How to deliver the Ollie the Elephant — Learning Made Easy English Basic Words Program to ESL students:
This program is designed to rapidly get a person speaking English.
Unlike other programs, it does not focus on phonics or grammar. These come at much later stages in language development.
This program starts with the foundation of the English language: simple and common words which comprise 30 to 50 percent of most English sentences. Getting these simple words understood, and teaching how to use them, is vital to a rapid start in learning English.
Materials Needed:
- Ollie the Elephant — Learning Made Easy English Basic Words Booklets 1-164.
- Accompanying workbooks (workbooks include checksheets, exercises, and drills).
The Ollie the Elephant — Learning Made Easy English Basic Words Program can be delivered one-on-one by a tutor, or in multiple partnerships (when one is working with a group).
Program Stages:
There are two major stages of a successful program.
- The first stage consists of studying the booklets and learning the most important definitions of simple words.
- The second stage consists of drills, in which one learns to recognize different definitions within a sentence. These drills are vital. They produce a working understanding of the words and how they are used.
Procedure:
- Get Booklet #1 of the Ollie the Elephant — Learning Made Easy English Basic Words Series, and go to page 2. Have the student read the meaning of the word as it is used in that booklet. Make sure it is understood.
- Have the student read the first sentence aloud.
- Have the student look at the picture to see an example of how the word is used.
- Check for understanding by having the student explain what the sentence means. If any words in the sentence are not understood, make sure these are understood. You can often do this by pointing at an object in the picture.
- If the student has trouble, have him read it again. If needed, break the sentence down into smaller parts, and have him drill saying those smaller parts until he can easily read the sentence aloud with no difficulty.
You may find that you have to drill the sentence word by word: first just having him say one word, then adding the next word, then having him say only the first two words, etc. Do this until the student can read the whole sentence easily.
DO NOT MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SENTENCE UNTIL THE STUDENT CAN EASILY AND CONFIDENTLY READ THIS SENTENCE ALOUD.
While this may seem slow and the student may want to go on to the next sentence, the student is learning to SPEAK. This takes practice.
If you follow these instructions carefully, you will see the learning speed increase dramatically after just a few booklets, and it will continue speeding up. If you violate these instructions you can slow the progress of the program dramatically.
- When the student can read the sentence easily and understands it, move onto the next page and have him read that sentence aloud.
- Once again, have the student look at the picture to see how the simple word is used.
- Check for understanding by asking what the sentence means in his own words. If there is any difficulty, find out what is not understood and have him reread the sentence aloud.
- Repeat the above steps for every example sentence in the booklet.
- Once you reach the last page, have the student make up his own example sentences according to how the word is used in the booklet. Listen to the sentences. Most simple words have more than one meaning. Make sure that the example sentences the student is making use the right meaning of the word for that booklet.
- Once the student feels confident in making sentences according to the meaning given in the booklet, you are done with that booklet.
- Go on to the next booklet on the checklist and repeat the same procedure.
- Once all meanings for one of the simple words are covered, there is a drill to do for that word.
- Take out the drill pack and find the drill for the word just studied. The drill is divided into two steps.
- For the first step, give the definition sheet and the question sheet to the student.
- Take the answer sheet yourself. (The answer sheet has the correct answers noted.)
- Have the student read the first sentence, look over the definition sheet and see which meaning applies. Have the student tell you the meaning in his own words. Important points:
- Do not allow the student to say the definition number such as “number 1.” Have him give the applicable meaning in his own words.
- Do not allow the student to define the whole sentence or a piece of the sentence instead of defining the word.
- If the answer is correct, acknowledge that it is correct. This can be done by saying “good”, “okay,” or something similar.
- If the answer is wrong, have the student look again and carefully read the sentence one more time. Also have him look over the definition sheet to find which meaning fits in the sentence. It is important to let the student discover this by himself if possible. Be patient and friendly.
- Go through each sentence in the drill as above.
- Once you get to the end of the sentences, go back to the beginning and start over. This drill is not a test. It is a repeated exercise. It is done over and over, until the student can easily recognize which meaning is used in each sentence.
- Once the student can do this first step with no mistakes, you are ready for Step Two of the drill.
- In Step Two, the same procedure is followed with one exception: it is done without having the definition sheet available. If Step One of the drill has been done correctly, you will find this is very easy to do.
- Once Step Two is passed, do the Final Exercise. The student now makes 10 sentences and states which meanings he is using when composing his own sentences.
- When the student has completed all of the drills for one word, move on to the next booklet. Follow this same procedure to get through each drill and booklet of the series.
The entire purpose of the above is to teach the student to read English with understanding. Following these steps will get the student into the habit of reading with understanding and set him up for successful study of other subjects.
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