Emily - CO#3

Date/Time: 01/19/16

Topic/Skill: Speaking, Group 1

Teacher Presentation: The teacher first asked the class what they did the previous weekend. Students willingly shared their stories. She went on to explain how the muscles in your mouth can help you pronounce words. The main letters of focus today were voiceless letters (F, S, and P). The final portion of the lesson was directions and directional commands. 

Classroom Management: The teacher was very kind and patient with her students. She spoke slowly and pronounced letters that would normally be silent. She made class interesting for her students by providing tongue twisters for them to try, and also taught them techniques on how to improve their pronunciation of certain letters. If anyone used incorrect grammar, she would gently correct them. 

Materials: Projector, 2 white boards, computer, charts, handouts. 

Student Participation: Students were eager to participate, especially for the tongue twister portion of the class. 

Feedback Provided: The teacher explained to her Arabic speaking students that they need to distinguish their ”p’’s” and “b’s” when they speak. She suggested that they should hold out their hands in front of their mouths and make sure they feel air on them when they pronounce the “p” sound. “In order to make new sounds, you must first learn to move the muscles in your mouth”. The "peter piper" tongue twister helped them achieve this in class.  

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: I have learned that it is important to teach students about the relationship between mouth muscles and pronunciation. Also, sometimes the simplest things (in this case, tongue twisters) can make even the most intimidating classes more enjoyable for efl/esl students.