Sarah Mckenzie

First I make an oral assessment of my students' speaking ability by showing an item such as a cowboy hat or a subject of interest in current events. Then I have them describe it in as much detail as they can. For a pronunciation check I also have the students read aloud from a text I provide such as a news article.
My lessons are then developed to launch from student interests and the type of English they want to learn. I assemble relevant writings and materials about current and historical events. For example, in teaching an elementary group of students in Ecuador I used a true story written in first person by a 17-year-old girl who survived a fall from a passenger airplane over the Peruvian jungle in 1970. We learned of her struggles, injuries, and how she eventually contacted rescuers. We studied her injuries, the rainforest environment, and the types of animals and insects she encountered. My students drew pictures and discussed her survival techniques. Then we learned about her as a grown-up, her struggles to make sense of her experience, and her continuing studies of butterflies in that jungle. By the time they finished the multiple lessons they had assembled their own book.
For university students I taught in China we read a true story by an American journalist. On a bus ride he met a passenger who had just been released from prison. He had written to his wife and asked her to tie a yellow ribbon on a large oak tree if she wanted him home. When his stop came up he saw dozens of yellow ribbons on trees everywhere. We also listened to and learned the famous song, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" by Tony Orlando and Dawn.