How we introduce Christmas in class:
• Sing Christmas’s songs
• Make Christmas cards
• Make the decorated (Christmas tree/ stockings…)
• Make typical Christmas sweets
• Create a theatre or a story about Christmas (Santa Claus….)
• See a film about Christmas time.
• Read Christmas carols.
sábado, 11 de septiembre de 2010
PLANNING A LESSON
JUSTIFICATION:
Farm Animals are very popular among young children, they have seen them in books, cartoons and many stories since they were born, they are already familiar with the topic and this makes it easier in the topic. Farm animals is a topic they are going to find frequently as well as in real life, and also gives us the opportunity to work with authentic material, to experiment through language and have fun in the classroom making different animal sounds and having fun learning their names.
PUPILS AGE: 3-6 years old.
OBJECTIVES:
• To Learn the name and sounds of some farm animals.
• Enjoy learning English, practising the good pronunciation.
• Developing creativity through different activities.
METHODOLOGY:
The activities we propose look for participation and motivation from the pupil, we intend for the pupils to feel involved in the process of learning, always respecting the pupils own learning. These activities also give the pupils the opportunity to experiment with different materials and with the language.
We don’t try to correct the pupils every time they make a mistake but we will repeat their mistake in the correct way so that they learn the correct pattern as well as to students’ interest and implication during the lesson. We will give importance to pronunciation, implication and interest the pupils show during the lesson.
ACTIVITIES:
• Song “Old Mc Donald”.
• See the video of the farm animals.
• Visit the farm.
• Take photographs of these animals.
• Draw the animals.
RESOURCES:
• Storybooks,
• “Old Mc Donald’s” video
• Electronic devices as: digital camera, computers, printers, dvd-cd.
• Parents help (for the excursion)
• Colours, pencil, drawing paper.
DURATION:
• 3 sessions of 50 minutes and a day out to the farm:
*1st session: introduction of farm animals using a known story: “El cargol i l’herba de poliol” (in English), using farm animals for all characters. (We would consider asking some of the pupils to act out some of the characters in further sessions).
Ask the pupils if they know which sound goes with which animal, as well as finding out how many of these animals they already know.
Introduction of “Old Mc Donald” song.
*2nd session: Singing “Old Mc Donald” song all together, as well as watching the video of the song:
Drawing and colouring the different animals on the farm.
*3rd session: Day out to a farm.
First of all, we will ask the children to look at the photos and try to remember the animals they see, and then we will ask them if they can remember any. We will take advantage of the excursion to try different home-made products for their mid morning break, and we will spend all morning on the farm.
4th session:
We will put together all photographs, drawings, and material used during the last sessions, and make a mural to hang on the wall in the classroom.
Farm Animals are very popular among young children, they have seen them in books, cartoons and many stories since they were born, they are already familiar with the topic and this makes it easier in the topic. Farm animals is a topic they are going to find frequently as well as in real life, and also gives us the opportunity to work with authentic material, to experiment through language and have fun in the classroom making different animal sounds and having fun learning their names.
PUPILS AGE: 3-6 years old.
OBJECTIVES:
• To Learn the name and sounds of some farm animals.
• Enjoy learning English, practising the good pronunciation.
• Developing creativity through different activities.
METHODOLOGY:
The activities we propose look for participation and motivation from the pupil, we intend for the pupils to feel involved in the process of learning, always respecting the pupils own learning. These activities also give the pupils the opportunity to experiment with different materials and with the language.
We don’t try to correct the pupils every time they make a mistake but we will repeat their mistake in the correct way so that they learn the correct pattern as well as to students’ interest and implication during the lesson. We will give importance to pronunciation, implication and interest the pupils show during the lesson.
ACTIVITIES:
• Song “Old Mc Donald”.
• See the video of the farm animals.
• Visit the farm.
• Take photographs of these animals.
• Draw the animals.
RESOURCES:
• Storybooks,
• “Old Mc Donald’s” video
• Electronic devices as: digital camera, computers, printers, dvd-cd.
• Parents help (for the excursion)
• Colours, pencil, drawing paper.
DURATION:
• 3 sessions of 50 minutes and a day out to the farm:
*1st session: introduction of farm animals using a known story: “El cargol i l’herba de poliol” (in English), using farm animals for all characters. (We would consider asking some of the pupils to act out some of the characters in further sessions).
Ask the pupils if they know which sound goes with which animal, as well as finding out how many of these animals they already know.
Introduction of “Old Mc Donald” song.
*2nd session: Singing “Old Mc Donald” song all together, as well as watching the video of the song:
Drawing and colouring the different animals on the farm.
*3rd session: Day out to a farm.
First of all, we will ask the children to look at the photos and try to remember the animals they see, and then we will ask them if they can remember any. We will take advantage of the excursion to try different home-made products for their mid morning break, and we will spend all morning on the farm.
4th session:
We will put together all photographs, drawings, and material used during the last sessions, and make a mural to hang on the wall in the classroom.
jueves, 9 de septiembre de 2010
martes, 15 de junio de 2010
How would you introduce cultural contents in your English lessons?
First of all, I would like to say that I agree the educational system; I like the idea of teaching a foreign language to young children. In fact there are methodologies which teach English at nursery (at the age of 2 or 3 years)…, obviously the aim isn’t for children to learn the English language, the aim will only be to develop the oral skill to this foreign language through stories, basic songs, easy games and videos.
Children could have another teacher who comes once a week to the class to do the English lesson (the first educator stays also in the classroom). Is important for this person to belong to school, he or she would not be a strange person for them, and is convenient that he or she would repeat the same activity at least two or three times.
Now, introducing cultural contents in English lessons would be absolutely and undoubtedly through stories, songs, drama, games, flash cards, magazines..... All depending on the age of the children.
I think that the age to start with cultural contents should not be under five years old.
Cultural contents should be the most basic, through stories with pictures, cartoons or comics, videos or films and always looking for simple language.
First we should start learning some geography of the English-speaking countries, whether it's the
- Situate it on a map.
- Draw a picture of the countries and cities and colour it.
- Ask them what they know about these countries or cities.
- Similarities with our geography.
- Know the flag and draw it.
All this could be hung on a wall mural in the class.
Once have progressed in this field, we could work on the traditions of these places; but first we can work on a maximum of one or two cities in these countries; for example
- The gastronomy
We could invite a family member or a friend of the children to do a cooking workshop: to make something very easy for children; make a cake, cookies, or muffins.
From there, learn vocabulary with the ingredients, with kitchen appliances, etc…
- Teatime
We could explain what means "drinking tea" for English people, and talk about the similarities with our basket lunch.
- English Folktales
We ask students to look for information on the Internet with the help of their families, etc ... to bring themselves prepared a story, the teacher can read it, and together make drawings of the story, and by a vote they decide which story they like best and make a big fairy tale to keep it in the classroom (all as easy as possible).
They might also be familiar stories taking place in
- Typical or traditional Songs
- Happy birthday Song.
- Christmas cards.
- Good Morning Song.
- Simple Songs for children.
- The climate and clothing in reference to the weather.
- The most popular sports there.
- If they have got a King or Queen.
In general all should be compared and related to the culture of our country, making everything very easy and pleasant, doing short sessions and encourage children at all times, always respecting the real of learning and the progressing of each student.
What do you think about the Government's plan to introduce laptops in classrooms?
First of all I cannot evaluate the new government plan as positive or negative, because it’s a very wide issue with many points of view to analyze.
In general modernization is something positive in all cases, but we can fall into the trap of doing in a way not entirely correct, ignoring the negative facts and risks that it also brings.
This new project will begin soon. We ignore what is happening and being applied in many countries in the rest of Europe.
This new plan is being accepted by teachers as well as by students.
Important points to emphasize:
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEATURES
MOTIVATION: I think it can be a motivation to learn for children, and specially for the teenagers who most of all think that education in school is boring. They not realise how important and necessary it is for the future.
DISTRACTION: As a counterpoint to the motivation, students could be distracted with other things while they should be looking for information about what they are learning in class.
INTERCOM WITH STUDENTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES:
Schools in Spain could interchange information with schools in foreign countries to share information about their studies (work, notes ....) and also about how they live, customs, culture, and anything that is interesting for them.
LESS DIALOGUE WITH TEACHERS AND CLASSMATES: Some students become isolated from the rest of class and teachers, loosing direct contact between people.
Devote their attention and enthusiasm in communicating with people who live many miles away.
AGILITY AND QUICK TAP: This is very useful for their future, for example in a job.
BAD SPELLING AND CALLIGRAPHY: In my opinion they should look for a system or programs that will mark incorrect words, but not correct them, because then they have to look them up in the dictionary or ask the teacher to correct the word, and so they can learn and internalize the deficiencies in writing. They will continue to write reviews, stories.
KNOWLEDGE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY: We live in a technological world and it is clear that we should immerse ourselves and understand it for our future and the future of our children.
MORE RESEARCH AND DATA SOURCES: The Internet is a paradise of information. There are videos, photos, programs, music, documents on any topic, and written by people of many countries with different cultural and social backgrounds.
The Internet is a modern source for learning.
NEGATIVE AND USELESS INFORMATION: Sometimes we find wrong information.
I think it is a positive step to integrate in school, but they have to resolve all the negative points before implementing it. It will be important for all teachers understand all the positive and negative points. Teach them how to use the internet if they do not know how, and do mini courses for parents who are interested in learning to help their children if they do not know how to use a computer.
Another important thing is the time designated for the use of computers, the subjects which will use it and how they use it, and which programs will be open to children. For example I think that geography, history, and science, would be good to investigate in Internet and communicating with children from other countries would perhaps encourage deeper learning and motivate them to learn more.
What will they do with computers? : Copy notes, search for images, videos…all of these are things to consider. They have to choose pages useful for children and eliminate others. There are more possibilities to surf in the internet, for example, downloading some software like paint, word, excel…
In general modernization is something positive in all cases, but we can fall into the trap of doing in a way not entirely correct, ignoring the negative facts and risks that it also brings.
This new project will begin soon. We ignore what is happening and being applied in many countries in the rest of Europe.
This new plan is being accepted by teachers as well as by students.
Important points to emphasize:
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEATURES
MOTIVATION: I think it can be a motivation to learn for children, and specially for the teenagers who most of all think that education in school is boring. They not realise how important and necessary it is for the future.
DISTRACTION: As a counterpoint to the motivation, students could be distracted with other things while they should be looking for information about what they are learning in class.
INTERCOM WITH STUDENTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES:
Schools in Spain could interchange information with schools in foreign countries to share information about their studies (work, notes ....) and also about how they live, customs, culture, and anything that is interesting for them.
LESS DIALOGUE WITH TEACHERS AND CLASSMATES: Some students become isolated from the rest of class and teachers, loosing direct contact between people.
Devote their attention and enthusiasm in communicating with people who live many miles away.
AGILITY AND QUICK TAP: This is very useful for their future, for example in a job.
BAD SPELLING AND CALLIGRAPHY: In my opinion they should look for a system or programs that will mark incorrect words, but not correct them, because then they have to look them up in the dictionary or ask the teacher to correct the word, and so they can learn and internalize the deficiencies in writing. They will continue to write reviews, stories.
KNOWLEDGE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY: We live in a technological world and it is clear that we should immerse ourselves and understand it for our future and the future of our children.
MORE RESEARCH AND DATA SOURCES: The Internet is a paradise of information. There are videos, photos, programs, music, documents on any topic, and written by people of many countries with different cultural and social backgrounds.
The Internet is a modern source for learning.
NEGATIVE AND USELESS INFORMATION: Sometimes we find wrong information.
I think it is a positive step to integrate in school, but they have to resolve all the negative points before implementing it. It will be important for all teachers understand all the positive and negative points. Teach them how to use the internet if they do not know how, and do mini courses for parents who are interested in learning to help their children if they do not know how to use a computer.
Another important thing is the time designated for the use of computers, the subjects which will use it and how they use it, and which programs will be open to children. For example I think that geography, history, and science, would be good to investigate in Internet and communicating with children from other countries would perhaps encourage deeper learning and motivate them to learn more.
What will they do with computers? : Copy notes, search for images, videos…all of these are things to consider. They have to choose pages useful for children and eliminate others. There are more possibilities to surf in the internet, for example, downloading some software like paint, word, excel…
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