Not the End of My Tale

  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 sayi...

 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:  P...

  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 sto...

Jag får ofta höra från andra lärare att det inte är så lätt att hitta användbara sagor till deras lektioner. Därför kommer jag att presentera veckans saga här, skriven på svenska. På tisdagar kommer lite tips och då kan det även komma tips om hur du kan använda och återkoppla till sagan efter att du har berättat för eleverna. Veckans saga #1 är en f olksaga som kommer från Burma och Thailand: Inte vårt problem Den var en fin och solig dag i hela kungariket. Kungen och hans rådgivare satt tillsammans och åt varsin riskaka med honung. Utsikten från fönstret visade torget nedanför slottet och alla människor som samlades där. När de pratade om både det ena och det andra lutade sig kungen utanför fönstret för att bättra se sig omkring. Just då trillade en droppe honung från kungens mat men kungen märkte inte att en droppe föll ner och landade på fönsterkarmen. Och sedan ... Plopp, plopp, plopp (kan använda handen för att visa droppen som trillar) Honungen landade...