This session will demonstrate how presenters brought the community to their IEP students, facilitating language development and providing a meaningful context and hands-on experience with classroom topics. This session presents the standards and demonstrates their usefulness for a range of ESL programs. The book also develops critical thinking skills and an understanding of North American cultural values. Doing community service, students practice and improve language skills, become familiar with an institution, form relationships, and have hands on exposure to potential vocational opportunities. Poster includes how to recruit, train, monitor, support and liaison between student, agency, and school, and how to help students process their experience.
Students then discuss their journals in class.
This activity bridges ESL language study to university coursework thus preparing students for the academic setting. The resource materials are a relevant, functional, meaningful part of everyday life. The technique provides developing cognitive processing skills. Cooperative learning and a spirit of inquiry can benefit lower-level ESOL students. The poster shows examples of courses based on group investigations, suggests ways of facilitating group-work and research, and documents the benefits of students working collaboratively and inquisitively on a class theme.