Transcript Document

Meet some students from the IEP at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette!
It’s Not Half the Work, It’s Twice the Reward:
Collaborative Teaching Ideas for the
ESL Classroom
Kristina Dixon, M.S.
Mary Klaus, M.A.
Intensive English Program
University of Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
November 2007
What is Collaborative Teaching?

Team Teaching: Teachers have equal responsibility

Interdisciplinary Courses:
ESL teacher works with
content area teachers

Parallel Teaching:
Class is divided into two groups with
one teacher for each group.

Lead & Support:
One teacher mentors another
Haynes, J. 2007. Two teachers can be better than one. Essential Teacher 4 (September 2007) 3: 6-7.
Collaborative Teaching IS NOT:

A ‘get-out-of-class’ free card

Spontaneous
– Requires in-depth planning & preparation
– Requires teacher communication & cooperation

Chaotic
– Activities structured around goals and objectives
– All students are purposefully engaged
Benefits for Teachers:

Learn from each other and provide support
when trying new activities

Improve instruction together

Encourage negotiation; reduce territorialism
(Choose the right teacher)

Foster instructional creativity

Provide momentum for extension activities
Benefits for Students:

Opportunity to observe collaboration between
teachers

Shift to student-centered instruction and
engaged learning

Build self-esteem

Motivate students to push themselves as
interest in subject matter increases
Benefits for Students:

Increase critical thinking skills and retention

Develops a sense of community among
students

Positively effects students of various abilities
and backgrounds

Eases transition of international students into
an American university
http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/librarylinks/articles/benefits.html
Activities For Collaboration
Reading
Grammar
Writing
Listening/
Speaking
Reading

Storytelling at PJ’s
Coffee House
– Combine groups of students with mixed levels
– Have students from one level tell the others about
the novel/story they are reading
– Allow everyone in the group to speak until the
stories are finished
– Great for assessing reading comprehension & oral
proficiency
Reading

LSAT Logic Puzzles
– Use logic puzzles to challenge students’
• reading comprehension
• reasoning skills
• inferential thinking
– Work collectively or in smaller groups
Writing

Chain Stories
– Each student writes the first sentence of a
story, then passes it to a classmate, who adds
another sentence
– Students keep adding sentences until the last
one ends the story
– Have the original writer read the story to the
class – and laugh!
Writing
 Short
Story Group
Picture Writing
– Select a picture & study it for 5 minutes
– Answer who, what, when, where, & why
– Start to write about the picture without
thinking. Look at the picture again.
– Start writing again.
– After a few minutes, a story develops!
Adapted from Short Story Group at http://www.shortstorygroup.comhttp://www.
Grammar

Apples to Apples
– Matching appropriate nouns with adjectives
– Student ‘judges’ choose the best association
– Builds vocabulary with adjectives & nouns

Jeopardy!
– Friendly competition within a class or between
differing levels
– Reviews & reinforces grammar concepts
Grammar – Take a progressive
walk around Cypress Lake!
Listening & Speaking
Student Debates
 Mafia!
 Murder Mystery
 Art Criticism
 Games

– Taboo
– Twenty Questions
Student Debates

Students suggest & vote on topics that are of interest
to them.
 Students either choose their ‘side’ or are assigned a
particular view to argue.
 Once divided, introductions are given on both sides.
 All students share their ideas, with a ‘free-for-all’ at
the end.
 Great for fluency, articulation, cultural assimilation,
and confidence building.
Mafia

Students are all members of a town - a doctor, a
policeman, regular townspeople – and killers!
 Students are assigned an ‘identity’ based on a
playing card.
 Each night as the town sleeps, a murder is
committed, the doctor attempts to save a life, and
the policeman does some detective work.
 During the day, the townspeople discuss the crime,
make an accusation, arrest a suspect, and vote to
jail (or execute) those they find guilty!
Murder Mystery
Story – a murder has been committed by
someone playing the game
 Students are given alibis & ‘secrets’ about
other students
 Goals:

– ask questions about others whereabouts
– get ‘secret’ information to solve the mystery
– find the killer!

Skills: question formation, logical reasoning,
listening & speaking
Becoming an Art Critic …..

Art critics help viewers interpret and judge
artworks to construct meaning from them.

Display sample art work representative of
current museum exhibits.

Consider the following questions before going
to an art museum.
 1. Description: What do I see?
 2. Interpretation: What is the artwork about?
 3. Judgment: Is it a good artwork?
Au revoir Kentucky!
Kristina Dixon & Mary Klaus
SETESOL 2007