About two weeks ago I wrote a post about an amazing site called Brainshark ( see post here) and today I want to show you the first thing I’ve done with my elementary students.
In the first video , Karen and Alice– from 1st year -perform a role-play called “At the Sports Centre” and in the second one Laura and Alba– from the 2nd year – do likewise with a role-play that I called ” At the grocery”.Thank you ,girls! It was funny, wasn’t it?
The first video is very easy to understand and though grammar is not explained as such students, at the end of this short video,are perfectly aware of how to use these two tenses.
The next video is a bit longer and it has different sketches, so if I’m running short of time I might decide not to use all of them.
Questions for the different sketches, click here
That’s a question I’m often asked by my students and here’s the answer I offer them.
What kind of “corner” are you referring to? Is it the corner of a room or the corner of a street?
♥ If you are giving directions to a shop, then you should say:
This shop is on the corner of High Street
♥ If you are saying that a person is sitting in a chair in a room, then:
Mary is sitting in a chair in the corner of the sitting-room.
Summarising: you use in, when the corner is inside and on, when the corner is outside.
Note: you can also say at the corner to refer to the corner of a street.
I’ll wait at the corner/ I’ll wait on the corner.
A legendary Thanksgiving celebration was held in 1621. The terrible winter of the previous year
had been difficult for the Pilgrims.Many of the Pilgrims had died because of the illness and lack of shelter. The Thanksgiving celebration was held after the Pilgrims had their first harvest-after they had gathered their crops.
The writings of the Pilgrims tell us that about 140 people attended the three-day celebration. Ninety of the people were Wampanoag men. About 50 people were Pilgrims . Only four the Pilgrims at the party were women. The feast was held outside because the Pilgrims did not have a building large enough to hold so many people.
The Pilgrims were thankful for the harvest and for the help of the Wampanoag in teaching them to grow crops in America. Without their help, the Pilgrims would have had litte to eat. The menu for the first Thanksgiving included venison, or deer meat, and fowl, which included ducks, geese and turkeys. Sea bass, cod fish cormeal, fruits and vegetables were also served.
Games were played and singing and dancing were also part of the celebration. Praises were given to God for the harvest and for the Pilgrims that survived the harsh winter.
Thanksgiving in America is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Families prepare a meal similar to the meal prepared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag 400 years ago. It is a time for counting the blessings we have receied during the year and for spending time with family and friends.
Today I want to show you a tool which has a lot of potential in the classroom. It’s called Mybrainshark and it offer lots of possibilities .
Mybrainshark allows you to:
♥Add voice to a PowerPoint. Upload your Power point presentation and add audio to every slide by using a microphone. You can also add background music.
♥Upload a document and add audio. It might be very useful when you want to explain a grammar point or when you want your students to improve pronunciation.
♥Upload a video and add your voice to it or/and add background music.
♥Make your own photo album and comment on it or add music.
♥Make your own podcast.
Besides, it’s free -you only need to register – and it’s easily shared or embedded in a website or blog.
I’m planning to immediately use it with two levels.
♥Elementary levels. Record students while doing a role-play. I’m going to use the Photo album option and take pictures of them.
♥Intermediate levels. Students narrate their own speeches illustrating them with photos. They can either use the Power Point option or the Photo album option.
Give it a go and if you have any ideas about how to use it the classroom, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.