Do you want to learn? Teach!

Yesterday during my break between two classes I was checking my Facebook when I ran into this picture:

The more you teach the more you learn! So I thought it would be a great idea to make my teen students be teachers for a lesson!

I knew it was an experiment and it could have been either a success or a flop but I decided to try. 

I wondered what role the teacher played in this context and what materials students could use in order to teach. Thus, I put together two different teaching methods:

1) Silent way teaching

The Silent way is a teaching method developed by Caleb Gattegno in 1960s based on the belief that students should learn independently of the teacher. Gattegno proposed that students would learn better if they worked together and they were more responsible for their own learning. Students are introduced to new materials by using Cuisinare rods and a series of wall charts.

2) Realia
All your possessions (and your students') can be used in your class to bring it to life.

MY EXPERIENCE
New Language: COUNTABLE & UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Level: ELEMENTARY

1. I drew two columns on the board and I wrote COUNTABLE NOUNS & UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS.
2. I didn't use Cuisinare rods but real things. I showed my students two apples, two cups of tea and two tea bags. I wrote under the UNCOUNTABLE COLUMN:
A cup of TEA
Two cups of TEA
A TEA bag
Two TEA bags
And under the COUNTABLE COLUMNS: 
An APPLE
Two APPLES

Notice: We are considering the words TEA (uncountable) and APPLES (countable) not cups or bags.

I underlined the s of the plural and I made them notice there was no S in the word tea.


2. I asked my students to come to the board in turn. I gave them the cups of tea, the tea bags the apples and other food and drink. Then I mimed an interrogative expression to make them explain the difference between countable and uncountable nouns. Good explanations were given the thumbs up.


--> NOTICE <--
- The Silent Way has some drawbacks. You have to be really good at miming. Plus, some students may need more teacher input than what is provided through this method. Thus, the student-teaching part of the lesson should last not more than 30 minutes.

- Get real object ready in your classroom or use pictures/flashcards.