....Keep in mind that [this lesson] should be modified and tailored to fit your students’ ages, English levels, and individual needs. Also, depending on the length of your classes, [the lesson] may require more than one class period to complete.
Lesson 1: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade
Language Objectives
Students will be able to engage all four primary language domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). They will listen to idioms that provide optimism, select one to write down, read aloud their selection to a peer, and narrate how they could use it in their lives.
Content Objectives
Students will be able to provide the definition of an idiom and will be able to identify idioms to promote optimism.
SEL Core Competencies
Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship skills. In addition to aligning with the SEL core competencies, this lesson also aligns with Principle 1 (“know your learners”), Principle 2 (“create conditions for language learning”), Principle 3 (“design high-quality lessons for language development”), Principle 4 (“adapt lesson delivery as needed”), and Principle 5 (“monitor and assess student language development”) from The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners®.
Materials
Paper, drawing pencils, computer/phone/device with internet
Assessment
Formative or informal assessments for this lesson can be based on having students explain what specific idioms mean in real life, figuratively, and examples of how they can be demonstrated or exemplified (in writing and orally). The appropriateness of the idioms selected, along with their written explanations, can be used as a summative assessment.
Procedure
To get students interested in idioms, share some of your favorites to start, ensuring to select ones that portray optimism. For example, you could talk about the idiom “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” explaining how it means always trying to see how something might be positive. Give examples, such as how you might prefer face-to-face instruction, but when your school requires online instruction, you realize it gives you the benefit of being able to wear comfortable pants and no shoes. In addition, you can have your puppy on your lap while you work. Of course, we can think about the negatives, but for this lesson, we will intentionally focus on the positives. Remember to adapt the example you provide to your students based on their language/age levels.
Provide a list of positive idioms, such as this one:
There are plenty of fish in the sea.
See the glass as half full instead of half empty.
When one door closes, another one opens.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Stop and smell the roses.
See the world through rose-colored glasses.
That is a blessing in disguise.
Have students guess what these idioms might mean. Then, in small groups, have your students look up online the meaning of each idiom to verify if their guesses were correct. Let them either choose one of the idioms from your list (if their language proficiency would make it difficult to find one on their own) or look online for a different one that may be of more interest.
Next, have your students write down one idiom, illustrate it, and then write how they could use it in their lives. They can also do this in a word processing program or presentation software (e.g., Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, Google Docs or Slides) and find a visual online or take a picture, as shown in Figure 4.1. Check in with students using thumbs up/thumbs down to see if they are understanding and are following the directions. Once they are ready, they can share their work with a peer. In future classes, you can start class with one of the idioms, revisit the meaning, and practice breathing in and out while focusing on the positive as a soothing way to begin the day.
Suggested Citation
Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Martínez-Alba, G. (2021). Social-emotional learning in the English language classroom: Fostering growth, self-care, and independence (Ch. 4). TESOL International Association.
I have been teaching for over 15 years now and I have rarely come across professional development programs in my country that make the teachers’ assets visible…Professional learning [should] follow the same learning rules that apply to our learners. Teachers are lifelong learners. Therefore, to help them continue developing professionally, professional development training organizers should build on teachers’ assets. (Hadizatou Amou Ali, Niger)
In their work with students, teachers globally are working to shift from deficit-based to more equity-focused, asset-based approaches, and they deserve the same treatment in the professional development (PD) they participate in. How can those who design and lead PD for teachers create asset-based programming to draw on teachers’ strengths, experiences, talents, and knowledge? This month’s TESOL Professional Development Blog is coauthored by Julie Kasper, Director of Teacher Learning and Leadership at the Center for Professional Learning at Childhood Education International, and her colleagues in Lebanon, Niger, and Kenya who weigh in on how they have experienced and envision asset-based teacher PD. Read more.
Happy winter holidays from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte! Last month, I wrote about literacies of vulnerability and how my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Dahlstrom, cried when she turned to the final page of Where the Red Fern Grows. Before that, we looked at intergenerational literacies, how “reading with purpose” shapes what and how we read, and the funds of knowledge we tap into to do so.
For this post, I’m writing off another childhood memory. It’s about reading barefoot as a second-grader at Kainalu Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii. It goes like this: Read more.
We live in a time when we can find a podcast on every possible conceivable topic. It’s an engaging way of tuning into some professional learning and reflection while we go about our everyday lives. Though there is a vast range of podcasts out there, I personally enjoy listening to interviews with scholars whose work I engage with primarily through books and journal articles. When I share podcast interviews in my teacher education courses, several of my students have responded by saying how hearing educators and researchers talk about the work they do in the more informal setting of a podcast makes it easier to understand and relate to their ideas.
In this blog, I’d like to share eight podcast interviews that intersect race, language, and education. Go ahead and have a listen. Read more.
Teaching listening means more than just giving students listening activities and checking for understanding—it means teaching them how to listen. Listening in the Classroom takes promising research findings and theory and turns them into practical teaching ideas that help develop listening proficiency.
While engaging and motivating students in the classroom has always been critical for student success, it is even more important and challenging in the online learning environment. This practical guide will provide English language educators with a number of strategies and ready-to-use activities to help them engage and motivate their students for improved learner outcomes. It also covers trends in online learning, engagement and motivation principles and competencies, as well as ways administrators can support teachers' professional development. As an additional resource, the book comes with a companion website. **This title also includes a companion website with online resources.
While SEL is becoming increasing critical for learners’ success, teachers often feel unprepared to incorporate or address it in their classrooms. This book serves as a practical, concise, and easy-to-follow reference that English language teachers in K-12 and adult education and English language teacher educators can use in their classrooms. It is one of the limited emerging SEL resources available that is tailored to the English language teaching field and contributes to filling the existing gap of SEL in English language education. Teachers will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to practice self-care and be confident in implementing SEL in their learning spaces to support and benefit their learners.
Active TESOL members may read current and recent issues of TESOL Connections online at http://www.tesol.org/tc. Inclusion in TESOL Connections does not constitute an endorsement by TESOL.
TESOL International Association
1925 Ballenger Avenue, Suite 550 Alexandria, VA 22314-6820 USA
Tel. +1 703.518.2501
Fax: +1 703.691.5327
E-mail: members@tesol.org (general information) www.tesol.org
 while learning about idioms and promoting optimism. ');){kind=small}
