Writing and Speaking Elementary : Describe a game

Pictures, Speaking, Students' Corner, Writing, , , , ,

Of all the skills a student has to become fluent at when learning a language  writing is, for me, the most boring one. I don’t think it’s the hardest by any means, this prize is awarded to Speaking but the truth is that students find it boring and we, teachers, almost always put off marking essays for as long as we can.

On the other hand, I find that it’s much easier for students to write a worthy piece of writing  if you provide a model, some guidelines to follow and also give them a topic  they are mildly interested in .

Last week’s topic for composition was Writing about a Game. I asked students to think of a game or a sport and answer the following questions

♥What’s the name of the activity? ♥How many players are there? ♥ How does a player start the game?♥What do the players do then?

I also asked some students to record their work and this is what they did (I used a tool called Fotobabble. I wrote about Fotobabble here). Thank you folks, good job!
Lucia Gonzalez Hide n Seek


Alba Feito “Marbles”

<iframe style=’border:0;’ height=450 width=400  scrolling=no  src=’http://www.fotobabble.com/api/fotobabble?apiKey=test&format=HTML&displayFormat=Player&id=cFo4UFNsVitSWjg9&height=450&width=400′></iframe>

Carolina Macas The Handkerchief

David Díaz The Liar Dice

 

Video Lessons: TedEd-Lessons Worth Sharing

Audio, Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Listening, , ,

I’ve known about TED (Ideas Worth Spreading) for quite a long time but although I found their videos very interesting I thought they were too long or too difficult for my classes. Now TED has launched a  new  site, called TedEd,  with  a collection of educational video lessons you can choose by subject and view in class or assign as homework. Every video is accompanied by a lesson with Quick Multiple Choice questions that check your general comprehension. If you have one wrong, you can always check with the video hint and you can also have Think questions that further explore the topic.

For teachers , one of the most powerful features is the FLIP THE LESSON where you can customize the lesson by editing the title, giving your own instructions, select  or deselect any multiple choice questions…etc.

This is a lesson I have flipped for my students. I used the video Questions No One Knows the Answer To to give my students some practice using Reported Speech Questions. You can see my lessonhere

 

Teaching with Songs: Opposites

Listening, Music, ,

There is something I have to tell you. When I am alone in my car I sing at the top of my voice and I enjoy it so much that sometimes I even dance while driving! But it even gets worse  because  while I am listening  to music, very often, I focus on the grammar or the lyrics and if I am teaching something specific and I feel like my students need a break, then  I make a point of  not giving up till I find the right song. So much for concentration on the road!

This happened last week with my first and second years. I decided they needed a break from some boring stuff we had been dealing with. We were about to learn Antonyms  and then, all of a sudden,  Katy Perry was on the radio singing her world famous Hot n Cold. Great for opposites in elementary levels!

I was planning on grabbing the lyrics from Internet and racking my brains to create  some good tasks  when I decided to try ISL Collective and there it was. Ready to take! Thank you very much Missk for your wonderful job. It was a real timesaver!

(to download this activity you’ll need to register on this site : ISL COLLECTIVE (I talked about this page here).

Now, why don’t you try this activity? It’s a lot of fun.

My Crafty Side: Fancy Clothespins

My Crafty Side

Every time I publish one of these posts I feel the necessity to remind you that the aim of these articles is not only for you to learn to make pretty easy things but also to practise your reading skills ,reading authentic material.This time I have chosen this article by Ez published in her blog Creature Comforts.

In her article we can see how she turns  a plain clothespin  into a cute clothespin so easily that you can’t help but wonder why you had never thought about it. I just can’t wait to give it a try! aren’t they lovely?

Useful vocabulary:

♥ Clothespin=wood or plastic fastener; for holding clothes on a clothesline

♥Fabric= A cloth produced especially by knitting, weaving, or felting fibers


Learn how to write an informal email with SlideRocket

General, Resources, Slides, Students' Corner, Writing, Writing skill,

Edit: Sliderocket is no longer free. Therefore, I have uploaded the presentation to Slideshare

SlideRocket is an online presentation tool that helps you create , manage and share your presentations. With this tool you can create better slideshows more quickly from within any browser.You can also upload your  PowerPoints or Google Docs presentations. Presentations are stored on SlideRocket’s servers and can be accessed from any device that is connected to the internet. For casual users , it’s free.