Southampton 14-18 November 2016 Creating activities and motivating materials for the Secondary Classroom Southampton 14-18 November 2016 Ms Claudia Fontana

M. Lewis : The Lexical Approach An approach based on teachign the active use of Words/compounds, Collocations pay a visit Lexical chunks terrible accident Scaffolding language (grammar and vocabulary) Set phrases: I have pleasure in….. http://www.slideshare.net/JolexM/the-lexical- approach-10373311

Selection criteria to teach basic vocabulary It’s impossible to teach all the 850.000 words of the English language! Luckily we use only around 3500 of them…. How to choose the most important words to teach? Grading in use most used… Range of context most commonly used Usefullness (especially in E.s.p.) Frequency, See Oxford 3000 http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

How to teach collocations Collocations are essential to speak and write like a native. The wrong collocation can misplace meaning, or it can sound akward: Underline collocations Tell learners to highlight them Encourage them to use them over and over Make games on them (memory game) Revise every now and then

Recycling vocabulary Use mind maps, crossword, anagrams, picture dictionaries Gap filling Record audio files and keep listening to them Repeat vocabulary topics every 2 or 3 weeks change to a similar context where vocabulary can be used again Prepare a kahoot! Quiz game Make a wordspot, a spidergram

Memory games Flashcards on www.studystack.com Picture + word Word + definition Word + sentence in context Word in collocations Annotated posters Board games, Gap filling Crosswords www.eclipsecrossword.com Quizzes on www.quizlet.com Find games and puzzles ready on www.puzzlemaker.com

Total Physical Response Physical movement reinforces memorization!! Ideas: Stick part of a story on the wall, pupils must rememeber and write Stick images to recreate a story Stick dates to revise history

Ice Breakers and Warming Up Find someone who…. When was the last time you…. Quiz hunt Board games Tell 5 words related to… Kahoot quiz games using mobiles www.getkahoot.com to choose or create a game https://kahoot.it to play

Group work: Jigsaw reading Choose an informative text, not a story Divide it in 4 parts Divide the class in 4 groups and give a part each Each group will read, make notes, summarize 1 pupil form each group will tell his part to the representatives of all groups. They will compare and comnplete info and write a longer summary

When and how to use Mindmaps Useful for brainstorming before a lesson Useful for revision after a module Summarising, conceptualizing, visual learners Tools: www.text2mindmap.com to make spidergrams www.bubbl.us to make interactive mindmaps www.mindomo.com www.glostea.com to make posters

Word clouds and Concept Maps A nice way to visualize: www.wordclouds.com www.wordle.com www.wordsalad.com (also on smartphone) A concept map shows the logical/chronological Links: www.cmap.ihmc.us (free download)

Mini Sagas Writing a short story is fun and useful! Structures, tenses, vocabulary, linkers are put into practice in a short but organized text. Mini sagas are short stories made of 30, 40 50 words. Decide a theme and organize a competitions Collect mini sagas in mini books Publish your mini book on www.issuu.com to see it unfold just like a real book!

Traffic light game Good practice for public speaking and recycling vocabulary and structures! Pair work, students will speak in turns Decide a controversial theme and do some brainstorming about pros and cons Student 1 starts speaking in favour if the traffic light is green, When the trafficl light is red, he must speak against, trying to continue his flow of ideas At the teacher’s command they will shift roles

Gambits They are chunks used to start or follow up a conversation, to express one’s ideas. They give a natural lively flow to the communicative process: On the other hand…. But then again….. Anyway, … even so …, ok but… But in the long run… Very true but… To make up for it…

Graded Library Make reading interesting by giving students the freedom to choose what to read! Buy different books in different levels Organize a lending system, keeping record of names and dates Let students choose their book and their level Suggest activities to do after reading a book: a file, a review, a summary, a film script, an interview Prepare reading files of different levels:from simple factfiles to literature analysis

Fun with English! Do you want to make your pupils happy? Need a bit of fun in the language classroom? Try these!! www.lyricstrainer.com gap filling on authentic youtube song videos! www.superteachertools.com any kind of games! Try “Who wants to be a millionaire?” www.engrish.com funny mistakes with translations all over the world!

Great Resources Find tutorials and materials on www.elsvideo.com plenty of free materials www.ehow.com how to use digital tools www.wikihow.com tutorials www.ororotv.com great videos, to subscribe