2015 Pearson AlwaysESL Catalog
In a few days, our new print catalog for 2015 will be available, but we wanted you to be the first to see it online.
The new Pearson AlwaysESL catalog continues to include new product information, pricing, and updated content, as well as feature articles from authors and educators like yourself.
Please take a sneak peek, and feel free to share it with your colleagues!
Sandra Heyer
One way to extend the lessons in True Stories Behind the Songs and More True Stories Behind the Songs is to follow up each unit with a supplemental song that connects to the theme of the unit, plus an activity to go with the supplemental song. Each month I’ve shared a song-based activity that has worked well with my beginning and high-beginning students. In the past six newsletters, we’ve explored these activities:
This month, let’s take a look at an efficient way of matching a song with an activity. You could begin by choosing an activity, and then look for a song that works with it. For example, if you chose Activity #2, Summarizing, you would look for a song that tells a story. But it’s usually easier to pick a song first, and then match it with an activity. To quickly find a match, convert your list of favorite activities into a checklist, run the song you’ve chosen through the checklist, and–voilà–the activities that are a good fit will naturally emerge. Here is a checklist based on the activities above. Continue reading
Sandra Heyer
One way to extend the lessons in True Stories Behind the Songs and More True Stories Behind the Songs is to follow up the song in each unit with a supplemental song that connects to the theme of the unit, plus an activity to go with the supplemental song. Each month I’ll share a song-based activity that has worked well with my beginning and high-beginning students. This month, let’s look at how to further connect the song in the unit and the supplemental song by enhancing both songs with the same activity: Singing or Speaking the Chorus. Continue reading
Christina Cavage
Are you making a shift? A shift in the way you think about the delivery of course content? In this month’s newsletter I’d like to focus on the I in FLIP—Intentional Content—my favorite pillar.
Intentional content is all about choosing the best content to be delivered in the classroom, and the best content to be delivered outside of the classroom. In a typical classroom today, we often teach new language structures or functions in the classroom and assign homework in which students have to apply, evaluate or create with the new language. However, flipping is all about taking the learning, the new content, outside of the classroom. Consider Bloom’s Taxonomy for a minute.
We often work on the lower levels of Bloom’s in class: Remembering and Understanding while we leave the Applying, Analyzing and Creating for outside of class. In a Flipped Classroom, Remembering and Understanding are moved outside of the classroom– leaving room for Creating, Analyzing and Applying in the classroom. You may be thinking, “Don’t students need instructors to explain new structures and concepts?” Absolutely. However, many digital tools allow us to do this quite easily. So, what content should be moved outside of the classroom? What content would benefit students greatly to hear again and again? In class, we often only have ‘time’ to explain things once or twice. However, if we moved this outside of the classroom, students could get the repetition so many of them need. Take a look at this video: Next Generation Grammar, 1, Chapter 16 Video
Moving this simple instruction outside of the classroom, allows learners to really engage and interact with the new information in a safe environment, at their own pace. Additionally, think of all the applying, analyzing and creating that could happen the next class period. We could have students prepare dialogues where they are comparing one class to another, one place to another. Or, perhaps, we can have students write a comparison paragraph. Students can aid one another in the revision of the paragraphs. You can bring items in and have students compare the items. The possibilities are endless.
Should all new content be moved outside of the classroom? Absolutely not! That again, is where the I comes in. It must be intentional. Start small. Use the wealth of resources that already exist… Khan Academy, YouTube, TeacherTube, TedEd, MyEnglishLab. Intentionally selecting the best content will not only free up your class time to really apply learning, but it will also greatly benefit your students. They will develop greater learner autonomy.
Bill Bliss
Here are three quotes appropriate for the month of April:
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
“Why did the colonists fight the British? Because of high taxes – taxation without representation.”
“When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms? April 15.”
The first was penned by Benjamin Franklin in 1789. The second and third are among the 100 official questions and answers on the US citizenship exam. READ MORE
