Exceeding Expectations

Just wanted to share a little story from today which was a nice way to end the week! I have a new boy in my class who speaks only a few words in English, he has only been here for a few weeks and I really feel for him not knowing the language.

This week my class have been presenting speeches on their favourite wet or dry environment. These speeches only need to go for 1-2 minutes and is their first real attempt at trying to present information with eye contact and memorisation - tricky stuff! The boy in my class gave his speech this afternoon and it was so amazing to see the class captivated by the few words he could say, they cheered for him when he finished and he smiled the biggest smile I have seen on his face since he's been here. He also drew a picture of the mountain from his home and the class were amazed at his sketching skills. A great result from a potentially scary task. 

(from travel.3yen.com)

He did a pretty good job, wouldn't you agree? Note: he didn't have the photo while he was drawing!

Literacy Groups

Literacy groups are one of my favourite activities to do with my class. I test children regularly on their reading using running records (which test both word recognition and comprehension) and then put them into like ability groups.

We have literacy groups 3 times a week and students read a book together and then finish with an activity. I thought I would post about the activity one group completed today as it was a bit of an 'a-ha' moment for a girl in my class. She is Korean and is only just learning how to speak English, she really enjoyed the activity below though as she could use prompts from her book but produce work at a similar level as the other students. Basically they have to use the lego letters to make words from their books setting them out like they are an on an imaginary crossword.

Here is a snapshot of her 'imaginary crossword' word work!