IT WORKS IN PRACTICE

More tested lessons, suggestions, tips and techniques which have all worked for
ETp readers. Try them out for yourself – and then send us your own contribution.
Don’t forget to include your postal address.
All the contributors to It Works in Practice in this issue of ETp will receive copies of
England by Rachel Bladon and The Unites States of America by Coleen Degnan-Veness
with Chantal Veness, published by Macmillan. Macmillan have kindly agreed to be
sponsors of It Works in Practice for this year.

Quote, unquote Read, draw and speak

Some time ago, I chose a set of quotations This task is a good way to vary a they found interesting and
in English which I thought would interest reading lesson and to bring some important about ‘their’ market. I
my students, and I then printed them out creativity into the process. I’ve set a time limit of around 15–20
and laminated them. These quotations are used it with a class of adults at minutes and told the students that
short, funny and said by a famous person, elementary level, but as adults can they should try their best to
as this seemed the best way to ensure that be reluctant to speak (although produce pictures which would help
they attracted the students’ attention. mine did cope with the task them later to present the
Every week I put one or two of them on my successfully), it might work better information to the class.
classroom door. After a week they are with teenagers. The task will work At first, the students were surprised
moved to a noticeboard inside the best if you have several reading and a little puzzled but, after
classroom and replaced with new ones on texts on one topic, and you will reading their extracts, they set to
the door. need to group the students work, cooperating well in their
according to how many texts you groups. First, they decided what to
The quotations can be used as a
have. draw and who should draw what. I
springboard for different activities, either
forming part of the main lesson or as an In my case, the reading texts were monitored the process, helping with
additional activity for early finishers. For four short extracts about street ideas and reminding them of the
example: markets in different countries. The time limit. Each group then
texts contained similar information described their markets to the rest
● Choose a quotation and change it into
(name, size, products, etc). I of the class, using only their
reported speech.
decided that simply going through pictures as prompts. The reading
● Choose a quotation and comment on it. the texts would be tedious, so after texts used the present simple, and
● Say which of the quotations you don’t doing the usual pre-reading routine the students used the same tense
agree with. (discussion and introduction of new to describe them, which made the
words), I divided the class into four task fairly straightforward:
● Create your own quotation on the same
groups (one for each text) and afterwards, they confessed that
topic.
distributed large sheets of paper, they were amazed at how easy
● Find the circumstances in which the coloured pencils and felt-tip pens. speaking can be!
quotation was said. I assigned one text to each group This task could be expanded by
● Find five other quotations about the and told them to read their text following up with a discussion
same subject. and draw the information presented about which of the markets they
there. The main idea was for them would like to visit and why.
● Find five other quotations by the same
to write as few words as possible
person.
Katarzyna W iacek (ideally, just the name of a market) Anastassia Ivanova
Minsk Mazow iecki, Poland and, instead, try to draw everything Tall inn, Estonia

42 • Issue 85 March 2013 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

 Low-tech but high-value
I teach on a BEd degree programme in in creating, negotiating and using storytelling and learnt some interesting
the Gulf region; I am also a dedicated language to describe and discuss as Arabic fables. I was stunned to discover
CLIL teacher because my students are when they avidly build something with that not only do unit blocks hold
concurrently studying English in support blocks cooperatively in groups. I have remarkable power for early learners,
of their studies and, as a content witnessed a Burj Khalifa replica being they also do so for CLIL language
specialist with a background in teaching built at record speed and with finesse, learners at college level. The joy on the
EFL, I am always aware that the technical accompanied by a multitude of exclusive students’ faces as they went round
language of the content demanded by villas with accompanying Lamborghinis photographing their efforts and
the programme is higher than the in the drive. Not only this, but students admiring their constructions made we
students’ overall language proficiency. have started to explain to me what they wish that I had let them build higher
In my Human Development course, my are building and have initiated and longer. In future, I aim to create
sessions cover holistic development in storytelling in the form of Arabic fables. further avenues to explore the language
early childhood. The students learn about Many have added extensions to their prompted by the remarkable wooden
the value of play-based learning and toys buildings by taking an item from their unit block and to encourage the
as learning tools. Perhaps the most handbag or pocket. Most recently, a students themselves to use this tool with
powerful tool for play in early learning is student applied some lipstick and a their learners.
the simple wooden unit block. When I paper hat to a block, which caused much Simple wooden unit blocks are not easy
introduce this, the students always hilarity and engagement amongst the to come by these days, but it really is
express a mix of horror and surprise: they whole class. Even the more hesitant worth trying to find them; Lego is a
themselves are technically savvy and students have enjoyed building, lesser, though acceptable, replacement
always tell me that their two-year-old discussing and reporting back. and could certainly be used. After all,
brother or sister is already using an Interestingly, student reflections have the power of the unit block lies in its
i-Pad. So, what follows is that I put the not only involved discussing the learning potential to develop cognition and to
simple unit block to the test and give the of content, but also language. create and use language while employing
students hands-on experience with a box As the teacher, I have done very little culture and communication to the
of blocks. Time and time again, I have other than interject a few questions, and fullest. I would urge any and all English
found not only that the students agree perhaps provide some clarifications of teachers to explore the power of this
that the unit block is a powerful vehicle vocabulary. I have simply stood back and simple play-based learning tool and
for child development, but also that it enjoyed the language as it emerged from realise its potential through creating for
engages the students themselves what proved to be a very liberating their learners applications for learning
naturally in the four Cs of CLIL: content, language-generating activity for all and language development.
communication, culture and cognition. I those involved. I have also been Fiona Baker
have rarely seen my students so engaged entertained by some creative Abu Dhabi, UAE

Making groupwork work

A problem that teachers in Japan face when doing groupwork members of a group except the leader have their textbooks
is that those students assigned the role of group leader are closed. They then move position so that they can all see the
often quite passive and do nothing to get the members of leader, who reads out the instructions and solicits answers
the group working together. As a result, some members of from the group. When the activity (a vocabulary matching
the group will start doing the exercise on their own, some exercise, for example) is completed, all the group members
will do nothing. I have found that groupwork is best done in open their textbooks and, as the teacher goes over the
the following manner: exercise, they write the correct answers.
First, the students stay in the same groups throughout the I have found that all the students stay active and on-task if
semester. At the beginning of a lesson, each group chooses a I do groupwork this way.
leader by playing ‘rock, paper, scissors’ (the winner is the Tom Anderson
leader). At the beginning of a group activity, all the Yokohama, Japan

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 85 March 2013 • 43