{"id":4162,"date":"2013-09-07T08:01:47","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T08:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eltweekly.com\/elt-newsletter\/?p=4161"},"modified":"2013-09-07T08:01:47","modified_gmt":"2013-09-07T08:01:47","slug":"vol-5-issue-33-do-you-use-newspapers-in-your-english-class-yet-by-eric-roth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/?p=4162","title":{"rendered":"Vol. 5 Issue 33 \u2013 &#8216;Do You Use Newspapers in Your English Class Yet?&#8217; by Eric Roth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong style=\"color: #ff0000; text-align: center;\"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>ELTWeekly Vol. 5 Issue#33 | September 9, 2013 |\u00a0<strong>ISSN 0975-3036<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Newspapers tell us the news, and inform us about how today is different from yesterday. They provide us with some clues and some information to help us better understand our rapidly changing world. They arrive at our homes, on our laptops, and in our libraries.<\/p>\n<p>But what about our English classrooms? How often do you use newspapers in your ESL classes?<\/p>\n<p>Newspapers allow students to expand their vocabulary, follow current events, and deepen their understanding of our rapidly changing world. As a former journalist, teaching English with newspapers and magazines seems absolutely natural. My standard homework requires students to select, read, summarize, and evaluate an article of their choice and bring to class for a discussion.<\/p>\n<p>Students provide the basic background information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Title author<\/li>\n<li>publication date<\/li>\n<li>length # of sources:<\/li>\n<li>List five new or important vocabulary words:<!--more--><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The ESL students also make some judgments:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What\u2019s a key quote?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s the main idea? Why?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, students answer three other questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What did you learn in this article?<\/li>\n<li>Why did you choose the article?<\/li>\n<li>How would rate the article on a scale of 1-10? Why?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students pursue their own interests \u2013 with some guidance \u2013 and develop a stronger English vocabulary that they want and need for their personal and academic development. Naturally, they bring in topics and articles, in English and from the internet, from around the world. This regular homework activity creates an engaging, informative classroom atmosphere while allowing students to \u201ccreate\u201d some course content.<\/p>\n<p>Many ESL and EFL teachers, however, often feel reluctant to use newspapers. Sometimes teachers feel that newspapers distract from their textbooks; sometimes it adds elements of uncertainty. I suspect, however, that many\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/compellingconversations.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/05\/english-teachers-confront-billion-person-question\/\">English teachers<\/a>\u00a0also don\u2019t quite know how to effectively deploy newspapers in their classrooms. The newspapers in classroom movement remains more of an ideal than common practice in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>American newspapers would like to change that fact.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/\">The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0wants ESL teachers to add their quality international paper to the curriculum. Here\u2019s an excellent 4-page primer outlining\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/learning.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/07\/10-ways-to-support-english-language-learning-with-the-new-york-times\/\">10 Ways to Support English Language Learners with the New York Times\u00a0<\/a>. And despite the descriptive headline, the informative\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/learning.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/07\/10-ways-to-support-english-language-learning-with-the-new-york-times\/\">article\u00a0<\/a>actually outlines over 25 activities and provides links to dozens of exceptional educational resources for both students and teachers. Students can find archival photographs to write postcards from the past, research their birthdays in history, find tourist information on their hometowns for oral presentations, and compare and contrast how different countries approach global problems. Worksheets have been developed for an online vocabulary log, understanding prepositions, and a problem-solution organizer.<\/p>\n<p>Bottomline: This exceptional, flexible teacher\u2019s resource makes using newspapers much easier for novice\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/compellingconversations.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/05\/english-teachers-confront-billion-person-question\/\">English teachers<\/a>\u00a0and time-starved experience ESL instructors.<\/p>\n<p>Can all English classrooms use newspapers? No. Yet many low level and intermediate classes can use Easy English Times, USA Today, or the local English paper and focus on simpler, shorter headlines and articles. High intermediate and advanced students, however, can \u2013 and I would suggest should \u2013 try to read serious newspaper such as The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s help our students and bring newspapers into our classrooms.<br \/>\nOur students, after all, want to understand their world \u2013 in English!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/learning.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/07\/10-ways-to-support-english-language-learning-with-the-new-york-times\/\">http:\/\/learning.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/07\/10-ways-to-support-english-language-learning-with-the-new-york-times\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Do you teach lower level English students? See these\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.easyenglishtimes.com\/classroom.html\">tips from the American literacy newspaper Easy English Times<\/a>\u00a0for beginner students)<\/p>\n<p>Ask more. Know more. Share more.<br \/>\nCreate\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.compellingconversations.com\/\">Compelling Conversations<\/a>.<br \/>\nVisit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.compellingconversations.com\/\">www.CompellingConversations.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ELTWeekly Vol. 5 Issue#33 | September 9, 2013 |\u00a0ISSN 0975-3036 Newspapers tell us the news, and inform us about how today is different from yesterday. They provide us with some clues and some information to help us better understand our rapidly changing world. They arrive at our homes, on our laptops, and in our libraries. 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