Thing #11: Content Area

I’m currently teaching English as a Second Language to students in France. Unfortunately, there are not consistent standards or expectations when it comes to English instruction in France. I have actually found their system of language instruction to be quite outdated (often using rote memorization). So rather than using non-existent standards, I am going to be using the Michigan Merit Curriculum: World Languages.

One of my favorite lessons to do with students is comparing and contrasting schools in France with those in the United States. This is a great way to learn new vocabulary (which is not only practical, but necessary in the classroom) as well as to learn about the culture of an English speaking country. The Michigan curriculum standard that relates to this topic is: Intermediate Low and Intermediate Mid (M): 2.1.M.E.a: Compare the educational systems in a community or country in which the language is spoken with one or more other communities or countries.

Trying to find resources about American culture while living and working overseas seems like a double-edged sword most of the time. I spend a ton of time researching quality resources and materials, and when I think I’ve found a video that will be perfect for my lesson, when I try to open it I receive an error message along the lines of “due to copyright law in your region, you are unable to view this video.” When exploring the PBS Learning Media website I found so many videos that I thought would really enrich my lesson. Unfortunately, none of the videos were available for viewing in France. As this has become a common occurrence, I’ve become quite good at finding videos through a variety of means. However, this also means that I spend a lot more time preparing my lessons.

In order to teach my lesson about American Schools, I would begin with a KWL chart with my students. Then, I would introduce an article describing American schools, such as the one that I found on the ieLanguages website. Here are just a few of the resources that I found which I thought would enrich my lesson.

Finding an appropriate audio/video support for this lesson proved to be much more complicated. After much research, I stumbled upon the American English website. On this website I found audio files for students talking about their experience in American high schools. In additional to the audio files, there were also documents with the text written (an important support for ESL learners). I liked that students could hear a variety of accents by listening to many interviews.

1. Nonlinguistic Representations: I love the idea of incorporating relevant media into my lessons. Adding videos and audio files is especially important when teach a language.
2. Summarizing and Note-Taking: Students will be expected to organize their ideas using a variety of resources. Creating Venn Diagrams will be extremely important for comparing and contrasting.
3. Cooperative Learning: Students will be expected to work together and exchange ideas in order to develop a richer understanding of the content.
4. Identifying Similarities and Differences: Students will not only be expected to identify similarities and differences, but to then add personal reflections and experiences.