I chose to do my observation on a small (12 students) elementary ESL class. The students in this class ranged from second grade up to fifth grade and all are fairly fluent in English, but come from homes that use Spanish as the primary language. The day began with a rehearsal of a play this class will be performing for the first graders. This play calls for the children to read, understand, and memorize the parts of such characters as the narrator, a donkey, cat, rooster, robbers, police, dog, and pigs. By doing this they have been exposed to many animals and have done an enormous amount of authentic learning just through their own personal experiences. Each of the twelve children was given the script and they went through the play working on the memorization of the lines and pronunciation of the words. I was impressed with the number of students who had their entire part memorized and who could easily read and recite the English words in perfect sentences. After going through the play three times the class moved onto a singing activity that they did together. This included reading the words to the songs Loud Blows the Wind, My True Blue Buddy, and Lots and Lots of Stars via a large book in front of the class. Mrs. Ca
It is hard to gain a full sense of everything that Mrs. Campbell does in just a few short hours however, from what I could tell she is a very competent teacher who knows how to bring a new language into effect while at the same time providing a good learning environment for her students. Judging from the two hours that I spent with the class I don't think that I would make any drastic changes if I were the teacher. Instead I can look at Mrs. Campbell and appreciate the hard work and proven techniques (sensory input, intellectual development, learner centered teaching, ect) that she uses to effectively teach the children. She is sensitive to cognitive learning principles such as automaticity, and is constantly using meaningful learning as her base. By getting the children excited about the play she also brings in the intrinsic motivation principle and has the children practice and read their parts leading to a greater strategic investment. I think that when I have ESL students in my own class the time and experience with Mrs. Campbell will be a great asset and something that I will look back on as being very beneficial in guiding me to meet the needs of those students.
using a variety of everyday words along with different descriptive words, and most animals/
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