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Help me with my 2nd year class

  • 11-04-2011 11:39am
    #1
    peanuthead
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭


    Hi all

    I'm writing here out of fear and desperation

    I inherited a 2nd year language class this september, the majority of who I feel are capable of passing honours level.

    Although their knowledge of the language is not that poor, their use of grammar and sentence structure is appaling.

    I glazed over the present tense with them, thinking of timing restrictions and that I have to get the past and future also covered in time for the summer exam.

    Big mistake. They don't seem to have done any work on grammar in their first year at all and were not even aware of the I, you, he/she structure of a verb.

    I'm freaking out now because with 5 weeks until the end of term - four of them teaching weeks, these kids are poor at grammar, they can't string a sentence together on paper and are just flinging in words left, right and centre.

    They should have the present tense down by now and should be perfecting the past, yet they are just getting to grips with the present and how to write sentences!

    Can anyone help me out with a novel/fun/engaging but most of all EFFECTIVE way of teaching grammar and verb endings without the rote learning??

    thanks


Comments

  • #2
    vamos!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 525 ✭✭✭vamos!


    I have never been able to do this without some aspect of rote learning. Try to do everything up as a flow chart. Give each student a copy, do it on the projector. Then put students in groups to reassemble a chopped up copy of the flow chart. I have also picked out the main verbs and done a colour coded sheet with today, tomorrow, yesterday and laminated it, insisting that students refered to it at all stages.

    After having a look at the tenses again, could you have students group flashcards of different sentences into tense groups?

    If youre an MFL teacher I wouldnt panic about tenses too much in 2nd year- revise, revise and it will eventually stick. Couldnt tell you about Irish though.


  • #3
    peanuthead
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭peanuthead


    Hi

    It's MFL.

    Yesterday we actually had a great class, we did listening and they are really picking that up.

    I sat down and spoke to one or two of the class members about my worries, one guy very honestly, and observantly I must say, said that they have had so many teachers who were only with them for such short periods of time that they didn't care how the students got on, so now the students have adopted the opinion that they too don't care.

    This would be true for a certain percentage of the class, but not for all.

    I find mixed ability quite hard to cater to in language classes. I don't have half the problems in my other subject that I have with my language.


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