ESL TOPICS - Frankfurt International School
advertising
This project explores the effects of advertising on our lives and investigates the methods of persuasion used by advertising companies.
(The project could be linked to the Smoking project.)
afflictions
This topic examines various physical afflictions that people have suffered from and the reactions of others to the afflictions.
all about me
Students collect information describing themselves, their families and their interests etc.
(Links to Countries and People project.)
ancestors
Students research a deceased member of their family and give an oral presentation about that person.
animals
Students choose an animal to research and then give an oral presentation about that animal with use of a poster (and other visual material) that they have prepared.
biography
Students choose a famous character from history (living or dead), research that person and then write a biography of that person's life and/or give an oral presentation.
book
Students read a selected story together and complete various tasks for each of the chapters. (e.g. Mrs Frisby in grade 6) Any book can be the subject of a topic unit.
Christmas
Students compare ways that Christmas is celebrated in different countries, and read Christmas Carol.
countries
Students research information about their own countries, such as population, climate, customs etc. They make a poster form this information and give a brief oral presentation to the rest of the class. We then use all the data collected to compare and contrast different countries in tabular form.
crime
Students consider the various aspects of the topics: crime and punishment.
different lives
This project compares the lives of young people living at different ages in earth's history.
disaster
Students choose a disaster, man-made or natural, research it and give a presentation to the class using a poster and/or other visual material they have prepared.
(Can be linked to the survival project.)
ecology
Students are required to research an environmental problem of their choice and prepare a poster with information about the extent of the problem, its causes and possible solutions.
ethics
Students research an ethical issue such as euthanasia, abortion or cloning. They write an essay analysing the arguments for/against and clearly staing their own position.
fables
Students read fables from different countries (including Thurber's) and discuss the morals. They write short vignettes based on selected morals.
field trips
In the course of this project beginning ESL students are prepared for their grade-level field trips and, when they return, produce a poster depicting in word and illustration the main aspects of their experience.
healthy living
Students put together a poster that contrast a healthy and an unhealthy life style.
(This project can be done to coincide with the Health Fair.)
idioms
Students collect various English idioms, draw illustrations of them, and compare them with corresponding idioms in their own language.
(Could form part of the Languages project.)
inventions
Students view a video of different inventions and devise their own invention using a computer drawing program.
language
This project investigates various aspects of language and culminates in a poster.
(Students work in pairs to produce the poster.)
modern world
This project investigates the effects of technology on our lives.
paranormal
Students choose a particular aspect of the paranormal to research and then present their findings to the class. The culmination of the project is a piece of imaginative writing based on one of the chosen themes.
people
Students learn various ways to describe people, including their biographical details, appearance, personality, life style etc. and write an imaginary biography based on a picture they have found.
planets
Students research a planet from the solar system and give an oral report on this to the class.
poetry
Students read poetry, paraphrase poems from their own language, and write poetry.
proverbs
Students collect English proverbs, illustrate them, and compare them to corresponding proverbs in their own language.
(Could form part of the language project.)
school
Students consider the topic of education, what constitutes a good school, what makes for a good teacher etc. They prepare a speech for the rest of the class about their previous school.
smoking
Students research the dangers of smoking and discuss issues such as why people smoke.
survival
Students read about or watch events in which people have survived against the odds, and write an imaginative story entitled: "How I survived the .." (Can be linked to the disaster project.)
weather
This project investigates the ways that different kinds of weather are made and considers the effects of weather on our daily lives, including weather disasters.
Paul Shoebottom - AGIS conference, Hannover - January 26, 2003