Last week on Friday, Aug. 2, I met with the Hong twins. They are enthusiastic about earning
points towards their rewards, so they show up to the tutoring session ready to
work. David has improved on his
handwriting skills by slowing down and focusing on writing neatly, which earns
him extra points. Also, both boys
take the time to focus on their work with the anticipation of earning
rewards. What they don’t know is
that the rewards they will receive will also be helping them to practice their
handwriting skills, reading, and writing skills.
We
began the lesson with a tic-tac-toe game that required the boys to correctly
spell words, write complete sentences, or pinpoint opposite pairs of
nouns/adjectives/verbs. When they have
prepared a written answer, they quietly tap their finger on the table, and the
first one to get the answer correct gets to take a turn at tic-tac-toe. The boys respond excitedly to the game,
and they stay focused on answering carefully and correctly.
Next,
I prepared an activity to facilitate practice in writing complex sentences
using the word “therefore”. After
the complex sentence activity we played the “Practice English” board game which
incorporated their new complex sentence skills, spelling skills, and creative
writing skills.
Great idea using rewards for the kids! They are young enough that it is hard for them to have any intrinsic motivation for wanting to learn English. Using rewards and making the lessons into games is a great way to keep them focused, and even make the lesson something they look forward to.
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