Attendance Awards

Each month the teachers at Metro North conduct an informal, school-wide attendance awards ceremony. Learners and teachers from all four levels of English classes cram into a classroom, and one teacher presents certificates to the winners, announcing the names one by one in a dramatic fashion. To add to the anticipation, another teacher keeps track of the class each winner belongs to; the class with the most winners at the end lay claim to bragging rights for the next month. Along with a certificate, winners receive some sort of school supply as a prize. Today’s prize: a twelve-pack of pencils.

After being an audience member at a few attendance award ceremonies, I believe that this is an excellent retention activity and way to give students well deserved recognition. Honoring learners in front of their peers reinforces the fact that good attendance is crucial to learning English.

Some students shyly accept their awards but not Mandisa. Today she whooped and cheered as her name was announced and did an impromptu victory dance to the front of the room to collect her prize. The room erupted in laughter; everyone loves Mandisa.

5 Senses

Today’s worksheet involved ruminating about each of the five senses. Here in the United States, it seems that children learn about the five senses at quite a young age. Many of the adult learners in my class had not learned then in a group like they are taught here. The hardest to explain in English was the sense of touch. Because the statement on the worksheet used the word “feel,” many students initially wrote emotions instead of reporting tactile responses.

Learners had to finish each of these sentences. Here is a sample of their answers:

Something that looks pretty
• my children
• the ocean
• stars in the sky
• peacocks

Something that tastes delicious
• pizza
• fried chicken
• rice and beef
• ice cream sundaes
• papayas and mangos

Something that sounds beautiful
• lions
• Gospel singing
• accordions, guitars and trumpets
• owls

Something that feels nice
• my baby’s head
• goat fur
• a cool breeze
• healthy body
• blankets

Something that smells good
• rain
• perfume
• flower gardens
• deodorant

After completing the worksheets, the learners each wrote their answers to each question on the white board. Then, the whole class would ask the person, “____. what looks pretty?” That person would read their question, and the other students would repeat it. This proved to the an effective way to share new vocabulary words, work on pronunciation and allow learners to get to know each other.