Camp English:Preparing a Short-Term Intensive English

Language Experience

Our Backgrounds• Elizabeth Reyes• Director, Intensive English Program• Elgin Community College

• Susanna Graham• Instructor, Intensive English Program• Elgin Community College

Proposed Schedule: 4 Day Camp

English instruction in the morning- 3 days, 3 hours, 3 classes

• (Listening, Reading, Grammar/Writing)- 55 minutes each- 5 minutes between classes

Cultural experiences in the afternoon- 3 hours on campus

• College orientation, library research instruction, cooking class

- 1 afternoon visit to a local private high school

Weekend excursions • Weekend prior to on-campus immersion

- Told all students had "good English skills."Anticipated that students would be tested before arrival for class placement (using the Focal Skills assessment.)Thought we would receive class lists of which students were to be in each module.

What we expected before the students arrived...

When students arrived, we discovered...

57 students, 56 of whom tested into the same module: listening, our first module.• So, we...

Divided the entire group into three sections, and taught each group the same curriculum.

Each group of 19 students were in each module each day, changing classes after 55 minutes.

Curriculum Development• Our Plan was....

• Use a theme to tie skills together and create continuity in the 3-day camp

- Listening module• Guided viewing of the movie "Forrest Gump"

- Reading Module• Research and read about issues related to the

time period.ProtestsThe Vietnam WarThe Civil Rights Movement

• These topics were to be explored in the students' afternoon session with instructional librarians.

- Writing /Grammar module• Write responses to the movie using simple

present and present progressive verb tenses.

Curriculum Revised• Met students for first day of class and found

their expectations and needs didn't match what we had planned.

- Evident the students were not interested in a focused academic environment.

- They wanted to be entertained.

- Readings selected were challenging and required more focus than the students were expecting.

Product Needed• Their school....

- Had asked for a product which reflected their learning in the camp.

- Originally, this which was to be done in their afternoon session with the instructional librarians.

- However, at this point we discovered that what had been planned for them required a greater understanding of the English language and library databases.

• So,....- We were faced with reworking our curriculum after day one.- Instruction needed to reflect the students' true abilities and

interests.- We also needed to focus on creating a product of the work

we were doing in the morning classes.

Final Curriculum: Listening

- Curriculum and plan stayed the same

- Students watched Forrest Gump.

- Teacher facilitated viewing by clarifying vocabulary, characters actions, and historical and cultural perspectives.

- Special focus was placed on themes of civil rights, the Vietnam War and protesting.

- Students watched film over the course of three days, an hour at a time.

Final Curriculum: Reading

Followed the same themes as in the listening module: civil rights, Vietnam War and protesting.

Chose readings from the Forrest Gump graded reader to correspond with scenes the students viewed that day in the film.

Prepared materials to guide the students in researching the themes.

On the final day, students used all of their knowledge to stage a protest.

Protesting Traditional Language Instruction

Protesting Animal Cruelty

Final Curriculum: Writing/Grammar

Used, as originally planned and taught on the first day, the simple present and present progressive verb tenses.

Incorporated scenes from Forrest Gump for written analysis.

Final Curriculum: Writing/Grammar

• First, the students were given the short task of relating the movie to each of their lives - one or two sentences was all that they were asked to write.

- Students were not comfortable analyzing and comparing fiction to reality.

- Their language ability did not match the task.

- Product was weak. Students either did not know what was expected or did not have the language skills to express their thoughts.

Grammar and Writing:The Final Project

• Problem to solve: • For the last day and a half, it

was clear that we had to change focus and increase motivation.

• Goal: • Use the movie to inspire and

motivate the students, while encouraging them to produce writing using the grammar taught: simple present and present progressive.

Grammar/Writing: Final Product

• Task: Students were given a photo still of a scene from the movie. They were asked to create the dialogue for that photo. They may or may not yet have viewed that part of the film, but needed to incorporate all that they knew from the story in producing their scene.

• The scene only had to be 6 to 8 lines long.

• Issue for students: They had never before been asked to do a task like this. As soon as they understood that "having fun" was allowed, they produced quality scenes.

Implementing the Thematic Camp in Other Ways

• Summer workshops• Expand this idea of using a theme to our four-

week long summer workshops.• Summer tends to be multi level groups in one

class.• Theme: American election process• Movie: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"• Text: Newspaper and online articles about the

2012 presidential election• Final product: Wrote campaign speeches on a

political issue relevant to their lives: immigration,

Implementing the Thematic Camp in Other WaysOur IEP program with electives:

4-week long quarters and conducive for the use of a theme

• Lower Level: Reading Module• Movie/Text: About a Boy• Theme: Life Issues

• *Depression * Suicide * Single Parenthood * Bullying * Difficulties of Growing Up

• Final Product:• Literature Circle to discuss

life issues in text/movie

Higher Level: Pre-Collegiate Module

Movie/Text: "The Filipino and the Drunkard" (William Saroyan)

Theme: *Prejudice * Stereotyping * American law from a historical perspective

Special guest: lawyer

Final Product:

Wrote a script, produced and acted in a one act play imagining the trial of the Filipino.

Implementing the Thematic Camp in Other Ways

• Summer immersion college camp:

6-week program for university students from China

3-week program for high school students from China

2-week teacher training of teachers from China who are investigating the use of themes and the Focal Skills Approach

Annual 2-week teacher training sessions for English instructors from Sanyuan Foreign Languages School (high school), who already use the Focal Skills Approach.

Great Press Always Helps

http://triblocal.com/elgin/2012/01/17/chinese-students-make-pitstop-at-ecc-on-3-week-tour

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Questions?

Thank you!

For a copy of this presentation:

https://sites.google.com/site/susannamintongraham/presentations