How to teach reading in a second language.

Parents often ask me what they can do to help their child become more proficient in the second language. My answer has always been the same; Read to your child, buy books with your child, encourage your child to read alone. Read, read, read and then read some more.  Reading has always been the most neglected skill in the ELT classroom, probably because of its complexity to teach. We tend to underestimate the power of free, voluntary reading, because its benefits are not instantly evident in our conscious learning classroom environments.

At this point we must make a distinction between acquisition and learning. Acquisition refers to the subconscious comprehension of a linguistic system, which is profound and leads to fluency and accuracy in grammatical forms. Conscious learning refers to the explicitly taught rules of a language. In his Comprehension Hypothesis Krashen maintains that L2 (Second Language) acquisition takes place in only one way: when we decipher the message, when we understand what is said or read. In other words we don’t acquire language when we produce it, but when we understand it (1).

Organise your child! DIY Stand and Printable Weekly Schedule Cards In Greek and English.

Teaching children how to be organised is always a challenge.  Through the years I came to realise that things that come natural to us can be frustrating for children. Like packing their own school bags for instance. 

This DIY stand  guides them step by step, so that they pack the correct books for the correct day every single time. It is easy to make, cheap and above all your children will love it. 

Materials

1. two pieces of cardboard
2. washi tape 
3. markers
4. printout of the days schedule (see bellow)

Instructions

1. Mark the cardboard to make the pocket and the base. 

2. Put it together with washi tape.

3. Print the cards, cut them and fill them in with your child. Go through their schedule and write down what they have to pack for every single day. (You can make your own handwritten cards if you want something more personal.)

GREEK_1

GREEK_2

ENGLISH_1

ENGLISH_2

Η δραστηριότητα της Κυριακής.

Φτιάξτε αυτό το τρισδιάστατο εβδομαδιαίο πρόγραμμα με τα παιδιά σας για να τα βοηθήσετε να οργανώσουν το διάβασμά τους και να μάθουν να φτιάχνουν την τσάντα τους μόνα τους.  

Αρχικά ίσως να χρειαστεί να το χρησιμοποιείτε μαζί τους, μέχρι να βεβαιωθείτε ότι έχουν καταλάβει τι πρέπει να κάνουν.

Vocabulary That Sticks For Advanced Learners

One of the most demanding tasks our students undertake is to learn new words. With younger learners we mostly focus on picture-word association, but when it comes to advanced learners, this may not be applicable.What is more, we often ask our students to memorise words with abstract meaning, that is not often found in simple contexts. My university  professors used to claim that people cannot easily memorise new vocabulary, unless they find it in context, however this is not always easy to provide. I have encountered this problem as a teacher numerous times, especially while preparing students for Cambridge exams like FCE and CPE, as well as with my 6th grade students. I think I have found the answer in a combination of traditional as well contemporary approach to teaching vocabulary. Literature and technology are a killer combination.

Literature

I have always been a fun of reading, not only because I find it a great way to spend one's time, but I have also come to appreciate its educational value. Once more I try to bring my love for books in my teaching, and I have come to realise it actually works. It provides the necessary context for the vocabulary to be understood and retained. It also provides a lot of variety of new words, that are introduced in a pleasurable way.

This year I am hooked on mystery chapter books. They remind me of endless nights staying up reading my books to the last page to find out who the culprit was. I am also somewhat of a retro fan, so I have started re reading my Enid Blyton collection. After that I am going to bury my teeth into Nancy Drew novels and probably the Boxcar Children. I am also planning to recommend them to my students. They are teenage novels, relatively easy to read while providing a challenge, and they have a mystery to solve. I have started making the materials I am going to use along with the books. 

I am using a sample paragraph from Enid Blyton's The Secret Island to show you how I do this. 

sample paragraph


The three children listened, their eyes wide with astonishment. An island on the big lake! Oh, if only they could really go there and hide - and live by themselves - with no unkind aunt and uncle to slap them and scold them and make them work hard all day long!
“Are you too tired to walk down the lakeside to a place where you can see the island?” asked Jack. “I only found it quite by chance one day. The woods come right down to the lakeside opposite the island, and they are so thick that I don’t think anyone has ever been through them, and so no one can have seen my island!”
“Jack! Jack! Take us to see your secret island!” begged Nora. “Oh, we must go. We’re all tired - but we must, must see the secret island.”
“Come on, then,” said Jack, pleased to see how excited the others were. “Follow me. It’s a good way.”

After the students read a chapter, they have to fill in a new words form. I provide them with a dictionary that they can use to do that. Looking things up in a dictionary, printed or online, is a basic study skill.

See-Cover_Copy_Word_List

 In order to make it more appealing for them, I try to involve them in as much sleuthing as I can. This is why I have made a Mystery Case File,that the children have to fill in as real detectives. This includes main list of characters, suspects, evidence and clues. 

Mystery Case File Cover
Χρηστίνα Τσιαγκλή

Technology

I know that students prefer spending time online rather than reading a book. In order to accommodate that I have opened a Spelling City account. In this account my students can find word lists from our lessons, and practice on them. I use this account for my FCE and CPE candidates as well as my other students. Unfortunately I haven't got a premium account, but maybe one day I will. 

Have a look at the current lists I have added:

FCE Wordlist 1

FCE Wordlist 2

FCE Wordlist 3

Fountain Pens for Students

The school year is now officially over. Before we start planning next year, we need to reflect and decide what went well and what didn't work, what needs to be changed and which aspects of our work are keepers. One of the things I am definitely going to keep, is the use of fountain pens. I bought my first pen at the age of eight, it was a cheap, plastic Pelican, and I have been using them ever since. Through the years I have gathered a small collection of fountain pens and different inks and I use them all the time in class. I was really amazed when I realised my students were interested in using my pens, so I started bringing them in and handing them out in the beginning of our lesson. The children turned out to be avid calligraphers and I must admit I am really happy for their patience and perseverance. 

When I was a child it was difficult to find good, cheap, ergonomic fountain pens that we could use in class. Most teachers didn't want us to use fountain pens, because they were messy and made us slower in our writing, or maybe because it reminded them of their own school years full of ink stains and blue fingertips. However, things have changed immensely. Many teachers nowadays ask their first grade students to learn how to write using fountain pens. You cannot write using a fountain pen, unless you hold it correctly. What is more, fountain pens are very user friendly. They allow steady ink flow, they adjust to the individual user's handwriting and cater for different angles between the paper and the nib. If your child learns to use a fountain pen correctly, with time they will become quicker in their writing too, as the pen slides on paper. Finally, fountain pens are not as expensive as one would think, especially if you use bottled ink, most of my pens cost less than 10 euro. 

If you want your children to start using a fountain pen, consider one of the following for their first one. 

1. Pelikano and Pelikano Junior 

These are great for total beginners. They are chunky enough for small hands to hold firmly, but also light. All models have a grip, some even have rubber grips. I would suggest you start with a medium tip, because fine tips dry quickly, require that the writer is quick, and have less contact with the paper. If you are lucky, (in Greece they are not easy to find),  you will also find the hooded nib model, that prevents children from holding the pen really low near the tip, thus getting inky fingertips. The best part is that there is also a model for left handed children. 

2. Inoxcrom

I bought my first Inoxcrom when I was a student and I have fallen in love ever since. The good thing is they are light, colourful, relatively cheap - (around 7 euro) and above all easy to find in shops in Athens. They also write smoothly and evenly. However, they don't have a grip, which might be a problem with very young students. They don't offer any models for left handed children as far as I know. 

3. Lamy Safari and Lamy ABC

Throughout the years I have noticed that this pen suits best my sixth graders. It is ideal for children with somewhat round and large handwriting style. It helps them write smoothly and evenly, it has an even ink flow, which prevents stains, it is light and it comes in a variety of bold colours. It offers an ergonomic grip, and you can easily find an ink pump for them. It is my favourite everyday fountain pen. 

4. Faber Castell for left handed children.

Left handed people are said to have excellent handwriting. Through the years I have realised it is true. However they might have trouble finding a fountain pen that works for them. Faber Castell's model claims to address that problem. It comes in bright colours, it is light and has an ergonomic grip that is way too comfortable. I simply love the way it slides on paper. It also has a cap that can be personalised. 

5. Disposable Fountain Pens

You might want to start by buying your child a cheap disposable fountain pen. In that way the child will have the opportunity to try using a fountain pen without spending too much money. There are many disposable pens in the market and they come in various colours. However, you might want to keep in mind that they don't offer the same quality experience as the cheapest of refillable fountain pens. They release too much ink, causing uneven flow and stains. 

Maintenance

Now that school is over for the summer, I will not be using all of my pens so much. It is very important that you clean your pens when you are not using them, especially if you live in a very hot place, like I do. It is a very simple process. To begin with, remove the empty cartridge from the nib, then emerge it in cool water to soak. You might want to change water if it gets too inky. Let it soak for a while, then take the nib and place it, facing downwards, under running water until the water that comes out of the nib is colourless. The last step is to let the pens dry completely. It is a very important step, as some of the tips are not stainless and might rust with time. Take some paper towels and place in the bottom of a relatively narrow glass. Place the nib standing on its tip within the glass and let it be for about an hour. The paper will absorb the excess water that is trapped inside the nib and will allow it to dry. 

Place the nibs in a glass.

Fill the glass with tap water. 

Change the water until it turns out almost without any ink.
Then run them under the tap until the water runs clean.

After running them under the tap place
 them on kitchen paper.

Place some kitchen paper on the bottom
of the glass, then let it absorb the
water that remains inside the nibs. 

Thought CD, Music as a Teacher

Thought CD Volume 1

Many years ago I ran into a jazz compilation CD as I was reading a Sunday newspaper. It was short, sweet and exactly what I needed. I decided to use it in one of my classes as a management tool. The rules were that I would play the CD while the children were doing their work, as long as I could hear the songs. That's why they had to use their quiet voices to talk to each other in pair work. The children loved the music, which was soothing and helped them settle down to work. The compilation has grown since then, sometimes to incorporate songs that my students love. 

What follows is the original Thought CD compilation. I hope you like it as much as we do. 

1. La vie en rose. Louis Armstrong
2. Feeling Good. Nina Simone 
3. I wish I knew how it would feel to be free. Nina Simone
4. All of you. Miles Davis 
5. Take Five. Dave Brubeck
6. Summertime. Miles Davis
7. My Baby Just Cares For Me. Nina Simone


Have a look:
Music can help your children learn and remember vocabulary:
Vocabulary that Sticks. 
Teaching through Music. 

Vocabulary that Sticks.

• As a child I used to have great difficulty in remembering the meaning of new words in English and most of all their spelling. Back  then our teachers made us copy endless lists of vocabulary over and over again, which was boring and many times ineffective. I don't underestimate the use of word lists, which I think are important for organising new knowledge and making it easy for children to look new words up. However nowadays teachers and parents have many tools to help children internalise vocabulary in a fun way.

• First of all we have to understand how people learn new words. We seem to understand and remember new words, when we encounter them in context. If there is one thing that linguists agree upon, is that words appearing in isolation are difficult to comprehend and remember. Another thing linguists consider important, is input and its quality and quantity. In other words we have to expose our learners to plentiful and meaningful input. Krashen for instance in his Input Hypothesis argues that we learn through interpreting messages, we acquire vocabulary unconsciously, while we are trying to understand. This is why I strongly believe that direct translation of new words doesn't help children remember them better.

• Another thing that we have to bear in mind is that there are stages in our vocabulary learning. Just because we saw a word, even in context and someone told us what it means and asked us to copy it a few times,  doesn't mean that we are going to remember it and be able to use it. We have to be exposed several times to a word in order to begin to recognise it at first without remembering the meaning. Gradually, we then begin to recognise it and understand its usage within contexts, without being able to properly reproduce it. Using new words properly is the final stage of our learning process. Just because we might know a word that doesn't mean we can also use it. (See Chomsky's theory on linguistic competence and performance.) We teachers are sometimes so eager to verify that what we taught was learnt, that we sometimes forget to allow our students the necessary time to process new words. As Barcroft (2004)  maintains there are five major principles in vocabulary acquisition: Firstly, we have to expose our learners to new words frequently and repeatedly. Secondly, we have to present new words in a meaningful way. The third principle he outlines is the most neglected. He argues that there shouldn't be any forced output in the beginning stages of learning new words. Fourthly, we have to limit forced semantic elaboration of the new input and finally there should be a progress from less difficult to more difficult vocabulary.

• So the difficult question is how do we incorporate all this in our teaching of new words?

• PATIENCE

To begin with, we have to be patient with our students, and give them the time they need to process new information.

• LITERATURE

 Expose your students to as much authentic language as you can. Sometimes parents ask me how this is made possible in everyday life and my answer is always the same: Give your children books to read. Reading is the best source of new language, given in an authentic way that means something to our students. Use books in your lessons, make a class library for your students, provide audio books that they can listen to while reading the book, make lap books for their favourite books, ask them to present books in class, or organise a reading marathon. The possibilities are endless.

• MUSIC

Music is a great teacher. Use songs in your classroom, either as background or to introduce and practise new language. In my first year as a teacher I came across a jazz compilation CD in a newspaper that I have been using in class ever since. We call it the Thought CD. The moment the music is on the children know that it is practice time. They know they have to use their quiet voices and they get down to work. I was amazed this year when I saw some of my fourth graders working away while whispering Nina Simone's Feeling Good. Another fun way to use music is through Music Journals.

• TECHNOLOGY

Nowadays there are hundreds of websites and applications that we can use to teach vocabulary. Some of them require time and money that we might not have in class, but our students can use them at home with parental consent. In class we can use them to present new vocabulary, revise or just have fun. 

a. Tagxedo 

A word cloud generator. I simply love it. Use it in class to present new words or ask your students in groups to each make a word cloud. We have to teach vocabulary in thematic units so this is perfect for grouping vocabulary. Ask the students to brainstorm all the words they know in a thematic unit, then to make a word cloud using the words they came up with. Excellent way to decorate your class, too. 

JOBS
word cloud

b. Spelling City

Amazing vocabulary site. As a teacher you can create word lists for your students, each student is given a password through which they can access the lists. Children hear and write the new words. As a parent you can use this for re- enforcement. 

c. Literactive

The road to reading. Literactive is a FREE interactive online programme for beginner readers that I advise my students to use at home. It is easy to use, you just have to register, and the children love it. It offers letter recognition games and activities, as well as nursery rhymes in 5 difficulty levels, poems and spelling games. I have found Literactive useful and effective.  

ORGANISATION

Organising new knowledge is one of the most challenging and difficult tasks for students. We ,both parents and teachers, have to help our children develop an autonomous way of organising, mapping and storing new words. Once again Study Skills are in the centre of this process. 

a. Provide students with a simple, comprehensible way to store their new words. With younger students this can be a word- picture dictionary, or Word Class Books. Make sure you are consistent. Choose one chore method of storing new words and studying them, so the students start developing confidence, method in their work and autonomy form an early age. I find it very important to aim at picture-word association and NOT direct translation of the word. At this stage we should focus on visual and auditory recognition of words and NOT correct production. 

Word-picture dictionary

Class Book: What is Blue?

b.Apart from the chore method you can play around with activities for reinforcement. For example you can use Mind Maps:

•  I found a very simple and comprehensive mind map in the blog that follows: http://maykhoocuhk.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/vocabulary-mind-maps-and-games/

c. Word Walls are also a great way to revise new words. You just need visiting cards that are cheap and easy to find. Ask the children to write the English word on one side and put the words up somewhere they can see them at all times. When revision time comes take them down and play games with them. You can play Memory, Green word - Red word or Pantomime. 

d. Vocabulary Journals can be time consuming but worth the while. I have been keeping a vocabulary journal for the books I read since I was in primary school. It helps children memorise and retain information and gives them a sense of progress and accomplishment. 

These are only a sample of what we can do to help our children and students retain information. All we need is imagination and will to help them in their difficult task. The sites and applications that I presented above are a few from a long list on the Internet. I find them useful, but one may find others very similar  online. The above mentions to specific sites are not advertisements, only examples. 

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From Word To Sentence Level