SECRETS OF POWERPOINT FOR TEACHERS. ACTIVITIES AT THE LESSON.

Microsoft PowerPoint can work perfectly not only for creating presentations, but also for making up animated activites for the lesson. In this post you will learn how to make games in this programme.

At the lesson you will need a projector and an interactive board.

1. Sea battles. A well-known game from our childhood can be used to practice speaking skills and revising grammatical structures. I used this one at the end of the school year (New Hot Spot 3). Students have to make a sentence using the suggested structure and the expression. If the sentence is correct, then you click on the field and check wether there is a battleship. Here you can download my presentation and transform it according to your needs.-->A sea battle game

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BRAIN-FRIENDLY LEARNING. TEACHING STRATEGIES

Do you know what it means  A BRAIN-FRIENDLY LEARNING? If so, you don't need to read the information below. But if you have a very transparent idea of it (as I used to have), read it, you may find out curious facts about our brain and how this knowledge can be used in the classroom. The information below is taken from the book by Janet Nay Zadina "Multiple pathways to the student bain. Energising and enhancing instruction."

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IDEAS FOR USING FLASHCARDS

How often do you use flashcards at the lesson of English? I'm sure you do it quite often as it is one of the best ways to visualize the vocabulary. What is more, in tmodern picture-liking era flashcards reach the minds of pupils as nothing else.

So, how to use flashcards in a creative way helping students in acquiring information and not letting our students feel bored at the lesson.

1. Disappearing flashcards

I use this activity for introducing the new vocabulary. The flashcards are displayed on the board, students repeat the words after you but at each sequence of repetition you turn over the last flashcard and the students have to name it themselves.

It lookes like that: 

cough - cut - tummy ache - headache - earache - sore throat - cold 

cough - cut - tummy ache - headache - earache - sore throat - X

cough - cut - tummy ache - headache - earache - X - X 

cough - cut - tummy ache - headache - X - X - X 

cough - cut - tummy ache - X - X - X - X 

cough - cut - X - X - X - X - X 

cough - X - X - X - X - X - X 

X - X - X - X - X - X - X 

In the end after numerous repeating the students memorize the words and the sequence of the cards. They learn and train their memory.

2. Treasure Hunt

The flashcards are displayed on the board face up. What students don't know is if there is a sticker behind the flashcard, it's the treasure. The task is to make up a sentence corresponding to the card. If the sentence is 100% correct they are allowed to turn over the flashcard and check if there is a treasure, if not, another student tries. What is good about it is that if they make a mistake, they start listening to more successful students trying to repeat the grammar stucture after them, and as a result they learn.

3. Hopscotch
This type of activity is most suitable for younger learners as action is what they need. You might think that you can't play it in the classroom. But as you know there is always a way out for those who want. You can use oilcloth for that. The only thing you have to do beforehand is to draw the template on the oilcloth to which you will stick the flashcards.
A new post on hopschotch at the lesson of English is comming soon.

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DICTATIONS CAN BE FUN

Do your pupils like dictations at the lesson? For most teachers it's a synonym with 'old-fashioned' and 'boring'. I believe most students would make a dull face if you tell them you are going to have a dictation at the lesson today. But what if these dictations are fun and have elements of a game. Let's try to make an interesting activity out of a simple dictation.

First, why dictation is a good way to practice? It's a great tool to work on accuracy, not mentioning the skills of listening, writing and even communication. Let's see how you can transform this activity to make it combine all these elements.

A traditional dictation is teacher-centred. Why not make it student-to-student and let your pupils work in pairs. It will release tention and let them feel some freedom. There are 4 types of dictations below based on the principle student-to-student. I hope you will like them.

1. Running dictation

The text is on the board. Students make a line. One person from the line is a writer and can't see the text. The rest of the students in the line have to run to the board, memorize one sentence from the card, run back to the writer and repeat the sentence so that the writer could write it. You set the time for your students or the activity lasts until one team is done. Then you check if all is correct.

2. Shouting dictation

The idea is that your students make too lines at the opposite sides of the classroom and have to shout the text to their partner who is supposed to put it down. Make sure the texts are split or differ a little bit. No doubt, it may become too noisy if the whole class takes part in the activity, so it could be reasonable to make at least 4-5 teams, so that not all of your pupils speak at a time.

3. Whispering chain dictation

If you try to avoid any kind of noise in your classroom, this type of dictation would be most suitable for you. Students make a line or several lines if it is a whole class and whisper the sentneces. The last student has to write down what he/she has heard. Then they rotate positions. The last student comes to the front of the line and whispers first.

4. Back-to-back dictation

This type of dictation is good for pair-work. Students sit with their backs to each other and dictate. When they can't see each other, it removes body language and lip reading. By the way, it's excellent for telephoning practice.

You'll find other interesting activities you can do at the lesson GAMES AT THE LESSON

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REFLECTION OR HOW TO FINISH THE LESSON

In my today's article I'd like to present several ways I use at the end of the lesson to summarise all that has been done at the lesson. It may usually take up to 7 minutes and is a good way to relax a bit at the end and reflect on all that has been done during the lesson. 

1. Mincing machine, dustbin, suitcase.This is one of my favourite ways to finish the lesson. Children also enjoy it. At the very beginning they don't quite understand what it is for, but in the end everyone wants to place the word in the container.  It works best for primary school when you work with the vocabulary. The idea is to distribute the words or flashcards into the corresponding container. 
Suitcase --> words/flashcards that we might need during the trip to Britain, or that we want to remember. 
Mincing machine --> The vocabulary that we worked on, that we remember after the lesson. 
Dustbin --> words that we don't like, or that we don't need to remember or simply find too difficult. When all the words have been distributed, we read them usually all together. Sometimes, I turn them over and ask students to tell me what was in the mincing machine, suitcase and the dustbin. I printed out mine, but one can even draw the images on the board.

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REVIEW ANY CONCEPT IN GROUPS

Today I'd like to share with you the way I sometimes revise the material with my students at the end of the topic. Usually it evokes a lot of positive emotions, creates basement for contest and is sgreat fun. It is simply not that boring as doing the worksheets.

What is unusual about it, you will ask? 

I use SANDWICHES. You read it correctly. But my sandwiches are made of fabric. You can see them in the photo. I use paper plates for them too.

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THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR. YOUNGER LEARNERS

I'm sure that you all know this book by Eric Carle. It can be a really good story to teach your young pupils names of food, mainly fruit and vegetables. In this post I decided to share with you the printables that I have found for this topic and that can be useful at the lesson devoted to food.

First, if somebody doesn't know the story, here is the animated film, that you can watch with your students at the lesson. Watch The Hungry Caterpillar here.

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SECRET CODE

SECRET CODE WHEEL DECIFER

The idea and the template of the secret code belongs to Lindsey, a teacher in Utah, who writes the blog THE TEACHER WIFE. Her ideas are really great! Today I'd like to share her idea with a Secret Code Decifer, which could be useful for us teacher of English as a second language.

There are two versions, with signs for younger children and letters, which can be more challenging. It's easy to make it. You have to print out the template on colour paper and join the wheels with a pin and a rubber from the back side.

You can change the code by rotating the wheels. There is also a worksheet of a letter to write your message on.

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TRAIN YOUR BRAIN

Mnemotechnics,(rus. мнемотехники)

Have you ever wondered why a teenager boy can easily recall the names of all the players in his favourite basketball team as well as the game scores, while he struggles to remember a few irregular verb forms? According to neuropedagogues, the answer is in the level of excitement or usefulness. People always memorise things if they evoke emotions, relate to their life or personal experience.

The general principle is: when learning is harder, it lasts longer. So, why not make the difficulty brain-friendly? The tricks to make you remember are called 'mnemonics'.

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WORD CLOUD ACTIVITIES

A Word Cloud (rus. облако слов) is another technology as well as QR codes that help to make your lesson friendly for the brains of your students. Word Cloud is a way to visualise the data in the form of words. Long lists of english vocabulary do not have to be dull any more. Quite the opposite, words have different sizes, shapes and look more attractive for dyslectic children.

How can you make a word cloud yourself. In the Internet there is a special program for doing it. All you need is to find this program and type in your words. I use 'Free online Wordcloud generator'. It's very easy to use. You have to choose the theme, shape, mask and type in the words. Save it on your computer as a jpg file.

But how can we use it at our lessons? I can suggest several ways.

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WARM-UP EXERCISES TO START THE LESSON

Warm up exercises are activities for the beginning of the lesson to introduce the students to the language or evoke their interest to the lesson. It's a very good idea to begin your lesson with a warming up activity as children don't feel stressed and are slowly introduced to the topic.

What warm up activities can there be?

1. Listen to the answer, give a question
The idea is simple, the teacher gives an answer instead of a question. Students have to say the question.
- I'm 12. 
- No, I don't.
- Tea, please.
When students do this kind of exercise for the first time, they are a bit perplexed, but very soon they get the idea.

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BOARD AND CARD GAMES AT THE LESSON

Games are always a great hit at the lesson. It makes the lesson unusual and the children feel relaxed. Games wisely used at the lesson is a very good way to train their skills.

The majority of games are for 3-6 people, so sometimes I have to adapt them so that the whole class could play.

There are TOP 5 games I use at the lesson:

1. The DIXIT cards

The game with Dixit cards is very popular today, so why not use it at the lesson of English. The good thing about them is that you can adjust the illustrations to any topic you need.
The ideas below belong to Aniela Tekiela, an English teacher and a Polish blogger.

• Find the common element for 2 cards and make a sentence with it.
• Forsee the future. One student opens one cards and tries to say what may it refer to in his/her future.
• Making New Year resolutions connected with the card.
• Answer the question, finding the answer in the card.
• Associations. One student has to describe his associations, the other has to guess what card he/she has in mind.
• Students search for common elements in the cards, find and write the word in English. The other team has to do the reverse task, find the cards using their notes.
• Finish the sentence using the cards: I'd like to learn....,  I've got ..., I really like/enjoy.... .
• Match the name of the film with the cards, eg. 'Shark'.

2. 5 SECONDS

Use it for revision. Actually, you need only one thing from this game. It's the funny 5-second timer, which makes a funny noise. You decide with the pupils on the category for the answering person, set the 5 sec. timer and the person has to name as many words from the category as he/she can. The number of words equals to the number of points for the team. The team with the most points wins.

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I have no lesson plan. What shall I do? Part II.

'Bring your English, and we'll build on it together.' This is how the Dogme teaching method works.
In the second part of my article I'd like to focus on other ways to conduct an English conversation lesson. I personally like these activities very much and can strongly recommend them, because they really work.

Here we go...

1. Magic match box or make something out of nothing (or next to nothing!)

Find a small container or a matchbox and put a small object into it. It can be a coin, a leaf, a grain of rice, a feather, a seashell, a lottery ticket, an aspirin or a mirror inside. Pass it round the class. Everyone looks inside without showing anyone else and writes the first thing that comes to their mind or they associate the object with.
Next you ask them to mingle and find out what others have written on the slips of paper or Post-it notes.
Ask them to group themselves according to their reactions. Let them explain why they have grouped in this way.



2. Running dictation

It's a form of English dictation, but with lots of fun. You divide the class into 2 groups, find an interesting text, stick it on the board or the wall, each team selects a scretary in their group who will be writing. The aim of each team is to come to the wall, memorise as much of the text or words as possible, come back to the secretary and tell all they remember. The secretary has to write. When the time is over, you compare the texts. The winner is the team that has most identical collocations or the most identical text.
The variation of this game see here.

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I have no lesson plan. What shall I do? Part 1.

It may sound like a nightmare for the teacher, if you have to stand for another teacher in some other class. But it can be even worse if it's not supposed to be an English class, but some other like History, Native language class, Literature, IT or maybe PE. What do you usually do in such cases?  I usually become very, VERY unhappy.

In the recent school year two times I had to teach IT and Polish (which is not my native language unlike my students, so you understand). I used some conversational methods and things that students had with them or could make at the lesson. And it worked really well to my great surprise. But only recently I've found out a new teaching method which core idea is conversation and things from the immediate surrounding that is everything that students can bring or have with them or see around them. That spoken English lesson is nothing but Dogme teaching method or Dogme teaching (conversation driven teaching).


What is it? It's a methodology and a movement. Dogme should be done using only resources that teachers and students bring to the class and whatever happens to be in the classroom. Students come with their English, not for English.


Sounds good. But how does it work? There are three main principles:

*language should work because communication develops social interaction

*student-produced materials are preferable than published textbooks

*activities lead to communication


Here are some of the activities of Dogme teaching that you can use at the lesson without or with little preparation.


1. DISAPPEARING TEXT

Choose a short text. Make a large copy of it or write it on the board so that the whole class could read it. Tell the class, they need to copy it down as accurately as possible. But they will only be able to see it for one minute. Display the text for 1 minute, then close it down. The class may compare their results. Then you let them see the text again but only for thirty seconds. From memory they make changes before comparing with the partner.

Then ask one pare to dictate what they think is the correct copy. Write it on the board and then display the original text and discuss the differences.


2. HANDS UP

Your pupils draw the outlines of their two hands on a piece of paper. Each hand will represent some category and the opposite category. Qualities in people they like and don't like, something they like/think good and something they don't.  They may use dictionaries if there is a need for it. On the board you write the sentences to complete with their words.

In pairs students compare their 'hands', looking for similarities and differences.

You can also write on the board top 5 'left hands' and top 5 'right hands' or make a kind of class ranking.


3. DESERT ISLAND

Tell your student that they are going on a desert island. They are allowed one kind of food/drink, one book and one CD.  Surely, you understand that you can replace the categories by what suits best your lesson. Instead of things they may take people from their surrounding to the desert Island, or famous people.

Everyone writes down their three choices on a slip of paper. You shake the pieces and redistribute them among the pupils. Pupils have to find the author of the note asking different questions. They are allowed to move around the classroom asking questions. When they find them, they ask them about their choices.


4. TWIN TRIPS

Many classrooms have maps as a decoration. Why not use it? It can be a map of the city, country or even of the world. A student with the closed eyes points with a pen at the random place.

What can they do when they know already the place of destination?
*Write a postcard or SMS from their location
*Tell the class something about the surroundings
*Give instructions how to reach it

*You may take postcards/messages/whatever, redistribute among other students and the latter have to guess who is it from/find the place on the map. They can make up a story how they got home (interview or writing down 5 facts about their trip).


In my second part I'm going to write about other useful Dogme activities for a conversation in English.
Read PART II here.

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