With all of the textbooks available in the market, often written by famous authors with years of experience, choosing a textbook is a very demanding and thought provoking task. What makes a textbook valuable in the classroom? We must decide which points are important to us as teachers. What method or methods does the textbook use to convey its ideas? How is the language presented? Is it attractive to the audience? Are there additional materials that can be used to supplement our book such as additional listening or video material, web search ideas, interactive whiteboard software and other additional resources that could be used to enhance the class? Along with these criterion we must analyze the differences between textbooks to come up with the optimal choice for our needs. There are many different approaches used to teach the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking, the tactic we take as to which one best suits the intended audience will depend on the necessities of the group to be taught, as well as the teacher’s personal preference as to method of teaching. Let’s look at these two textbook chapters and compare the way they look at the four basic skills.
In this paper we will work with two book chapters from two different sources. The books used are Bachillerato Made Easy, by Richmond Publishingi and the unit ‘Botellón!ii’ from an English textbook published in the Basque Country (2010) for teenagers. Both texts are from books whose intended audience are teenagers studying in the Spanish school system. The audience is one of the only things both texts have in common. The Richmond textbook is older both in publishing date, 2001, and in style and content. It follows a traditional textbook pattern, alternating...
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...uggestions to improve the way teenagers are able to participate productively in their own town. It would need to be balanced with additional material to make it truly 'integrated', but leaves room for creativity in both assessment and implementation.
In conclusion we have seen the different ways these textbooks use learning stratagies and multiple methodologies to meet the requirements of the Spanish school system. Penny Ur's comparison of the a tapestry is a very good metephor for integrated skills. We could say the topic is the warp, and the different skills, the weft. All of them are intertwined to form a tapestry. They all build on each other, producing a pleasing product, whether it be a competent language learner, or a decorative item. Neither of these books is perfect, but they could be complmented with additional material to form our pleasing work of art.
In the Book “Burro Genius” by Victor Villaseñor talks about some of Villasenor experiences while on school, how he was discriminated by his intellectual and some of his main problems which was reading english. In this paper I will talk about three main points of the text english as a second language, disabilities, and discrimination.
As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using the Spanish language. "I recognize you as someone close, like no one outside. You belong with us, in the family, Ricardo.? When the nuns came to the Rodriquez?s house one Saturday morning, the nuns informed the parents that it would be best if they spoke English. Torn with a new since of confusion, his home is turned upside down. His sacred family language, now banished from the home, transforms his web into isolation from his parents. "There was a new silence in the home.? Rodriguez is resentful that it is quiet at the dinner table, or that he can't communicate with his parents about his day as clearly as before. He is heartbroken when he overhears his mother and father speaking Spanish together but suddenly stop when they see Rodriguez. Thi...
The goals and operational values of the cross-curricular approach are to help the student develop self-regulating (learning-how-to-learn and metacognition) and lifelong learning skills as well as effective democratic citizenship skills (Alahiotis & Stavlioti, 2006; Stavlioti, p. 61; Koustourakis, 2007 p.133; Vars, 2007, p.7). In order to cope with the modern realities, there is a need to move from the traditional organization of curriculum into discrete subjects/discipline areas offering fragmented knowledge, to a more linked and unified approach to knowledge in a holistic way (Alahiotis & Stavlioti, 2006; Marshall, 2005, p. 229). Conferring with psychology, the child should be treated as a whole entity so this should be reflected in the way children learn (stavlioti, p. 54; Stavlioti megalo, p. 4). Studies have shown that links between the different disciplines and connections with real-life situations enhance brain synapses, so in this way learning is promoted through multiple stimuli that these connections send to neurons (stavlioti megalo, p. 5-6). “According to Piaget (1963), learning occurs when new information is attached to prior knowledge and placed in existing conceptual compartments or schemata” (as cited in Marshall, 2005, p. 229).
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, Brief Edition (2nd Edition) (2 ed., pp. 413-429). New York: Longman.
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 371-377, 2008.
Reading, Thinking, Writing: Resources for Teaching. By Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. 15-16. Print.
Begrens, Laurence; Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. New York, Longman, 2000. 320-322.
Additionally, literacy does not only refer to reading. Literacy also refers to writing, discussing, and becoming fluent in the specific subject area. The original curriculum for my Hebrew reading classes only covered decoding. Yet, as I personalized my classes more, I began incorporating other aspects of literacy, including comprehension, writing, and discussion, and I noticed a vast improvement in my students’ overall learning. With my math students, too, as I incorporated different aspects of literacy related to my students’ personal learning styles, I noticed further
Amanda Spake, “Chapter Eight” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, (New York: Pearson, 2007) 337-337
B. Banner, J. a. (1999). The Elements of Learning. New York: the Kingsley Trust Association .
...ssion about gangs. These discussions could lead to a real learning experience, not only for the student but, for the educator as well. Parents should become more involved with their children’s school activities. Sometimes parents have to respect their child feelings and attitudes. They have to help their child develop a strong sense of self-esteem. Children’s should be encouraged to study good study habits. The community has to get involve with the gang stoppers. The mayor of the town has to invest in places where kids could go ad hang out at. The school principal could bring in an ex-gang member to talk to the students about how he or she lived. Also, they could talk to them about how they went to jail and what made them change their life. Parents could set a curfew and stick to that curfew. You could check your child room for drug’s, weapons, and excessive money.
Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J. Rosen, eds. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. NewYork: Longman, 2000.
The minimum core skills provide the essential knowledge, skills and understanding. That enables learners to function confidently, effectively and independently in life. I am required to include the three functional skills within my assessment method to help improve the literacy, numeracy, and ICT skills of my learners. For example to promote literacy/language I do reading and writing. For speaking: discussions, question and answer, etc. For numeracy: time conversion, numbers. For ICT: e-mail, web-based researches, presentations, etc (Grevells, 2012). When learners summarise what they have learnt during the lesson, I could assess their speaking skills and writing skills because to summarise the lesson they need to take notes, so writing skills embedded as well as speaking skills. With choral reading strategy, I assessed reading and speaking skills. In addition I assessed their ICT and numeracy skills by asking my learners to do a lesson plan for their home studies. In this way, through my assessment strategies literacy, numeracy and ICT skills are being
The corresponding Internet site for this textbook greatly improves the overall effect on the education of students. Students have quick access to any part of the text. They also receive visual and audio stimulation, which has been proven to increase the amount of information the student remembers. Some students are simply not strictly audio learners. Listening to a professor or teacher lecture sometimes just isn't enough for students. With the site they can review material quickly and easily and see the multimedia imagery at their own pace. Students can even take practice tests to see if they have learned the material.
Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J. & Kleiner, A. (2012). Schools that Learn (pp. 32-69). Boston: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.