Where to begin with grammar..
 

Hello,
I am a volunteer at a school in Thailand and am in need of some advice. I am the only foreigner at the school (and in the area) and teach ten to fifteen year olds. Being that it is my first time teaching I was wondering if anyone could tell me where to begin with grammar. The secondary three students(15 year olds) are being given an anual government test soon which includes grammar,sentence strucure, and deciphering large paragraphs. Some of the students in this class cannot spell the word football and to my knowledge do not speak any English. While the staff at the school are lovely and kind they aren't very helpful as they don't speak english either and are not really concerned with a curriculem or lesson plans. I would really like to help these students the best I can but at the moment I have no idea where to start. Can anyone help me?

Re: Where to begin with grammar..
 

If you can, get a hold of a copy of that test and take it yourself. You can use the actual test to design a lesson plan that will help your children the most. Of course, if they can't even spell football, you might want to start with phonics. That will help them the most in the long run. Make an assessment test and see how your students do. :)

Re: Where to begin with grammar..
 

Very big question, but I like arielhud's idea of getting a hold of an old test and going through it to see what is presented. Then just work backwards.

Also, I assume they have texts of some sort. Or the test is aimed at some sort of curriculum. Maybe someone can get you a copy of an approved course book there.

If you really are going to have to do this all on your own, there is an ESL curriculum for kids here. You can use that as a guide for grammar points to introduce and order.

Re: Where to begin with grammar..
 

Thank you very much guys. Unfortunately there is not any kind of curriculum. There are a few books laying around that the previous teacher was using but this is the same teacher who created a v to be chart for the class with "does" spelled wrong three different times. I did get to see a government test from a previous year and it is pretty advanced. Guess I'll just dive in :) Thanks again for the comments.

Re: Where to begin with grammar..
 

Good luck with it. Let us know if you come across anything good.

Re: Where to begin with grammar..
 

Hi Molly,
Try this link.
The grammar is so neatly arranged. You have quizzes associated and the good thing is you can get your students to compete.
I hope that helps.