nys tesol

Idiom

This issue’s theme:

Conversations

New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other LanguagesVol. 41, No. 3 http://www.nystesol.org Fall 2011

NYS TESOLAnnual Conference

Oct. 28-29Marriott Hotel

Melvillewww.nystesol.org/annualconf/

Collaborative Conversations*by Andrea Honigsfeld

That effective collaboration benefits students (and teachers alike) is affirmed by the well-deserved attention it has received most recently in the professional literature (see, for example, DelliCarpini, 2008, 2009; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2010; NACTAF, 2009; NEA, 2009; Pawan & Ortloff, 2011) and in the TESOL educational community (e.g., themes of 2011 New York State and Kentucky TE-SOL conferences). Acknowledging the importance of collab-orative exchanges among teachers is not a completely novel idea, though. Close to three decades ago, Judith Warren Little (1982) examined the differences between more and less effective schools and found that the more effective ones had a greater degree of collegiality. She noted four unique characteristics of collegiality (or collaboration) in successful schools, where teachers participate in the following activities:

• Teachers engage in frequent, and increasingly concrete and precise talk about teaching practice.

• Teachers are frequently observed and provided with useful critiques of their teaching.

• Teachers plan, design, evaluate, and prepare teaching materials together.

• Teachers teach each other the practice of teaching (pp. 331– 332).

Consider what Warren Little’s (1982) frequently quoted four key ideas could

mean for ELLs in today’s schools. What if we translated her seminal find-ings into a contemporary framework of four Cs, in which “collaborative” serves as a defi ning adjective, followed by a key activity or desired teacher behavior neces-sary forimproved student learning?

Collaborative Conversations:• Through enhanced communication, all teachers have the opportunity to develop ownership and shared for ELLs’ learning.

Collaborative Coaching:• Through an encouraging school climate and supportive framework, teachers offer and receive feedback on their teaching practices

Collaborative Curriculum Development:.• Through curriculum mapping and alignment and collaborative materials development, teachers match both their longterm and day-to-day instructional goals and activities.

ContentsCollaborative Conversations.................... 1 Conversations in Support......................... 3Acting............................................................ 4Resources for the Common Core............ 6Talking is learning....................................... 10Small Talk..................................................... 14Conversation Table..................................... 24

Regular Features/ Special AnnouncementsPromising Practices.................................... 8Book Review................................................ 12SIGs and Regions....................................... 17Members Only Website............................. 18Editorial Notes............................................ 22Upcoming Idiom Themes......................... 22Calendar and Announcements................ 22NEW Membership Form.......................... 23

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Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011) NYS TESOL Idiom2

NYS TESOL Executive Board Meetings and General Information

Members are welcome to attend Board meetings. For information, contact:

NYS TESOLBox 185Teachers College, Columbia University525 W. 120th StreetNew York, NY 10027Tel./Fax: (212) 678-3074E-mail: [email protected] site: http://www.nystesol.org

New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Officers and Executive Board 2011-2012

President, Rebekah JohnsonLAGCC, CUNY

First Vice President, Suzanne Marcus Great Neck Public Schools

Second Vice President, Olivia LimbuPace University Second Vice President-Elect, Robin Finnan-Jones NYC Department of Education Past President/TESOL Liaison, Nanette DoughertyNYC Public Schools

SIG Coordinator, Jennifer ScullyConsultant

SIG Assistant Coordinator, Patty St. Jean Barry East Islip Central School

Regions Coordinator, Lynn Ellingwood Brighton Central School District

Assistant Regions Coordinator, Audrey Murphy

Membership & Marketing Chair, Drew Fagan Teachers College, Columbia University

Assistant Membership Chair, Lillian Goldsmith Beacon City Schools

Curriculum and Standards Chair, Maria DoveMolloy College

Assistant Curriculum and Standards Chair Barbara Suter, East Meadow Central School Professional Concerns Chair, Porfirio Rodriguez, East Ramapo CSD

Professional Concerns Assistant Chair Margo Dellicarpini

Publications/Technology Chair, Fran OlmosYonkers Public Schools

Idiom Editor, Cara Tuzzolino Werben Nassau Community College

Dialogue Editor, Sue Peterson St. John’s University Web Editor, Kenneth Hughes Business Manager/TreasurerL. Jeanie Faulkner, Cornell University Certified Public Accountant Jim Stotz

Dear Colleagues,I hope you have been enjoying a happy, healthy and restorative summer. I would like to update you on some changes and challenges facing educators. On July 13, I attended the Bilingual/ESL COP (Com-mittee of Practitioners) meeting at Teachers Col-lege, Columbia University. The most major changes include the New Evaluation Law for K-12 teachers and principals:

1. Annual evaluations for all teachers and principals2. Clear, rigorous expectations for instructional

excellence, prioritizing student learning3. Multiple measures of performance4. Multiple ratings: Four performance levels to describe differences in teacher eftfectiveness5. The new system should encourage regular, constructive feedback and ongoing development6. Significance: results are a major factor in employment decisions.

You can view all documents discussed at the COP Meeting at the following link: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged/BilingualESLCOP.html. For more infor-mation about the Common Core Standards, please consult the website at: http://www.corestandards.org/ and see the article in this issue at: http://www.corestandards.org/ and see the article in this issue.

Though it was not considered at this meeting, the 14 Bilingual/ESL Technical assistance Centers (BETACs) across New York State closed permanently on June 30, 2011. This puts both our schools and our LEP/ELL populations at risk of not having the appropriate resources to meet their educational and programmatic needs over the next five years.

Our new Commissioner of Education, Dr. John B. King, Jr., may not be familiar with the importance of the resources offered by the BETACs. Mail e-mail him directly at: 1 In addition, you may email the NYS Board of Regents on this issue at: [email protected].

At the Melville Marriott October 28-29th, I will be passing the gavel to our incoming President, Rebekah Johnson. I would like to thank the many wonderful members of my Executive Board and the many SIG and Region Leaders for their service to the organi-zation. Special thanks to Cornelia Randolph, a constant support and inspiration, and Fran Olmos, for her guidance.

You will be receiving ballots for the Executive Board slate in the mail shortly. Thanks to our Nominating Committee, led by Cornelia Randolph and Terri Brady-Mendez, for their time and efforts. Members, please do not forget to vote for your new leadership in our organization by returning your ballots. As always, please continue to keep in touch with issues, concerns, and ideas on how our organization can best serve you.

Best wishes for a great school year to all.

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P.S. We’re so very excited to be launching our new Members Only website please read more about it in this issue and log in soon to check it out. Please contact us with ideas!

From the President’s Desk by Nanette Dougherty, NYS TESOL President

Peace and blessings to you, Nanette Dougherty, President, NYS TESOL

Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011) NYS TESOL Idiom Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011) NYS TESOL Idiom 3

Conversations in Support of High School ELLs by Victoria Pilotti

Conversations in Support of High School ELLsby Victoria Pilotti

Adolescent ELLs are second language learners who are still developing their profi ciency in academic English. Moreover, they are learning English at the same time they are studying core content areas through Eng-lish. Thus, English language learners must perform double the work of native English speakers in the country’s middle and high schools. At the same time, they are being held to the same accountability standards as their native English-speaking peers (Short & Fitzsimmons, 2007, p. 1).

Conversations with ELLs and colleagues are viable ways for ESL teachers to help their students navigate academic challenges. My short time at Jamaica High School has been filled with conversations that have driven my instruction to best support the ELLs in my charge.

Curriculum Experiments Based on Conversations with ELLs

At Jamaica High School, an ESL support class is offered zero period, 7:22 to 8:06 a.m., to provide intermediate ELLs with additional targeted interventions. September 2011 will be the third year I am teaching zero period, and each year is an ongoing curriculum development action research experiment. I conduct the course as a combined resource room and advisory class model. Based on daily conversations with my students about their challenges, I provide homework help; teach problematic topics in mathematics, science, and social studies; and assess and teach diverse skills necessary for academic success. The first year of the experiment, my curriculum included mathematics symbols and word problems; the living environment topics of scientific method, evolution, and organ systems; social studies topics of feudal-ism, estates, and analysis of political cartoons; English language arts topics of idioms, formal versus informal language, and dictionary/glossary skills; and academic readiness in testaking strategies, study skills, time manage-ment, notebook organization, public speaking skills, and computer skills.

I also taught graph skills across the disci-plines. This class was one of a select few Jamaica High School English and ESL classes that benefited from TeenBiz3000 (Empower3000), a Web-based individual-ized reading program by Achieve3000. test-taking strategies, study skills, time management, notebook organization, pub-lic speaking skills, and computer skills. I also taught graph skills across the disci-plines. This class was one of a select few Jamaica High School English and ESL classes that benefited from TeenBiz3000 (Empower3000),a Web-based individualized reading pro-gram by Achieve3000.

Conversations with ELLs form part of the data collection that drives my curricu-lum changes. Several first-year students (participants in Experiment I) reported the lessons and activities helped them pass content-area fi nals and New York State Regents examinations. When asked how the support class could be improved for the following year, ELLs suggested that I allot more time to science, continue teaching math and social studies, and retain computer instruction on Teen-Biz3000. One student, who was particu-larly resistant to my teaching anything but ESL all year, later admitted he benefi tted from content-area instruction by his ESL teacher. All students expressed a deep appreciation for the bilingual content area glossaries I provided.

In the second year (Experiment II), I spent less time on dictionary/glossary skills; did not teach idioms; and, upon careful review of recent livingenvironmentRegents exams, added an ecosystem unit, a lesson on pH, and group activities on bar and line graphs. I replaced the formal versus informal English lesson with daily academic English and everyday English explanations and defi nitions. Studentsassessed their multiple intelligences(Gardner, 1983; Gardner, 1993, 2996;McKenzie, 1999), and learning styles(Dunn & Dunn, 1993; Dunn & Griggs, 2003, 2004, 2007; Missere & Dunn, 2005). I added native-language translations of key content vocabulary to my student

notebook grading rubric. Groups researched continents and explorers and presented their PowerPoint slide shows to ELLs in other classes. Teen-Biz3000 was replaced by Study Island, Web-based instruction built on New York State standards, that provided all Jamaica High School students practice for English, mathematics, science, and social studies Regents exams; and for national Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Based on requests from Experiment I participants for Internet resources for speaking practice, I cre-ated lists of Web sites and links with podcasts and speaking exercises.

As I gear up for Experiment III inthe 2011-2012 school year, I plan todevote more time to dictionary skills,such as alphabetizing, and contentareatextbook structure, with special atten-tion to textbook glossaries and indices; the participants in Experiment II were lacking in dictionary/textbook research skills and did not make opti-mum use of these resources. I provid-ed a list of Web sites and links forRegents practice and bilingual glossa-ries, and will again provide copies ofbilingual glossaries in Experiment III.I have decided to step up test-takingstrategies and content writing practicein the zero period support class begin-ning in September.

Conversations with Families Individual writing conferences often involve reinforcing the student’s strengths and discussing specific areas in need of improvement (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001). I had conversations with each student about his/her mul-tiple intelligences and learning style profi les generated from the Dunn

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Al the World’s a stage: Ways in which teaching is like Acting by Elizabeth Fonseca

Acting is a sport. On stage youmust be ready to move like a tennis player on his toes. Your

concentration must be keen, your reflexes sharp; your body and mind are in top gear; the chase is on. Acting is energy. In the theatre people pay to see energy.—Clive Swift

Good teaching is one-fourth preparationand three-fourths theater.—Gail Godwin

If “acting is energy,” teaching is many things: a combination of knowledge, experience, awareness, expertise, and care. It is also the energy we, as language instructors, bring into the classroom that absolutely affects theorder of the day. As a theater lover and past occasional perform-er, I have often thought about the parallels between teaching and acting. Here are a few that come to mind.

You’re on stage. All eyes are on you. You’re the initial focal point of attetion. Your presence shifts the energy in the room. Sometimes, you literally have a podium, with desks arrayed in rows before you like patrons at a theater. There is noise, chatter, laughter, shuffling in the room until the lights dim. Curtain up! Enter stage left, the professor. Cell phones get put away, or at least discreetly placed to the side. Chitchat dies down. The room is hushed a moment, the pause of anticipa-tion before the fi rst words of dialogue are spoken.

All eyes are on you. An actor uses her body to convey information about her character before she even speaks. So do you. How are you dressed? Does what you wear convey some message about your position in this play, your role, your per-sona as teacher, leader, or facilitator of the energy in the room? How do you walk in? Are your eyes downcast, refl ecting your students’ spent energy at the end of a long week, or do they sparkle? Do you walk in the room with pizzazz, transmitting vital energy to them, to create the cycle of give-and-take necessary for effective language learning? Do you use gestures, winks, and

nods to convey information, emotion, even comedy? These are things worth thinking about, because one of the most important ways you are like an actor is in this all-important function. Your energy and presence set the tone.

Just as audiences must have faith in actors and suspend their disbelief to fully enter into the world the actors are creat-ing, your students must agree to the un-spoken contract of trust that bonds them to you in a vulnerable learning situation. Your ability to create that atmosphere of trust is important; your dynamism helps your class generate energy that in turn feeds you and helps the learning environ-ment be dynamic. This is important for learning as well as for the teacher’s ability to sustain energy and passion both within a class and over her entire run.

Actors use their voices as tools, relying on not just word choice but infletion, into-nation, varying volume, and the judicious use of pauses to capture the audience’s attention, spellbind them, draw them forward in their seats wondering “What’s next?” You too can use your voice itself as a tool that weaves the bewitching spell of energy, dynamism, and trust that makes for a lively and effective learning environ-ment.

The show must go on. There are days when you can’t imagine generating that energy at all. On those days, you have to “act as if”: put on your teaching persona as an actor dons a mask or stage makeup, preparing herself to go before the lights. If you don’t show up, or show up without energy, you might flop.

This leads us to the all-importantteaching persona. As an actor slips into a role through preparation, curiosity, and the desire to share emotion and informa-tion with an audience, you can slip into your teaching persona, comprised of your sincere and genuine self with a soupçon of public-role poise, strategic sass, and teacher’s tools you’ve learned throughout your teaching days that help you on the way.

Is your persona the classic scholar?Do you have a little playful clow thrown in? Are you the compassionate guide, leading students to the knowledge they already possess? Can you switch hats to that of the taskmaster, pushing for and demanding the very best? It can be useful to think of the teacher role as composed of these different personae that serve use-ful functions in the various processes of learning, including enabling you to reach students of different backgrounds, needs, and learning styles. Even if you are not like that, your alter ego, “Professor Picky”, can be. Although you are more lenient, “Scholar Strict” can be called upon as necessary to whip an underachieving class into shape. Being a teacher is a public role that requires daily public speaking; why not train for it and fi nd useful tools and approaches that may aid in maintaining your interest, creating a positive learn-ing environment, and aiding in efficient classroom management? Is your persona the classic scholar? Do you have a little playful clown thrown in? Are you the compassionate guide, leading students to the knowledge they already possess? Can you switch hats to that of the taskmaster, pushing for and demanding the very best? It can be useful to think of the teacher role as composed of these different ]personae that serve useful functions in the various processes of learning, including enabling you to reach students of different backgrounds, needs, and learning styles. Even if you are not like that, your alter ego, “Professor Picky”, can be. Although you are more lenient, “Scholar Strict” can be called upon as necessary to whip an underachieving class into shape. Being a teacher is a public role that requires daily public speaking; why not train for it and find useful tools and approaches that may aid in maintaining your interest, creating a positive learning environment, and aiding in efficient classroom management?

If you think some training might help you focus your body as instrument and help you channel energy more effi ciently and effectively in the classroom, here are some suggestions to get you started:


Al the World’s a stage: Ways in which teaching is like Acting by Elizabeth Fonseca

NYS TESOL Remembers Jeanette D. Marceroby Vel Chesser

• Take an acting class. Learn how touse body language, breath, and voice to create energy and atmosphere.

• Take a public speaking class.Learn relaxation techniques, visualization techniques, and tips for effectively conveying a message.

ReferencesGodwin, G. (1974). The Odd Woman.New York: Ballantine Books.http://www/jbactors.com/actingphilosophy/act-ingquotations.html Elizabeth Fonseca is an avid traveler who has taught ESL/EFL in such countries as Italy, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Her work has been published in the Arabia Review and the Traveler’s Tales series, among others.Her interest in acting stems from high school and community theater days, as well as more recent poetry readings. She currently teaches at Nassau Community College in New York.<[email protected]>

The field of ESOL has lost one of its most revered members, Jeanette D. Macero, who died May 9, 2011. Jeanette was passionate in her dedication to non-native speakers of English as exemplified by her teaching, mentoring and participation in professional organizations.

Jeanette, one of the founders of NYS ESOL BEA (now NYS TESOL—see note below), was a leader in that organization nonstop until her retirement from Syracuse University in 1998, as associate professor of English and TESOL coordinator of languages, literatures and linguis-tics. She moved to Medfield, MA to be near her family.

Many NYS TESOL members will testify to the mentoring they receivedfrom Jeanette, who held leadership positions in the organization for her entire career. Jeanette graduated with a BA in English from Barnard College, an MA in linguistics from Columbia University, and did doctoral study in linguistics at the University of Michigan. She was president, second vice president twice, and chair of various TESOL committees: publications, paper selection, awards and nominations. Twice, she received the NYS TESOL Distinguished Service Award.

In addition to Jeanette’s full-time teaching at Syracuse University, she published skill books for beginners of English through Laubach Literacy (now known as ProLiteracy), as well as a number of scholarly papers and addresses, edited books of readings, and acted as consultant to many groups.

All those who knew Jeanette are aware of her many accomplishments in profes-sional organizations and her skillful teaching, but those closest to her will remem-ber most her kind and compassionate manner to all she met and worked with, her hearty laugh, and her engaging personality. Jeanette’s friends and colleagues have lost a treasure.

Vel Chesser, retired from Syracuse University, can be reached at <[email protected]>

Editor’s note: With thanks to NYS TESOL historian George Morris: Thevery fi rst organization was called NY TESOL (No “S” for State), then NYSESOL BEA. The founding date is 1970 (hence our 40th anniversary in 2010).The split into NYS TESOL and NYSABE was in the early 1980s.


Resources for Implementing the Common Core for ELLsby Diane Garafalo


T he Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) have been adopted by dozens of states. The NYS Board of Re-

gents adopted the new P-12 CCLS for ELA, Literacy, and Mathematics in January 2011; it will be phased in over the next year. Begin-ning in school year 2012-13, NYS assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics will measure student achievement of the P-12 CCLS. Find New York State’s complete CCLS timeline at www.usny. nysed.gov/rttt/docs/ccsstimeline.pdf.

The initiative began in the spring of 2009 and was coordinated by the National Gover-nors Association (NGA) Center for Best Prac-tices and the Council of Chief State School Offi cers (CCSO). The advisory group for the initiative comprises Achieve, Inc., ACT, the College Board, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), and the State Higher Education Executive Offi cers (SHEO).

The Common Core State Standards Initia-tive released a draft of the math and language arts content standards for public comment in September 2009, and the individual K-12 grade-level content standards in these subjectswere released for public comment in March 2010. Both sets of content standards werefinalized in 2010.

Criteria for DevelopmentThis process differed from past standards

initiatives because it was state led and had the support of educators across the country as well as prominent education, business andstate leaders’ organizations. The standards were developed by the following criteria:

• Aligned with expectations for college and career success;

• Clear, so that educators and parents know what they need to do to help students learn;

• Consistent across all states, so that students are not taught to a lower standard

• Inclusive of both content and the application of knowledge through high- order skills;

• Built upon strengths and lessons of current state standards and standards of top-performing nations

• Realistic, for effective use in the classroom;

• Informed by other top-performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society;

• Evidence and research based (Quay, 2010);

• Application of the Standards for English Language Learners.

Common standards can potentiallyprovide a greater opportunity for statesto share experiences and best practiceswithin and across states that could lead to an improved ability to serve ELLs. The K-12 English-language arts and math-ematics standards do include information on the Application of the Standards for English Language Learners, located at http://www.corestandards.org/assets/application-forenglish-learners.pdf.

One segment of the Application of ELA Core Standards recommends that to help ELLs meet high academic standards in language arts it is essential that they have access to:

• Teachers and personnel at the school and district levels who are well prepared and qualified to support ELLs while taking advantage of the many strengths and skills they bring to the classroom;

• Literacy-rich school environments where students are immersed in a variety of language experiences;

• Instruction that develops foundational skills in English and enables ELLs to participate fully in gradelevel work

• Coursework that prepares ELLs for post secondary education or the workplace, yet is made for students learning content in a second language (through specific pegogical techniques and additional resources);

• Opportunities for classroom discourse and interaction that are designed to enable ELLs to develop communicative strengths in language arts;

• Ongoing assessment and feedback to guide learning;

• Speakers of English who know the language well enough to provide ELLs with models and support;

• Need for English Language Proficiency Standards.

The Common Core did not spellout how the standards applied to spe-cific levels of English profi ciency. Itwas left up to states to create EnglishLanguage Profi ciency Standards thatalign with the Core Standards or toexplain how specific standards canbest be taught to students dependingon their level of English profi ciency.In her July 12 blog at Education Week,“Learning the Language,” Mary AnnZehr recognized this need by report-ing that Stanford University has received a $1 million grant from theCarnegie Corporation of New York tocreate English Language Profi ciencyStandards for the states’ CommonCore Academic Standards. Dr. Kenji Hakuta, a professor of edu-cation atStanford University, a mem-ber of the Common Core Validation Committee, and a long-time expert on ELLs; and Maria Santos, the former director of programs for ELLs for the New York City school system, are co-chairs of this national effort to write standards for ELLs to parallel the Language Arts and Mathematics



Some Helpful Resources

Standards of the Common Core, as well as the Science Standards that are expected to be developed. This grant award fills the gap in the process of implementing the Common Core for ELLs (Zehr, 2011). The grant, which lasts for two years, is called “Building on Comon-Core Stan-dards to Improve Learning for English-Language Learners.”

“The effort is to think about the con-tent areas in the common core that offer strategically fertile areas around which language instruction can take place,” Dr. Hakuta explained. “The standards will elaborate on what ELLs should know and be able to do in the content areas at differ-ent Englishproficiency levels,” he added. (Zehr, 2011).

Preparing ELLs for the Common Core—A Webinar

On May 5, 2011, Dr. Hakuta presenteda webinar at www.teachscape.com called “Research to Practice: Preparing ELLs for the Common Core.” He offered his thoughts and ideas during the webinar under the topic of planning for the Common Core, including

• Recognize that language is necessary to teach, learn, and demonstrate understanding in school subjects, and that this is true for all students, but especially for ELLs;

• Engage in the idea that excellence in instruction and assessment around content revolves around the idea of rich language use;

• Build the professional development around the idea that language is the domainof all teachers, not just English Language Arts and ESL teachers;

• Identify your objectives, assessments, and best practices in classrooms and ensure that you’re making progress toward those objectives;

• Use the Common Core to recognize

and amplify the opportunity for rich language development for ELLs and for all students (Hakuta, 2011).

According to Dr. Hakuta, there are-some key elements for ELLs regarding the Common Core, including:

• The Common Core provides astrong incentive to examine the role of language in content instruction and in assessment; there is a role for leadership to take advantage of this opportunity;

• Even though the Common Core says nothing about the English Language profi ciency expectations of ELLs, there is a requirement that English language proficiency be aligned to the Common Core;

• There will be more commonality across states in the identification of students because there will be more common profi ciency tests;

• The Common Core has the potential to move ELL performance/ proficiency both across schools and across the country (Hakuta, 2011).

Criteria for Writing Common Core Curriculum Materials

Last summer, the nonprofit groupCommon Core issued a set of free curricu-lum maps. The maps are designed to give an understandable sequence of thematic curriculum units that connect the skills provided in the ELA

Continued on page 17

• Common Core Curriculum Maps: www.commoncore.org/free/• Common Core Standards and English Language Learners: www.colorincolorado.org/ educators/common_core• Common Core State Standards Initiative Web site: www.corestandards.org• Common Core Standards Work for ELLs: The Importance of Linking English Language Profi-ciency Standards to the Common Core Standards www.colorincolorado.org/ powerpoint/ELLELPS standardsPPT% 20Slide.pdf• K-6 Units in ELA Aligned with Common Core Standards: www.elementarytests. com/ blog/k-6-ela-common-core/• P21 Common Core Toolkit www.p21.org/images/p21_ toolkit_fi nal.pdf• toolkit_fi nal.pdf www. the journal.com/articles/2011 /08/02/common-core- toolkit- aligns-standards- with-21stcentury-skills- framework.aspx

Websites of the members of the advisory board to the Common Core Initiative:Achieve, Inc.: www.achieve.org

ACT: www.act.org

The College Board:

www.collegeboard.comNational Association of State

Boards of Education:www.nasbe.org

State Higher Education Executive Offi cers: www.sheeo.org


by Andrew Edison Schneider

This is an ongoing column, featuring advice for effective teaching. Please send article submissions to the column editor, Ann C. Wintergerst (contact information on page 22 of this issue).

I dioms pop up everywhere in Englishmedia, often met with confused looks by our students. Even more advanced

students have diffi culty using them with any degree of competence, especially if the idioms are culturally different from their own (Irujo, 1986).Given their importance, more attentionshould be paid to teaching idioms in ESL settings (Cooper, 1998). It is up to teach-ers to help students not only learn idioms, but also to encourage their usage in an intelligible manner. How can we incor-porate idioms into classroom settings in a relaxed, communicative, and student-cen-tered way? More important, how can we teach the intonation of idioms to achieve students’ maximum intelligibility? I havefound the following three activities to

BYOI—Bring Your Own Idiom

Each student chooses one idiom to“teach” the class. They may choose from any source, and learn it well enough to be able to explain it in front of their classmates. This is a great warm-up; it’s student-centered and exciting, since they have chosen these idioms themselves based on their own interests. Don’t be sur-prised if a number of idioms come from Gossip Girl or Glee, American television programs centering around high-school be helpful for my students, so idioms relating to dating and shopping tend to surface quite often (i.e., It’s on me; She’s into him;Those shoes are totally you).

During the students’ explanations, I stay off to the side and will assist only if thesituation calls for it; I have even done this activity remotely via Skype when I was home sick in bed. Having the students in charge of this activity made it quite man-ageable. It can also act as a springboard for all kinds of culturerelated discussions

Where Is the Change?A major obstacle facing our students

is intelligibility, especially when using idioms. While pronunciation may be a fac-tor, an equally important factor is proper intonation. As the pitch in our voices rises andfalls, these changes in intonation are processed by the listener (Cruttenden, 1986). If you have ever studied Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese, you may be familiar with the inextricable link between the proper tone and communication. In Eng-lish as well, when language is given the correct intonation, communication can be greatly enhanced. To emphasize this point with my students, I imitate the “wawa” teacher from Charlie Brown. I walk around the class, lock eyes with a student, raise my hand, and slowly say “Wa, wa wa Wa?” What I am actually saying is “Hi, how are You?” Students inevitably guess correctlyand are quite surprised that they can understand what I am saying. Once they have caught on, we can then create contextual situations and apply the proper intonation. A mini-dialogue I might have with a student in front of the class, in which my role would beB, is as follows:

A: What are you doing this weekend?B: This weekend? Nothing special.I’ll probably just hang OUt.A: OK. Give me a call.B: Alright.

After the classmates have heard the dialogue, I will ask them, “Where is the change?” Hopefully, they will hear “OUt” on the fi rst try. I will then mark it on the board. The rise in pitch at the beginning of “OUt” rather than on the word “hang” is essential to theintelligibility of the idiom as well as to the rest of the dialogue.

Teachers play a vital role here. Once an idiom is presented, either the students or the teacher should provide/elicit the proper intonation and then mark it. This marking system is especially important for non-native-English-speaking teachers who may be unfamiliar with the proper intonation of idioms.

The good news regarding idiomaticphrases is that there are general intonation patterns. In an emphasized two-syllable word, such as “brainer” in the expression “no-brainer,” the word tends to receive a higher tone or pitch on the fi rst syllable. It’s a no-BRAIner. In the case of a one-syllable word, such as “cake” in the ex-pression “piece of cake,” there is a highertone on the fi rst half of the word: It’s a piece of CAke. In either case, the rising intonation at the beginning is then followed by a falling intonation.Saying the idiom in front of your studentsin slow motion can really help to clarify this, and it is also good for a laugh. When students know the proper intonation, communication can be achieved even with less-than-perfect pronunciation. This is good news for our students, as it is generally much easier to change the pitch of a word than to pronounce the word properly.

Mini DialoguesThe mini dialogues written by the stu-

dents, followed by an in-class role play, are not only a lot of fun but practical and effective exercises for ESL students (Nunan, 2003; Scott & Ytreberg, 2000). They could be done as homework or in class individually, in pairs, or in groups. These dialogues supply the context neces-sary to achieve natural usage and effec-tive communication (Nippold & Martin, 1989). The task is to write mini dialogues, where each dialogue contains at least one idiom from class, either from our text or from one of the students’ BYOI. There should be just enough context (4-6 lines) for the exchange to be meaningful (Nippold & Martin, 1989).

Make sure the students understand that

PROMISING

PRACTICES

PRACTICES

Piece of Cake! Idiom activities and theimportance of proper intonation


Introduction from the new Idiom Editor, Cara Tuzzolino Werben

Greetings Idiom readers, I am delighted to combine my background in publishing with my love of TESOL as the new editor of Idiom. Thank you to my predecessor, Julie Dziew-isz, for her great work and help with a smooth transition. I also thank the column editors, copy editor, NYS TESOL leader-ship and members for the warm welcome. My career began with a B.A.in journalism from NYU. After Iswitched to marketing, and later fundraising, I volunteered in an ESOL classroom and loved it. I enrolled in Teachers College, Columbia University, graduated with an Ed.M. in TESOL, and began working as an adjunct at Pace, CUNY, and Columbia. Presently, I work in an inten-sive English program at Nassau Community College. We focus on improving students’ skills through an integrated, holistic approach, so that they can exit our program and be prepared for college-level work. I also instruct and mentor aspiring TESOL teachers at the Literacy Assistance Center. I welcome the chance to meet with inter-ested writers during the Annual conference in October. See you there!--Cara<[email protected]>

even though these dialogues are being written down, they should be striving for spoken and not written English. I also ask them to consid-er the roles of the speakers as in the followingstudent dialogue (the professor is putting on her coat as her student enters the office):

A: Excuse me. Professor? Are youbusy?B: I’m running LAte, actually. I’ll behere tomorrow.A: Ok, thank you.B: Alright.

This exchange meets the criteria in that it is a spoken dialogue, the roles are defi ned, at least one idiom is used, and the idiom is marked with the proper intonation. Once their dialogues are done, I collect, correct, and return them. Afterward, I circulate, taking student questions on my corrections. Then, I have each pair practice and perform at least one of their dialogues in front of the class. Eye contact, body language (students must sit facing each other), and voice manage-ment should be emphasized during practicetime. Be sure to circulate, as some students will simply read the dialogue together. I walk around with a blank sheet of 8½ x 11 paper, which I use to cover up the dialogue they are working on. This forces them to look up and,hopefully, at each other. The students then perform at the front of the class. I act asthe director, yelling “Action!” and opening/closing my cell phone like a director’s slate. The class listens for the idiom used in the dialogue. This is always fun, as students enjoy watching their classmates perform. I like tosupply props/wigs to spice it up. Be prepared for the cameras to come out! I also quiz them on the idiom and the intonation right after each dialogue.

ConclusionEnglish continues to be a global language.

Proper knowledge and usage of idioms are powerful tools for anyone requiring English in daily communication. By focusing on the proper intonation for our students to achievemaximum intelligibility, we are better equipping them for the Eng-lish-speaking world. It is important for us as teachers to go the extra mile.

ReferencesCooper, T. C. (1998). Teaching idioms.Foreign Language Annals, 31(2),255-266.

Cruttenden, M. (1986). Intonation.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Irujo, S. (1986). Don’t put your leg in your mouth: Transfer in the acquisition of idioms in a second language. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 287-304

Nippold, M. A., & Martin, S. T.(1989).Idiom interpretation in isolation versus context: A developmental study with adoles-cents. Journal Speech & Hearing Research, 32, 59-66.

Nunan, D. (2003). Practical Englishteaching. New York: McGraw Hill.

Scott, W. A., & Ytreberg, L. H. (2000).Teaching English to children. New York: Longman.

Andrew Schneider has been teachingESL/EFL for 20 years, having taughtin Japan, Spain, and the United States.He currently teaches medical students in Kanazawa, Japan.<[email protected]>


ESL teachers employ a variety ofinstructional tools in the class-room. Conversation can be used

to help students practice pronunciation, to prepare tand develop a well-thought-out paragraph, and to enhance listening skills. Most important, conversational activities tap into students’ schema to help them fully develop critical thinking skills in English. Below are several activities I have used with mystudents.

To introduce the concept of students’ origins, I show students how to use the Reporter’s Questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) to gather information. Students partner with one another to ask these questions and record the answers. When the class comes to-gether again, I ask the group, “Who has a partner coming from a country whose name begins with the letter A?” Students might answer Argentina. The class then identifi es which continent Argentina is on. Students check the map in the class-room to know more about their partner’s home country. This is repeated until the end of the alpha-bet. Students work with their partners to see what they already know about these countries. This prior knowledge helps students realize that they know more than they think about geography and other topics.

Next, the class discusses the varietyof languages spoken by the students. After obtaining this information, stu-dents put the names of these languages on the board. This first conversation in class provides information needed for the fi rst writing assignment, which is the biography of a class member. The first draft begins in class and is peer reviewed for content by the student’s conversation partners. Their homework is to review the draft and to rewrite it at home on the computer. The next day, I review the homework with students and focus my comments on a grammatical topic, such as verb tense usage. I choose to focus my feedback on one or

two aspects of the writing assignment so that a completely marked-up paper does not increase students’ writing anxiety.

The next assignment involves readinga biography about a famous American. It might be a commonly known American like George Washington or someone from a particular fi eld. After forming groups and prior to reading, students discuss what they already know about the person and what they expect to see in the article. I introduce the concepts of topic and main idea as well as vocabulary specific to the story. After reading the biography, students individually answer the Report-er’s Questions from the article, and then share their answers with their conversa-tion group.

In groups, students generate their own questions using the Reporter’s Questions. When the class comes together, one stu-dent from each conversation group writes one question on the board—the questions should not be duplicates of other groups’ questions.Students read each question aloud. I ask the whole class for grammati-cal corrections to the questions. After completing the exercise, students write a summary of the biography—they can use these questions or the ones from the con-versation group—and show this to their conversation partner for feedback. Their homework is to create a revised version of the in-class written summary that incor-porates their partners’ feedback. They staple the draft to the top of the rewrite.

Using conversation sheets, such as those available at www.bogglesworldesl.com, also provides opportunities for interac-tion. Each conversation sheet centers on a theme such as seasons, media, habits, and customs.These can be used to talk about the topic in conversation groups, to learn vocabulary specifi c to a topic, and to practice pronunciation. I ask students to look up defi nitions of highlighted words on the sheets. As an instructor, using these sheets is a way to determine stu-dents’ familiarity with American culture and to plan class trips. Students can also

Come to the Annual Conference

October 28-29, 2011

TESOL

N Y

New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages 41st Annual Conference

“Enhancing EnglishLearning: ConnectingCommunities Through

Collaboration”

Marriott HotelMelville, NY

For further information,go to www.nystesol.org and check your e-mail on the NYS TESOL Listser If you are interested involunteering or have questions,

contactConference ChairChristy Baralis [email protected]

For ELLs, Talking Is Learningby Elaine Caputo Ferrera


Call for Awards

To honor contributions made within our fi eld, NYS TESOL presents severalawards annually, including:

James A. Lydon Distinguished Service AwardOutstanding Teacher Award

Recognition AwardLifetime Achievement Award

James E. Weaver Memorial AwardSpecial Award

Year Award Honore

Recognition Award Outstanding Teacher

James E. Weaver Memorial Award Recognition AwardOutstanding Teacher

James A. Lydon Distinguished ServiceRecognition AwardOutstanding Teacher

James A. Lydon Distinguished ServiceOutstanding Teacher

James A. Lydon Distinguished Service

Alison O’Neil Sam HoytDonna Bove

George MorrisMaria NeiraDr. AndreaHonigsfeld &Caryn Bachar

Dr. Frank TangPatricia C. La Rose

Diana Segovia Praus

Lifetime Achievement Award Recognition Award

Outstanding Teacher

Dr. Anita BatistiDr. Maria Dove

Estee LopezDr. Walter Sullivan & Saul Cohen Teacher Barbara Suter

2009

2010

2008

2007

2006

2005

2011 Award Winners will be presented at the41st Annual Conference

October 28th & 29th, 2011

Please review our available awards and criteria for submission atwww.nystesol.org. Submit all nominations and supporting documentation as attachments via e-mail to: Meredith Van Schuyler, [email protected] submissions due September 23, 2011.

Exceptional Professionalsconduct research to enhance their knowl-edge about media. I used these conversa-tion activities with levels 3 to 7 students (as measured by the Best Plus) enrolled in non-credit ESL CUNY courses for a se-mester or more. Students ranged from 18 to 60 years, were from all over the world, and spoke a wide variety of languages. Some were recently arrived professionals who had university degrees; others had a basic education in their native country.

Students developed a sense of commu-nity because of the shared conversation exercises. Many good friendships began in class and continued after graduation. These friendships made it more enjoyable for many to attend class on a regular basis and did lead to fewer absences. By the end, students learned how to express their ideas more clearly in English and how to formulate questions for future educational use. Their critical thinking skills were used to evaluate the new information and to compare it to what they already knew.

Elaine Caputo Ferrara received a Master’s degree from N.Y.U. in educational psycholog y, with a specialty in reading and special education. At the College of Staten Island, she teaches read-ing and writing to college students in ESL classes. Recently,she developed a citizenship class for students.<[email protected]>


More Grammar Games: Cognitive,Affective and Movement Activities for EFL Students. By Mario Rinvolucri and Paul Davis. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. UK. (2010).176 pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-46630-1

Reviewed by Kathryn North

Mario Rinvolucri and Paul Davis’ More Grammar Games: Cognitive, Affec-tive and Movement Activities for EFL Students provides a revamping of their earlier work Grammar Games, which was originally published in 1984. The authors designed the text to provide EFL/ESL teachers with a framework for games that can be modified to be appro-priate for different age groups and varied English profi ciency levels. Therefore, while the usefulness of the book as a supplemental text in the adult ESL class-room is the main purpose of this review, its utility can be applied to various teach-ing scenarios.

The text is divided into nine sectionsincluding “Competitive Games,” “Cogni-tive Games,” “Feelings and Grammar,” “Listening to People,” “Movement and Grammar,” “Meaning and Translation,” “Problem Solving,” “Correction” and “Presentation,” for a total of 81 games, or mini-lessons. As the titles suggest, many lessons are rooted in the principles of well-known English language learning methodologies including the Silent Way, as well as Counseling-Learning/CommunityLanguage Learning (CLL). The book begins with a table of contents noting the games and page numbers. This is followed by a detailed map of the book with the-

game titles, grammar topics covered, and levels and time needed. The introduc-tion also includes commentary from the authors on how the book can be used and their rationale for the methodologies utilized by section.

Each game begins with the title of the game and a box restating the details from the map of the book. If the game can be adapted for other structures and levels, a sub-box states this. To start the main por-tion of the mini-lesson, the authors note any preparation required before class.

This is followed by a breakdown of the in-class procedures of the game. The au-thors also include examples, variations, a rationale overview, and notes or acknowl-edgements when necessary.Lastly, any required handouts are pro-vided. On a minor note, the examples and handouts are written using British English vocabulary. In the case of classes in the United States, instructors will need to re-write these in Standard American English.

The first section includes competitivegames, which are designed to increase motivation by fostering collaboration within groups while creating a safe, spirited environment. Many of the games in this section focus on the correction of material provided by the teacher. This, of course, means that the instructor must devote time to the preparation of the game. For some this could be less than ideal.

The cognitive games in section two are unique in their structure as, according to the authors, the exercises are mostly open-ended ones: this differs from many grammar exercises that require one correct response. The flexibility of the activities allows students to discover various aspects of the language without the direct infl uence of the instructor. While these types of activities can be very creative and have their place in certain contexts, giving students unlimited control over the types of sentences produced can cause the direction of the lesson to be diverted. For this reason, although this section fol-lows the Silent Way method in its purest form (Larsen-Freeman, 2000), the lack of fi nal language destination does not follow the integrated and pragmatic way that the Silent Way is often practiced in the classroom.Sections three and four, which deal with feelings and listening to others,

respectively, are arguably the strongest chapters. Here, games are designed to promote healthy interpersonal discus-sions, which require speakers to make use of a specifi c grammar structure. Many teachers can attest to the positive influ-ence that mutual understanding, respect and personal investment in the classroom can have on productivity (e.g., Counsel-ing Learning and Community Language Learning—see Larsen-Freeman, 2000).

Section five is made up of games that incorporate grammar and movement.While there is a modicum of Desugges-topedia inherent in games throughout the text, this section explicitly focuses on the usage of movement to instill language concepts. The rationale seems to be that students are more open to language learn-ing when the preconceived mental and emotional barriers to learning are “de-suggested” through lighthearted activity (Larsen-Freeman, 2000).

In the meaning and translation games found in section six, the minilessonsfocus on having students develop a deeper grasp of the nuances and root meaning of language by linking English with their mother tongue. While the debate over the use of translation in the ESL classroom continues, using native languages as a resource in the foreign/second language classroom can help to build linguistic abilities in both languages, bridge existingknowledge to the acquisition of the new language, and give validity to the first language (Baker, 2006; Gibbons, 2009). Therefore, if instructors use these mini-lessons, they may find that when properly administered, deep learning can take place during games that use translation.

The last three sections are less substan-tial. Section seven deals with problem solving. Section eight offers techniques for self, peer and teacher corrections. Finally, section nine recommends alterna-tives for the presentation of new grammar topics to a class.

Both students and teacher have much to gain from More Grammar Games. The authors offer ideas for games that appeal to many different learning styles. With the exception of musical and natural intelligences, this book contains games that promote all the multiple

This is an ongoing column, featuring reviews of books and other materials for TESOL teachers and students.Pleasesend article submissions to the column editor, Nanette Dougherty (contact information is on page 22).

REVIEWBOOK


In coordination with the 2011 NYS TESOL annual conference, “En-hancing English Learning: Connect-

ing Communities through Collaboration,” the topic for this year’s student essay con-test, “How has your community helped you learn English?,” revolved around communities and the role that living, working, and interacting in them plays in the English language learners’ (ELLs) ac-quisition of English.The essay contest was held for students who are current or for-mer ELwithin three categories: students in grades four through eight; students in grades nine through twelve; and students enrolled in a university or an adult educa-tion program, including students enrolled in Intensive English programs, commu-nity colleges, degree-based programs, and ESOL programs.

The student essay contest was very successful, with 113 essays received from throughout New York State. A winner and an honorary mention were chosen from each of the three categories. The names of the winners and honorary mentions will be announced during the Friday luncheon at the annual conference and their essays will be printed in the conference booklet. The winning essays will also be included in the winter edition of Idiom as well as be posted on the NYS TESOL Special In-terest Group (SIG) Student Essay Contest page.

Please join me in thanking all ofthe students who submitted essays tothe sixth annual student essay contest! Watch for news about the 2012 contest in an upcoming issue of Idiom, as well as on our website.

intelligences(Gardner,2006). The book also lists games specifically designed to strengthen receptive skills to help students become more active listeners and readers. Furthermore, utilizing grammar games, an in-structor can adeptly introduce grammar topics without the use of over grammatical language. Although the discussion of teaching gram-matical form vs. focusing on communicative interactions is still very predominant in the ESL teaching field, research has shown that the integration of grammar with contextual-ized language creates the most efficient mode of learning (Larsen-Freeman 2001).

To offer some criticism, the organizationalstructure of the text can be challenging. For those who normally organize lessons in a pro-gression of scaffolded topics, the division byunderlying pedagogical approaches may be less intuitive. In addition, the organization within the sections is unclear and finding a game for a specific grammar topic or level requires some hunting within the map of the text. Further, many of the games, especiallyin sections one and two, require a fair amount of setup. While an instructor may hope to use a book of games as a quick reference for lesson ideas, the time required for fi nding an appropriate lesson and setup prevent the bookfrom being used in that manner. Finally, while one would assume that all of the games are related explicitly to grammar, some have a more semantic focus. This does not deter the student from gaining knowledge but should be noted.

ReferencesBaker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.). Toronto: Multilingual Matters.Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New Horizons. New York:Basic Books.

Gibbons, P. (2009). English LearnersAcademic Literacy and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Teaching and Principles in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed.) (pp. 251-266). Boston: Heinkle & Heinkle Thomson Learning.Rinvolucri, M., & Davis, P. (1995).More Grammar Games: Cognitive,

Affective and Movement Activities for EFL Students. New York: Cambridge University Press. Kathryn N. North is a recent graduate of New York University’s Master’s Program in TESOL. An ESOL instructor with the New York Public Library, Kath-ryn also tutors writing and develop-mental reading at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. <[email protected]>

2011 NYS TESOLS student Essay Contestby Laura Van Tassell

NYS TESOL SIG Coordinator


Small Talk: A Meaningful Conversation Toolby Joy Scantlebury

Engaging English Language Learners (ELLs) in a few min-utes of small talk prior to the

start of ESL class can be a very useful strategy. The purpose of small talk is not about gauging how grammatically correct my students can speak in Eng-lish -- although I do make mental notes of students’ grammatical difficulties for subsequent lessons. It provides the op-portunity for my students to be heard in a very relaxed setting, while allowing their English to emerge. It certainly can be a challenge to insert those few min-utes during the fast-paced schedule of a typical school day, but I have found it to be a source of valuable information. I often begin the small talk sessionwith an informational “wh” question such as “How was your appointment at the dentist?” or “What did you do after school yesterday?” The responses are quite revealing. Some students, espe-cially those in middle school, are initially guarded, while others seem surprised that I want to know more about them. Gradually as they learn to trust me as well as their classmates, the students slowly open up. It is gratifying to see a once painfully shy kindergarten student now coming to class with daily announcements such as, “You know what? Yesterday, I lose(sic) a tooth.”

There are other times when studentsexpress more sensitive issues, which we discuss further in private. One example of this occurred when an ELL in third grade told me during our small talk ses-sion that one of the other students in the mainstream class made fun of his speech and called him “stupid.” Neither his classroom teacher nor I had noticed any tension between these two students. The fact that the ELL who mentioned this incident had always felt self-conscious about his ability to speak English prompt-ed my immediate arrangement of a meet-ing with his teacher and the other student. Fortunately, we were able to resolve the situation, but it taught me to become more vigilant when workingwith ELLs in the mainstream classroom.

It is impressive to listen to a studentretell a story or incident, but the mostgratifying part is when he or she is able to connect it to a new concept. When study-ing the concept of cause and effect during a reading lesson, I sensed that only a few students understood this concept, while many did not. Suddenly, one student an-nounced, “Do you remember when I told you the story about how I accidentally spilled water on the kitchen floor?” He proudly continued, “That was an example of cause and effect. The cause was when I spilled water on thefloor. The effect was when my mom be-came angry.” His classmates noddedtheir heads in agreement. It was as if alight bulb had been turned on! I couldnot have provided a better example ofcause and effect!

As ELLs become more confi dentin speaking English, more of their person-alities emerge. During one of oursmall talk sessions, I asked a beginningELL in the fi rst grade, “Where does your brother go to school?” Without hesita-tion, she stated, “My brother go (sic) to Sleepy Hollow School. Zzzzzzzz. Sleepy School. I am soooo sleepy!” as she put her head on the desk and pretended to sleep. Prior to that comment, I had not seen that humorous side of her. I noticed how thrilled she was that she had made me laugh. I then decided to follow her quip with another “wh” question. I tapped her on the shoulder as her eyes snapped open and her head bobbed up from the table. “What does your brother like to do at school?” I asked.

She smiled and impishly replied, “He like (sic) to sleep.” How clever this little girl was! I realized several things during our small talk exchange. This student demonstrated that she understood the word “sleepy”, she connected that under-standing to a different context, and she found a way to make it humorous. None of these is easy to do, especially at the beginning of the language acquisition process. Later in the day, I had this stu-dent retell the joke to her teacher and

some of her classmates. This small talk session was a pivotal moment for this stu-dent because she was clearly pleased to see that she could be funny in English.

I have noticed that ELLs have thecapacity to dissect words in interestingways, especially when these words are spo-ken. When native English speakers think about words, we tend to focus on the sum and not the parts. When a student was be-ginning ELL in second grade, I recall his reading a passage out loud. After encoun-tering the two-syllable word, “awesome”, he pronounced it as if were a threesyllable words, “a – we—some”. Prior to that day, I had never realized that the word “awesome” is comprised of three smaller words: “a”, “we” and “some”. That was a revelation for me. How awesome!

I am sure that many ESL teachersutilize small talk or some variant of itin their classrooms. It is not a novelconcept, but I fi nd that it is valuableduring a limited amount of time. Conver-sations, which on the surface mayappear superfluous, are in actuality agold mine of enriching and relevantinformation.

Joy Scantlebury is a graduate ofSmith College. She received her M.A.in TESOL from Teachers College,Columbia University. Joy currentlyteaches ESL at Pocantico HillsCentral School in Sleepy Hollow, NY.<[email protected]>


Small Talk: A Meaningful Conversation Toolby Joy Scantlebury


Above: Ahmed El-Habashi, Egypt; Tomoko Kihira, Japan; Ufualè Afola Amey,Togo; Osiris Romero, Dominican Republic and Elena Lyumanova, Russia, cometogether in anticipation of their panel presentation.

Right: Sonia Portugal, Peru, performs Floating Words, a dance she choreographed to portray the spirit of English language learning.

Below: Everyone listens as Ufualè Afola Amey talks about learning Englishfrom her teacher Dave, a Peace Corps volunteer.


NYS TESOL Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Regions Leadership Directory 2010-2011

SIG LeadersSIG Coordinator Laura Van Tassell <[email protected]>Assistant SIG CoordinatorJennifer Scully <[email protected]>

Applied LinguisticsAndrew MillerLindsay Wells<[email protected]>

ESL in Adult EducationTamara Kirson <[email protected]>

ESL in Bilingual Education Co-ChairLydia Gutierrez<[email protected]>

ESL in Elementary Education Co-ChairsSusan GoldsteinDiane Howitt<[email protected]>

ESL in Higher Education Co-ChairsDafna Ben AnathLisa Kraft <[email protected]>

ESL in Secondary EducationLan Ngo <[email protected]>

ESL in Special Education Co-ChairPatty Barry<[email protected]>

Teacher Education Co-ChairsSoonhyang KimJoanna Labov<[email protected]>

Teaching English Internationally Co-ChairsClaudette OliverasMelissa Duquette<[email protected]>

Regions LeadersRegions CoordinatorTina Villalobos <[email protected]>

Assistant Regions CoordinatorLynn Ellingwood <[email protected]>

BuffaloElena Dokshansky-Zelfond<[email protected]>

Capital Region Co-ChairsLiz AllenRoma Kumar <[email protected]>

Hudson Valley Co-ChairsKatie Werner Rebecca Horwitz<[email protected]

Long IslandVicky Giouroukakis<[email protected]>

New York City Co-ChairsJoe TillmanElaine Roberts <[email protected]>

Rochester/Syracuse Co-ChairsGloria DancauseElaine Ferlicca <[email protected]>

TESOL

N Y

Resources for Implementing... (continued from page 7) standards with recommended student objectives, texts, and activities.

Examples of these thematic curriculumu-nits include: Grade 1: The Amazing Animal World; Grade 3: The People, the Preamble, and the Presidents; Grade 6: Folklore: A Blast from the Past; Grade 9: Literary Elements of a Short Story; and Grade 12: Eu-ropean Literature: Renaissance and Reforma-tion. Common Core is working with schools and districts in different states to implement the maps. Arizona and North Carolina are using them statewide to help districts put the standards in place (Gewitz & Robelen, 2011).

Two writers have recently crafteddocuments outlining Common Core cu-riculum criteria. Working under a contract with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a strong supporter of the standards, David Coleman and Susan Pimentel, co-authors of the Common Core Standards for ELA/Literacy, wrote two documents highlighting the key ideas of the standards and describ-ing the qualities of instructional materials they consider an accurate reflection of them (Gewertz, 2011).

Common Core Assessments and PARCC According to the National Governor’s As-sociation/CCSSO, the Common Core State Standards will also ultimately be the basis for a system of high-quality assessments. New York State is a governing member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readness for College and Careers (PARCC), which was awarded Race to the Top Assesment funds in 2010. The PARCC Web site can be viewed at http://parcconline.org/. Over the next few years, New York and 25 other states will develop English Language Arts and Math-ematics assessments, which will be finalized in 2014-15 (NYSED, 2011). Common Core Standards Assessment Re-sources are located at http://education north-west.org/resource/1331. Idiom will work to keep readers aware of all the upcoming changes.


We’re very excited to announce the launch of the new Members Only website for NYS TESOL. We are just gearing up, but hope this will become a major resource and networking site for our members. Current members were sent an email alert in early September containing their username and password. Of course, your email system may have fi ltered our message into a spam folder if you are a current member and did not receive a notice with your login information, please contact us at [email protected]. With annual conference registration already under way, please act quickly to login and verify your profi le data and networking preferences.

Coming Soon• Networking options• SIG/Region E-lists• Job Coach/Career Mentoring• Service opportunities and awards

Your PRIVACY This site is viewable only by active members. And, because this is new, we have also blocked your contact information from members. So, unlike Facebook, where you decide what to set as ‘private,’ we’ve already done this. The only infor-mation visible to other members is: your Name, Member Type, Region and SIG preferences. You can privatize these, too, if you wish, by updating your profile.However, for those of you who want to network with other members, there are 2 optional fields – an “email to share” and a “website/blog address” both set up as viewable by all members. And you can upload a photo. You control the privacy settings for these fields and can edit them at anytime.

What’s Next?We’d like you to tell us! Please look around the site, update your profile, join a discussion board, and send us ideas for additions and improvements.

What’s There• Your profile page• Membership renewal• Discounted event registration• Members Only online publication, Dialogue• Discussion boards

NYS TESOL is committed to providing members with the most up-to-date resources, news and edu-cational tools. To enable access by all members of our fi eld, NYS TESOL offers discounted memberships. Recently, we revised the documenta-tion policy for discounts to align with other non-profi t organizations as well as to create greater consistency and transparency. Please check the new requirements when you prepare to renew. For questions regarding membership status and discounts, please contact us at [email protected].

Discounted Membership Update

Check out the new Members Only website!


Check out the new Members Only website!


CollaborativeConversations*(continued from page 1)

Collaborative Craftsmanship: Through conscious efforts for continuous improve-ment of the craft of teaching, teachers explore ways to enhance instructional time, language development, and content area resources, and offer support for each other.

Table 1 shows how the concept of collegiality and collaboration may offer a system of support in a linguistically and culturally diverse school context by including the four Cs with ample ex-amples.

Collaborative Conversations

Talk about• Students’ needs• Students’ lives• Students in and out of school work• Curriculum and instruction• Teachers’ own struggles• Teachers’ own successes• What matters to you, the teacher

Collaborative Coaching

Use peer coaching to improve• Lesson planning• Lesson delivery• Unit design• Use of supplementary materials• Adapted content• Modified instruction• Assessment practices

Collaborative Curriculum sDevelopment

Align• Lesson objectives (language objectives and content objectives)• Unit goals• Curriculum maps• Primary and supplementary instructional materials• Adapted texts and materials• Resources

Collaborative CraftsmanshipExplore

• ELLs’ background knowledge• ELLs’ prior learning• Peer coaching• Planning instruction collaboratively or in the context of co-teaching• Effective methods for aligning curriculum and objectives • Using time more effectively• Making the most of collaborative efforts

Table 1: The Four Cs of Collaboration

Collaboration may start out as a small, grassroots effort, involving only two or three teachers who share the responsibil-ity for some of the same ELLs and are concerned about their students’ progress. It may involve an entire grade level.Some examples include grade clusters working together to develop or enhance curricula in elementary schools; an inter-disciplinary team of math, science, social studies, English, and ESL teachers (shar-ing responsibility for a cluster of classes in middle schools); or a discipline-specific department (focusing on preparing all students to meet graduation requirements of high schools). Regardless of the local context, all these collaborative efforts

start with professional conversations, through which teachers collaboratively explore their students’ needs and respon-sive practices.

ReferencesDelliCarpini, M. (2008). Teacher collaboration for ESL/EFL academic success. The Internet TESL Journal, 14(8). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/DelliCarpini-TeacherCol-laboration.html


html?tkn=UPSFLpcFv4ebJmsg2qZx2C7B8rKm7AL%2FiacG&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

Gewertz, C., & Robelen, E. (2011).Curriculum maps aim to bring ELA Standards to life. July 25, 2011. http://blogs.edweek.org/ edweek/curriculum/2011/07/the_non-profi t_group_common _cor.html

Hakuta, K. (2011). Webinar: Researchto practice: Preparing ELLs for the Common Core, Teachscape, May 5, 2011. http://marketing. teachscape.com K12Kenji ELLMay2011WebinarAccess.html

Lopez, E. (2010). ELA Standards:Shifting the focus to the Common Core comments, standards and curriculum, NYS TESOL, October 2010. http://www.nystesol.org/curriculum-standards/standards.html

Nagel, D. (2010). Feds award $330million to fund alternatives to high-stake bubble tests. The Journal, September 2, 2010. http:// thejournal.com/articles/ 2010/09/02/feds-award-330-million-to-fi nd-alternatives-tohigh-stakes-bubble-tests.aspx?sc_lang-en

NYSED (2011). FAQs—CommonCore learning standards. http:// www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/com-mon_core_standards/faq.html

NYSUT (2011). Educational Resourcesfor English Language Learners.http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/k12_13765.htm

Quay, L. (2010). Higher standards for all: Implications of the CommonCore for equity in education. CivilRights Research Roundtable on Educa-tion, Berkeley Law, April 2010. http: www.law.berkeley.edu/fi les/Education_Roundable_ Standards_Brief_ 4_10.pdf

Washington State School Board(2010). Common Core StandardsProcess FAQs. http:// www.sbe.wa.gov/docu

ments/ FAQ%20Common%20 Core%Standards%20Process.pdf

Zehr, M. A. (2011). Conference:Implementing Common CoreStandards for ELLs, Learning theLanguage Blog, August 11, 2010.Education Weekly. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-thelanguage/2010/08/confer-ence_implementing_common.html

Zehr, M. A. (2011). Stanford to leadcreation of ELL standards for “Com-mon Core” Learning the Language Blog, July 12, 2011, Education Weekly. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-thelanguage/2011/07/stan-ford_to_lead_creation_of_e.html

Diane Garafalo is a former ESL teacher at Oswego City School District. She was also a secondary English teacher, with a total of fi fteen years of public school teaching experience. Diane’s previous positions include working as an adjunct professor of written commu-nications for ITT Technical Institute and a human resources and training manager for a variety of Fortune 500 companies. Currently, Diane is an HR and workforce literacy consultant for DRG Associates.<[email protected]>

August, D., Cortese, A., La Fonde, S.,Leos, K. (2010). Making Common Core Standards work for ELLs: The importance of linking English Language Profi ciency Standards to the Common Core Standards. October 21, 2010. AFT educational Policy Forum. http://www. colorincolorado.org/powerpoint/ELL-ELPStandardsPPT%20Slide.pdf

DelliCarpini, M. (2009, May). Dialoguesacross disciplines: Preparing English-as-a-second-language teachers for interdisciplinary collaboration. Current Issues in Education (Online), 11(2). Retrieved from http://cie.ed.asu.edu/volume11/number2/

Honigsfeld, A., & Dove, M. (2010).Collaboration and co-teaching: Strategies for English learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

National Commission on Teachingand America’s Future (NACTAF) (2009). Learning teams: Creating what’s next. Retrieved from http://www.nctaf.org/documents/ NCTAFLearnin Teams-408REG2–09_000.pdf

NEA (2009). NEA reiterates collaboration as key to keeping teachers. Retrieved from http://www.nea. org/home/31477.htm

Pawan, F., & Ortloff, J. H. (2011). Sustaining collaboration: English-asa- second-language and content-area teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 463-471.

Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld is associate dean and profes-sor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre. She is the co-author with Maria Dove of a recently published book, Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners (Corwin Press, 2010). <[email protected]>

Sections of this manuscript have grown out of the author’s collaborative conversations with Dr. Maria Dove and are featured in their coauthored book, cited above. Gewertz, C. (2011). Common Core Writers Craft curricu-lum criteria, July 22, 2011. Education Weekly. http://www.edweek.org/ew/article s/2011/07/21/37curriculum.h30.

References


I diom is a quarterly publication for members of NYS TESOL. The editors welcome articles as well as

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Asingle conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books.

—Chinese proverb

Once a month, the Haggerty EnglishLanguage Program at SUNY New Paltz hosts an informal learning luncheon known as Conversation Table to encourage casual conversation on a range of topics in an inviting environment. The program was established to help promote interaction and dialogue between international students (particularly ESL), faculty, and staff and American students interested in interna-tional studies. Occasionally, community volunteers attend as well.

Conversation Table is held at the Center for International Programs on a diffe ent weekday each month to ensure that students have the opportunity to attend at least once a semester. At the catered lunch, 20-25 guests meet for 45 minutes. Attend-ees are seated at a large rectangular table conducive to interaction. Faculty, staff, and volunteers may lead discussions with students on topics such as food, cultural similarities and differences, religion and government. If a student seems lonely, the faculty is there to make introductions and initiate dialogue.

The program promotes Conversation Table in a variety of ways. At the begin-ning of each semester, all new students receive an event handout. ESL teachers review it in class, answer questions, and promote attendance. One week prior to the luncheon, fliers are posted and e-mails sent out. Students can RSVP and comment on the event’s Facebook page. The day before the event, we remind students to attend. On the day of the luncheon, the event coordinator arrives early at the venue to set up and greet guests. At the end of the meal, students are asked to help with cleanup.

vAfter the gathering, photographs of the event are uploaded onto the ESL depart-ment Facebook page. Students post photos and comments. A student survey on Face-book following the luncheon helps with preparation for future events. A student

journalist writes an article about Con-versation Table for the ESL department newsletter, which is distributed to all ESL students as well as other departments on campus.

Conversation Table has become increas-ingly popular because of the opportunity it offers for socialization and discussion. Attendees leave having shared dialogue, laughter, smiles, and good food. ESL students also have a valuable language experience and new connections with na-tive speakers.

Sarah Elia is a lecturer in ESL at theHaggerty English Language Programat SUNY New Paltz. As the program’sevent coordinator, she works to activelypromote positive interactions between international students and American stu-dents. Elia has a B.A. from Bard College and an M.A. in TESOL from SUNY New Paltz.<[email protected]>

Timed Conversationsby Phillipa Arthur

Introduction

During Timed Conversations, learners primarily practice listen-ing/speaking skills and a host

of other conversational skills, includ-ing but not limited to: turn taking; the language of encouragement and praise; the language of expressing unfamiliar-ity with topics; comprehension checking; and agreeing and disagreeing. Although generally referred to as Timed Conversa-tions, some specify the time limit in the title, for example: Four Minute Conversa-tions. Timed Conversations are typically fluency-based and opportunities for learn-ers to personalize and converse about a topic, for a specified period of time. For the instructor, Timed Conversations can function as: a warm-up activity to

activate learners’ schemata, to focus learners on the lesson topic or to con-nect the previous and current lessons; a follow-up activity to allow learners to expand on and personalize lesson content; a fi ller activity to purposefully utilize ‘extra time’ at the end of a lesson; a stress-reliever activity to infuse a sense of fun into a lesson; a review activity for content courses; and a speech-sampling activity to gauge learners’ conversational skills.

MaterialsIn order to conduct Timed Conversa-

tions you essentially need two things- a timer and topic cards. Conveniently,wrist watches, cell phones, iPads, com-puters, stop-watches, kitchen timers and classroom clocks can all function as timers.

Ideally, the topics refl ected on thecards should complement your lessontopic. For example, if you were planninga lesson on ‘classic baked goods,’ each topic card could refl ect the name of a classic baked good. Format topic cards on a computer, print in color and lami-nate them (if these are resources available to you and if you will add this activity to your repertoire). Of course, you can also prepare a slide show of ‘topic cards’ to display on a computer or iPad. Topic cards can be word-based (pie, quiche, tart); question- based (“How would you prepareicing?”); statement-based (“Tell me about your favorite baked childhood dessert.”); and picture-based (image of a six-tiered wedding cake).

Continued on page 27

Converstation Tableby Sarah Elia


ELLs respond well to lessons in the form of conversations as another way to incorporate some

of the same strategies and scaffolds used for writing. As an example, I often give students a prompt of 5-10 words. For all grades I have used “My greatest sur-prise.” Fourth graders write about justice.

The students use the prompt as a starter and begin writing, eventuallyproducing a well-developed paragraph.These same prompts can be used to maintain intelligent discourse among students. The difference with making conversations the major goal in a lesson is that the discussion will not be based on previous reading and/or writing, but strictly on the present conversation. Self-expression, thoughts, ideas, and opinions will begin and end with clarifi cation through conversation only. Mak-ing this an integral part of lessons will address the challenges faced by our ELL population in verbal communication, and can enhance the student’s listening and speaking skills.

Another value with conversations as a major focus is that the vocabulary challenges faced by many of our ELLs will be considered. Our students may have divided language skills. They are comfortable with a specific lexicon from the home language, but use a different second language lexicon. A stronger em-phasis on classroom conversations will allow for a balance and exchange of word comprehension of similar vocabulary in both languages. Conversations will be a major theme in my ESL classrooms this school year in support of enhancing my students’ oral language skills.

Further ReadingBeck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L.(2002). Bringing words to life: Robustvocabulary instruction.Gordon, T. (2007). Teaching youngchildren a second language. Westport,CT: Praeger. Yanick Chery-Frederic is an elementary school ESL teacher for grades 2-4 in Central Islip, as well as

an adjunct professor of ESL at Suffolk County Community College. She has also taught a Methods under-graduate course in TESOL at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue.<[email protected]>

Let’s Talk about It!by Yanick Chery-Frederic

by Ellen Terry Vandrew-WaldExplicit Communication

T he manner in which language and writing are understood and mis-understood promotes success or

failure. Understanding what is said is the key to communicative competence.

Explicit communication is dialogue that is clear, sure, and restated when necessary. Crawford (1993) states that the processes of literacy and language learning require learners to be immersed in meaningful, relevant, and functional situations. In this way, students can learn to handle them-selves in various situations.

Let’s begin with a kindergartener meet-ing an instructor for the first time.If the child is asked to describe some-thing, perhaps drawing it is a much better way of communicating what happened. Description may not simply be done by talking. The explicit communication would require that the teacher talk and demonstrate so that this student knows what to do.

Middle school students who do not speak English can benefit from explicit communication as well. Classmates might offer to translate for this student, but that means that every utterance requires assistance. When I write the aim and other particu-lars on the board (I verbally explain to the rest of the class), giving the student explicit communication for instruction by demonstration. The student copies what is on the board.

Then I say “Copy.” From that time on, this student knows what the word “copy” means and can copy.

Explicit communication with parents is one of the most important types of communication. After all, the parent(s) or caretaker is the first teacher and the one who can do the most to facilitate a student’s academic success. In parent meetings, I combine simple words with academic language and have the requisite bilingual dictionaries. By explaining and demonstrating slowly and carefully, ex-plicit communication and a good dialogue can be created.

When one speaks with humility and caring, the communication is explicit. Explicit communication is the key to all forms of dialogue; if one method does not work, just keep on trying.

ReferencesCrawford, L. W. (1993). Languageand literacy learning in multiculturalclassrooms. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Ellen Terry Vandrew-Wald was born in the Bronx into a religious background. Barry Wald, her husband, encouraged her to become a teacher. She got her B.A. from Marymount Manhattan College in1999 and M.A. in TESOL from Hunter College in 2004. She is a NYC public school K-12 teacher, and also an adjunct. <[email protected]>


I had conversations with each student about his/her multiple intelligences and learning style profi les generated from the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model high school assessment Learning in Vogue: Elements of Style (LIVES) (Missere & Dunn, 2005) and suggested individual study and homework strategies. My students had critical conversations with their families about their personal preferences, strengths, and areas for improvement. Some students discussed their need for a quiet, cool, and brightly lit place to study and complete homework assignments. One student, who was not a morning person, discussed her need for an alarm clock to wake her so she could arrive to class on time. Sadly, her family did not want to be disturbed by the sound of an alarm clock so early in the morning and the student’s guidance counselor suggested dropping her from this support class.

Conversations with ColleaguesMy fellow ESL teachers, bilingualguidance counselor, and departmentsupervisor met regularly to discuss par-ent outreach, truant students, misplaced students, overcrowded classes, credit ac-cumulation, and NYSESLAT scheduling, among the numerous challenges facing our ELLs. These conversations led to solutions and consensus on major deci-sions and new initiatives. Colleagues who shared students would (a) discuss division of language skill focus—one would em-phasize the writing process, vocabulary, and grammar, while the other would pro-vide readings of a broad range of literary genres, teach literary terms and vocabu-lary, and emphasize listening and speak-ing, (b) collaborate and share data for each student before making arrangements to call parents on each other’s behalf—each teacher relayed messages of both teachers, and (c) preview and review each other’s lessons so we could reinforce what was learned in each other’s classes.

Much to our dismay, we discovered that students often did not transfer learn-ing between ESL classes and teachers somehow, the learning remained in the classroom environment and was forgot-ten in a new setting. Conversations with mainstream Englicol leagues centered on implementation of TESOL strategies to

meet the needs of transitional and post- ELLs. Conversations with mathemat-ics, science, and social studies assistant principals and teachers helped me focus on topics that they found were the most problematic for ELLs.

As the ESL teacher component in acollaborative team teaching mathematicsclass, daily co-teaching experiences and collaborative conferences led to differenti-ated tutoring and small-group instruction. I reinforced basic math skills to the stu-dents who did not know simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, while my math colleague reinforced higher-level math skills and concepts.

ConclusionThese conversations take time andenergy. High school teachers of ELLsmay fi nd they, too, are performing double the work to support adolescent ELLs in meeting the challenges of second language acquisition in an academic environment. This increased responsibility, however, may prove worthwhile when the resulting conversations lead to targeted instruction and interventions as teachers collaborate in assessing ELLs and planning instruction for their students.

ReferencesDunn, R., & Dunn, K. (1993). Teaching secondary students throughtheir individual learning styles: Practical ap-proaches for grades 7-12. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Dunn, R., & Griggs, S. A. (Eds.). (2003, 2004, 2007). Synthesis of the Dunn

and Dunn learning-style model research: Who, what, when, where, and so what? Jamaica, NY: St. John’s University’s Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Styles.

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2001).Guiding readers and writers grades 3-6: Teaching comprehension, genre, and content lit-eracy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind:The theory of multiple intelligences.New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1993, 2006). Multipleintelligences: New Horizons. NewYork: Basic Books.

McKenzie, W. (1999). Multiple Intelligences Inventory. Retrieved from http://surfaquar-ium.com/MI/inventory.htm

Missere, N., & Dunn, R. (2005).Learning in vogue: Elements ofstyle (LIVES). Retrieved fromwww.learningstyles.net

Short, D., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2007).Double the work: Challenges andsolutions to acquiring language and academic lit-eracy for adolescent English language learners—A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Victoria Pilotti, Ed.D., is an ESL teacher at Jamaica High School. A former Region 3 secondary schools mentor, NYC Department of Education, she has taught TESOL methodol-og y graduate courses at St. John’s University and Hunter College.<[email protected]>


PreparationConsider your learners’ profi le, lesson

topic and objectives when deciding if thisis an appropriate activity to do with yourlearners.

1. Consider how much time you want to allot to the activity. Multiply the of topic cards by the duration of each conversation- 10 topic cards X 2 minutes per conversation = 20 minutes total.

2. Decide which version of the activity you are going to do. You can choose to keep:

a. Conversation pairs static and have learners switch topic cards. With static pairs, learners get to ‘bond’ with one conversational partner over various topics while focusing on their ideas and personalizing the topic. b. Topic cards static and have learners switch partners. With dynamic pairs, learners get to interact with diverse speakers while refining their ideas one topic and polishing their delivery.

c. Both topic cards and conversation pairs static while reducing the duration of the conversations in set increments. This version lends itself to learners who are preparing for timed oral presenta tions and assessments, by allowing learners to refi ne their ideas about one topic and polish their timed delivery.

d. Decide how you will pair off your learners and if pairs are going to sit in two rows or stand in two concentric circles facing their partners.

3. Decide what an odd-numbered learner would be responsible for- time keeper or ‘English only’ enforcer. If you choose to have all learners participate (and have them change partners instead of topic cards), an extra chair can allow the odd-numbered learner to ‘rest’ for one turn. Of course, you can always choose to participate in the activity with your learners.

4. Plan to model activity and deliver instructions specific to the version of Timed Conversations you are

5. Plan what you will observe while monitoring learners during the activity. This will consequently direct the feedback you will give learners.

6. Plan the questions you will use to elicit feedback from learners after the activity about their performance during activity.

ProcedureUse teacher talk appropriate to the pro-ficiency level of your learners to deliver clear instructions and to confirm your learners’ comprehension of your instructions.

1. Deliver global instructions to your learners which include: the activity title, sequencing/format, purpose and duration, and, if necessary, responsibility of odd-numbered learner or useof ‘rest’ chair.

2. Pair off learners and arrange pairs so that they are either seated in two rows or standing in two concentric circles facing their partners.

3. Model activity for class and demonstrate how:

a. you will start the activity by saying “begin”

b. pairs will take turns to converse about the topic indicated on the topic card for X minutes

c. pairs will converse only in English every X minutes, a time keeper will say “switch” indicating that pairs need to switch topic cards by passing them to the pair to the right (or to the left)

d. you will end activity by saying the end.

4. Model that learners can remind their partner to stay on-task by simply pointing to the topic card

5. Model some of the conversational language you expect learners to usethe language of urging and praise; of agreeing and disagreeing and so on.

6. Begin activity and cycle through the number of topics you have planned. Circulate and monitor learners throughout activity.

Follow-upElicit feedback from learners about

their performance. Give learners feedbackbased on how successfully they completed the activity. Remember, this is a fluency-based activity. However, if you modify it to include specific verbal strategies or a focus on form, you could document the inaccuracies of your learners’ English as you circulate, and do a whole-class cor-rection on the whiteboard following the activity.

1. Elicit specifi c feedback from learners about how they felt about having to:

a. sustain a conversation in English for X minutes at a time

b. switch topics every X minutes

c. include conversational language

d. have a classmate time them or sit in the ‘rest’ chair

e. Stand or sit during activity; pass along topic cards; change partners

2. Give learners specifi c feedback about:

a. how well they sustained their in English for X minutes at a time

b. how well they stayed on task

c. their use of conversational language

d. how effi ciently they followed instructions

3. Promise to do variations of throughout the semester.

These fluency-based activities maygenerate future conversations in yourclassroom, providing rich opportunities for students to interact and practice English-speaking skills.

Phillipa Arthur has taught ESL/EFLin the United States, China and Korea.She is currently a Language Lecturerat Yeungnam University in SouthKorea. <[email protected]>

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