[NIFL-ESL:9183] Re: Esl multilevel class

From: Sylvan Rainwater (sylvan@cccchs.org)
Date: Mon Jul 14 2003 - 13:32:56 EDT


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From: "Sylvan Rainwater" <sylvan@cccchs.org>
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Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9183] Re: Esl multilevel class
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I did a variation of this newspaper activity once with my (always)
multi-level class. I divided the class into three (or four) groups. One
group had the headline. One had the photo caption (I think there may have
been two of these, so two groups). A third had the first paragraph, I think,
or possibly the entire article.

In each case, their assignment was to read their own piece, make sure they
understood it (using dictionaries and each other), and make sure they knew
how to pronounce it. Then each person had to stand up and read their piece
out loud to the rest of the class.

There are times when same-ability groups are useful and other times when
multilevel groups are useful. There are also times when you want to kind of
hedge -- in the above groups, for example, I'd want someone maybe of
medium-level ability in the first group to help, and someone of higher-level
in the second group. Maybe a medium-level in the third group as well, who
might be able to handle it and could learn a lot from the interaction of the
others.

You want to be a little careful about pairing more advanced students with
lower-level students -- it can work well for certain things, especially if
they are structured carefully. But some advanced students have teaching
ability and some do not, so it can backfire and be ineffective. Other times,
it works beautifully.

There are no hard-and-fast rules, in this or any other aspect of teaching,
it seems. A lot of it is an art form.


Sylvan Rainwater   .   mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org
Family Literacy Coordinator
Clackamas County Children's Commission/Head Start
Oregon City, Oregon


-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of
AndresMuro@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 12:36 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9161] Re: Esl multilevel class


Hi Anna, your problem is easy to address. Just divide the class into level
appropriate gourps. Say, four groups of five. Give each group an activity
and ask the students to work together in each group to do the task. <SNIP>



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