Active teaching methods.Wake up your imagination

The 1st lesson:

• The aim of the project.
• Material needed to collect.
• Recources on the internet.
• Making groups.

The 2nd lesson:

Discussion and comments about gathered material.

The 3rd lesson:

Presenting the new words & expressions used in the projects.

Making sentences with these words.

The 4th lesson:

The presentation of the projects.

The 5th lesson:

Doing the quizes about the material of the projects.

https://www.teachervision.com/explorers/teacher-resources/6616.html

https://www.teachervision.com/world-history/lesson-plan/6002.html

• Take a card.
• Read the topic suggested by the card.
• Think a minute.
• Speak a minute without stop.

Speak about your job.

Speak about the weather in your country.

Speak about environmental problems.

Speak about health.

Speak about Internet.

Speak about school life.

Speak about a garden.

Speak about your favourite gadget.

Speak about a family.

Speak about food.

Speak about traditions.

Speak about cars.

Two students are involved.

They create a word list by the alphabet:

• A-artist,
• B-barrister,
• C-carpenter,
• D-doctor
• E- enable
• etc. ...

Then they speak a dialogue inserting the words by alphabet.

• What do you do?
• I am an artist.
• Do you like your job?
• Yes, I do. But when I was a young child, I dreamt of becoming a barrister.
• Oh, did you try anything to make your dream come true?
• Actually, I didn't. I started my carrier as a carpenter.
• Really, why? How that happened?
• It's a long story. I didn't like to study at school and I had the only choice - to learn something practical. My grandpa was great at making wooden furniture. So I followed in his footsteps. That enabled me to earn a living.

Errr... (for E)

Exactly that I meant to say (for E)

Does it mean ? (for D)

Who knows!

That's where we go.

Here we go.

Say,...

Let's say...

Let's find

I'd like to add

Have a conversation where each sentence begins with the next letter of the alphabet. This may seem difficult at first, but improves with practice. If you get stuck, you can also use sounds to start a sentence, for example 'Mmmm' or 'tut-tut'. Here is an example:

A: Anyone seen my cat?

B: Black one, with funny eyes?

A: Can't say I remember.

B: Don't tell me you've forgotten what it looks like?

A: Every cat looks the same to me.

B: Fortunately, I found one yesterday

A: Gee, that's great!

THESE LETTERS CAN BE EXCLUDED:

K, Q, Z, X

You could also try beginning somewhere in the middle of the alphabet. Then when you reach 'Z', return to 'A' until you arrive back where you started

Try setting the scene or location before you start.

It's great for car journeys too!

Alphabet-dialogue (Allow 5-8 minutes)

1.

At the top of a page, write out the alphabet.

You do not know who they are, where they

are or what is happening.

2.

The first word of each sentence begins with

a letter of the alphabet, starting with A and

proceeding through to Z. [Example 1]

3.

When you reach letters Q,X,Z you can

break the rule ; if you can't find a word

beginning with that letter it can appear

somewhere in the word.

4.

See what clues the A-Z dialogue gives and

what questions it prompts: Who might the

two characters be? What could their

relationship be? What things might happen

in the story? What might the story be

about? [Example 2]

One

Anyone can swim.

By human nature.

Two

Can't be bothered really.

One

Don't give me that.

Everybody can do it,

I've said that already.

Two

Forget what you've said, you're wrong.

One

Gordon can't swim, he'd sink.

Two

How do you know Gordon?

One

Iust do.

Two

Just is a very inexact word.

One

KItchen is inexact, what's your point?

Two

Leave it off, OK?

Mind your own business.

One

No, come on, tell me.

On the basis of the eleven lines quoted we might

suggest:

• they are two friends,
• they have quite acompetitive relationship,
• they have a rivalry over Gordon,
• there might later be a tragic incident involving swimming,
• and the story might be about friendship.

http://dramaresource.com/games/improvisation/alphabet-conversation

Be a story-teller

http://nikpeachey.blogspot.dk/2008/03/soundscapes-from-soundtransit.html

Soundscapes from Soundtransit

Sound Transit is a really wonderful formulation of an idea. It's not just a huge collection of Mp3 sound files from all over the world, but the sounds have been tagged by country and described and a visitor to the site can take a sound journey around the world.

You just choose your country of origin, your destination and how many stops you want to make. You then get offered a choice of itineraries with stops at various destinations and descriptions of what you will hear there. You choose the one you want and then the site edits together the individual sounds to create a unique sound journey for you. You can then download your mp3 sound journey, listen to it online or send it to a friend.

• To try this go to the Book a Transit part of the site. It's just like booking a flight on an airline website (except that it's free and a lot more user friendly!!)

Alternatively you can search the database of individual files by country, keyword or creator and just download the sounds you want. All the sounds are licensed under creative commons 2.0 so you can save and reuse them according to the limitations defined by that license.

• To access the database of sounds go to Search for sounds.

How to use this with students

• You can use the sounds for visualisations. Get the students to listen with closed eyes then write about what they heard. Or they can create a story from what they heard.

• You could collect four or five clips for students to listen to and then get them to create a chapter / episode of a story around each one.

• You could use them for grammar practice ( e.g. present continuous "Someone is speaking." etc.)

• You could get the students to use the site to plan a holiday with four or five destinations then use the descriptions in the itinerary to say what they 'will / are going to' do at each place. They can then choose the best holiday. For past tense practice they can tell other students what the did on their holiday while the students listen to the sounds.

• For vocabulary practice they could just listen and say the things they hear. This will probably involve a lot of guessing, so you could extend this for practice of modals of probability (e.g. It might be someone eating, It can't be in Argentina. That must be a car door etc.)

• You could use this site to give students inspiration to collect their own sounds and to tell the rest of the class about them. They could even upload them to the site and share them.

• They could create their own sound journeys ( e.g. Going to school, what they did at the weekend etc.)

• You could play 'Guess the sound' as a warmer with student and award points to each student or team.

• You could ask students to find their favourite sounds or talk about what the sounds remind them of. (e.g. This is one of my favourites. It's the call to prayer. This one was recorded in Delhi, but it reminds me of when I lived in Cairo. I went out to Giza one evening and listened as thousands of mosques from all over Cairo erupted in to a grand symphony of sound.)

Listen here

• You can use the sounds to create atmosphere for story telling activities or student plays

• You can play the John Cage game and just get the students to sit silently and listen to the sounds around them in the school classroom ( for 4 mins and 33 seconds) then talk about what they heard. You could also tell them about the famous John Cage composition 4'33" afterwards and ask them what they think of it.

• The sounds are tagged to countries and that students can book a sound journey.

• Some of the sound journeys are quite long if you add a lot of stops

• Some of the sounds are quite unusual and could require quite a high level of language to describe, but I think this just means that you have to choose the activity that you use carefully and be selective.

Anyway.

To download any of the sounds you just need to right click and then click 'Save As..'

• You can play "Where am I?" by playing them one of the sounds and asking them to guess where you are. Try this one. I'm in a cafe in Moscow getting some coffee

What I liked about this site

• It's a wonderful free resource with a huge collection of sounds.

• It can really get students thinking about the sound environment they live in.

https://prezi.com/pon0hhqgl1we/writing-tasks/

Flipped classroom

http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

Espresso stories

Aim: to write a very short story

Creating a story that is so short you can read it in less time

than it takes to drink a small, strong cup of coffee.

Ask students to write their own espresso story.

The rules are:

• it must have no more than 25 words

• it should be a complete story.

Write an example on the board:

It was all over. It came down to who had the quickest fingers

. (http://espressostories.com/story.php?story=13046)

Ask students to think of five questions about this story. For example,

• Who was he?

• Where was he?

• What was all over?

• Who lost the game?

• What did he feel after all?

After students have finished their stories:

• Share the stories

• Tell your students to ask and answer five

questions about each story.

Ask students to complete the ‘story’ by adding the

last three-six missing words.

http://espressostories.com/top100_list.php

Situation, Complication, Resolution: Collaborative story-writing

Aim: for students to work together to write short sections of a story

Many stories follow a narrative structure which is

sometimes described as ‘Situation, Complication and

Resolution’.

1. Introduce the ideas of Situation, Complication and

Resolution and check that students understand

these.

2. Students call out some popular stories or movies.

3. See if they can reduce the plots of some of these

stories into ‘S-C-R’.

4. Suggest students to watch/listen or /and read a story.

5. Students try 'S-C-R'

For example, The City Mouse and The Country Mouse

https://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/index.html

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

There once was a mouse who liked his country house until his cousin came for a visit.

"In the city where I live," his cousin said, "we dine on cheese and fish and bread. Each night my dinner is brought to me. I eat whatever I choose. While you, country cousin, work your paws to the bone for humble crumbs in this humble home. I'm used to finery. To each his own, I see!"

Upon hearing this, the country mouse looked again at his plain brown house. Suddenly he wasn't satisfied anymore. "Why should I hunt and scrape for food to store?" he said. "Cousin, I'm coming to the city with you!"

Off they went into the fine town house of the plump and prosperous city mouse.

"Shhh! The people are in the parlor," the city mouse said. "Let's sneak into the kitchen for some cheese and bread."

The city mouse gave his wide-eyed country cousin a grand tour of the leftover food on the table. "It's the easy life," the city mouse said, and he smiled as he bit into a piece of bread.

Just as they were both about to bite into a chunk of cheddar cheese, In came the CAT!

"Run! Run!" said the city mouse. "The cat's in the house!"

Just as the country mouse scampered for his life out of the window, he said, "Cousin, I'm going back to the country! You never told me that a CAT lives here! Thank you, but I'll take my humble crumbs in comfort over all of your finery with fear!"

Situation: City Mouse visits Country Mouse, laughs at cousin's humble life and boasts of the city finery.

Complication: Country Mouse visits City Mouse, meets the Cat and scampers for the life out of the window.

Resolution: Country Mouse decides to go back home and live humble but safe life.

Method 9

Group work

Students collaborate on a story by each contributing a different section to four different stories.

Title: Put students into groups of four. Give each

student a piece of paper and ask them to write the

title of a new story at the top. They should then

pass their paper to the student on their right.

Situation: Students read the title they have been

given and write the opening paragraph of the

story, containing the situation (setting, characters,

main event of the story). Students then pass their

paper to the student on their right.

Complication: Students read the first paragraph

of the story they have been given and think of a

complication. This forms the basis of the second

paragraph, which they then write. When they are

finished, students pass their paper to the student

on their right.

Resolution: Students read the first two paragraphs

of the story they have been given and think of a

resolution. This forms the basis of the third and final

paragraph, which they then write.

When they have finished, they should pass the

paper back to the person who wrote the title of the

story. Each student should then read the stories to

the class.

Photos and visuals

ELTpics photo collection and ideas for use:

http://www.eltpics.com/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eltpics

https://cerij.wordpress.com/

http://www.bengoldstein.es/

http://vimeo.com/113420504

http://film-

english.com/2014/12/06/a-visual-manifesto/

The Frayer Model is a strategy that uses a graphic organizer for vocabulary building. This technique requires students to (1) define the target vocabulary words or concepts, and (2) apply this information by generating examples and non-examples. This information is placed on a chart that is divided into four sections to provide a visual representation for students.

This instructional strategy promotes critical thinking and helps students to identify and understand unfamiliar vocabulary. The Frayer Model can be used with the entire class, small groups, or for individual work. The Frayer Model draws on a student's prior knowledge to build connections among new concepts and creates a visual reference by which students learn to compare attributes and examples.

Pre-select a list of key vocabulary from a reading selection. The Frayer Model should be explained and a graphic organizer provided to each student. Then direct students to complete the template individually, in small groups or as a whole class. Model the type and quality of desired answers for the specific concept.

Review vocabulary words or concept list with the class before students read the selection.

Have students read the assigned text and carefully define the target concepts. Have students complete the four-square chart for each concept.

Ask the students to share their conclusions with the entire class. These presentations may be used to review the entire list of new vocabulary or concepts.

http://www.longwood.edu/staff/jonescd/projects/educ530/aboxley/graphicorg/nonexamples.htm

Method 2

Method 3

Alphabet dialogue

Talk-for-a-minute game

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/tasks_main.html

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking.html

Method 1

Alphabet Conversation

It's a good idea to give students some fillers, linking or hesitation words, such as :

important to realize

another key point

first thing to remember

most compelling evidence

must be remembered

point often overlooked

to point out

on the positive side

on the negative side

with this in mind

but

(and) still

unlike

or

(and) yet

while

albeit

besides

as much as

even though

notably

including

like

to be sure

namely

chiefly

truly

indeed

certainly

surely

markedly

such as

in fact

in general

in particular

in detail

for example

for instance

to demonstrate

to emphasize

to repeat

to clarify

to explain

to enumerate

in case

provided that

given that

only / even if

so that

so as to

owing to

inasmuch as

due to

although this may be true

in contrast

different from

of course ..., but

on the other hand

on the contrary

at the same time

in spite of

even so / though

be that as it may

then again

above all

in reality

after all

Web quizes

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/chat-room

DISCUSSIONS

Method 4

UNPLUGGED METHOD

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-unplugged-activities

TED TALKS

https://www.lessonplansdigger.com/2016/02/14/ted-talk-falling-in-love-is-the-easy-part/?fbclid=IwAR1hFIIVmFcXb-gT0WttyxHJZzn4LrJuj0KrbVOk3Y5rxni_ndMjkmDx6vg

Conclusion

The 27th letter of the Alphabet

I’ve come across a historical footnote on the English language and I thought everyone would get a kick out of it.

Up until about 2 hundred years ago, there was a 27th letter in the English language. This letter is still in common use today and I would bet that you have used it recently. But this letter is no longer considered a letter; it is now regarded either an abbreviation or punctuation. I’m talking about the (&) ampersand.

There was a time when children recited the alphabet with an extra line (x,y,z) “and, per se, and”.

When you translate the Latin, what that means is and, by itself, and. (Try saying the above line real fast and you’ll probably see where the word ampersand came from.)

It’s not clear exactly when this was dropped as a letter, but we do know where the symbol originally came from. It traces back to Latin, where scribes regularly wrote et, the Latin word for and, with the letters mushed together. This was eventually corrupted into its own symbol, and as the centuries passed it came to be used in other languages as valid word. You can even see a hint of the original Latin et in the ampersand at right.

Method 5

BTW (by the way), this one is new to me, but did you know that according to some sources &c is a valid alternative for etc, or et cetera?

et =and

the letters mushed together

Method 6

Card-swapping discussion

Students take the cards with the questions and answer them in turn.

They should know the length of time given to answer each question.

Card 2.

What's your hobby?

Wake up your imagination

Card 1.

Do you often cook at home?

Card 3.

What is your favourite sport?

Card 4.

What does "recycling" mean?

Card 6.

Where does your family usually go on holiday?

Card 5.

Which way do you learn English words?

Frayer model

http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22369/

Strategies

How do you implement the strategy?

Step 1. Name or label the concept to be discussed.

Step 2. Provide a definition of the concept that is specific enough to differentiate it from other concepts.

Step 3. Identify and discuss key attributes that distinguish the concept in question from other similar concepts.

Step 4. Give examples that fit the definition and illustrate these essential attributes.

Step 5. Identify and discuss non-examples so that students can see and practice differentiation

https://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/TQP/upload/ISLES-S-Concept-Procedural-Aug2014.pdf

Method 7

Students answer these questions and this way create their own stories.

Method 8

Method 7-a

3'69

For example, 'Digital Dreams'

"I added more memory," said the technician. Under my desk, ... ... ...

"I added more memory," said the technician. Under my desk, THE PROCESSOR FEELS A MAGICIAN NOW.

Ask students to expand the completed text creating the full story.