by Jake Hollingsworth // Seoul, South Korea // www.JakeHollingsworth.net
As I’ve said before, a language is a living, breathing thing. It moves. It fluctuates. It adapts to its surroundings. Because of this, we as teachers must approach English in a manner appropriate to its squirrelyness. (English teachers are also allowed to make up new words to fit any given context…just FYI.) Students must learn to speak English. Students must learn to write English. Students must learn to read English. Students must learn to listen to English. Because of this, we serve our students well by including all four components of the language learning process into our lessons.
Here is one way I’m doing this everyday with my students…
1. I have every student bring a small notebook to class. In the first 5 minutes of every class, they write the date at the top of the page and the numbers 1-5.
2. Next, I speak five random sentences aloud. The students listen to what I said and write it in their notebook.
3. After we have completed the five sentences, I ask one student at a time to read each sentence on their paper and say it aloud.
4. I write the sentence on the board, allowing the students time to read the correct sentence and make corrections in their notebooks.
Everything is there: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It’s simple. It’s easy. It takes 5 minutes. And best of all, my students have no idea how many wonderful things they’re learning to do, all at once.
What about you? How are you incorporating all 4 elements of language learning into your classroom?
