Category Archives: General

Protected: LearningApps- Examples of Activities you can Create with this App

14 November 2018GeneralCristina Cabal

Three Activities to Do on a Spooky Gloomy Halloween Day

28 October 2018GeneralB1, B2, C1, halloween, Kahoot, listening, speaking, video, writingCristina Cabal

You see, Halloween and me, we are not on friendly terms. I don’t really get good vibes off this holiday. Gory and scary … just scares me. But, that’s ok. I don’t have to like every single holiday. However, I have students and teaching a language is not only about words, it’s also about the culture and traditions of the country you are trying to teach. Halloween is important in Anglo-Saxon countries so this year I have made a point of trying to give it some real attention. I’ll even attend a small Halloween party, where I’ll be wearing a knife-through-head prop and some Halloween skeleton tights. Organising the party? Let’s start small! This year, the party will be hosted by my enthusiastic colleague Marta Dominguez, who has also provided me with some of the activities you’ll see below.

Activity 1.  Video Activity. The Ten Steps (2004)

This activity aims at

learning vocabulary: adjectives to describe houses
improving their listening skills

This is a great short film (less than 9 minutes and worth every second) that sets the right atmosphere. Draw the curtains and turn off the lights.

I would like to just for one day forget I’m an English teacher and just play the film, but I can’t. So, we are going to work a bit on vocabulary before the film starts and we are going to focus on some questions to answer in pairs after watching the film.

Before playing the video, show them the picture below or alternatively pause the video. Do the vocabulary exercise with them ( handout)

PDF here

The Ten Steps

Activity 2. Writing and Story-Telling

This activity aims at

developing creative writing
using their stories to develop oral fluency

Remember the lights should be off and the curtains drawn. Lighting a candle might be a good idea for two reasons: it helps create a mysterious atmosphere and prevents students from reading from their essays.

The New York Times has a site where, every day, they publish a picture prompt to inspire students writing. Days prior to the great Halloween Day, I have shown my students this picture and asked them to write a scary story about this house. They should bring their stories on the day of the party.

The idea is to put students in groups of four and tell (not read) their stories. Each group will decide on the best and the whole class will listen to the best stories from each group and then vote on the best one.

It’s also a good idea if you share a story of your own and yes, in case you’re wondering, I’ll still need to correct their stories.

Activity 3.  A bit of fun with Kahoot.

This activity aims at:

teaching about traditions
developing digital abilities
having fun 🙂

I would just not feel fine if, after all the spooky storytelling, my students went home and couldn’t sleep that night, so a Kahoot is in order.

Again, I have not created it. My colleague Marta has just chosen one from the enormous bank of Halloween quizzes Kahoot has and we have adapted it to our needs.

Happy Halloween! Let’s enjoy the holiday break!

A Game of Cards to Revise Vocabulary in a Speaking Activity. Effective, Engaging and No-Prep.

8 October 2018GeneralB1, B2, C1, fun, games, speaking, vocabularyCristina Cabal

I have always liked playing cards. Like about 20 years ago, I used to meet with some friends at the weekend to play cards. We usually met at a cosy old cafe where most of the elderly in my village met to play cards and domino with their buddies. They were old, we were in our twenties. They wanted peace and quiet. We wanted fun and noise and laughs.

It didn’t last. Somehow, we realized we were not welcomed and eventually stopped going. But, I still like playing cards and whenever I can talk some of my friends into playing, I immensely enjoy it. Let’s play cards, then!

Aim: to revise vocabulary in a speaking exercise
Level: B1 upwards
Topic: any

THE GAME OF CARDS

The game is SO simple. The only prep is to make sure you have enough pieces of paper cut up in advance. By the way, a good opportunity to reuse photocopy paper that has been used only on one side.

Preparation:

Take a regular A4 sheet of paper. You want to obtain 8 pieces of paper. Fold it in half and cut it along the crease. Fold the two pieces again and repeat procedure. Do it a third time and there you have your 8 pieces of paper resembling the size of an average size of a card in a deck of cards.

Ask students to sit in groups of three in a circle around a table.
Write the topic you want to revise on the board. For example, Education.
Give each student in the group 8 blank cards and tell them they will need to write on each card a word or expression related to the topic on the board. Explain that it does not matter if the words are repeated in the same deck of cards, in fact, if they get the same words twice, it will only help consolidate meaning and use. Challenge students to write newly-acquired vocabulary. Allow them to have a look at their notes.

The game:

Ask a student in the group to take all the cards, shuffle them and deal 3 cards one at a time, face down, starting with the student to the dealer’s left.
Place the rest of the cards face down on a pile in the centre of the table.
Write on the board or call out a question for discussion. For example, Are exams necessary or are they a waste of time?
Tell students they will all need to talk about the question in their groups trying to use the words on their cards. As they use them, they place them face up on the table and pick up another one from the pile. They always need to have three to choose from.
Allow 5-6 minutes per question. Once the time is up, ask students to count how many words they have used.
Repeat all the steps and write another question for discussion on the board.

Note:

Every two or three questions, you can ask groups to swap cards and repeat steps 1-5. By swapping cards students get a new batch of cards with hopefully some new words to use.

Back in October! + Most Popular Posts This School Year (2017-2018)

18 June 2018Generalfavourite postsCristina Cabal

Dear all, hi! I feel like I’ve been gone for forever but exams have kept me mad busy and I haven’t had time a single moment to post something worthy.

And again, it is this time of the year when I take a break from classes and the blog. To be honest, most of the times when it’s June I begin to experience telltale signs of burnout. Not this year. I am full of energy and my brain is busy with ideas to try in the next school year. However, it wouldn’t be fair and it’s not my style to blog about things I haven’t tried first, so let’s take our usual break.

Since I wasn’t able to post while I was marking exams, all these ideas have found their place in a draft folder in my hard drive. I’ve got like a ton of ideas that are going to come at you very quickly after the summer break. Keep tuned!

Please, do come back at the end of the summer. Your comments and feedback are essential to me.

Meanwhile, I will still be active on Twitter @blogdecristina where I’ll be reposting ideas and activities and retweeting interesting stuff. So, if you have a Twitter account, do follow me. I will also be leading some workshops here and there, so if you are a reader of this blog, don’t be shy and come and say hello. I will be happy to meet you.

See you very soon! I’ll miss you!

Below you’ll find some of my favourite posts this year.

A QR Code Coursebook Quest Using Flipgrid: Using Technology in the Classes

27 May 2018GeneralCristina Cabal

Ohh this activity. I love it.

It combines a bit of everything and adds the touch of innovation students require in 21st-century classes.

it helps students revise content in an engaging way
it helps boost their speaking skills
it improves their writing abilities
it gives them confidence using new technologies
it promotes teamwork.

Now, this is an end-of-the-course activity and before you continue reading you need to know a couple of things.

My students have already used Flipgrid in class. (if you have never used Flipgrid, you are missing out! I highly recommend it to make even the shyest students talk)
My students have already used a QR Code reader and have the app on their mobiles.
Finally, you’ll have some prep work to do, but it is an end-of-the-course activity, so let’s do it! I promise it’s worth it. Then, we can rest and sunbathe a bit.

The activity is divided into two stages

STAGE ONE. Day 1.

Before the class:

On Flipgrid, create a topic outlining the activity and asking students to record themselves asking a question about the vocabulary studied during the course. It can be anything that has been studied during the course. In my case, I have asked them to make their question about phrasal verbs or idioms. The only rule is that the answer to their question must be found in the course book. Remind them that this is a competition, so they do not want to ask easy questions. Ask them to record themselves asking their question using Flipgrid and tell them they have 15-seconds recording time.

Example: Can you find a phrasal verb with the meaning of “to cancel”?

Once you have created a topic on Flipgrid for Team A, as in the example below, duplicate the topic and just change the Topic Title by writing Team B instead of Team A. You might also want to modify the image accompanying the Topic. (not necessary, of course)

In class:

Divide the class into two teams; three if you have a lot of students. Ideally, a team would have 6-8 students and the same number of students in each team. If you don’t, just ask a student to record himself twice, asking two different questions so that both teams have the same number of questions.
Share the Flip Code to their respective topics and ask them to record their questions for the other team. Each student in the team has to record a different question. So, if you have 6 students per team, you’ll have 6 questions. This can easily be done in class or set as homework.
Explain the rules:

They can ask a question about … (whatever you have specified).
The answer to their question must be found in the course book.
They have to speak slowly and clearly.
They have 15-seconds recording time.
When they finish, they will need to send you an email with the answer to their question.

Stage 2. Day 2