Lesson Links from Irv Leskowitz - April 2004

WORD GAMES, AGAIN

A. Names within names

Many nations have names that have common English words hidden within their names.  For this activity, present your student with a list of names of countries or states.  Ask her/him to find words hidden within each name on the list.  Example: Tanzania 

B. A Different Kind of Scrabble

Variation 1

Start with the 10 Scrabble tiles* shown below.  Using only these tiles, make a Scrabble grid with as many words as you can.   

      A      B      E      I       M       N      O       P      S      T

*You can, of course, make your own “tiles” of 1”x1”pieces of cardboard or paper.

Variation 2

Using the same “tiles,” ask your student to make as many words as he/she can.  Tiles may be used over again for new words, but only once in any word. 

C. A Cross-Country Tour

For this exercise you will need a map of the United States showing the states (and the Great Lakes) only in blank outline.  You will also need a reference map showing the United States with all geographic and political features – including the Great Lakes, major rivers, and surrounding major bodies of water – named.  The reference map can be shown to the student before you ask her/him to respond to your questions, or to compare with the student’s responses after completing the exercise.  With the outline map in front of your student, you can then pose tasks such as:

Point to Connecticut on the map.  Which state is immediately north of Connecticut?  Which state(s) is/are smaller than Connecticut?  Which states touch the Gulf of Mexico?  Trace the path of the Mississippi River.  Which states have boundaries made up of only four straight lines?  How many states touch the Pacific Ocean?  (This may be tricky for some students who may overlook Alaska and Hawaii.)  How many state names start with the letter M?  How many states form a border with Tennessee?  Is there a state that borders on only one other state?  Which states have no borders with any other state?

Well, you get the idea. As you see, you have a great deal of latitude (no pun intended) as to the difficulty of each task and also as to how many questions to ask in a single session. 

ENDING WITH –ING

A. Spelling –ing words

Four rules regulate the addition of –ing to a verb:

Using the examples above as models, make a list of verbs and ask your student to write the –ing form for each verb. 

This exercise may be used with ESOL students as an oral exercise. 

Prepare for this by listing some phrases incorporating a verb.

1. turn the page   
2. look out the window    
3. fold a piece of paper     
4, 5, 6, …etc.

Example: open the door

tutor: Sustains the action of opening the door.
student:  He/She is opening the door. 

B.  -ingand present time.

The additon of –ing to a verb in conjunction with the helping verbs am, is,and are expresses the present tense (see the example above).   This understanding is easily incorporated into the previous exercise. 

MATHEMATICS, IT REALLY COUNTS

Math skills are not only useful, they are essential in many situations.  And they are called into play every day in one way or another.  In this election year, we will be seeing lots of numbers: the percentages of voters who… ; the amount of money allocated to …  And so on.   Fractions, with which many students have problems, might be a good place to start building math literacy in your student. 

Space limitations do not permit an extended presentation of math exercises here, but in future editions of this page there will be some examples of such exercises.  I would particularly appreciate your opinions and suggestions for math literacy exercises.

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