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Dear Jean,

We have been using the free ESL lessons for a few weeks now and we have found that they are highly effective in the classroom. Our students enjoy the stories and they always look forward to the cool facts and riddle of the week. Since I only see each group of students once a week, it is nice to be able to fill at least part of my lesson with this great material. While I think that have come up with some good ways to use these ESL lessons, I am wondering if you could tell me how you think they should be used? Do you have any suggestions? I want to make sure that my students can get the most out of the lessons.

Thanks so much,

Cindy L. in Eastern China

Jean answers Cindy’s question

Deaer Cindy,

Thank you for your kind words about our ESL lessons. I have passed them along to Robert Vance who designs a new Enjoy English edition each week. I am sure that he will be glad to hear that you have found them useful in your ESL classroom. Robert has actually already written a set of instructions to help teachers who are using the ESL publication in their classrooms. He was planning on incorporating those notes into a future article but he has given me permission to put them here.

Here is the suggested use for Enjoy English

Step 1. Before you give your students a copy of Enjoy English, read them the story of the week and then ask them how well they can understand the content. If time permits, read the story twice.

Step 2. Give them a copy of Enjoy Englishand ask a student to read the story outloud. Correct pronunication when necessary.

Step 3. Go through each vocabulary word in the ‘Learn the Words’ section and make sure that every student understands.

Step 4. Ask the students to repeat the vocabulary words after you at least three times.

Step 5. Go through each question in the ‘What Do You Think?’ section and ask students to respond. Depending on what level of students you have, you should be able to get a conversation going.

Step 6. Go through the ‘Word of the Week’ and the ‘Expression of the Week’ with your students and ask them to give other usage examples.

Step 7. Ask one of your students to read the ‘Did You Know’ section and then discuss the facts with your students. Make sure that the understand all of the words.

Step 8. Help students to remember what the previous ‘Riddle of the Week’ was and then make sure that they understand the answer. Go over the new ‘Riddle of the Week’ and tell your students that you want them to think about it and give you an answer in next class. You may even want to consider giving out a small prize.

Step 9. Encourage your students to memorize the new words and expression. Ask them to practice at home.

 These are just suggestions and we hope that if any of you have some other ideas that you will share with us in the comment section below.

Sincerely,

Jean

Ask Jean about China is a weekly feature on TeachAbroadChina.com. We welcome any questions related to living and working in China. Feel free to submit your questions by clicking here. We look forward to hearing from you.