some form.
Practical application: Come up with a system for getting everyone to participate in class that builds interest and makes students attentive while other people are speaking.
Whole class bingo: each student in a row (front-back/side-side) needs to speak to earn points.
Think, Pair, Share: It takes time to build students' confidence and skill to the point where they can do this, but it's worth it!
Exit Tickets: Students answer a question before walking out the door
Get Students Active
Give your students a chance to get up and moving during class
Practical application: Gallery walks give students a chance to take turns asking and answering questions about picture. Songs give students a chance to get up and move around. 4 Corners gives students a reason to get up and moving.
Add Mystery & Suspense
Create a fun, interesting and authentic need for students to use English in class
Practical application: Information gaps, bomb words, and guessing games like Keyhole (guess a picture after only being shown a 'keyhole' view of it) all add mystery and suspense to lessons
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