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izz aty

Is That Supposed to Be Funny? Using Humor in the Classroom and Avoiding the Pitfalls - 1 views

  • generational differences are really cultural differences in societies that undergo rapid change
  • humor is so dependent on culture, on a shared context, and why jokes that have to be explained are probably not going to be funny.
  • Culturally and context specific
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  • There is the old apology, “You had to be there” when a “funny” story falls flat. Most of the humor of stand-up comedians is on very specific cultural phenomenon.
  • In one of my reading classes, the text had a reading about the lifework of movie actor/writer/director Woody Allen, who, not surprisingly, the students were not familiar with. So to give a sense of Allen and his work, I explained the synopsis of one of his short films, “Oedipus Wrecks,”
  • The students were able to see the humor in this as overprotective mothers are a cultural universal
  • If the teacher can lighten the mood with humor, some of the tension dissipates, leaving students more ready to learn.
  • When you laugh with someone, even a stranger, you bond with that person, if only momentarily
  • A class that laughs together develops a feeling of goodwill toward each other and can work more productively together.
  • When you learn a society’s humor, how it conveys humor and what it finds funny, you’ve learned quite a lot about its culture
  • the sources of humor are also sources of anxiety; the laughter is to dispel anxiety
  • Sometimes culture and language itself can be sources of humor
  • a favorite short play I like to teach students is Kaufman and Hart’s “The Still Alarm.
  • hilarious in its use of overly polite, inappropriate language, as in the hotel manager knocking and announcing something like, “Pardon me for intruding, but the building is on fire.”
  • Methods for Including Humor in the ESL Classroom
  • Include humor from the beginning
  • Lighten the mood
  • Call attention to humor
  • Share a joke from their cultures
  • Humor is a tool
  • humor, especially sarcasm, should never be directed at students. Sarcasm can be hard to understand, even from someone within one’s own culture, and “mean” humor becomes a barrier to, not a tool for, learning. Direct humor at inanimate objects or situations, not people.
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    ESL students don't share the same cultural context as their instructor in most cases, making humor in the ESL class dicey.
izz aty

They Already Read It, But Did They Get It? 10 Ways to Check Reading Comprehension - 0 views

  • sequencing activity. Write the major points of the story on note cards, put those cards into a grab bag, and shake it up. Each member of a small group should then pull one of the cards from the bag and place in its correct place in a sequence. Once group members have put all the cards in their correct place in the timeline, ask the rest of the class to check if the sequencing is correct. If it is, the group should then retell the story using the cards.
  • give each person a blank comic page in which to retell the story. (You can find dozens of empty templates online.) Your students should then retell the major events in the story by filling in the empty blocks with pictures and dialogue (when appropriate
  • When your students find a character they love in something you have read, ask them to write about the further adventures of that character. This will not only help them understand what they read, it will give them practice using vocabulary specific to that character found in the piece your class read. You can compile all these short fan fiction pieces into a book for the rest of the class to read at their leisure during independent reading time.
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  • create your own big book for a story you have just read. Prepare 5-8 pieces of poster board for the book and write a description at the bottom of each page retelling each piece of the story. Working in groups, have your students illustrate what is described at the bottom of the page. Once all the pictures are complete, let your students decide what order they should appear in the book. Then secure the pages, read the book back to your class and make it available to your students during independent reading time
  • share his or her favorite moment from the reading selection, and have him write it on a notecard or write it on one yourself. Ask another student and then another to do the same. When you have about a dozen cards completed, ask your students to organize them in any way that is logical. There may be several organizations which are possible
  • create a map of the setting for the story or book. They can either draw the setting or create a three dimensional model of it using cardboard cutouts. Have your students include any characters in the map as well.
  • two notecards and have him write true on one and false on the other. Then, read aloud a statement about the selection your class read. Make sure some of your statements are true and others are false. Each person should hold up his vote and his card after you read each statement. Have students check each other to make sure all agree. For the false statements, ask your students what they would need to do to make them true.
  • act out in class with this post reading activity. Ask individuals or groups of students to pose as the characters in the story in a particular scene. Then, take a photo of your students. After printing the pictures out, bring them to class the next day and ask your students to explain what it happening in the book at the moment they are acting out!
  • ask pairs of students to write a description of each of the characters in detail. Then, have the pair decide which of their classmates is most like the characters in the story. If you like, you may want to have the students then reenact parts of the story.
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    The process of reading, being able to connect semantic input with the letters on the page, does not mean much if language learners cannot understand what they have read. The following exercises, modified from Sherrill Flora's Everyone Reads! will give you and your students some fun ways to make sure the meaning came through the words on the page.
izz aty

What You Can Do With The Internet: 6 Creative Online ESL Activities | BusyTeacher - 0 views

  • The Internet is a great tool that entertains students, while providing subtly educating them requiring them to use a mixture of the four skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking. This article takes a look at some of the unique and creative activities that teachers can incorporate into their lesson plans while students build on their English skills using a complete range of multimedia available on the Internet.
izz aty

What Can You Do in Your Second Draft? | BusyTeacher - 0 views

  • After handing back students’ first drafts of essays, it’s time to discuss what they can do for the second draft. The teacher can ask students, “So all you need to do is fix the grammar and spelling, and you’ll be through, correct?” This is likely to get many nods of heads. The teacher can then lead a discussion on how a second draft is much more than just fixing surface mistakes and give out a handout showing all the things that can be done in a second draft.
  • A system of symbols can be used: e.g., an addition sign =add development, analysis, details; a minus sign means take out repetition and irrelevancies; a multiplication sign means change the same old introduction or same old conclusion.
  • This is an effective lesson summary because it gives students direction for their second draft and a set of symbols to talk about revision strategies.
izz aty

Teaching English One-on-One: Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Lesson | BusyTeacher - 0 views

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    Teaching English one on one offers numerous benefits to both teacher and student. Teachers have the chance to customize each lesson to his or her student's needs, and the possibility to target activities to a student's strengths and weaknesses is a huge plus. But the greatest benefits are for the ESL student. The student has the unique opportunity for intensive practice. If the student speaks for most of the lesson, he or she will make progress faster. And the same goes for other skills. Still, the teacher is the one responsible for maximizing their time with the student. Here are some practical tips for effective one on one lessons.
izz aty

Busyteacher@FB: Teach Your ESL Students Job Application Skills - 0 views

  • 'How to Teach Your ESL Students Job Application Skills: The Interview' Click 'Like' if you want us to publish it as soon as possible! Or see previous articles in this series: ✔ How to Teach Job Application Skills: The Resume - http://bit.ly/zgj86g ✔ How to Teach Job Application Skills: The Cover Letter - http://bit.ly/yWdUgZ ✔ How to Teach Job Application Skills: The Job Hunt - http://bit.ly/AiDHWT
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    ✔ How to Teach Job Application Skills: The Resume - http://bit.ly/zgj86g ✔ How to Teach Job Application Skills: The Cover Letter - http://bit.ly/yWdUgZ ✔ How to Teach Job Application Skills: The Job Hunt - http://bit.ly/AiDHWT
izz aty

How To Teach Writing: 7 Strategies for Elaboration - 0 views

  • Describe a Place in Detail
  • Use Specific Words to Paint Pictures
  • Show How Something Feels, Smells, Tastes, Sounds or Looks
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  • Compare Two Different Things Through Simile or Metaphor
  • Use the Exact Thoughts or Words from a Person
  • Describe How Someone or Something Moves
  • Show Someone’s Feelings Through What He Does
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    Do your students struggle to write with detail? Are their descriptions limited, lacking in specifics or uninformative? If so, you can help your students write more engaging and elaborate pieces by teaching the following strategies for elaboration.
izz aty

P: Planning Out a Pleasing Plot. Starting Your Students on Story [Teacher Tips from A t... - 0 views

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    For anyone who is writing, coming up with an effective and well-written piece takes time and effort and some planning at the start of the process. Nonnative speakers will be even more intimidated by jumping into the cold water of story writing without a little preparation ahead of time. Use the following steps with your students to help them establish the foundation of their plot before they set to the task of writing a fictional narrative.
izz aty

14 Quick Tips for Teaching Homophones - 0 views

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    For students who have not had any exposure to homophones, they can be frustrating and confusing. For students who have studied the sound alike word pairs, they can be a source of linguistic challenge and entertainment. Either way, your ESL class will benefit from some experience with these unique word buddies in English! The next time you talk about homophones with your ESL class, keep the following tips in mind.
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