Amanda Taylor

This lesson is for late-intermediate to advanced ESL students who have had some experience with writing. It could be done in a simpler form for more beginning students with less writing skills. It could even be modified for a class that has ESL students at varying levels, letting more advanced students participate in the writing activities while the less advanced students do only some of the activities. It would take several days to complete and would be most appropriate at the beginning of the semester.

Objective: Students will practice their speaking, reading, and writing skills through activities which help them get to know one another. They will therefore not only improve their skills, completing a paper in the end, but they will get to know each other better.

1. The teacher will introduce herself by giving her name, where she is from, and three things she likes to do. She will then explain that the class will do the same. THIS GETS THE STUDENTS WARMED UP TO SPEAK AND IT CREATES A WARM AND FRIENDLY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.

2. The teacher will then explain that they are going to play a "mingling game." She will give out a piece of paper wil several boxes containing questions like "Who has been to a bar mitzvah?" and "Who has lived in the United States for less than a year?" Students are to move around the room asking people questions and writing in the name of a t least one person per box. THIS ACTIVITY GIVES STUDENTS ANOTHER NON-THREATENING OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE THEIR SPEAKING AS WELL AS HELPING THEM LEARN NAMES OF THEIR CLASSMATES.

3. The next getting-to-know-you game will be "The Cold Wind Blows," the teacher explains. In a way, it is a Total Physical Response activity. The teacher explains that there is an "it" who stands in the middle of a circle of people in chairs. The "it" says something like "The cold wind blows on anyone who has been skiing this year." Then everyone who has been skiing this year must stand up and find a new chair that is not directly next to them. The "it" tries to take one of the empty chairs, and whoever is left without a chair is the new "it." IN THIS GAME, STUDENTS AGAIN MUST EXERCISE THEIR LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS. THEY CAN ALSO REVIEW INFORMATION THEY HAVE JUST LEARNED BY MAKING STATEMENTS THAT COME DIRECTLY OFF THE SHEET ("THE COLD WIND BLOWS ON ANYONE WHO HAS LIVED IN THE UNITED STATES FOR LESS THAN A YEAR") AND THEN WATCHING WHO RESPONDS.

4. Students will then be asked to choose a partner and get to know then really well. They will be given a sheet to help them with prompts like "Find out what sports your partner likes" and "Where was your partner born"?" Students will be told that they should take good notes and really be creative in finding out about their partners because they will be writing papers about them and then introducing them to the class by reading these papers.

5. The teacher will read several examples of similar papers that have been written before. She will then discuss several elements of paper writing with the class such as form and style. Students will be given the opportunity to ask questions and to learn as much as possible about how to write their paper well. The papers will be one to two pages in length.

6. Students will bring a rough draft copy of their paper to class and share it with the person it is about as well as with the teacher. The partners and the teacher will respond with praise as well as suggestions on how to improve the paper. THIS HELPS RELIEVE THE STUDENTS OF SOME OF THE STRESS OF TURNING IN AN ASSIGNMENT. THEY KNOW THEY CAN GET HELP AND THAT THEIR FIRST TRY DOES NOT NEED TO BE PERFECT. THIS ALSO GIVES THE TEACHER A CHANCE TO WORK ONE-ONE-ONE WITH THE STUDENTS TOWARD THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOLYEAR, DEVELOPING A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM, AND IT GIVES THE TEACHER AN INFORMED FIRST GLANCE AT HOW ADVANCED EACH STUDENT'S WRITING SKILLS ARE.

7. Students will then revise their papers and bring them to class, reading them in front of everyone with the person they are talking about standing next to them. That way, the whole class can get to know each person and can have experience speaking in front of the room.

8. The papers will be displayed on bulletin boards in the classroom. THIS GIVES STUDENTS A SENSE OF PRIDE, KNOWING THAT THEIR WORK IS CONSIDERED GOOD ENOUGH TO DISPLAY. PARENTS CAN ALSO SEE ON BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT WHAT KINDS OF THINGS THEIR CHILDREN ARE LEARNING.

Evaluation:

This paper will be graded. Students will know that their grade will depend on the effort put into the assignments and a demonstration of having learned and used what was talked about in the discussion on papers. We will also have spot checks every once in a while on people's names and where they are from to make sure students are remembering to be friendly and get to know one another.