Be creative: TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

Hello, my readers!

This publication will be the last one before I will start my Master's final exams period, this is why I have the need of spending a three-week holiday apart from my PLE in order to study and I do my best both at work and academically.

I will be back by the first week of February when I will be teaching at [SURPRISE] in Elche, sorry I still cannot share my intership destination, but I promise to keep my readers informed!

I would like to share then, different ways in which routines can vary by adding artistic expressions in the ESL classroom.

• MUSIC: Ask your students if they can play any instrument and give them the opportunity to share their experiences and bring them to class!

• THEATRE: I have recently read an article on this topic you Click on the image below and you could read an interesting article that I have recently read on EducaLab.

         PUBLIC DOMAIN

• CINEMA: Go and ask your local cinemas or near your town whether they are broadcasting films in English, and spend a wonderful morning watching an original version movie.

• TALES: Tales? Maybe you are wondering why I do not suggest novels or stories for their maturity processes but... Tales are not only addressed at children! They can both read tales on emotions, or create them. Try with my beloved and crazy Dr Seuss, for example.

REFERENCES

Greek theatre masks from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tragic_comic_masks_-_roman_mosaic.jpg

Wish me good luck!

Miss Bacaicoa

Writing expression and interaction: A DIARY

“A man’s mistakes are his portals of discovery.” James Joyce

Hello, my readers!

Welcome to a new post dedicated to enhance your students' writing skills. As the TU "Lost in the States" is focused on a trip to America, and sometimes when travelling plan do not occur as expected (though you had checked the map, asked the locals, etc.), I thought that writing a diary can be a good manner of keeping record of their "daily adventures and feelings". This will be explained also in class. 

This task contains three core sections: 

• Include the full date, how’s the weather like, and your exact geographical location (state and village/city) every day on top of your diary page.
• Describe how your day has been or would have been using the 3rd Conditional as much as possible.
• Draw a box containing a new idiom and two phrasal verbs learnt each day. You must explain the idiom meaning in your own words, and include the PhVbs within two logical sentences. 

In order to introduce idioms in the ESL classroom, I have designed a dynamic short presentation using the powerful resource called PowToon.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE,
THIS IS JUST SCREENSHOT 

Should you need any further clarification, you could watch a PechaKucha video I have recorded myself. It is available on my YouTube Channel, you can access from my blog following these instructions: Click on the page VIDEOS, and then on the IMAGE you will find there. 

Also, I would be glad to answer your comments or e-mails.

Have a wonderful day you all!


Mrs Bacaicoa

Reading comprehension skills: TRAVEL GUIDES RESEARCH

Hello, my readers! 

The core purpose of this publication is to practise the students' reading skills as well as giving them the needed standards in order to investigate on a concrete topic (TRAVELING TO THE STATES) using the Internet: 

• USA Government

• World Travel Guide

• Visit the USA

• Nomadic Matt

Afterwards, your students will be able to combine their abilities to perform their own project in public: the performance of an oral exposition focusing on the one of the areas of research proposed by the teacher or their own elections:

• Climate
• Geography (land area, oceans, mountains, etc.)
• History 
• Inhabitants (number, races, religions, etc,)
• Languages spoken
• Time zones

TIPS for Special Educational Needs: 

• Lower readers may need adapted texts or/and extra recommendations/guidelines as far as the information they have to find (FIRST..., THEN...)
• The opportunity of choosing their areas of research about the country will benefit your ASD students, who will be encouraged to participate with their favourite topics.

Miss Bacaicoa

Grammar: WISHES AND REGRETS

Hello, my readers!

Yes, indeed! As it can be guessed from its title, this post today will be about grammar and not boring at all! 

I think that there is a spread missconception of learning and teaching SL/ FL grammar around the world. Some teachers and students seem to  be completely obssesed about it others, on the contrary extremely avoid it in order to creative communicative atmospheres. But? Is there an average point?

In my opinion, there must be and if teachers are not able to find them, they must create it. 

Example of a grammar lesson plan:

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/third-conditional 

😞 DISADVANTAGES: artificial language  is employed in videos and recordings, this bores teenagers to tears!

😊ADVANTAGES: already prepared for busy teachers inclusding three types of different classic activities to reinforce the grammar point taught.

TIP: You can use hotpotates to check their understanding at home! And so, do not waste your scarce time in class with it.

Miss Bacaicoa

Culture, history and traditions: THANKSGIVING

Hello, my readers!

On my contribution today, I would like to make you wonder about culture and all its implications within the SL classroom. From now on, I will refer both to high school and adult learners of English. It is cold this winter, please take a coffee and seat before meditating...

Are HISTORY and TRADITIONS important when TESL? What do we understand for CULTURE? Does it apply for one and only single COUNTRY? If so, WHERE should we choose it from?

So to calm down my readers after these universal questions, I have delicately done some reasearch and chosen the paper so called "Teaching culture in the 21st century language classroom". It was published by University of Nebraska and defends that:

"Research on teaching culture has shown that language and culture are closely related and are best acquired together. [...] The acquisition of a second language […] is also the acquisition of a second culture.” 

This being so, trying to avoid culture in our ESL would be a catastrophe that will damage our students' perception of the world and enhance their rejection towards other countries. 

Undoubtedly, teaching beyond language structures seems for me a engaging opportunity to "open wide" their mind scopes and appreciate different cultures whenever you have the opportunity, as a teacher, to keep your students in contact to foreign institutions or schools (English speakers, it does not really matter if you decide to communicate with students in Colombia who learn ESL or native English speakers from Scotland). 

Good real examples I have experimented myself in the ESL classroom are:

•  a videoconference session using the platform Skype to discuss about Hallowe'en differences between America and Europe; 
• sending e-mails / letters  to ask for recommendations for planning a trip or a recipe for preparing a British national meal.

Focusing on the "Lost in the States", I have created with the tool WordClouds a highly visual word map containing some of the essential vocabulary to be employed at the end of your Thanksgiving lesson in order to retell the historical events. However, this idea can be applied for several purposes such as: 

• a table of contents for introducing the involved characters and locations, you can establish a concrete order, in our case I did not choose it on purpose;
• a study helper;
• a tool for brainstorming during debates, showing the guide lines to follow;
• an opportunity to come upon synonyms and antonyms on online dictionaries as Theasaurus;
• teach them to generate their own "word clouds" easily not just with the previous tool mentioned (WordCloud) but also with the ones I have considered the best to handle by beginners: Wordle, and WordItOut.
• There are plenty of objectives that could be achieved from them, do not hesitate to contact me or comment this post if you can name some more!

CREATED BY SANDRA BACAICOA

References

• Dema, Oxana and Moeller, Aleidine Kramer, "Teaching culture in the 21st century language classroom" (2012). Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education. Paper 181. 

My best New Year's wishes to you all!

Miss Bacaicoa