Adrienne Cardoza TESOL425-Teaching Vocab Tutor practicum-Bunker

There are many things that I would do differently if I had the chance to do tutoring over again. Some of which might simply be re-ordering lessons, or reemphasizing words we already learned together etc. This is a brief lay out of a new and improved version of my recent eight week tutoring adventure. I tried to keep an even range of all the four strands that Paul Nation recommends through activities that allow students to exercise their language abilities in all of the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) and also fluency, and memory retention while giving them opportunities to produce and use language they have learned throughout the tutor sessions. Because students have already been placed in advanced level classes and are required to learn the AWL list I felt that tasks should back up AWL learning and help students retain vocabulary little by little. The goal for these tutor sessions is for students to learn and be able to use about 50 new academic words and their word families over an eight week period.

Week 1: 5min-Introductions 5-min: over good study habits, how to use the cards, what to study 20min: Each student makes 5 word cards for that week of words that they marked as one (dont know) Separately use dictionaries to find the meaning and then students teach the words to each other as others make those cards.

This activity allows students to teach each other, if you are able to teach it, it means you understand it, and in turn will be able to remember what you learned. Each student has already learned fifteen new words in just 15 minutes! Week 2: 5-10min: Go over cards we did last week, play taboo (student describes or gives the definition of the word and the first student to write it on the board wins) 20 min: Use Longmans dictionary to find example sentences for last weeks 5 words and 5 additional words that they know the meaning of. Each student will attempt to put the words in their own original sentence. Discuss the results together as a group. Taboo will allow students to recall what they learned last week plus work on listening, speaking and writing skills, as well as working on spelling and fluency because they have to do everything quickly.

Longmans dictionary is a great tool for L2 learners and one of my personal favorite dictionaries, it is a great way to see a word in context. Now students will know how to do it on their own. Week 3: 5-10min: Review past words, each students chooses two words and writes a sentence on the board. 20 min: Learning word meanings through reading. Have students read passages or texts that use some of the vocabulary they have been reading. As they read they should mark words that they recognize and have been working on during tutoring. Have students pick 5 more words to do on their own this week. This reading activity will help students see the words they are learning in real context and will be able to more clearly see the meaning of the word and how it can be used. Week 4: 5-10min: Play hangman with previous words, each student gets a turn writing on the board. 20 min: Use Lex tutor to find word families, find the 5 from last week and 2 more for this week. Teach each other which word families they have found. Talk about possible different meanings. Students pick 5 more new words. Hangman will help students polish their spelling in a fun way. One of the last steps to learning a word are its word families which is why I chose to wait four weeks to go over previous words. Once they know how to use Lextutor they will be able to find this information on their own as they make word cards for themselves. Week 5: 5-10min: word family game, one student choose a word from previous lessons and the other students try to write as many of its word families as they can. 20 min: Word meaning through context. Go over basic strategies for learning a words meaning by finding clue words that lead to its meaning. Give examples and then have them try. The word family game is used to back up last weeks lesson on word families so as to remind students of what they have already learned. It is also important to be able to figure out what a word means based on context clues. By learning this strategy students not only get a larger vocabulary but become better more efficient readers as well. Week 6: 5-10 min: Guess the definition, students are given a sentence or paragraph and try to guess the meaning of the underlined word based on the context clues. 20: Paraphrasing introduction, give the definition of paraphrasing and tell them how it is different from a summary. Give examples, many, many examples. Also explain why paraphrasing is important. Learn 5 new words

Because these students are learning academic English and must therefore learn to write academic paraphrasing is essential for them to learn. Many native speakers even have trouble with paraphrasing so explicitly teaching paraphrasing and giving many examples is a good way to help students. Week 7: 5-10 min: Synonym game (preferably words already learned in tutoring), a word is given and students try to come up with a synonym or phrase that means the same thing. 20 min: More paraphrasing! Give students a short sentence have them talk about what it means and together and then separately make their own paraphrase and then compare answers. Discuss how something can be paraphrased even better. Learn 5 more words Paraphrasing is a very important concept in writing so I believe that spending two weeks on it is important. Week 8: Vocabulary review tournament! Using all the words that were learned during tutoring and paly hangman, taboo, word family game, etc. add up the points and whoever wins getsa good feeling? Reviewing words is always important and when done in a fun way they are used in a non-stressful way and are more likely to be remembered.