Merlin on ©BBC

You fancy learning English and you really want to improve your spoken English, but you don’t know what to do.  Then you’ve come to the right place! Merlin, the young Warlock is here to give you some magic tips. If you want to be a powerful ‘knight’ of English language, just have a look and follow Merlin’s advice. You won’t believe how fast your English will get better!

Tip # 1: Merlin says “Rise and shine!”

Learning a new language is not easy, but it is cool. To taste the fun part of it, you need to start with a good move. Planning and thinking may not be enough. You need ‘action’ and it is never late for that. So why don’t you rise and shine! Yes, now, in this very moment! Stand and begin from somewhere.

Tip # 2: Merlin says “The more you listen and read, the more powerful you will be!”

If you want to speak English, you should listen and read more. Each step you take will make you more powerful. Songs, cartoons, movies and TV series are very helpful and fun. Decide on your favourite ones and ‘open’ your ears while you are listening or watching. Try to understand the words and phrases. Rewind back and follow the subtitles when you need. Join the song you are listening to and see if your pronunciation is similar with the singer’s or not.

Tip # 3: Merlin says “Sharpen your sword!”

To win a battle, you need a sharp sword and in learning a language ‘sharpening your sword’ can be considered as ‘practising’. Be brave and practise. Think about an enemy opposite, you don’t stand with your sword in your hand and think about which moves to take. You just do it. It is the same in learning a language. Don’t wait for making the ‘perfect’ sentence with the ‘perfect’ grammar. Jump in and speak. After some time, you will see that words become phrases and phrases become sentences. If you can’t find anybody to practise, you can try to record your voice. You may start with one minute and extend the time later. Talk about anything you want. Your ideas about a topic, the things you did that day, the film you watched, the people you talked to, the dream you had the night before etc.

Tip # 4: Merlin says “Take notes!”

Taking notes is very important. It helps you to learn new words and phrases. Taking notes is not writing each word you hear, so do not panic! Focus on the new things you hear, the ones you are curious about. If you see or hear a word more than once or twice, that means it is important. It is time to learn about it. You can take notes in your favourite notebook, on your smart phone or on your computer. They are all OK! Just make sure that you use them later. Without using and practising they are nothing but it’s just losing time. You can aim to learn a word a day. Writing “today’s word” on a piece of paper and posting it on your mirror, cupboard or fridge can be useful. You can even type it on your phone or computer, munch the screen and make it a wall paper. By seeing the same word there for the whole day, you will be learning it very easily.

Tip # 5: Merlin says “Never give up!”

No matter what happens, don’t quit! Don’t forget! This is a new language for you. It is very normal to make mistakes in speaking and writing. Mistakes will help you to shape your language and your English will be better day by day. You need to be patient! Keep up your practice and don’t give up!

Tip # 6: Merlin says “Use the right ingredients for your magic potion!”

You need ingredients to make a magic potion and if you don’t have the right ones, it can be a disaster. Then, you should always look for the ‘right’ ingredients. As a language learner, your ingredients are your books, notes, handouts and other resources, but they are not enough. You need some visuals and audios as well. What you have to do is to decide which ones are the best for you and your learning style. Internet is a great option for that. There are lots of links to online resources for listening, reading, vocabulary and speaking materials. You are very lucky because most of them are free.

Here are some of them:

Stories and Poems

Listen to stories and poems and do the online activities. If you have any difficulties, follow the transcript of the listening materials.

The Teacher

You will love the videos of this funny and crazy teacher! They are awesome to learn new idioms.

How to Videos

These short videos will teach you some tips about fun and cool things. You can try the activities and check the transcript when you need.

I Wanna Talk About

These audios are great examples for you to improve your speaking. Don’t miss the follow-up activities. Maybe you can record your own ones later on.

Britain is Great

Learning a language is also learning about a culture. You don’t have to fly to Britain for that. These videos are giving information about the country and they are very enjoyable. The tasks are fun, too.

Fun and Games

Whenever you want to give a break, stop by these games and have fun. There are also apps for your smart phone.

Tip # 7: Merlin says “You have magic!”

Believe in yourself! Be confident! You don’t need to compare yourself with your friends or other people. Each person has different skills and features, so the time of the learning process can be different for everyone. No matter how old you are, where you are from or where you live, you can still learn a new language! Be brave and take risks. Make mistakes and keep going. Practise, practise and practise. Give time and energy. Don’t give up your dreams because ‘you have magic’ 

This post was first published here.

I really don’t remember calculating my age before ‘29’. Everything started after I turned 30:) Today is August 18^th and it is my birthday. Just having another discussion (with myself) about how old I am turning. I was born in 1976 and that makes me a ‘Dragon’ in the Chinese Zodiac. So am I ‘36’ or ‘37’? Some people say that you cannot count the year you were born, because you don’t just appear in the world when you are ‘1’ year old. If you think that you are ‘zero’ year old when you are born, then I must be turning ‘36’ today:)

36 or 37… It really does not matter, because every year has its own magic. With another magic age I am getting, I decided to share these classroom tips with you all. Schools are already open in some countries and they are about to open in others. These tips can help you to cope with some classroom management problems, to have a good rapport with your students and your students can enjoy their time while practising.

Tip #1 Greet them by singing: We all greet the students when we enter the class and expect them to reply back. Instead of a monotonous way, why don’t you use a song to greet them? This may be really fun especially for young learners. You can use the rhyme of a well-known children’s song and add your own lyrics or you can create a rap one with these lyrics. Here is very simple rap greeting I created:

Teacher: Hello Hello Hello everybody!

Students: Hello Hello Hello Ms Oflaz!

You can also change the word ‘everybody’ with some other words such as 4B, my dear students, dearies, sweethearts etc. This will surprise your students.

Tip #2 Pick a game: Think about games which can be played in the class and write the titles of them on cards. Put the cards in a box. If you want, you can ask your students to write down the games they’d like to play but make sure that you check them to see if they are appropriate or not. Students can colour or decorate the box with stickers or pictures. Whenever you want to give a break, you or your students can pick a game from the box and play altogether.

Tip #3 “Teacher! You’ve got mail”: Sometimes, it is difficult for students (especially the shy ones) to communicate with the teacher. This is a great idea to make them share anything they want. Make a box with a hole (maybe a locked one) and ask your students to write you notes or letters and drop it in. When students send you their message, they can write “Teacher! You’ve got mail” on the board or leave a message on the table, so you can check. You can reply their notes or talk to them afterwards. Another thing you can do with the mail box is to encourage them to write messages on special days, to cheer up their friends or to inspire each other.

Tip #4 Get together at break: As teachers, we all need a break to relax, have a cup of tea / coffee or visit Mrs.Murphy:) but it is extremely fruitful to spend time with students at the break time. Stay in class, hang out in the corridor or go out to the garden to chat with your students. Not all the time of course. Once or twice a week. Play games, eat together, listen to music or just make compliments. This unthreatening atmosphere will make you get to know them better and create a special connection with your students.

Tip #5 Who’s the teacher today?: Students, especially younger ones like acting as teachers. They sometimes play games acting as teachers and students. I used to do that a lot when I was a kid. I even had a little chalkboard. Why don’t you ask your students to become the teacher for five minutes and continue the lesson? You can start with the volunteers and ask them what / when they want to teach. You can add their names on the class calendar, so they can plan and get prepared. When the time comes, let them go through an activity, carry out a discussion, lead a game and so on. I’m sure this will be great for the students to become more confident and it will also help to improve their empathy skills.

Tip #6 Bring lucky charms: You can invent lucky charms to motivate your students or reduce their stress. Bringing a ladybug toy / picture before an exam, drawing an Irish shamrock on the board during a competition or hanging a blue bead after they perform well can change the atmosphere for a while. It can make them laugh, increase their motivation and have fun, but you shouldn’t exaggerate. Avoid changing the class into a tent full of totems:)

Tip #7 Arrange a ‘Fun corner’: You can leave a part of the bulletin board for this. Ask students to bring jokes, cartoons, inspirational quotes and interesting news they like. They can put these on this corner and share. Make them change the stuff regularly. You can even create a rating game at the end of the term / year and choose the funniest, the mosy interesting or the weirdest.

Tip #8 Silence is normal: This may not happen very frequently, but when it happens it might make you feel weird as if you have to start speaking immediately. If your students just stare at you or keep silent, that does not mean that there is always something wrong. Students may need time to digest. They might be thinking about the topic / lesson you are busy with. They may be brainstorming or reflecting. Do not panic and give them time.

Tip #9 Let them enjoy a ‘crazy moment’: As you can understand from the title, this is a crazy activity. Try not to use this activity very often not to lose the magic of it. When you feel that your students are completely lost in thoughts, tired or reluctant, tell them that they have 10 seconds to do anything they like. They can stand up, walk around, scream, dance, sleep, look out of the window etc. Ring a bell when the time is over and ask to sit properly and silently. Don’t forget to warn them about the actions they will do. They shouldn’t hurt their friends, offend each others’ feelings or damage the school property. I recommend you to inform your neighbours next door (other classrooms or the administrators nearby), so they won’t get shocked when they hear the ‘crazy’ sounds:)

Tip #10 Make them reflect: Students make a special page /section on their notebook and decorate it if they like. After each unit / theme, tell them to think about the things covered in class and write what they can do. This will be very good to make them reflect on their own work and performance. Seeing their own progress will be motivating as well.

Tip #11 Give them awards for nothing: Awards always motivate students and they get crazily happy if they deserve one. Some students can really feel useless if they can’t get any and the whole thing can lose its effectiveness. You can sometimes award them not for the things related with the lesson but with the special skills or features they have. Award for a sweet smile, award for a tech wizard or award for a helpful fairy etc. Check here to see more ideas on this.

Tip #12 Make a ‘class’ wall: You can change the classroom wall into a Facebook wall. I hope you have enough space for this. If not, you can use the windows or the doors of the cupboards. Students can share their photos of special moments and add captions to them, write their feelings or opinions. You can add your own and motivate them to comment on each other. This can be turned into a spoken activity at the end of the day or used as a warm-up activity. If students like each others’ posts, they can draw little hearts on them.

Tip #13 Give no homework for today: Decide on a day and don’t give homework on that day. Share this with the other teachers as well and encourage them to do the same. Students will love this. Having a day without any homework will make your students release the pressure of the school and relax.

Tip #14 Keep calm and come back: Choose an area in the class and put a ‘keep calm’ sign / poster there. Tell the students that they can use this place to get better whenever they feel down or angry. You can put a chair or a pillow there. They can sit, close their eyes or put their headphones on to listen to some music. The time they use at this area should be limited. They should go back to their place after 2 or 3 minutes.You can use the same place to show that you are not happy with an attitude or a misbehaviour but avoid using it very often.

Tip #15 You’ve got a message: Tell the students to write their names on a piece of paper and leave them in a box or plastic bag. Then allow them to pick one. If they pick their own names, they should change. Ask them to write an inspirational message for their friends and give it to them. Students will learn how to cheer up each other and improve their friendship with the help of this activity.

Tip #16 Help your buddy: Put the students into pairs at the beginning of the year. Tell them they are ‘help’ buddies during the first month. They are supposed to help each other about lessons, the new school / system and so on. This might be really good for the newcomers.

Tip #17 ‘Joker’ for homework: Homework can be boring for some students although you do your best to make it fun and catchy. Tell your students that they can have a ‘joker’ after each 5 / 10 homework. Once they get a joker, they can use it for any homework they like and skip that one. This can have some weaknesses such as missing things on the related piece of homework or receiving complaints from parents, but it can also motivate students to do more homework.

Tip #18 Reading time: Ask them to bring the book they are reading on a specific day. Friday can be a good day as it is the last day of the week and most of them can be tired. If a student does not fancy books, this can be a good start. Tell your students it is the reading time and allow them a specific time. You can begin with 15 minutes and extend the time later. You can also play classical music during this time. By the way, don’t forget to bring your own book to join them.

Tip #19 Share what you read: Bring a book you already read or you are reading and put it on your table or another place in the class. You can allow the students to have a look at it and raise questions aterwards. Then, ask a volunteer to bring a book and do the same. You can continue this activity till everybody talks about a book.

Tip #20 ‘Special days’ congrats: Use the doors of the students’ lockers for this activity. Learn their birthdays at the beginning of the year and put messages on the door of their lockers on their birthdays. You can also congratulate them for other special stuff like winning a school match or getting a poetry award. They will feel that you care about them.

Tip #21 “Who is the ‘prefect’ this week?”: Choose a prefect from the students. If you want, you can choose more than one at each time. The prefects can be your assistants during the week and learn to take responsibilities and maybe gain more confidence. You can change the prefects every week till everyone becomes a prefect at least once.

Tip #22 Group names: Divide the students into groups according to their seating plans and ask them to find a name for their groups. It might be good to call out their group names while warning instead of using the names of the students. This way, they can warn each other to stop the misbehaviour, listen to others more carefully and participate. You can give and take points to encourage the students and choose the champion group of the day / week / month.

Tip #23 Dance dance dance: This can sound a bit crazy if you have never taught young learners, but believe me it even works with university prep students. Just play a popular song and dance with them. You can do it in the middle of the lesson when you see that they are lost or before you start a lesson or a specific activity. Tell them that they are free to do any dance moves for blah blah minutes. When the music stops, they should calm down and sit quietly to get ready for the lesson / activity. Remember that moving can increase the brain power.

Tip #24 Make them talk for one minute: Tell them they have to talk to their pairs for one minute without stopping. They may talk about anything that comes up to their minds or on a specific topic. After some time, you can extend the time and make them talk for a longer time. This is a very helpful activity for their fluency. You can find more details about this activity here.

Tip #25 Share something about your childhood: Students can sometimes be very curious about their teachers. So why not using this for the sake of your lessons:) Show them photos from your childhood and tell them ‘stories’. Be sure that they will listen more carefully than they listen to other stories, because it is all about you. They can ask you questions when you finish or guess the end of the story.

Tip #26 Do not fear to share your feelings: If you are having a difficult time or if you are overjoyed, do not fear to share this with your students (unless it is very private:p). You can just tell them or write it on the board like a Facebook status and if they want, they can ask you questions about the details.

Tip #27 Watch a video: Do not wait for the perfect time to use videos. A short youtube video can change the mood of the students. It can make them smile and motivate for a hard work coming up or inspire them before a writing activity. Bookmark the videos you can use in your class and use this library whenever you need.

Tip #28 “Do you know what I did last weekend?”: Tell the students to bring an object related with what they did at the weekend. Tell them to show it to others and take a guess about their weekend. They can ask questions to learn about the details. If you want to save time, you can make students work in pairs / groups.

Tip #29 Tell them to dream on: This is one of the silent moments you can all enjoy:) Choose an appropriate piece of music preferably instrumental ones. Tell them to close their eyes and just dream on. They are free to dream about anything they like and they don’t have to talk about it afterwards.

Tip #30 Remember: Music is a therapy: Music can reduce stress, encourage positive thinking and even implant creativity. Do not fear to use it during the lessons. The only thing you should be careful about is to choose the right piece of music for the right time. Considering the activities you are dealing with, decide if you need something stirring, calming or relaxing. Here is a great link to choose a piece of music according to your mood. Some titles here may not be appropriate for the age of your students, so check before you use it in your class.

Tip #31 Why don’t you go out?: You don’t have to lock your students in the class all the time. Take your students out to the garden or use the other parts of the school. Make a good plan about the lesson you will follow there and be sure everything is under control. Inform your head of department or the vice principal beforehand not to cause any problems.

Tip #32 Invite guests: You can invite your colleagues (English teachers or teachers of other subjects), the head of department, vice principals or the principal to your class not to observe you but to encourage the students. When they are ready to perform pair work or group work activities, show & tell projects or just to play games, you can invite someone to your class. (Inviting more than one person can be threatening for them.) The aim here should be to praise the students. When they hear that a teacher or an administrator they care is appreciating their work, they will be really happy and motivated.

Tip #33 Give them coupons: Make coupons to be given as awards after any good work your students perform. Tell them to collect their coupons to reach other series of awards. You can learn more details about this activity I created here.

Tip #34 “What was the best thing today?”: Make students reflect on the lesson and their work at the end of the day / lesson. Then ask them to share it in pairs or groups. You can also tell them to share the same with their family when they go home. You can inform the families beforehand. This will help your students to focus on the positive things more and create a bridge between the school and home as well.

Tip #35 Change is good: You can change the decoration of the classroom by playing with the desks and chairs (if you can) or the seats of the students. You can make your students look after plants, add new parts on the bulletin board and so on. Change is good but it might drive some students crazy, too, so you should know your students well before you decide on a change. You can make it in steps and try to prepare them.

Tip #36 Enjoy the Colour’ful’ days: If wearing uniform is not mandatory at the school you are working at, this can bring ‘colour’ to your classroom. Decide on a colour and tell your students to wear something with that colour on a day you will announce. If they can’t, they can also bring some accessories. You can join them as well. You can read a text, sing a song or watch a video related with the colours. You can discuss about the effects of colours on people, colour therapy or play games related with colours.

Tip #37 “What’s your favourite photo shoot?”: Ask your students to take as many photos as they can at the weekend or on winter / summer holiday. After deciding on their favourite photo shoot, they can bring it to class (hard or soft copy) to share with their friends. Then, they can come to the front, show and tell. They can ask questions to each other. With the help of this activity, they will be sharing their experiences and have some fun.

Hope you will find these tips fun and useful for your students. Please feel free to add your own and share your ideas.

Oooh yes, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to me:)

This post was also published here

SONG: ‘Give me some sunshine’ by Rajkumar Hirani

LEVEL: Elementary / Pre-intermediate

AGE: Teenagers / Young Adults / Adults

As an ‘enthusiastic’ (or maybe a crazy English teacher:) ) I always feel like the antennas of a radio receiving every little signal around so that I can find something useful and enjoyable for my students. It really doesn’t matter where I am, who I am with or what I am doing. Anything can seem to be a tool to be used in my class or any visual or auditory material can turn into a fun activity for my students. Especially if it is a day I am visited by the ‘Muses’  That can happen while hanging out in a toy shop, gazing at the ads in the metro or even flying in a lucid dream

Well, a couple of days ago, I was watching  ‘3 Idiots’ (which has been the only film which made me laugh and cry so I strongly recommend). The music was as good as the awesome story. Anyways, I decided to prepare the following set of song activities and I think the 33^rd Blog Carnival will be the most conducive atmosphere for sharing it. Thanks to my dear colleague Eva Buyuksimkesyan‘s CALL for blog posts to be hosted on her fabulous blog at the carnival.

The activities below are all about ‘Give me some shine’, my favourite song in the film I mentioned above. Although a big part of the song is in Hindi, I found it very meaningful and enjoyable. I even visualized myself singing it with the students joyfully and using some gestures and mimes.

Below are some ideas about how you can use this song in your classroom. I hope you will like them:)

BEFORE SINGING

• Make the students listen to the chorus and ask them to sing along. Repeat it altogether till they can do it alone without hearing the music.
• Tell them that they have to stop what they are doing and sing it when you call out ‘GIVE ME SOME SUNSHINE’. If you want, you can even add some gestures and tell them to imitate you.
• Give each student a piece of paper and ask them to draw and colour ‘some sunshine’.
• While they are drawing, stop them by calling out ‘GIVE ME SOME SUNSHINE’ and sing the chorus with them. When they finish, ask them to continue  to draw their picture.
• Repeat the same a couple of times till they finish their own ‘sunshine’ picture.

Give Me Some Sunshine CHORUS.

WHILE SINGING

• Play the English part of the song and tell the students to hold up their ‘sunshine’ pictures when they hear the word ‘sunshine’. They can also sing along during that.
• Ask the students to work in pairs / groups and give them a set of word cards (the lyrics of the song).
• Tell them to put the words in the right order while they are listening to the song.

Give Me Some Sunshine ENGLISH PART.

• Before playing the full song, inform the students that a big part of the song is not in English but in Hindi as it is one of the songs in an Indian film called ‘3 Idiots’. Encourage the students to guess what the lyrics may be by watching the video clip.
• Tell them to get into pairs / groups again and share their ideas. They may also share their ideas with the whole class.

Give Me Some Sunshine FULL SONG.

• Finally, play the song with the English subtitles. You can choose the group with the closest answer in the end and reward them with a smiling sun on the board.

Give Me Some Sunshine LYRICS (Hindi and English).

AFTER SINGING

• Ask the students to change some words in the English part of the song and create their own lyrics.

Here is mine:

Give me some chocolate

Give me some sweets

Give me another piece

I wanna eat them all

• Then, they can sing their parts in the class or record it to play for their friends.
• As an extension activity, you can make them watch the film in the class or at home. They can write their comments on their ‘sunshine’ picture or post them on the class blog / wiki  etc.

P.S 1:  Watch the film before you decide to use it in your class. I think it is not a good idea to use it with young learners, but you can still use the English part of the song with them.

P.S 2: Please don’t go mad with me if you keep singing it in your mind again and again for the whole day or maybe week:)

Please do not hesitate to share your experiences if you try any of these activities. Let me end the post with another version of the lyrics:)

Send me some comments

Tweet my post

Send me your ideas

I wanna hear them all

Instead of using photos of people your students don’t know, it is really exciting to use your own ones. Since the students always want to learn about their teachers’ lives, through this activity they will be able to ask questions to the teacher and get responses as well.

Here are the steps of the activity:

* Divide the students into pairs or groups. You can also use it as a classroom activity.

* Write the question words (who, what, where, when and so on) on the board.

* Tell the students that they’re going to make up a question using the question words in order. (While group A is using the question word “who”, the next group can use “what” and the others use the ones in the order.

* Do not forget to give a specific time expression for each photo, so they make their sentence using the related tense.

* wh- question words written on the board beforehand can be used in turns by the groups.

Here are some questions for the photo above:

- Where were you?

- What were you doing when the photo was taken?

- Whose bag is that?

- Did you read that book? / Did you like it? / Who was the author?

Any additions or adaptions?

This post was first published here

Tips

* You can remind them that the decision belongs to them if they resist any parts of the lesson.

* Students will feel great to be involved in the planning process.

* You may use the activity daily or weekly.

* If the activity starts to lose its strength, you can name the activities with different kinds of starters, main course meals and desserts.

This way each meal will be a surprise for them. I made up this activity for my prep students at the university. Do you think it would also work well in primary or high school?Hope you will find it useful and enjoyable. Looking forward to reading your comments and adaptations.

Thanks to dear Liz Aykanat, my dear ICELT Tutor for sharing this activity

This post was first published here

I like hanging around stationeries and toy shops and I always discover a way to use some of the stuff out there as a possible teaching tool in my class (I wonder if this is kind of weird:)). This time, I saw the sweet soft cubes in the photo. First, I thought they were dice, but then I realized that they were ‘foam stamps’.  When I was a child, we used to cut potatoes and colour them to stamp. These stamps are cool, but they seem to limit the creativity with the ready – made shapes on them, but of course that’s another story:) Anyways, have a look at my activity. It can be used both as an ice-breaker and a warmer in your class.

ICE, DICE and SMILES

Level / Age: Adaptable for all age groups and levels.

Time: 5 – 10 minutes

Procedure: – For each shape on the dice, provide a question (on the board or on a handout).

- Put the Ss into groups of 4 or 5.

- Each group is given a different dice with different shapes on them.

- Students  throw the dice in turns and answer the question referring to the shape on the dice.

- After a couple of turns, students can swap the dice and try out the new questions.

Here is a possible set of questions  (Pre-Intermediate level):

Notes:

* You may ask your students to create questions for each shape.

* You can make your own dice and create your own shapes using a piece of cardboard.

* If you buy a set of foam stamps, you should add two shapes for each, because they have only four shapes.

* You may provide more than one question for each shape.

* Keep your dice somewhere safe to use them in another activity later on.

Other possible ideas for the shapes:

* Answers (in different tenses) to make up the questions

* Time expressions to make sample sentences with the correct tense

* Vocabulary themes

* Imperatives to be ordered

* Tongue twisters to be repeated

* Names of the songs to be repeated

* Words to be rhymed

* Synonyms / Antonyms

Hope your students will enjoy the icebreaking dice activity:) Have a fab academic year full of excitement and success!

You might also like:

Welcome Back to ‘School Sweet School’

Catch the sparkle

TIPS

·         Keep time using an alarm clock / chronometer /sandglass while the student is speaking. I prefer to use the gadget on the website below:

www.online-stopwatch.com/

·         Tell the students about the aim of the activity and do not correct their mistakes.

·         You can write some clues (such as the structures they can use) on the board to guide them.

You may start the activity in pairs / groups and after a while you can try it with the whole class. This will gradually prepare them with a smooth passing.

·         Try to choose topic / titles related with the things you have covered so they can have enough input about them.

·         Once they are OK with the activity, you can divide them into groups and organize little races.

·         The time can be extended after some time.

Hope it sounds nice:) Anything you want to add?

This post was first published here

Soon after I received a silver award, I created my own blog. It was just a month before my blog’s first birthday when “Blogathon 2012” started. Once again, I was running with other teachers not only from Turkey but also from five different countries. I was not a novice blogger anymore, but I felt the same spirit especially while wearing my Blogathon t-shirt. The Blogathon Team was really understanding to show respect to the ‘holy’ connection between me and my precious blogathon t-shirt, so they permitted me to wear my ex number, 120. Just like the first one, the marathon took a month long. I believe it was much more challenging with more people joining in. That meant more blogs to read and more comments to make. The word limit (250 words per post) was a big pressure on me in the first one, but it was not a big problem this time (I confess that I was glad about that, because there so many great posts to follow.)

The best thing was to meet teachers from different parts ofTurkey and other countries (including Blogathon 2011 runners). Blogathon has played the role of a magnet which gathered us together ‘automagically’ and blogging became more enjoyable with the motivating comments of the readers, their collaboration and the support of the Blogathon team that fired the runners with enthusiasm. I was honoured to get another silver award (and felt a bit like a silver award collector:). This was another ending which would open the doors of a beginning for each participant. That’s why I believe the Blogathon is an ongoing journey which will never end.I’d like to thank to the British Council Turkey and the Blogathon team for organizing these kind of events and giving the English teachers a chance to develop themselves (for free:) ). Another thank you goes to my fellow bloggers for making the journey so special.

Tips for beginning Blogathon runners

The world is changing. Learning and teaching are beyond the classroom walls now. The number of the blogging teachers seems to be increasing day by day and it may be your turn now. If you haven’t gone over to the world of blogging teachers yet, you should definitely give it a shot. Maybe you don’t like writing or you think you don’t have enough time for that. Don’t worry! You can still be a part of it by following the other teachers’ blogs. You can share your ideas and experiences, ask for advices and keep yourself updated.  Here are some tips for you if you decide to run at a blogathon:

• Decide what you want to post about. Keep a list of the possible topics. Using your (smart) phone might be good for that. You never know when a new idea will pop up in your mind:)
• Comments are as valuable as the posts. Never miss them when you visit a blog post.
• Reply each and every comment of your posts and do not hesitate to leave a comment when you visit a blog. That creates the real connection between you and your readers. Besides, the bloggers you are interacting with can turn into lifelong friends and colleagues.
• Use a positive language and soften it while criticizing something.
• Do not worry about the word limit. You can continue in another post and that may even be more advantageous by drawing the readers to your blog again.
• Make your posts “reader friendly”. Expressing yourself clearly and adding some humour can help a lot.
• You may have international readers as well as the local ones, so try not to cause any offence by targeting a group of people. Respect all the political views and religious beliefs.
• Be ready to say ‘No’ to all invitations and social activities during the marathon, because you will be sooo busy :S
• Stick to the guidelines and criteria.
• Getting an award is of course motivating, but finishing the marathon is also important in terms of its spirit.
• Enjoy the Blogathon and enjoy the moment:)

An acrostic poem I wrote and dedicated to the Blogathon:

Bringing ideas all together

Leading the discussion and helping other

Organizing new posts every day

Getting replies and comment, ready to share and care

A door to be entered into another world waiting over there

The taste of each post makes me feel great about all that jazz

Hearty welcomes and warm good byes

On air all the time, running to the end ready to rise

Negotiating and interacting, broadening our minds

Other links you might like:

Does Everything Happen for A Reason? by Merve Oflaz

A Post on an IATEFL Interview with Adam Simpson (The Gold Award Winner of Blogathon 2012) and Sirin Soyoz by Merve Oflaz

My Blogathon Experience by Adam Simpson (The Gold Award Winner of Blogathon 2012)

Blogathon Journey by Özge Öztürk (The Runner-up of Blogathon 2012)

My Blogging Journey by Hale Yurttabir(Silver Award Winner)

Blogathon 2012 by Leman Ulas (Silver Award Winner)

An IATEFL Interview with Karin Tirasin (The Gold Award Winner of Blogathon 2011) and Eva Buyuksimkesyan (The Runner-up of Blogathon 2011)

Ready, get set and GO! ELT Blogathon 2011 by Sirin Soyoz

This post was first published here

me and my sweet mum

Preface: I want to dedicate this post to my dear mum. She is not a sportsperson. She is not running at the Olympics. She is not planning to use the ideas below as she is not an English teacher, but today is her birthday. I very much appreciate her understanding and support since I started to blog (as she always did). Thank you “Anneciğim” (my dear mum) and a very happy birthday to you…

Haven’t you brought the Olympics into your classroom yet?

Well, it’s time to give it a try! Below there is a compilation of activities I created / adapted using the Olympics theme. You can pick the one you like or apply it as a whole lesson activitiy.

You can use the activities in a class of 20 – 24 students age 12 or above. It is appropriate for the CEF Levels A2 – B1. You may adapt some parts according to the level of your students.

STAGE 1: Pass Pass Pass (Warm – up)

Aim: to review vocabulary related to sports
Procedure: T passes a soft ball to a student saying a sport. The student first repeats what the teacher says and adds his / her word and then passes it to another student. The game goes on till all the Ss tells a sport. If the students gets stuck while finding a sport T can give clues by using body language or pictures.
Materials: a soft ball (other objects can be used: a tennis racquet, a hula hoop, a ping pong ball, a Frisbee)
Time: 5 minutes
Interaction: T- whole class, student – student

STAGE 2: Brainstorming
Aim: to check the background knowledge about the Olympics
Procedure: T draws 5 rings of the Olympic logo on the board (a big version of it) and while drawing s/he stops and asks the students what it is and then goes on drawing. When s/he finishes, s/he elicits the words they know about Olympics or Paralympics and then writes the answers by grouping them in each ring. (adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions or sports, people, places, actions, adjectives)
Time: 5 minutes
Interaction: T- whole class

STAGE 3: Pelmanism Rap
Aim: to teach common vocabulary related to Olympics – Olympic ring, Olympic torch, Olympic flame, Olympic cauldron, light the cauldron, paralympic, international, continent, athlete, ancient
Procedure: a. T models the target vocabulary while showing both the flashcard with the picture and the flashcard with the word. T calls out the words/ phrase like a chant by clapping or snapping fingers. Students repeat.
For example: ring ring Olympic ring, cauldron cauldron light the cauldron, inter inter international etc.

b. After each repetition, the cards are put on the floor (all face-down).

c. Then the class is divided into two groups. A students picks up two cards and turn it face-up so everybody can see.

d. If the cards match, they place the matching cards on the board. They keep going until there are no more cards on the floor.

Materials: flashcards with pictures and flashcards with words of target vocabulary
Time: 10 minutes
Interaction: T- whole class, students – students (group work)

STAGE 4: Important numbers about the Olympics

(adapted from “Important numbers in my life”, British Council seminar notes)

Aim: to review the background knowledge of the students, to predict
Procedure: T writes some numbers related with the Olympics on the board and asks the students to find out what they stand for by asking yes / no questions. (T-whole class). T gives the right answers in the end.

Numbers to be written on the board: 5, 1920, 26, 8, 3, 1960, 200+, 13,000+

What the numbers stand for:
5 – The number of the rings in the Olympics logo.
1920 – The year the Olympic Committee adopted the Olympic flag made by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
26 – The number of the sports that will be featured in 2012.
8 – The number of the letters in the word “Olympics”.
3 – It will be London’s third Olympic games.
1960 – The first Paralympic Games were held in 1960.
200+ – More than 200 nations participate Olympics.
13,000+ – More than 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Time: 10 minutes
Interaction: T- whole class

STAGE 5: Secretary runner
Aim: to raise motivation for an informative input
Procedure: a. T. puts the sentence cards around the class or outside the class and divides the students into groups of 4 / 5.

b. Acting in turns, Ss in each group run to the cards, read the sentence and come back to the group to tell them the sentence. A student in the group writes the sentences down.

c. The first group which finishes is the champion.

d. Then, Ss decide if the sentences are true or false.

e. T gives them the right answers.

Materials: flashcards with sentences
Time: 15 minutes
Interaction: Ss – Ss, T – Ss

Sentence Cards

True / False Activity Answer Key
• The Paralympic Games are held in the same year as the Olympic Games. (T)
• Famous actors have the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron. ( F – famous athletes)
• There are 12 Paralympic programmes for the 2012 Games. (F – 20)
• Cambridge will host the 2012 Olympic Games. (F – London)
• You can take a virtual tour of the Olympic park on the official site of 2012 games. (T)
• The Olympic Games began in Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. (T)
• There are several myths about the origin of the Olympic games. (T)
• Pierre de Coubertin is the founder of ancient Olympic games. (F – modern Olympic games)
• The Olympic torch represents victory, purity and perfection. (T)
• The winners used to receive a crown of flowers in the ancient games. (F – a crown of leaves)

Show & Tell (Extended / Follow – up Activity)

Aim: Reading, personalisation & consolidation
Procedure: a. T puts the tasks of the group work (below) around the class and tells the Ss to stand in front of the ones they would like to pick. T tells them to research about their question and task. (This part is better to be given as homework. If you think students will not like the ‘homework’ idea, you can label it as a ‘pre group activity’ to be finished outside the class.
b. Next day / lesson, they work in groups and compile everything they have.
c. They show & tell about their task.

Possible group names: •Sports •Equipment of the sports • Gods in Greek mythology • Countries • Continents • Colours of the Olympic rings

Group Red – Question: What are the mascots of 2012 games?

Task: Make (or draw and colour) your own Olympics mascots.

Group Blue – Question: What is the mascots’ official song?

Task: Write & compose your own mascot song.

Group Yellow: Question: What are the Olympic & Paralympic sports?

Task: Design / Make t-shirts representing your favourite Olympics / Paralympics sports.

Group Black – Question: What is in London 2012 shop?

Task: Create your own ‘Olympics’ shop.

Group Green:- Question: What are the job opportunities provided by the “2012 games”?

Task: Make your own list of jobs and assign tasks for each job.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE GREAT FREE RESOURCES BASED ON THE OLYMPICS

Free teaching resources based on London 2012

Do you want to play and dance along to the London 2012 Mascots Song?

 

Links you might need:

The official site of the Olympic Movement

The official site of London 2012

The official site of the Paralympic Movement

 

Me, serving the drinks:)

After taking part at 24th Edition of EFL / ESL / ELL Blog Carnival on Eva Simkesyan‘s blog , this is the second time I’m attending a blog carnival. Thanks to Adam Simpson and Larry Ferlazzo for hosting great posts on their blogs.  For the 27th Blog Carnival, I will share an exciting lesson in which my students participated in all parts of it enthusiastically.

It was based on a reading text called “Two Drinks That Changed the World” in the course book “Challenges 4″ by Pearson Longman, but of course it is OK if you use another similar reading. By adapting some parts of the activity, it can be used for Pre – Intermediate students or above.

Things you need:

* Different kinds of herbal tea, black tea and coffee

* Kettle, paper glass (If the students want, they may bring their own cups / mugs), tea sticks, some water and sugar

Here are the steps of the activity:

This is a “hot” warm – up providing Ss to answer the question below while having their hot drinks. Prepare the kettle and other materials beforehand. Offer the students a hot drink they want to have. If they don’t want to have, tell them it is OK and they may still join in the activities. After the students get their drinks, ask them to smell the drink first and drink it later. Tell them to read the ingredients on the packaging and express their ideas about the drink using the adjectives / adverbs on the power point slide.

Students enjoying their hot drink and having a pair work

Then, give the students a piece of paper with a ready border, ask them to write about their feelings / thoughts down and leave their messages on the English Corner. They can keep drinking or get a new cup if they finish.

Next , they are  put into groups. Each group reads a part of the text and then groups are changed again, so they can inform other groups about the part they have read.

How the activity went in my class

I tried it with my Grade 8 students last year and they were so happy to take a break after all the studies they have for the national exam, SBS. The students enjoyed each process of the lesson. The reading lessons which usually described as “boring” (by them) has become fun and even took place as the top priority on their weekend worksheeet. Students mentioned that they do not have fear or anxiety before reading a text anymore. I believe it was not only an integrated lesson (including reading, writing, listening, and speaking) but also very productive and creative.

Tips

* Do not forget to get a permission from the coordinator / vice principal / principal before the activity.

* Because of the hot drinks, the activity can be dangerous for young learners and even for the others, so warn the students not to rush and to be careful. Take precautions before the lesson (maybe getting a first aid bag).

* Ask the students if they are allergic to any kinds of herbal tea or other drinks.

* Inform the students at least a day before, so they can bring their own cups or mugs.

* No matter what their age is, serve the water for the tea and coffee yourself.

* Finally, take photos during the activity and display them on the bulletin boards. You may even create a handout / worksheet using the photos (adding callouts to ask the Ss to fill in or a reflection paragraph).

ENJOY IT!

If you have any addings or adaptations, please do not hesitate to share. I will be glad to hear.