Post #2: Online written input

http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/skills/schuntne.htm

The above link outlines excellent reading activities for ESL learners. The four activities are part of an online news scavenger hunt.
I envision using the link as a lesson plan in and of itself for intermediate to advanced students. The four activities are addressed to the students themselves. In other words, the teacher would direct the students to this site, and they would read the directions to proceed with the lesson. Each activity involves the student going to an online news website, reading headlines and articles, and discussing the articles with fellow students. I don't think all four activities could be completed in an average class period. Therefore, I would allow students to choose one activity to focus on during the class period.

I am excited about these activities for a few reasons. First, they use authentic input. Students are reading articles from USAToday, CNN, and other newspapers of their choice. The articles are not written especially for students. They are actual newspaper articles. Second, reading skills are used in a couple of different ways: The students must read the instructions in order to complete each activity. The students read short headlines, looking for main ideas. They also read entire articles, therefore getting more in-depth reading practice. Third, the students incorporate speaking and writing skills as they discuss the main points of the articles with their classmates- they are reading with a purpose. Fourth, the lesson involves learner choice. The students are encouraged to pick an activity of their choice to complete. Within each activity, there is also choice, as the students get to choose which articles they read and discuss. Finally, the lesson promotes learner independence. The learners get to work at their own pace during the class. The self-directed activities also frees the teacher to move around the classroom, giving more individualized attention to each student.

As a final note, I might save Part 4 of the activity as homework. Here, the students would compose an email to their teacher summarizing the readings they did during class. Another option would be to have students locate an online article outside of class, and write about that.