A WebQuest about WebQuests

A darkly hummored video

10 Fun and Easy Science Tricks

This YouTube video shows you how to entertain your friends at a party, or family gathering, with interesting science tricks. They are easy to make, and you and your kids may even like to do a bit of research on the scientific principle behind the tric. Then you can show off not just with the "magic", but with your scientific intelligence...


This is the link for the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_f3SkxTWxc&feature=aso

"Pigeon Impossible" A video lesson plan

I had great fun with this video, and since I know my VIII grade kids have grade love of role playing, I think they will enjoy the opportunity to play the roles of spy and pigeon.

Feel free to use it if you think it might be useful for you, and/or to contact me if you have any questions.

URL: http://video.kidzui.com/videos/1310713?related%5Bchannel%5D=funniest-videos

Plot: A rookie secret agent is faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.

Student target group: 8th grade students (ages 14 -16)

Objectives:
• To help improve students ‘oral communication skills
• To stimulate students’ creativity and spontaneity in the use of the English
language.
• To incorporate the use of technology to teaching methodologies
• To promote teamwork and peer review
• To find interesting ways to help students


Total allotted time: 80 minutes
-Breakdown: Previewing: 10 mi
Viewing: 10 mi (Video length 6 mi)
Post viewing: 60 mi (Preparation time30 mi)

Methodology:
 Previewing:
o Teacher asks students if they have ever seen a spy movie, and if they like
this type of movies.
o Teacher asks students to form pairs, and each pair to choose a card that
has a pair of glasses or a bird.
o Teacher assigns each team a number (odd for “glasses” and even for “birds”)
o Teacher tells students that they are going to pretend that they are voice
artists of the kind that provide the voice for cartoons in films.
o Teacher indicates they are first going to see the video, and do an exercise
as preparation for their artists’ work.

 Viewing: 15 mi (Video length 6 mi)
o Teacher plays video and asks students to write the sequence of events that
form the plot of the video on the form provided.
o Teacher may play video a second time to allow students to check their plots.

 Post viewing: 60 mi (Preparation time30 mi)
o Teacher asks students to create a dialog for the video, according to their
assigned pictures (if a “bird” card, for the pigeon, and if a ”glasses”
card, for the spy). Allotted time is 30 mi.
o Teacher indicates that students should rehearse the dialog, since they will
be interpreting the roles in front of the class, with the background of the
movie for special effects. Dialogs can be read.
o Teacher calls the numbers previously assigned, in order to form the couple
spy-pigeon that will present the dialog to the rest of the class.
o Teacher uses scoring rubric for grading performance, but students vote on
the “pigeon” and “spy” that they liked the most.
o “Winners” are asked to perform again in front of the whole class, and are
awarded a prize.

Necessary materials:
• “Bird” and “glasses” cards (12 of each, or according to the number of
students in class)
• Cards numbered from 1 to 24 (or according to the number of students in class)
• Plot Sheet form (12, or according to the number of students in class)
• Scoring sheet for teacher use (1 per student)
• Prizes of your choice (a bag of chocolates, a couple of bags of popcorn, a certificate of accomplishment, a silhouette of the “Oscar” with a photo of the students’ faces , etc)

Two of my classmates blogs

The first blog is from Mandy. She is smart, with a nice soft kind of energy that is the sugar coating over a very determined and assertive personality.

I think her blog in colors and patters shows this characteristic. Her links are working, which is more than I can say for mine (haven't found the way to make them automatic yet!)

She struggles a bit with the vocabulary at times, but her ideas are clear, and her blog offers interesting topics.

The other blog, belongs to Catalina.

I like her quotations, it is artsy, and as in a tasty salad (her love for food shows)she tosses and mixes English teaching, and personal insights. It is easy to navigate, and very colorful.

My feelings exactly...

Bouncing from blog to blog, I came across this one.

http://www.newtools.org/index.php?ptitle=Front%20Page.


It belongs to someone who has dedicated his live to innovation in teaching. He might be from the UK, but I truly identify with his words…

I thought that perhaps the best bits of guidance they (the government) could give was: “Here is the content that you’ve got to cover, we suggest that you look at telling stories and making things, and just by following those two pathways suddenly teachers, as they intuitively new, can make learning come alive.

Tell me the story in words of what we have just covered, do a drawing of what you’ve learnt in the math’s lesson, map out on the floor the way in which monopolies work, or make me a plasticine model of a design of the school of the future, and suddenly, it is a very fertile way of re-energizing teaching. (http://www.newtools.org/showtxt.php?docid=675# )

This blog is a bit difficult to navigate, but offers interesting resources such as videos and podcasts.

Innovative Teaching

My Chinese horoscope animal is the monkey.

It must be true that I’m one of them, because I’m one of the most curious people I have ever met! You can imagine then that when I saw the Chicken-man blog, I was enchanted with the title’s caption:

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners that inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists”

Innovation is a passionate subject for me. If you are just as nutty about finding new and better ways of doing things, you can follow the “yellow brick road” that this site opens up, and we can fire up our own Costa Rican brewing pot of innovation. Here is the link: http://chickensaltash.edublogs.org/2009/11/30/would-you-call-yourself-an-innovative-teacher/

A generous teacher's blog

Searching through the Net I found a blog from someone called Stuart Ball. The blog talks about events in the UK, but within it there is very interesting information, and stimulus for innovative teaching. This is the link: http://blogs.msdn.com/teachers/default.aspx

The site has a warm and personal voice, with very good writing, and it points to other blogs, which also entices teacher communication and best practices exchange.
I followed one of them, because I was curios about his nominations for what he called the 2009 Edublog Awards. I had no problem accessing it. There, I found an interesting post about the potential of the iPhone and other mobile devices in schools and learning. You can check it out at: http://www.olliebray.com/

Navigating through these virtual spaces, I feel like an ant that has just reached the honey pot. There is so much out there and so interesting, that I wish I had more time to investigate.

I’m definitely going to have an interesting summer vacation!!!

About "My Teaching Blog"

Marco has just opened a new blog to share resources useful for teaching English, and I loved one of the sites he recommended. Eventhough at the beginning the link that he posted didn't work, I was able to copy the URL and got to the site.

His blog is original, and reflect his personality, wrm and funny. It also offers good resources and suggestions.

It is called ZuiTube, and it has songs, videos, and funny cartoons for kids. I thought it would be very childish, but I think I can use it for my 7th and even 8th grade students. The link to the site is http://video.kidzui.com/

There is a video I found very funny I'm also posting the link so you can judge for yourselves:

http://video.kidzui.com/videos/1310713?related[channel]=funniest-videos

Hope you enjoy it!

A blog for women runners

Every year, a 5 km race and walk takes place on the month of March. It is different from other races because it is open to women of all ages, completly free.

It is a space for women to cellebrate life, and their families and friends to come and support them. There are plenty of prizes, raffles, music and lot's of clean good fun.

More information can be found in the following link:

If you like to run or walk, I invite you to get involved. And if you would like to help in some way, please contact Marta, the organizer.

Importance of incorporating technology to teaching methodologies

When trying to learn a second language while in a non-native context, students encounter a series of difficulties which range from insufficient exposure to authentic language to lack of interest due to methodologies that do not take sufficiently into consideration the students´ context, in order to make the learning meaningful and memorable to them.

There are not enough resources available to EFL teachers in Costa Rica that respond to the various types of intelligences students have (and use) in the acquisition of the English language.

Both, in private and public schools where English is taught, the curriculum approaches the learning of the language in a fragmented way, often separating grammar from reading, speaking, and writing.

The strong emphasis placed on teaching students the rules of language, doesn’t necessarily result in the learners capacity to use the language effectively to communicate with other English speakers. That's why it is important to contribute to expand the resources available for language acquisition, and support the necessary shift towards the use of methodologies that respond to more current trends in teaching, and our global information society

My favorite passtime

I was born by the ocean,
and I have loved it all my life.

My favorite activity is to walk on the beach,
sit under a tree and contemplate the water,
swim,
and snorkle or dive for as long as I can.

Since it is not likely
that I'll be able to travel to another planet,
this is the closest I'll probably get to explore another world.

Podcasts, another "new" tool for teaching

Podcasts may not be new to you, but they were totally unknown to me a short few weeks ago. Then, we started to explore them, and their potential for improving both listening and speaking skills.

Here is one idea:

Literature Lesson Plan for EFL 7th grade students

Original podcast site: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Literature

Specific literature / poetry site: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Literature/Poetry/Poem-of-the-Day-Podcast/20139#3

Class time: 50 mi

Objective: to help students acquire poetry reading skills, and to familiarize them with the concepts of rhyme and rhythm.

Strategies:
Listening comprehension, reading comprehension, inferring, and retelling.

Activities:

1. Students listen to podcast 2 times (5 mi)
2. Students discuss what the poem is about, and how it made them feel (15 mi)
3. Students listen to podcast a third time with the written words in front of them
4. Students are asked to listen for words that sound the same (rhyming words), and to highlight them on the sheet of paper with the words of the poem. (5 mi)
5. Teacher checks answers with students, and comments on rhyme (10 mi)
6. Students are asked to listen again to the poem, without any paper, and to clap their hands according to the rhythm they feel the poem has. The activity is repeated until all students are clapping at the same time. Teacher comments on the concept of rhythm in a poem. (10 mi)
7. Students are asked to write a short poem incorporating the concepts of rhythm and rhyme, to be corrected in the next class period.
   

Links to sites that use music for teaching

Hello everyone:


This is a list of sites that might be of interest to you, since they use music for teaching:

• http://www.bradleymurphy.net/page5/files/5a0cc25187d26d002f1fa8c978d69115-0.html
• http://www.ehow.com/how_4966707_use-music-teach-english.html
• http://www.esl-galaxy.com/music.htm
• http://www.nancymusic.com/active.htm
• http://www.songsforteaching.com/index.htm

Some of the sites offer advice on how to prepare lessons using music. Others offer a description of activities the students can do. It is hard to find sites that have the actual music, but there are several that at least include the lyrics.

The purpose of this list is just to "wet your appetite" and open up a door for your own exploration….

Happy trails!

A video lesson plan with Weird Al Yankovic

Hello everyone:

During the class I´m taking on the use of technology applied to teaching, I had to create a video lesson in order to improve my student's oral communication skills. I went ahead and tried it in one of my classes (7th graders), and we had a great time.

The students were able to follow the spoken words, and the visuals helped them key onto the emotions generated by what was happening. I'm posting the link and the lesson plan, in case you want to also give it a try!

Lesson Plan:

Selected video: "Weird Al" Yankovic - Trapped in the Drive-Thru
URL: www.youtube.com/watch?hl=pl&v=qmGVYki-oyQ
Length of video: 11:08 mi
Creators (or published by): UTube
Target group: EFL students of 7th, 8th or 9th grade levels
Total class time: Two 40 mi periods (total time 80 mi)
Previewing: activating schemata

Activity (or activities):
Pre-viewing: Warm up
Time: 15 mi

Teacher writes on the board 3 themes that can be inferred from the video (relationships / communications / social habits).
Students are grouped into teams of no more than 4 and are asked to create a graffiti art piece based on one of the themes (their choice) in no more than 5 minutes.
Students and teacher view and comment each of the team´s creation.

While-viewing: Comprehension
Time: 20 mi (11 mi for viewing the video and 9 minutes to answer the comprehension items and discuss results with classmates and teacher)

Students list 6 of the key actions of the movie in the correct sequence, then they complete 5 single selection items, based on what happened in the video, and results are chared with the class.

Post-viewing: Critical Thinking
Activity (or activities):
Time: 45 mi (15 mi to create the rap and 30 mi to perform and score performances)

Students go back to their groups and are asked to create a 2 minute rap song based on the video and the theme that they chose for their graffiti.

They perform the rap for their classmates and everyone scores the rap according to a rubric provided by the teacher.

Is slang useful?

While searching for authentic language context, I encounteres a site dedicated to slang, which I thought would be useful, since teenagers are constantly wanting to know what some words used in songs mean, if they can use them, and under which circumstances.

So this is a place you can use at your discretion, to guide them through "street talk"

Hope you find it useful!
http://www.ezslang.com/

A Webquest for improving listening, talking and critical thinking skills

Hi everyone:

My partner Jason and I created a webquest in our class (Elaboración y Uso de Tecnología de Instrucción) to help students improve their oral communication and critical thinking skills.

We decided to take advantage of something most people (specially young ones) love, that´s why we chose music.

Since the Webquest is not posted on the Internet yet, I'm posting just the profile, and if you are interested, please send me a note at cnoguesc@gmail.com and I'll e-mail you the full document.

______________________________________________________________

Lyrics Quest, a WebQuest for 9th Grade English Learners

Introduction

When you listen to a song do you understand the lyrics?
How good are you at deciphering the meaning of the lyrics when you first hear them?
Is there more than just the beat in a song?

OK, this web quest will help you find out a few things about you that you might not even know that you knew, or maybe that you were good at…

For example, how good are your listening skills?
How much do you understand the first time that you hear something?
Do you get it at once or do you need repetition?

Lyrics Quest will help you compare and also find out how good you are at deciphering stuff.

The Task

Think about this questions: What’s in a song? Is there more than a beat? Do songs have meanings that cross the boundaries of nations and languages?

The lyrics of songs tell us a lot about the people and the culture that created them, but also about those who listen to them and sing along.

You are to prepare an oral presentation for your classmates that deciphers the meaning hidden behind the words of a song, attempts to infer the purpose of the author, and compares it with a couple of songs in your culture that deal with the same subject.

Your presentation must be supported with an 8 slide power point, and optional audio and/or video of the songs for emphasis, and will include 3 simmilarities and 3 differences between the song in the webquest and the ones from your culture.