Teaching EFL Listening via FUN WITH ENGLISH Books/7A/Comic Books

Preface
Started supplementing textbook exercises with outside materials, including an audio recording I made with my colleague Mr. Brown.

Focuses

 * Listening Set Skill = "D" Listen for gist
 * Listening Curriculum Statement = "6" Listen for gist
 * Listening Specific Skill = "b" Recognize varying purposes of discussion.
 * Speaking Set Skill = "A" Awareness of Context
 * Speaking Curriculum Statement = "1" Context & Register

Learning Outcome

 * Students will be able to explain the purpose of a discussion and the difference between formal and informal conversation.

Teaching Materials

 * FUN WITH ENGLISH 7A Textbook
 * Mr. Brown & Mr. Danoff Chapter 3 Audio Clip
 * Comic Strips

0 Before class
Ask if everyone has their textbooks and pens. If they don't tell them to go get them, if they're at home, maybe have them write their names on the board, depending on how they behave.

1 Greeting

 * Teacher Questions - After they answer, continue with follow up questions, e.g., Why?, When?, Where?, How?
 * "How are you?" to specific students
 * "What did you do last night?"
 * "What did you eat for breakfast?"
 * What are you going to do after school today?
 * Do you like comic books?
 * What is your favorite comic book?
 * Try to really engage in a dialogue about this, have them teach you the character's names, the plot and who writes them.
 * Who is your favorite comic book character?
 * "Do you have any questions for me?

2 Page 10 Let's Get Ready A & B

 * Ask them to complete on their own, walk around to make sure everyone is working.
 * When asking questions, do not just ask what are the answers to 1 to 6. Ask, "What is the Hulk?" and change the order, e.g., ask "Who is 5?" before "Who is 3?"
 * After B, ask "What character has ___ power??"

3 Page 11 Let's Listen 1 A

 * Divide the class in half, have the students read.
 * Go over the pronunciation and meaning of "character", "appearance" and "cape" beforehand.
 * Ask, "What are John and Karen talking about?"
 * If no response, "Are they talking about what comic book characters they are afraid of? Are they ..." work your way to the correct answer.

4 Chapter 3 Dialogue
0:03 - 0:11 Mr. Danoff - Mr. Brown and Mr. Danoff just finished watching "The Hulk" movie. 0:14 - 0:17 Mr. Danoff - Wow that was an awful movie. 0:18 - 0:20 Mr. Brown - Why was it awful? I really liked it. 0:20 - 0:27 Mr. Danoff - Ugh. The writing was bad, the acting was bad, and I was bored. 0:28 - 0:32 Mr. Brown - But the Hulk is so scary. Which superhero are you scared of? 0:33 - 0:34 Mr. Danoff - Batman! [Hard to understand] 0:34 - 0:36 Mr. Brown - Batman? But, Batman is good. 0:37 - 0:42 Mr. Danoff - He has a scary mask, OK? Which super hero are you scared of? 0:42 - 0:45 Mr. Brown - I am scared of The Hulk. He is so angry.
 * Explain that now we are going to listen to a conversation between two teachers: Mr. Brown and Mr. Danoff. They are discussing "The Hulk" movie and what comic book characters they are afraid of. Do you know the Hulk? Do you know afraid? Please close your textbooks and listen.
 * Before it begins, go over the vocabulary of: awful, bored and scared.
 * Stop after each person speaks the first time through, making sure they understand.
 * Dialogue
 * Depending on their understanding, play it all the way through again and then ask questions, or stop and ask questions.
 * Possible Questions
 * Did Mr. Danoff like the movie?
 * DId Mr. Brown like the movie?
 * Who is Mr. Danoff scared of?
 * Who is Mr. Brown scared of?
 * Why is Mr. Danoff scared of Batman?
 * Why is Mr. Brown scared of The Hulk?

5 Page 12 Let's Listen 2 A

 * Teacher reads, explain to students it will only be read once so they should pay close attention.
 * Ask in reverse chronological order to keep the students on their toes.

6 Page 12 Let's Listen 2 B

 * Students read first time, teacher reads again if necessary.
 * Ask "Why is Tim's cousin asking questions?"
 * If no response, "Because Tim's cousin loves Spiderman? Because .." work your way to the correct answer.

7 Page 13 Let's Listen 3

 * Give students the different parts, with the whole class being "students".
 * First time everyone reads and listens together.
 * Read it again, with new students playing the roles.
 * Third time teacher reads, and students fill in the answers on page 13.
 * Ask, "What are the students talking about?"
 * If no response, "Are they talking about a movie? Are the ..." work your way to the correct answer.

8 Hand around Comic Book Strips

 * Hand around English comics from a newspaper or that you print from the internet for the students to look at. Have enough so each pair of students gets something.
 * Tell the students they can get a new strip if they come to the front.
 * Either walk around engaging with the students helping them, or sit at the front and let them work through them at their own pace.
 * Be sure to collect them when you finish.

Extra Time

 * Competitive Hangman
 * "How high can you clap?" Game
 * Simon Says
 * Telephone

Review

 * Can I create different activities for different levels of students?
 * This particular class changes people almost every week. Difficult for me. Should I do more photos or what?
 * I told one advanced student I would grade her writing outside of class if she did it.

Next Week

 * One female student without internet access asked for ways to improve her spoken English.

Acknowledgments

 * How high can you clap inspired by Clap/Don't Clap from Teach English in Asia.
 * Two Grade 8 students at Anqing Foreign Language School who gave me the idea to play competitive hangman.
 * The comics I used in class were from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, kindly sent to China by my father.