Maria M. Lee
Bullard-Havens Pre-Vocational ESL Program
500 Palisades Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06610T
Working in small groups of 2-3, students will use the LINCS Health & Literacy Special Collection to gain basic knowledge of an issue relevant to their lives. Learners will fulfill certain requirements and finish with an oral presentation to the class. These groups will then function as leader/tutor to new groups of 2-3 students to research new topics. Time: 5 hours
The Bullard-Havens Pre-Vocational ESL program serves 45 adult bilingual students and offers three levels of ESL instruction (beginning, intermediate, advanced). The program operates from October - May for 25 hours per week for a total of 28 weeks. Employability-based ESL and basic math instruction are provided as well as basic computer literacy, employment and life skills, parenting and health management classes. Career and personal counseling are also provided, as is job placement assistance.
All students must demonstrate a need for ESL and basic skill training that would enhance their employability and lead to economic self-sufficiency. The target population are low-income clients who lack English proficiency. They may be displaced workers, lack a high school diploma or single parents/pregnant women.
Students will:
1. Agree on a specific health issue and research it on the LINCS Health & Literacy Special Collection Website
2. Provide a simple oral presentation to the entire class
3. Be able to teach the process to other students
4. Utilize the Website at home or library to research a health topic of their own choosing as a homework assignment
http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf
Computer Lab with Power Point capabilities
Teacher made handouts
1. Present to the class a list of some familiar health topics that have been covered in class or through a guest speaker.
2. Discuss which topics may be of interest to them and add some suggestions to the list.
3. Explain to the class that they will be doing research on a particular health topic of their choice. They will be doing the work online and in a small group. Then they will present their findings in an oral form to the class.
4. Students form groups and select a mutual topic.
5. One group of learners is chosen to begin the research.
6. The teacher instructs this initial group how to access the Internet, type URL (http://Kidshealth.org or for the more advanced students the Eastern LINCS Health & Literacy Special Collection). Introduce navigation tips: opening page, locating specific information within web site.
7. Students find answers to specific questions developed by the teacher by exploring the Website.
8. Students find answers to specific questions by exploring the Resources and Related Readings section of the web site.
9. Students write a paragraph on their selected health topic and type it using the word processor.
10. Students present information in the form of a paragraph to the class and answer questions from the class.
11. The original group then teaches two to three other small groups the skills they have learned and aids them in doing their research. Steps 5 to 11 are repeated until all learners have completed their research and given a small presentation.
12. Those students who have access to the Internet outside the classroom will then research another self-chosen health topic and present a paragraph to the class.
Note: I divided the time into four sections: 1) instructional time - one to two hours, not consecutive; 2) research/writing time - two to four hours to read and answer questions on the topic and to discuss the material among the group members and at least another two hours to write a paragraph on topic and correct errors; 3) supervising time - flexible depending on the ability of the group of students and the capacity to peer tutor within the groups; and 4) oral presentation time - 2 to 5 minutes per group.
Note: I began instructing the original group while the remainder of the class worked on another task. This original group completed all the steps in the lesson before we began the peer teaching and instruction with the whole class.
The time it takes to complete the lesson plan is flexible. The teacher has to allow for the differences in time that it may take students (depending on their level of English and their prior experience on the Internet/computer) to feel comfortable with the Internet, to navigate the chosen sites, to understand the reading material and to be able to answer questions on the topic.
A mix of ages in forming groups is recommended. In an ESL classroom, a variety of dominant languages are also recommended so that students will have to communicate in English. Some student groups chose to use the Kids section of the Kidshealth Website (as opposed to the Parents section) since they found the language in that section even easier to comprehend.
The teacher made handouts contained comprehension questions and some vocabulary.
Sometimes writing up the handouts for the teacher became a struggle as the groups chose their topics at various times. So the teacher may want to limit the scope of the topics.
All the students welcomed the activity right from the beginning. Not only did they express interest in various health topics, but also they were eager to learn how to access information on their own. Many of them had never worked on the Internet prior to this activity.
The learners worked cooperatively very well, assisting each other when needed. The older students had a better grasp and ability to pinpoint the relevant health information, while the younger ones adapted to the process of navigating the Internet much quicker. All the students completed the handouts with success.
The presentations went well, although the beginning students were more hesitant to stand up in front of the class and share information. We were fortunate to have the assistance of an Intermediate student who had learned to use PowerPoint in our program last year. She became one of our original group members and assisted the students in gathering their information and teaching it in a PowerPoint presentation. She became a self-appointed teacher’s assistance and was valued highly by both the teacher and the students.
Each student compiled all gathered information in a folder. Even though at first the folders were required to be kept in the classroom, they ended up being taken home daily. The students showed an intense interest in their work and they wanted to share their newly gathered skills at home: health information as well as Internet skills.