Unit 1: What

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Unit 1 Whats in a Word?

• Words Skills Language and Activities for Talking
  About Words

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• Todays class
• (1) We will briefly discuss classroom English in
  general.
• (2) We will look at classroom English needed to
  negotiate the letters and spellings of words.
• (3) We will look at language used for posing word
  riddles, giving hints and asking for answers.

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Classroom English

• One of the goals of this course is to move
  towards conducting our classes in English.
• An important step in achieving this goal is
  training our students to function in an English
  classroom environment.
• This means preparing lessons centered around
  classroom English.

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• Classroom English can be divided into two primary
  functions
• Language for managing the class.
• Language for conveying content and negotiating
  the meaning of that content.

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(1) Language for Managing the Class

• This includes commands like
• Open your books.
• Take out your pencils.
• You need to find a partner.
• Your homework is due on Friday.

• Although this classroom English is important, we
  will not focus on it here. It will be covered in
  the second half of this course under classroom
  interactions.

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(2) Language for Conveying Information and
Negotiating Its Meaning

• This includes things like
• What does that mean?
• Do you see what Im saying?
• Is that clear?
• Ghost is spelt G-H-O-S-T.
• It has four letters.
• Could you speak up please? I cant hear you.
• It begins with B.
• What I mean is . . .
• Its another word for windy.

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• This kind of classroom English is a skill that
  students should have so that they can get the
  information they need when they dont understand.
  
• It is a skill that will help our students on the
  road to becoming independent learners.

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Classroom English Words and Spelling

• One task teachers will constantly face is
  discussing words, letters and spelling with their
  students.
• Both students and teachers should be comfortable
  talking about words.

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• Lets start with an example.
• Here are some of the ways we can talk about a
  word
• BOTTLE

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• Bottle has six letters.

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• Bottle has six letters.
• Bottle is a six-letter word.

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• Bottle has six letters.
• Bottle is a six-letter word.
• Bottle begins with B.

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• Bottle has six letters.
• Bottle is a six-letter word.
• Bottle begins with B.
• The second letter is O

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• Bottle has six letters.
• Bottle is a six-letter word.
• Bottle begins with B.
• The second letter is O
• Bottle ends with/in E.

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• Bottle has six letters.
• Bottle is a six-letter word.
• Bottle begins with B.
• The second letter is O
• Bottle ends with/in E.
• Bottle has two Ts and an L.

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Imagination
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• All of the expressions above are useful for
  negotiating the spelling of a word.
• You use these expressions when
• (1) You see a student has misspelled a word.
• (2) A student is asking about the spelling of a
  word.
• (3) Someone is looking for words that fit a
  particular letter pattern (in a riddle or
  crossword for example).

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Activities for Teaching This Skill

• Since talking about words is a skill we want our
  students to have, we need to come up with
  activities that will help students acquire these
  skills.
• Word riddles are an excellent way to accomplish
  this.

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• Im thinking of a bird that can begins begin
  with O?
• Can you guess it?

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• Is it owl?
• No, thats not it.
• It has seven letters.

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• Hmm. Im stumped.
• Can you give me a hint?
• In ends with H.
• It has powerful legs, but it
• cant fly.
• I know. Its an . . .

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OSTRICH
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Language for Posing Riddles

• Can you think of a three-letter word that begins
  with O?
• Do you know any three-letter words that begin
  with O?
• What is a three-letter word that begins with O?

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Language for Offering Hints

• Can I give you a hint?
• Would you like a hint?
• Do you need a hint?

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Language for Asking for Hints

• Can you give me a hint?
• Can I have a hint?
• I need a hint.

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Language for Indicating You Give Up

• I give up.
• I'm stumped.
• I cant figure it out.
• I cant solve it.
• You got me.
• I dont know