COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Academic Task: Write a story based on pictures.

Social Task: Include every one's idea to write sentences.

Group Formation: The participants will get a card with the country of origin in one side and the flag on the other side

Team Building: The participants should sit in the alphabetical order of the countries and number each other according to the system already used.

Material: Set of pictures, graffiti board, colour pencil and crayon, markers, final sheet.

Task Direction:

*Each member gets a set of cards;
*Draw a cloud shape in the centre of the graffiti page for the title of the story;
*Each member has to write their best sentence using their set of cards;
*The set of cards move clockwise round the table until everyone has had each set;
*The members move clock wise one place;
*Choose the best sentence of each member;
*Write the final story.

Think about WHO, WHAT, WHERE and HOW to write the story.

All the stories can be hung on the wall where everybody will read them easily. It is amazing how creative a person can be when is stimulated by the other participants.

ANIMAL MATERIALS

Bits of animal bodies have been used for hundreds years.

Find out more about it:

Activity 1

Select some animals on picture cards;

e.g; elephant, bear, turtle, butterfly, snake, dear, tiger, crocodile, etc...

Select some picture cards with:

e.g; horn, fur, feather, antlers, different types of skin such as snake, crocodile, etc...

Play mix and match

Activity 2

Research in the Internet what kind of work art can be made with them. It is very interesting and motivating while pupils learn.

Enjoy!!!!

COUNTABLE OR UNCOUNTABLE

Activity 1

Warm up:

Select some objects and put them in a box.
Ask to the participants:
What is there in the box?
Write on the board all their names.
e.g: bowl, plate, fork, spoon, knife, sugar, coffee, milk, tea, mug, water, salt, etc...

Activity 2

Write down the names in the right column:

COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE
bowl sugar
plate coffee
fork milk
spoon tea
mug water
knife salt

Activity 3

Based on a picture, answer the questions:

1- Are there biscuits on the table?
2- How many mugs can you see?
3- Is there any fruit in the basket?
4- How much milk would you like?
5- What is there in the bowl?
6- Are there any grapes on the plate?

Activity 4

Complete the sentences with A, AN, SOME, ANY:

1- There is _____apple.
2- There are _______mugs.
3- Is there ________tea?
4- Is there _______plate on the cupboard?
5- There is _______milk in the mug.
6- There isn't _______fruit in the basket.

Activity 5

Listening exercise:

Prepare the lyrics of a song to fill in the gaps with the words missed such as: a, an, some, any and there be (is, are).
Play it three times if necessary and correct it.
Vocabulary checking and have fun.
Sing it.

I hope you enjoy it.

DO YOU LIKE FRUIT?

To practice food vocabulary:

*You can use restaurant's menu;
*Pictures;
*Cards with the names:
e.g. - chips, baked potato, sandwich, hamburgers, coffee, tea, cake, biscuits, cookies,
breakfast, drink, coke, juice, milk, pizza, pasta, etc...
*Teach the questions and answers:

Do you like...........? Yes, I do.
Yes, I like it.
No, I don't.
No, I don't like it.


Would you like some ........? Yes, please.
No, thank you.

In pairs the participants can match the names and pictures and also act out the questions above.

The teacher can check the comprehension and the pronunciation asking to each of them one question.

Don't forget to praise them: fantastic, very good, well done, yes and a big smile.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Although all languages differ of each other with their own rules, grammar, syntax and pronunciation in the process of a second language acquisition, the knowledge of L1 (native language) facilitates the learner to transfer the concepts to the L2 (second language).

The second language acquisition theory suggests that one's learning of a second language is affected by his exposures to language models. So, to encourage the learners in the learning process their social and cultural values should be brought as topic of interests to contribute and help them to be motivated and not so anxious facing emotional state in learning a second language.

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

I have been working with speakers of other languages in Scotland since October 2007. The children average ages are from 6 to 12 in primary and secondary schools, and adult migrant workers are from 26 to 50 years old.

Different approaches and provisions have been delivered showing deliberately the result of the Stage of English Language Acquisition after one year participating in the learning process. Most of them belong to the Stage 1 in the beginning of the process, with very few vocabulary in L2 and low ability to communicate. They use L1 (native language) to express themselves and they tend to live in small communities originally from the same country.

Nationalities involved in the process of L2 learning acquisition: Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Russian, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Mexican.

MANY CHILDREN CAN'T SPELL SHAKESPEARE

Dr ken Smith suggests:

"University teachers should simply accept as variant spellings those words our students most commonly misspell."
He added. "All I am suggesting is that we might well put 20 or so of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language on the same footing as those other words that have a widely accepted variant spelling."
He said the word "judgement" was already accepted as a variant of "judgment", adding: " So why can't "truly" be accepted as a variant spelling of "truly"?

He blamed failings in the school system declaring:

"There was little evidence of students having been taught the relevant rules at school, or of the students having been corrected for obvious and frequent errors."

Jack Bovill, chairman of the Spelling Society, said its national survey had shown up to 54 % of people couldn't spell words such as "embarrassed", "separate", "accommodation", "millennium" and "friend".

He said the society did not advocate changing the spellings.

By Laura Clark
Education Correspondent
Daily Mail, Thursday, August 7, 2008