Let's Have a LONG Midterm Exam!

[kellogg]

Everybody!

I hope you all had a wonderful 추석 holiday, and spent most of your week with your famly and not on the motorway!

We don't meet until next week, so you've got some time to relax and think. Here's something to think about while you are looking at the waning moon and eating left overs.

Midterm Exam: Immersion and Content-Based Teaching in Elementary English Education

This is the midterm examination I have in mind for the WHOLE month of October. My plan is to tackle the questions TOGETHER, discussing one a week on the café. At the end of the month, you’ll have a chance to re-edit your answers and then hand them in.

I chose these questions because I thought they were INTERESTING, not because I know the right answers! To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure there are correct answers. Of course, you CAN find the data in the book. Unfortunately, you can’t find the ANSWER there!

WEEK ONE: 5-12 OCTOBER

1.     What immersion is and is not: Consider the following data. Can you find evidence that this IS and that it is NOT an immersion lesson?

T            Let's review the words of experimental instruments.

T            Here are some instruments.

T            Ok, I found the word in English.

T            Can you guess?

T            Can you guess?

T            What's this?

Ss         시험관.

T            시험관, in English?

Ss         시-험-관(like speaking English), 어쩌고 저쩌고...

T            I found the word, this in English on the web site.

T            It's a test tube.

T            Test means 시험 and tube means 관, ok?

T            Everyone, repeat after me.

T            A test tube

Ss         A test tube.

T            A test tube

Ss         A test tube.

T            Two ts here.

T            So we can pronounce just one t.

T            Repeat after me.

T            A test tube

Ss         A test tube.

T            Good~.

T            And then what's this?

Ss         Beaker.

T            Beaker, good.

T            What's this?

Ss         Beaker.

T            It's a beaker.

T            Can you remember this in English?

Ss         $!^%&^&&

T            Sorry, mother?

Ss         템퍼런트. 마~ 뭐였는데...

T            Temperature?

Ss         마라이...

T            Thermometer.

Ss         아, Thermometer.

T            Repeat after me.

T            Thermometer.

Ss         Thermometer.

T            Thermometer.

Ss         Thermometer.

Ss         Thermometer?

T            Thermometer.

Ss         Thermometer.

T            We can measure the temperature with the thermometer.

WEEK TWO: 12-19 OCTOBER

2.     Look at the last data. Imagine that you are the teacher. You want to make sure that the children acquire more than just the names of things (test tube, beaker, thermometer). You want to make sure they acquire the conceptual structure. In particular:

a)     You want to draw attention to the conceptual structure of English (that is, plurals for general concepts, and articles for examples and specific objects).

b)    You want to use the words they use in sentences such as “We can measure the temperature with a thermometer.”

c)     You want to check comprehension by asking a GENERAL question and then a narrower one to focus on the FUNCTION of the instrument.

WEEK THREE: 19-26 OCTOBER

3.     Here is some more data. It is March. The lesson topic is “I like spring”. But Ms. Shin is looking forward to the MAY lesson, which is “When is your birthday?” So she is personalizing by getting the children to say whether their birthdays are in spring or summer; whether they were born fall flowers, or winter blossoms. Then she writes their names on a calendar pie chart.

 T: (after asking and answering about the students' birthday months and putting their names accordingly on the sheet on the board) OK, so, have a look. So, uh,.,with Mr. Price, you guys are learning 4 seasons, right? So, we have from January to December, but what season do you think this is? (pointing to around the spring picture)

Ss: Spring!

T: Spring.

T: Are you sure?

Ss: Yes.

T: (writing 'spring' at the right-top corner) Yes. It is spring. And after spring, what comes?

Ss: Summer!

T: Summer comes. (writing 'summer' at the right-bottom corner) And then,,,?

Ss: Fall./ Autumn.

T: Fall (writing) or...?

Ss: Autumn.

T: Normally British people tend to say Autumn instead of Fall. But American people usually say Fall. And it is, finally?

Ss: Winter.

T: Winter. (writing) But listen! I don't like winter because it is TOO cold. (pointing to the winter at the left-top part) And I also don't like spring because yellow dust is in the air. (pointing to the spring) So,, I like, I like,,,, over here (underlying 'wint' in the winter and 'ring' in the spring) I like WINTRING! (wrinting 'wintring' between the winter and the spring)

T: Umm! I don't like spring because of yellow dust, I don't like summer because there are TOO many mosquitoes. SO! I like,,,?

Ss: Sumer./ Sprimm./ Sprimming./ Sprmm./ Sprumm./ Sprummer./ %#$^@@ (and more inaudible words)

T: What?

S1: Sprummer.

Ss: (a couple of inaudible words)

T: Sp,Sp,Sprummer? OK. I like Sprummer? OK. It's up to you. (writing 'Sprummer' between the spring and the summer) What about here? (pointing to between the summer and the fall) Summer is TOO hot and in Fall, I feel lonely because leaves fall, so,,,,any good ideas?

Ss: Supery/Summal./Summery./ Autterfall./ Supering/ Auffal/ Summal $#@%! (all are not so clear)

T: Su,,,Su,,,(underlying 'sum' in the summer and 'all' in the fall.) not SummER and SummAL? Summal? Yeah, possibly. (writing 'Summal' between the summer and the fall) What about....here? (pointing to between the fall and the winter) I feel lonely and it's too cold.

Ss: (they get louder)Wintal!/ Faunter!/ Founter. / Faunter!/ Falter./ Father!/ %$@#^@ (a lot of inaudible words)

T: But it goes from Fall to Winter, so maybe from here...

Ss: (keep creating inaudible words) Founter./ Falter.

T: Falter? OK, (writing 'falter' between the fall and the winter) So, unm, Jinho's birthday is in,,,between Spring and,,Sprummer. What about your birthday, when is your birthday? Well, Obama's birthday is... (we had done a guessing game last lesson and it was about guessing some celebrities' birthdays.)

S2: August.

T: In....

Ss: Summal.

T: Summal? Summal? (laugh) What about you? Can you tell me about your birthday?  When is your birthday? (S3 raises her hand)

S3: My birthday is in Wintring.

T: Ahh,,what month? When, when is,

S3: March.

T: Your birthday is in March so maybe your birthday is in Wintring. Or,,, what else? 지원?

S4: My birthday is in Falter which is December.

T: Ahh, December? So Falter? It could be Falter? What about you back there? Yes!

S5: 어,,My birthday is in Winter, uh, January.

T: Ah, it is January? So it is totally Winter.

What are the children doing? Are they putting English words on Korean word meanings or just making up new words? Are the word meanings syncretic heaps, or complexes, or new concepts?

WEEK FOUR: 26 OCTOBER-3 NOVEMBER

4.     Look at the following problem (or use your own similar problem).  

KT: Right. Continents means 대륙. So how many continents do we have on the Earth?

S4: Six?

Ss: Seven.

KT: We have seven continents on the Earth.

FT: Can you say the names of the seven continents?

S2: Asia.

KT: Asia!

S5: Europe.

KT: Yeah, Europe.

S4: North America.

KT: Yes, and?

S6: South America.

S7: 쌌다메리카?

(Ss burst into laughter)

KT: Very good. When there's North America, there should be South America! What else do we have?

S5: Africa.

KT: Yes! Africa. What else? (long pause)

S2: 오세아니아?

KT: Oceania! Excellent. We pronounce it '오세아니아‘ in Korean, but it's pronounced 'oceania' in English.

S8: 옷이 아니야? 옷이 아니래. (Giggling)

KT: Well, there is one more continent.

S5: We said six?

FT: Yes, there's one more continent you haven't said.

Ss: .....

S6: Russia?

KT: Russia is not a continent, it's a country.

Your job is to teach the children the difference between a continent and a country! Start with a general “Why?” question and come up with a series of at least TWENTY turns (commands and statements with questions) that will lead the children there!

Like Yeonsuk’s lesson about the North and South Poles, this is a lesson that has GEOLOGICAL as well as GEOGRAPHICAL concepts. Make sure you teach BOTH kinds.

dk