Fisherman Story and Grammar Unit 9

          TOPIC 1

1. His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed. John loves fishing, but longs to be more successful. When he was feeling down, he painted his boat, “Troubled Waters,” blue and shined it up. John asked his brother what he thought of the new look, but his brother just laughed and said, “You’re always fishing for compliments.

Second part of the Fisherman Story re-written:

His brother bought land last winter. He sold it to the neighbor when the the economy was bad.  John loves fishing. He wants to be more successful. John has a boat named “Troubled Waters”. When John was feeling sad, he painted his boat blue and cleaned it up. John asked his bother what he thought of the boat's new look. John’s brother just laughed and said, “You’re always looking for compliments.”

  

2. There are several parts of this story that might be confusing for ELL’s in  regard to words being taken literally or directional words used in different ways:

The economy crashed…students might not understand that this means that he needed money because the country was having money problems.

Longs to be….might be confusing and it would have to be explained that longs for is a term used for wanting something.

Feeling down…might be taken literally and would have to be explained that this means he was sad.

Shined it up…..a student may not understand that the word up in this statement has nothing to do with direction. It would have to be explained that it means to be polished and shiny.

Fishing for compliments…….a student might take this literally and it would have to be explained that fishing means looking.

                                                                               
TOPIC 2

1. Visual Timeline:

________John is a fisherman(simple present)________
________He hasn’t had much luck catching fish the past few weeks (Simple past)__________
________He is hoping to catch more fish tomorrow (simple future)_____________

________________X_______________________X__________________X____________

                   (Simple past)                  (Simple present)          (Simple future)

               had, past few weeks                      is                          tomorrow

 

2.       After watching the video of the TESOL Grammar experts, I do not think that grammar can be acquired through immersion alone. It should be taught through a good balance between direct instruction and immersion. Teaching grammar directly is a good way to introduce and reinforce rules. The teachers should provide opportunities for grammar instruction in an immersed environment in conversational situations and writing. The pendulum seems to swing from one belief to another in regard to teaching grammar as was noted by Keith Folse. This seems to happen a lot in educational topics. Take the phonics vs. whole language approach that has gone back and forth for years. I also like what Michael Swan said…that grammar is not just about memorizing rules. It’s about communication. That is why we need a balance in my opinion.