TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB!

A WAY TO DEVELOP INTERACTION IN ENGLISH

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

IN THE PRE-WORK PROGRAMS

  • Afin de soutenir les enseignants en FPT et FMS

qui enseignent l’anglais, langue seconde***

Sophie Charpentier, pedagogical consultant, CSDGS

Gwenn Gauthier, pedagogical consultant, CSST

Josée-Chantal Martineau, CSST

Yannick Boileau, teacher, CSDGS

Elizabeth Léger, pedagogical consultant , CSVT

With the support of:

Annick Marcil, conseillère en orientation, CSDGS

Documents:

  • Teacher’s guide
  • Texts
  • Handouts and evaluation
  • CD with audio texts

JANVIER 2011

Table of content

Introduction 3

Qu’est ce que le théâtre de lecteur? 4

What Is Reader's Theatre? 7

A Wish to Speak English 9

Speed Dating 101 11

How to Beat the Bug 14

Fast Food 16

Evaluation Tools 18

Student Self-Evaluation Logbook 19

Teacher’s Evaluation Grid 20

List of resources with reader’s theatre 21

Introduction

It gives us great pleasure to present this approach to support students’ use of English in the ESL classroom. It has always been a challenge to have students use the second language in the classroom and we think that by using reader’s theatre, they will do just that: speak English.

This document is designed to support ESL specialists or regular teachers preparing students from 14 to 17 in the pre-work programs for integration in the workforce. We hope to provide both teachers and students with enough tools in order to speak English in class. Through practice and repetition, students will be able to hear themselves speak their second language and thus fluency.

We have made a special effort to provide contextualised situations that could be useful to students as they go to their internships and try their hand in the workforce. We know that no matter the job a person applies for, it is an asset to be able to communicate in English.

Reader’s theatre is a great way to use and practice a second language. It provides the speaker with the necessary language to use while practicing accent and intonation. This teaching technique is not made to be re-enacted with props and costumes as you would with a regular, although it is possible to do so. We hope to offer an approach that can be used by teachers whether they are fluent or not in English.

Il nous fait grand plaisir de présenter cette approche ayant pour but de supporter les élèves à parler en anglais dans la classe d’anglais, langue seconde. Cela a toujours été un défi de faire parler les élèves dans leur langue seconde et nous pensons que l’utilisation du théâtre de lecteur leur permettra de faire exactement cela: parler en anglais.

Par ce document, nous espérons faciliter la tâche aux enseignants d’anglais des programmes de formation axés sur l’emploi dont les élèves sont âgés entre 14 et 17 ans et qui se préparent pour le monde du travail. Nous espérons fournir aux enseignants et aux élèves suffisamment d’outils pour réussir à parler anglais en classe. Par la pratique et la répétition, les élèves pourront graduellement s’habituer à s’entendre parler anglais et gagner en fluidité.

Nous avons mis tous nos efforts afin de fournir des textes et des tâches intéressantes qui peuvent les supporter au moment de faire ses premiers pas sur le marché du travail. Nous savons que quelque soit l’emploi convoité, la connaissance de l’anglais est un atout majeur.

Le théâtre de lecteurs a plusieurs avantages: Il fournit un modèle de langage juste avec lequel les élèves pratiquent leur intonation et leur accent anglais par la répétition. Il n’est pas fait pour être joué comme une pièce de théâtre même s’il est possible de le faire. Nous espérons que, bilingue ou non, les enseignants se sentiront à l’aise avec cette approche.

Qu’est ce que le théâtre de lecteur?

(Apprendre ce qu’est le théâtre de lecteur, par un théâtre de lecteur)

Source:

Commençons le théâtre de lecteur!

Introduction au théâtre de lecteur(Pour trois lecteurs + un chœur)

Chœur :Théâtre de lecteur… Théâtre de lecteur… Théâtre de lecteur

Lecteur 1 :Théâtre de lecteur

Lecteur 2 :Qu’est-ce que c’est?

Lecteur 1 :C’est lire.

Lecteur 3 :Lire un scénario…

Lecteur 2 :en tant que personnage…

Lecteur 1 :en tant que conteur ou conteuse.

Lecteur 3 :C’est du théâtre…

Lecteur 2 :que l’on ne mémorise pas…

Lecteur 1 :et pendant lequel on peut lire plus d’une partie…

Lecteur 2 :en changeant nos voix.

Lecteur 1 :Le théâtre de lecteur est…

Lecteur 3 :un auditoire qui écoute…

Lecteur 2 :en utilisant son imagination…

Lecteur 3 :pour visualiser les scènes.

Lecteur 1 :C’est du théâtre…

Lecteur 2 :au sujet de gens,

Lecteur 3 :de gens ordinaires,

Lecteur 2 :dont les vies sont excitantes…

Lecteur 1 :tristes…

Lecteur 3 :ennuyantes…

Lecteur 2 :et bizarres.

Lecteur 1 :Le théâtre de lecteur est amusant.

Lecteur 3 :C’est jouer un rôle avec sa voix…

Lecteur 2 :sans le décor…

Lecteur 3 :le maquillage ou les accessoires.

Lecteur 1 :Le théâtre de lecteur représente un défi.

Lecteur 3 :Le théâtre de lecteur est la voix des gens.

Lecteur 2 :C’est le partage de la littérature.

En chœur : Le théâtre de lecteur!

Le scénario ci-dessus dégage les caractéristiques principales du théâtre de lecteur. C’estune présentation d’un texte littéraire par deux lecteurs ou plus qui interprètent le texte.

Les lecteurs peuvent jouer les rôles de narrateurs ou de personnages et employer lestechniques d’expression qui rendent le texte vivant pour l’auditoire.

Le théâtre de lecteur est :

Des lecteurs

Utilisant des scénarios.

Lisant une histoire.

Un auditoire

Écoutant et regardant une histoire.

Imaginant.

Des accessoires

Aucun accessoire n’est nécessaire, mais on peut en utiliser pour enrichir lescénario.

Rôles

Le directeur/ la directrice

Motive les lecteurs et les aide à interpréter et à communiquer le sens du scénario.

Aide à disposer les lecteurs sur la scène (c’est-à-dire le placement d’un lecteur surla scène en relation avec un autre lecteur et l’auditoire).

Le narrateur/ la narratrice

Tisse l’histoire autour des personnages pour montrer les relations entre eux.

Se concentre parfois sur l’auditoire et d’autres fois sur les personnages.

Apporte de l’action à l’histoire dans la tête de l’auditoire.

What Is Reader's Theatre?

An easy way to make dramatic changes in students’ fluency, writing, listening, and social skills

Drama, as many teachers are discovering, is not only fun and natural for children and teenagers, it also encourages emotional growth, motivation, and engagement. And one form of drama, known as Reader's Theatre, has been found to be particularly effective in building reading fluency. Called simply "RT" by many advocates, Reader's Theatre can also boost listening and speaking skills, enhance confidence, and transform reluctant readers into book lovers.

Getting Started

Reader's Theatre does not require extensive preparation, fancy costumes, props, sets, or memorization. While staged plays might be limited by a school's budget or supplies, RT is limited only by the imagination.

Jo Worthy, a former classroom teacher and currently an associate professor of education at the University of Texas, explains that Reader's Theatre "is a pretty controlled way of doing drama, so it's especially nice for the shy student or teacher. You have a script in front of you — kind of nice to hide behind — and that gives you security."

Worthy goes on to say that it's best to start small, building rules and procedures of behaviour as you go along. For a first step, teachers can model fluent, expressive reading for their students during shared read-alouds. They can start involving students in choral readings, in which all students read a passage in unison, and informal round-robin readings, in which students simply take turns reading the lines in a prepared script as they pass it around a circle. Everyone gets a chance to try out each role, and kids can take the scripts home to practice with family members. From there, a teacher may choose to assign roles or simply continue with the circle-reading format.

Worthy suggests having the whole class do one script together first, then breaking the class into four groups and giving each a different script. With some practice, the teacher can get the class all working independently.

Practicing the Script

Since kids need to understand and become comfortable with the format of a script, using a prepared script is the best way to start. Finding one is easy — there are numerous scripts available online and in books (see "Free Scripts!"). Most online scripts are free for classroom use. We recommend starting with short scripts — no more than two or three pages.

Performing

The simplest way to perform Reader's Theatre is for the teacher to assign parts and simply have the students stand in a straight line at the front of the room, facing the audience.

Once you have your makeshift stage set up, students’ take turns reading their lines with as much creative expression as they can. It's that simple. However, kids need tobe aware of one another and to listen respectfully.

If the script is short enough and time is available, allowing a second and maybe even third reading with different actors each time can be both fun and interesting for the students.

RT and Emotional Needs

Another boon of RT is its ability to develop interpersonal, social, and collaborative skills — particularly among struggling students. RT is a hands-on approach that honours different modalities...honours those students who need a different way of expressing themselves.

Adapted from Jennifer O. Prescott is the managing editor of Instructor. This article was originally published in the January/February 2003 issue.

A WISH TO SPEAK ENGLISH

  • TIME: 2 x 60 minute classes

SUGGESTED TEACHING PROCEDURE

Pre-reading:

Use handout #1. Have students answer the questions and brainstorm with the teacher other places, times and people with whom to speak English.

Students underline the words what are illustrated in the text.

Students find words that rhyme with –ob –ing –ee –ay and are asked to add more if they can.

1st reading:

Explain evaluation tool. (see p.16)

Reading by best student with teacher to the group.

In teams of 2, practice to read out loud.

Some teams show off their reading skills

2nd reading:

Girls versus boys as a whole group -and /or-

Teams of 2, boy and girl

Some teams show off their reading.

Before, between or during these reading sessions:

Read the original Dr. Seuss

Complete the grammar task, if need be. (see links below)

Students now self-evaluate using the evaluation grid. Teacher uses the teacher version.

ESL competency:

C1: articulation

C2: Evidence of comprehension of text

Compétences spécifiques au métier:

Utiliser une langue seconde en milieu de travail.

Pedagogical and educational intention:

(i.e. working on rhythm, pronunciation, expanding the personal repertoire of functional language, etc.)

Practice rhymes

Use repetition

Practice poetic rhythm

Grammar

Modal verbs

Future verbs

Negatives sentences-and-questions-in-english

Names of characters and narrators

Sam: male or female

Alex: male or female

SPEED DATING 101

  • TIME: 60 minutes

SUGGESTED TEACHING PROCEDURE

Pre-reading

Short exchange with students on what speed dating is.

Definition:

Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process or dating system whose purpose is to encourage people to meet a large number of new people.

Ask students:

  • Do you know what speed dating is?
  • How long does an interview last?
  • How many people do you meet?
  • How do you get a “date” after the interviews?

Support students when they are speaking by giving the language needed and writing it on the board. Here is an example:

T – “How long does an interview last?”

S1- “cinq minutes”

T- “How do you say “cinq minutes” in English?”

S1- “…”

T- “Can someone help S1?”

S2- “Five minutes”

T- “ Yes. An interview lasts five minutes. Can you repeat please?”

S1- “An interview lasts five minutes”

T- “Right! Good job!”

Complete the grammar task. Use the CD to complete handout 2. Ask students to practice intonations with the words on the handout. You can make 3 handouts out of one sheet.

While-reading

1st reading:

  • Explain evaluation tool. (see p.16)
  • Separate the class boy (1) /girl (2). Assign each team a part to read.
  • Get students to practice in teams of 2.
  • Let some students show off their reading skills

2nd reading:

  • You can have students re-read with different types of voices: like a mouse, like James Brown, like a little girl, like a wrestler, etc.

Complete the vocabulary task on handout #3.

  • Take out words from the text and ask students to find more and name a category:

Ex:sign / Ex: animal or pet / Ex: types of games / Ex: computer applications / Ex: types of film / Ex: sports / Ex: activities
Libra
Ex:Sagitarius / Cat / Game / Computer / Action film / Hockey / Date

Reinvestment task

Have students write their own speed dating dialogue including themselves as one of the characters.

Or

Re-write the dialogue in full sentences.

3rd reading

  • Students team up and practice both dialogues.
  • Presentation to the class of some dialogues!

Students self-evaluate and teacher uses teacher version of the grid.

Broad Area of Learning

Personal and career planning/Orientation et entreprenariat

Connaissance de soi, de son potentiel et de ses modes d’actualisation

Connaissance de ses talents, de ses qualités, de ses champs d’intérêts et de ses aspirations personnelles et professionnelles.

ESL competency

C1: Articulation

C2: Reinvesting information from task

Compétences spécifiques au métier:

(i.e. percevoir des paiements, fournir des services de bases à la clientèle, etc.)

Utiliser une langue seconde en milieu de travail.

Parler de soi à un employeur

Pedagogical and educational intention: (i.e. working on rhythm, pronunciation, expanding the personal repertoire of functional language, etc.)

ESTABLISHING THE INTONATION

Since this script is not made of complete sentences, the readers should only consider the intonation. Next to each word, you will find an arrow. A ↑ means the reader’s voice must go up, a → means that there is no inflection and a ↓ means the reader’s intonation should go down.

Grammar

Intonation with question mark, exclamation point, and period using handout 3 and CD.

Name of characters and narrators included in the text

READERS

This script is made for two different readers (a boy and a girl if possible) or two different groups of readers portraying a boy and a girl.

How to Beat the Bug

MORE COMPLEX

LONGER TEXT

A GOOD CHALLENGEFOR STRONGER STUDENTS

  • TIME: 2 X 60 MINUTES

SUGGESTED TEACHING PROCEDURE

This text requires clapping the rhythm. It demands a little more preparation than the other texts. Teachers should take some time to try the clapping themselves before hand to get the hang of it. The version included in the CD should be useful here. Teachers may choose to do a jazz chant (Caroline Graham: to practice clapping.

Pre-reading activity:

Question what the students know about H1N1:

  • Do you know about H1N1? (write it on the board and take notes of students’ answers.)
  • Do you have questions about it? If not, leave it at that. If so, write the questions on the board.

For this task, students need highlighters or markers, and a pencil. Have students do the following tasks directly on the text: (You have an overhead projector copy in the HO booklet. You can also project it with a computer!)

DON’T READ THE TEXT YET! IN THE TEXT:

  1. Underline words that are the same in French and in English. (5 min)
  2. Highlight all the characters in a different colour (5 min.) How many readers are there?
  3. Put a box around the words that are represented by the pictures (2 min.)

While reading

Explain evaluation tool. (See p.16)

One way to make this text more accessible to students is to break it up in smaller chunks. The text is already divided in four sections by using this symbol:

After reading:

Ask students why there is the Happy Birthday song in the text. (Answes: because when you sing it twice, this is how long it should take you to wash your hands.)

Students self-evaluate and teacher uses teacher version of the grid.

Students can make posters using imperatives to illustrate the prevention tips in the text and post them in the bathrooms of the school.

ESL competency

C1: articulation

C2: Reinvest understanding of text

Compétences spécifiques au métier: (i.e. percevoir des paiements, fournir des services de bases à la clientèle, etc.)

Utiliser une langue seconde en milieu de travail.

Pedagogical and educational intention: (i.e. working on rhythm, pronunciation, expanding the personal repertoire of functional language, etc.)

ESTABLISHING THE RHYTHM

To find the proper rhythm for the rhyming chorus portions of thispiece, first read-aloud and clap through the sections as you go. Eachunderlined word or word part falls directly on a beat. As you read, clapon each underlined word, keeping the rhythm steady. Be careful not to read too fast!

This is a rehearsal technique and readers will not clap throughoutthese sections during performance. After you have established thebeat, it is time to start interpreting, experimenting, and having funwith the words by varying tempo, volume, inflection, and expression.

Grammar

Vocabulary

Imperatives

FAST FOOD

  • TIME: 60 minutes

SUGGESTED TEACHING PROCEDURE

Pre-reading task:

Use handout #4. Students will go through the text and guess the meaning of some expressions and words. Use the first one as an example:

Put this functional language on the board to support student speaking (in Handout booklet):

“I think that ______means______”

Here is an example of an interaction with the students.

T: “Find the first expression in the text. Highlight it. Work alone and writewhat you think it means. NO DICTIONARIES. (Leave students time to write on their own) Okay S1, what did you guess?”

S1: “I think that “your wallet won’t suffer” means that the food won’t cost a lot”

T: “How did you know that? How did you guess?

S1: “I looked at the title and the location is in a fast food restaurant. So it is logical that it will cost less.”

T: “So you looked at the title and other words around the expression to be able to guess the meaning. Good.”

Students can then do the exercise on their own first and then discuss answers with a partner using the functional language poster.

Then validate the answers as a whole group. Answers:

Your wallet won’t suffer: It won’t cost you a lot of money. It’ll be cheap.

A triple-decker: Three- level hamburger

Spice things up!: Donner du piquant! To give excitement to something boring.

To wash food down: To help swallow food

Frown: Unhappy face 

To be full: To have eaten enough

A cup of coffee will be a treat: A cup of coffee will be something special like a gift or candy.