The child as a learner 1 When to start language learningWhat stops children from learningHow children learn languagesGetting parents involvedGet to know how your children learn When to start language learning Most experts believe that when a child is introduced to a second language at an early age their chances of becoming more proficient in the target language will be higher. However, children who learn in pre-to-early teens often catch up very quickly with children who learn from an earlier age. Whatever the age, when children learn a second language they develop skills that will help to create opportunities in their future. What stops children from learning Feeling uncomfortable, distracted or under pressureFeeling confused by abstract concepts of grammar rules and their application which they cannot easily understandActivities which require them to focus attention for a long timeBoredomBeing over-corrected How children learn languages Children learn by: Getting parents involved Tips 1. 2. 3. Dominant Senses
200 Free Kids Educational Resources: Lessons, Apps, Books, Websites... Advertisement This collection provides a list of free educational resources for K-12 students (kindergarten through high school students) and their parents and teachers. It features free video lessons/tutorials; free mobile apps; free audiobooks, ebooks and textbooks; quality YouTube channels; free foreign language lessons; test prep materials; and free web resources in academic subjects like literature, history, science and computing. This newly-released list is a work in progress. Free Audio Books, eBooks and Textbooks Free Audio Books: Our collection of 450 free audio books includes many children’s classics. Free eBooks: This collection includes many children’s classics in ebook format. Bartleby.com: Gives you access to free online classics of reference, literature, and nonfiction, including Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, The World Factbook, The Oxford Shakespeare, and The King James Bible. CK-12: This non-profit provides “open textbooks” for K-12 students all over the world.
Helping language learners visualise their linguistic development: growing learning – Lizzie Pinard My learners often struggle to recognise the progress they are making and how much work they do put in to their learning – both seem like a drop in the ocean compared to all the lacks – the “I can’t“‘s and “I have no time“‘s that are all too clear to them and tend to be their focal point. Time spent on language study and progress made are quite intangible for a lot of the time, to the person using that time and making that progress. This can lead to lack of motivation and tailing off of initial enthusiasm. Additionally, learners tend to avoid studying unless they have a substantial chunk of time to devote to it. Being busy people, with a range of commitments to juggle, clear hour-long chunks of time do not arise as frequently as they might like. When I started my reading project with my learners, I looked for a motivating way for them to record their reading and goals, but wasn’t able to find something that matched what I was after. What came about was a handout called Benefits: Issues:
Vad behöver jag fortbilda mig i inom it? (del 3) I båda mina tidigare inlägg har du kunnat läsa om vad IT-strategierna gått ut på samt vad som eventuellt kommer att tydliggöras. I detta inlägg kommer jag att fokusera på vad som specifikt gäller för mina ämnen svenska och engelska samt vad som ska bedömas. Jag kommer även dela med mig hur jag jobbat för att nå målen samt vad jag behöver utveckla. Svenska I syftestexten finns följande ändringar. I det centrala innehållet ska elever skapa texter där ord och bild samspelar såväl med som utan digitala verktyg. Engelska Jag hittar inga förslag för engelskan. Bedömningen börjar i planeringen så vad bedömer jag behöva för kompetensutveckling? Om du vill titta mer specifikt på vad som ska bedömas kan du läsa mina tidigare inlägg, dels här på ämnesspanarbloggen men även på min blogg. För svenskan skrev jag då att bedömningen ska fokusera på: hur eleven kan söka, välja ut och sammanställa information från källor och kunna resonera kring källornas trovärdighet och relevans. För engelskan:
Know Your Terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics So let’s talk about rubrics for a few minutes. What we’re going to do here is describe two frequently used kinds of rubrics, holistic and analytic, plus a less common one called the single-point rubric (my favorite, for the record). For each one, we’ll look at an example, explore its pros and cons, and provide a blank template you can use to create your own. Off we go! A holistic rubric is the most general kind. Suppose you’re an unusually demanding person. When your breakfast is done, you simply gather your loved ones and say, “I’m sorry my darlings, but that breakfast was just a 2. The main advantage of a holistic rubric is that it’s easy on the teacher — in the short run, anyway. The main disadvantage of a holistic rubric is that it doesn’t provide targeted feedback to students, which means they’re unlikely to learn much from the assignment. Holistic rubrics are most useful in cases when there’s no time (or need, though that’s hard to imagine) for specific feedback. Sources:
Finding video clips by phrase | (Almost) Infinite ELT Ideas On Sunday, Milada Krajewska and I were looking for the amazing playphrase.me, which Anthony Schmidt had introduced to me a couple of months ago and I’d forgotten the name of. It’s a kind of audio corpus, where you can search for a particular word or phrase and it will find a series of examples from films and TV shows. It’s designed for language learners, and you can also help them to add to their database of phrases. Here’s an example for ‘if you know what I mean‘: In the process, we came across Yarn, another tool to find video clips by quote. What would you do with these two tools in your classroom? Click here to find out the idea behind this blog. Like this: Like Loading...
Dictations are fun! No, I haven’t gone insane. I really think they are. On top, dictations are also powerful EFL teaching tools if used judiciously. Yes, I know. Nervous sweat rolling down your brow. You would very much like to formally plead the teacher to be mag-na-ni-mous and to spare you the suffering if only you knew how to spell the damn word… Sounds familiar? Now a teacher yourself, you’ve probably been trying to save your students from going through the same trauma, long ago banning any form of dictation from your classroom. Dictations are great teaching tools, especially in a one-to-one setting. extra listening practicezoom in on a language pointvary the pace of the classon the spot language reformulationpronunciation (minimal pairs, sentence stress, sounds vs spelling, etc.) And last but not least: practise correct spelling. You’re still not convinced? And if I’m preaching to the choir, please share your dictation ideas below. As a disclaimer, I don’t pretend to have invented any of the below. 1. 2.
Video Lesson Framework – short animations | teflgeek It’s getting close to the end of the year, when it starts getting difficult for our students to maintain their motivation for English and when teachers are busier with testing and reports and the like. My students have been clamouring for a video lesson for weeks now, but I always feel as though I would be short changing them with a feature length film – so my concession to their desperate desire is the cartoon. I have in the past used this lesson framework with Tom & Jerry cartoons – they tend to be around the ten minute mark and as there’s no dialogue they work well for lower level classes and especially well with young learner classes. More recently I prefer using Shaun the Sheep episodes – it helps that I have a wide range of these DVDs at home! The framework is quite simple and doesn’t involve much in the way of language input, the focus here is more on giving learners a springboard for language production instead – and engagement and fun! Feedback on the ideas. (@15 minutes) Have fun!
Tips and techniques for correcting spoken errors | elt-resourceful This is the third (very belated) part in a series on oral correction. In the first part, I wrote about the importance of correction, and in the second about when to correct, so in this post I’d like to concentrate on the actual process of how to correct. Let’s start by looking at immediate correction, while the student is speaking. The pros and cons of doing this are discussed here, but assuming that you have made the decision to correct immediately (and not just reformulate), how can you best go about it? Most teachers would agree that it is usually best to try and elicit a correction from the student. But no-one can correct themselves if they don’t know what the problem is. Student: I want to heat it. Teacher: No.. Student: Sorry, I want to heating it. Student: Er, I want heat it? Teacher: No, you want to EAT it! So, the first thing to consider is how you are going to help the student realise where the problem lies. In the case above, the teacher could do a number of things: Like this:
Teaching speaking skills 1 While it is a bit of an exaggeration, students clearly feel that classroom-based speaking practice does not prepare them for the real world. Why do students so often highlight listening and speaking as their biggest problems? Partly because of the demands of listening and speaking and partly because of the way speaking is often taught. It usually consists of language practice activities (discussions, information-gap activities etc.) or is used to practise a specific grammar point. Neither teaches patterns of real interaction. What do students need? What do students need? Practice at using L1 (mother tongue) strategies, which they don't automatically transfer.An awareness of formal / informal language and practice at choosing appropriate language for different situations.The awareness that informal spoken language is less complex than written language. Practical suggestions What language should I teach? When teaching spoken language, focus on teaching longer transactional turns.
Think Alouds Classroom Strategies Background Think Alouds help students learn to monitor their thinking as they read an assigned passage. Benefits Think Alouds are practical and relatively easy for teachers to use within the classroom. Create and use the strategy Begin by modeling this strategy. What do I know about this topic? Teachers should next (1) give students opportunities to practice the technique, either in pairs, small groups or individually; and (2) offer structured feedback to students. Initially, the teacher reads the selected passage aloud as the students read the same text silently. Further reading Davey, B. (1983). Olshavsky, J. Wilhelm, J. Wilhelm, J. Think-Pair-Share Strategies for Reading ComprehensionThink-Pair-Share[Lyman, 1981] What Is Think-Pair-Share?Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative discussion strategy developed by Frank Lyman and his colleagues in Maryland. It gets its name from the three stages of student action, with emphasis on what students are to be DOING at each of those stages. How Does It Work?1) Think. 2) Pair. 3) Share. Why Should I Use Think-Pair-Share? Because of the first stage, when students simply THINK, there is Wait Time: they actually have time to think about their answers. © 1998-present by Raymond C.