Friendship's Melody
Friendship is the sun's warm glow,
A priceless gem in life's treasure trove.
Together we find joy's reflection,
In the gentle hearts of true connection.
Friendship is a raindrop's kiss,
Tiny birds singing melodies of bliss.
Side by side, we paint the sky,
A garland of sweet memories, oh so high.
Friendship is the forest's song,
Love's tune that plays all day long.
With each heartbeat, we dance and sway,
Through sorrows and laughter, come what may.
Don Bormon is a student of grade nine in Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh.
How About it? Who are you?
Oh. Who are you? I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Who are you? All those houses up that way are for sale. I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Who are you? Why are all those houses up that way for sale? What the hell was that? I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Who are you? What the hell was that? I can’t get the car started. Let’s harvest some of that pronto hey mom look there’s two weasels hey mom look there’s two weasels and get it under a microscope.
But I don’t see how that can be ‘cause of the big bang. I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Wow we all thought this house was empty, I don’t remember seeing you living here before. I think I got a battery-powered transistor radio. Let me go get it. How ‘bout it? Look down there. What the hell was that? Everything just stopped, just like that. They’re bringing stuff out to the curb down there. Look. Who are you? Something wrong in the ground up there?
Look. Really? That’s why they’re all selling? I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Oh! They’re beautiful! How old are they now? Really? Why are they bringing that stuff out to the curb down there? Wow how time flies. But anyway. Who are you?
They always say every household should have a battery powered transistor radio. But we don’t got one. [flop] So what’s wrong in the ground that they all need to move? Do you got one? I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Who are you? I don’t remember seeing you living here before. How ‘bout it? Who are you? The sky up there look at it. I thought you said you had a battery powered transistor radio. I never knew it looked quite that blue. Okay—and no we didn’t hear nothing. That’s something. We didn’t hear nothing.
Why’d you say you had a battery powered transistor radio when you knew you didn’t have a battery powered transistor radio? No. You didn’t hear nothing? I mean dear God, it was something. We’re calling on neighbors who didn’t come out to make sure everything’s okay with them.
Why’d you say that eh you a liar? We—nobody knows but there was a big bang up in the sky and all the power cut off. Why’d you say that eh you a liar? A big bang in the sky someplace. Why’d you say that eh you a liar? They reached on the inside of the wall for the entryway light switch and managed to get the lights back on. They looked out.
What happened?
Why’d you say that eh you a liar?
Can’t tell.
Just a big bang in the sky someplace.
What?
Why’d you say that eh you a liar?
A big bang in the sky someplace.
Why’d you say that eh you a liar?
A big bang in the sky someplace.
You a liar? A liar? A liar?
You a liar?
No!
So = they left the house, through their never had been knocked on ever, door, leaving their brand new but already dead TV televisions “McVisionary and Pole” deeply branded dead set behind, and so even though they had got it for deep-free anyway, dear God Gimi Rando McRando never min all that damn anyway, get yourselves out there where you were then Gimi, for reasons having nothing to do with that one thought they had a battery-powered transistor radio but not never went back to get the damn thing here hey were deep seated o’re their elementalized correct element again as-as h-hey, strapped on their cestas, re-entered the court, and began to play. {pillo}
They still found the game to be su-uperprisingly easy{.} ? Easy sass’ Fly! Pop! so Back! Catch! play Fling! Fly! Pop! so Back! so Back! so Back! so Back!
“Isn’t this game great, great fun?”
“Yes it’s fun!”
A POSTCARD FROM PERU
Yerbabuena
We pass a young boy herding four yearlings. They startle at our engine’s grind, the glare of headlights, the shrill horn. In the dawn twilight, other trucks and combis are pulling up. Their passengers climb down, heavy bundles and baskets over shoulders, and enter the market yard.
The Sunday market in Yerbabuena is one of the largest in the region—and one of the few traditional trueque (bartering) markets that still exists. Folks have come from the many small villages and hamlets in this Utcubamba River valley, between Leymebamba and Chachapoyas.
Tarps are being stretched over rickety wooden stands. Offered wares are set out: horse tackle and ropes, sandals and slingshots (for hunting) made of old tires, produce from highlands and low. Wood fires in the comedores spice the growing morning.
Soon the bustling hustle is on. One woman offers half a saddlebag of corn for plantains. Yonder, a family is their calf. All around people are trading pottery for produce from a chakra (small farm), or well-bundled kindling for a trussed chicken (no doubt, this afternoon’s almuerzo).
I have nothing to trade—but soles (the local currency) are accepted for the bread and avocados I buy before hopping a truck towards the Revash ruins.
IN THE FRIGID NIGHT
18-19 March 1994 / Oaxaca to Mexico City (El Oaxaqueño / 2ª class)
I awaken at about 4:30 a.m. Our train is winding deep within the folds of the Sierra Madre. This night is frigid. I dig out my sleeping bag.
A father in one seat holds two of his small children tight. They wear only light cotton shirts. They might be migrating from the warmer lowlands – from Tapachula on the Guatemalan border, or perhaps from the Tehuantepec isthmus.
On the floor across the aisle, the mother shares their only blanket with the two younger children.
I unzip my sleeping bag open and hand it to them for the night. Father smiles and folds it around his son and daughter. Soon they fall asleep.
I put on another shirt and button up my jacket. Huddled within my seat, I watch the night silently slip by.
SUNSET JOURNEY
Across & across miles & miles of flat, dry-green savannah, the land rolling towards dark-treed mountains dressed in clouds, blue crystalline sky brushed with nebulous white, sunlight sheening off rivers graveled tresses braiding. Shadows sink deeper, rose perfumes periwinkle clouds, the setting sun honeys the grasses & trees of these flat, rolling sabanas, scattered settlements gather like the foothills, like the cumulus over that now-nearer sierra. Climbing through three lo-o-ong tunnels & finally into a high valley, pallid indigo sky stippled with clouds, the mountains covered with low brush, dwarf trees, cacti, bare rock folded, twisted, tilted by the millennia … all lost in the dusk.
Lorraine Caputo is a wandering troubadour whose writings appear in over 400 journals on six continents, and 23 collections – including In the Jaguar Valley (dancing girl press, 2023) and Santa Marta Ayres (Origami Poems Project, 2024). She also authors travel narratives, articles and guidebooks. Her writing has been honored by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada (2011) and thrice nominated for the Best of the Net. Caputo has done literary readings from Alaska to the Patagonia. She journeys through Latin America with her faithful knapsack Rocinante, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth. Follow her adventures at www.facebook.com/lorrainecaputo.wanderer or http://latinamericawanderer.wordpress.com.
SOMETIMES
Sometimes time rejects me
Sometimes I deny it.
There are still contradictions, contradictions,
I'm running away...
Sometimes protected by a long sentence,
One word and three points more meaningful.
Sometimes hidden in little verses,
The meaning of great sayings.
Sometimes it is not explained by silence
The thick darkness of speaking
And sometimes...
In the light of a darkened
Conscience
The greatness of time is clearly visible...
(Translated into English by: Elmaya Jabbarova.
20.04.2024.)
Shamsiya Khudoynazarova Turumovna (February 15, 1973) was born in Uzbekistan. Studied at the Faculty of Journalism of Tashkent State University (1992-1998). She took first place in the competition of young republican poets (1999). Four collections of poems have been published in Uzbekistan: “Leaf of the Heart” (1998), “Roads to You” (1998), “The Sky in My Chest” (2007), “Lovely Melodies” (2013). She wrote poetry in more than ten genres. She translated some Russian and Turkish poets into Uzbek, as well as a book by Yunus Emro. She lived as a political immigrant with her family for five years in Turkey and five years in Ukraine. Currently lives in Switzerland. Married, mother of five children. It was not possible to publish poems and translations written by the poet in the next ten years.
Five Haiku
this is not a drill
evacuate building 3
immediately!
—
appointment canceled
I wake up to a white sky
& hidden foothills
—
showertime prayers
thanksgiving for my rescue
from the hot water
—
spring’s first honeybee
in the blossoming fruit trees
my old neighborhood
—
above the foothills
a white duck without a bill
sits in the blue sky
—
bio/graf
J. D. Nelson’s poems have appeared in many publications, worldwide, since 2002. He is the author of eleven print chapbooks and e-books of poetry, including *purgatorio* (wlovolw, 2024). Nelson’s first full-length collection is *in ghostly onehead* (Post-Asemic Press, 2022). Visit his website, MadVerse.com, for more information and links to his published work. His haiku blog is at JDNelson.net. Nelson lives in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
We encourage everyone in the California area to attend the third annual Hayward Lit Hop on Saturday, April 27th.This is a public festival with different readings from different groups throughout downtown Hayward coinciding with Hayward’s choosing a new adult poet laureate, culminating in an afterparty at Hayward’s Odd Fellows Lounge. Several Synchronized Chaos contributors will read from their work at the 2024 Lit Hop.
This month’s issue deals with natural and cultural cycles, things coming and going, changing with time’s rhythm.
Sayani Mukherjee recollects the rise and fall of a sculpted fountain of water. Maja Milojkovic exudes the simple joy and beauty of living in a small house by the ocean.
In Brian Barbeito’s prose poetry, his speaker’s grief for his departed loved one is like memories of summer sun during a cold winter. Philip Butera’s take on grief resembles Barbeito’s, with poetry about “cottony clouds” stretched across the sky in winter. In contrast, Don Bormon presents a tortuous summer heat wave, where even the song of the birds is stilled by the weather. Mesfakus Salahin laments the twin tragedies of polluted nature and selfish, troubled humanity and pleads for mercy.
Mahbub Alam connects harm done to the planet’s ecology with illness in human bodies and souls. Sardor Yaxshilikov considers threats to the natural world, the environmental challenges posed by Uzbekistan’s industrialization and possible solutions for them. Daniyor Gulomjanov offers an analysis of the cost and efficiency of renewable energy in Eurasia, while Rahmatullayev Ahror discusses a new microcloning technique for seedling growth in laboratories.
Aqib Khurshid highlights how nature renews itself and grows again in verdant spring, as Mehvish Chouhan reflects on our personal renewal with each sunrise. Elmaya Jabbarova beckons her lover to join her in renewing their love with the new season. Kutlug Nigor’s poem concerns spring, regrowth, and the coming of the new year, as Shaxlo Safarova’s poem focuses on the promise of children.
Young Uzbek poet Kasimova Parizoda relates her determination to go forth and live her career dreams as a journalist. Graciela Noemi Villaverde relates her strident journey to retain her personal dignity and integrity.
Spanish photographer Kylian Cubilla Gomez sends up images of creative work: spiderwebs, paintings, and the buildings of a natural area. Isabel Gomez de Diego’s collection is a vibrant celebration of life: holidays, parks, children, sewing and haberdashery.
Dr. Lawrence Winkler, in his colorful and detailed Peruvian travelogue, explores a land where the present exists alongside the past. Jerry Durick’s poetry explores what we take and leave behind when we travel, as Stephen Jarrell Williams takes a less literal approach to life’s journeys, narrating a tale of lovers who withdraw from a broken world to find comfort in each other, then in their faith.
Patrick Sweeney’s fragmented one-liners show characters observing and chronicling the world, finding comfort where they can. Mykyta Ryzhykh speaks to navigating an indifferent universe, seemingly powerless against personal and geopolitical loss. Faleeha Hassan laments the pride and selfishness and privilege that leaders come from when they lead ordinary people into wars. Wazed Abdullah mourns the cost of the war in Gaza to children and civilians of all sorts.
Bill Tope addresses men’s vulnerability to society’s toxic and reductive ideas of masculinity and how those pressures victimize and demean both men and women. Rasheed Olayemi reminds us of the social and psychological toll of unemployment, as people need jobs for dignity as well as income. Sinanbinumer laments ethnic and religious intolerance’s role in worsening conflicts between Hindu and Muslim people in the Indian subcontinent and the role of sensationalized media in stoking tensions.
Pascal Lockwood-Villa’s poem narrator is a personified and dissatisfied mermaid statue, with strong opinions but little agency in her world.
Linda Springhorn Gunther’s memoir excerpt from A Bronx Girl illustrates her life as a vulnerable small child with an imaginative, loving, but delusional mother. She writes as an adult to make sense of her past, layering adult understanding onto her youthful narrative.
Dennis Vannatta’s story shows a man visiting his old haunts and discovering that the places have all changed without him. Taylor Dibbert’s poetic speaker reflects on a past relationship, at a safe enough distance now to wax philosophical.
J.J. Campbell evokes fleeting pipe dreams dashed by reality, while Daniel De Culla gives us an earthy and human look at the imperfect Gandhi.
Lola Hotamova writes of love and heartbreak, of the paradox of wanting an ex-lover to return but not wanting one’s heart broken again. Duane Vorhees’ speaker references past romantic crushes in his works on the slipperiness of memory and alienation from the world.
Zofia Mosur depicts a tender, desperate, almost incestuous, intimate relationship between a young girl and the female figures she draws.
In a more humorous vein, Stephen House looks at the human experience of procrastination, not acting on the many “shoulds” of life.
Alma Ryan challenges us to find moments of joy even if life is sad or off-kilter, while Shahnoza Ochildiyeva reflects on where and how to find personal happiness. Mirta Liliana Ramirez tastes each life experience in full like a seasonal fruit, gaining experience that helps her as she ages. Saodat Kurbanova explores how and why Uzbekistan is rated one of the world’s happiest nations.
Z.I. Mahmud probes the dawn of subjective individual consciousness in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.
Some other works delve so far into subjectivity that they remove the narrator altogether.
Janna Aza Karpinska constructs concrete visual poetry by pasting prepositions onto canvas and finishing the phrases in various ways. Texas Fontanella’s music involves rhyming couplets from fellow Synch Chaos concrete poet Mark Young. Marieta Maglas’ poems involve multiple senses, seeming at once tactile, auditory, and visual. Mark Young takes a similar approach to his ‘geography’ paintings, creating visual landscapes of imaginary places that highlight form, color, and text. J.D. Nelson peers at everyday foods through an off-kilter lens in short pieces that inspire second and third looks.
Quademay Usanova looks at language in an academic manner, comparing word formation in the Uzbek, Russian and Karakalpak languages. Halimova Nilufar Hakimovna explores various approaches to teaching linguistics, while Norbekova Rano probes the language of mathematics, discussing the history of the concept of the integral in calculus. Muntasir Mamun Kiron extols the elegance of science and electricity and power generation technology.
Madina Fayzullaeva outlines ways to improve and enhance digital education tools while Aziza Amonova explicates the results of a new Uzbek assessment of reading levels. Feruza Axmadjonova suggests methods for teaching English to very young children while Shoshura Khusenova offers up practical suggestions on how to teach language learning to a class of mixed abilities and experience.
Saodat Kurbanova evokes the experience of writing a poem, getting outside of herself and stepping into a sense of broader consciousness.
Zilola Khamrokulova reviews Ahmed Lufti Kazanchi’s book Stepmother, which extols the values of compassion and kindness for those in need, even those beyond your own family. Nosirova Gavhar’s short story advocates compassion for orphans and the poor. Nigar Nurulla Khalilova invites the forge of life to fashion her as an instrument for goodness and humanity.
Michael Robinson relates the powerful tale of how faith and family saved his life from drug abuse and loneliness. Kristy Raines highlights the beauty of a deep and caring marriage. Annie Johnson reflects on the steady joys of a long and committed relationship and family in her elegant poetry.
Ari Nystrom-Rice speaks to the moment where a couple’s individual life journeys merge into one, while Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa envisions a world without race, class, or gender prejudice where all people are free to live their dreams. Jacques Fleury suggests how to navigate complex dialogue on sensitive issues without losing sight of others’ humanity.
We hope that this issue provides a jumping-off point and ideas for you to engage in conversation with people around you.
WHAT IF STUDENTS ARE AT DIFFERENT LEVELS IN THE CLASSROOM?
3rd year student of English philology
faculty, Karshi State University
SHOSURA KHUSENOVA TOSHTEMIR QIZI
ABSTRACT
This article discusses the problem of pupils having varying levels and some useful approaches to use in the classroom. Differentiated, according to the author, is a strategy that “tailors instruction to meet the individual needs, strengths, and interests of all learners.” The article also offers numerous methods for putting diversified education into practice, including flexible grouping, giving students a choice, and using materials effectively.
Keywords:
Mixed-level students, formative assessment, multi-sensory instruction, peer-tutoring, set different academic expectations, ESL multilevel activities.
INTRODUCTION
Before you’ve even had a chance to finish passing the worksheet around to the entire class, you have a student, let’s call him Billy, who has finished it. Another student, Lily, is seated in the back and has no idea how to approach the situation at all. Not the best scenario, would you say? Unfortunately, it does occasionally occur, and it can worry TEFL instructors of all experience levels. What do you do then? Do you move on and leave poor old student Lily to keep their fingers crossed and hope for the best, or do you leave student Billy to sit there and fidget while the rest of the class catches up? Neither seems seem good, don’t they?
Despite being in the same class, students may not all be at the same academic level. This is evident in all classes, but it can be particularly obvious in a class intended to teach a language to non-native speakers. It is the responsibility of the teacher to recognize these variations in students’ skill levels and adjust their lesson plans accordingly. Like any other teacher, all of the above-mentioned situations happened to me in my classroom when I started my teaching career.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE?
Students in the class were at various levels, and a number of issues occurred that affected both my performance as a teacher as well as the students’ performances.
1. Boredom: When the topic seemed too simple for advanced students, they felt bored and disengaged.
2. Frustration and low self-esteem: Struggling students could not keep up with the class’s pace because they did not comprehend the topic, they grew frustrated and disappointed. While advanced students became overconfident and underestimated the difficulty of upcoming obstacles, struggling students had low self-esteem and believed they were not smart enough.
3. Burnout and stress: I also suffered from having to accommodate students with varying levels of ability in the same lesson. I always had to try to make sure everyone in a heterogeneous classroom was being challenged and learning the material.
WHAT APPROACHES TAKEN?
Regardless of the students’ individual ability levels, I searched for numerous techniques to create a challenging and supportive learning atmosphere where all students would be encouraged to realize their maximum potential. When trying to solve the issues, I started with diagnostic testing. The exam comprised questions that gauged whether or not students would possess the expected abilities required to grasp the new ideas in the course. Test results identified students’ particular needs and gaps in their knowledge, enabling me to classify them based on their developmental stage. I made a chart with the student’s name, grade, and any special requirements. To simply erase as fresh information was needed to track the pupils’ development, I used a pencil. After starting the class off with a warm-up exercise for the entire group, I moved on to a pairwork activity (cross-ability) and a small-group activity (like-ability), assisted students by moving from group to group, and finished with an activity or game for the entire class.
Formative assessment: Throughout the learning process, students were continuously evaluated to help them understand their strengths and flaws. Formative assessment data was used to modify lessons and offer specialized support to all students.
Selecting materials: Because there were a lot of students with comparable English proficiency levels, finding a core textbook for the class became helpful. The same textbook series needed to be used on more than one level. The use of a theme-based strategy was the best decision. One excellent strategy to keep the classroom environment feeling like a class in a multilevel setting is to keep all of your kids working on activities and lessons that are centered on the same theme. Thus, I used this strategy. It did not only make the pupils feel that they were all a part of the same group, but it also saved my time and helped me feel more organized. The theme was then used as the basis for further activities like games and debates.
Doing different tasks with the same material/technology and setting different expectations according to their abilities:
Where teachers use the same material with the whole class, differentiation can still take place. We can encourage students to do different tasks depending on their abilities. For instance, a reading text may contain sets of questions at three distinct levels. The better pupils will accomplish the first two sets easily, but they will have to put in a lot of effort on the third, the teacher instructs the class. The least capable kids might not make it past the first set. In a language learning activity, the teacher can request basic repetition from certain pupils while requesting more complicated statements from others. When asking students for answers or opinions, the teacher can make it clear that some students will only need to say one word, while others will be expected to provide longer, more in-depth responses. She can make sure that students are given roles or responsibilities that are appropriate for their level in role-plays and other speaking or group exercises. This technique was also one that I enjoyed most using because it helped to create a friendly atmosphere and meet every student’s academic needs. As a result, boredom among advanced students and low self-esteem among struggling students started to lessen.
Multi-sensory instruction: This method involves teaching English language skills utilizing all five senses (sight, sound, touch, and taste) and creating multiple ways to learn and understand the same concept, taking into account different learning styles, abilities, and interests. To engage students with different learning styles, teachers might use a variety of teaching materials such visual aids, audio recordings, and hands-on exercises. According to this, the lessons were held using different teaching styles integratedly. For example, when teaching topic vocabularies about transport, sheets with pictures and their translations were distributed at first. This was important to differentiate the spelling and pronunciation by seeing them on paper and pronouncing them. Listening tasks, word puzzles, and making up sentences were the next stages of the teaching process of new words. At the end of the lesson, the results were as expected.
Peer tutoring: In this approach, students of various skill levels are paired up so they can benefit from one another’s knowledge. For instance, in a writing class, an advanced student might be partnered with a struggling student so that the advanced student can mentor and help the struggling student. Remind students that teaching is the best way to learn, and encourage them to volunteer as peer tutors. Think about getting a volunteer. The students were so eager to teach each other because, in my opinion, working in groups, teamwork, and other activities were the reasons for having strong relationships in the classroom like a family.
Personalized Learning Plans: Students can go at their own speed and receive focused training in areas where they require more assistance or challenge by having individual learning plans made for them based on their strengths and limitations. In their workbooks, there were main tasks and optional tasks, and students were given tasks based on their abilities. Fast learners did optional tasks besides the main ones while their partners were accomplishing the main, compulsory task of the book.
Play games: Games are a great way to involve all levels of English learners. Even a game geared towards beginners can give advanced students a chance to practice speaking and listening. Plus, all students are more likely to learn when they’re having fun!
Pick teams: Choose teams strategically, make sure that no team contains only advanced students and no team contains primarily beginning students. The teams will be diverse, which will make everyone feel included and challenged. By choosing team captains and allowing them to alternately choose teammates, you might also allow students to choose their teams. Because advanced students are likely to be chosen first and then beginners, the teams will likely contain a mix of students from each level.
Active participation: Due to the active participation required, games aid in learning. Even better, give the victors a prize like an extra credit point. Everyone will be compelled to join since this will promote competition. The participation is what helps English language learners at all levels. In order to give pupils practice speaking, choose a game that involves speaking, such as “I Spy” if you are teaching colors. Choose games that can be played in pairs or small groups, like “Twenty Questions,” to increase participation because every student will have a chance to participate.
Having fun: Even if the game isn’t the most difficult for your advanced pupils, your students will still have fun and practice their English if you pick one they like. A strong learning incentive is enjoyment! Your kids will be more motivated to practice their English if they have the opportunity to engage in something silly or competitive. This repetition will help learners at all levels feel more at ease with unfamiliar terminology and grammatical structures. As a matter of fact, the majority of the teaching process consisted of playing games. Games not only helped learn the language in an easy manner, but they also gave a chance to put the knowledge obtained into practice.
The following activities were the most used ones to teach in a balanced way.
ESL MULTILEVEL ACTIVITIES
ESL Multilevel Activity 1 – Buddy Reading
This exercise is open to classes of any size. For instance, pupils pair up for buddy reading. In this mixed-ability activity, one student reads while their “buddy” corrects the reader’s pronunciation. With adults, it is frequently simple because it is akin to studying with others outside of class. Do demonstrate this for the group first, though. It is advantageous for all sides when higher-level students keep an eye on lower-level students. Interesting though it may seem, having lower-level students observe higher-level students frequently aids the latter in being aware of the mistakes they do.
ESL Multilevel Activity 2 – Peer Editing
Similar to this, peer editing enables students to assess each other’s work and provide feedback that is appropriate for their skill levels. Independently, students can write rough drafts. More complicated and lengthy writings can be written by advanced ESL students than by their peers. The final step before drafting the final draft is peer editing. Along with grammar and punctuation, students can talk about the text’s content. Of course, playing games is the ultimate multilayer ESL activity. The beauty of games is that, despite students having widely varying English proficiency levels, they are typically excellent at fostering meaningful connection between them. So that all pupils may take part in the games together, teach the required grammatical rules and new vocabularies beforehand.
ESL Multilevel Activity 3– How it’s Made
“How it is made” requires directions on assembling something.
Instructions on how to assemble something are needed for the activity How It’s Made. Making peanut butter sandwiches or other straightforward meals is enjoyable, despite the fact that it involves some preparation. Every student must select where they fit in after discussing their task with the other students that have the same stage in the process. Use this technique with Lego, puzzles, or blocks. Give the more knowledgeable students longer instructions or more complicated processes. Putting the wheels on the Lego car is an easy task for beginners. The model’s instructions can be made slightly larger by photocopying them. Then, divide them up and assign one or two paragraphs to each student. To ensure sufficient instruction, it’s ideal to have one model for every three or four students. For maximum participation and speaking practice, it is recommended to have one model for every three or four pupils.
How It is Made Variant
If you do not have any instructions on hand, another strategy is to explain that no pupil may move a piece without first speaking. A pupil MUST speak in English if they wish to pick up some material to see if it fits the model. For example, using a crossword with some red flowers: Advanced pupils describe their actions in real time, saying things like, “I’m just going to test if this small red piece fits on here… it looks like that it might be a part of a flower. Oh no, that’s wrong. Instead of saying, “I think this is a flower,” or “It fits/it does not fit,” a lower level student would say, “I think this is.” Students may also repeat any line; it is not necessary for it to be associated in any way with the model’s or puzzle’s theme. So a beginner student could say, “I like pears.” They are now qualified to attempt a component on the puzzle or model thanks to their input. Working in multiple groups, they can compete against one another to determine who finishes first.
ESL Multilevel Activity 4 – Jigsaw Reading
Jigsaw reading takes little time to set up. Choose a reading text to start with, then use activities to introduce the vocabulary and grammar. Next, divide the text into sections, giving more difficult passages to advanced students and shorter, easier passages to lower-level students. The article or tale is then read silently by each student. After reading, students can either write or present an oral summary of the article or story. As an alternative, students might recreate the article in the proper order and compare it to the original text together. Give each student three or four images that are similar but not identical and instruct them to work in pairs. So, for instance, put four images of cars that are similar on the board or table. One student responds to the questions posed by the other pupils while holding a duplicate image of one of the cars. These pupils use questions to whittle down their options and identify the corresponding image. Because asking questions is harder than answering them, the more advanced students should do so.
RESULT: At the end of the term, a huge difference was witnessed. Precisely, a strong relationship between students, a strong desire to help each other and study together, improvement in slow learners’ language capability, and consolidated knowledge because of games and practices are just a few examples of the approach taken.
CONCLUSION
However, multi-level-class problems have advantages. Yes, advantages!
Everyone’s social abilities, but notably those of high achievers, are enhanced in heterogeneous teams. High achievers by definition have no issues with academic material. Their need for improvement in interpersonal connections is frequently greater. High achievers gain coaching, encouragement, praise, tutoring, and patient waiting skills in mixed teams. Our high achievers develop their leadership abilities by putting them to use in their teams.
In short, multi-level classes are not easy to teach, but are certainly an excellent opportunity to develop one’s teaching skills. This is a vast topic.
