Not the End of My Tale

  Since we are currently in Australia on our around the world virtual trip, I told this folktale to my students this past week. I even had one student who was able to retell the whole story to the group. Here is a rather similar version that I found on youtube. I prefer to orally tell the story before I share a link for a youtube version. Otherwise, they think the youtube verison is "the truth" and can get upset if the oral version is slightly different. If I tell it first, then I can explain how stories have been passed down and changed by each teller.  Here is the youtube version, which is just one of many if you search for it. You can use this stoy to discuss drought and weather. Or you can discuss greed and sharing. Here are a few discussion questions to get you started: Was it fair that the frog drank up all the water? How should the water be shared for the animals? How can you persuade someone else to do something? How can you make someone laugh?

  About a year ago I had another teacher ask me why I allowed my 3rd graders to “waste class time drawing pictures when they should be learning English”. I am not alone in believing that many children enhance their language learning through art activities such as drawing. Incorporating drawing in our virtual trip around the world this year, I draw together with my students as we visit each country. According to cambridgeenglish.org, there are quite a few other ways to use drawing and crafts to enhance language studies. These do not need to be reserved for preschool children but are effective in older children as well. The writing here can be done solely by the child or with help by having the teacher write the word first on the board and letting the student copy it. Here are a few tips to add drawing to your language teaching.  Students can… Label some of the things in the drawing with words, like sun and beach.  Write captions of what people in the drawing might be saying. Think of

 After making their collaborative film about their visit to New Zealand, the students have answered quiz questions together as a team. I found several great quizzes about New Zealand for free on baamboozle.com.   We tried these digitally, and it worked very well. The students picked the number of the next question and were allowed to discuss their answer with each other and with family members who might be present. I found it beneficial for the students to discuss together what they know or remember about New Zealand.  There are many pre-made quizzes from baamboozle, which are awesome, and I have already found my next one to use for Australia... about Australian animals. Yes, we are on our way to Australia after this on our Virtual Trip Around the World. 

 The second stop on our Around the World Virtual Tour was Hawaii. My students read and watched information from a native Hawaiian. They were especially fascinated to read about her favorite snack- dried plums and her favorite food-poi. Besides picking coconuts and using them, the students liked hearing about pineapple plantations. Food seemed to be the biggest interest in Hawaii, although some students wanted to swim or hike, too. The students were able to make a short video about their visit using adobe spark. This was done while online with me. I shared the page with the film and asked what picture they chose. Then they typed their text in the chat box, an I pasted it into the film. The students I still get to meet in person will make the audio recording for the whole film.  This week we are continuing our trip to New Zealand with a new host who shares quite a bit about the Maori people.

  Många lärarkollegor frågor var de kan hitta intressanta sagor att berätta för sina elever. Världen är full med berättelser och jag tycker om att lära nya hela tiden. Då delar jag gärna med mig av veckans saga på svenska. Här kommer en folksaga från Kina som jag läste i boken Peace Tales av Margaret Read MacDonald. Ute på den afrikanska savannen trampade en elefant förbi och stannade upp när hon fick syn på en färggrann kolibri som låg platt på ryggen på marken. Fågelns små fötter lyfts upp i luften. "Detta ser visst konstigt ut. Vad gör du, lilla kolibri?" frågade elefanten. Kolibrien svarade: ”Har du inte hört? Jag fick höra imorse att himlen kanske faller ner idag. Och jag vill vara redo. ” Elefanten skrattade och hånade den lilla fågeln. "Vem har sagt det? Hur kan du tro på sådant trams? Tror du att de små fötterna skulle kunna hålla upp himlen?" "Jag kan kanske inte hålla up himlen alldeles själv,", svarade kolibrin. ”Men jag gör så mycet som jag kan

 To help my older students start writing fiction, I used a prompt generator at  diyMFA . I also added a word of the day from NextStepEnglish:  https://nextstepenglish.com/word-of-the-day-conflagration/ .  Our word was conflagration, a very large fire that destroys buildings or large pieces of land. As we shuffled the prompt generator, we picked...  "shopping mall Santa, lost something important, has bullets but no gun and a picture of a modern building". We discussed these elements together and wrote both together and individually. Each of the students wrote their own version of this story while I wrote one, too.  I do believe that an English teacher should be able to write anything they ask their students to write and to proudly demonstrate their craft. I realize that there is the risk of the teacher's work being judged harshly, but how can we expect the students to be brave enough to write and share with others if we are not willing to write and share with them. So, I w

 Since most of my classes will be online for the next 6 weeks, I registered for an educator account at getepic.com . It is free and full of thousands of digital books (most in English, but there are a few other languages there). Students just use the classcode (no personal info needed) and can choose books to read online. Some books even include audio. As a teacher, I can keep track of how many books each student has read (if they click on their initials when they start) and how they did on the end-of-book quiz. I even tried one of the short quizzes with one of my students, and she liked it. The quiz was short enough to not be bothersome while providing just enough positive feedback to let her feel like her accomplishment was seen. The only drawback is that the students can only read for free during school hours local time, Monday- Friday 7 am - 4 pm. You can even make reading lists for your students. I made one with books about Hawaii or based in Hawaii since that is where we currentl

 While my younger students are on their Around the World Virtual Trip, my older students are working on various writing assignments. We decided to try out Six Word Stories this week after discussing Flash Fiction. Is it really posibble to write a story in six words? After reading many samples, we realized that what you write is just enough for your mind to fill in the blanks with the rest of the story. Even if it is only six words, it still needs a character and conflict. And the best ones also have a twist.  After writing both together and individually, we thought this was a fun genre of writing. The next step up from this is called Dribble, with max 50 words. After that comes Drabble with a max of 100 words. As a natural progression, I plan to have my students turn one of their six word stories into a dribble for our next lesson. What will enhance the story and head the reader in the right direction? For the picture on the right, here is a sample of a six-word story:  Pocketful of ac

 More reading and writing for your students! Come join us for a creative way to encourage literacy. I was asked by a non-profit in Lund, Sweden to hold this workshop for teachers, parents and any other adults who work with children. In an interative manner, I will share my ideas for writing mini books for our students, who will in turn be inspired to read and write.  The workshop is free and on zoom at 4-5:50 pm  (Stockholm time) . Besid es curios ity and an open mind, please bring a blank white sheet of paper, pencil and eraser.  Format of the workshop:  Introduction from 4-4:30 pm  Workshop in small groups to create a story from 4:30-5:00;  and sharing stores and Q&A from 5:00-5:30. The workshop will be held in English and free! It will take place over Zoom. To register, please email Katrina at katrina.taylor@abcsweden.org.

The excitement of getting ready to head off on a trip...   For our virtual Arund the World trip, my students have started to pack their bags, using a sheet where they write their packing list after our class brainstorming. At the same time, they have been writing questions to send to our "virtual host" in California. Here are the questions that they have written, plus one or two added by me. None of the students seem to know anything about California and are very curious. For some reason, they seem most interested in candy, beaches and deadly creatures. I am looking forward to info, tips and opinions that our "virtual host" will be sharing in their film, which will be our "official arrival" at that destination. Here are our first questions: 1. What’s your favorite candy? Is there any special candy in California? Have you been to the m&m store? Is there a candy factory near you? 2. Where is your favorite beach? What do people do there? How often do you

 One of the tools I plan to use on our Around the World Virtual Trip is Adobe Spark. The students themselves can make a page which will be part of the final film about each country we visit. Of course, like most teachers, I spend a significant amount of time practicing with a tool before introducing it to my students. Just for fun, here is a video that I made with other students over a year ago. What is your experience with Adobe Spark?

 A New School Year: Around the world in weekly lessons Each year I plan a framework with one theme for the whole year. Although I believe in being flexible and adapting to my students’ needs, I also want a structure to give us all an idea of where we are and where we are headed. This year my framework is… An Around the World Virtual Trip . With all this stay-at-home time, I know that I am ready to head out on an adventure to explore new places. Of course, this time it is all virtual. One of the curriculum requirements for mother tongue lessons is to learn about the country where the language is spoken, in this case English. There are quite a few countries where English is spoken, and we will visit many of them virtually this year, spending one to two weeks in each country or place . You may be wondering what we will do in each country. Here is where the students get to choose and make decisions. Before we even “arrive” at each destination, we will send questions to someone living in t

  I had the privilege today to hold a storytelling workshop for a group of teachers. By using oral storytelling, teachers can improve concentration and motivation in their students. This is a common problem with language teachers (and perhaps even class teachers) of students who do not pay attention or ones who lack motivation.  Just imagine if you could solve that problem by having a story in your toolbox that you can tell to the whole group at the drop of a hat (or the blink of an eye). Let me explain how storytelling works with your brain for an optimal learning situation. First, according to recent educational neuroscience, the brain needs three things to be able to learn and move information to long-term memory. Education needs to be meaningful, relevant and enjoyable. By telling an oral story, you can stimulate the brain of the listener to relax  (letting go of stress that prohibits learning when the amygdala is overactive). For many, the act of listening to a story is enjoyabl