Transition with Purpose: Pathways from English Language to Academic Study

140 STEP 2: Each student develops a few Have You Ever…. questions based on their own experiences. Play a quick round or two of the game as a class with the new questions. You will learn a lot about your classmates, and they about you, so be sure to only ask questions that you yourself are willing to answer and that are not private in nature. The information shared in parts 1 and 2 of this activity can be a starting point for discussion, with the goal of increasing awareness of the challenges students face and developing strategies for meeting these challenges. Ultimately, students should consider how the strategies used to meet a particular challenge could be transferred and used to meet a different or new challenge. PART 2: CITY LIVING – CITY LEARNING STEP 1: In groups of 2 or 3, discuss a situation that you have had in the city of Portland since you arrived here. Focus on a situation where you were not sure what to do, or a situation where you did not like the outcome. Be sure to include relevant details such as: a. What happened? b. Who was there? c. Where was it? d. Was the incident in person or on the phone? Does this matter? e. How did it end? STEP 2: Each student writes a brief description of a situation they experienced. This should be a brief paragraph but detailed enough that a classmate in another group will understand the 5 points above. Report only the facts of what happened. STEP 3: Share your group’s situations with another group. Each group makes a list of best practices (i.e., a list of what you think worked well), and a list of suggestions (i.e., what you think might have worked better in this situation). Share your suggestion lists with the group that wrote the situations. As a class, share some of the situations, experiences, best practices, advice, and suggestions. PART 3: CLASSROOM INCIDENTS: A ROLE-PLAY Think of a list of “Have you ever…” questions relating to your experience as a student in the classroom. Then, with a partner, write a role-play (brief dialogue) that re-enacts a scenario that you have experienced and that you wish had gone differently. Develop a list of best practices and suggestions based on these scenarios. Within your group, write a short (1-2 minute) role- play. Each role-play should include: 1. at least 3 people: 1 narrator to give background details of the incident and 2+ group members to act out the situation. 2. information describing the situation 3. questions or advice given by the narrator at the conclusion of the role-play