Martha, I concur with your opinion of the Laubach ESOL.  I also use it as a 
basis for instruction with many variations including lots of TPR and 
vocabulary games which involve the structure focus of the day. The lesson 
plans are right there. I also like the Oxford Picture Dictionary to use 
along with it which allows for a thematic unit in which to incorporate the 
Laubach structure focus.  Another resource is "Teaching Adults, An ESL 
Resource Book" published by New Readers Press.  It has many ideas for 
activities.

Betsy S. Gauss


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D." <biancom at q7.com>
To: <learningdisabilities at nifl.gov>
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 3:21 PM
Subject: [LearningDisabilities 1208] Re: Focus on Basics on Basics 
andlearningdisabilities



> Hi, all --

>

> I wanted to write a response to Barbara Kushner's "P.S." about Laubach

> boring her students.  I know that many ESOL teachers are not Laubachian

> fans, probably for the same reason.

>

> Well, I recently decided -- for a plethora of reasons I won't go into

> here -- to begin using the Laubach method in my ESOL classroom, and I'm

> doing so with a conscious intent to evaluate its application.  So far, my

> students have been far from bored and I am pleased and surprised at their

> progress.

>

> My students are SPL-IV low-intermediate adult males in recovery or in the

> criminal justice system.  They are all from Mexico.  I have tried a number

> of different approaches, and after several months' of research, decided to

> go with the Laubachian method.  One of my main motivations was finding a

> systematic way to deal with fossilization, which, in my opinion, Laubach

> does facilitate-- that is to say, the lessons allow me to focus on

> fossilization; another motivation was to decrease my own prep time.  I'm

> very pleased with the method so far.

>

> I agree that boredom could definitely creep in; however, I think boredom 

> is

> a potential problem with *any* method and also is related much more to the

> style of lesson delivery and the individual teacher's selection of

> supplementary materials and activities.  I concur with Barbara insofar as

> the Laubachian method cannot stand alone without boring students.  Any

> teacher using it must be willing to modify and supplement lesson delivery.

> For me, personally, that is easier to do and less time consuming than 

> other

> methods I've tried so far.

>

> [I was also drawn to Laubach because while doing background research, I

> learned about his motivations, while reminded me very much of Paulo Freire

> and other "revolutionary" educators (a good site to visit on this topic is

> Informal Education, at http://www.infed.org/; Laubach isn't there, but

> Freire and all the other great innovators are).]

>

> My class meets twice a week.  Each session consists of two 45-minute

> periods, separated by a break.  I present a Laubach lesson only during the

> first day but don't do much with it on Day 2.  This is because of 

> attendance

> issues; I have a full class on Day 1, but only a partial class on Day 2.

> So, Day 2 is always devoted to thematic issues and, if necessary, Spanish

> GED prep.  We may, however, review elements from Day 1's lesson -- the 

> other

> day, for example, we repeated a minimal pairs listening exercise.

>

> Some notes on how I try to "liven up" Laubach lesson delivery:

>

> As you know, Laubach incorporates handwriting.  I find that my students 

> are

> all very eager to learn handwriting, especially cursive.  We do cursive

> writing as a warm-up activity, but during that activity, I play music.  I

> have also experimented with reading a hi-lo story aloud during handwriting

> warm-up.  The students seem to enjoy either approach.  It wouldn't occur 

> to

> me to have them do handwriting without some sort of background audio. They

> also like having the handwriting as homework, because it is something they

> actually CAN do -- so they have a feeling of success and completion, which

> creates a wonderful feedback loop.

>

> As for the specific sentence and/or word "drills," I always present and

> complement these with games.  I don't just follow the script in the 

> Laubach

> teacher's manual.  I will deliver the lesson as suggested, but will very

> quickly begin to alter it.  One thing I liked about Laubach when I chose 

> it

> is that the method encourages the teacher to be speaking no more than 40

> percent of the time.  So, once I'm finished with the basics of the lesson,

> the rest is in the hands of the students (with me guiding them, even just

> with gestures).  They correct each other -- which I find incredibly

> empowering -- when a fossilization error occurs.  This student-driven

> learning enlivens the class considerably.  There is much laughter and

> lightness -- even if the basic Laubach "drill of the day" is something 

> like

> "What is this?  It's a pen."

>

> When it's time for break, students do not want to leave!  They want to

> continue what we're doing.  So, I infer from that that they aren't bored.

> They are moving systematically toward reachable, assessable goals, with

> levels of mastery expected (and achieved), and are having a great time 

> doing

> it.

>

> But I agreee that just by looking at the Laubach materials, one could

> immediately be put off, as the lessons do look like drudgery.  But they

> contain, in my opinion, gems, as far as addressing the challenges of

> fossilization and truly working toward measurable mastery.  The challenge 

> is

> for the teacher to take the material and present it in such a way so that

> students don't experience any drudgery at all, but rather obvious progress

> (obvious to THEM), all while having a good time.

>

> Anyway, just my two cents' worth on Laubach . . .

>

> --------------------------

> Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

> Adult Basic Skills / ESOL Educator

> Multnomah County Department of Community Justice

> Londer Learning Center

> Portland, Oregon

>

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