Week 7 Assignment Response

The Little Prince

(Per usual, the following is intended for intermediate level high school students)

At the surface, The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is a children’s story about a pilot and the little prince he encounters while plane-wrecked in the Sahara. However, the undertones are of great philosophical inquiry concerning personal journey, development, and the maintenance of significant relationships with others. As such, it is a text that lends itself well to the language experience approach.

Because of its length, simple language, and entertaining illustrations, the students would be able to read the entirety of the book, rather than just excerpts. This would bring flow and consistently to reading, a significant aspect of any second language classroom. Additionally, it is my assumption that reading an entire book would bring students a great sense of accomplishment, and renew excitement for learning English. Because of its philosophical undertones, it also creates great opportunity for open-ended writing and discussion inside and outside of the classroom.

Additionally, the entire book (with illustrations) is online, making it easy for students to access. The link to its online form is below:

http://www.angelfire.com/hi/littleprince/introduction.html

I plan to make great use of journal writing within my classrooms. I have already discussed my plans for a Daily Observation Journal, and the following lesson plan makes use of a Reader’s Journal, which would be a mainstay in my classroom for the entire semester. I like the idea of journal writing because it is open-ended, personal, and adds a level of consistency otherwise not found in sporadic essay assignments.

There are 27 chapters in all, but they are very short, and many of the 83 pages contain vibrant illustrations. As such, it would be my plan to begin slow and read one chapter at a time. As soon as I am convinced that students are ready to read a little faster, I would start assigning more chapters at one time. It would be my hope that we spend less than ½ the semester with this book, making one day out of each week “Little Prince” day.

Below, I have formulated pre-reading, reading, and post-reading activities for Chapter 1:

Chapter 1 Summary: The author presents his first two drawings to grown ups (a boa constrictor eating an elephant). Criticism and confusion from the grown-ups causes him give up drawing and become a pilot instead of an artist.

Pre-reading activity: Open ended questions

1. When you were growing up, did you like to draw?
1. If so, what did you like to draw?
2. If not, why not? What did you do instead?
2. What did you want to be when you grew up?
1. Do you still want to be the same thing?
2. Have your goals changed? If so, why? If not, why not?

Reading activity: underline any words that are unfamiliar. DO NOT stop to define them while reading. Copy those words into your reading journal AFTER reading, and define them. Re-read the section where the word appears, and attempt to understand it in context.

Post- reading activity: Reader’s journal. Make an entry in your reader’s journal. Address one of the following questions, and compose /answer a question of your own.

1. Do you think the author is happy being a pilot?
2. Do you think the author misses being a child? Do you miss being a child?
3. Are you more like a child or more like a grown-up?

Also, please draw a boa-constrictor eating an elephant. You can do this anyway you like!

Students can volunteer to share their thoughts on the reading in the following class, and I will set the example by keeping my own reading journal for the class and volunteering to share if students are timid.

I would do the same for following chapter, making sure to include variety in activities. Sometimes we might do an art project as a post-reading activity, or watch a short video clip for a pre-reading activity. The possibilities are endless. I would also want to make use of writers’ workshops, turning various Reader’s Journal entries into more formal responses with the input and aid of peers.

Upon completion of the book, I will prompt the students with an over-arching question that addresses the themes of the book, to which they would write a well-supported, well-thought essay in response. We would share our essays with each other, and discuss what personal meanings we derived from the book. 

Shanghai High School International Division

This is where I will be teaching . . .

Check it out!!!

Yeah, they have a science course in robotics and a PE course in ping-pong. Too bad I'm not qualified to teach either of those. Perhaps they will let me take those courses, and then I can build a ping-pong playing robot. You never know . . . 

Nervewracking

I sent out my ACTUAL passport today, to China. Oh, man . . . 

I had to send it so they could process my work visa form. Looks like I won't be traveling out of the country any time soon . . . there go my summer plans . . . 

Ha, right . . . 

No Hep B for Me!

Or Hep A or Meningitis either. At this moment, I am chock-full of small amounts of live virus. Western medicine sure is strange. 

Week Six Assignment Response

As usual, the following plans are intended for intermediate level high school students.

In my varied anticipations surrounding living and teaching in China, walking into my first class on my first day is surely the anticipation that brings about the most anxiety. As such, I spent my efforts this week in making concrete plans for that first week, so as to envision what it will be like and come prepared with practical activities and plans.

The theme of the first week will, intuitively, be “Getting to Know You”

Day 1: I am concerned with providing students with a plentiful silent period, as I believe this will both promote more intensive classroom participation at a later date, and it will give them the time necessary to get used to my particular pronunciations and syntactical flow. Therefore, the majority of the first day will be me introducing myself. I will do this is simple dialog style with a lot of pictures, charts, maps, etc. and it might go as follows:

Me: Hi! This is English 222. I am your teacher for this semester. Do you know my name?  

Class: No. 

Me: Do you want to know my name?

Class: Yes

Me: My name is Rebecca Conklin (write on the board, say again, pointing) Rebecca Conklin.

Class: (some may voluntarily repeat)

Me: Do you know where I am from?

Class: No/ Yes, the United States.

Me: Yes, that’s right. I am from the United States. (bring out map) I am from a state called North Carolina. (point to NC on map)

            Et cetera, et cetera.

This type of simple dialog would continue and touch on personal topics, such as family, like and dislikes, hobbies, etc. I would take great care to speak slowly and annunciate all words while still maintaining my natural style of speaking, as this is what they will hear, by default, for the rest of the semester. This time will also allow me to gauge the personalities of students in the class. Are there cliques? Where are the quiet students? Are there one or two students who seem more advanced than all the others? This will give me some advanced knowledge concerning potential future dynamics in the classroom, and will help me to determine an appropriate seating arrangement to adopt for the semester.

Day 2: I will greet the class, and then say in a concerned but funny manner, “You know what? Something is wrong here! It is just not right! Yesterday, I spent all day telling you about me, but I do not even know your names!” This is the intro to the day two activity: name tags! I imagine that learning dozens of Chinese names will be one of my biggest challenges, so anything that might work as a crutch for the first week or two sounds good to me. I will bring out the supplies for the nametag activity (colored paper, markers, stickers, magazines etc) and then explain instructions. The students will write their names on the tag. In addition to this, I will ask them to draw one thing on the paper that is significant to them. For example, I love to read, so I might draw a book. I will give them about 5-10 minutes to complete the writing, drawing, and decorating and then instruct them get into groups of two or three. However, they will have to form these groups by finding someone who has drawn something that somehow (and this can be very loose) relates to theirs. They will spend about 5 minutes with their partner preparing a VERY short presentation about their names, their objects, and the relations between the objects. I will walk around and help out A LOT, since this is only the second day and I am still trying to gauge individual ability levels. During the presentations, we will stop for clarification and write words on the board that are new to other students.

Day 3: Choosing an English name. I will bring to class a long list of English names and their ascribed meanings. For example, Rebecca: dutiful, captivating. I will let the students peruse this list and choose a name that they like. Again, we will make nametags for their new English names, and repeat the activity from the day before. I will then assign homework, which we will begin working on with the time left in class. The assignment will be to write about how their name meaning (the one listed on the handout from the previous activity) either is or is not representative of their personality.

Day 4: Acrostic poems and name circle. Using their chosen English name, I will show students how to create acrostic poems. For example, an acrostic poem for Rebecca might look like this:

            R espectful

            E nergetic

            B eautiful

            E nteratining

            C aring

            C ute

            A ffectionate

Each student will make one, and decorate it with markers, stickers, etc. I will collect each of the poems, and then create a little book for the class of all of our names. This is a good exercise because it introduces a whole slew of new vocabulary, and although it is out of context, discussing each poem and the meanings of unknown words can help to create some context.

Again using our new English names, we will play an Eastern sensitive version of the name circle. In this game, students pair a pantomime with a descriptive word that begins with the same letter of their names. For example, I might say “Reading Rebecca” and pretend to hold a book, flip through the pages, and look inquisitively at it. We do this activity standing in a circle, and go through the whole series of words, names, and actions for each new name and each name we have already learned. I call it “Eastern sensitive” because rather than putting the pressure on each individual to memorize and repeat (the bulk of the pressure landing on the poor person at the end of the circle who has to attempt to repeat them all. I know, I have been there all too often!) we would do this as a class, and help each other remember words, names and actions. This gets students moving and speaking, but within the anonymity of a large group.

Day 5: Introduction of Theme Cycle. I really liked the idea of the theme cycle, as it breaks down the barrier between student and teacher and engages everyone in the process of asking and learning. As a culmination of the week’s activities, I thought it would be effective to introduce the theme cycle “Our Class.” On the board, I would write, “What we Know”/ “What We Want To Know.” On the “What We Know Side” we might have basic facts, such as “There are 15 boys and 12 girls” or “Five people are from France.” Then on the “Want to Know” side, we would have more personal questions, “Does anyone know another language?” “Has anyone traveled outside the country?” “Who has the most siblings” etc. I would use this list for an immediate assignment, but as a semester long project as well. The immediate assignment: we would pick what we want to know first. That question would become the topic of their first substantial writing assignment for the semester. I would ask them to write a short paragraph about the topic. I would use this format to address other questions from the list throughout the semester, and they would present (read verbatim) in groups of three or four every two weeks. This way, I could gauge both writing and pronunciation, as the activity lends itself well to grading. Also, I would collect all of the responses throughout the semester, and in the end we would have the masterwork for the theme cycle “Our Class”—a book that described a multitude of interesting facts and experiences from students in the class. 

Bikes, Metros, Coffee, and Tea

So, I recently discovered an online group for expatriates living in Shanghai.  This website gives a lot of information on the nitty gritty of living and working in Shanghai as a foreigner. English bookstores, cheap food and clothing markets, what to expect with cab fare, etc. It also provides a network upon arriving, which will be much needed, I am sure. 

Most importantly, I found out that I am going to be able to buy a bicycle, brand new, for about $30-40. Now, the hard part will be learning to ride it in such a metropolis! Although China is rapidly developing (see U.S. at the turn of the century) most Chinese still use bicycles as their main mode of transportation. I will have to learn the local customs and culture of bicycle riding. Who knows, maybe I will even find some crazy hipsters with neon rims and Bicycle cards in their spokes. You never know . . .

What I do know is that my bike is going to have a horn and a basket. Point blank. Oh, and a kick stand. Mhm. It will be great for getting around town, near the school, picking up food and other necessities. I don't anticipate needing it for intense city traveling though, as Shanghai High School International Division (SHSID) is right near a metro stop (and the largest botanical gardens in Shanghai to boot!). 

The shanghai metro looks a lot like the DC metro (see below, one in Chinese one in English) , and since the signs are in Chinese and English, I shouldn't have too many, if any, issues at all. They use a re-chargeable card system like in DC, and because of the exchange rate and my plush salary, it will be relatively inexpensive. 

My mom asked me the other day how my Mandarin (Chinese) was coming. I told her not so good, as I could only tell people I wanted things, and on top of that I could only want two things; coffee and tea. Hahaha. I work on it a little each day, and I can see some progression. What I don't learn here in the states I will be forced, survival style, to learn upon landing in Shanghai. 

Lost in Translation

A part of my preparations for my year abroad teaching in China include a TEFL certification class, which I am taking online through Marshall University. Every monday, we are given an assignment to complete by that Sunday. Generally, the assignment is a broad prompt concerning how we feel or our personal experiences with the lecture and book material for that week. As we move from the theoretical to the practical, however, the assignments direct us to create hypothetical lesson plans that focus on a particular area. 

This week, we were to create a lesson plan using jazz chants, songs, video, or games. Being a lyricist myself, I thought it would be really fun to create a lesson plan around a few of my favorite songs that have the same general themes. Emotions. Love. Daily activities. Something like that. 

As I began to search my iTunes library, however, I found that most of the music I listen to is lyrically contextual and ambiguous. As I listened to them with a foreign  ear, and an ear that has not been exposed to a lot of English, I realized that the task of finding culturally appropriate material that would not lose too much meaning in translation might be a little more difficult than I had originally anticipated. Even some of the songs that seem pretty straightforward to me, or have a lot of meaning to me, all of a sudden became too abstract and meaningless when I listened to them with a foreign ear. This is all not to mention that anything insinuating the use of drugs, sexual misdoings, or politically "hot" had to be automatically ruled out. 

I have had this issue at other instances as well, when trying to begin a collection of realia to use in my teaching. 

We really do say some curious things with our language.