How to Begin with A, B, C

Today was our first full day of teaching at both schools. We had observed yesterday that there was no pattern in the children’s skill levels and could not be determined by age. Thus, we needed to test them and place them in different classes. Last night, we came up with a simple two-level tests: the first was whether the child could identify the letters of the alphabet, and the second was whether the child could read/identify simple 3-letter words, such as ‘run’, ‘dog’, ‘bus’, etc. Today we administered these tests in small groups of two or three, testing each child individually and recording how well the child performed. By the end of the time we had at the school, we had compiled a comprehensive list of each child’s skill level, which thus allowed us to group them in class levels: 1, 2, and 3. Due to the number of children at the school today, the testing did not take as long as expected and I had the time to teach those who did not want to take recess. They learned their basic body parts, as in eyes, ears, nose, toes, arms, etc, and one girl even me to give her addition problems! She was able to add large number over 100. This shocked me, as I thought that their math skills would be the same, if not lower, than their English skills. The craving for knowledge that these kids possess never fails to amaze and inspire me.

In the afternoon we headed over to the second school, where we followed the same lesson plan of administering the tests to the children to determine their skill level. These children, though, were more advanced in their English, speeding up the testing process. This allowed those in my group to play games with the children, such as a variation of Simon Says, which Soren renamed Courtney Says. This game teaches them body parts and how to say the simple phrase, “[the child’s name] says to touch…” Personally, playing this game was one of my favorite moments of the day because the children were so involved and excited, and it was awesome to watch them interact and help teach each other and interpret what I was asking them to do.

I think we all can agree that while today was exhausting, it was even more rewarding, and as we make our lesson plans tonight for tomorrow’s classes, we have a much better idea of how to approach this daunting task of teaching English. We have such a long way to go in having these children to understand English, but the smiles on their faces and their eagerness to learn will definitely speed the process along.