are practical and easy to implement. although tips booklet.pdf · toondoo is ideal to use with...

This booklet has been compiled from participantsin SLSS modular courses for EAL teachers. The tipsare practical and easy to implement. Althoughthey are informal and varied, they relate to theKEY PRINCIPLES OF EAL TEACHING as outlinedin the opening session of this modular course:

• Value the learner’s Home Language• Value the learner’s identity• Tap into prior knowledge• Use social interaction to accelerate language

learning• Use a variety of scaffolding strategies help learning

(visuals, writing frames etc)

2

A large (A3) format Road Atlas will allownew students to show you preciselywhere they come from. Seeing familiarplace names is reassuring for a newstudent; as is your interest inhis / her place of origin.

Key principle – Value thelearner’s identity

The Argos catalogue is anextensive visual display whichcan prompt conversationand vocabulary building. Askstudents, in pairs, to chooseitems to buy from a page/category and to give reasonsfor their choices.

Key principle – Use socialinteraction to acceleratelanguage learning

3 PRACTICAL TIPS FOR EAL TEACHERS

Where you judge appropriate, ask students tobring in photographs of themselves and to speakabout them.

Key principle – Value the learner’s identity

Use song lyrics to teach vocabulary, help withpronunciation and promote inclusion throughsinging. Songs generate strong responses andopinions! Lyrics can then become cloze tests.

Key principle – Use a variety of scaffoldingstrategies help learning

Good quality big hardback dictionariesare a sound investment. e.g. the hardbackOxford Russian Dictionary which costsabout 55 euro.

It is a great relief for newcomer students tofind a dictionary in the EAL room thatallows them either to translate words fromtheir home language or to referenceunfamiliar English words.

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR EAL TEACHERS 4

Encourage students to access teaching websites intheir home language, to help with curricularlanguage and subject content.

Key principle – Tap into prior knowledge

Get the Evening Herald Friday Polish supplement andask students to explain the content to you. This tipillustrates more than one key principle.

Collect examination papers from state exams andfrom “mocks”. You can then help students to readand understand what is being asked inexamination questions. Train students tounderline and explain key words. Make“dual text” lists of key examination termsin English and in the home language.


Students enjoy having a selection ofLadybird stories to read when they havefinished learning tasks. Many folk storiesare found in different cultures, so thestories are familiar and teach good, basicvocabulary.

The Ladybird format of large print andillustrations make these books easy to read.

Give practice in spoken English by sending students onerrands around the school, e.g. to the office to make arequest or to the staffroom to ask for books etc.



Play the “Famous Person” game. Onestudent sits at the top of the classroomfacing the class. The name of thefamous person is placed on the boardbehind student’s back. S/he must askquestions to elicit information from theother students and then guess thefamous name.

Collect multiple copies of supermarketfliers, recipes, Christmas catalogues etc.These are visually illustrated so they areself explanatory for new learners.

Each student has a folder in which they keep“best pieces” of written work. These folderscan be shown to parents at parent teachermeetings.

Use Google Earth to show the learner’s home country to otherstudents. A Geography teacher who showed Mauritius said thatthis helped to integrate a very quiet student whose classmateswere amazed to see what a beautiful place she had come from.Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satelliteimagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outerspace to the canyons of the ocean.

Each student carries a hardbacknotebook, divided into his / hersubjects. New words are added to thenotebook in subject classes andbrought to the class EAL for definitionand repetition. These words areshared with the group. They can alsobe looked up in the dictionaries tofind home language equivalents.They can make their own personal,visual KEYWORD dictionary/ glossary,using pictures from magazines,newspapers and catalogues.


Use “Talking Books” to provide enjoyablelistening/reading experiences for students atan appropriate language level. Series arepublished by Oxford, Penguin, Macmillan andHeinemann. Some are accompanied by CDswhich help to teach listening skills andpronunciation. This story is demonstratedwith worksheets in Day 2.

News of the Day – Students take turnsto present the top news stories of theday with a little or a lot of help,depending on the level of English.Students can be given topic, ornewspaper headline to speak for 1–2minutes. Use broadsheet front page,Metro or any free local newspapers.

Use word searches, crosswordsand puzzles. See the puzzle bookon the display table. You can findlots of websites to help you suchas www.puzzlemaker.com


Line-Up Learning (as demonstrated in DAY 2with the poem and the Beaufort Scale) can beused in all subjects. It accelerates learning,promotes recall and includes all students –even those with very limited English. It allowsevery student to participate and speak briefly.Use Line-up learning in both EAL withdrawaland in subject classes.

Peer Tutoring – Fifth years nominate oneperiod per week where they will tutor/buddyan EAL student. The material is supplied bythe Language Support Teacher.

Use local area Maps – Using a map ofthe local area, students identify theschool, their neighbourhood, thesupermarket etc. They then use thisinformation to describe their routeto and from school, shops and placesthey visit regularly. They explain howthey get from place to place. Theyalso say what day they do theirshopping etc.


Photo Dictionary – English andhome language. Make a picturedictionary with photographs of theclassrooms and items of classequipment. Write the English andhome language name of each itemalongside. Take photographs ofspecific rooms in school e.g. theHome Economics room. Students will then know exactly whatthis room looks like. A variety of vocabulary building exercises

can be done such as labelling all the items andinstruments in the room. This will buildconfidence as students become familiar withrooms and equipment.

Students make a visual displayof their home, neighbourhood,town, city or country of origin,using pictures, postcards, stamps,money etc. These are displayedin the EAL classroom.

Make a school monthly bulletin on EALstudents. Keep teachers updated onstudent progress, useful information andnew arrivals.


Menus – Collect menus from the localtakeaways or restaurants. Place students inpairs or groups of three. Role-play whatthey might order from the menu. Theymust calculate thecost of each meal.

Mr Men books – Students translate the booksinto their home language. Students can alsomake their own versions of the books


Receipts for Goods Bought – Ask students to bring in a receiptfor an item they have purchased e.g. bus ticket, bottle of coke,CD, etc. Put the receipts in abox without showing toanyone. Teacher photocopiesthem for next class and givescopy to students who are askedto guess who brought in whichreceipt. Very good for gettingstudents talking and fordeveloping conversational skills.

Guessing game – Teacher preparesstickers with a profession / job oneach one. The stickers are affixed tostudents’ foreheads without themreading what is written on them.Students try to discover their ownprofession by asking yes / noquestions e.g. Do I work at night?Do I work outdoors? Am I rich? Do Iwear a uniform? in turn. Works bestin smallish groups.


Role play scenarios – A & B pairwork

1. A is a Journalist. B is a FamousActress / Actor. A asks questionsabout B’s life, family, films andfuture plans

2. A is the Career Counsellor – Bhas lost his or her job. B isconsulting about a suitable newjob. A asks questions about skills,qualifications and experience.

3. A is the banker B is a customerasking to borrow money. B givesreasons for needing the money. A asks if B is able to repay.

Digital Storytelling –Involves telling storieswith a variety of multi-media tools. Theseshort ‘films’ are madeusing computers, digital cameras,captions, voice over narration, sound effects, music etc. The mostpopular package is called Photo Story 3. This is a free application fromMicrosoft and with it students can use digital photos to tell a story orcreate an exciting animated slide show or film. Photo Story 3 can be

downloaded for free at:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx


Comic Strips – There are numerous comic strip generatorsavailable on the web but most were not designed specifically foreducational purposes. ToonDoo is ideal to use with students andit’s a free Web2.0 software application that enables users tocreate two or three panel cartoons quickly with lots ofcharacters, backgrounds and speech bubbles.Register at www.toondoo.com

Include EAL students in school magazine –Students write an article for the schoolmagazine about their home country.

Use Maps of your local area – Make a listof place or street names in the area.Teach students the names and ask themto show them on a map of the area.


Take a Newspaper – Write a list of 10 questions onthe board to include:

What’s the weather report for today? Find the score of a football match. What film is on channel ... at 9pm? etc.

The first to find all the answers (in the newspaperprovided) wins. This can also be done in pairs.

Household chores – Make a chart and tick boxes. Suitable forlevel A / beginners – must orally feedback to rest of group. This can lead to very lively discussion!!!!


are practical and easy to implement. although tips booklet.pdf · toondoo is ideal to use with...

Documents