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TEN EAL/D Focused

Activities for Primary

School Students

Leesa Holbert

EDLA 345 TESOL TECHNIQUES

Lecturer Dr. Dianne Cullen

Meet Marley

ACTIVITY BOOKLET

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INTRODUCTION

What distinguishes an EAL/D activity from a literacy activity?

Teaching the grammar EAL/D students need TOGETHER with the content they need to know is what distinguishes an

EAL/D activity from a literacy activity. EAL/D students require specific support, and what is good for EAL/D students is

good for all students.

This booklet contains ten teaching activities specifically designed for EAL/D students, and targeted towards a Year 5/6

level. These activities have been based around the Australian novel Meet Marley by Alice Pung.

Much of the insight gained into the TESOL techniques employed in these ten types of activities has been gathered

from Pauline Gibbons 2015 book; Scaffolding language, Scaffolding learning.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and reporting Authority (ACARA) states -

All teachers are responsible for teaching the language and literacy demands of their learning areas.

EAL/D STUDENTS REQUIRE SPECIFIC SUPPORT to build the English language skills needed to access the general curriculum,

in addition to learning area-specific language structures and vocabulary.

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CONTENTS

A COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Preference order for Adjectives ................................................................................................................................................................. 5

CARD GAME – Describing characters from Meet Marly .............................................................................................................................................................. 6

ADJECTIVE CARDS ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS – Sentence strips! ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8

AN INFORMATION GRID .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Adjectives of degree ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

DONUT CIRCLES ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Irregular past tense .................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

ACTIVITY: DaWei & Tuyet practice using irregular verbs ........................................................................................................................................................... 13

MINIMAL PAIR EXERCISES .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Differentiating Phonemes ........................................................................................................................................................................ 15

A BARRIER GAME ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Prepositional phrases ............................................................................................................................................................................... 16

A CLOZE ACTIVITY............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Pronouns ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

WORKSHEET – Choose the correct pronoun to complete the sentence .................................................................................................................................. 20

TEXT RECONSTRUCTION .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Subordinate Conjunctions ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21

WORKSHEET – Before or Because? ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 22

A WORD WALL ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Modality ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 23

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SPLIT DICTATION ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 24

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Direct speech ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 24

TALKING POINTS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 26

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Possessive pronouns ............................................................................................................................................................................. 26

REFERENCE LIST ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 28

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A COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Preference order for Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns. They work with the noun to give clear pictures of people, places and things.

Opinion adjectives tell us what you think about somebody or something.

Fact adjectives give us factual information about somebody or something.

There is an English preference order for adjectives. Opinion adjectives usually go before fact adjectives.

Fact adjective order: size, age, shape, colour, origin, material and purpose.

FUNCTION STRUCTURE

Describing characters

from Meet Marly

Marly is a _____ , _____ girl. Uncle Beng is a _____ , _____ man. Aunty Tam is a _____ , _____ woman. DaWei is a _____ , _____ boy. Tuyet is a _____ , _____ girl. Mrs Louden is a _____ , _____ teacher. Beanshoot is a_____ , _____ baby. Kylie is a _____ , _____ girl. Zane is a _____ , _____ boy.

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CARD GAME – Describing characters from Meet Marly

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spread the sentence strips face up on the table.

2. Place the adjective cards face down on the table.

3. In turn, each student turns over an adjective card and reads it out.

4. Students discuss if it is an opinion adjective or a fact adjective, and the student places the adjective card in the

correct place on the matching sentence strip.

5. The student who completes the sentence strip must then read the full sentence out loud.

6. The game continues until all sentences have been completed and read out loud.

Small group game

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ADJECTIVE CARDS

cheeky Vietnamese creative refugee fun 7-year-old

skinny middle-aged beautiful married fair primary

mean Australian popular school destructive neighbourhood

Laminate and cut adjective cards out

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CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS – Sentence strips!

Marly is a ______, ______ girl.

DaWei is a ______, ______ boy.

Tuyet is a ______, ______ girl.

Aunty Tam is a______, ______ woman.

Uncle Beng is a ______, ______ man.

Opinion Fact

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion Fact

Fact

Fact

Fact

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Mrs Louden is a _____, _____ teacher.

Kylie is a ______, ______ girl.

Zane is a ______, ______ boy.

Beanshoot is a ______, ______ baby.

Laminate and cut sentence strips out

Fact

Fact

Fact

Fact

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion

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AN INFORMATION GRID

This is an information transfer activity whereby information in a text is represented in another way. It requires

students to pick out main points from an information text and is a good resource for research and later writing.

(Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Adjectives of degree

There are three degrees: positive, comparative and superlative

The children in Meet Marly are responsible for doing chores at home. Tuyet and Marly initially have different

reactions to helping out their family.

INSTRUCTIONS – In pairs, students work together to compile knowledge on an information grid. They then add their

information to the class data and compile findings on which the class votes as the overall best and worst chore.

Class discussion: What chores are mentioned in the book Meet Marly? What chores do you for your family? Which

chore is your most favourite? Which chore is your least favourite?

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CONSTRUCT A TABLE – Chores from Meet Marly

Choose three chores and rate them by degree - good, better and best OR bad, worse and worst.

I think this is a good chore. I think this is a bad chore.

I think this is a better chore. I think this is a worse chore.

I think this is the best chore. I think this is the worst chore.

What do you think?

Washing the dishes is …

Sweeping the floor is …

Peeling the vegetables is …

Shelling the peas is …

Snipping loose thread is …

Babysitting is …

Marly good better the best

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DONUT CIRCLES

In two concentric circles with equal numbers, children face each other and have a short conversation. One circle then

moves on and the process is repeated. (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Irregular past tense

Verbs show the particular interactions between people, places, events and objects. Verbs consist of one or more

words that tell us what is going on in a sentence.

Activity: Changing verbs to present, past tense and past participle form.

Irregular past tense verbs and past participles do not end in the suffix -ed.

SCENARIO: Marly heard Tuyet drilling her little brother DaWei spelling words behind the curtain on a Saturday

morning. They were geniuses! She wondered what else they were hiding from her...

INSTRUCTIONS – The outer circle (Circle DaWei) faces inward, and the inner circle (Circle Tuyet) faces outward.

Each DaWei circle student begins the conversation by reading out one verb and completing the phrase Today I am ….

with its present tense.

Each Tuyet circle student responds with the correct corresponding verb by completing the phrase Yesterday I …. with

its past tense.

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ACTIVITY: DaWei & Tuyet practice using irregular verbs

Verb Today I am …

blow blowing

sing singing

begin beginning

write writing

ride riding

break breaking

shut shutting

slide sliding

hit hitting

ring ringing

hurt hurting

DaWei says

Today I am …

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ACTIVITY: DaWei & Tuyet practice using irregular verbs

Verb Yesterday I …

blow blew

sing sang

begin began

write wrote

ride rode

break broke

shut shut

slide slid

hit hit

ring rang

hurt hurt

Tuyet says

say

Yesterday I …

say

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MINIMAL PAIR EXERCISES

These are designed to help children hear the differences between the phonemes of English. (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Differentiating Phonemes

This activity provides focused practice to help students differentiate between pairs of words that differ in one sound

INSTRUCTIONS - Give students a list of pairs of words taken from Meet Marly.

Students listen to one of the two words being read and circle on their list the one they think they hear.

Initial sound Middle sound Final sound

Marly Barley Love Live Think Thing

Spell Bell Rule Role Sent Send

Stay Play Sick Sack Took Tool

Mother Brother Play Pray Share Sharp

School Stool Plane Pain Mean Meat

Face Space Wash Wish Doll Dot

Doll Stole Moon Men Sit Six

Home Roam String Sing Head Heart

Game Shame Bed Bread Goal Goat

Cry Lie Hot Hate Loop Loot

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A BARRIER GAME

Barrier games are usually played in pairs, and involve solving a problem of some sort. Each player has different

information that they both need if they are to solve the problem. (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Prepositional phrases

Prepositions are words used to position people or things. A phrase is often introduced by a preposition.

INSTRUCTIONS –

Student A has a map of Sunshine Primary school which details the location of certain buildings, objects and people.

Student B must ask questions in order to identify what building, object or person can be found at each indicated site.

Each question in this activity contains a prepositional phrase for the students to practice.

Example question structure - What is under the apple tree?

Who is aboard the school bus?

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Kylie

Mrs Louden

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SUNSHINE PRIMARY SCHOOL MAP CHALLENGE –

Answers

1. What toy is in the garbage bin?

2. Who is behind the wooden sign?

3. What lies beneath the slide?

4. Which building is near the fence?

5. Which teacher stands before the children?

6. What colour bird is on the apple tree?

7. What is in the recycle bin?

8. What grows against the library fence?

9. What is beside the teacher’s feet?

10. What is parked after the stop sign?

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A CLOZE ACTIVITY

Cloze activities are pieces of text with some words deleted (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Pronouns

A pronoun is a word standing in place of a noun. They have singular, plural and possessive forms.

Examples include; I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they or them.

INSTRUCTIONS – After providing explicit instruction regarding the use of pronouns have children work singularly or in

pairs to complete the following Meet Marly inspired worksheet.

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me it

he

him

her

I we she

you

they them us

WORKSHEET – Choose the correct pronoun to complete the sentence

Marly gazed at her cousins. Marly gazed at _______.

Their house would be getting smaller. _______ would be getting smaller.

Da Wei came out from behind his mother and looked at Marly. DaWei came out from behind his mother and looked at ______.

“The cars here go so fast!” exclaimed DaWei. “_______ go so fast!” exclaimed DaWei.

“Then this must be a very lucky country indeed,” breathed Aunty Tam.

“Then this must be a very lucky country indeed,” _______ breathed.

She and her cousins ate coco pops for breakfast and sometimes lunch, and often a snack.

_______ ate coco pops for breakfast and sometimes lunch, and often a snack.

The other kids left Marly and her cousins alone at lunch time. “The other kids left _______ alone at lunch time,” said Marly.

Marley gloated that there was no way Kimberly would make as good a Ken as Marly had been.

“There’s no way Kimberly would make as good a Ken as _______ had been,” said Marly.

Marly felt free, she didn’t care what Jessica and Kylie thought of her anymore.

Marly felt free, she didn’t care what _______ thought of her anymore.

“Family must always stick together,” her father told her. “_______ must always stick together,” her father told her.

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TEXT RECONSTRUCTION

Students reconstruct a text that has been cut up into sentences or paragraphs. They should be able to explain the

sequence they have chosen. This is a good activity for focusing on the cohesive links across sentences, such as

pronoun reference and conjunctions. (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Subordinate Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that join ideas together in a meaningful way. Subordinate conjunctions join a main and

subordinate clause, there are many subordinate conjunctions, for example – before, after, because, even, if, once,

provided, since, then, unless, when, where etc.

Before - shows a TIME relationship between two clauses.

Because - shows a REASON OR CAUSE relationship between two clauses.

INSTRUCTIONS

The following targeted activity allows for repetitive practice regarding the correct use of two similar conjunctions.

This activity explores the structure of sentences.

After providing explicit instruction regarding the use of conjunctions have students work singularly or in pairs to

complete the following Meet Marly inspired worksheet.

Students reconstruct sentences by writing in the correct subordinate conjunction, ‘before’ or ‘because’, in the middle

column to connect the main and subordinate clauses.

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before because

WORKSHEET – Before or Because?

Main Clause Conjunction Subordinate Clause

DaWei and Tuyet lived in a refugee camp they arrived in Australia.

Uncle Beng cut DaWei’s hair he cut Marly’s hair.

DaWei and Tuyet let Marly join in they saw she had lost her friends.

Aunty Tam couldn’t leave Hong Kong her mother got very sick.

“They took me away for re-education I was a Chinese merchant,” said Uncle Tam.

Mr O’Farrell raised the Australian flag the students sang the National Anthem.

Tuyet brought Marly her lunch she had forgotten it that morning.

“You’re really helpful now,” said Aunty Tam Marly offered to hang out the washing.

Twirly Curls Barbie was faded and old Tuyet cleaned her and made her new clothes.

Marly had felt lonely at school her cousins came to Sunshine Primary school.

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always often sometimes seldom never

A WORD WALL

This is a display of words that are relevant to a particular topic. They are organised according to types of meanings.

(Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Modality

Modals modify the directness of a request or suggestion by changing the wording of our message. They can add

certainty, usuality and obligation.

INSTRUCTIONS – Develop a word wall around the characteristics of a good friend.

Ask the class the following three discussion questions:

What is a friend?

Why is it important to have good friends?

How can we be good friends?

Using the following modulation headings, develop a class word wall - Friends are people who …

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SPLIT DICTATION

This is a listening activity in which pairs of students each have part of a text. By dictating the part they have to their

partner, each student completes the text by filling in what is missing. (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Direct speech

Sentences can directly record the speech of one person to another. This is called direct speech or dialogue. In writing,

direct speech is shown by placing inverted commas around the spoken words.

1. The first spoken word has a capital letter.

2. Spoken words are separated from unspoken words by a comma, question mark or exclamation.

3. Each new speaker is given a new line.

INSTRUCTION – Before this activity, focus the students’ attention on the above features, as well as on reading the text

out clearly. Student A and Student B work in pairs, taking turns to dictate missing sections of text to one another,

reading the text out and sharing their information until each student has a complete text copy.

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Student A Student B

Kylie piped up between tears, __________

_______________

__________________________. I find

her.”

Mrs Louden looked at Tuyet long and hard.

“Is this true?”

________

She then turned to Kylie and looked at her

long and hard too. ______________ Did

you throw this doll away in the bin?

_________________

Kylie looked at the ground and murmured,

___________________

“She left it in there all day and didn’t go

back to get it,” said Marly. “I saw.”

_______________________, “Miss, Miss,

she stole my Barbie!”

“Did not! You throw her in rubbiss. ______

______

Mrs Louden looked at Tuyet long and hard.

____________

“Yes.”

She then turned to Kylie and looked at her

long and hard too. “Is that true Kylie?

____________________________

Now don’t lie to me.”

Kylie looked at the ground and murmured,

“But it was only a joke.”

__________________________________

____________ said Marly. “I saw.”

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TALKING POINTS This activity is based on a statement, or list of statements, that relate to a topic, and that are factually correct or incorrect, or

contentious. It stimulates interaction, thinking and learning. It is a simple activity for stimulating speaking, thinking, listening, and

learning (Gibbons, 2015).

LINGUISTIC FEATURE – Possessive pronouns

Like nouns, possessive pronouns show ownership.

“What is in a name?”

SCENARIO: “Marly, what English names should we give your cousins for school?” Marly’s father asked her.

“What’s wrong with the names they already have?” asked Uncle Beng.

INSTRUCTIONS –

“Everyone who immigrates to Australia from another country should choose an English name to use in Australia

instead of their birth name.” Do you agree?

Initially in small groups of four, children express their opinions and justify their reasoning using the sentence

structures listed below. Recording each of their groups statements.

A whole class feedback session then records and further investigates the findings and opinions together.

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Possessive (Singular) Possessive (Plural)

my, mine our, ours

yours yours his their, theirs

her, hers their, theirs

FUNCTION STRUCTURE

Making a statement

In my opinion … I agree with her opinion … I disagree with his opinion … This is my opinion … This is our opinion … This is their opinion …

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REFERENCE LIST

Pung, A. (2015). Meet Marly. Australia. Penguin Group.

Gibbons, P. (2015). Scaffolding language scaffolding learning: Teaching English language learners in the mainstream

classroom. (2nd Ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, (2012). English as an Additional Language or Dialect

Teacher Resource. NSW: ACARA.

de Courcy, M., Dooley, K., Jackson, R., Miller, J. & Rushton. (2012). Teaching EAL/D learners in Australian classrooms.

PETAA Paper 183. Sydney, NSW: PETAA.

Davison, C. (1990). When nature needs some help. In TESOL in Context. 1(1), 15-18

Merrick. D. (2016). Grammar Guide. Glebe, NSW. Pascal Press.

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2012). English as an additional language or dialect:

Teacher resources. EAL/D learning progression.

http://www/acara.edu.au/verve/resources/eald resources/eald learning.progression.pdf

http://www.losmedanos.edu/core/documents/Conjunctionscontd..pdf

de Neefe. T. (2015) Meet Marly cover portrait. Retrieved from https://penguin.com.au/books/our-australian-girl-

meet-marly-book-1-9780143308492

Yamad. (2010) Clipart Image boy saluting. Retrieved from https://openclipart.org/detail/58321/child

Piacenti. J. (2016) Clipart Image teacher. Retrieved from http://www.teachingintheprimarygrades.com/

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Clipart Image Apple Tree. (2012) Retrieved from http://ar.clipshrine.com/%D8%B4%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A9-

%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86-13938-medium.html

Clipart Image Slide. (2014) Retrieved from https://openclipart.org/detail/191139/childrens-slide

Clipart Image School Bus. Retrieved from http://firstgradefactory.blogspot.com.au/2011_07_01_archive.html

Clipart Image Asian Boy. Retrieved from http://www.clipshrine.com/Boy-Face-Happy-10366-medium.html

Clipart Image Asian Girl. Retrieved from http://www.clipshrine.com/girl-happy-smiling-big-eyes-5627-medium.html