esl essays

esl essays I chose to do my observation on a small (12 students) elementary ESL class. The students in this class ranged from second grade up to fifth grade and all are fairly fluent in English, but come from homes that use Spanish as the primary language. The day began with a rehearsal of a play this class will be performing for the first graders. This play calls for the children to read, understand, and memorize the parts of such characters as the narrator, a donkey, cat, rooster, robbers, police, dog, and pigs. By doing this they have been exposed to many animals and have done an enormous amount of authentic learning just through their own personal experiences. Each of the twelve children was given the script and they went through the play working on the memorization of the lines and pronunciation of the words. I was impressed with the number of students who had their entire part memorized and who could easily read and recite the English words in perfect sentences. After going throug h the play three times the class moved onto a singing activity that they did together. This included reading the words to the songs Loud Blows the Wind, My True Blue Buddy, and Lots and Lots of Stars via a large book in front of the class. Mrs. Campbell then called on a few to read the song individually as another used the pointer to follow along. Once confident with the words and meaning of the song they would put it to music and the whole class would sing the song together at the top of their lungs. Through the singing of these songs the students were using a variety of everyday words along with different descriptive words, and most animals/foods imaginable. They were gaining experience in reading, widening their vocabulary, practicing their sounds and having a great time all in one exercise. The student to student interaction was amazing and the teacher did a great job of facilitating the class as they discovered and used different English w ...