English Teaching Approaches Hochschule Stuttgart 9.5. - 12.5. 2022

 

SCRIPT SEMINAR 'Class 4-8 with additional Class 9 if time' 

This is to be very much an inter-active seminar. I propose we go right into 6/7, and back to 5/6 tomorrow to look at the work that needs to go before 6/7 (i.e. spelling - writing - reading). Some ice-breaker warm-ups to start with (we moved all the tables aside and arranged the seating into a circle).

A. MONDAY Class 6/7

1. THE BEAT

Five COUNTING-OUT RHYMES

Index-finger moves from one to the next stressing the beat. 

Acker, Backer, Soda Cracker, Acker, Backer BOO; Acker Backer, Soda Cracker, OUT goes YOU!

Jeremiah blows the fire 'Puff, Puff, Puff.' First you blow it gently then you blow it ROUGH.'

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggarman, THIEF.'

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a monkey by his toe. If he hollers, make him pay, Fifty dollars every DAY!

One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four! Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes more! So out you must go, because the King and Queen say SO'

NB Beat is not the same as rhythm (see further down).

2. Five RIDDLES:

 It's got hands and a face but no legs. (A clock) 

 I'm tall when I'm young and short when I'm old. (A candle) 

 What gets wetter and wetter as it dries? (A towel) 

 What month of the year has 28 days? (All of them) 

 What has legs but doesn't walk? (A table)

3. READER

A round of reading aloud to the others. All listeners close eyes and LISTEN OUT FOR Names, Numbers, International Words, Words they might already know.

Title:'The Curious Incident of the Dead Dog in the Night-Time'.

This was to establish how hard it is to read a text straight off, i.e. without knowing beforehand what you are going to read! As from tomorrow we will work our way backwards to discover what goes into good reading:

Knowing enough words to make sense of the sentence.

Knowing what the next sentence is saying.

Seeing clearly in the mind's eye who is the narrator, (in case of direct speech) who is speaking;

Atmosphere, situation, context etc.

 

 

4. Short DISCUSSION on 'What is Foreign Language Teaching for me?' Elements or teaching items for language lessons: Riddle, recitation, counting-out rhyme, teacher-pupil(s) interactive dialogue, speech exercise, set dialogue, grammar learning game, writing work/grammar repeat, writing exercise, finish up with story, song, etc. 

 

5.SPEECH EXERCISE for sounds:

C (aspirated C) and CL (C not aspirated)

Come and clean the chaos in your closet.

Sheep should sleep in a shed not a ship.

'What cheek!' said one chick to the other.

The witch which bewitched this switch is Swiss.

for individual sounds: (deep/dip, sleep/slip, read/rid; for individual sounds: (deep/dip, sleep/slip, read/rid; 'Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.') 

'Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.') 

Six sticky skeletons (3x)

Unique New (nju) York (3x) 

 

6. SPEECH EXERCISE connected with GRAMMAR:

'One dog, two dogs, One leaf - two leaves, One Life - two lives, One ox - two oxen etc.

'Where's the broom? - Inside the cupboard.

Where's the cupboard? - By the door.

Where's the door? - Beside the table.

Where's the table? - On the floor.

See Peter Oram "Just Mind Your Language" publ. by Starborn Books (sales@starbornbooks.co.uk)

How man cans can a cannibal nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans

(Can be conducted to emphasize the mini-pauses between parts of the whole 

 

7. POEM: A longer poem telling a STORY. 

Old Morgan had a lovely harp, / But he was no musician. 

One day a man called ar his door  / Upon a curious mission. 

 "I'm very hungry," said the man, /  "Just hear my tummy rumble." 

 "Come in," said Morgan, "take a seat, / I'm not the man to grumble." 

 "I've eaten nothing," said the man, / "I'm as empty as a drum." 

 "Sit down," said Morgan, "rest yourself, /And please don't suck your thumb." 

(If you cannot find the rest of this poem please don't hesitate to drop me a line).

 

B. TUESDAY, MAY 10th Class 4/5 

1a. Leprechaun STORY: This happened in Ireland 180 years ago. Many people died because the only food they had was potatoes and many potatoes rotted so they had nothing to eat. An old man lived in a little cabin with his wife, who was blind. Their daughter and her husband also lived with them. The daughter had been waiting for a baby that wouldn't come.1b.Nasruddin Story ("Nasruddin came out of the mosque one day and found two beggards sitting there"). 

2. Transit into Discovering SPELLING RULES. In a first step towards systematic SPELLING, help the children to notice Short vowels: 

bat/bad, bet/bed, bit/bid, rot/rod, cut/cud.

 'Are there Spelling Rules for English?'

pat     hate      patting        hating

pet     Pete     petting        petered

hid     hide     kidding       hiding

cop    cope    copping       coping

cup    cube     cupping      cubed

 

 

3.SPEECH EXERCISE: 'This is a pencil. - What is it? - It´s a pencil'. Ideal in U-shaped classroom seating order. The above is started at one end, a similar question with a 'biro' (=ball-point pen) is started simultaneously at the other end.

 

4. Dialogue Exercise: Where's the broom? - Inside the cupboard. Where's the cupboard? - By the door. Where's the door? - Beside the table. Where's the table? - On the floor. Where's the floor? You're standing on it. (See Peter Oram "Just Mind Your Language" publ. by Starborn Books Link: sales@starbornbooks.co.uk)>

 

5. RHYTHM First note the BEAT (in bold print). Then note the LONG syllables (red). Jack and Jill went up the hill, To fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after. Note that the 'longs' do not always coincide with the beat. The rhythm comes from a beat in the background and the interplay of LONG and SHORT syllables.

6. SPEECH EXERCISE

Tonguetwisters.s ('The bloke's back brake-block broke'). Speech exercises like having an argument.Repeat: How many cans ...' Counting up/down 100 -3/3-100 

C. WEDNESDAY 2 p.m.

Class 5/6

1. Remember words from Leprechaun Story. Reconstruct. Order sentences. Learn by heart. 

2. GRAMMAR: Irregular Verbs 

3.  Discuss. L/C strategies. 

4. VOCABULARY round the circle miming a given object.

THURSDAY, MAY 12th Class 7 

1. Write a POEM.  

Look for something in the room. Write a sentence just describing it scientifically, not poetically.

Notice the lught in the room. Shadows, patterns. Write a sentence.

Listen out for noises in or outside the room. Write a sentence.

Look at one of the participants (as if you had never seen a human being before). Sentence about ONE THING you see.

Look at yourself in the same way. Write one sentence.

Now go back to all the sentences you have written. Now start being poetic. Cross out, add, change, reorder, rewrite, thinking about how it sounds. Make your rough notes into a poem.

Write it out neatly.

2. Write a SKETCH (Ticket Collector: See YOUTUBE 'The Ticket Inspector Sketch').

3. The 'ALIBI' Game

 college meeting waldorfska šola maribor 7 april 2022

General Intro:

    the question about marks/grades is easily asked; the answer is rather more difficult!

    grading is the world's oldest bad habit ...

    of course as a Waldorf School we should avoid grades as much as possible.

    Our motto: Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's give to God the things that are God's.

    my talk is without knowing where the discussion is in SLO, MB or in this college

    

The children:

Let me begin with the children: Natural learners, curious, inherently creative

    for them the Teacher-Pupil relationship is very important: it is one of trust, respect and friendliness

    we do not want to risk poisoning it with grading (whether fractiona, percentges, words, lo numbers)

    remember red mrkings mistakes I can bysensitive children be understood as ! (= "how stupid!")

The teacher:

    is not only there to pass on information

    has a basically creative profession

    provokes, engages 

    allows children to be creative (if they want)

    encourages chldren to take responsibility (for their own learning process)

    doesn't ony teach, also gives support when and where necessary

    example how doing MCQs /gap tests can be taught by getting students to make them up themselves!

    Yang-YING (the teacher begins with reciting loudly, talking a lot and gradually talks less/more softly!

       (And the children will recite more loudly and say more allowing children to find their own voices!)

    ensures children keep their natural born enthusiasm, creativity and not successively lose them!

Positives and Negatives of Marks:

    they presuppose a class norm where we compare students

    students mostly want to know where they stand/howgood they are/ to show what they can do / a mark 

    of recognition from the teacher / a reward / to be noticed by the teacher/ to feel taken seriously

    grading is an instument that most teachers find simple to use

    most teachers' marks are on the whole reliable

    they could be used prognostically (but often aren't)

    they never tell the whole story

    they are a blunt sort of feedback and so ack accuracy

    most students know they coul have got a better grade if they had ...

    grades JUDGE performance but son't say much about a student's real or other abilities

    they do not take into account a student's social background, home conditions, fears, social competences

    generally have discriminating effect

    tempt minimalist students to work stategically ("I can afford a bad grade if I can compensate ...")

    tend to undermine edcational goals (students judge subject for easy good marks)

Self-Assessment and Peer-Assessment:

    - Students are asked when they learn well (if teacher corrects homework/if teachers is consistent/if I can 

    work on my own/with a partner/with music/when teacher explains/when I can help classmates etc.)

    - Or students can put crosses to what pplie to them (I often can't concentrate/I like tables and lists/I like 

    being corrected etc.)

    - Students are asked to suggest criteria for judging oral presentations, for example (once a class came up 

    with 49 criteria! Had to agree on 4 or 5, judging was in groups. End grade was average of all groups).

    - Grades can be formal and informal; relative importance can be discussed with students.

Different methods of assessment:

    - Portfolio Method (see Rupert Vierlinger, Salzburg)

    - Dialogue Method (peers judge essay: what was new to me? what moved me? a word of advice! (See

           'Dialogisches Lernen', Urs Ruf, Zürich).

    - Dialogue Learning: Students to become Masters (not Slaves) of tasks, execises!

What the older children cannot stand hearing:

    "als ich so alt wie ihr war"/"when I was your age" ...

    "ihr lernt das nicht für mich"/ "you're not learning this for my sake" ...

    "du hättest auch in der Pause auf die Toilette gehen können"/"you could have used the loo in the break"

    "das darf ich doch von einem Achtklässler erwarten"/"surely I can expect a class-eight student to"

    "in the test everything we've done will be asked"

    etc.!

Education:

    is about children learning to observe, to discover, to think clearly, to weigh up before judging, to find 

    their footing, their roles in their lives ...

    Grades can be part of keeping track of progress in competences as well as knowledge ...

    

 Communication, Cooperation are College Responsibility:

    Criteria, achievement goals, assessment procedures (especially how grades are arrived at) should always be clearly and repeatedly communicated to both parents (as 'critical friends' of the school) and students.         

    This means all teachers (try to) agree as much as at all possible on where the school should go strategically for its educational and social goals here and now (Maribor in 2022!), and work out/ work on a general framework of minimal goals, subject teachers agreeing on details for their respective subjects.

    But: Grades should never become a school's dominant culture!!

    

parents meeting waldorfska šola maribor 5.4.2022

Three topics:

Why do we do foreign languages at all? Why do we do two of them? How do we decide which languages?

Story of the 17 camels. In English as well as in German. See how close these two languages are.

Illustrates that the logic, the thinking is common to all languages. Illustrates that one language can reinforce the other as well as the students' first language!

The differences (as well as similarities!) between individual languages depend on geography, history, culture etc.

Reason for foreign language teaching from class 1 in Waldorf Schools (revolutionary at the time): After war in 1919 the need for more openness to other cultures, mindsets and mutual understanding amongst nations. At bottom all peoples are one big family!

Language families. Participants help remember which languages are Romance, Germanic, Slavic. In between we also have unique languages such as Basque, Albanian; Finnish/Estonian, Hungarian; Latvian/Lithuanian are between Germanic and Slavic (sirdeis, srtse, herz, cordis are not all that far apart, which is why we include these European languages under the idea of 'Indo-European').  Greek was not mentioned.

In a way, English could count as a Romance language owing to Latin and French influence!

Why two languages? Two are in a sort of opposition, in a 'straight line' so to speak, could enhance nationalistic feeling about own language; three languages, as in a triangle which opens 'a space'. 

Which languages ? As far apart as possible (Slovenes English and Chinese for example)! The stranger the language the better for the deeper goal of developing the mind.

Examples of different words stemming rom diferent views/approaches for the same concept: God/Bog/Dieu/Allah; bird/ptitsa/oiseau/madár/lintu/paikstis/pajaro.

We feel how wonderfully exhilarating even briefly looking at these different languages!

English as universal second language has a tragic side. English as a language is becoming poorer (cf. loss of plant, bird, insects species in nature). English children find Shakespeare (which is alteady modern English) more and more difficult to understand/ some see it as a 'cool dialect'!

Story "Barking Dogs Don't Bite" (about a 'Slovenian' visiting English friend in London).

Proverbs like "Barking dogs don't bite."

Younger chilren learn languages quickly. The 'ear for languages' starts becoming less sharp from age 9.

Finish up with a word on the troubles in Ukraine and a poem:

Do not stand at my grave and weep. (See Ecosia.org).

Vienna Weekend Workshop Tilgnerstrasse 4

SCRIPT SEMINAR 'Zentrum für Kultur und Pädagogik' Wien 1-2 April 2022  

 

A. FRIDAY 5 p.m - 6.30 Class 4 (Good at discovering shapes of words and what determines shapes) 

1. COUNTING-OUT RHYMES stress the beat as index-finger moves from one participant to the next participant. NB Beat is not the same as rhythm (see further down). Tinker, tailer, soldier, sailor; Rich man, poor man, beggar-man, THIEF! Acker, Backer, Soda Cracker, Acker, Backer BOO; Acker Backer, Soda Cracker, OUT goes YOU! Jeremiah blow the fire 'Puff, Puff, Puff'. First you blow it gently, then you blow it ROUGH! 

 2. RIDDLES are good for the Teacher before preparing the lessons. (Trying to) solve riddles by extension helps solving all sorts of other problems as well! Connection between RIDDLING and READING! 

RIDDLES:

Voiceless it CRIES, Wingless it FLUTTERS, Toothless it BITES, Mouthless it MUTTERS. 

 What goes round and round the tree but never into it? (The bark on a tree) 

 It's got hands and a face but no legs. (A clock) 

 I'm tall when I'm young and short when I'm old. (A candle) 

 What gets wetter and wetter as it dries? (A towel) 

 A joke-riddle: What has a bottom at the top? (A leg). 

 Another: What month of the year has 28 days? (All of them) 

 What has legs but doesn't walk? (A table)

3. Short DISCUSSION on 'What is Foreign Language Teaching for me?' Elements or teaching items for language lessons: Riddle, recitation, counting-out rhyme, teacher-pupil(s) interactive dialogue, speech exercise, set dialogue, grammar learning game, writing work/grammar repeat, writing exercise, finish up with story, song, etc. 

4. SPEECH EXERCISE for sounds: C (aspirated C) and CL (C not aspirated) Come and clean the chaos in your closet. Sheep should sleep in a shed not a ship. 'What cheek!' said one chick to the other. The witch which bewitched this switch is Swiss. Six sticky skeletons (3x) Unique New (nju) York (3x) connected with Grammar: 'One dog, two dogs, One leaf - rwo leaves, One Life - two lives, One ox - two oxen etc. How man cans can a cannibal nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans (Can be conducted to emphasize the mini-pauses between parts of the whole). for individual sounds: (deep/dip, sleep/slip, read/rid; 'Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.') 

5. POEM: Old Morgan. aa longer poem telling a STORY. 

Old Morgan had a lovely harp, / But he was no musician. 

One day a man called ar his door  / Upon a curious mission. 

 "I'm very hungry," said the man, /  "Just hear my tummy rumble." 

 "Come in," said Morgan, "take a seat, / I'm not the man to grumble." 

 "I've eaten nothing," said the man, / "I'm as empty as a drum." 

 "Sit down," said Morgan, "rest yourself, /And please don't suck your thumb." 

(If you cannot find the rest of this poem please don't hesitate to drop me a line).

 6. Dialogue/Conversational Exchange ('Baker, baker! How much areose buns?') and:

'Where's the broom? - Inside the cupboard.

Where's the cupboard? - By the door.

Where's the door? - Beside the table.

Where's the table? - On the floor.

See Peter Oram "Just Mind Your Language" publ. by Starborn Books (sales@starbornbooks.co.uk)

 

B. FRIDAY 7.30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Class 4/5 

1. Leprechaun STORY: This happened in Ireland 180 years ago. Many people died because the only food they had was potatoes and many potatoes rotted so they had nothing to eat. Anmold man lived in a little cabin with his wife, who was blind. Their daughter and her husband also lived with them. The daughter had been waiting for a baby that wouldn't come. 

2. POEM: Colonel Fazackerley (This was handed out).  

3. Transit into Discovering SPELLING RULES. In a first step towards systematic SPELLING, help the children to notice Short vowels: 

bat/bad, bet/bed, bit/bid, rot/rod, cut/cud.

 'Are there Spelling Rules for English?'

pat     hate      patting        hating

pet     Pete     petting        petered

hid     hide     kidding       hiding

cop    cope    copping       coping

cup    cube     cupping      cubed

 

C. SATURDAY 9 a.m. - 10.30 Class 6 

1. SPEECH EXERCISE 'I saw Esau sitting on a see-saw' - swop words progressively. Tonguetwisters.s ('The bloke's back brake-block broke'). Speech exercises like having an argument.Repeat: How many cans ...' Counting up/down 100 -3/3-100 

2. POEM: 

3. Remember words from Leprechaun Story. Reconstruct. Order sentences. Learn by heart. 

4. GRAMMAR: Irregular Verbs 

5.  Discuss. L/C strategies. 

6. VOCABULARY round the circle.

7. LANDESKUNDE: What do we know about Wales? Colloquial English. Pardon? Excuse me. Sorry. Geography. History. Customs/Festivals. Dialects. Idiomatic expressions. Irish Alphabet Ailm (Silver fir), Beth, Coll, Duir, Eadha (White poplar), Fearn (Alder), Gort (Ivy), Uath (H, Hawthorn), Idho (Yew), Luis (Rowan), Muin (Vine), Nion (Ash), Onn (Furze, Pethboc (Dwarf elder), Ruis (Elder), Saille (Willow), Tinne (Holly), Ur (Heather) 

8. STORY: The donkey's tail.  

 

D. 11 a.m. - 12.30 Class 7 

1. SPEECH EXERCISE with grammatical analysis: ('I saw Esau sitting on a see-saw' - swopping words progressively. 

2. POEM: William Butler Yeats on YOUTUBE reciting 'I will arise and go now.'

3. Discuss. L/C strategies. Try with '17 camels' 

4.Order scrambled sentences / 'Karagöz'  One day the King seemed depressed and Karagöz his Fool said, 'I can cheer you up.' - 'How can you do that?' said the King. - 'I'll tell you a bloody great lie.' The King said he would bet 100 silver shillings Karagöz could not make him believe a lie. - 'All right, said Karagöz, I'll tell you a lie then. - Twenty years ago my father and yours played at cards. Your father lost and my father had to lend your father 100 silver shilligs. - 'That's a bloody great lie,' shouted the King. - Why did the King now have to give Karagöz a 100 silver shillings?

5.  Write a SKETCH (Ticket Collector: See YOUTUBE 'The Ticket Inspector Sketch').  

 

E. 2 p.m. - 3.30 Class 8 

1. Write a POEM.  

Look for something in the room. Write a sentence just describing it scientifically, not poetically.

Notice the lught in the room. Shadows, patterns. Write a sentence.

Listen out for noises in or outside the room. Write a sentence.

Look at one of the participants (as if you had never seen a human being before). Sentence about ONE THING you see.

Look at yourself in the same way. Write one sentence.

Now go back to all the sentences you have written. Now start being poetic. Cross out, add, change, reorder, rewrite, thinking about how it sounds. Make your rough notes into a poem.

Write it out neatly.

2. POEM: Do not stand at my grave ... (If you cannot find it drop me a line).

3. READER: The Curious Incident  Memorable thoughts and phrases:

 

F. 4 p.m. -5 p.m. Summary Session A - E / Classes 4 - 8 

1. SPEECH EXERCISE: Count to 20 (only one at a time) 

2. People give feedback to the lesson items dealt with: Riddle, Poem Recitation/Declamation, Counting-out rhyme, Teacher-pupil(s) Interactive Dialogue, Sketch, ...

3. Grammar Learning Game, Grammar pictorially/imaginatively/rhythmically, Grammar Hands-On, Grammar and developing minds, Grammar emerging from directing a speech exercise.

4. Closing Comments

Some differences between American and British English

Pronunciation in British English:

The classic example is of course the AH sound in tomato (sounds like to-MAY-to in American English).

Many words have a distinctly British or American pronunciation:

vaccine in British sounds like VAC-seen (VAC-sin in American).

In British English the r is pronounced only before a vowel.

In the phrase far away we hear the r .

So in burn, lord, over it is silent! 

In American English the r is always pronounced.

The t between vowels stays t (so it doesn't sound like d): 

writer (rider), better (bedder), matter (madder).

The (main) vowels are usually lengthened in American English:

cancel, racket, hand, kid, sit, phoTOgraphy.

Spelling differences (American spelling in brackets):

catalogue (catalog), centre (center), colour (color), travelling (traveling)

Grammar:

Have you heard the news? (Did you hear the news).

I have already fed the dog (I already fed the dog).

Have you got an e-bike? Yes, I have (British English only).

Do you have an e-bike? Yes, I do (both American and British English).

Things have got better recently (have gotten better in American English only).

(On the telephone) Hello, is that Susan? (Hello, is this Susan).

He's going out somewhere (going some place).

I'm staying at home (staying home).

He looked at me really strangely (really strange).

I shall/will let you know (American English never uses shall instead of will).

Shall I call the doctor? (Should I call the doctor?)

Learned, burned can also be written learnt, burnt in British but not so in American English).

Go and get washed, go and take a look (Go get, go take).

Words and Expressions

And then there are numerous words and expressions that differ:

tap (faucet), boot of car (trunk), sweets (candy), university (college), different from (different than),

underground (subway), lorry (truck)

The Oxford 3000 - basic vocabulary items from A1 to B2

See the following link for the 11 pages of basic English vocabulary items as found in the Oxford Advanced Learner's (with apostrophe!) Dictionary:

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/external/pdf/wordlists/oxford-3000-5000/The_Oxford_3000.pdf

Where is the stress in long words?

advertisment, advertise

In words such as advertisment, advertise we often don't know what part of the word is 'stressed' (= what part of the word is pronounced with extra force).

Let's look at the word divided into its parts:

We write 

ad-ver-tise-ment, ad-ver-tise

We hear

ad-VER-tise-ment, AD-ver-tise

Similarly we hear

STRA-te-gy, stra-TE-gic

The 'stress' has shifted from the second part to the first!

There are words where the stress shifts even more:

pho-TO-gra-phy, PHO-to-graph, pho-to-GRA-phic