Foundations of the ESL Classroom
This semester I am taking two ESL courses. What I am discovering is the need to scaffold the ESL learner specifically, but on a grander level – how to better serve all students. This week, one challenge is to discover activities to promote listening/speaking skills for the non-native student. One of my favorite ideas is using flockdraw.com. This website allows real time collaboration via an interactive drawing tool. Though the concept is driven to collaborate with people in other locations, imagine two children working alongside one another. One writes the vocabulary word, then draws the image. Next the other student verbally provides a definition of the word based on the drawing. The two students discuss the word, along with various methods of describing the word through pictures. Then the other student takes the next vocabulary word, continuing the process. Alternative uses are drawing/discussing: events, character descriptions, poetry interpretations, and experiment plans. (Update, I have since learned of scribblar.com which can save images in a more easily accessible manner, plus has enhanced features, but this site may still prove useful.)
Here’s a version of “decimate”: