Vocabulary and Grammar Building and Phonics
ESL 1 -In the ESL 1 class, students are learning how to say important phrases and simple sentences: "I'm hungry," "It's sunny" and they are also practicing easy sentence reading "Look out there!" and so forth. Along with this, they are studying simple science topics and ideas, such as the butterfly life cycle. Importance is also being placed on the alphabet, beginning sounds, rhyming, and other phonics based activities. These activities all help to build speaking, reading, and future writing (spelling) skills, while also building up students' knowledge of important sight words.ESL 2 -Grammar building is a major focus on the ESL 2 class. It helps to bridge the gap between ESL 1 and ESL 3, and grammar is a key point in order to do that. This week, the grammar point is on Subject - Verb agreement. When the subject is a plural, the verb needs to be singular, and vice-versa. Along with this, there has been a focus on spelling CVCe words (words with a silent, or "magic" e at the end), some science topics (the Water Cycle), more complex phonics (digraphs like "ck"), reading and sequencing, and mathematical concepts such as "more" and "less."ESL 3 -The ESL 3 class' main focus has been on building up vocabulary in a contextual manner. Basically, understanding not only what words mean, but how they are used. Other ways students study context in the ESL 3 class is through non-fiction readings and context clues. The students also practice many different kinds of concepts and ideas, like purpose of a text, fact vs opinion, and math based concepts too, such as money. Word building and spelling are also all very important areas of focus.