Adap%ng Your Materials for Use in Mixed-ability Classrooms...Adap%ng Your Materials for Use in...

Adap%ngYourMaterialsforUseinMixed-abilityClassrooms

ManyteachersinEFLse0ngsarefacedwiththechallengeofdealingwithlargeclassesofstudentswithmixedabili;es.Insuchse0ngs,itcanbedifficulttomaintainlearner

mo;va;onandengagement.

Duringthesession,par;cipantswill:

•  learnhowtoadapttheirmaterialsforuseinthesese=ngs,whethertheyareteachingyounglearners,teens,orolderstudents.

•  exploretechniquesforconduc%ngac%vi%esinclassesofmixed-abilitystudents,includingpacing,personalizingac%vi%es,andgroupinglearners.Thetechniqueswilladdresswaystosimplifytasksaswellastomakeac%vi%esmorechallenging.

SusanIannuzzi

SusanIannuzzibeganherTEFLcareerinCairo,whereshetaughtandpilotedmaterialsforaninterna%onalpublisher,whichul%matelyledtoajump“behindthescreen”toeditandcreatematerials.Shehasauthoredorco-authoredmorethan25coursetextbooksthatareinusearoundtheworldinbothpublicandprivateschools.

ShehasalsoconductedteachertrainingacrossthewordwithaspecialfocusonmaterialsdevelopmentinEgypt,Eritrea,Kyrgyzstan,Bangladesh,Vietnam,Ukraine,Moldova,Rwanda,Ecuador,andBrazil.

Susanholdsamaster’sdegreeinLinguis%csandagraduatecer%ficateinTESOLfromtheUniversityofPiXsburgh.

©2018bySusanIannuzzi.Adap%ngYourMaterialsforUseinMixed-abilityClassroomsfortheOfficeofEnglishLanguagePrograms.ThisworkislicensedundertheCrea;veCommonsAQribu;on4.0License,exceptwherenoted.Toviewacopyofthislicense,visit:hQp://crea;vecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Adap;ngMaterialsforUse inMixed-AbilityClassrooms

SusanIannuzzi

Overview

• Shareaframeworkforadap%ngmaterials• Techniquesforgroupingmixed-abilitystudents• Applytheframework• Discusshowtoactuallyadaptmaterials

Why classes may have mixed abili4es….

Results of mixed abili4es in the classroom

Another result of mixed-ability classes

StrongerStudentsq  Addchallenges

q  Increaseoutput(amountofspeakingorwri%ng)

q  Preventboredom

q Maintainconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

Adap4ng materials: a guiding framework

WeakerStudentsq  Simplify

q  Reduceoutput(amountofspeakingorwri%ng)

q  Reducefrustra%on

q  Buildconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

Grouping maDers!

• Strongerandweakertogether•  Strongerhelpweaker•  Aspira%onalforweakerstudents•  BUT…maybefrustra%ngforboth

• Strongertogether/weakertogether•  Studentsworkatownlevels•  Maybeeasiertomanage•  BUT…maycreatebadfeelings

•  Trytousedifferentgroupingstrategies.

Remember! Time is not unlimited.

Vocabulary (primary, beginner)

Keyvocabulary• house•  sun• flowers• windows• doorAtlevel:Teacherasksclass:Pointtotheflowers,etc.

Possible adapta4ons

Weakerstudents

• Pointtotheflowers.Ask:Flowers?

• Pointtotheflowersandmodel.Say:Pointtotheflowers.

Strongerstudents

• Pointtotheflowers.Ask:Windows?Student:No!Flowers!

•  Increasedirec%oncomplexity.Say:Pointtoawindow,thedoor,andthesun.

Adap4ng materials: a guiding framework

StrongerStudentsq  Addchallenges

q  Increaseoutput

q  Preventboredom

q Maintainconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

WeakerStudentsq  Simplify

q  Reduceoutput

q  Reducefrustra%on

q  Buildconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

Vocabulary (secondary / ter4ary)

TakenfromDoyouSpeakEnglish?SupplementaryEnglishtextcreatedbyUkrainianEnglishteacherswiththefundingoftheU.S.StateDepartment.

Precedingac%vity:Brainstormvocabularyinpairsorgroups.

Adap4ng for weaker students

• Assignfewercategoriestobrainstormpergroup.Thencombinegroupstocompletethechart.

• Donotrequireaddi%onalitems/requireoneitemperlist.• Givesomevocabularyitemsandhavethegroupsputtheminthecorrectcolumn.

• GivefirstleXeroftargetvocabularywordstostartthemoff.

Adap4ng for stronger students

• Requiretheaddi%onalitems.• Writesentencesusingthenewvocabulary.• Rankthesportsaccordingtopreference,levelofdanger,etc./Writeasentencestoexplainyourchoices.

•  Learnwordsforequipmentneededtodothesports.

Adap4ng reading materials

Reading

•  Studentsreadashorttextandanswertheques%ons(atlevel).

Adap4ng for weaker students

• Putanswersoncards.

•  Studentsmatch(ingroupsorontheirown).

• Giveparagraphsforanswers.

•  Splitintogroupstoanswerques%ons.

Adap4ng for stronger students

Createinferenceques%ons.

•  IsMaxmorelikehisfatherormother?Whydoyouthinkso?

• DoyouthinkMax’sparentsarehappywithhim?Whyorwhynot?

How do we write inference ques4ons?

Tip! Createinferenceques%onsbyreviewingcontentincomprehensionques%onsinthetextbookorteacher’sguide.

Adap4ng materials: a guiding framework

StrongerStudentsq  Addchallenges

q  Increaseoutput

q  Preventboredom

q Maintainconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

WeakerStudentsq  Simplify

q  Reduceoutput

q  Reducefrustra%on

q  Buildconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

Ideas to adapt reading ac4vi4es

Weakerstudents • Pre-teachhardvocabulary.• Usevisualstoexplainmeaning.• Giveanswersoncardstomatchtoques%ons.

•  Splittextintoblocks.

Ideas to adapt reading ac4vi4es

Strongerstudents •  Iden%fykeyvocabulary.• Choosefivewordsandwritesynonymsorantonyms.

• Rewritesentencesindifferenttense.

• Writeques%onsforotherstoanswer.

Learning together in mixed-ability classes

Wri4ng project

Thetextbooksaysthis:

Findaphotoofaninteres;nghomeontheinternet.Writeadescrip;veessayaboutit.

Howcanwedothisingroups?

Wri4ng project

•  YourTeacher’sGuidesaysthis:

Leveled tasks

Tailor the task to the students’ levels

• Groupstudentsaccordingtolevel.

•  Studentsworktogethertocreateoneproduct.

• Groupisaccountable.

•  Teacherisaresource.

Tip! Occasionallyusinggroupsduringwri%ngtaskscansavealotof%mewhengrading.(15groupsof4=15assessmentsversus60!)

Prepara4on is key!

• Beclearaboutgoals.•  Focusonneededlanguage.• Rememberouradap%onframework!

Wri4ng project: Weaker students

Control the input

• Relevantlanguage:vocabulary,grammar• Maximizestudents’%meontask.

Adjust the output

•  Fillintheblanks.Thehouseisinthe_________.Theweatherisprobably________.Thereissome__________ontheground.Thehouseismadeof__________,buttherearen’tany_________.

Wri4ng project: Stronger students

Expand the input

• Newvocabulary•  Inferences–grammar• Wholivesinthehouse?• Whatistheirpersonalitylike?• Whatistheirjob?

StrongerStudentsq  Addchallenges

q  Increaseoutput(amountofspeakingorwri%ng)

q  Preventboredom

q Maintainconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

Adap4ng materials: a guiding framework

WeakerStudentsq  Simplify

q  Reduceoutput(amountofspeakingorwri%ng)

q  Reducefrustra%on

q  Buildconfidence

q  Keeptheminvolved

Par4ng words

• Remembertheguidingframework’sgoals.

•  Youknowyourclassbest!

References

MixedAbilityAdapta%onshXps://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ar%cle/adap%ng-materials-mixed-ability-

classesLeveledTaskshXps://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/mul%-level_tc_-

_part_2.pdf

Email:americanenglish@state.gov

americanenglishwebinars.comamericanenglish.state.gov

facebook.com/AmericanEnglishatStatefacebook.com/AmericanEnglishforEducators

Thankyou!