Welcome

How We Do Things Here:

Increasing Cultural Understanding of Canadian Workplace & Cultural Systems

Table of Contents

Introduction

Guide to Teachers

I. BICS/CALP

i Classification of Language and Content Activities within Cummins’ Framework

II. Academic Word List

III. Sustained Content Teaching

i Advanced Preparation is essential

ii Getting Involved in ESL

iii Checklist for Content Area Teachers

iv Guide for Mainstream Teachers: Teaching ESL Students

IV. Teaching ESL

i How Do Adults Learn a Second Language?

ii Helping Someone Improve Her/His English

a) Techniques to Try

b) Giving Feedback

iii Canadian Language Benchmarks

V. Teaching Meta-cognition

i Basic Metacognitive Strategies

ii Strategies for Developing Metacognitive Behaviours

iii Establishing the Metacognitive Environment

VI. Cross Cultural Awareness

i Introduction

ii How we talk to ourselves: An Awareness Exercise

iii Cultural Values Spectrum

iv Expected Classroom Behaviours

v The Cultural Aspect of a Sample of Assignments

·                    Constructing Argumentative/Expository Essays

·                    Introduction to Research Skills

·                    Stylistic Analysis

·                    Literary Analysis

vi Who Are Your Learners?

vii Cultural Awareness Resources

·                    The Culture Quiz

·                    Cultural Differences in Communication and Learning Styles

·                    Other Culture Resources

Guide to Learners

I. Get the Skills Not Just the Credit

II. ESL Skills are a Key Component of Success

III. Cultural Savvy – Understanding the System

IV. The Structure of Your Program at McLeod

i Pre-entry interview:

ii Assessment of your current language skill:

iii TOEFL Scores and Canadian Language Benchmark Assessment Comparison

iv High School courses are not language training courses:

v Diagram

V. Relationship with Your Teachers at McLeod

i Roles and Responsibilities: Teachers, Students & Everyone Else

ii Other Supports for your Learning at McLeod

iii Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)

Writing Unit

Lessons	Language Area Addressed
	Writing	Reading	Meta-cognition	Communication & Social Skills	Workplace & Career	Other
I. Introduction
Common ESL errors
What Should I Correct?

II. Writing Warm-ups
Writing Storm	ü
Word Cycle	ü			ü

III. Sentences
Ideas for Using Scrambled Sentences	ü					Grammar
Scrambled Sentences – Computer Terminology	ü
Sentence Match	ü
Passive Voice Race Game	ü

IV. Writing Essays
Writer’s Workshop Lesson 1 – The Outline	ü			ü
Topic Sentences and Content Points	ü			ü
v Teacher Reference: Rubric for Formal Essay
	Writing	Reading	Meta-cognition	Communication & Social Skills	Workplace & Career	Other
Writer’s Workshop Lesson 2 – Character Analysis	ü
Writer’s Workshop Lesson 3 – Themes (Main Ideas)	ü
Writer’s Workshop Lesson 4 – Organizing Ideas	ü			ü
Writing Narrative Paragraphs – Things Happening Over Time	ü					Grammar
Using Descriptive Verbs	ü				ü	Grammar
Reading-Writing Lesson : Bleak House	ü	ü	ü
Writing Project: Student Surveys	ü	ü	ü	ü	ü	Grammar

Reading Unit

Lessons	Language Area Addressed
	Writing	Reading	Meta-cognition	Communication & Social Skills	Workplace & Career		Other
I. Introduction
II. Test Taking
Teacher Reference:
v Constructing Multiple Choice Test Items
v Multiple Choice Practise Test (on-line)
v Levels of Assessment
The Multiple Choice Challenge		ü		ü		Test Taking
The Missing Word Quiz		ü				Test Taking, Grammar
III. Reading Comprehension
A Fun Reading Comprehension Exercise		ü		ü
Ordering Texts		ü		ü
A/B Stories		ü
Using Contextual Clues		ü	ü
A Standard Reading Exercise		ü	ü
MacLean’s Lesson		ü		ü
Newspaper Article Jigsaw		ü		ü
IV. Summarising
Found Poem		ü		ü
Summarising		ü	ü
Interrupted Book Report		ü	ü	ü
Literary Report Card		ü	ü	ü

Meta-Cognition Unit

Lessons		Language Area Addressed
		Writing	Reading	Meta-cognition	Communication & Social Skills	Workplace & Career		Grammar
I. Introduction and Additional Resources
II. How Do I Begin to Implement Metacognitive Strategies?
Geometric Character Analysis				ü	ü
v Teacher Reference: Ideas for Organising Information: Graphic Organisers	*All Graphic Organiser Activities involve Organising Ideas, Establishing Priorities and Critical Thinking Skills*
		Writing	Reading	Meta-cognition	Communication & Social Skills	Workplace & Career		Other
Brainstorming Web				ü			Problem solving
Double Cell Diagram				ü			Comparison
Cluster Diagram				ü			Main ideas
Web – Project Work		ü		ü
Concept Map		ü		ü	ü
Web – Simile			ü	ü			Inference
Venn Diagram Basic				ü			Comparison
Venn Diagram Expanded				ü			Comparison
Comparison Matrix		ü		ü			Comparison
Expanded Linear String				ü			Ordering
Know-What-How-Learn Chart			ü	ü			Main Ideas
v Teacher Reference: Ideas for Metacognitive Journals
Character Map

Communication / Social Skills Unit

Lessons

Language Area Addressed

Writing

Reading

Meta-cognition

Communication & Social Skills

Workplace & Career

Other

I. Introduction

All Communication & Social Skills Lessons develop cultural understanding. All lessons could be used by content area teachers in their classes

Listening

Listening

Listening Prediction

Listening

v Teacher Reference: Teaching Conversation Skills – Tips and Strategies

Ideas for Using Conversation Cards

Small Groups

Grammar

Card Exchange

Survey

Conversation Question Cards

· The Media

· Work

· Politics and Government

Writing

Reading

Meta-cognition

Communication & Social Skills

Workplace & Career

Other

Controversy Cards

Conversation Lesson

· First World Obligations

Organising ideas, Grammar, Listening

· Multi-Nationals

Organising ideas, Grammar, Listening

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Listening

Grammar

Grand Conversation

Listening, Main Ideas

Find Out If

Listening

v Teacher Reference: Negotiator

Career Plan

Job Skills: The Expert Game

Careers: Career Collage

Computer

Other Resources

	I. Additional Resources
	1. Printed Materials
	2. Common ESL Errors
	3. Learning English on the Internet
4. How to Use a Dictionary Well
5. How to Spell Noun Plurals
6. How to Spell Verb Forms
7. How to Divide a Word
8. How to Understand the Difference between British & American Spelling

	II. Elephant Man Unit, Courtesy of Hetty Roessingh

	III. Communicative Approach to ESL

	IV. Mechanics
	1. Critical Grammar
	2. Parts of a Sentence
	3. Homophone & Other Problem Words

	V. Pronunciation
	1. Introduction
	2. Blending
	3. Minimal Pairs Blank Sheet
	4. R-L
	5. Terminal R-L
	6. N-L
	7. Writing the Past Tense
	8. Past Tense – Regular Verbs Ending in -ed
	9. What You See…Is Not What You Get!
	10. Rhymes
	11. Stressed Words
	12. Numbers that are Difficult to Say
	13. UR-IR-OR-ER
	14. Vowels Pronunciation
	15. G-K Endings

	VI. Vocabulary Building
	1. Adjectives
	2. Vocabulary for Computers
	3. Academic Word List

	VII. Web Resources
	1. ESL Lesson Plans, ideas, Quizzes
	2. Teacher Development
	3. Grammar
	4. Pronunciation
	5. Listening Exercises
	6. Working with Immigrants and Refugees
	7. Translations
	8. Quirky and Interesting
	9. Metacognitive Strategies
	10. Not Specifically ESL (but relevant and useful!)
	11. Government Web Sites
	12. Workplace Related Web Sites
	13. Local, National and International News
	14. Search Engines

	VIII. Workplace
	1. Introduction to Workplace Materials
	2. Authentic Workplace Materials, Courtesy of Palliser Furniture
	3. Forms
	4. 4-Cycle Engine Cloze Exercise
	5. Workplace Tasks Checklists

	IX. Lesson Sources