Merry Christmas from ELS

Both my students and myself wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

The students who attended class the previous days of Christmas did a wonderful 3D card just with paper and cardboard to decorate their homes or just to give them as presents to family or friends. They loved this Christmas craft, and these were the results:

BOXING DAY - 26th December

Boxing Day is a Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom celebrated on December 26th. It was started about 800 years ago during the Middle Ages, when servants would receive gifts, known as a Christmas Box, from their masters or employers.

 If you want to know more on this, please, go to this site and have fun ;)   http://www.pauldenton.co.uk/Boxingday.htm

Aprender a estudiar: técnicas de estudio

Esta publicación va en castellano para que no perdáis detalle de esta maravillosa idea (puede perfectamente aplicarse a la asignatura de inglés):

El departamento de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León ha creado una web interactiva de técnicas de estudio para que el alumnado aprenda a estudiar y sacar provecho a esas horas de estudio. Si "pulsáis" en el siguiente enlace (http://www.educa.jcyl.es/educacyl/cm/gallery/Recursos%20Infinity/aplicaciones/aprender/default.htm) entraréis directamente en una habitación virtual donde os recibe un niño. Podéis moveros fácilmente por el dormitorio con la ayuda del ratón de vuestro ordenador. Podéis pulsar en todos los objetos que tengan un punto verde y aparecerá un rótulo que podréis poner en práctica; por ejemplo, preparase frente al ordenador, estudiar reglas mnemotécticas, estudiar técnicas de estudio, prepararse actividades, preparar el espacio de trabajo etc. Es decir, todo aquello que se considera importante e imprescindible a la hora de estudiar una asignatura. (La imagen de abajo os muestra un ejemplo).

Ya no tenéis excusa; con este método gratuito podéis hacerlo vosotros solos o con la ayuda de vuestros padres desde casa.

Un saludo ;)

Cambridge Exams - sample papers

(Hago esta publicación en castellano para que lo entendáis todos los alumnos y padres/madres)

Si os paráis unos minutos a "indagar" en el blog, veréis que tengo varias publicaciones sobre los exámenes de Cambridge, tan solicitados en la actualidad. En ellas os proporciono infinidad de recursos para prepararos estos exámenes, al igual que información detallada de en qué consisten y sus últimas actualizaciones. Aunque son muy conocidos en el ámbito educativo, aún hay gente que no sabe muy bien qué son y desconocen sus principales características y validez. Os lo explico brevemente aquí:

En la parte izquierda están los niveles de idioma en base al Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas, siendo el nivel más bajo el A1 y el más alto el C2.

Los exámenes de inglés general de Cambridge comienzan con un nivel por debajo del A1 (Nivel Beginner) porque se trata de pruebas dirigidas a alumnos que comienzan con el idioma (lo más común es que sean alumnos de 6 años, aunque pueden ser algo menores o mayores, dependiendo de su nivel). Estas pruebas dirigidas a alumnos de educación primaria (lo que en inglés conocemos como Young Learners) comienzan con el exámen STARTERS, después sería el MOVERS y por último el FLYERS. Son pruebas muy divertidas y motivadoras con mucho colorido, y el alumno disfruta mucho haciéndolas. Una vez se corrige el examen, el alumno recibe un certificado de la Universidad de Cambridge con la valoración de su "saber hacer".

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/exams/young-learners-english/

Coincidiendo con el mismo nivel que FLYERS (A2) se encuentra el examen KET (Key English Test), diseñado para alumnos que sepan usar el inglés para comunicarse en situaciones sencillas.

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/exams/key/

Entrando ya en un nivel intermedio (B1) se encuentra el PET (Preliminary English Test), con el que el alumno demostraría saber usar sus destrezas del idioma para comunicarse en diversas situaciones cotidianas.

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/exams/preliminary/

En el nivel intermedio-avanzado (B2) está el famosísimo examen First (FCE). Es el nivel mínimo que exigen en muchos ámbitos tanto educativos como profesionales (acceder a becas de estudio, conseguir un empleo, etc.).

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/exams/first/

Sobre esta prueba en particular, tengo varias publicaciones en el blog, muy útiles si estás pensando en preparártelo ;)

Ya en un nivel avanzado están el CAE (Certificate in Advanced English - C1) y el CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English - C2)

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/exams/advanced/

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/exams/proficiency/


Hay centros escolares que son centros examinadores oficiales de Cambridge donde sus alumnos se pueden presentar a estas pruebas con total comodidad. Para aquellos que no tienen esta oportunidad, os podéis matricular del examen y presentar a la prueba en cualquier otro centro oficial examinador que haya en vuestra ciudad. Podéis encontrar esa información aquí (seleccionando vuestro país y la modalidad de examen): http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/es/find-a-centre/


Todas estas pruebas de las que os he hablado son de inglés general, y se pueden realizar en formato papel y también de modo online, pero siempre desde un centro examinador oficial.

El resto de exámenes que aparecen en la imagen superior son pruebas de inglés académico y profesional, de los que también soy Examinadora.

Podéis encontrar ejemplos de pruebas aquí: http://noticiascambridgeenglish.org/muestrasexamenescambridgeenglish/


Si necesitáis más información al respecto, no dudéis en preguntarme.

Un cordial saludo ;)

Present Perfect

Here's another grammar tense that we use a lot in English, the Present Perfect.

For you to know more about it, watch the video, read the theoretical explanation and then practice with the provided exercises. It's a piece of cake ;)

http://www.slideshare.net/ChristiBeltran/present-perfect-tense-7273635?related=1

In this pdf document, you'll learn about this tense and you'll be able to practice your knowledge:

http://www.uhu.es/antonia.dominguez/presentperfect.pdf

Modal Verbs (part 2) - PERFECT MODALS

If you remember, I previously published a post about Modal Verbs. Those were simple modal verbs, whereas these new ones are perfect modal verbs. They are used to talk about past actions. In order to know more about them, please, watch the following explicative videos and then, try to complete the exercises. I promise you they are easy peasy! ;)

You can find really helpful explanations and exercises here:

http://udl.lf1.cuni.cz/Data/Documents/81362705-5C9D-45A4-8AA1-DE1CE7F8A6BD/perfect-infinitive-with-modal-verbs_1.pdf

http://www.institutovirgendelcarmen.es/images/pdfs/ingles/1-Bach_MODAL%20VERBS%20%202.pdf

https://bbresources.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/3/Grammar-ModalsAndModalPerfects_2675.pdf

https://easypractice.wikispaces.com/file/view/Simple+and+Perfect+Modals+1%C2%BA+BACH.pdf

http://www.autoenglish.org/modalverbs/gr.might.pdf

Welcome DECEMBER!

Welcome December!! I'd say it's my favourite month of the year because it's when winter and Christmas come. I love the cold weather (wearing scarves, gloves, hats, warm coats, etc.) and also I love Christmas time! :)

For you to learn things about December and winter, click on this wonderful website! (I'll publish about Christmas later on, no worries ;)).

http://bogglesworldesl.com/winter_worksheets.htm

Grammar Videos for Teens

This is post very similar to the previous one about grammar videos for kids, but in this case the videos are for teenagers to practice grammatical tenses in a different way.

It's amazing how the British Council helps English learners with their learning process of the language :)


This is the website: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos?page=3


And this is an example of those videos:

All the video clips have worksheets with activities to practice the topic as well as the transcripts.

This That These Those - Demonstrative Pronouns

We use THIS (singular) and THESE (plural) as pronouns to talk about things or people near us, whereas we use THAT (singular) and THOSE (plural) to talk about things or people not near us:

You can learn more on this with the following video and its worksheet:

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/sites/teens/files/gs_this_that_those_-_exercises.pdf

Grammar Videos for Kids

The British Council has created a wonderful webpage for kids to learn English in a more entertaining way, I love it! There you can watch videos about different grammatical tenses and structures and learn while having fun! I absolutely recommend it to you, both students and parents ;)

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-videos?page=0%2C1&destination=grammar-videos&name=ashiha%40yandex.ru&op=Log%20in&form_build_id=form-PTmNfHRtqUrholXsMc3nuTKlLO1JCSi7EGN046h7q1Y&form_id=user_login_block

These are two clips examples:

Present Simple Vs. Present Continuous

These two tenses are key tenses in the learning process of the English language. They are usually taught at the beginning of a course because they are used in very common situations.


PRESENT SIMPLE

It is used to talk about routines (among other uses). To learn more about its structure, watch this wonderful video:

Now that you know its formation, you can practice it here:

https://pcpi-2-ingles.wikispaces.com/PRESENT+SIMPLE+WORKSHEETS

https://e-edu.nbu.bg/pluginfile.php/719603/mod_resource/content/1/elementarypresentsimpleexercises.pdf

http://www.abcteach.com/free/g/grammar_presentsimple_elem_esl.pdf

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/download/test_simple_present_en.pdf



PRESENT CONTINUOUS

It is used to talk about actions that are happening now, at the moment of speaking (among other uses). This is how it is used:

You can practice present continuous here:

http://www.uhu.es/antonia.dominguez/present.pdf

http://bogglesworldesl.com/kids_worksheets/presentcontinuous.htm




PRESENT SIMPLE & PRESENT CONTINUOUS


Both tenses can be used in the same sentence. You only have to be sure when to use each:

http://www.slideshare.net/lilianaoana142/present-simple-and-present-continuous-35848282?related=1  (This is a powerpoint that explains both tenses very well)

Now, the following games and exercises have both tenses mixed up and you have to decide when to use each:

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-games/present-simple-and-present-continuous

http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/grammar-printables-tenses.htm

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/Grammar_worksheet_present_simple_and_present_continuous_gwg_the_woolly_jumper_final.pdf

Karaoke for kids learning

Cambridge English has designed a karaoke to help children learn, remember and use new language. Find out more here: 

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/news/view/karaoke-for-kids-learning-english/

Grammarman!

Grammarman is the perfect way for students to learn grammar language in a funny way. They do it with the help of comics and they can listen to the story while they are reading it.

Visit the webpage and have fun!

http://grammarmancomic.com/

Don't speak like a robot! - Teaching WORD STRESS

Why teaching word stress in spoken English is important: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/teaching-how-stress-words-spoken-english-important

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in Canada and the United States as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. 

Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions and has long been celebrated in a secular manner as well.

The following two videos about Thanksgiving history are very entertaining for younger students:

And this other one is intended for older students:

If you want to know more about this festivity (watch more videos, etc), go to this website:
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving


And to put into practice your knowledge, go here:
http://bogglesworldesl.com/thanksgiving_worksheets.htm

Quantifiers - Much, Many & A lot of

"Much", "many", and "a lot of" indicate a large quantity of something, for example "I have a lot of friends " means I have a large quantity of friends.

But they are not used in the same way. This video explains their main differences:

This is also very explicative:  http://uzem.avrasya.edu.tr/ING_icerik/Week11.pdf

If you want to practice these quantifiers, go to these sites and have fun! ;)

http://www.bsu.by/Cache/pdf/211803.pdf

http://www.language-worksheets.com/support-files/elementaryexpressionsofquantityexercises.pdf

Acronyms in English

Acronyms come from the first letters of full names, for example J.F.K airport stands for John Fitzgerald Kennedy airport.

The following video explains acronyms in a great way:

If you want to practice them, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-18/session-1 and have fun! ;)

UK superstitions

Do you believe in superstitions? Do you believe in good or bad luck?


This is a topic I always use in my classes. If you want to learn more about it, have a loom at this ;)

http://www.educationuk.org/global/articles/uk-superstitions/

http://www.slideshare.net/silviajuncoboix/superstitions-in-the-uk-2545484?related=2

FARTHER or FURTHER?

Farther or further? Both are the comparative form of the word far, but the use is different:

Further and Farther

Writers are often unsure when to use further and when to use farther. Their confusion is understandable as the two words can often be used interchangeably. The quick answer is this:

• Use farther for physical distance.
• Use further for non-physical distance.

The clue is the stem far. This obviously relates to physical distance. The words can be used interchangeably for two reasons:

• It's not clear whether you're talking about physical distance or non-physical distance. This is quite common. When it happens, opt for further.
• The distinction between the words is disappearing. If you're unsure which to use, opt for further. It is slowly taking the place of farther.

Farther

If you're a stickler for the rules, then farther should be used with physical distance. In other words, if you're thinking aboutmore miles, more kilometres, more inches, more centimetres, etc., then you almost certainly want farther.

Q: How much farther? 
A: Four miles. 

Further

Further should be used with non-physical distance. If you're not thinking about more miles etc. but more time, more effort(in fact, more anything that isn't distance), then you almost certainly want further. Further is more diverse than farther.Farther is limited to the idea of more distance. Further, on the other hand, covers all topics (even distance these days) and can mean furthermore, moreover, more, additional, extra and supplementary. 




(Taken from http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/further_farther.htm)

Kids and HOMEWORK

Homework is essential in learning a language because it helps students to build on work previously done in class. If they don't practice new content at home, it will be easily forgotten. Besides, homework is not something boring at all; it can be fun and entertaining.

If you have a look at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/kids-homework, you will find lots and lots of great ideas to use as homework. It's worth it! ;)

Relative Clauses - Defining & Non-Defining

If you want to know more or learn about Relative Clauses, click on these websites and have fun!

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phrase-and-sentence/verb-patterns/relative-clauses

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/relative.htm

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/relative-clauses-defining-and-non-defining


To put them into practice, watch these:

https://inglescarmelitaslb.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/relative-clauses.pdf

https://tras-ingles.wikispaces.com/file/view/relative-clauses-exercises.pdf

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/sites/teens/files/gs_relative_clauses_-_exercises.pdf

Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes Night) - 5th November

Remember, Remember the fifth of November, 

Gunpowder, treason and plot. 

I see no reason why gunpowder treason 

Should ever be forgot…

On the night of November 5th, throughout Britain, people commemorate the capture of Guy Fawkes with bonfires and fireworks, and by burning an effigy of Guy.

If you want to know more about this festivity and practice your knowledge with games and activities, click on here: http://www.michellehenry.fr/bonfire.htm

HAPPY BONFIRE NIGHT!

HALLOWEEN 31st October

With this post, you'll learn about Halloween (All Hallows Eve): its origin, the meaning of its name, how people celebrate it around the world, etc.

This video explains the History of this festivity (for advanced learners):

This other video is great for children:

If you want to practice your Halloween vocabulary and have fun with wonderful printables, then go to the following sites and enjoy your time! ;)

http://bogglesworldesl.com/halloween_worksheets.htm


http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/halloweenPrintables.htm


If you are a teacher and want to deal with this topic in your class, you can use this Lesson Plan:

http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/10/halloween.pdf

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Quantifiers - all, each, every, both, either, neither

For those of you who have trouble when dealing with quantifiers in English Grammar, the BBC Learning English website teaches them to you.

In the following link, you can read the theoretical information and then practice it with several activities:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-3/tab/grammar

William Shakespeare

In previous posts, I published an interesting piece of news about nowadays words and expressions we owe to William Shakespeare. In order for you to know more about this unique and the greatest writer in the English language, I provide you with very useful lesson plans to use in your classes (if you are a teacher) or even at home (if you are a student).

The life of Shakespeare:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/life-shakespeare


Shakespeare and his Family:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/shakespeare-his-family


Shakespeare's Idioms:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/shakespeares-idioms-lesson-1


Shakespeare's Language:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/shakespeares-language


You can find much more ideas in this British Council website: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-teens/uk-culture/shakespeare


Enjoy your free time with this wonderful writer ;)

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a very popular book written by Yann Martel:

 It is also an entertaining 3D film which was based on the novel.

As a teacher, you can base your class on this wonderful story using these British Council resources:


The Life of Pi: Book Review (Level 1)
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/easy-reading/life-pi-book-review-level-1


The Life of Pi: Book Review (Level 2)
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/easy-reading/life-pi-book-review-level-2


The Life of Pi: Book Review (Level 3)
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/easy-reading/life-pi-book-review-level-3


Thanks to these great activities, you can teach a different  way, and students will never forget that class ;)

How many languages are there in the world?

Stephen R. Anderson talks about the number of languages that exit nowadays in this website: http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/how-many-languages-are-there-world

You can also have this article as a pdf: http://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/how-many-languages.pdf

LINGOHACK - Listen to and watch authentic news

Get up-to-date with the latest news and understand it too with Lingohack. Listen to and watch authentic BBC World news bulletins and learn key words and phrases that help you make sense of the news. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/lingohack)

BAB.LA - Plataforma online para aprender idiomas

Do you know bab.la?

It's a free online platform to learn foreign languages. You can play online games, use the dictionary, do tests, etc.

http://bab.la/

SPEECHYARD - watch films to improve your English level

Ahora puedes aprender inglés a través de películas online, yuhu!!! ;)


Thanks to Speechyard, you'll be able to learn English or improve your level through online films. All videos are with English subtitles.

It's a wonderful way of spending time and learning English at the same time. Have a look at the webpage:

http://speechyard.com/es/

IELTS Test

In this website (http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/) you can learn things like the following on IELTS Test:

What is IELTS?

The international English language testing system (IELTS) is the world’s most popular English language proficiency test for higher education and global migration, with over 2 million tests taken in the last year.

IELTS assesses all of your English skills — reading, writing, listening and speaking, and is designed to reflect how you will use English at study, at work, and at play, in your new life abroad.

The IELTS test is developed by some of the world’s leading experts in language assessment. It has an excellent international reputation, and is accepted by over 9,000 organisations worldwide, including schools, universities, employers, immigration authorities and professional bodies.

IELTS is the most widely accepted English language test that uses a one-on-one speaking test to assess your English communication skills. This means that you are assessed by having a real-life conversation with a real person. This is the most effective and natural way of testing your English conversation skills.

You can take IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training – depending on the organisation you are applying to and your plans for the future.

8 problems only foreign language learners understand

Have a look at this hilarious information; if you are a language learner, you'll probably feel identified with those eight problems mentioned:

http://www.teachyourselflanguagesonline.com/8-problems-only-foreign-language-learners-will-truly-understand/

EMOCIÓN en el aprendizaje - elemento esencial

Esta publicación la hago en castellano para que aquel que no entienda mucho el inglés (por ahora) pueda leerlo con total claridad, ya que es algo muy importante. En mis 11 años de experiencia como docente de inglés siempre he defendido que la emoción es clave en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de un alumno, tenga la edad que tenga. Lo convertí en el elemento esencial de mi metodología particular, combinando emoción con motivación. En mis primeros años fui muy criticada por ello, ya que muchos padres o alumnos adultos pensaban que esa manera "diferente" de enseñar un idioma era una pérdida de tiempo. Sin embargo, los años me han dado la razón, ya que algo que me caracteriza es que todos mis alumnos aprenden el idioma de manera rápida y eficaz. Muchos que empiezan con nivel bajísimo, terminan el curso con un nivel muy superior para su edad, y todo es fruto de haber involucrado su emoción en el aprendizaje. Tal y como dice el Investigador en Neurociencia Francisco Mora, "sin emoción no hay curiosidad, no hay atención, no hay aprendizaje, no hay memoria".

Quiero que dediquéis unos minutos a leer este artículo; merece mucho la pena ;)

http://biotmr.com/2014/04/15/la-neurociencia-demuestra-que-el-elemento-esencial-en-el-aprendizaje-es-la-emocion/

Would you learn a dead language??

Would you learn a dead language? Why or why not?


If you have ever questioned this before, then read the following article, it's worth it!

https://www.languagetrainers.co.uk/blog/2015/06/15/why-you-should-learn-latin-or-another-dead-language/

Question Tags

What do question tags mean and what do we use them for?

In this website, you'll find out more about question tags: http://www.grammar.cl/Intermediate/Question_Tags.htm

Another great webpage with very useful information is http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/question-tags where you can watch an explicative video about this grammar point.

I hope all of this is helpful and useful for you ;)

Teachers needed

According to TIME Magazine, the world will need 10.9 million more teachers by 2020 to achieve universal primary education.


If you want to learn more on this, read the complete article here:

http://time.com/4060833/unesco-world-teachers-day-2015/

INTO THE WOODS film

Into the Woods, a wonderful film you'll fall in love with!

Astonishing role of Meryl Streep! :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Byk9Is3TjY

BODY parts

I discovered the following website some months ago and I recommend it if you want to learn the parts of the body in English.

There are lots and lots of activities, worksheets, clips, games, etc. And everything is downloadable!

Enjoy this lesson! ;)

http://jeanporter.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Newcomer+Theme+--+Body

Digital Tools to get young learners speaking

In this Cambridge Webinar Catch Up, Vicky Saumell tallks about the use of digital tools as a way of getting young learners speaking. 

Digital tools in the young learner classroom

In this week’s webinar, Vicky Saumell explored how digital tools can enhance your teaching of young learners, sharing some of her favourite tools, along with tips on making the most of them.

Vicky began by looking at how technology allows us to free speaking tasks from the classroom, allowing teachers to set such tasks for homework, and increasing the opportunities for learners to practise using English.

Voki was the first tool Vicky shared: a free web-based application that allows you to create personalised or ready-made avatars for speaking, including historical and famous characters, animals and aliens. Once your avatar has been created, you can record your voice, to make your avatar speak; you can then share a link to your recording or embed it in a website. Using an avatar, Vicky pointed out, means that you can avoid using students’ own images, which is particularly important in the young learners classroom (and for shy students too).

Vicky’s second tool was Chatter Pix, an app for iPhone and iPad, which allows you to upload an image of a person – a character from your coursebook, for instance – and then record yourself speaking. The app animates the picture you’ve uploaded, so that that it looks as though they are speaking your words. You can use this to get children speak from someone else’s point of view, particularly useful if you’re teaching a CLIL history class and want your learners to let you know what they know about a historical figure.

Fotobabble was Vicky’s third tool, an app for iPhone and iPad, and also for the web, which allows you to record a voiceover for a picture. You could use this to record listening tasks for students, or to get students to describe pictures themselves – particularly useful in Spot the Difference exercises! Students can use it to send you their speaking homework to mark at your leisure, and you can use old recordings to show students how far they’ve progressed over the course of a year – useful to show parents what their learners are doing too!

Vicky’s fourth tool, Adobe Voice, was her particular favourite for getting learners to tell stories. You can use it to upload a series a pictures, then record audio for each of the pictures, to narrate a story. If your coursebook contains stories, you can use the pictures from them with this tool, and get students to tell the stories in their own words.

MailVu was Vicky’s fifth tool; it allows you to record a video, add a narration, and then share it through email, and is particularly good for ‘how to’ videos, tours, and interviews.

In the second half of her webinar, Vicky looks at some of the presentation tools that come with theKid’s Box course, and how they can be used with young learners. 

If you want to learn more, visit this webpage:

http://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2015/10/digital-tools-young-learner-classroom/

SONGS for teaching English grammar

My EFL methodology includes teaching English through songs, a different way of looking at English grammar and vocabulary. Students like it and they learn very quickly.

The following website provides me with a great variety of songs, classified according to grammar tense:

http://www.tefltunes.com/grammarsongs.aspx

Words and expressions we owe to Shakespeare

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Engaging Online Task Design

 In the following Cambridge Webinar Catch up, Teacher Trainer Deirdre Cijffers talks about the way of designing valuable online communicative tasks to encourage students to improve their language skills, among other aspects:

4 Principles of Engaging Online Task Design

In this week’s webinar, teacher trainer Deirdre Cijffers looks at how we can design valuable online communicative tasks that will encourage your students to interact, foster independence and further their language skills while giving you insights into your learners’ capabilities, interests and lives.

As teachers you will know how to create a communicative task in the classroom but moving that into an online environment may not be as easy as it seems. Online and offline have the same objectives but technology can slow things down and visibility of what your students know may not always be clear. Cijffers discusses her four principles to create engaging online task design, which are:

Principle One ‘Eyes on the Prize’

Cijffers asks us to think about what a task is and a task’s characteristics. This careful planning of the task’s features and outcomes as well as the appropriate location of the task, whether it’s face to face or online is extremely important in getting the most out of your students and will help you pick the correct tool for the task whether it is a forum, a wiki or blog.

Principle Two ‘Focus on Interaction’

Interaction is the key to everything! To get appropriate meaningful interaction we need to use the correct tool to facilitate that interaction. For example, a task that asks your students to create a story based on a brief outline would work well using a wiki  (although the list for online tools is exhaustive). Make sure that when you are with the class the time spent together is interactive, Cijffers also suggest that is a good time to practice using the technology in the class to reduce technical queries during the online task.

When picking the tool to use for the online task always make sure the affordances (or advantages) outweigh the restrictions of the tool to facilitate interaction in a meaningful way, for your class. For example, conducting a task in a forum encourages considered responses by allowing more time to answer.

Principle Three ‘Reality’

This is broken into three areas:
Relevant: make sure the task is relevant to the student and to their learning objectives; does the task help them meet these objectives? For example, if the student is learning a language for business then a task asking the student to talk about ice cream flavours is not be relevant and engaging for the student.

Fit in exam practise: create a task that also fits in the curriculum’s learning outcomes and make this clear to your students so they can see the relevance to taking part in the task.

Immediacy: if you link the task to what you will be doing in the next class this means that if the student doesn’t take part then they will find participating in the next class session difficult as they haven’t completed the appropriate prep for it.

Principle Four ‘Plan teacher actions’ 
Deirdre asks us to consider what actions you would have to take whilst the task is going on? Facilitator, monitoring, setting it up, offer examples etc. It is important to plan in these actions prior to the task so your hands are free for you to respond to your students as people during the task. If you have a lot’s of classes, pre-planning your actions helps you remain consistent and offers your students a comparable experience.

To learn more about it, click on the link below:

http://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2015/09/4-principles-engaging-online-task-design-2/