Jigsaw practice

Hi mates,

Today we are going to speak about a new teaching methodology. It treats of jigsaw practice. We have been curious about this methodology since the explication on Monday’s class and we have looked for practices cases.

It is a very interesting method because takes into account the cooperative work and the occupation of roles inside of a group. Each one must treat a part of the work to make with their classmates finally a good final product.

In the first video, we can find the theorical explication about this method and in the second we can watch a practical application of one teacher in a school. In fact, in the last one we can see how this method is really effective and give us some benefits. Children have got a responsibility, which they must carry out and it promote, firstly, in the way of their personal autonomy and then, with the work in groups.

 

Hi Fellows!


Today we are going to concrete the last post. We have been curious about the applications that we can do in our classes about Multiples intelligences.

Multiple intelligences activities are useful for English teaching in a variety of situations. The most important aspect of using multiple intelligence activities in class is that you will be giving support to learners who may find more traditional activities difficult. The basic idea behind multiple intelligence activities is that people learn using different types of intelligences. For instance, spelling can be learned through typing which uses kinetic intelligences. As you could see in the last post

multiple intelligences were first introduced by in the theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University.

This guide to multiple intelligence activities for the English learning classroom provides ideas on types of multiple intelligence activities you to consider when planning English lessons that will appeal to a wide range of learners. 

Well, we have been searching for some activities about multiples intelligences on the web. Hope can help you some of them.

In this page you have the different activities clasify depending on the intelligence.

http://www.epd86.org/tech/aurora/bierdeman/activities.html

In this website you can find example lessons plans for each intellingence.

http://esl.about.com/od/teachingenglish/a/l_multiple.htm

Put some of them in practice and comment us how it was!

Theory of multiple intelligences

Today we post something about Gardner,s theory of multiple intelligences, in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf6lqfNTmaM you can find an explication about this theory. 

As we have learnt, not every children learn at the same way and is our mission to adapt our activities for their needs and be careful how we deal their necessities. We are learning how to be english teachers and now we are helping others with this blog, we hope this post will be helpful for everyone who wants to learn more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P17DxR4AP2Y

Curriculum

Talking about curriculum, we attach this post that may be meaningful for training teachers, here you can find a simple slideshow which explains in general concepts something about objectives, rules, evaluation, purposes etc.

This is the site: http://www.slideshare.net/Aseret41/curriculo-ingls-primaria

Hello classmates, here we post an example about: How to do activities in our classroom. We attach all the aspects you need to know.

Getting  Hotter

One child thinks of something in the room or something she can see trough the window and the other child try to guess what it is. After each (except the first guess), the child says, the child says your getting hotter, if the guess is nearer to the correct object than the guess before, or, you are getting colder if the guess is further away. The child who guesses it correct can then think of another object in the room and the game continues.

Learning objectives:

- Make simple questions

- Participate into class group

- Use and learn some new vocabulary

Skills to develop:

Communicative skills (speaking, listening, conversation)

Place in the correct stage:

We place it in the second stage of Primary Education (8-10 years)

Contents:

-          Different categories of vocabulary such as clothes, food..

-          Simple sentences and questions.

Language for instruction:

-          Children should ask some questions and the classmates will answer “ you are getting hotter” or  “ you are getting colder”

The professional skill you are developing:

-          -Evaluation for learning (assessment)

-          Motivation

-          Integrate new technologies in class

Guess who?

One child thinks of one of the characters in the course book the class is using. The other children take turns to ask yes/no questions to try and find out who the character is. The questions must be general (e.g. Does she like soccer? Does she live in…?). If the answer to a question is, Yes, the child can then try and guess the character’s name.

Learning objectives

-           Make simple questions in English

-           Participate into class group

-           Use and learn some new vocabulary

Skills to develop

-           Communicative language competences: Conversation, listening and speaking.

Place it in the correct stage

-           We place it in the third stage of Primary Education.

Content

-           Vocabulary about how to describe somebody or something

-           Make questions about the different characters.

Language for instruction

-           Instructions for the children: Children make questions as Has he/she got blond hair? Has he/she got any pet?

-           Answer yes or no to guess who.

The professional skills you are developing.

-          Evaluation for learning (assessment)

-          Motivation

-          Life together

-          Intercultural

Hiding in the world

Put a map of the world or glove where all the children can see it, preferably very close such as spread out on the table in front of them. If possible also have a picture book of famous places around the world. Say, I´m the world. Where am I? The children try to guess where you are. Help them by suggesting they try to guess large areas first, such as continents (e.g. Are you in Europe?), and help them to pronounce the name of the continents in English. After they have guessed the continent, they can try to guess the country (e.g. Are you in France?). After they have found the country, they should try the guess the city (e.g. Are you in Paris?). It will help if the map has the names in English; There are many countries and place names that have phonically regular spelling.

They must then guess where you are in the city. It may be necessary to help them by showing them some pictures of famous places in that city, drawing pictures on the board, or writing the names of famous places on the board. They then guess, are you on the Eiffel Tower? If the place is correct but the preposition is wrong, write…Eiffel Tower on the board, and write on with an X through it. They should guess whether you are in or under the Eiffel Tower.

The game can be used to introduce a new preposition. You could say no to in, on and under, and they need to say things like, are you near the Eiffel Tower? When they genuinely try to say things like near or behind, get them to use gestures to show you what they are trying to say, and then help them say it. If the children have pictures books of famous places, they can play the game among themselves.

Learning objectives  

-          Make simple questions in English

-          Participate into class group

-          Use and learn some new vocabulary

-          Know different places from the world

-          Know different prepositions.

Skills to develop

-          Communicative language competences: Conversation, listening and speaking.

Place it in the correct stage of the curriculum

-          We place it in the third stage of Primary Education.

Content

-          Names of different continents, countries, cities and places.

-          Make questions about the different locations.

Language for instruction

-          Children must make questions about the continent, the country, the city and the place where they are.

-          They have to answer yes or no and use the preposition finally.

The professional skill you are developing with the activity

-           Evaluation for learning (assessment)

-           Motivation

-           Intercultural

Last Wednesday it was our gestion class, we did our presentation about two activities called: Guess who and Hiding in the world. This entrance has done to explain our experience in class.

Firstly we have to say that it was an excepcional experience because we did a funny work and all the classmates worked together. It is very important that teachers improve paticipation in class.When they are working in groups, it is essencial that childrens can talk,participate and have fun  when they are learning and these types of activities are adequate in primary education.

Secondly we must say that we had a really  good time. We recommend something like this to put into practice in our classroom.

Also, we have to tell you that it could be a hard work and why? Because you have to organizate your class, your pupils and the time you spent in each activity. It is basic that you have a good planning and a good way to evaluate your pupils. In our opinion it was a bit problem because we didnt know how our classmateswas going to reponse.

We post you our photos during the exposition here!

Welcome to the Story!

Oral storytelling is one of the most ancient artforms, and continues to this day as a vibrant part of culture throughout the world.  Educators have long known that the arts can contribute to student academic success and emotional well being. The ancient art of storytelling is especially well-suited for student exploration. As a folk art, storytelling is accessible to all ages and abilities. No special equipment beyond the imagination and the power of listening and speaking is needed to create artistic images. As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner. These benefits transcend the art experience to support daily life skills. In our fast-paced, media-driven world, storytelling can be a nurturing way to remind children that their spoken words are powerful, that listening is important, and that clear communication between people is an art. 

Gaining Verbal Skills
Becoming verbally proficient can contribute to a student's ability to resolve interpersonal conflict nonviolently. Negotiation, discussion, and tact are peacemaking skills. Being able to lucidly express one's thoughts and feelings is important for a child's safety. Clear communication is the first step to being able to ask for help when it is needed. 

Imagination
Both telling a story and listening to a well-told tale encourages students to use their imaginations. Developing the imagination can empower students to consider new and inventive ideas. Developing the imagination can contribute to self-confidence and personal motivation as students envision themselves competent and able to accomplish their hopes and dreams.

Passing On Wisdom
Storytelling based on traditional folktales is a gentle way to guide young people toward constructive personal values by presenting imaginative situations in which the outcome of both wise and unwise actions and decisions can be seen.

When telling a story, an effective storyteller demonstrates the following traits observable by others: 

Voice Mechanics

Speaks with an appropriate volume for the audience to hear. Employs clear enunciation. Uses non-monotonous, vocal expression to clarify the meaning of the text.

Face/Body/Gesture

Expressively uses non-verbal communication to clarify the meaning of the text.

Focus

Concentration is clear.
Eye contact with audience is engaging.
Maintains a charismatic presence in space (stage presence).

Characterization

If dialogue is employed, characters are believable to listener. Storyteller's natural voice is differentiated from character voices.

Use of Space:

Storyteller seems comfortable, relaxed and confident in front of listeners. Storyteller maintains clear spatial relationships for characters and narrator.

Pacing:

The story is presented efficiently and keeps listeners' interest throughout.

This is a rubric you can use to have the basic aspects for the assessment to your pupils.

	Beginner	Intermediate	Proficient	Accomplished
After Listening To A Story A Student:	Can answer non-subjective factual questions such as the names of the characters, the stated setting of the story, the subject matter of the story.	Can summarize the story in an organized fashion with a beginning/middle/end feel.	Can retell the story in a sequence of events with descriptive details, dialogue, and characterization.	Can skillfully retell the story with a sense of metaphor making it relevant. to listeners.

 

Hi Mates!

I was just having a look at some websites and I found this page.
I remember be at class and heard something about how important is motivation and have a good atmosphere in the classroom (can be related with suggestopedia). Well, I'm completly sure that your pupils will enjoy this page.

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/songs/index.html

In this page you can find a list of the hits that you can hear nowadays on the radio. Most of them are very famous and I'm sure some of you have been singing one of them in the shower. Well now is the time of our students!

In this page you can select a song, and inmediatly you will be conduce into a new screen where you will find the lyrics of the song, the translation and one link to  video the  on youtube, so you can see the videoclip too.

Then, you can find down some key words or important words with their meaning. I know that not always is good to work in english translating words but I just say that it can be another resource that we can use from time to time to motivate our pupils and create a good atmosphere in class and...

                                                                          why not? Learn some english in a funny way!!














Personal experience:

I remember have done this in my high school. as an activity. We did the videoclip of one of our favourite songs and we had to sing the song in public!  I was really shameful because I was very shy but I can say that from that point I'm a better singer in public and... I can still remember perfectly the sentence that I had to sing! I was a positive experience for me.

Depending of the approach you give the link you can do one activity or another. I'm just saying that  maybe we can work with other values too... everything is on our minds! We have to be creativeand explote all the resources that we have nowadays.

Said that, Enjoy singing! I see you in the next british got talent! :D