Concept check questions

[gulmi]

Hi there,

I am doing a TEFL certificate and need to find some comprehensive check questions after I taught students:

had taught (He had taught in Chile before he came here to teach)
stress (There was too much stress in her life with both family and job)
Please help me, it is really urgent.
thank you

[Nigel]

He had taught in Chile before he came here to teach.

You could ask:

Is he teaching in Chile now? no
where is he teaching now? here
when did he come here? 1999 (for example)
where did he teach before that / before 1999?

I don't think your original sentence is the best example of the past perfect, if that's what you're getting at in your lesson.

There was too much stress in her life with both family and job.

Does she work?
Does she look after a family?
Do her family and job take up a lot of her time? (the answer should be yes!)
Is it easy for her?
Does it cause her anxiety, hardship etc (any word the students already know)?

HOpe this is of help

Nigel

[jasminade]

Hiya

Nigel gave an excellent reply but as an appendix I would like to add that when thinking of past perfect tense you must understood that its usage is in reference to another past event, literally or inferred. Therefore, go back to that past event and the idea/verb would have been in present perfect usage.
I like to use a time-line when explaining this to students. Mmm, i do not have the facility to show a time-line, and I am not sure you have been taught this... therefore:

Imagine a mathematical graph. You know, a vertical line representing present, and a horizontal line representing time: to the left, past; and to the right, future. Position the usage of tense thus... Mmm, good luck.

[Nigel]

Jasminade,

thanks for the compliment.

I don't think you noticed that my ccq's refer to two past events, one before the other.

i.e.

When did he come here? past event
Where did he teach before that? previous event.

Cheers

Nigel

[dorayakii]

How can I CCQ the forms:

"Can I...?",
"Is it ok if I...?"
and "Would you mind if I...?"

[jasminade]

*hides head in shame*

What does the acronym "ccq" refer to.

[Alex Case]

I'd never seen that before either, but I guess CCQ must mean "concept check question"

[flowerbeast]

CCQ = Comprehension Check Question

Clearly describe a situation that results fom an earlier one, then ask them "why" about the result.
"Why was he sad?"
Because he'd lost his foot in a bear trap.

Something like that.

As for diagrams, in case they're useful for teaching *or* CCQ-ing:
http://www.englicious.com/Grammar/ePastPerfect.php

[andreclips]

These are a few useful tips for making CCQs:

1- Never use the target language (the structure / word being checked).
e.g. To check the present continuous sentence "They are playing volleyball." do not ask "Are they playing volleyball now?", "Is it happening at the moment?" or "What are they doing now?".

2- Ask yes / no questions or give two or three options.
e.g. "Did the game start in the past?" "Is the game finished (or in progress)?", instead of "When did the game start?"

3- Identify the main aspects of meaning.
e.g. Action which started in the past (1) and is in progress now (2).
(notice how these have both been checked in 2)

4- Use a grammar book (tenses, functions, etc.) or dictionary (nouns, adljectives, etc.) to pinpoint the meaning and create your CCQs based on that.
e.g. priority: the thing which you think is most important (1) and that needs attention before anything else (2).
Possible CCQs: "Is it something important or not really?", "Are you going to do it before or after the other things?"

5- Use CCQs before "explaining" the meaning. In this way you will elicit the correct meaning from students who understood or already knew the concept. You do not even need to "explain" anything if you get them right.

6- Plan your CCQs in advance. It can be difficult to come up with them in class, especially for complex concepts. With practice though, you will be better able to do just that when some unexpected word or structure arises.

Sorry about the long post but CCQs have become one of my main teaching tools so I thought it might be worth it. I hope it helps.

[claireg]

I'm a new teacher and have been given very low level classes (beginners and elementary). While CCQs for grammar points are ok, I'm finding it difficult to concept check instructions - the students seem to think that I'm giving them new instructions/look at me blankly. Any suggestions? Thanks