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HOUSEHOLD CHORES Lesson: an ACTION SONG, a CARD GAME and a FILM with QUESTIONS

27/2/2017

The ONLY WAY to BECOME FLUENT in A LANGUAGE is BY USING IT. I have therefore created A SONG TO MEMORISE EXPRESSIONS regarding housework, A CARD GAME TO CONSOLIDATE these expressions and A FILM WITH QUESTIONS TO TEST how well they have been retained.

So to start with, for the younger ones the expressions are introduced with an ACTION-SONG.

I then usually get them to play SNAP with CHORES CARDS seeing if they can think of a complete sentence using this expression, perhaps adding a little fun by ringing a bell for the first person who can think of a sentence. (Get students to draw pictures to illustrate the CHORES CARDS)

or PRACTISING NATURAL SENTENCES with SPECIAL custom-made DICE.

Every time they turn a card they have to throw one or more dice and create sentences accordingly.

Finally I show them a film with questions to verify how many of the expressions they remember. The film is about a boy voluntarily carrying out a lot of household chores for a specific reason. It’s very touching.

The results are surprising: students are constantly engaged, having fun and learning a lot!

I hope you find this useful.
Please leave any comments below and if you like this blog, please subscribe for more updates.
Susan

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SOCIAL MEDIA Lesson: A DISCUSSION followed by A FILM WITH QUESTIONS

24/2/2017

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Image Credit: Author: Rafi License: Royalty-free, Free for personal and commercial use

GETTING TEENAGERS INVOLVED in English LESSONS is a difficult task since this is an age when many lack motivation for things which they are relatively interested in. In fact my best students are the ones who love watching YouTubers in English, listen & sing songs in English and are generally active on social networks with people they ‘meet’ from around the globe.

So this lesson on Social Media worked surprisingly well in my class of 13 year-old teenagers, some of whom do not usually like participating actively in English conversation.

so to start with, I divided the class into groups of 4-5 students and gave each group a pack of excellent Nomination-Cards by Tekhnologic, which have the function of obliging every member of the group to speak when called upon at random by the card that was picked. This made sure that even the shy and reticent had to participate and it really worked.

https://tekhnologic.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/nomination-cards-giving-students-a-chance-to-speak/

I then gave them a series of questions on social media to discuss which went down well since they enjoyed the topic.

Finally we watched a film simulating social media for which I had created questions which stop during the film and have to be answered for the film to continue.

The students participated actively and it was an overall successful lesson. Try it out for yourselves!

I hope you find this useful.
Please leave any comments below and if you like this blog, please subscribe for more updates.

Susan

social_media_-_can_i_be_your_friend__questions_to_discuss.docx
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nomination-cards_tekhnologic.pdf
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The PROVEN VALUE of GAMES & SONGS for LEARNING ENGLISH due to their REPETITIVE NATURE which favours memorisation.

21/2/2017

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How can we GET STUDENTS to LEARN A LANGUAGE BY USING IT so that they BECOME CONFIDENT and FLUENT?

First of all LEARNING has to be FUN for younger students and at least ENJOYABLE for adults.

so to start with, for the younger ones ACTION-SONGS represent a fun, repetitive and meaningful way to learn natural expressions easily.

once the expressions have been introduced, by action songs, flashcards or other means in the case of adults, I usually get them to play SNAP with the cards seeing if they can think of a complete sentence using this expression, perhaps adding a little fun by ringing a bell for the first person who can think of a sentence.

but the MOST INTERESTING repetitive FACTOR which HELPS the STUDENTS CREATE and PRACTISE NATURAL SENTENCES is the introduction of SPECIAL custom-made DICE with the language you would like them to practise.

Every time they turn a card they have to throw one or more dice and create sentences accordingly. As you can see from the picture, it’s very easy even for beginners or younger students to form sentences and the constant repetition helps them instill the grammatical structure naturally so they get a feel for the language just as a native learner does as he’s growing up.

Custom-made dice I have been using are:
Subject pronouns
Frequency adverbs
Time expressions
Expressions for Present Perfect (already, just…)
Expressions for Simple Past (yesterday, ago…)
Clock faces for learning to the time
+ affirmative, - negative, ? question to practise all forms
Object pronouns
Possessive adjectives

You can make the dice on the following website: http://www.toolsforeducators.com/dice/

The results are amazing because they not only create sentences easily but also practise the use of the 3rd person and consequently have to remember the addition of the ‘s’.

The games I have been using recently are a complete success in the amount of fun the students have not only playing but managing to create a lot of correct sentences with the pronouns I, he & she, the frequency adverbs and a time expression. I have introduced affirmative, negative & question dice for older and more proficient students. I recommend trying it out for yourselves!

Check out my latest Household Chores Routine Song for some language to make playing cards with, as well as my recent Morning, Afternoon, Sports & Clothes Routine Songs

I hope you find this useful.
Please leave any comments below and if you like this blog, please subscribe for more updates.

Susan

chores_routine_song.docx
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sports_routine_song.docx
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clothes_routine_song.docx
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morning_routine_song.docx
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afternoon_routine_song.docx
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The POWER of REPETITIVE ACTION-SONGS, STUDENT-MADE FLASHCARDS and a BELL

13/2/2017

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LEARNING A LANGUAGE BY USING IT is really the only way to become confident and fluent – so ACTION-SONGS represent a fun, repetitive and meaningful way to learn natural expressions easily. Even adults enjoy them if they can overcome the feeling that they are too old for this kind of activity.

As a follow-up to the latest new ACTION songs I created a couple of weeks ago, I decided to involve my students in creating flashcards for the expressions so as to consolidate them in their minds. They subsequently played SNAP with the cards with the added fun of a bell when they could think of a complete sentence using this expression. The results were amazing because they not only created sentences about themselves but also about their family members, resulting in the use of the 3rd person and consequently having to remember the addition of the ‘s’.

The games were a complete success in the amount of fun they had not only playing but managing to create a lot of correct sentences with the pronouns I, he & she. I recommend trying it out for yourselves!

See my ACTION-SONGS on my YouTube Channel.

For example:
MORNING ROUTINE song for kids
AFTERNOON / EVENING ROUTINE song for kids
SPORTS Routine Song for kids
CLOTHES Routine Song for kids
PREPOSITION Chant
DAILY ROUTINE Song
DIRECTIONS Chant

I hope you find this useful.

Please leave any comments below and if you like this blog, please subscribe for more updates.

Susan

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LEARNING the MORNING & AFTERNOON ROUTINES easily with a REPETITIVE SONG, great ACTIONS and CONSOLIDATED with a DRAWING!

7/2/2017

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Years of experience teaching students of all ages and levels, I find recurring basic mistakes even in fluent adult speakers such as “I’m sorry I didn’t make my homeworks .” My quest is therefore to instill a natural feeling for the correct language by creating ACTION SONGS which should be so repetitive that students will come out with the correct expressions naturally, like a native would. Obviously the best starting point is with children.

I have therefore created various new ACTION songs, the first two of which I’d like to share here, apologising for my terrible singing voice on the videos but the objective is to teach language and get the students to learn spontaneously having fun.

There is nothing new in the words of these action songs compared to already existing versions except that I get them to shout out the previously sung actions after each line of the song so as to revise the words and pronunciation, fixing them in their minds.

The final step is to get them to draw the pictures of the actions they have just learnt, thus consolidating the expressions.

I hope you find this useful.
Please leave any comments below and if you like this blog, please subscribe for more updates.

Susan

morning_routine_song.docx
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afternoon_routine_song.docx
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My name is Susan Brodar, born in London into a multilingual family and brought up bilingual English / Italian.

I went to school in London until 15 when we moved to Germany where I finished my British education at Munich International School. I started teaching Italian at evening classes aged only 17 and studied Mass Communications and Journalism at Munich University.

I continued teaching parallel to interpreting at trade fairs and business meetings as well doing translations. After working at the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade for a year I married my Italian globetrotting companion in 1983 and we set up our home near Venice, Italy where we continue to live with our two teenaged children.

Having taken my British High School-leaving ‘A’ Level exams in English, Italian, French & German I am completely fluent in all four languages and am taking a DELE certification in Spanish to complement them.

ENGLISH (native)
ITALIAN (native)
GERMAN (C2)
FRENCH (C2)
SPANISH (B2)

HOUSEHOLD CHORES Lesson: an ACTION SONG, a CARD GAME and a FILM with QUESTIONS

SOCIAL MEDIA Lesson: A DISCUSSION followed by A FILM WITH QUESTIONS

The PROVEN VALUE of GAMES & SONGS for LEARNING ENGLISH due to their REPETITIVE NATURE which favours memorisation.

The POWER of REPETITIVE ACTION-SONGS, STUDENT-MADE FLASHCARDS and a BELL

LEARNING the MORNING & AFTERNOON ROUTINES easily with a REPETITIVE SONG, great ACTIONS and CONSOLIDATED with a DRAWING!

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