HEROES Teacher's Guide - Book - Page 12
b. How to Review Vocabulary
The activities in Heroes are of a “spiraled curriculum” nature, meaning the
vocabulary and language skills are re-entered and deepen the pupil’s knowledge of
the language from part to part and from unit to unit. Vocabulary is reviewed and reentered at different times through different sources and activities: flashcards,
movement, songs, communicative games, stories and storybook pictures, drama,
and multi-sensory tasks in the Course Book.
The teacher should take every opportunity to maximize review of vocabulary in the
myriad of material provided. This can be done, for example, by utilizing storybook
pictures to ask questions related to previously taught vocabulary, playing games to
recycle words and lexical chunks, or expanding on Course Book tasks in order to
review. Within the program, every part of every unit includes review tasks. Specific
suggestions for doing so are included in the detailed instructions of the Teacher’s
Guide.
Word Workout is a culmination of all vocabulary, lexical chunks, and phonemic
awareness skills taught throughout the year and, therefore, appears at the end of
the Course Book. It provides comprehensive review as it is structured such that
pupils extensively practice the targeted language of all units combined, thereby
reinforcing accumulated knowledge. By this stage, pupils are encouraged to perform
the tasks more independently.
c. Choral and Individual Repetition
Pupils must be active users of the foreign language in order to learn it. Repetition of
vocabulary and lexical chunks and expressions helps pupils internalize the foreign
language. Repetition can be choral or individual. Choral repetition is a motivating
way to get pupils to participate actively in the lesson while reinforcing target
vocabulary and language. It builds confidence and allows even timid pupils to
practice using the language without focusing attention on him/herself. Pupils can
participate in chants, songs, and interactive reading chorally, adding movements.
Clapping their hands or stamping their feet adds an additional physical response to
the choral reading activity, further involving the pupils in the language-using
experience.
d. Games for Practice and Reinforcement of Vocabulary
Games provide a wonderful opportunity to engage students in using the language
for real communication purposes. They are fun, motivating, and maintain the pupils’
interest while practicing vocabulary and natural lexical chunks and discourse. Many
can also be played in pair or group competitions.
Every unit part in this program incorporates games. In addition to reinforcing the
new language in a particular part/unit, the teacher is also provided with games for
reviewing previously taught words. The teacher should play review games with the
class periodically throughout the unit to re-enter language and reactivate and use
vocabulary and lexical chunks that have been taught in previous units.
A full list of all the game instructions in the program appears in Appendix III.
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