LITERACY COUNCIL OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY Adult ESL Class Program Instructional Framework for English for Today & Tomorrow IV NRS Level: High Intermediate Instructional Hours: 75 CASAS Scaled Score (980 series): 210 218 Textbook: All-Star 3 or Future 3 + workbook Course Objectives: By the end of this course, students in this course will be able to * Discuss, set, and work towards personal, educational, and career goals. Identify community organizations and the services they provide; interpret community rules; discuss life in small towns vs. large cities; discuss and interpret information on festivals and holidays. Interpret information on healthy habits and good nutrition; contrast healthy and unhealthy behaviors; read and interpret food labels. Interpret common medical and health-related terms, such as asthma and infection; interpret conversations between doctors and patients; interpret information on and talk about common symptoms. Interpret information on workplace and/or automobile safety; interpret information on personal, traffic, and workplace accidents and injuries; write brief accident reports. Identify common occupations and the skills and education they require; follow procedures to apply for a job; interview appropriately for a job. Interpret information in multi-paragraph expository articles. Compose, edit, and revise brief paragraphs about their lives and their work. * Please note that only a subset of these goals will likely be met, depending on what textbook units are selected. Course Themes: setting goals; community connections; health and safety; looking for work Textbook Units to Choose from: All-Star 3 = 1; 3; 5; 6; 7; 8 Future 3 = 1; 2; 4; 7; 8; 10 Major Grammar Points: simple present tense (review); simple past vs. present perfect; simple past vs. past progressive; various modal auxiliaries Class Hours per Textbook Unit: 10 to 15 for All-Star; 12 to 18 for Future Supplementary Texts: Fundamentals of English Grammar (4 th ed.); Ventures: Career and Educational Pathways (2 nd ed.) Student Portfolios: In the LCMC ESL classes, students are expected to create a portfolio of several examples of their written work. There are ample ideas for specific compositions in the primary textbook, and teachers are encouraged to be creative with the assignments. It is also important to remember that the compositions must be appropriate to the level. A Beginning student should be expected to write just a few short sentences, while a High Intermediate or Advanced student could likely manage a more extended paragraph. Teachers need to be very 1 P a g e
clear about the writing assignment requirements. In addition, teachers should plan on having the students do a rough draft and a final draft of each composition. Generally, one portfolio piece per textbook unit covered is sufficient. Lesson Plans: A good lesson should follow a natural progression from modeling to scaffolded or supported activities to more independent activities. The primary segments of a good lesson plan are as follows: Motivation or Warm-up: This is an introduction that creates interest for the topic. Presentation: This is an introduction to the competency and/or language skills; includes modeling as appropriate. Controlled Practice: Learners use the new language in fairly controlled activities, such as dialogue practice, fill-in-the-blank type activities, or sentence completion activities. Communicative Practice: Learners continue to practice the new language in activities which are more free-form in nature, such as creating new dialogues, completing information exchange activities, or collecting information on fellow students through a survey. Application: Learners use the new language in activities which have a real-world application, such as discussing a problem and possible solutions, offering advice through discussion or composition, or completing a task-based activity. Evaluation: Every lesson plan should end with an activity which aligns with the lesson s stated objectives to determine learner progress. When planning classroom activities, teachers should allow for as much student talk-time as possible. Every class session should have multiple activities in which learners are working in pairs or small groups. Moreover, teachers should incorporate both the receptive language skills (reading and listening) as well as the productive language skills (speaking and writing) into every lesson. Please bear in mind that the integration of the four language skills with the CASAS Competencies is more an art than a science and that it does get easier with time and practice. Lesson plans should also include cultural, metacognitive, technology, and workplace skills as needed. These can be found in Maryland Content Standards for Adult ESL/ESOL, which can be found at http://www.dllr.state.md.us/gedmd/cs/eslcs.pdf The Pairing of Life Skills and Language Skills A good lesson plan incorporates both CASAS competencies as well as language skills, also called content standards. A CASAS competency is a life or work skill, while the content standards are reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills: The content standards enable the students to perform or complete that life or work skill. In designing lessons, if the CASAS competency is the center or hub of the wheel, then the content standards are the spokes. Thus, teachers must always look to pair one or two CASAS competencies with three or four of the content standards for every lesson. See Images 1 and 2 below for a graphic representation of this idea. See also Table 3 for a further illustration. 2 P a g e
Image 1: Graphic Representation of Life Skills Paired with Language Skills (general) Image 2: Graphic Representation of Life Skills Paired with Language Skills (specific; see pgs. 64-65 of All-Star 3) S4.14 Engage in extended conversations on familiar topics L3.9 Comprehend intermediate level grammar (past progressive) 0.1.4 Understand and use apporpiate language in social situations (apologize) 4.3.4 Report unsafe working conditions and work-related accidents, injuries, and damages S4.15 Use communicative function of speech L6.2 Listen for simple specific details of a brief discussion 3 P a g e
Table 1: Most Relevant CASAS Competencies: The competencies below are the most important ones for this course. While it is unlikely that all will be covered during the course, teachers should work on as many as they realistically can. Those in red appear on the CASAS 980 test series. Unit in All-Star 3 CASAS Competency Number CASAS Competency Description 8 0.1.2 Understand or use appropriate language for informational purposes 7 2.1.8 Use a telephone to make and receive calls 3, 5 3.4.2 Identify safety features that can prevent accidents and injuries 5 3.4.3 Interpret procedures for simple first aid 3 3.6.3 Interpret information about illnesses, diseases, health conditions and their symptoms 3 3.6.4 Communicate with a doctor or other medical staff regarding condition, diagnosis, treatment, and concerns, including clarifying instructions 7 4.1.6 Interpret general work-related vocabulary (e.g., shift, supervisor) 7 4.1.8 Identify common occupations and the skills and education they require 5 4.3.2 Interpret safe work procedures, safety manuals, and related information 5 4.3.4 Report unsafe working conditions and work-related accidents, injuries and damages 1 4.4.5 Identify job training needs and set learning goals 6 5.6.1 Interpret information about neighborhood or community problems and solutions 6 5.6.5 Identify volunteer agencies and opportunities in the community 1 7.1.1 Identify and prioritize personal, educational, and career goals 3, 6 7.2.1 Identify and paraphrase pertinent information 8 7.5.6 Identify and use strategies for communicating more successfully Unit in Future 3 CASAS Competency Number CASAS Competency Description All 0.1.2 Understand or use appropriate language for informational purposes All 0.1.3 Understand and use appropriate language to influence or persuade 7 1.9.6 Interpret information related to automobile maintenance 7 1.9.7 Identify procedures and report information regarding auto accidents and emergencies 2 2.5.8 Identify community organizations and their purpose and functions 1 2.7.1 Interpret information about holidays 7 3.4.2 Identify safety features that can prevent accidents and injuries 8 3.5.2 Identify a healthy diet 1 3.5.3 Identify how to handle, prepare, and store food properly 10 3.6.3 Interpret information about illnesses, diseases, health conditions, and their symptoms 10 3.6.4 Communicate with a doctor or other medical staff regarding condition, diagnosis, treatment, and concerns, including clarifying instructions 4 4.1.2 Follow procedures for applying for a job 4 4.1.5 Identify how to interview appropriately for a job 4 4.1.6 Interpret general work-related vocabulary (e.g., shift, supervisor) 2 7.1.1 Identify and prioritize personal, educational, and career goals 2 7.1.2 Demonstrate an organized approach to achieving goals, including identifying and prioritizing tasks and setting and following an effective schedule 4 P a g e
Table 2: Content Standards (Language Skills): The table below lists CASAS Content Standards appropriate for English for Today and Tomorrow IV. Teachers should feel free to draw content standards from both the CASAS list and the Maryland Content Standards list as appropriate. These lists of content standards can be found at: https://www.casas.org/product-overviews/curriculum-management-instruction/casas-basic-skillscontent-standards http://www.dllr.state.md.us/gedmd/cs/eslcs.pdf Listening L1.7: Recognize moods, emotions, and attitudes conveyed by pronunciation and stress patterns (e.g., Stress and intonation can change I don t believe it! from an expression of skepticism to an exclamation of surprise.) L2.8: Comprehend a range of vocabulary, including synonyms, phrasal verbs and idioms, and common collocations L3.13: Comprehend advanced grammar and structures (e.g., complex verb tenses and unreal conditional sentences). L6.5: Predict the content of discourse types / genres that follow common patterns (e.g., doctor talking to a patient; narratives; instructions) Speaking S2.8: Use a wide range of vocabulary such as synonyms (e.g., doctor vs. physician), precise terminology (e.g., condominium vs. home), and phrasal verbs and idioms (e.g., to be late vs. running behind schedule). Reading R6.1: Predict the content of a text from title, pictures, captions, type of material S3.9: Use intermediate grammar and structures in speech (e.g., simple past, modals, and real conditional sentences) R6.5: Skim complex material for general meaning or to determine subject matter or organization S4.14: Engage in extended conversations on familiar topics R7.8: Make inferences and draw conclusions from simple text S4.15: Use communicative functions of speech (e.g., use Do you really think so? for polite disagreement) R7.10: Differentiate fact from opinion in written text Writing W3.11: Use intermediate level grammar and structures (e.g., simple past, modals, real conditional sentences) W4.8: Use precise and appropriate vocabulary to convey the intended meaning W5.3: Write related sentences to form a cohesive paragraph W7.8: Write short functional texts (e.g., formal / informal letters, emails) 5 P a g e
Table 3: Example of CASAS Competency Paired with Appropriate Enabling Language Skills (The content standards used in the table below are from the Maryland Content Standards list, which can be found at http://www.dllr.state.md.us/gedmd/cs/eslcs.pdf. Level: High Intermediate / Advanced CASAS Competency 2.7.3 interpret information about social issues (homelessness in the U.S.) Relevant Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Pronunciation homeless, homelessness, addict, addiction, addicted, controversy, controversial, resident, residential, shelter, misdemeanor Distinguish between facts and opinions in a conversation (listen to a text on a controversial new homeless shelter NIMBY argument complete T-bar chart on expressed facts vs. opinions) Express opinions and provide factual information (express their opinions about the plans for this controversial shelter support views with facts) Determine meaning of new vocabulary using context clues and word analysis skills (common suffixes) (read article about a homeless man and former addict who turned his life around) Draft, organize, write and edit a short paragraph using a topic sentence, supporting details, and transitions (compose a brief paragraph to express opinion on whether the homeless shelter should be placed in residential area) Stress of multi-syllabic words (controversial, residential, etc.) Cultural Skills: As a possible follow-up to this lesson, a homeless advocate or shelter worker could be a guest speaker to discuss the plight of homeless in Mont. Co. and how people perceive the homeless. Technology Skills: As a possible follow-up to this lesson, students could use the Internet to read about celebrities who have been homeless at one time in their lives. They would then provide a brief oral report on one of these celebrities. This activity would satisfy Standard 4.c of the Maryland Adult Education Technology Standards. This document can be retrieved at http://www.dllr.state.md.us/gedmd/techstandards.pdf. 6 P a g e