As a French teacher I primarily considered oral communication skills in respect to teaching and learning a second language; however after a few years in Kindergarten I have realised the importance of modeling basic but very valuable communication skills as simple as turn taking, active listening, and providing students with opportunities to practice these skills.
In our lesson planning in teacher's college, we were granted permission and even encouraged to "beg, borrow, and steal", thus I have done just that and discovered an amazing website full of literacy lessons and in particular activities to develop oral language and vocabulary. In Kindergarten one of the first lessons we teach is that we share EVERYTHING, so I am sharing the lesson in this post!
The Conversation Station is one of my favourite ideas from the website The Balanced Literacy Diet. This would be a really great learning area to set up in the classroom year-round. Below I will list some ways I might personally adapt the activity for ESL students as well as other suggestions and specific program expectations covered.
First, here is the link where you can read the actual lesson plan complete with preparation instructions, adaptations for various kinds of learners, and extension activities:
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00160/
Ontario Early Learning Kindergarten Program Expectations
The Big Idea: Children are effective communicators.
Overall Expectation 1: communicate by talking and by listening and speaking to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts.
The Conversation Station could really fulfill almost all of the oral language goals but I have selected these few to focus on in the beginning.
1.2 listen and respond to others for a
variety of purposes (e.g., to exchange
ideas, express feelings, offer opinions)
and in a variety of contexts
1.8 ask questions for a variety of purposes
(e.g., for
obtaining information,) and in different contexts (e.g. During discussions and conversations with peers and adults; before, during, and
after read-aloud activities and shared
reading; in small groups at
learning centres
1.9 describe personal experiences using vocabulary and details appropriate to
the situation
Later in the year you could focus on these as well:
1.5 use language in various contexts to
connect new experiences with what
they already know (e.g., contribute
ideas orally during shared or
interactive writing; contribute to conversations at learning centres;
respond to teacher prompts)
1.7 use specialized vocabulary for a
variety of purposes
1.10 orally retell simple events and simple
familiar stories in proper sequence
Assessment Suggestions
- Anecdotal notes on students' interests.
- Use a class list to evaluate students' responses had lots of detail, some, or needed prompting.
- Note any speech and language concerns such as pronunciation difficulties.
- Later in the year - teach students to use iPads for recording conversations with each other either video or just audio.
ESL Student Considerations
- Invite ESL students to join the station with a friend so they feel more at ease.
- Encourage the use of lots of gestures.
- Speak slowly and clearly, using short simple sentences.
- Point to pictures as you model speaking.
- Have them use props and point to pictures if they are not ready to speak.
- Ask questions that provide choice of answers within. Ex. Is this mom or dad?
- Use dolls and puppets to have the conversation so they may feel more comfortable taking risks and making mistakes.
September Ideas
Materials:
- Books about beginning school.
- Photos of students in various learning areas.
- Books about families showing diversity.
- Photo album of students' family photos.
Implementation:
- Discussion on "good talkers" and "good listeners" should not just be optional.
- Invite students to suggest their own future topics and materials to include.
- Teachers should take time to talk to a few students a day so they can meet with all students within the first couple weeks of school.
Other Suggestions
- Adapt station for French days to include a question of the day to practice.
- Model and include question starters: who, what, where, why, how?
- Speakers Corner - This was a great idea shared by a classmate and is similar to the Conversation Station. A "question of the day" is posted in the corner and two students are chosen per day to interview friends and record their interviews with iPads.
I am very excited to set-up a Conversation Station in my classroom next September and will be sure to write a follow up post to share how students' oral communication skills are developing!
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