Levels

Morning Workshops (9-noon)

PCI #A. Teaching Academic Reading and Writing

Levels:  S, CC, C/U, IEP

Ann M. Johns, San Diego State University

Secondary and post-secondary instructors are often concerned that their linguistically diverse students are not prepared to compete in mainstream classrooms. This workshop will have three goals: a) to summarize briefly current research on academic demands across the curriculum in secondary and (especially) post-secondary classrooms, b) to model appropriate reading, writing, and vocabulary activities, and c) to provide opportunities for participant questions and development of at least one activity related to their own school contexts.

PCI #B. Start Internet-Assisted Instruction Today! Go Home With A Free Wiki!

Levels: E, A, CC

Barry Bakin, ESL Teacher Advisor/ESL Intermediate Low Teacher, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District

In this workshop, participants will learn basic editing and wiki management techniques. All participants will create a working educational wiki that they can immediately start using to present information to their students or use as a forum for students to display and create original work. During the workshop, the presenter will demonstrate various ways that educators are using wikis with students for language practice, collaborative projects, and professional development.

PCI #C. Empowering K-12 English Learners to Achieve Academic Success through Community Building Activities

Levels:  E, S

Charlene Fried, ELD Teacher, Sierra Vista High School; CSULA; Loyola Marymount University

This hands-on workshop will guide elementary/secondary teachers through a series of activities designed to promote community in the classroom. Teachers will learn new ways to provide rigor with scaffolding as they empower their English learners to succeed academically (in class and on the CAHSEE and other standardized tests).  Participants will compete in a community building contest (with prizes), and will receive a packet full of activities to implement in their own classrooms. 

PCI #D. Making Grammar Instruction Relevant and Fun: Practical Approaches for All Levels

Levels/ Interest Groups:  All 

Olga Griswold, California State Polytechnic University Pomona
Sharon Hilles, California State Polytechnic University Pomona 

Many students find grammar intimidating; some teachers think it irrelevant. This session will demonstrate that communicative grammar instruction is both interesting and relevant to students’ needs. Participants will receive practical, communicative materials for immediate use and suggestions for creating more engaging and efficient grammar activities. Designed for ESL professionals in all teaching situations, topics include the relationship among grammar, meaning, and usage; using authentic materials for communicative grammar instruction, and teaching grammar through non-linguistic content.

Levels / Interest Groups:  A, CC, C/U, IC, NNLEI 

Robby Ching, California State University, Sacramento
Sue McKee, California State University, Sacramento
Keiko Komura, American River College 

The presenters have interviewed hundreds of applicants for college-level ESL teaching positions in the community college and the CSU. In a workshop on applying for jobs, participants will analyze the components of strong and weak letters of intent and resumes. They will then role-play an interview from the perspective of an interviewer, applicant and observer. Participants will receive a packet that includes sample application forms, letters of intent, resumes, interview questions, and teaching demonstration topics.

 Afternoon Workshops (1:30-4:30 PM)

Levels:  S, A, CC, C/U, IEP 

Kevin Keating, Center for ESL, University of Arizona 

In this hands-on workshop, participants will walk through numerous classroom-proven activities that promote effective interaction among students. These lively and practical exercises, which focus on enhancing oral/aural skills, include creative Q & A, information gap, slip stories, picture description, oral presentations, song lyric repetition, and narrative retelling. Employing a variety of media, the activities give students ample opportunities to speak while requiring real communication and thus will help create a more dynamic classroom.

Levels / Interest Groups:  All 

Lynne Díaz-Rico, California State University, San Bernardino

What do the study of Tokyo punk fashionistas and surrealist paintings have in common?  Each is a vehicle for helping students to acquire a variety of useful and nuanced vocabulary words.  This workshop will travel the world to accumulate allurements for students as they amass treasure troves of new words. Participants will play matchmaker with street gamins and trek through poetic portals in bizarre landscapes, all in the service of discovering lexical teaching innovations.

Levels / Interest Groups:  All

Branka Marceta, OTAN

Kristi Reyes, Mira Costa Community College

The proliferation of video-sharing Web sites and today’s advanced technology make it possible for teachers to access video clips more quickly and easily than ever before. Whether used to illustrate points, spark discussions, or create new student projects, these multimedia pieces breathe new energy into classes. Participants in this workshop will identify sources of videos appropriate for educational purposes. They will download, re-format and edit a video clip and insert it into a PowerPoint presentation.

Levels / Interest Groups:

CC, C/U, IEP

Peg Sarosy, American Language Institute, San Francisco State University

Kathy Sherak, American Language Institute, San Francisco State University

The challenges of reading, comprehending, and discussing written texts cannot be overestimated. Having students preview and predict, find the main idea, discern examples and discuss reactions assumes that they can sufficiently access the ideas, structure, and words in a reading. Presenters have deconstructed these complex conceptual skills and will share their analysis of key reading and discussion skills and a scaffolded instructional approach for equipping students with strategies for successful reading comprehension and discussion.

Levels / Interest Groups:  All 

Marsha Chan, Mission College, Santa Clara; Sunburst Media for Language Learners 

This workshop will provide teachers with numerous approaches for incorporating pronunciation instruction into English language classes. The presenter will present core features that affect intelligibility; discuss the role of perception, production, and monitoring; and consider low- and high-tech media. She will demonstrate learning activities that foster spoken clarity for students at various levels. She will invite participants to engage in exercises that activate auditory, visual, analytical, and kinesthetic modalities and that promote energizing pronunciation lessons.