Simplifying classroom language teacher training worksheet (Workshop worksheet 3)
Student A
1. Work together in pairs with someone with the same Student A worksheet and decide how you can simplify the language below and which gestures, questions, drawings etc. you can to help clarify and simply what you are saying. Make sure you have done at least some from Section 1 and some from Section 2 before the next stage.
Section 1
1. Your homework is page 25, exercise B and D. Please complete it by this time next week, Tuesday the 27th of April. Write that date in your workbooks to remind you.
2. Repeat each sentence after the tape, paying particular attention to your polite intonation
3. Work together in teams of three or four. You have 30 seconds to form your own groups.
4. Change groups and this time work with a Student A and a Student B together
5. Turn your chairs around so that you are back to back
6. Line up in two rows in front of the whiteboard.
7. If you have all completed the exercise, close your books, put everything back in your bags and clear your desks so we can play a card game for a special treat.
Section 2
8. Open your books and look at the picture in exercise 7 on page 23 and check your answers
9. Sit together in teams, boys next to the window and girls near the board.
10. Take turns asking each other questions
11. One team says an adjective, then the other team has to say the opposite.
12. So, you all understand the rules? Start playing the game whenever you are ready?
13. That’s not quite right. Do you want to have one more try before I pass it to the other team?
14. Pretend this is a party. Stand up and go around the room asking the questions on the worksheets. Shake hands with everyone you meet. When you’ve found the answers to all the questions, you can sit down and relax.
2. Change groups to work so that there are Student As and Student Bs together and see if your new partner can guess which one from Section 1 you are explaining. Do it just with the gesture first, and then add your simplified language.
3. After two or three examples, do the same without looking at the worksheet when you are trying to guess which ones
4. Move onto Section 2, which is different from your partner’s sheet and so should be more difficult for them to guess. They don’t need to guess with exactly the same language. Simplifying classroom language teacher training worksheet
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Student B
Part 1. Work together in pairs with someone with the same Student B worksheet and decide how you can simplify the language below and which gestures, questions, drawings etc. you can to help clarify and simply what you are saying. Make sure you have done at least some from Section 1 and some from Section 2 before the next stage.
Section 1
1. Your homework is page 25, exercise B and D. Please complete it by this time next week, Tuesday the 27th of April. Write that date in your workbooks to remind you.
2. Repeat each sentence after the tape, paying particular attention to your polite intonation
3. Work together in teams of three or four. You have 30 seconds to form your own groups.
4. Change groups and this time work with a Student A and a Student B together
5. Turn your chairs around so that you are back to back
6. Line up in two rows in front of the whiteboard.
7. If you have all completed the exercise, close your books, put everything back in your bags and clear your desks so we can play a card game for a special treat.
Section 2
15. Well done! That was much better than your last attempt.
16. Didn’t he do well? Let’s give him a round of applause/ let’s give him a big hand
17. The right part of the class will say Jane’s part, and the left side of the class will say Jim’s part. I want you to speak at the same time as the tape.
18. Put your desks against the wall and move your chairs into a horseshoe shape.
19. Listen carefully to the CD and count how many times he uses the /th/ sound
20. Spread all the cards face down on the table. Take two cards. If they don’t match, put them back in exactly the same place where you took them from
21. Is anyone ready? Which team would like to start? The team that goes first has an advantage in the game, you know!
2. Change groups to work so that there are Student As and Student Bs together and see if your new partner can guess which one from Section 1 you are explaining. Do it just with the gesture first, and then add your simplified language.
3. After two or three examples, do the same without looking at the worksheet when you are trying to guess which ones
4. Move onto Section 2, which is different from your partner’s sheet and so should be more difficult for them to guess. They don’t need to guess with exactly the same language. Simplifying classroom language teacher training worksheet
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Suggested answers
1. Your homework is page 25, exercise B and D. Please complete it by this time next week, Tuesday the 27th of April. Write that date in your workbooks to remind you. (“Page 25, exercise B- homework. Exercise D- homework. [maybe drawing of house with a book inside or making a roof shape over your head to signify homework]. This lesson next week. What day is it today? Sunday, Monday, TUESDAY. What is the date next week? Today is the 20th, so 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27TH [counting on fingers] Write that here in your books [pointing at the exact point on the right page]- TUESDAY 27TH APRIL. Don’t forget!! [tapping the side of your head with your index finger])
2. Repeat each sentence after the tape, paying particular attention to your polite intonation (“Listen [hand cupped around ear] to the tape [point at tape recorder] and repeat [index finger coming from mouth and making a circle]. Be polite. Like this [repeat a sentence from the previous or next part of the lesson with exaggeratedly polite intonation, using your hand to roughly show the extreme ups and downs in tone, and using your facial expression to emphasize your polite and friendly character]. Not like this [say the same sentence but very flat or even slightly aggressive, with your hand staying flat to show that and your facial expression emphasizing it].)
3. Work together in teams of three or four. You have 30 seconds to form your own groups. (Right, three or four students in one team. For example, 1, 2, 3 [pointing at students sitting near each other] or 1, 2, 3 [pointing again, including one of the same students and two different ones] or 1, 2, 3, 4 [ditto, but with four students]. You have 30 seconds [three and zero by holding up fingers, then pointing at watch for seconds]. Stand up! Go! 30, 29
4. Change groups and this time work with a Student A and a Student B together (“Who is Student A? Hands up [stick your own hand up]. Student A? Any more student As? Aren’t you student A? Okay. Now, student B hands up. Now, student A [point at one student A] and student B [point with the other hand], work together [bring your two hands together]. Student A, student B, student A, student B [with the same gestures in various parts of the class]. Go! [continue the same gestures until everyone is paired up]”)
5. Turn your chairs around so that you are back to back (“In a minute I want you to all stand up. Wait! [open palm out] I said in a minute! Right, in a minute I want you to stand up. Take your chairs [mime taking chair], turn your chairs around [move your whole body round miming holding their chair] and sit down back [touch your back] to back [turn around and miming sitting down in the other direction, touching your back again]. Got it? Okay, go! Turn your chairs around [pointing at two students who will be sitting back to back making circles in opposite directions with your two hands]. You two, turn around [ditto, until everyone is in the right place]”)
6. Line up in two rows in front of the whiteboard. (“When I say go, stand in two lines in front of the whiteboard. One line starts here. First student here [standing where they will be standing], second student here [ditto], etc. The other lines starts here, with the second student here, third student behind them, fourth student, fifth student. Understand? Okay, stand up! Go!”)
7. If you have all completed the exercise, close your books, put everything back in your bags and clear your desks so we can play a card game for a special treat. (“Okay, finished [start with your arms across your body with your open palms down, then bring your arms across your body until your arms are sticking out at your sides]! Now we are going to play a game. Hooray! [fists raised above head in celebration] So, close your books [gesture of closing a book with two open palms]. Everyone? Good! [thumbs up] Now put your books, pens, paper and everything else into your bags [mime]”)
8. Open your books and look at the picture in exercise 7 on page 23 and check your answers
9. Sit together in teams, boys next to the window and girls near the board. (“Okay, two [fingers up] teams. One team girls [point at some girls]. One team boys [point at some boys]. Boys here next to the window [stand at the end of the space you want to be in and outline the rest of the space by pointing] and girls here along the wall [ditto].”
10. Take turns asking each other questions (“One question [show the question going from one person to their partner by an index finger flying from one to the other], one question [index finger flying back to the original person], one question [back to second person again], one question [back to first person]”)
11. One team says an adjective, then the other team has to say the opposite. (“It’s like volleyball. Boing boing boing boing [miming the ball going back and forth between the two teams]. Hot boing [mime the ball slowly going towards the other team] cold boing [mime ball going back], long boing [continue with more examples, eliciting the last few answers]”)
12. So, you all understand the rules? Start playing the game whenever you are ready? (“Understand? Any questions? Are you sure? This team, no questions? This team? Last chance to ask questions! No? Okay. Ready, steady, go!!”)
13. That’s not quite right. Do you want to have one more try before I pass it to the other team? (“Hmmmm [turn open hand palm down from side to side in a ‘so-so’ gesture], close. Try again? [make a big vertical circle with your right index finger in the air going away from your body in the ‘roll it one more time’ gesture]? No? Okay, next team.”)
14. Pretend this is a party. Stand up and go around the room asking the questions on the worksheets. Shake hands with everyone you meet. When you’ve found the answers to all the questions, you can sit down and relax. (“This [make a big circle to show the whole room] is a party [mime drinking, dancing, chatting , laughing]. Whoo hoo! In a minute I want you to all stand up [squat a little and stand up, sweeping up your arms to emphasize the gesture]. Wait, not yet! In a minute, stand up, walk around the room [use both hands to illustrate people crisscrossing the room at random], shake hands [shake hands with a few people], and ask these questions [show questions on worksheet] to the other students [show questions going to and from random people in class by your index finger flying between them]. When you’ve finished- finished, finished, finished, FINISHED [mime ticking off the questions on the worksheet], you can sit down [mime sitting down, relaxing, maybe wiping sweat off forehead]”
15. Well done! That was much better than your last attempt. (“Good! [two thumbs up]. Getting better! [one open hand palm down going higher and higher in steps]”)
16. Didn’t he do well? Let’s give him a round of applause/ let’s give him a big hand (“Not bad, heh? Clap clap clap clap [clap your hands]. Everybody! [make big circle with hands to show whole class]. Clap clap clap clap”)
17. The right part of the class will say Jane’s part, and the left side of the class will say Jim’s part. I want you to speak at the same time as the tape. (“[Stand between the two halves of the class]. From here [put your two arms straight out to divide the two halves of the class] going this way [sweep one arm over the top of their heads], you are all Jane. So when Jane speaks on the tape [say a real or imaginary line of Jane’s dialogue, showing the sound coming out of the tape with a ‘come here’ gesture with a cupped palm from the tape recorder], I want you all to speak AT THE SAME TIME [gesture the sound coming from the tape with one hand and half the class speaking along with much bigger gestures with the other hand, waving vaguely in the direction of that half of the class]. From here [straight arms out between two groups], going this way [sweeping motion], you are all Jim. You speak when Jim is speaking [same gestures as before].”)
18. Put your desks against the wall and move your chairs into a horseshoe shape. (“Desks [touch a desk or two] right back against the walls [two hand pushing motion in every direction towards all the walls. Chairs here here here here [pointing with two hands to make a horseshoe shape. Okay? Got it? Start now! Desks there, chairs here, desks there, no not there, there! [etc]”)
19. Listen carefully to the CD and count how many times he uses the /th/ sound (“Listen [cup ear] to the CD [point at CD player] and count [show counting on fingers] all the /th/ sounds. Blah blah blah blah th [miming suddenly becoming alert]… One! [count on finger] blah blah blah th… Two! th th th th [count one finger for each th]”)
20. Spread all the cards face down on the table. Take two cards. If they don’t match, put them back in exactly the same place where you took them from (“Put the cards on the table face down [turn your hand from open palm up to open palm down). Spread the cards. Spread. Spread. Spread [moving your flat palms across the table from the middle]. Take two cards, one, two [mime taking them]. Do they match? [mime touching the two cards together]. Big, bigger. Yes. Two points! [Mime putting the cards in front of you]. Small, hotter. No, (they are) different. Put them back, one, two. In the same place [mime taking two cards and putting them very carefully back in the same place a few times]. Got it?”
21. Is anyone ready? Which team would like to start? The team that goes first has an advantage in the game, you know! (“Ready [holding up your hand]? Which team is first [holding up one finger]? This team? [pointing] Plus one point to the first team!”)
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