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Term break

Teaching suggestions will return in May

This is the term break for the Thai public school system and universities. Many international schools will also be taking shorter breaks. Thus, our teaching suggestions will take a break as well, returning in May when most schools reopen.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:28 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

March 14 lessons

Showing responsibility or playing a political game?

Today's story could be the basis of a fun speaking activity. Have part of the class focus on the statements of Governor Apirak and those supporting him (Mr Abhisit and Mr Sirichoke). Have them prepare to present and defend Mr Apirak's case orally. Have other students focus on the statements by those associated with the PPP (Chatuporn Promphan , Chalerm Yubamrung and Wichianchote Sukchoterat). Then have a discussion with students airing the various points of view. I would suggest this be rather informal with the students forcefully presenting their points, debating back and forth.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:34 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

March 13 lessons

Who's in charge?

The a number of legal issues that you might want to have your students consider today. First is the idea of how you might prove that a political party is a nominee of another. I made several suggestions of the type of evidence the EC might need to have in my introduction:

Would they need evidence that Mr Thaksin is making key PPP policy? Would they need evidence that banned former TRT members are involved in the party behind the scenes? Would they need evidence that the PPP is receiving funding from Mr Thaksin or former TRT members?

You might have your students think of additional evidence as well.

Next, from the story, does it many difference if a party is a nominee of another? Is it against the law? The story gives one opinion on this and have the students find it.

One thing that is against the law is for a banned politician to become involved with a political party? Does that seem to be the issue considered by the EC at this point? (Not really, or at least, not directly)

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:54 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

March 12 lessons

Exam cheating: Are the laws strong enough?

You might want to have your students first look back to the incident that led to the renewed interest in exam cheating. You can find that story here. Who was involved in that incident?

As far as this story is concerned, you might have the students read it and list the cheating methods described in the story. Do they know of any other methods as well?

For me, the most interesting and disturbing part of this story was the fact that there do not appear to be any laws relevant to exam cheating. I find this difficult to accept. The testing agency itself must be a victim of fraud, so why can't it file charges? What do your students think? What do they think about the cabinet's idea that the best way to combat cheating is to instill a sense honesty in students?

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

March 11 lessons

Kids in trouble Adults in trouble

Both of today's stories are rather short, so you might want to use them both with different groups reading different stories. When they are finished, have the students explain to each other what happened in each case. You might want to campare the wrongdoing in each case. Why do your students think the youngsters got involved in wrongdoing and why did the adults get themselves into trouble? Ignorance probably played a role in the kid's crime. Indeed, according to some TV reports, the boys claimed they didn't realise that they would cause the pylons to collapse. In the case of the condominium, however, it is hard to believe that those involved were ignorant of the rules and regulations. There must have been some form of collusion. So, in which case should the offenders be treated most harshly? In which case will the offenders be treated most harshly? See what your students think.

Why do we keep forgetting?

Lesson by Boon Boonprayoon

Most of the students are on their school holidays. Thus, I assume that most of the teachers checking in here are from international schools. You would surely know how to deal with the text. One important note on the reading skills among Thai students are that they are not likely to be able to apply grammar rules they have been learning repeatedly along with other skills. In reading, I would ask the students to write down the most important sentence in each paragraph. That is an easy but practical way to help them find out the main idea.

The story itself is very interesting. I would assign a 100-word passage on the working memory. The questions at the end of the material are guidelines for what the students need to include in their writing.

Exercise:
1.Working memory is a short-term memory. An ability to remember things from recent past.
2. Working memory helps you remember what a child has just learned and process that information and store it in to the right place.
3. "One little girl told me recently, 'Every time I read a sentence it erases the one that was before it,"' Levine said in a telephone interview. "That's a perfect example of an active working memory dysfunction."
4. Adults can remember only 3 to 5 things at a time. When there is more information to be remembered, the brain would automatically get rid of irrelevent information.
5. There is, however, no definite solution for working memory dysfunction. One of the suggestion is as follows: For the girl with the reading problem, Levine's solution was for her to own a set of school books so she could underline key points when she reads. Then she can read those points into a digital tape recorder and play them back.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:21 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)


Words in the News General News Business, Economics, and Technology News Business Words in the News Teaching with the Bangkok Post Feature Focus From the Weeklies Mainly for Fun Hey kids! Weekend Practice Lessons on H.M.the King 60 years ago World Cup English About Site General suggestions for teachers Building your vocabulary Suggestions for learners Suggestions for parents Who is Acharn Terry? Who is Acharn Jon?	Teaching with the Bangkok Post March 17, 2008 Term break Teaching suggestions will return in May This is the term break for the Thai public school system and universities. Many international schools will also be taking shorter breaks. Thus, our teaching suggestions will take a break as well, returning in May when most schools reopen. Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:28 AM \| Permalink \| TrackBacks (0) March 14, 2008 March 14 lessons Showing responsibility or playing a political game? Today's story could be the basis of a fun speaking activity. Have part of the class focus on the statements of Governor Apirak and those supporting him (Mr Abhisit and Mr Sirichoke). Have them prepare to present and defend Mr Apirak's case orally. Have other students focus on the statements by those associated with the PPP (Chatuporn Promphan , Chalerm Yubamrung and Wichianchote Sukchoterat). Then have a discussion with students airing the various points of view. I would suggest this be rather informal with the students forcefully presenting their points, debating back and forth. Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:34 AM \| Permalink \| TrackBacks (0) March 13, 2008 March 13 lessons Who's in charge? The a number of legal issues that you might want to have your students consider today. First is the idea of how you might prove that a political party is a nominee of another. I made several suggestions of the type of evidence the EC might need to have in my introduction: Would they need evidence that Mr Thaksin is making key PPP policy? Would they need evidence that banned former TRT members are involved in the party behind the scenes? Would they need evidence that the PPP is receiving funding from Mr Thaksin or former TRT members? You might have your students think of additional evidence as well. Next, from the story, does it many difference if a party is a nominee of another? Is it against the law? The story gives one opinion on this and have the students find it. One thing that is against the law is for a banned politician to become involved with a political party? Does that seem to be the issue considered by the EC at this point? (Not really, or at least, not directly) Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:54 AM \| Permalink \| TrackBacks (0) March 12, 2008 March 12 lessons Exam cheating: Are the laws strong enough? You might want to have your students first look back to the incident that led to the renewed interest in exam cheating. You can find that story here. Who was involved in that incident? As far as this story is concerned, you might have the students read it and list the cheating methods described in the story. Do they know of any other methods as well? For me, the most interesting and disturbing part of this story was the fact that there do not appear to be any laws relevant to exam cheating. I find this difficult to accept. The testing agency itself must be a victim of fraud, so why can't it file charges? What do your students think? What do they think about the cabinet's idea that the best way to combat cheating is to instill a sense honesty in students? Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:20 AM \| Permalink \| TrackBacks (0) March 11, 2008 March 11 lessons Kids in trouble Adults in trouble Both of today's stories are rather short, so you might want to use them both with different groups reading different stories. When they are finished, have the students explain to each other what happened in each case. You might want to campare the wrongdoing in each case. Why do your students think the youngsters got involved in wrongdoing and why did the adults get themselves into trouble? Ignorance probably played a role in the kid's crime. Indeed, according to some TV reports, the boys claimed they didn't realise that they would cause the pylons to collapse. In the case of the condominium, however, it is hard to believe that those involved were ignorant of the rules and regulations. There must have been some form of collusion. So, in which case should the offenders be treated most harshly? In which case will the offenders be treated most harshly? See what your students think. Why do we keep forgetting? Lesson by Boon Boonprayoon Most of the students are on their school holidays. Thus, I assume that most of the teachers checking in here are from international schools. You would surely know how to deal with the text. One important note on the reading skills among Thai students are that they are not likely to be able to apply grammar rules they have been learning repeatedly along with other skills. In reading, I would ask the students to write down the most important sentence in each paragraph. That is an easy but practical way to help them find out the main idea. The story itself is very interesting. I would assign a 100-word passage on the working memory. The questions at the end of the material are guidelines for what the students need to include in their writing. Exercise: 1.Working memory is a short-term memory. An ability to remember things from recent past. 2. Working memory helps you remember what a child has just learned and process that information and store it in to the right place. 3. "One little girl told me recently, 'Every time I read a sentence it erases the one that was before it,"' Levine said in a telephone interview. "That's a perfect example of an active working memory dysfunction." 4. Adults can remember only 3 to 5 things at a time. When there is more information to be remembered, the brain would automatically get rid of irrelevent information. 5. There is, however, no definite solution for working memory dysfunction. One of the suggestion is as follows: For the girl with the reading problem, Levine's solution was for her to own a set of school books so she could underline key points when she reads. Then she can read those points into a digital tape recorder and play them back. Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:21 AM \| Permalink \| TrackBacks (0)
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March 17, 2008