Teaching with Scenarios

1. Teaching with Scenarios An Integrated Strategy-based Approach to Teaching Communication Skills Heide Spruck Wrigley Literacywork International Adapted for TISESL Tips and Strategies

2. Lesson Flow Interactive Teacher Presentation Preview Story Map Discussion Think-Pair-Share Comprehen-sion Check Retelling Shared Reading Discussing Options Create Dialogue and Role Play Language and Vocabulary Practice Culture Notes Literacywork International

3. Preview the Scenario Lesson Flow Show students the cover picture and in a few words summarize the story. Include the title, the people, place, and problem in your summary. Make the connection to students lives by saying something like, “do you ever go to a clinic?” or “do you know the (local) factory.” Give students a minute to look at the front page and discuss the key words with each other. Literacywork International

4. Mini-Presentation with Pictures Lesson Flow Present the story to the students orally. Speak slowly but naturally and use pauses between sentences. Ask question as you go along to keep the class engaged and to make sure they understand. Use transition phrases such as, “Ok, let’s see what happens next”. Repeat and rephrase key information and act out the story as you go along. Alternatively, play the audio CD and ask students to fill out the Story Map. Literacywork International

5. True/False Comprehension Check Lesson Flow When you have finished the story, make a set of statements about the story and ask students to decide if the statement is true or false. Use Think/Pair/ Share: Students evaluate individually if a statement is True or False and then share the answer with a partner or in a small group. Ask the question again and have everyone hold up their True or False Cards. Ask students to justify their answer by providing evidence from the story. Literacywork International

6. Story Map Discussion Lesson Flow Ask students to work in pairs to discuss the story using the Story Map. They should talk about what happened, who was involved, or why someone felt a certain way. Encourage students to talk about what happened and discourage writing. After students finish, check answers. Literacywork International

7. Retelling Lesson Flow Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to retell the story using the pictures only (students need not write). For variation, cut pictures up and have students put them in the right order as they tell the story. Ask a couple students to present the story orally to the class (consider enlarging and laminating a set of story cards for this purpose). Literacywork International

8. Shared Reading Lesson Flow Read the story aloud to the students while they follow along, looking at the pictures (ask beginners to follow with their fingers or a ruler). Then ask students to work in pairs reading the text without pictures to each other. Ask them to underline the words they don’t understand and have trouble with and discuss them. After students finish explain problems. Literacywork International

9. Discussing Options Lesson Flow Quickly review and highlight the problem in the story involving students. Ask students for ideas on how the problem could be solved and draw a chart on a flip chart (use the Options Chart in the text as a model). Ask students what the consequence of a particular option would be. Use the Think-Aloud Strategy to illustrate your thinking. Ask students to work individually and then in pairs or groups to discuss answers. Literacywork International

10. Dialogue and Role Play Lesson Flow Ask the same pairs or groups to pick their best option and create a dialog for the end of the story. Students can finish the dialogue in their book or can create their own. Encourage students to be creative. Ask a couple of pairs of students to role play their dialogue in front of the class. The other students evaluate how well they did, using the rubric. Discuss with the class if the problem was handled appropriately. Literacywork International

11. Language and Vocabulary Practice Lesson Flow Highlight the key vocabulary from the scenario once more and put students who share the same language in pairs so they can discuss the vocabulary and complete the match-up activity (model the activity first!). If there is an odd person, work with that student. Ask students to put words they want to remember in the Personal Dictionary. Explain and model the language activity and have students complete the activities in pairs. Literacywork International

12. Cultural Notes Lesson Flow Culture notes are designed to have students grapple with key issues through thinking and discussion. Introduce a few of the culture notes and ask students if they agree or disagree with the statement. Probe for why they agree or not. Then ask students to work in pairs or small groups to tackle the rest of the questions. Debrief with the students and highlight expectations of the American workplace (see comments in notes). Literacywork International

13. Making Language Come Alive Instructional Strategies Literacywork International

14. Strategy Scenarios for Problem Solving Use Scenarios for problem solving. Wrigley 2008 Literacywork International

15. Strategy Scenarios for Socio-cultural Skills Wrigley 2008 Literacywork International

16. Strategy PowerPoint Use PowerPoint (or transparency) to set context and illustrate language. Literacywork International

17. Strategy True-False Cards Use True-False cards to check understanding. Use Think-Pair-Share to make it a meaningful activity. TRUE FALSE Literacywork International

18. Strategy Evocative Pictures Use compelling visuals to support presentation and foster discussion. Source: Material World Literacywork International

19. Strategy Think-Pair-Share Use Think-Pair-Share to build engagement. Students think about the answer individually first then pair up and share their answers. Literacywork International

20. Strategy Click and Clunk Use Click and Clunk to monitor reading comprehension. As students read with you, they say “click” when they understand a word or phrase and “clunk” when they don’t. Click Click Clunk Literacywork International

21. Strategy Oral and Written Language So you see, it’s really quite easy if you just listen to me. Thanks you so much. I was looking for guidance. Connect oral and written language to deepen language learning. Have students listen and retell before they read the story Literacywork International

22. Strategy Cloze Tests Use Cloze Tests and Dictations to focus on language. Alex overslept and was ____ for work. He ____ his cell phone at home. He couldn’t call his ____ to tell him he ___ late. Alex was in ____. Literacywork International

23. Strategy Fix-up Teach Fix-up strategies to help students repair miscommunication or lack of understanding. Fix up includes double checking, admitting fault and saying, “It won’t happen again.” Literacywork International

24. Strategy Analyzing Options and Consequences Ask students to outline a problem and generate options. Have them consider the consequences of each option. Use charts to help them organize their ideas. Literacywork International

25. Strategy Role Plays I shouldn’t say this, but… Use Role Plays to foster spontaneous communication. Build the Role Plays around dialogues students have created and practiced. Discourage memorization or reading the dialogues. Oh, please do. Literacywork International

26. Strategy Flash Cards Use Flashcards to build vocabulary. Use large picture cards in front of the class to have students generate language and have students practice with smaller cards. Gossip Literacywork International

27. Strategy Conversation Cards To practice and extend Role Plays make up conversation cards that act as prompts for students. Talk about the weather. Talk about your family. Literacywork International

28. Strategy Graphic Organizers Use graphic organizer such as Story Maps or tables for options and consequences to help students organize their ideas Literacywork International

29. Strategy Think Alouds OK, so here’s how I came up with the answer. Make thinking process visible by articulating your thoughts to students. Explain how you would solve a scenario (“ok, here I am a nurse. I have very little time….” Literacywork International

30. Strategy Mini-Poems Use Mini-Poems to promote writing. Three Things I Like About Home Family events Familiar places Mother’s cooking Two Things I Don’t Dusty roads Cousin Robert Literacywork International

31. Strategy Sketches and Picture Stories Use sketches to illustrate scenarios. Encourage students to retell the story using storyboards. Literacywork International

32. Strategy Chalk-Talks Use Chalk-Talk to extend the scenarios and tell new stories. Literacywork International

33. Strategy Videos Use videos to extend scenarios and foster listening comprehension. Modern Times is fun as are various I Love Lucy episodes. Consider the English for All videos. Literacywork International

34. Strategy Songs Use songs to extend scenarios. Literacywork International

35. Strategy Computer and Web - Background Use Computer & Web to build background knowledge. Literacywork International

36. Strategy Preview Use preview to activate background knowledge. Literacywork International

37. Strategy Question Generating & Answering Use question generating & answering to increase comprehension. Students make up questions about a story and a partner tries to find the answer in the story What is a utility knife? Why is Manny in trouble? Who is Manny? Literacywork International

38. Strategy Use Realia to Set the Context Bring in items that help iillustrate the story, such as dolls, utility knives, belts, switches and other items to make the scenarios come alive Literacywork International

39. Strategy Mini-Projects Use Mini-Projects to reinforce language, culture & work skills. Have students work in teams to create an ad campaign for a new product or write a Public Service Announcement Literacywork International