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Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > What is the best way of dividing a big class into two/three smaller classes?
What is the best way of dividing a big class into two/three smaller classes?
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LittleSunshine11
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What is the best way of dividing a big class into two/three smaller classes?
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Dear friends,
this may be a common problem for many of you so I thought you could help me out  .
I will start classes at a company next week. Originally, the agreement was that I teach two classes of about 4-7 students each, one false beginner class and one intermediate class. The person in charge called me yesterday and told me that there are way more people who are interested in the English classes (the company pays for the class I guess, so the staff can take part for free). Now, the first sessions will be with a false beginner class of 24 and an intermediate of 6 participants.
The students took a placement test and registered themselves (!!!) for one of the two classes. So they kind of decided for themselves whether they want to be a false beginner or on the intermediate level. I already told the person, who is in charge of organizing the classes, that we should find a way of dividing the 24 people into at least two smaller classes. He agreed and also said that since all of them have to go on business trips, will be on holiday etc., the classes will probably hardly ever be attended by all of them at the same time.
(As a side note: I know that many of you successfully teach classes that are way bigger than 24 students and I admire you for that  . The company wants the classes to be as benificial as possible to all of their staff and offers to have three classes instead of two, as was originally planned)
So here is my question:
I will teach the first class of 90 min with the 24 students who are probably not all false beginners but pre-intermediate and intermediate as well. They were maybe just too shy to go for the intermediate class straight away and placement tests can be inaccurate as well.
What would be the best way of teaching this first class and finding out (efficiently) which of the 24 students should stay in the false beginners class, which of them should be put in the intermediate group and which should be "in between" in a new third group?
How can I keep all of them busy and let them have fun with the first class and still find out what their real level of English is? Do you know any exercises, tasks, games etc. that would help me? Do you have any recommendations?
Thansk so much for all your support!
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13 May 2012
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tepeese
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I was faced to a similar situation once and here �s what I did:
I stood at the door as they came in, greeting them in English. I let them all sit down before I moved to the front, and then started to speak in English, introducing myself, welcoming them to the course and explaining the need to divide the group into two smaller groups. I talked for about five minutes, slowly and clearly but within normal ranges, and watching their faces, and then I said:
�Now, if you understand what I said, please put up your hands. �
Those who did were put in the higher level, and, as I taught them the course, I always thought the division had been accurate.
If you still have to finish the rest of the lesson after that, just play vocabulary games such as �scattergories� or �Give me five/ten names of...� and do short role plays to introduce themselves (I�ve just uploaded a page with mini-dialogues for introductions and greetings, hope it comes in handy, but it won�t be available until tomorrow). Many may have photos of their familyin their wallets: it could be a good idea to get them out and talk about the people in the photos: parents are always eager to do it. Meanwhile, monitor and check that you agree with the initial division |
13 May 2012
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MoodyMoody
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One fun activity that also works well as a diagnostic activity is what I call the Sentence Game. You will need a blackboard or whiteboard, so if the company room doesn �t have one, this won �t help. (If they have easels with large paper and markers, you could tear off paper and stick temporarily to the wall, I guess.) But I �ll describe the activitiy anyway.
Divide the class into teams, balancing their abilities the best you can. With 24 students, probably 4 teams would work the best. Call one member of each team to the board. Give them a subject, such as one woman. Give them a verb, such as forget. Give them a tense, such as present perfect. (I teach low beginning, and present perfect is a tense I DON �T teach my class, so it �s probably a good one for determining an intermediate level.) The students have 1, 2, or 3 minutes to write a sentence using the subject, verb, and tense you gave them. Other students can help by oral suggestions in English, but they can �t help with writing in any way. Take off points, though, if you hear the other students speak German.
After you call time, add up the points. I usually give a point for a correct subject like "Gretchen" or "Mrs. Hoffmann" or "She." I give another point if the student uses the correct verb, and another if it is in the correct tense, so 2 points for "has forgotten." I give a point for every English word in the sentence, so no point for "unglaublich," for example. I don �t count for spelling, but you might want to give a point only for correctly spelled words. I do give 10 bonus points for a perfect sentence. Adjust your points depending on what �s most important to you; just let the students know before you start. The team with the most points are the winners.
It �s complicated to describe, but it really isn �t difficult to implement. It gives you a lot of information about the students � ability to not only write, but to speak and listen as well. It �s one of my favorite ways to check up on my students � learning. |
13 May 2012
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ueslteacher
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Never faced the same problem:) Although, one year I had to teach a group of 22 8-graders (multilevel) I �ve seen some useful tips on Busy Teacher (I hope people won �t think I �m promoting the site)
There are some really useful ws and collections here on the site:
Best wishes, Sophia
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13 May 2012
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