[etni] Re: heterogeneous classes

From: ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 10:30:47 +0300
From: Resource Room <englishrr@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: heterogeneous classes

Jennifer,
I agree that students will have a wide range of grades and achievements in
English already in second grade. However, if they start in first grade and
start to fall behind in second, at least it's early enough to catch and
correct. They can catch up by the fifth grade meitzav.
I have had a different problem to deal with. In my sector, the preferred
grade for *starting* English in 5th grade. If they can't keep up from the
very beginning, forget about trying more than a 3 point Bagrut. Last year,
I taught 7th and 8th grade classes who had both started learning English
after Pesach of 5th grade...so essentially 6th grade. I can tell you,
trying to cram four years worth of material in one year into adolescents
with shaky self-confidence in a difficult language was pure torture. I'm
not currently teaching in that school but may in the future. Any
suggestions for how to pull the students through such a situation with
their self-esteem intact and some decent English skills?
Miriam


Jennifer wrote:
>Marlene wrote that weak pupils start to get behind in 4th grade.
I beg to differ, Marlene; they start getting behind in SECOND GRADE!!
Now that Bagrut is over as is the school year to all intents and
purposes, I have been meaning to address this problem, which stems, I
believe from too little guidance in elementary school. Pupils in many
areas are starting English in the first grade, working on the mistaken
assumption that the younger one starts, the better. We all “know”
that small children pick up languages easily. Of course, this is true
if a child is immersed in the new language – goes to school in a
country where that language is spoken. It is not true of children
learning English as a foreign language; some do; many don’t. Not all
children have a good ear for languages, and first grade in classes of
35 often don’t pick up anything – not even colours and basic phrases.
Then in second grade they start learning to read – not a bad idea, in
itself, if it is taken very slowly. There are many books (too many)
for starters, some excellent, some awful. There seems to be no
guidance for the teachers as to what to choose. Many teachers of these
grades don’t really have the knowledge to choose wisely. They then
proceed to gallop through the book, giving periodic exams, which many
of the second graders fail! Great start to English!
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[etni] Re: heterogeneous classes

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