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All Around America
Introduction
All Around America, The Time Traveler's Talk Show and its companion Study Guide/Activities Workbook is an intermediate-advanced level program for English language learners. This book is a dramatic reader which the learners use as a cooperative reading experience. The eighteen units (shows) explore the history, culture, and nature of the United States and provide opportunities to develop English language skills.
The text is based on the format of a radio talk show. There are a host, a local personality (often a guide), famous and imaginary personalities from the past, and callers and emailers from cities around the U.S. The language used by the participants is informal, educated conversational English, similar to what would be heard on local or national talk shows. Consequently, the language is idiomatic. By working with the talk show format, the learners will be enabled to continue their learning on their own by listening to real talk shows. They should be encouraged to listen to talk shows on National Public Radio.
The eighteen radio scripts are also available in a two-CD format for listening practice. Although use of the CDs is certainly optional, the CD's may be used a in a variety of ways to enhance the learning experience.
The show moves from place to place, around the United States, and with each stop, there is considerable description of what is there and what happened there. For that reason, the text contains over 200 adjectives. As the learners work through the text, they will encounter natural recycling of the adjectives, and also re-occurences of nouns and verbs. For that reason it is best to begin with the first unit (The Statue of Liberty) and proceed through the book unit by unit to the end (Washington, D.C.).
The text and the study guide can be used in a variety of ways. The recommended procedure is as follows:
1. Begin with the Study Guide. Introduce the locale and engage the students in an initial discussion:
Where is the Statue of Liberty?
What does it look like?
Has anybody seen it?
2. Do Parts A and B in the Study Guide (See the introduction to the Study Guide for additional suggestions). This prepares the learners for the content of the talk show. Notice that there is emphasis on the nouns which are critical to understanding the show.
3. Do Part C in the Study Guide. This exercise is basically a matching exercise that prepares the learners for the idioms and expressions they will encounter in the talk show. Answers are provided in the back of the Study Guide.
4. Do the talk show. This can be done in a variety of ways. One procedure would be:
A. Assign parts and have the learners read their lines aloud. Stop for questions and answers as the class works carefully through the lines. Note and fix pronunciation problems.
B. Read through the script again. This time with more expressiveness and fluency.
C. Use the Fact Sheets. At the end of each show, the host asks for additional callers to call in with questions. In the back of the book, there are Fact Sheets for each show. Learners who do not have parts or very brief parts, use the facts to ask one of the performers a question (the teacher can also participate). This is practicing question formation. The learners can be encouraged to ad lib and play with the manner in which they ask the questions. For example:
Fact #1: The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island.
Learner A: I'd like to ask Billie Jefferson a question. Where is the Statue of Liberty located?
Learner B (Jefferson): I'm glad you asked. It's located on Liberty Island.
Learner A: And where is Liberty Island?
Learner B: In New York Harbor.
D. Do a final, dramatic reading, record it, and play it back.
5. Return to the Study Guide and do the True-False Review. This simple activity reviews the show and checks comprehension. The answers are in the back.
6. Do Exercise E. Vocabulary Review.
7. Do Exercise F. This is a summary of the adjectives used in the show. It can be used in a variety of ways.
8. Do Exercise G. This is an opportunity to practice writing on a topic that relates to the show.
9. Assign Exercise H. Encourage the learners to go to the web and explore the topic in greater detail. They can report on their virtual visit the next time the class meets.
The CD's provide an additional dimension to the learning experience. Although the CDs are certainly optional, and not necessarily central to the purpose of the text and Study Guide, they can be used in a number of ways.
1. Play the entire appropriate track on the CD. After doing Step 1, above (introducing the site), play the track once through without stopping to allow the learners to practice their global listening comprehension skills.
2. Follow up with an informal question and answer session, asking who, what, where, when, how, and why questions.
3. After doing exercises A, B, and C in the Study Guide, play the show as the learners follow along in the text. Alternatively, this can be done before the learners begin to read the text. You can play it straight through without stopping, or, if the learners are having difficulty, stop after every two or three characters have spoken several lines and check for comprehension with questions, or allow the learners to ask questions.
4. After the learners have recorded their own program, play the entire show to allow the learners to compare pronunciation, phrasing, and dramatics.
5. Make the CD available in a language lab to allow the learners to study on their own.
Note: The track numbers on CD 1 correspond to the show numbers 1 to 9 in the table of contents; see page v. On CD 2, shows 10 to 18 are listed on the label, but your CD player will register them as tracks 1-9.
Review by Theresa Konchan
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