For my first classroom observation, I sat in on Leslie Wagner's level 1 grammar class. I thought Leslie maintained a great balance between the skill versus the explicit knowledge. Since it was a Monday, she started the class off somewhat informally, going around and asking the students about their weekends. She then went over the agenda both for the day and for the remainder of the week.
The topic of the lesson was the present perfect tense. Instead of jumping into a lecture-styled explanation, Leslie introduced the topic by asking some questions that required an answer in the present perfect tense. She then had students ask each other a few instructor-provided questions among themselves. As the students worked together, Leslie took notes on their errors.
After introducing the grammar in use, Leslie identified the specific grammar knowledge, and related it to previous work in order to differentiate between other similar tenses, such as the simple past. She gave a few general situations in which the tense would be used, and a formula for the formation of grammatically correct sentences. After this explanation, the students finished the lesson by completing an exercise in their textbook that required them to ask their peers about their experiences, and form complete sentences using the present perfect. This took approximately 15-20 minutes, perhaps the bulk of the class. At the end of the lesson, Leslie went over the exercise with the students, correcting errors and clarifying when the use of the tense was appropriate. She then briefly recapped the agenda for the week.
The constant shifting from somewhat relaxed, informal discussion (grammar in use) and the more formal presentation and instruction (grammar knowledge) was a great way to keep students' attention, and helped maintain the flow of the lesson. This is a technique I would like to explore and test in my own tutoring sessions or future lessons.
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