The More You Know

I currently teach at a private middle school in South Korea, where all students are required to take my ESL class. Middle school is divided into three grades, first through third, and there is only one class of each at this school. There are a total of 58 students — 19 in the first grade, 17 in the second grade, and 22 in the third grade. Each grade level comes to my class at once, regardless of their academic level. From my past experience, these levels are incredibly varied and depend on several factors: English-speaking ability of parents, access to private tutoring or after-school learning institutes, extra help resources at school, ESL learning foundations, opportunities to visit or study abroad. Given all these variables, I can have a class with a student that can have a very fluent conversation in English along with a student who has little to no ability to read, speak, or write in the language. I have designed a pre-assessment before reading a storybook to gauge where each of my students fall along this spectrum. The quiz includes four ways of assessing vocabulary and reading comprehension: picture matching, multiple choice, similes, and short answer. Additionally, there are two kinds of short answer questions: one that asks for a straight definition and one that asks students to infer an emotion. The latter is for a very high level student.

Differentiation Strategies for Tracking Student Progress

The following are differentiated activities designed to target three academic levels and to track student progress.

KWL Charts High Level (5 students) and Intermediate (12 students)

These students will be given a list of vocabulary words and key phrases ahead of reading the book. Based on these lists, students will write down what they already (K)now. They will also write down what they (W)ould like to learn. After we have read the book and finished the final project, the students will have a chance at doing a self-assessment to gauge what they think they’ve (L)earned. This activity allows students to work on their writing skills and to further communicate their comprehension level to myself and the Korean co-teacher.

Carousel Brainstorm - one of my favorites!

High Level (5 students) and Intermediate (12 students)

This is a heterogeneous grouping activity with a 1:2 ratio of high level to intermediate level students in five of the groups and two intermediate level students in the remaining group. There will be a total of six stations placed around the classroom, each presenting a concept from our reading. Groups will brainstorm ideas about that concept, post their idea to the station, and rotate like a carousel throughout all six stations. Once each group has returned to their initial station, that group will look at all the ideas posted by all the groups and summarise these ideas. Ideas are then presented either verbally or through journaling. This activity is designed to solidify the high level student’s knowledge by putting them in a position to guide/mentor the two intermediate students in the group. The intermediate students are able to practice higher learning skills by brainstorming ideas together with a higher level student.

Vocabulary Flashcards

Lower Level (5 Students)

There are two types of flashcards. One set with basic words as definitions will be given to the low level students who are able to read and who need to increase their language comprehension. One set that matches pictures with words will be given to the lowest level students with little or no reading ability and possible special needs. These students will study with the teacher and increase their vocabulary by playing along with their flashcards.

Sight Words Sticker Charts

Lower Level (5 Students)

This activity is designed to improve low level reading skills. Students will be assigned a group of 10 words to memorise. The student will have one-on-one time with the teacher and, as the student learns each word, they will also earn a sticker. Students will also be required to study at home with a parent, after which the parent will sign off on the chart.