Transportation

Managing to get around a city is important thing when traveling or living in a new area.  Second language speakers need to be able to ask where something is or how to get somewhere.  Today’s post is about transportation and finding your way around.

Vocabulary

Car

Bus

Train

Bicycle/bike

Motorcycle

Scooter

Truck

Van

Taxi  

Boat

Plane/Airplane

Ticket

Fee

Bus fair

Grammar

How do I get to ____________?

Where can I find a(n) _____________?

How much does taking a ____________ cost?

How much for a __________ to go to ______________ from here?

Warm Up

Video

• Procedure: Teacher shows a video  and students make the noise of each transportation as it is says in the story.

Play Time

• Procedure: Teacher brings in toys about transportation and allow students to play with them. 

Practice

Charades

• Procedure: 

1. Teacher writes down various modes of transportation actions on slips of paper 
2. Students are divided into two teams
3. A representative from each team comes to the front of the class and picks a SECRET mode of transportation to ACT OUT (without saying anything) for their team
4. The first team to guess the mode of transportation correctly gets a point 
5. A new representative goes forward and acts out another mode of transportation

Arrange the Story

• Procedure: 

1. Students listen to a story twice.  The first time they just watch and listen 
2. The second time, pairs or small groups of students are given piece of paper with the different types of transportation on them (bus, airplane, boat, etc.) and they are to put them in order according to the story 

Tell me a Story

• Procedure: Students are given pictures or flashcards of a type of transportation.  Depending on the students levels, they either write a sentence or story about that type of transportation. 

Concentration

• Procedure:

1. Teacher creates game pieces of pictures of types of transportation on half the cards and then names of the transportation on the other half of the cards
2. Students in groups of 2-6 shuffle the cards and lay them face down like the picture. 

   

   Source: Crayola Teachers

3. Students take turns turning over two cards at a time.
4. If they find a match (picture that goes with the word) they keep the pair and get another turn. If students do not find a match they turn them back over in the same spot and the next students gets a chance. 
5. The game is over when there are no more cards to turn over.  The student who has the most pairs wins the game.   

Production

Drama

• Procedure: Students work in pairs to create a skit/drama about using one of the types of transportation. 

Commercial

• Procedure: Students work in pairs to create a commercial to try to persuade people to buy or use that specific type of transportation.

Story time

• Procedure: Using pictures or show a movie on mute, students write a short story (as short as a paragraph) that includes using transportation.  (Cars clip) 

Classroom Management Series #1: When Students Verbally Harass Others

This is our last classroom management post until I return to the States and I get settled.  But it is an important issue to tackle! 

Unlike last week's blog post, this one is more serious thus needing more dedication to solving these issues.  This week we are talking about students verbally harassing other students. 

What is verbal harassment?

• Name calling
• Accusing and blaming
• Saying mean jokes
• Threatening
• Criticizing and judging
• Ordering them to do things
• Constant monitoring or checking in
• Embarrassing in public
• Yelling
• Starting rumors

This is a serious issue and must be addressed immediately in order to protect the victim and addressing the underlying problem.  Please include parents, principal, and anyone else to help address long standing verbal abuse/bullying. 

Even if you see it as a one-time thing, please do not ignore.  We as teachers may not see all attempts at verbal harassment, and we are in a great position to positively influence ALL students. 

Please remember to treat all students fairly the one harassing and the one being harassed.  Students look up to you.  But if you isolate a student it will be more difficult to impact that student positively. 

Preventive Solutions

• Talk to last year’s teachers to see if any students have issues with each other
• Separate students who have had problems in the past
• Create a space where students can sit/stand to cool down after an argument or work where they feel safe 
  
• Use “Report Bullying” handout for students to fill out when they are bullied or witnessed bullying 

  

  Download a copy HERE

• Set aside “Talk with Teacher” time each week

Responsive Solutions

• Separate students immediately
• Talk to students separately
• Allow time for students to talk about it with supervision
• Ask the person harassing:
• Why are they doing it?  
• What can they do to stop it?

This will be my last scheduled post before my hiatus as I go back to the United States as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.  Please continue to check for new ideas.  

Daily Routines

We tend to do the same thing every day…get up, eat, shower, etc. etc.  Today we are going to get the basics of explaining our daily routine down. 

Vocabulary

• Wake up
• Get up
• Shower
• Wash my face/body/hands
• Eat breakfast/lunch/dinner
• Brush my teeth
• Brush my hair
• Put my make up on
• Do my hair
• Put my clothes/shoes on
• Go to school/work
• Walk/drive to school/work
• Go home
• Do my homework
• Get on the internet
• Watch TV
• Listen to music

Grammar

• Remember:  He/She/It add an “s” to the end of the verb

                         I/We/They do not add anything to the end of the very

Warm Up

Listening to a Story 

• Procedure: Students listen to a story about daily routine 

Song

• Procedure: Play song for students to sing along and dance with 

Ordered Pictures

• Procedure: Groups of students are given pictures of daily routines (getting out of bed, washing their face, going to school, etc.) and teacher asks them to put them in order There can be different “right” answers!

Word Search

• Procedure: Students look for some of the vocabulary words in a word search

  

  Check out THIS website to make your own!

Practice

Simon Says 

• Procedure: 

1. Students stand in a circle 
2. The "Simon" (the teacher) orders students to do different daily routines BUT students do the action ONLY if the "Simon" says "SIMON SAYS" 
3. If the "Simon" does not say "SIMON SAYS" the students DO NOT DO IT!

Charades 

• Procedure: 

1. Teacher writes down various daily routine actions on slips of paper 
2. Students are divided into two teams
3. A representative from each team comes to the front of the class and picks a SECRET daily routine to ACT OUT (without saying anything) for their team
4. The first team to guess the daily routine correctly gets a point 
5. A new representative goes forward and acts out another daily routine 

Arrange the Story 

• Procedure: 

1. Students listen to a story twice.  The first time they just watch and listen 
2. The second time, pairs or small groups of students are given piece of paper with daily routines on them (gets up, goes to school, eat lunch, etc.) and they are to put them in order according to the story 

Production

Oral Presentation 

• Procedure: Students prepare an oral presentation about their daily routine.  Students can create and use visual aids such as a poster or diagram 

Short Story 

• Procedure: Students write a story about themselves or someone else describing their daily routine.  Students can draw illustrations to go with their story.  

Classroom Management Series #1: When Students Make Disruptive Noises

Second to last week of the Classroom Management Series and we are coming out swinging!  As I mentioned in Monday's blog post, there are going to be some changes in my life as I transition back to a US citizen, enjoy much needed time with family and friends, and stuffing my face with my favorite foods. 

Today’s post is about disruptive noises.  What is disruptive noises you ask?  Well, it can be a variety of things.

• Students whispering and laughing-check out solutions here!
• Students clicking a pen
• Students outside of the classroom talking and laughing
• Students saying “Teacher, Teeeeeacher”
• Student drumming on their desk
• Students eating-look here here!
• Moving chairs and desks around
• Phones ringing-and here

So many things factor into students learning.  And unfortunately some students have a hard time focusing and understanding.  The things mentioned above are done by them (because they don’t understand) or divert their attention from the lesson.\

Please note that I do not expect a class to be perfectly silent!  Mine is actually the exact opposite BUT the students are discussing the lesson or demonstrating their knowledge. I encourage teachers to have an active class with guidelines!

However, we can cut down on some of the disruptive noises with easy procedures. 

Preventive Solutions

• Students are noisy outside your class?  Close the door! 

• Students think better with something in their hands (clicking pens or drumming on desks)? Give them a stress ball or something small and soft to manipulate in their hands. 

Courtesy of My life as a trauma mama made of balloon, play dough/sand, and marker

• Students moving the desks around without permission? Tie or zip tie desks together 

This is from First Grade Factory

• Need to move the desks around for an activity?  Assign students to work in pairs to move desks

Responsive Solutions

• Student clicking their pen?  Trade pens with the students (make sure to have a non-click pen though!)
• Ask the students if they know they are being distracting (and maybe ask them why are they doing it?)
• Stand by the students desk until they stop (but continue with the lesson) 

Next week's question: What do you do when students verbally harassing another? Please leave your tips in the comment section below.

Open Letter to my Readers

Hello faithful readers, how are you doing?  Things are going well in my neck of the woods.  However, life is about to change! The Hubs and I are finishing up our two year commitment to Peace Corps  and Costa Rica in the next couple of weeks.  So that means we will packing up our life here and moving back in with the parental units. 

From this 

to this 

This blog started because of the work I was doing in my community and it has come to be near and dear to my heart.  It has pushed me and challenged my creativity in the best way possible! 

While I am transitioning into my new role as US citizen again, this blog will be on a short hiatus.  In the next two months I will be moving back to my Hometown, watching a sister in law graduate college, writing resumes and filling out applications, traveling to another state to look for a job, and traveling with my husband’s family to Europe(!). Along with stuffing my face with my favorite foods (Mexican and Dr. Pepper) and visiting all my friends and family whom I have missed the past two years. So needless to say, the blog will take a hit.  And while I have had short hiatuses in the past (I am a terrible blogger) this one will help me focus on me and the direction of this blog. 

I will no longer be teaching English as Foreign Language.  I will hopefully be jumping back into teaching science or math at the middle school level (I was a science teacher for two years before becoming and Peace Corps Volunteer).  This blog will most likely represent that aspect of my teaching along with classroom management (I am crazy passionate about managing a classroom well).  I envision still trying to incorporate ESL lessons. 

So please bear with me and check back ever so often the next few weeks.  I am still going to try to post some ESL lesson plans. 

Yours truly, Erin 

Classroom Management Series #1: When Students Get Out of Their Seat without Permission

Hope you are enjoying learning new classroom management techniques!  We have been doing this for eight weeks so check out the Classroom Management tab to see the other topics we have covered if you are new to this blog. 

This week we are discussing the issue of students getting out of their seat without permission and how to handle that. 

Students get out of their seat for numerous reasons. 

• They have a question
• They cannot sit still for extended periods of time
• They have an emergency (bathroom, sick, missing or broken materials etc.)
• They want to talk to someone
• They don’t know why they are out of their seat
• They want to help you give out materials or with whatever you are doing

Whatever the reason there are different methods to dealing with this behavior.

Preventive Solutions

• Allow for stretch breaks
• For example: if you class is an hour allow for a 1 minute stretch break half way through or if you have them all day stretch every couple of hours for 5 minutes
• Make a special chart for those that are frequently getting out of their seat
• For example: if the student is in their seat for 5, 10, or however many minutes they get a sticker.  After so many stickers (you decide), the student can do an activity that allows them to move

Check out the idea at An Apple for the Teacher

• For students that are restless, put a large rubber band or string on the front legs of the chair so they can move without getting out of their seat 
  
• In your lesson planning, have an activity that allows students to get out of their seat

Responsive Solutions

• Allow students to stand behind their desk instead of sit in it 
•  move their desk to the back or side of the room
• If a student is frequently getting out of their seat to help, ask them to assist you  but only when you ask 
• can make this a reward for staying in their seat when you ask them to 

Next week's question: What do you do when students make disruptive noises (tapping pencils, clicking pens, talking to themselves, humming, etc.)? Please leave your tips in the comment section below.

Classroom Management Series #1: When students come in late

We are doing this teachers!  This week is our seventh week in this series!  Remember to check out the Classroom Management tab to read the other issues we have tackled. 

There tends to be a student or two who come in late to your class.  This can interrupt your class or this can be done quickly and quietly. We are going to talk about how to deal with late students without interrupting the other students. 

 Preventive Solutions

• Late students fill out a short form explaining why they are late instead of telling you 

  

  Download for FREE here

• Have all students practice coming in late the way you want them too
• Hang a poster on the outside of the door telling students what to do
• Have an activity on the board for students to do the minute they walk in the door 
• Keep the door closed and have students knock to come in
  

Responsive Solutions

• Ignore the students that come in late
• Hand them a form to fill out without saying anything
• Quickly have them come back in the way they practiced
• If a persistent problem, send a note home to parents
• If students come in late, keep them the same amount of time after class 

Some of my readers live in a country where tardiness is more accepted than in other countries.  The decision on how and why you combat this problem is up to you rock star.  

Next week's question: What do you do when students get out of their seat without permission? Please leave your tips in the comment section below.