Thursday, 12 July 2012
A project about New Zealand
Cockroaches and Ladybugs: A project about New Zealand: This is a short project made with my pupils of Y4 about New Zealand (10 years old - primary esl). The final outcome consisted of a booklet w...
Differentiated Instruction and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Cockroaches and Ladybugs: Differentiated Instruction and Bloom’s Taxonomy: In our current curriculum, all students of ESL are expected to master a same level of proficiency in English language at the end of primary ...
Monday, 9 July 2012
Barcelona Linguistic Landscape
Cockroaches and Ladybugs: Barcelona Linguistic Landscape: Some days ago I read a post on Scott Thornbury's blog "An A-Z of ELT" about Linguistic Landscapes (which I really recommend you!). Thornbur...
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Listenings for primary ESL/EFL classes
Listenings for primary ESL/EFL classes: For very young children, the main reason listening comprehension is difficult is that there are simply too many new and unfamiliar words. Ev...
Monday, 2 July 2012
Cockroaches and Ladybugs: A puppet show as an oral resource to exploit stori...
Cockroaches and Ladybugs: A puppet show as an oral resource to exploit stori...: As a teacher of English as a second language to very young children you know (of course!) the value of using stories in the classroom. They ...
Saturday, 2 June 2012
How to facilitate speaking in the ESL classroom
Upper Primary Level.
How difficult is to teach conversation in the ESL classroom! How difficult is to stir spontaneous speaking!
If you are using a textbook you will realize that the material found in ESL textbooks are dry and lack the variety and authenticity of real-world conversations. Teachers need something that can stimulate students and get them motivated to speak English in the classroom.
A good way is using video clips as a conversational prompt. They provide students with authentic situations in which the English language is used and can help them speaking in the classroom.
First problem: To find one that is appropriate. Just ask you few questions:
Is the content suitable for the students?
Does the content appeal to the students?
Is the length of the clip too long?
Clips shorter than two minutes may not provide enough substance from which students can create a narrative. On the other hand, clips more than five minutes in length may be too challenging for upper primary students.
Second problem: Where to find suitable video clips? You can search popular video sites such as YouTube.com, Vimeo.com or Google videos for the video clips. In these sites, video clips are abundant and are easily accessible in the classroom (type "animated short films" or "animated commercials"... you will get some good stuff to use in the ESL class).
Personally, the ones I like the most are: the YouTube Pixar channel and Ringling College of Art Design channels in Vimeo.
I recently used this video from the YouTube Pixar channel in Year 5, just after reading the Heinemann book "Castles. King Arthur Treasure"
Third problem: What to do with it? It is a good idea to create a worksheet that has sections in which students can write down ideas, single words, new vocabulary, actions (verbs), and things they don’t know or they do not understand, that will later be used in speech. At the bottom of the worksheet, just add a few lines so that students can write a short narrative, both in L1 or L2, depending on the level.
My students usually work in small groups. I distribute a specific worksheet and introduce briefly the video to them. Take care to not give away what is happening in the video, otherwise they will not have much to write and later narrate. Simply inform the students of what are they going to do, the name of the video and some clues to watch it.
The first time I play the video, I ask children to do nothing: just watch and listen. The second time I ask them to write down, on the worksheet, what they see in the clip.
This video is from the student gallery of Ringling College of Art and Design.
Carrot Crazy! from Ringling College of Art + Design on Vimeo.
Once the video clip has been played I ask some questions regarding the clip:
What did you see in the video clip (objects, places,)?
What was happening (actions, verbs…)?
What emotions, do you think, the actors felt (feelings, adjectives…)?
Why did the characters do this or that?
…
Now, here it comes the most amazing part of the activity: students are asked to write a small narrative that will accompany the actions in the video.
Students can write the narrative in the third or the first person: just they are different ways of expressing what is happening in the video.
Play the video again without sound. Give ten minutes to groups to come up with a narrative for the video clip. While students are writing, walk around and assist as necessary. When the groups have completed their narratives, choose alternative groups to narrate the video clip while it is being played.
Make sure each student from the group has a chance to read a few lines of the narrative.
You can conclude the session by asking their opinion, comment or just giving an adjective for the video.
With a little extra work you can add the narrative to the video by using Overstream or another subtitle adding app.
Watch an example in vimeo
How difficult is to teach conversation in the ESL classroom! How difficult is to stir spontaneous speaking!
 |
| Repetition kills motivation! |
A good way is using video clips as a conversational prompt. They provide students with authentic situations in which the English language is used and can help them speaking in the classroom.
First problem: To find one that is appropriate. Just ask you few questions:
Is the content suitable for the students?
Does the content appeal to the students?
Is the length of the clip too long?
Clips shorter than two minutes may not provide enough substance from which students can create a narrative. On the other hand, clips more than five minutes in length may be too challenging for upper primary students.
Second problem: Where to find suitable video clips? You can search popular video sites such as YouTube.com, Vimeo.com or Google videos for the video clips. In these sites, video clips are abundant and are easily accessible in the classroom (type "animated short films" or "animated commercials"... you will get some good stuff to use in the ESL class).
Personally, the ones I like the most are: the YouTube Pixar channel and Ringling College of Art Design channels in Vimeo.
Third problem: What to do with it? It is a good idea to create a worksheet that has sections in which students can write down ideas, single words, new vocabulary, actions (verbs), and things they don’t know or they do not understand, that will later be used in speech. At the bottom of the worksheet, just add a few lines so that students can write a short narrative, both in L1 or L2, depending on the level.
My students usually work in small groups. I distribute a specific worksheet and introduce briefly the video to them. Take care to not give away what is happening in the video, otherwise they will not have much to write and later narrate. Simply inform the students of what are they going to do, the name of the video and some clues to watch it.
The first time I play the video, I ask children to do nothing: just watch and listen. The second time I ask them to write down, on the worksheet, what they see in the clip.
Carrot Crazy! from Ringling College of Art + Design on Vimeo.
Once the video clip has been played I ask some questions regarding the clip:
What did you see in the video clip (objects, places,)?
What was happening (actions, verbs…)?
What emotions, do you think, the actors felt (feelings, adjectives…)?
Why did the characters do this or that?
…
Now, here it comes the most amazing part of the activity: students are asked to write a small narrative that will accompany the actions in the video.
Students can write the narrative in the third or the first person: just they are different ways of expressing what is happening in the video.
Play the video again without sound. Give ten minutes to groups to come up with a narrative for the video clip. While students are writing, walk around and assist as necessary. When the groups have completed their narratives, choose alternative groups to narrate the video clip while it is being played. Make sure each student from the group has a chance to read a few lines of the narrative.
You can conclude the session by asking their opinion, comment or just giving an adjective for the video.
With a little extra work you can add the narrative to the video by using Overstream or another subtitle adding app.
Watch an example in vimeo
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Los Pistoleros de la Paz
Do you remember Den Haag, Netherlands, 2009?
Do you remember our visit to the International School of The Hague?
Do you remember as well our handsome "teacher guide" in there, and how many thinghs did we learn from him?
Berenguer Gaston has made a dramatic change in his life full of Rumba flavor. He left the school last year and started a new "life project" in which he is has been involved for many years. Now is time to listen to their outcomes.
Los Pistoleros de la Paz come to infect us with their sound full of different musical influences. A cultural mix that explodes with ritmo latino. The band formed early 2008 as an initiative to be part of the festival "Pieter van der Doesstraat" held in Amsterdam in order to unite the diverse cultures prevailing in the Netherlands. The idea caught the attention of several friends who joined the group to continue the goal of the festival, as a band. Catalan, Colombian, Venezuelan, Ecuadorian and Dutch, making the best of their worlds, reflected in their music. Los Pistoleros de la Paz, carrying the flag of hope in the air with as always their motto: Smile, and things will be better!
Find them in Facebook
Find them in My Space
Berenguer Gaston (saxophone) and Genis Navarro (trumpet), both exalumni. How proud!
Do you remember our visit to the International School of The Hague?
Do you remember as well our handsome "teacher guide" in there, and how many thinghs did we learn from him?
Berenguer Gaston has made a dramatic change in his life full of Rumba flavor. He left the school last year and started a new "life project" in which he is has been involved for many years. Now is time to listen to their outcomes.
Find them in Facebook
Find them in My Space
Berenguer Gaston (saxophone) and Genis Navarro (trumpet), both exalumni. How proud!
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