Teaching Philosophy

Building self-esteem in the classroom is one of the most important keys to success.  In terms of second language learning, self-esteem is essential for students to build confidence.  If a student lacks self-esteem and confidence, they will most likely shut down and not even attempt to be successful.  When learning a second language, it is critical to practice speaking the language out loud in order to become competent with this target language.  If a student lacks confidence, they will most likely be reluctant to speak out loud in the classroom.  This will inevitably cause these students to fail.  If they do not practice their speech, they will not be able to fully succeed.  Raising self-esteem and confidence in students will help them lower their anxiety and ideally allow them to speak freely in class in the second language. 

Since being able to speak the language openly without worries of making errors or mistakes will help the students succeed, it is the responsibility of the teacher to give positive reinforcements.  Little reminders such as, “good job!” or “keep up the good work!” will help boost a student’s confidence throughout the day.  Writing positive feedback on written assignments will also help students feel like they are learning and doing a good job.  It is also important to inform the students of what specifically was done correctly.  For example, if a student wrote a paper in the second language and was particularly accurate with their verb tenses, it may be beneficial to write in feedback that this was a strong point for the student. 

Though it is important to inform students of errors, it is equally as important to make sure it is done carefully.  Since every student is different, some students make take negative feedback more personally.  It is essential for a teacher to know his/her students and be able to carefully offer suggestions and make sure anxiety does not increase.

 

Confidence in students is essential regardless of age.  If a student is not confident they will be unwilling to put forth effort for something as difficult as learning a language.  It is important for the teacher to keep age in mind, as different aged students will require different forms of attention and positive feedback.  Regardless of how it is addressed and what the age group of the specific class is, it is vital for appropriate build of self-esteem in the classroom.  This will lead to confidence and provide more room for effort and less room for anxiety.

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Map of America and the Four Directions

Background

The class has been studying the map of the world.  They have looked at globes and maps in the classroom and done various activities to learn the geography of the world they live in.

English Proficiency Level: Intermediate.  All students in the class are non-native speakers.

Grade Level:4
The classroom has 15 students.

Preparation

Content Objectives

Students will focus on the map of America.  They will explore the geography of America and begin to learn where each state on the map is located.  At the end of the lesson, they will be able to point out where they live on the map and have learned the directions: North, East, South and West.

Language Objectives

Students will work together in pairs to see which states they already know and try to label them.  The teacher will put up a large map on the board with each state labeled along with a large compass.  The students will work with a partner to label the states they missed or got incorrect.  Students will have to answer questions such as, "where is your state located?  What state is south of Michigan?" and other directions and commands involving the map of the United States and directions.

Materials (given below)

1.     Blank maps of the United States with an unlabeled compass.

2.     Large map of the United States and large compass to be placed on the chalkboard.

3.     Large signs to be placed in each corner of the classroom, labeled N, E, S, W for the four directions.

4.     Computer with speakers/speaker system.

5.     Sheet with all fifty states in alphabetical order listed.

6.     Stopwatch

7.     Prizes

Motivation

Start the lesson by playing the song, “Fifty Nifty United States” on the computer.  Play one time through, and then ask the students to try to sing along looking at their sheet of paper with the states (in alphabetical order, similar to the song) listed.  While listening, have the students circle the states that they have never heard of before.  Then have them hand in the sheets of paper.  The students will then have sixty seconds to try and name as many states as they can remember.  The student who remembers the most states correctly wins a prize.

Presentation

Hand out the blank copies of the map of the United States.  Pair off students to try to label as many as they can.  Then the teacher will present her large copy of the map and have the students work together once again to fill in any blanks or incorrect labeled states.  The teacher will walk around to ensure all maps are labeled correctly.  The teacher will point to each state, and say its name out loud.  The students will repeat the name out loud.

Then they will be introduced to the compass while they are back in their seats.  They will label their own compasses.  The teacher will walk around to ensure each compass is labeled correctly.  Then the teacher will ask questions to students such as, “Do you live west of Florida?  What state is east of Michigan?” etc.

Practice

The teacher will put the large map of the United States on the floor.  The students will stand on the outside while the teacher calls out, “walk to Illinois,” etc.  The students will walk around the map to visually learn where each state is located.  Then they will practice the four directions.  The corners of the classroom will be labeled with N, E, S, and W.  The teacher will say directions such as “go to the most northern point in the room” and the students will run to the “N” corner.  They will go back to the floor map and the teacher will say directions such as, “go south of New York,” etc. 

Review

They will listen to the song again twice.  The first time they will just listen, the second time they will sing along.  The students will again be asked to list the fifty states in sixty seconds.  The student who was able to list the most will get a prize. 

Homework

The students will have a worksheet for homework that has different maps.  The first map will be of the world and the students will have to color in where the United States is.  The next map will be of the United States and they will be asked to label and color the map.  They will also have to fill in a blank compass.  There will be questions on the worksheet below the map of the United States such as, “which state is directly east of Washington?  List two states that are south of Michigan.”

Worksheet for Homework:

 

Lyrics:

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies;

Fifty nifty stars in the flag that billows so beautif'ly in the breeze.
Each individual state contributes a quality that is great.
Each individual state deserves a bow, we salute them now.
Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,
Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,
One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the U.S.A.
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut;
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana;
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan;
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada;
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,
North Dakota, Ohio;
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas;
Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,
Al -a -o ming.
North, south, east, west, in our calm, objective opinion,
(name of home state) is the best of the
Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,
Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,
One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the good old U. S. A.

Sheet with states in order:

  Song Link: Fifty Nifty United States
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpUBvOeD1s

Rationale Statement

My lesson was constructed in a specific way as I chose to base it off of the SIOP Model and many teaching philosophies and theories we have studied.  The lesson was adapted to benefit visual learners, oral learners and aural learners.  As a visual learner, I found it important to display that map at the front of the room on the board.
I chose to have my students work in pairs, alone, and all together as a class because of the Interaction concept of the SIOP model.  One feature states that grouping configurations support language and content objectives of the lesson.  Working in pairs allowed for learner-leaner interaction, which provided opportunity to practice speaking with each other and clarify ideas.  There are also times in the lesson where the entire class is working together.  Other times, the students work alone, such as when they are instructed to list as many states as they can. This provides for a wide variety of grouping configurations.

Working in pairs also promotes cooperative learning.  Cooperative learning is when students work in pairs or small groups to help one another complete a given task.  Shrum and Glisan state that cooperative learning often produces high achievement, increases retention, and develops interpersonal skills.  This is why I chose to have the students work together on filling in the map. 

The building background concept of the SIOP model states that providing background knowledge of the given material will allow the students to grasp the concepts easier.  Providing background knowledge is important for this reason.  This is why I chose to involve the students’ states in which they live in (mostly Michigan, but some students are from other states in America) now that they have moved to America.  Students most likely know which state they live in or were born in, know where it is on the map, and know what it looks like.  This ensured that they at least knew one state and were able to make connections with their home state.  It also pulled in their attention to want to know how to “walk” there on the large map.

One feature of the building background concept focuses on emphasizing key vocabulary.  It states that the students should be immersed in words by rich language environment that focuses on words and draw their attention.  The repeated exposure to the names of the states and the four directions masters this concept.

Peck states that children are more likely to play with language than adults and that children can be more effectively engaged through stories and games.  This is why I chose to make games out of the lessons.  I involved games such as whoever could write down the most states correctly got a prize, and the running around the room to the four directions/corners and walking around on the map.  This made the classroom more playful for the students while they were learning information at the same time.