Tag: Vocabulary

This is a WHAT?

thecanswedian # # # # #

I have been meaning to post this activity for a while now – and finally got around to videotaping (does anybody even say videotaping anymore?!) this game so I could show you all. I thought it might get confusing trying to explain it, so a recording is probably better!

This game is called, “This is a WHAT?!”

The purpose is for the students to practice intonation and vocabulary. I also try to put in items where you have to use plurals and singulars. For example – THESE ARE keyS or This IS A pen 

 

  • Choose 3 – 4 items around the class (or even vocabulary that you have been practicing in class).
  • Start with item 1 and ask the class what it is.
  • Turn to the student next to you and follow the conversation below.

Teacher: This is a book

Student A: A WhhhAAAAAAttt?!

Teacher: A book

Student A to Student B: This is a book

Student B: A WhhhAAAAAAttt?!

Student A: A book

Student B to Student C: This is a book

and so on and so on…

I did this activity with the Grade 7 students in my extra English class. These students are with me because they need a little more support. It doesn’t have to be a small group though. I have done it with a full class before and it worked just fine.

Please keep in mind that not every student is going to be loud and enthusiastic about these sorts of activities… There will always be the shy ones who do not speak very loudly, and with much intonation…HOWEVER… I still consider it a step forward just by getting them to talk in front of a group of people while at the same time learning new words.

You might even catch a few of those shy students crack a smile.

 

 

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This is Me – Grade 7 Unit

thecanswedian # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

I was so lucky this year, in that my Grade 7s walked into my English class bright eyed and bushy tailed – ready to go.

One boy put up his hand on the first day and declared, “I want to learn English, because I want to go to California.” From what I’ve been told, this is the middle-class Swedish dream. You do you little man – you do you.

It can be frightening though for a lot of kids to come in to Grade 7 English – it’s a big step up from Grade 6. In order to ease them in to it, our first unit is This is Me! It is always easy to talk about yourself, and your family am I right?

This is how the unit looks in our curriculum which is just an overview of everything.

Download

I have tried to break each class down in to a lesson plan which is below. We scaffold (woo! buzzword!) the learning, so they review and go over a bunch of vocabuary and grammar points first, and then bring it all together in the summative.

 

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All of the grammar and vocabulary is formative – meaning that I won’t grade it. However, I tell my students that these matter just as much, because if I am unsure about what their grades are at the end of the year, I can go back to their formative results and see how they did.

Before I give them their final activity, I do a quick run through of what a good presentation looks like. I don’t really go thoroughly on this though, because this will come later in the term. I will post my PPT and exercises on presentations some day. I usually just show them this video of Obama speaking.

 

Their final activity in this unit is the summative This is Me presentation. To let the little Grade 7s ease into presenting, I let them do this first presentation in small groups. Before they present, I make them practice with each other, so they can get feedback on what they did well and what they need to improve.

However, there is a listening component to this as well, because students have to record information about ONE fellow presenter.

I will mostly likely give them a template for that, but that is last on my to do list. To be honest – it will probably be that one thing I think of 10 minutes before class starts… where I go “SH*T! I knew I forgot something.”

 

 

Download

 

FINAL STEP: As many of you know, I love James Nottingham and John Hattie. Hattie says that another great exercises we can do to allow our students to develop, is let them do a self-assessment afterwards. I plan on giving them this rubric so they can think about what they did well on and what they need to improve for next time.

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The Ultimate Guide to Rae-ning Pictionary

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I have this friend – Rae – she is the most sunshiney, smiley, crafty and amazing-y (yes I just made up two words) people/teachers that I know. Wonderful human being. She works in Germany, but is also from Canada. I was telling her about my blog, and she smiles and says

ohhhh I know what you can do?! have you tried running pictionary yet?

No….. I tentatively replied

Omg Brie (like the cheese) you need to try it.

Well. I tried it. And it was the BEST game I have done all year. Hands down the most fun.

So. No longer is it running pictionary…. on my Blog it is known as the Rae-ning Pictionary Extravaganza. And I went full out Rae on this one.

1. Have a list of pictionary words – I had a relatively easy list because it was my Grade 7 Extra English (Moderna Språk) class. Put two columns next to the words for each team.
2. Split the class into teams and give them blank paper and pens
3. Find a hiding spot in the school – I went super stealth and hid in the bathroom the first time… was in there for at least ten minutes..had to open the door and whistle…give some sort of clue for the little muffins running frantically all over the school
4. when the first person finds you, you whisper the word to them and they run back to their team to draw it. Put a check mark in their column so you know which team has gotten which word. The next person can only leave when they guess the word correctly.
5. When both teams have found you, find a new hiding spot
6. When the next person has come back, get them to tell you the last word they drew. Then move on to the next.

Super stealth hiding

We ended up doing ten words and it took 30 minutes. We are two teachers in our class – so thankfully my colleague was able to stay put and make sure they didn’t cheat. 

One kid was so excited when he found me that he was shaking.

I would ask him – what was the last word you drew?

“UHHHH!!!! I DONT KNOW!!!!! I THINK IT WAS GHOST!!!!” Then he would run back to his team with a massive smile on his face.

Rae-ning pictionary has now been added to my five step lesson plan.

 

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Running Memory Game – Injury Proof

thecanswedian # # # # #

Running Memory Game  – Another great game for those students who like (or need) to move around. It tests areas like memory and vocabulary. Print out a few papers with images on them – it could be vocabulary review images (like clothes, food, body parts), preposition images or just random images.

  1. Tape the pictures out in the hallway somewhere, or on the other side of the classroom.
  2. Put the students in pairs – one person is the writer, one is the runner
  3. The runner goes out to the hallway and tries to remember the pictures (obviously – they have to know the vocabulary). They run back in and tell it to their partner who writes it down.
  4. Give them 3-5 minutes to finish the activity.
  5. Go through the vocabulary words afterwards

Where to find images:

ISL Collective

https://en.islcollective.com/resources/search_resultTags=memory%20game&type=Printables&numrows=12&page=1

Google: Memory Test Images

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/puzmatch3.html

 

 

 

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