Teachers' Tips: Travel Directions

Review! Teach the Learner Encouragement Library Vocabulary Directions Jazz Chants Buildup Opportunity Begin Home

Aim To help the student find their way around their town To help the student listen to and follow instructions To help the student read and give instructions

Materials: Map of your downtown area Driving directions Toy cars Jazz Chant (printed below)

Preparation: Map of your downtown area (one per group) Draw an enlarged map of the downtown area in your city on butcher paper. Make the street areas wide enough to label each of them. Label a few of the prominent locations, bank, police station, library, hospital, food stores, etc. Using a red pen, mark an "X" and "You are Here" somewhere on the map, to use as a starting point. Driving Instructions (two different locations per group) Write driving instructions from "You are Here" to different locations. Or go to MapQuest at http://www.mapquest.com Select Maps/Driving Directions/Door-to-Door and enter the addresses. Toy cars (one per group) Jazz Chant Print on large sheet of paper, blackboard or strips for pocket board In Class: Go over the vocabulary words, demonstrating them with the map and car:

Go straight Turn right (make a right, hang a right, or whatever terms common to your area) Turn left (make a left, hang a left) Go past..... Go one block, two blocks Signal, light

Divide your class into small groups. Give them a large map, a car and directions to several destinations. Let them take turns giving and following directions. Some Fun Innovations One of our teachers, Kitty Locke, got the class up on their feet, moving around the room calling out, "Turn right. Straight ahead. Turn left. Move to the center. Move back. Turn around." In short time, the directions could be understood easily! We included directions to the local return bakery in our downtown area. The manager was very supportive of our class and donated a whole box of bakery items and store coupons. Using a child's truck, we "drove" it on our large map down in the direction of the bakery factory. We loaded bread (the donated items) and "drove" them to the local supermarket. There we unloaded the fresh bread and loaded the bread from "yesterday" and trucked the day-old bread to the return bakery. When the class was over, the students took the samples home.

Jazz Chant I'm learning to find my way around I'm learning to find my way around    Around the town    Around the town I'm learning to find my way around    Around my town Go one block, turn right at the light    Turn right at the next light? That's right, turn right at the next light    I'll turn right at the next light Repeat chorus: I'm learning ... If you are working on grammar and verbs, you can substitute: She's learning...He's learning...We're learning...

Divide your class into two groups. Let the second group chant the words in italics. Exchange parts. Let one person solo one part. Let he entire class chant another part.

teps in Teaching a Jazz Chant Be sure students know all the key vocabulary. Write the chant on the board. Read the entire chant to the class. Read one line at a time and have students repeat the line until they can say most of the words. Add the rhythm (clapping, marching, or pounding the table or a drum). Let the class do the rhythm and say it at the same time. Let "soloists" say it while everyone else claps.

More Teacher's Tips Review! Review! Review! Teach the Learner The Power of Encouragement A Trip to the Library Vocabulary: Increasing it the easy way Directions: Finding your way around Jazz Chants: Accent reduction and learning the rhythm of English Using a theme picture: Check out what they already know Clap the Stress: Accent reduction Clap the Stress: Learning the rhythm of the English language Backward Buildup: Help in learning long sentences

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ESL Ministry

Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church

1801 Lacassie Avenue  Walnut Creek  California 94596   925-935-1574

Joanne Rae Meads  jrmeads@worldnet.att.net

September 16, 1999

© Copyright 1999 by Joanne Meads, All Rights Reserved