Teaching Grammar and VocabularyTYL Spring 2013

Agenda

• Cloze Activity: Big Ideas

• Practical Ideas for Grammar and Vocabulary– Grammar: Younger/Older Learners– Vocabulary

CLOZE ACTIVITY: GRAMMAR

Directions:

1) Work with a partner to compare answers. 2) Finally, ask more people if you need more

help.

Answers

1) Acquiring , Learning2) Explicit3) Implicitly4) Chunks5) Fun, meaningful, themes, narratives6) Meaning7) Error correction, accuracy

LET’S DISCUSS GRAMMAR!

VERY YOUNG LEARNERS (BELOW 7 OR 8)

#1

1) Emphasize grammar acquisition—not learning.

2) Krashen’s Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis 1) Acquisition: Subconscious2) Learning: Conscious

3) Grammar=best learned through natural language use in motivating, authentic tasks

#2

• Explicit, or direct, grammar instruction doesn’t work.

• Grammar rules and labels= abstract– Piaget—abstract thinking comes later

#3

• Grammar should mostly be taught implicitly.

• Ways to do this?– Pattern Books (Brown Bear, etc.)– Songs (Mr. Monkey)– Classroom commands• “Give out the papers” “Give out the white papers”

“Give out the white papers that are on my desk”

– Games

#4

• There should be a lexical, or vocabulary, focus. Grammar should be learned through chunks, which can later be broken apart and used in creative ways.

• What does this mean?

• Weinhart: Grammar is “the evolution from chunks to creativity”

Grammar: “Evolution of Chunks to Creativity”

• Example 1: – “Could you please pass me the salt?”– Add nouns: the paper, a crayon– Add verbs: help me, come here

• Example 2: – “What do you see?”– Add different verbs: hear, want, like

• These grammar rules are difficult, but a learner can MEMORIZE the chunks in a fun way and get creative with them.

Example: Grammar through ChunksSystematic ELD

Grammar Through Chunks:Doing a picture walk

• Picture walk=talking about pictures before reading a story

• Students use sentence frames to talk about the pictures

Silly Sally Picture Walk

Go Fish!

#5

• All instruction—in grammar, vocabulary, or any of the four skills—needs to be fun and meaningful. It should be based on themes and on narratives and should have a social focus.

Older Young Learners #6

• Mini-lessons on grammar– Focus on meaning. – Lessons=short, interactive, and highly visual.

• Remember whole language? (whole text, smaller skills, whole text again)– This is similar! Meaningful language use, grammar

lesson, meaningful language use again

#7

• Some grammar instruction can come through error correction.

• Are you practicing fluency and the communication of meaning, or are you working on accuracy?

• Also, ask yourself: Do I need to correct on the spot, or can I do it in a whole-group format after the activity?

Fluency or accuracy?

• Too much correction!

Delayed Feedback: Step 1

Delayed Feedback: Step 2

• Mini-lesson– Look at your anecdotal notes– Write common sentences on board– Maybe: Change some nouns– Have students analyze in pairs– Show corrections on board

On-the-Spot Error Correction

• Research: Mackey and Oliver (2002)– On-the-spot correction = not for kids under 7

• Research is contradictory – However, one form of correction that has the lowest

rate of uptake = recasting– Recasting = Correcting what the student said with

no explanation• Child: “I eated dinner last night.”• Teacher: “You ate dinner last night.”

Error Correction Strategies that Work

• Clarification Request– Student: “He walk to the store yesterday.”– Teacher: “Sorry--I didn’t understand.”– Studies: Somewhat effective

• Metalinguistic Feedback– Student: “He walk to the store every day.”– Teacher: “He is 3rd person singular and needs an –s at the

end.”– Studies: Somewhat effective (but not for very young

learners)

Error Correction Strategies that Work

• Repetition– Student: “He eated.”– Teacher: “He eated?” (with rising intonation)– Among the most successful strategies

• Elicitation– Student: “Last night, he eated.”– Teacher: a. “Last night, he . . .” OR b. “How do we

talk about the past in English?” OR “Please say that again correctly in English.”

A FEW GRAMMAR ACTIVITIES: VERY YOUNG LEARNERS

Very Young Learners: Grammar Instruction through Chunks

• Pattern Books

• Poems, Songs with Patterns (shared reading)

• Simple, repetitive games– Go Fish: Do you have a ___?– Memory/Concentration: It’s a ____. This is a ___.

A FEW GRAMMAR ACTIVITIES: OLDER YOUNG LEARNERS

Battleship

1) Look at the top table.

2) Choose 1 box in each row. Draw a “battleship” in the box. (There should be 7.)

3) Find a friend to play with you, but don’t look at your friend’s paper!– Decide: Who’s Partner 1? Who’s Partner 2?

My Battleships:

Battleship (cont.)4) Fold you paper under the first box.

5) Partner 1 will look only at the top of the page. • Partner 2 will look only at the bottom.

5) Partner 2 will ask 2 questions for each row. – (Do you have __ on __?)

6) Partner 1 answers• “Yes, I do” = Partner 2 marks an X• “No, I don’t” = Partner 2 marks a dot

7) Switch roles when you finish the last row!

8) The winner is the person who “sunk” the most battleships!

Board Games

Board Games

• Make your own, OR

• Get CandyLand!

The girl/ not cook

Other Games

Mad Libs

Step 1: Fold your paper

• Fold above the hearts!

Step 2: Make a chart with the students (whole group)

Adjectives Nouns Verbs

Plural nouns = add –s or –ies

Step 3: Choose which words you want to use.

• Write them in the top right box.

• Just do numbers 1 – 5 (to get the idea)

Step 4: Copy your words

• Write the words from the top right box in the paragraph

• ONLY 1-5!

Step 5: Read your story

• Share your story with a partner!

Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals

• Blog

VOCABULARY

For beginners . . .

• It’s all about filling the refrigerator.

• Vocabulary instruction should be thematic.

• It should be taught with appropriate sentence frames, too.

For example . . .

• Family Vocabulary– Frame: I have a ____ / 1 have 2/3 ___s.

• Weather Vocabulary – It is ______. / It is ____ in the _____. – When it is _____, I like to ______.

Beginners

• Re-use and recycle vocabulary hundreds of times!

• Games, games, games!

• Meaningful activities: Songs, books, projects, etc.

VOCABULARY: RECYCLING ACTIVITIES FOR BEGINNERS

Posters

• Practice writing: Groups write on them with whiteboard markers

• “Teacher, Student”: Students quiz each other using the answerson the back

• Sticky Ball or Fly Swatters

Realia

• Buy at a teacher supply store or toy store• Bring in real stuff!

Guessing Games

• Is it a/an _____? (vocab word) • Do you ____ with it? (verb)• Is it ______? (adjective)• Do you do it _____? (at the park? At school?)

• Formats: – Magic Bag (whole class)– Hot Seat with cards (whole class or small groups)– Cards (pairs)

I have ____, Who Has ____?

When the refrigerator is filling up . . .

• Do more intensive word work!

• What does it mean to “own” a word? You know . . – Definition– The part of speech– Some common collocations– Synonyms/Antonyms– Spelling– Pronunciation – Count/non-count?

Robert Marzano

Some helpful organizers . . .

Organizers . . .

Practice!

Practice!