How to find out about your learners interests in a compelling way?

https://goo.gl/photos/Lv9KJs14RiDxpNb16

I have started teaching French to a group of 3 girls aged 10 years old. They are native German but they have been attending a primary school where they were taught French intensively, it was like an immersion type of school so their level is very good.

[read more…]

10 years old1 5 a day1 acquire28 acquisition33 answers8 approach1 asking1 Ben Slavic2 brain break5 chinese portrait1 chinois1 cognates3 communicate5 communication7 communicative7 compell1 compelling10 comprehend10 comprehensible41 dance2 dancing1 dig up1 disco1 dislikes1 Education8 engage14 engaging9 establish1 establishing1 find out1 fit3 fitness3 foreign language5 fun13 get to know1 girls1 group3 input39 interest9 interesting9 language26 learner8 level2 likes1 meaning3 natural3 naturally3 near cognates1 one word image2 party2 personalized13 portrait1 questions19 repeat3 repeating3 repetition11 repetitive5 second language4 session2 story34 story asking9 storyasking3 target language12 target structure10 TPRS34 try out1 video32 vocabulary18 youtube17

How to develop fluency for an oral examination?

The speaking examination for the IGCSEs can be a stressful experience for our students as they are having to speak in the target language for 15 minutes and they are being recorded. It is therefore best to practice this experience often during class time. In the past I have used Audioboo so that my students could practice and review the general questions (which are a series of linked questions on two or three topics which students have covered in grade 9 and 10).

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 answers8 convey1 develop2 Education8 exam2 examination4 fluency15 fluent12 GCSE1 grade 108 grade 98 IGCSE12 list3 oral11 personal8 personalized13 PQA5 practice17 questions19 set2 Spanish27 speaking37 speaking skills2 teacherspayteachers11 tenses2 TPRS34

How to encourage students to produce comprehensible output on sports

 

 

 

 

 

 

My grade 7 students (12-13 years old) did comprehensible presentations about some popular sports in Hispanic countries. First, I wanted to model a presentation because whenever my students produce Spanish output,

[read more…]

baseball1 comprehensible41 countries2 Dominican Republic1 Education8 encourage2 example1 group work5 hispanic4 hobbies4 input39 language26 look for2 model2 motivate7 oral11 output10 pair1 popular1 presentation10 project10 quiz4 sample1 search1 Spanish27 speaking37 sports1 teacherspayteachers11

Civilization project to use the past tense in Spanish

I have covered the past tense in Spanish with my grade 8 students (13-14 years old) this term and I want them to be able to describe past events confidently and accurately. Over my teaching experience I have found out that doing the traditional grammar exercises such as filling in the gaps with the correct verb forms does not really work with students.

[read more…]

acquire28 acquired3 acquisition33 civilization1 collaboration work1 collaborative2 communication7 communicative7 comprehend10 comprehensible41 culture22 Education8 fluency15 grade 85 group work5 history5 imperfect2 incas1 independent3 informative1 innate1 input39 internalize1 invented1 language26 language skills1 listening29 mayas1 oral11 output10 pair work2 past5 poster2 presentation10 proficiency8 project10 simple past4 skills24 Spanish27 speaking37 storylistening2 video32

Restorative yoga before bedtime

One thing that I did achieve during my maternity leave is to get back into shape. In fact, I have never felt so good and so fit in years! First I started to do yoga on a regular basis but I noticed I needed more cardio workout so I decided I would have a go at running.

[read more…]

article5 asleep1 backtoschool2 backtowork1 batteries1 bed1 bedtime2 calm3 class2 destress4 fit3 fitness3 health3 healthy4 mind3 personal8 pose3 poses1 posture1 recharge1 relay1 rest1 restful1 restorative1 restore1 run1 sleep1 somuchyoga1 state1 video32 yoga7 yogi1