Household stuff: Great tools for teaching... exam classes! Part 2

Hi everyone!

I hope you enjoyed last week post http://larissaslanguages.blogspot.it/2016/03/household-stuff-great-tools-for.html!

Today's item is... 

ICE CREAM STICK

€1,50 (100 pcs)

PURPOSE: I used ice cream sticks to teach an exam-focused class. Students were trained to practise Cambridge FCE Reading and Use of English PART 4.   

[This part of the exam is called KEY WORD TRANSFORMATION. Each question consists of a sentence followed by a ‘key’ word and a second sentence with a gap in the middle. You have to use this key word to complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence.]

WHAT I DID BEFORE CLASS: I wrote some sentences on the ice cream sticks using present perfect simple/continuous and past simple. I wrote some sentences with the same meaning - using different tenses - and some "distractors'" which were wrong. 

E.g. Stick 1 --> My nephew began to play tennis in 2010.

Stick 2--> My nephew has been playing tennis since 2010.

Stick 3 --> My nephew has been played tennis since 2010.

The first two sentences have a similar meaning while the third one is wrong.

STUDENTS: (4-6) Teenagers

WHAT I DID IN CLASS: I told my students we were going to play a game to revise the use of PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE/CONTINUOUS and PAST SIMPLE and I showed them the ice cream sticks in a clear plastic bag.

Afterwards, much to their surprise, I dumped the sticks on the desk. I said they had to pick up two sticks with the same meaning without moving the others. (See the rules of the game MIKADO)

WHAT MY STUDENTS DID: 

When they picked up two right sentences without moving the other sticks, they got 2 points.

When they picked up two right sentences moving one or more sticks, they got 1 point.

When they picked up a wrong sentence, they got no points.

They had a lot of fun!

Until the next item ;-)

Household stuff: Great tools for teaching! Part 1

LOOK OUT! Even though this blogpost seems to be addressed to women only I'm sure male teachers will find it useful! 

WARNING: This is a very personal blogpost.

As you know (or if it's the first time you drop by, let me introduce myself) I teach English as a Foreign Language to children, teenagers and adults in a small seaside town (between Rome and Naples) where I was born. I'm in my early thirties (everyone says I look younger, though) and I'm not married.  "You should get married soon, or you'll be too old to have children" (Apparently everyone has watched/read Bridget Jones' Diary!)

Being unmarried at my age, especially in a small town, makes me feel like a suspicious person.

I spend most time teaching and when I'm off I love planning lessons and finding new teaching methods. This seems to be my greatest fault.  Ok... I plead guilty, Sir. 

"Well, what should I do?" I wondered. Showing more interest in household chores and cooking may help, I thought. So, a few weeks ago I tiptoed into a Houseware&Household shop near my language studio and I explored it. Unfortunately, once again I couldn't help but thinking of my lessons... 

I hope my ideas will appeal to you!

1) FLY SWATTER (€0,80 each) --> a plastic tool with a handle, used to swat (= hit) insects (www.oxfordlearnersdictionary.com)

1.1 Right or Wrong?

Materials: 2 fly swatters 

                 right/wrong sentences on sheets of paper

                (about) 8 magnets

Procedure: - I sticked on the board two sentences, one right and the other wrong.

                  - In pairs students came to the board and swatted the wrong sentence.

Comment: My teenager students practised the use of Contrasting Linkers (even though, despite, however, etc.)

1.2 Say... Swat it right!

Materials: 2 fly swatters

                 words about "the house" (any topic you want)

                 (about) 20 magnets

Procedure: - I sticked on the board five words about "the house".

                   - In pairs students came to the board.

              - I said a word in Italian (my students' native language") and students swatted the right word.              

Comments: It was a great way to revise vocabulary for lower-levels.

P.S. Be careful! Students might swat each other. Warn them beforehand that if they do so you will stop the game!

Until the next household item ;-)

                 

Valentine's Day: LOVE collocations and QR codes

Here it comes Valentine's Day, the day we celebrate all types of love! Why don't teach/learn some LOVE collocations?

1) Print out the worksheet with the collocations.

LOVE collocation worksheet

2) Print and cut out the QR codes and stick them up around the classroom.

QR codes love collocations - definitions

3) Students use a QR scanner app to read the definitions and then they copy them below the collocation (on the envelopes). 

4) Have fun and lots of love ;)

Teaching for exam? Touch your students' hearts

Lately this video https://vimeo.com/152985022 has gone viral on social networks. I was so moved when I watched it for the first time that I decided to introduce it in my exam-oriented classes. Today I'd like to share with you the lesson plan I used for my Cambridge FCE (B2 level) which focuses mainly on developing speaking skills.

STUDENTS: Teenagers (b2)
TIME: 1h30
AIM: Learning vocabulary about free time activities
Developing speaking skills for the exam.

1) WARM-UP ACTIVITY: Write on the board The Present and ask your students:
What’s the best present you have ever received?
(Spice-it-up version: Show a present box and tell your students you just got a present. Let them predict what's in the box)
2) VIDEO ACTIVITY: WATCH, PREDICT, ANSWER
Tell your students you are going to watch a video whose title is The Present

Start watching the video. Stop it at 00:50, ask them:
What do you think is in the box?

Start the video again up to 1:10, ask them:
Why doesn’t he like the dog?

Continue up to 1:25, ask them:
What does the dog want to do?
How does the boy react?

Continue up to 2:00, ask them:
Does the dog find it easy to play with the ball?
Does it give up or keep on trying to catch it?

Continue up to 2:40, ask them:
Choose three adjectives to describe the dog in the video.
CUTE - SAVAGE - DETERMINED - DANGEROUS - SWEET - WILD - FRIENDLY

Continue up to 3:00, ask them:
What does the boy decide to do?

2a) FOCUS ON LISTENING
Watch the video again and answer the following questions:

What language function do these statements express?
“Hey sweety, sorry I got home so late.”
__________________________________________________________

“Why don’t you stop playing and open the present I got for you?”
___________________________________________________________

“Mom, we’ll be outside.”
____________________________________________________________

3) Teach VOCABULARY

- Pair/group up students and give them the set of paper strips below. (Cut them out before giving them)
- Give them two labelled plastic bags 1) indoor activities 2) outdoor activities and ask them to put the strips into the right bag. The activities which can be done in either places will be left outside the bags.

- Have feedback and explain new vocabulary.

4) SPEAK UP!

Show these two pictures and ask students to do the task above.

or SPICE IT UP: Put students in pairs and make them sitting back to back. Give each one of them a picture and this grid. Students take turn to speak about their picture and tick off the words/phrases from the grid used by their partner. In this way they will practise the skills mentioned above.

4a) SPEAK UP AGAIN...

PASS THE TENNIS BALL GAME
- Get a tennis ball or a small ball.
- Make the students sit in a circle.
- Tell them you are going to ask them some questions.
- Pass the ball to the first student and ask one of the questions below. The student, then, will choose another student to pass the ball to. The second student will say if they agree or disagree with the previous student and why.
- Let 4-5 students express their opinion for each question.

People say “ A trouble shared is a trouble halved”. Do you agree?
Have you ever helped a friend in trouble? What did you do?
Are dogs really man’s best friends?
In what ways are dogs helpful to humans?
Do you think some owners care too much for their dogs and not enough for other people?

6) Homework is fun!
There are some people who become unfriendly because they have a physical disability or a problem. Prepare an encouragement quote using
www.quotescover.com (WEB)
InstaQuote (iOS) - Kwote (Android)

Teaching for exams? Have fun! Give a pep talk to yourself and your mates!

A new year has just started and most of my students have their resolutions made: take an English language exam.
Studying for an exam is always considered boring and tiring, but let's spice up this hard-working task with a pep talk!

What is a pep talk?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a pep talk is "a short speech that is given to encourage someone to work harder, to feel more confident and enthusiastic, etc."

Everyone needs a pep talk not only students who are taking an exam so this lesson plan can be useful for any type of class!

Students: TEENAGERS/ADULTS
Level: UPPER-INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
Time: 1h30minutes
Linguistic skills: LISTENING & SPEAKING

1) I started my class by writing the phrase PEP TALK on the board and asked my learners if they knew what it meant.
They brainstormed some ideas I reported on the whiteboard without saying whether they were right or wrong.
2) After a few minutes I told them I was going to show them a video about a pep talk so they could check their predictions.

This is the link to the video: A Pep Talk from Kid President to You
3) After watching the video I collected some feedback and I gave my students some information about Kid President.

4) Listening activity: I cut out the following sentences and paired up students. They watched the video again and put in order the sections as they heard them. (To check if they were right we watched the video with subtitles).

5) It's time to take action! Students have to prepare their own pep talks. I gave my learners the following instructions and tips:

My students' talks lasted about 60-90 seconds. They filmed each other and it took them about 30 minutes to write their speech.

6) Finally, students listened to each other's pep talk.

I found this class both heart-warming and encouraging. I hope you get the chance to try something similar with your learners and if you do, please let me know!

Merry Christmas!

I've been very busy with teaching my lovely students lately and I am looking forward to this Christmas break. Before my well-earned rest, though, I'd like to share with you a few games I prepared for Christmas. Have fun with your students, too!

Game 1
CHRISTMAS CHARADES
This is a Christmas-sentence guessing game. Basically, one player acts out a sentence about Christmas by miming similar-sounding words and the other players guess the sentence. 

Here you are the cards you can cut out.

Game 2
CHRISTMAS SENTENCE SCRAMBLE
On each piece of paper there is a word or phrase. Students need to create sentences which make sense.
Christmas sentence scramble 1
Christmas sentence scramble 2

Game 3
CHRISTMAS BOARD GAME
Get some candy ready for the winner!
RULES
1) Put your marker on the start position.
2) In turns, roll the dice and move your marker.
3) Answer the questions.
4) If you land on a "present" place you must spell a word.
[WORDS TO SPELL: ADVENT, PUDDING, TINSEL, FAIRY LIGHTS]
5) The first student to the last place is the CHRISTMAS STAR STUDENT!

*To enlarge the board you can use this website www.blockposters.com 

Have fun with your students!

#30goals: FROM THE HEART TO THE MIND

“Emotion helps us screen, organize and prioritize the information that bombards us. 

It influences what information we find salient, relevant, convincing or memorable” 

Bandes&Salerno (2014)

We usually think that the process of learning comes through our brain but which part of it?

Until not long ago the emotional brain was ignored and the emotion itself was considered as a lower level than as a vital, contributing element in the development of critical thinking. 

However, the emotional brain does exist and “suggests that the constant interaction of the experience of emotion, with its simultaneous impact on the body and other parts of the brain, leads to the individual’s interpretation of feelings. The emotional brain is a partner with the cognitive brain in the learning experience”.  (Understanding Emotions in the Classroom  By Claudia Marshall Shelton, Robin Stern)

From these words it is clear that the more we let our learners use their emotions in the classroom, the more they will learn.

Goal

From the heart to the mind: teach through feelings and emotions

Accomplishing this goal:

1. Find a short movie picture (such as trailers, commercials) (www.mashable.com, www.viralvideos.com
2. Focus on the topic of the video (love, beauty, friendship, bullying, sharing, etc.) and create a set of questions to ask your students in order to make them think critically and/or ignite a conversation.
3. Other possible tasks are:

- Change the ending of the video.

- Subtitle or dub the video.

- Let your students make their own video about the topic.

- Post the video on the social network you use with your class and let your students comment it.

-From a linguistic point of view you can even teacher grammar structures and new vocabulary.

See an example below.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk 

Link to the lesson plan: http://larissaslanguages.blogspot.it/2013/08/you-are-more-beautiful-than-you-think.html 

http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2015/08/27/goalheartmind/