April Tutor Group Meeting Notes

ESL Students

Students dependant on a dictionary or electronic dictionary - how to encourage them to learn using context

1. When going through study materials, list the words he/she has difficulties with
2. Use these words in different sentences, on flash cards, have your student create sentences with them
3. Assign homework: write different sentences using these words
4. Have the student look up "context" in their dictionary - discuss the meaning of this word to help you both understand your objectives.

Lessons using "Why / How / Where / Who / When / What Questions

Resources for lessons:

• "English No Problem" book and workbook
• "WH" questions - good web link http://a4esl.org/q/h/9704/dg-wh.html
• Another web resource - http://www.usingenglish.com/
• A great search engine - http://www.bing.com/
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  Dice Game (click "Games" under "Search Post Subjects" for details - incorporate these words on dice, combine it with picture cards. Take turns rolling the dice and choosing a card. If your dice shows "What" and your card is a picture of a book, an example of a sentence would be "What is the name of this book?"

Picture of various die you can create - find supplies at Hobby Lobby for solid dice, check with Cathy or Lisa at ReadWest for paper dice - you would tape colored paper with your written words where the holes are in the dice.

Assigning Homework

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  Ask your student if they have time to do homework, or would like to do homework. Some students may be extremely busy and not have the time.
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  If your student has no time for homework, think of ways they could practice their words or phrases in their every day life. For example, ask them to identify things at work or with their families that they can use as practice.
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  If your student uses email, you could establish a weekly 'email' dialog. It could be brief (one or two sentences from you, including a question) where they need to respond. Print the conversation and go over it in your session. Be sure to discuss your plans for review with your student, as you should approach the converstation from a positive perspective so they do not become sensitive about responding.
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  If your student does not have email, write them a note that they can take home with them, and ask them to bring their written response in so you could review it together.