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1. An Integrated Skills Lesson Plan for "A Postcard from America" by Robert Olen Butler

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 1 Format(s): Text

   This lesson plan is based on the feature article, “Postcards from America” by Robert Olen Butler. It is appropriate for high intermediate to advanced students. The lesson integrates the four skills and has five parts: Preparing to Read, Reading the Text, Understanding the Text, Making Connections Beyond the Text, and Integrating Language Skills. The lesson includes group discussion of comprehension questions, scanning for vocabulary, and using the dictionary.

2. An Integrated Skills Lesson Plan for "Maps and Legends" by Michael Chabon

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 2 Format(s): Text

   This lesson plan is based on the article “Maps and Legends” by novelist Michael Chabon and is for high intermediate to advance students. The lesson includes group and pair work. Students discuss the neighborhood where they grew up. They read the text and identify unfamiliar words, then answer comprehension questions in writing or discussion groups. Post-reading activities include scanning, inferring meaning from context, dictionary practice, and discussion questions. The lesson ends with questions to make connections beyond the text and project ideas.

3. Classroom Activities

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Three stand-alone language-learning activities related to the theme of spring.

4. Good Morning New Orleans

   In: American Rhythms Format(s): MP3

   Jazz musician Kermit Ruffins Louisiana sings about his native city of New Orleans, which is considered the birthplace of jazz music.

5. To Build a Fire and Other Stories

   Format(s): MP3, Text

   If you like stories about wilderness and survival, check out Jack London’s To Build a Fire and Other Stories. This reader is designed for intermediate-level English learners. Download it for free!

6. The Children’s Response

   Format(s): Text

   The Children’s Response is based on Asher’s Total Physical Response (TPR) method.

7. Creating a Storytelling Classroom for a Storytelling World

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article explores the value of storytelling in English language learning. Strong emphasis is placed on the role that stories of personal experience play in human interaction and how these natural conversations foster a better language learning experience. The author outlines a four-step approach to help students develop conversational skills as storytellers, including techniques for improving fluency and honing listening skills.

8. Poetry Corner: Reading and Reacting to a Michigan Poem

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   “Poetry Corner: Reading and Reacting to a Michigan Poem” consists of activities targeting reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills using a Michigan poem called “How Is It That the Snow,” written by poet Robert Haight, who lives in Michigan.

9. The Wanderer of the North

   In: To Build a Fire and Other Stories Format(s): Text

   In this story from To Build a Fire and Other Stories, a mysterious stranger tells a few mushers about how he followed his wife's kidnapper from his home in the Aleutian Islands to Tokyo Bay and finally to the Yukon Territory in Canada.

10. To Build a Fire

    Format(s): Text

    In this quintessential "man vs. nature" story, a traveller is grossly unaware of how cold it can get on the Yukon trail. He struggles to survive by persistent attempts to build a fire.

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