Active Language online staffroom

ZPD – Vygotsky

Hee hee – pretty cool having so many under-used letters in the title there!  Ceri shared an explanation of the Zone of Proximal Development after it popped up in the session on Receptive Skills.

And, Carmen posted a link to an article on different approaches to listening tasks.

Simon also posted this article which is about the power of language.

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Inspiring Quotes

Image from blog.ed.ted.com

                                                                   Image from blog.ed.ted.com

Thanks to JG for sharing these wonderful quotes from the TED-Ed blog…which is your favourite?

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. “For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth.” — Plutarch

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

“Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai

“We are what we believe we are.” — C.S. Lewis

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.” — Elie Wiesel

“How wonderful it is that we need not wait a single moment before starting to change the world.” — Anne Frank

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — Pablo Picasso

“Dream big, work hard, stay humble.” — Brad Meltzer

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” — H.G. Wells

“Everything you have in life can be taken from you except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. This is what determines the quality of the life we’ve lived — not whether we’ve been rich or poor, famous or unknown, healthy or suffering. What determines our quality of life is how we relate to these realities, what kind of meaning we assign them, what kind of attitude we cling to about them, what state of mind we allow them to trigger.” — Viktor Frankl

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” — Rumi

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Reading Skills

Dani shared this image from the British Council – you can also check out the videos which look at this in more detail here.

 

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Story-Telling

Nat started a thread on the facebook page before Christmas with some thoughts on using stories in the classroom.  Anybody like to add any further ideas or comments?

Morning all. Just wanted to post something about story telling. As some of you know i dont feel the most confident with this – i’m thinking of the unit stories in our infant And primary books (captain Jack, find out,And footprint books) primarily but suppose can also be story telling in general. Its something Ive been trying to work on more lately. Lucy and I were having a little chat about this the other day, And i was telling some of the things i do, or been doing, so thought it be a good idea to have a space to share (any ideas please share)…
With my footprints (footprints 1 And 2) : I get them put the story in order first. 1 A) this can be done as a class with the big flashcards (can even make this a competition class vs teacher-if class confer And get it right they get a point if not teacher gets point-this depends on your class though) a simple praise And high five could be Just as fun and rewarding. Or b) photocopy 3 or 4 pages of story. Cut them intó scenes(taking the numbers off). In small groups students then put the story in order. I go round checking And helping. 3)then all students get the books together And we check the order together. I find this helps students undetstanding before reading the story ir listening to the story on tape together.

Also with my s1s And s2s. Before reading, they tell me what they can See. ‘I can See…. Pip, i can See a coat.’ Ive been putting a big star on the board after each answer, for class stars(not individual)After weve finished we look/count the amount of stars we’ve earnt for fantastic english. Theyve been really proud of themselves And all desperate to help. Also because its class stars And not individual they really want to help. Ive been encouraging lots of ‘can i help?’ amongst them toó. Now we’re working really hard on not repeating answers.

Anyway guys realising i am talking about prepping the story And not reading. I dont know about you but i find coursebooks ‘listen and act out the story’ quite difficult. I try to encourage lots of miming throughout the story but my reality of it often isnt a cohesive and beautiful thing. Any tips appreciated.

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Guy Fawkes and San Juan

Nico has shared some resources for a lesson about Guy Fawkes and comparing Bonfire Night to San Juan.

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A book! What’s that?

Some more teacher humour from Claire 🙂

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Reading with/for pleasure

From the archives of facebook, an article with Rich posted a couple of years ago from the OUP blog.  Eva Balážová writes about setting up a Readers’ Club within the school – some lovely ideas on how to encourage our learners to read for pleasure – something which will benefit them in terms of expanding vocabulary and becoming more confident and comfortable with sentence structures.

I love the header of the OUP blog too.

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