Meeting on Monday, 25th June at 9.30 am ????

[Geetha Prakash]

Good Morning
I went through all the posts on the Electricity problem and to start the English classes. I think it would be good to start the English classes. IF one of you could look at a structured Spoken English program such as Rapidex or any other course, it would be helpful. Also continued presence at the school can help in getting the Power supply connected to the Computer room. Let us meet at 9.30 am, or if you are planning to go to the school in the afternoon and you do not want to waste the morning, post a convenient time for the meeting.
Regards
GP

[Suraj Srinivas]

Hello ma'am,

I think about 1:00 would be good for us, since we'll be going there at around 2:30. I hope everyone is ok with this.

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Regards,
Suraj Srinivas

[Vijesh M]

Any time is fine. We still need to put up a working  agenda for the coming week.

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Thank you, on behalf of the children, for being part of the "Covalence" group.

[Suraj Srinivas]

Hey,

I was scouting the internet for possible english learning modules, and I found that most such courses start off in ways very similar to how one would teach children. I've enclosed the link to one such module, which is specifically for adults learning english as a second language. Another requirement is that the course should suit the psyche of the teachers, which is a bit difficult.   

To start off, I thought of doing a small english written test to get an idea as to how much they know. I'll have it prepared by tomorrow with the help of these modules. Then I thought of doing some reading exercises, and focusing on pronunciation. 
The second class can be about writing skills, like asking them to write the summary of a particular story they read, etc.
The third class can be about conversational skills. I put this at the end because I figured they would be hesitant to participate in conversation immediately.

However, my only concern is how good a job can we possibly do in three (or six) classes that we can get in one (or two) week(s). Most learning modules require attention for atleast a couple of months. What we can do best is that we can provide them motivation to learn and read english more, which is how they will actually learn english.

Module for adult learners (Teacher's guide): http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/Teacher/esl_teachers_guide.pdf

Module specifically for Indian adult student:  http://www.clrindia.net/toesl.html  (for sale)

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Regards,
Suraj Srinivas

[Suraj Srinivas]

Hello all,

How's this for a test?

http://www.englishtag.com/tests/level_test.asp 

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Regards,
Suraj Srinivas

[Vijesh M]

Alright, here's a summary:

Class 1:

• Written Test - We can get an idea about their understanding so far. 
• Reading Exercises - We can expect around 5-6 per batch. 
• Pronunciation - We have to tell them about the usage of past / present / future tense. I think doing this formally in detail wouldnt make sense, under the time constraint. I'm pretty sure they'll eventually catch up with the usage.
• Assignment: Read a short story for the next day. (about 2-3 pages is optimal)

Class 2:

• Ask them about what stories they had read out the previous day.
• Write a summary about their assignment.
• Assignment: We'll give them the assignment based on their write-up. Basically, we'll have to identify which areas they need help in, guide them regarding the same and ask them to work on it the next day.

Class 3:

• We've to plan a conversational activity. For a starter, we can ask them to narrate to us, their experience so far and their suggestions if any. But the hard constraint is that they converse only in English.
• Second, we need something that can get everyone involved. How about something similar to a group discussion? Pour in your ideas.
• We should also encourage them to talk to the students in English.

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Regards,
Suraj Srinivas

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[Geetha Prakash]

Good Evening
Let us meet at 1.00 pm tomorrow and finalise the schedule. The classes can be rigorous during your vacation and can be continued after your classes start depending on your timetable .During the time your semester is running, it could be more an assignment based session which we can conduct / I could also manage if required.

Regards
GP