"Log On and Learn"

Most of us use computers without much anxiety or even any forethought.  We turn them on as soon as we get to work. To such people (if you know what a blog is, you are one of them), Google is a noun and a verb we use regularly. To many people who come to Literacy Network for help, this is not the case.  The English we use here and now must seem not only foreign but positively extraterrestrial.

A website from Literacy Volunteers of  New Jersey Literacy can help learners climb up to the high side of the digital divide. Log On and Learn works nicely for a tutor who wants to help someone who has a beginner's grasp on English. It uses simple language and clear, up-to-date illustrations to communicate the fundamentals that experienced users may take for granted. 
Chapters appear in lesson plan format, helping tutors or teachers to visualize how to make activities happen.  For instance, one section on computer vocabulary encourages the use of total physical response activity: 

Skills: Name (or recognize) the parts of a computer, name (or recognize) the components of a window
Materials: Computer, desktop with Windows
Activity: Practice new computer vocabulary with an ESOL student by using Total Physical Response. [TPR]

Further down in the lesson it describes how to do TPR. Other sections include using email to create a dialog journal, an activity that Literacy Network tutors may find familiar from training. The site presents the basic skills that many of us use without a second thought, such as using a computer for for planning our schedules, checking the weather or searching for a job. The "Internet Scavenger Hunt" lesson teaches a learner to use the most common search engine to answer a question they might be interested to know, e.g. "Who was the third president of the U.S.?"

There is plenty here for tutors who want to develop their skills in teaching techniquest too. It is worth a good look. Thanks for being a tutor.

A Way to Use Popular Songs

A tip of the hat goes to Literacy Network tutor Catherine Grothe for this week’s tutor tip. Catherine writes,

I was on BBC news webpage this afternoon and followed a BBC languages tab out of curiosity. They had a page for learning English. This had vocabulary for words in current news and even a teachers lesson plan... I hope this is a useful tutor resource.

I visited the site and quickly vaporized an entire afternoon with it. Here is the main site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ It has links that take you to resources in vocabulary, grammar, current events and even business English. Here's a screen shot for you:

If you have access to a quick internet connection, take a look at the site linked below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1529_songlines/.

This part of the BBC English learning service uses popular songs to teach common expressions. The phrase I listened to them teaching today was supposed to, as in, “You’re supposed to take out the trash--” a helpful phrase to understand and say. They give the opportunity to hear the phrase both in the song and in news stories of the day. And, if the technical challenge of playing back music is too much for your machine, you can download and print the program script to use in your lessons.

Happy surfing!

Bucket-o'-Phonics

Take a look at a resource that Deb Martin, new ABE tutor found for us at Wal Mart for just under $5.00.

There are two types of tiles available. The brightly colored ones spread out on my desktop in this picture are grouped into four colors, namely: pale blue single letters, yellow consonant blends, orange vowel pairs, and purple combinations of vowels and consonants. The plain white ones are single letters in upper and lower case. Each 176-piece bucket-o’-phonics costs about $4.95 plus tax. Tutors and learners can use them as manipulatives, that is pieces to push around the tabletop to represent the way you move sounds around when you decode (sound out) words in reading. This idea works the multi-sensory principle that I push so heavily in tutor training. Of course, Scrabble tiles work almost as well, but not everyone has a game set, and these are cheaper.