ABLA ELT- Cali, Colombia July 31, 2010. EFL program designed for children (5 -12 years ) at the Binational Center Instituto Cultural Dominico Americano.

•ABLA ELT- •Cali, Colombia •July 31, 2010

EFL program designed for children (5 -12 years )

at the Binational Center Instituto Cultural Dominico AmericanoSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Grisel Del Rosario, M, EdLanguage School Director

[email protected]

What is creative assessment?Challenging?Unexpected, different or unique?Enjoyable ?Success oriented?Interactive?New? Motivating? Informative ? Input for decision making?

Playful Learning ProgramEFL Program at a Bi National center in the

Dominican RepublicPlayful Learning program caters to children

from the age of 5 to 12 years old. The course is aligned with and complemented

by the Junior program(12-18) and the Adult program.

The program is accessible on the main campus and in six other locations throughout the country, serving a population of over 16,000 students.

MissionThe Playful Learning Program was created by

the ICDA with the objective of promoting English language acquisition for children within the ages of 5 and 12 years old, coherently with their developmental stages of learning.

Our mission is to promote a dynamic and interactive learning environment that takes into consideration the needs and diversity of our students, keeping in mind the most recent research in language acquisition methodologies.

What do we do?Our program’s methodology finds its roots within

the constructivist school for children to acquire knowledge through meaningful experiences that allow them to see that learning can be fun.

We model social, school and family daily life situations to make the learning experience natural, fun and most importantly relevant.Ludic activities.Projects, Arts and Crafts.Songs, rhymes, poems and stories.Artistic presentations and expositions.Seasonal celebrations that add on to our teaching

and learning experience.

Age and grade level grouping.3 hours per week.September through June.Academic Program based on the child’s

academic skills and interest.Evaluation based on objective accomplishments

as informative tools for parents and teachers. No passing grades.

Use of teacher-and-student-made-materials.Cultural and community values are reinforced in

all activities .

Who are our teachers?Young adults in their college years, with native-

like English proficiency. Instructors receive weekly training for lesson

planning and program troubleshooting.Skills and attitudes:

Able to interact with children.Capacity to apply teaching skills through art,

sports, and technology.Highly motivated and identified with the playful

style. Lots of “School Spirit” in the learning environment.

PFL teachers take pride in having the opportunity to teach and learn, which provides an unique experience during their college years.

What’s the role of parents?Parental involvement through orientation

meeting and homework assignments needing parental support.

Parents attend and participate in seasonal activities: Christmas Show, Graduation, Mother’s day and others.

Midterm progress report is discussed in a PTC time with parents.

Midterm Evaluation Form EVALUATION OF CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR (VS-S-

NI)1. Participates adequately in class 2. Regularly does and hands in the assigned homework 3. Respects the established rules of behavior 4. Comes to class with the necessary materials 5. Shows that he/she continues studying at home6. Pays attention in class7. Shows a good attitude or motivation toward learning English8. Is careful and concentrates on his/her work  

Midterm Evaluation Form EVALUATION OF THE SKILL AREAS (VS-S-

NI)1. Reading comprehension 2. Written expression 3. Grammar4. Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions5. Listening Comprehension6. Oral Expression7. Cultural and community values.

Information for parents

Information for parents

Why is it creative assessment?It is enjoyable.It relates to life celebrations.It does involve valuable information for parents.It allows expressions of the child’s knowledge

through corporal, artistic and other forms to support verbal knowledge. It relates to the concrete learning style of each age.

Textbooks (Faces, Brainstorm, Next Stop from MacMillan) are used to support activities, specially homework .

It is not testing time only.

We value…The program has the highest rate of retention compared to

the Junior and Adult programs. This early exposure to the language throughout

elementary years complemented by the Junior Program guarantees a native like quality of speaking.

Students show a high level of motivation to attend classes.Parents without knowledge of English interpret their

children`s accomplishment as a challenge for themselves.Parental involvement is possible through homework and

constant feedback. Many teachers find a vocation through this job.