Teaching English to Young Learners MOOC Syllabus

Click here to download a PDF version of the full syllabus and weekly schedule.

Spring 2019 [April 15 – May 20, 2019]

Instructor Information

Instructor
Joan Kang Shin, Ph.D.

Course Overview

Description

Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) is an exciting Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed to introduce you to the theory and practice of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners 3-10 years old. Through engaging videos and practical readings, you will explore approaches for teaching English that are not only effective but also fun and engaging for children. You will learn techniques for teaching new vocabulary and grammar that encourage student participation. In addition, you will gain new ideas for teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing in a meaningful context. Through weekly participation in this MOOC, you will have the opportunity to share ideas with peers and apply course content to your learning environment. Get ready to learn about TEYL and be part of an international learning community with teachers around the world!

Learning Objectives and Learner Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. explain the reasons for teaching EFL at early ages.
2. use effective approaches and techniques appropriate for young learners in the EFL classroom.
3. develop appropriate activities for teaching vocabulary, grammar, and the four skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing to young EFL learners.
4. describe your learning environment and develop a lesson for young EFL learners in your context.
5. develop yourself professionally in the field of TEYL by participating in an international online learning community and sharing your new knowledge and skills with other TEYL professionals around the world.

Expectations and Grading

This is an 5-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). You are expected to spend 3-5 hours per week completing course assignments. Each week, you will typically spend approximately 1-2 hours working online and 2-3 hours working offline. Modules will unlock every Monday for 5 weeks. We recommend that you complete one module per week in order to finish the required coursework by the course close date. Every week you will watch videos, read articles, and submit an assignment.You will also be able to access and read many TEYL activities posted by your classmates. This is an excellent opportunity to learn from your peers!

You should log into the online course at least once a week and use the course schedule to keep track of your workload and due dates. However, you will learn more and benefit from this exciting international learning community if you log in more than once a week. We encourage you to be an active participant and log in as many times as possible per week.

Through this online learning community, you will gain new knowledge and skills to improve the teaching of English to children. You are asked to engage deeply with the course content, to take risks in your thinking, and to learn from your classmates. The following are useful tips to help you be successful in this course.

• Course Week: This online course does not have a “fixed” meeting day. Our week will start on Monday at midnight Eastern Time (ET), and finish on Sunday at midnight ET.

• Log-in Frequency: You should actively check Canvas for communications from the instructor and to access to course materials at least one time per week. However, you will benefit more from this course if you log in more than once per week.

• Workload: Please be aware that this course is not self-paced. Modules will unlock weekly every Monday. Although your grade will not be affected by late work, we recommend that you meet specified deadlines and due dates in order to succeed in the course. No assignments will be accepted after the course close date. It is your responsibility to keep track of the weekly course schedule of topics, readings, activities and assignments due.

• Technical Issues: If you have technical issues with the course, submit your question to help@canvas.net. To contact the AE E-Teacher team, please e-mail mooc@fhi360.org. Technical support requests include problems accessing the course, problems with your Canvas account, etc.

• Content Support: If you need support that is not technical or related to Canvas, such as questions about an assignment, please post to the Content Support Discussion. The discussion board will be monitored by the course alumni facilitators who will answer your questions and help you solve other problems. Content support posts include questions about assignment instructions, questions about the information discussed in a reading or video, etc. If your question is urgent send a Canvas message to the course instructors and facilitators.

• Citations: If you use a quote or reference someone else’s work in your post, make sure you cite it or provide a link to it.

• Netiquette: The course environment is a collaborative space. Remember that you are not competing with classmates, but sharing information and learning from each other. Experience shows that even an innocent remark typed in the online environment can be misunderstood. Always be open to differences in opinion. Be positive in your approach with others, and keep any criticism of ideas kind and respectful.
  
  

Grading                                                                                                          

This class is Pass/No Pass. You will automatically receive a final grade as soon as you complete all the required module activities. The maximum grade is 100%. You will need a final score of 70% or higher to pass the course.

Course requirements are weighted out of 100% as follows:

10%	Module 1	Self-Assessment Quiz (5%) Module Reflection Quiz on "A Day in My Life" (5%)	Due Week 1
20%	Module 2	Self-Assessment Quiz (10%) Module Reflection Quiz on Activity Share (10%)	Due Week 2
20%	Module 3	Self-Assessment Quiz (10%) Module Reflection Quiz on Activity Share (10%)	Due Week 3
20%	Module 4	Self-Assessment Quiz (10%) Module Reflection Quiz on Activity Share (10%)	Due Week 4
20%	Module 5	Self-Assessment Quiz (10%) Module Reflection Quiz on Lesson Plan (10%)	Due Week 5
10%	Post-course Assessment (10%)		Due Week 5

Course Policies

Late or Missed Assignments:

• This MOOC will move quickly, so do your best to keep up with each weekly module. Late assignments will be accepted, but your learning experience will be optimal if you complete the assignments on time week by week. Keep in mind that the course will close on May 20, 2019, and no tasks can be completed after that date.

Plagiarism: 

Plagiarism is using someone else’s words instead of your own. In this course, you are expected to use your own words and ideas, and to acknowledge any sources you use to gather ideas. Plagiarism is not allowed in AE E-Teacher courses.

 

Assignment Descriptions

Self-Assessment Quizzes

Each module has a self-assessment quiz. It will be based on the videos and the readings in the module. You will need to achieve at least 4 out of 5 points to unlock the next page in Module 1. In Modules 2-5, you will need to earn 7 out of 10 points to unlock the next pages. You can re-take quizzes until you receive a passing score—70% or higher. Feel free to keep taking the quizzes until you get 100%. Then you know you have mastered the module content!

Module Reflection Quizzes

At the end of each module, you will submit a reflection to show what you learned. It will be one paragraph, and a template will be provided for each reflection. Each reflection will require you to read some of your classmates’ posts in that module and apply the module content as part of your response.

Other Assignments

All other assignments will be posted on a discussion board for other MOOC participants to read. You will choose one of the following discussion boards to post in. Grades and ages may vary slightly from country to country, so we have include all grades associated with primary schools (up to grade 6).

• PK-K: Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten (ages 3-5)
• G1-2: Grades 1 and 2 (ages 6-7)
• G3-4: Grades 3 and 4 (ages 8-9)
• G5-6: Grade 5 and 6 (ages 10 and up)

You will code each post by grade level, and size of class. This will allow you to search for key words to find the most relevant activities for your teaching context. You can even search for classmates’ names and countries, if you identify classmates who share similar classroom contexts as you.

 

A Day in My Life (Template provided)

Part A. Introduce yourself.

What is your name?Where do you live (city and country)?Where do you work (school or institution)? What age or grade level are your students?

Part B. Describe your typical day.

You will describe a typical day from start to finish (between waking up and going to bed), including your daily routine in class.

Part C. Describe your students.

You will describe your students. Provide a description about a specific class of young or very young learners that you will focus on in your MOOC assignments.

Part D. Describe your classroom.

You will describe your classroom environment (tables, desks, chairs, walls, windows, etc), books, materials, and technology (e.g., computer, smartboard, internet access) available to you in your teaching context.

If possible, include photos, videos or samples of students, classroom, school, textbook, and materials.

 

Activity Share (Template provided)  

An "Activity Share" is an opportunity to share activities with your colleagues in this course. The purpose is to share one idea and receive many others that you can use in the classroom. Hopefully everyone will be able to learn new teaching ideas from each other and improve their classroom practice. You will have 3 opportunities to share activities on these topics:

• Games and classroom management techniques
• Listening and speaking activities
• Reading and writing activities

 

Lesson Plan (Template provided)

You will take a lesson plan you have used before and make improvements based on what we have learned in this course so far.

Step 1: Select a lesson plan you have used before

First, select a lesson plan you have used before. Don't change it. Make sure you keep it exactly the way it was before you took this online course. If needed, include any relevant textbook pages and materials (not required).

Step 2: Make improvements to your lesson plan

Next, read your lesson plan and find places where you can improve it. Think about what we learned in the past 5 units. Show at least 5 improvements you would make to your lesson plan.

Step 3: Briefly describe your thematic unit plan

Last, describe how your lesson fits into a larger thematic unit plan. Show the topics and target language for 4 lesson plans and explain how you connect from one lesson to the next. Note: Once you figure out the thematic unit, include your brief descriptions at the beginning of your document.

 

Post-course Assessment

In the “Complete the TEYL MOOC” module, you will take the Post-course Assessment. You can see how much you have learned in this MOOC. You will need to achieve at least 70% on this assessment in order to pass this MOOC. You can re-take it until you receive a passing score—70% or higher. Feel free to keep taking the assessment until you get 100%.