Teaching how to count is definitely my favorite lesson. This lesson is for beginner adults. First of all, I go in and write a ridiculously long number on the board, and ask my students if they can count it. After a few attempts the room gets quiet and I tell them that by the end of this lesson everyone will be able to read that number. They all they have a look of disbelief in their eyes.
I first make sure they can count until 999 and guarantee them that if they can count until that number, the rest is a piece of cake. I proceed by asking them if they can count that same ridiculously long number in Korean, and of course, most of them can. The problem is that when they count in English, they just try to read numbers as if they read words, by memorization and from right to left.
I explain that in Korean the name of the numbers change after every 4 digits (so the thousandth place) starting from right to left. In English, the name of the numbers change every 3rd digit (the hundredth place) instead, also starting from right to left. So to make it even easier, I just tell them that the commas have names attached to them. Starting from right to left, the first one is called a thousand, the second one is million, the third one is billion and so on. This makes them understand in an easier way, how counting in English is the same, except that the name changing placement is one digit before the Korean way of counting. As soon as they understand the relationship, they find it really easy and I give them some exercises they can work on and everyone seems to actually enjoy finding out how to count really long numbers.
Then I tell them how not to count and show them this funny video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZjqucrnI9w . It usually gets a lot of laughs
This is one of the lessons I do at the beginning of the semester, and I think my students enjoy and understand it, as it reflects in their midterms where most of them still retain what was learned.
So funny that you wrote about this. Counting is one of my favorite lessons to do with my grade 5th and 6th students at my elementary school . Ill actually be doing that lesson tomorrow with my 6th graders. Ive been in Korea for over 10 years and the thing that is still very confusing to me are numbers, the switch from English to Korean, is not an easy one as you surely know. When the word "억" is mentioned, my brain still struggles to find the English equivalent.
ReplyDeletehen I teach this lesson, I always play "The Price is Right" game which the students just adore. I show them items that are easily available here in Korea and they must tell me the price in Korean Won. It's great to see those "hamsters working hard on their treadmills". It's not an easy thing to do but once they understand the idea, the kids love reading out those long numbers!
This is the song I usually play for them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dJWfQHF8Y
Well Analia, it seems that great minds think alike. I was just about to blog about how teaching numbers was also my favorite lesson, but at the last second I decided to change topic and write about prepositions of place instead.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoy teaching this lesson as it gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the lesson. I also guarantee my students that by the end of the lesson they will be able to count into the trillions. They usually look at me like I’m crazy, but by showing them that we count by 3 digits at a time in English, they all seem to get it. Once the students understand that the commas have names; thousand, million, billion, trillion etc, it is all easy from then on. The biggest problem I run into with this lesson is the pronunciation. Especially with the lower numbers (twelve and twenty). I always make sure when I write a long number on the board I have one or both of these numbers in the long number. This way I can always check their pronunciation. Finally I also show the same YouTube video you show your students and my students love it too.
Hi Analia
ReplyDeleteAnalia, I agree that teaching students how to count is important to learn, because using numbers is very useful, and something we use daily. For my lesson on clothing and shopping I spend some time teaching my students how to count. Then, I show them how to say numbers in different situations, such as, prices when shopping for clothes, or, if you stay in a hotel room and have to tell the front desk which room you are staying in. I think your idea to use this lesson plan to teach your students at the beginning of the semester is a good one, because, it helps them to get settled in, by having fun.
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