FINAL CLASS

Class 4

 

Date: 28th of September

 

Group Members: Jouse,  Heinar, Andrés and Ronald.

 

Topic: Toys

Part 1  Josue, Heinar,

Grammar: I have / I don’t have

Vocabulary to present: Bike, teddy bear, plane, car, doll.

 

 

Honestly, Heinar broke the ice rapidly. To open the schemata Heinar asked the students to solve a puzzle. They were really into the activity of the puzzle. It was challenging but no impossible for them  this class was so memorable.  The children learned some vocabulary regarding toys. Children recognized and pronounced word such as. Bike, teddy bear, plane, car, doll. They were so much interesting in the topic for evident reasons. I’d rather to say that they were even more anxious than is usual. To ask them to draw was so much appropriate for them to practice.  To give them a clue, the decoration is the same with the puzzle. On the other hand,  teacher Josue integrated all of the  students, using the dice and hot potato was a very nice practice for them. To internalize this amount of vocabulary was not that easy, but they successfully made it. The children acquired the vocabulary faster than was expected.

 

 

Part 2 Andrés and Ronald.

Grammar: Question. Do you have?   Answer: Yes, I do.  No, I don’t.

 

Vocabulary to present: ball, kite, train and robot

 

The following stage of the lesson was so amusing as well. Each activity was very well designed. The students were really into the lesson. The enthusiams that the teacher andres and Ronald was reflected on students response. They way that they developed each activity was very well organized. It is important hightlight that students really enjoyed all of the activities. It was evident that students like the first one. To run side by side around the classroom touching each of chart was so riveting for the students, and so does for all of us.It was so much motivating for them. Mainly, it was a preview for the student be prepare for the rest of the class. Essentialy,  this activity prepared the students for the rest of the class till the end. It was really enjoyable. After overcoming some distraction, the class raised the highest point when the students again rolled the dice and they succefully answered the questions that teacher Ronald asked to them.

 

 

All of the teachers made a very accurate usage of the decoration, and so does the material in order to make easier the learning experience for the children.  They wrapped up of all the topics in terms to see what the children acquired on the classes.  Finally, after the class they spent some time together. From my point of view, the experience we have had on this opportunity has caused a very positive impact in all of us. Honestly it is so satisfying when in the lesson the children really learn something. It is so much great when children enjoy the activities that we prepared for them.  It so motivating when the materials we have done for supporting us during the lesson really catch the attention of the students.

 

 

 

Lesson 3 - Part 2
The parts of the body
Teachers: Konny Martínez and Orlando Gómez
Grammar structure: Does he/she/it have ....? "No, it doesn't'" "Yes, it does"
Vocabulary: Feet, fingers, toes, teeth and tail.

To start the class, teacher Konny sang a song called "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" which made the kids feel very energetic and enthusiastic. With this song, Konny reviewed some words from the previous lesson and introduced the word "toes" that was part of our lesson. Konny sang this song along with the students in several ways, fast, slow, and in one time I (Orlando) was asked to help her. I pretended to be unable to follow their pace and to touch my toes (in fact, I was ...) by doing that, students felt that they were better than the teacher because they were the ones teaching me how to follow Konny.
After that song, it was my turn to introduce the vocabulary of the lesson. To introduce it, I used some flashcards and two big drawings, one of a girl and one of a dog. First, I taught students the vocabulary and they repeated it several times. Then, I used the two big drawings to introduce the structure "Does the girl have feet?" and its answer "No, it doesn't" for that purpose, the image of the girl had no feet, fingers and toes; and the image of the dog had no tail and no teeth. Most of the students were able to overcome the noise produced by one girl who interfered the class a lot and to reply "yes" and "no" whenever I asked the question "Does she/it  have ...?"
To practice the vocabulary, Konny sang another song called "If you are happy and you know it" here, students were ask to move or touch some parts of their bodies (the parts that we were teaching) so students moved their feet, shook their tails, moved their fingers, etc... Students were enjoying the song a lot that a couple of them had started to sing it by themselves. However, Konny and I decided to shorten the lesson since some students were kind of tired and some others were not paying attention because of the girl doing a tantrum.
In the part of the production, I told the students a story called "The Lost Dog". In this story, students had to recognize some nouns like "dog" "tail" "teeth" and the other parts of the body from the lesson. To help them recognize the words, I produce some sounds like a dog, I showed them my teeth, Konny moved here toes, Konny and I moved our fingers and so on. In this part, I expected more participation from the students; however, the fact that they were really close to me hindered their production since they couldn't focus on my movements because of the distance (they were very very close) they were seeing the pictures more than the movements that Konny and I did in order to help them say the words that we were teaching. Nevertheless, I can say that the story worked because some students did get what they had to do so they said the words out loud.
In the wrap-up Konny and I gave the kids two pictures each of long arms, long legs, short arms, short legs, short tail, long tail and so on. Then, we said sentences like "show a long tail" so students had to look for the image and the ones that had it had to show it to the rest of the class. When the kids showed the image, we encouraged them to repeat the words. In this activity, kids were a little reluctant at the beginning, but when they saw that Génesis raised her image kids started to do the same, so they saw Génesis as their model. Right after that, class was dismissed and students enjoyed a delicious "nucita" and some fruit juice.
In general I can say that both lessons were a success since students were repeating the words that we taught. In addition, students showed that they could recognize the structure "Does it/she have ...?" by moving their head for yes and no. Besides, showed Isaac and Marleny the parts of the body that teachers were asking for. In the part of the story in my class some students guessed the words and in the part of raising the cards the students did it, too.
According to Charlie's opinion when he gave me feedback. He agreed that kids got to know the vocabulary because he saw that students were repeating all the words that Konny and I tried to teach. In addition, he also said that the songs motivated the students and that if the second class had been longer, kids would have enjoyed it more and produce more. However, on purpose, Konny and I decided to shorten it because of the facts previously mentioned.

 



Lesson 3"My body"- Part 1
Grammar: Has
Vocabulary: Head, arms, legs, hands (short, long)
Teachers: Marleny Campos and Isaac Rodríguez

Teacher Isaac was the one in charge to start the lesson. He started by doing a warm up activity in which students had to stretch their bodies. At the beginning of this activity, students were kind of reluctant to follow Isaac's commands. However, in time, they started to follow what he said. Especially when he started using body language. One more time, it was demonstrated that students at this age need to see some body language during the lesson, so they can follow in a better way what the teachers want them to do. Sometimes, teacher Isaac said the words like "arms" "legs" and students repeated those words without being asked to do it.
After the warm-up activity, the teacher introduced the vocabulary to be studied in the lesson by using some flashcards, it was here when students started to repeat the words even more. In a way, it seemed that students had that "repetition" automatized in their heads.
In the practice, teacher Marleny explained in a very good way the difference between "short" and "long" by using some gestures and movements with her hands. It was great to see that in this part teacher Marleny used her body and Isaac's body to have students understand the differnce between "short " and "long" when it is related to the parts of the bodies. However, when students were commanded to touch Isaac's body they felt kind of scared and didn't do that activity as teachers expected.
To continue practicing, teacher Marleny pasted two drawings on the wall, those drawing had some missing parts, students were asked to paste the missing parts in their correct position. Most of the students did this activity well, but there were few of them who still confused the concepts "short" and "long".
The production part was very successful because students demonstrated that they understood the concepts of the parts of the body that teachers explained. When teachers asked them to show them a leg, their arms, to move their heads students did it very well. Finally, they were given some modeling clay that they used to make some bodies. Students were able to follow teachers' instructions when they told them things like "make the legs" "make the head". Right after that, students enjoyed their some cookies and juice.

 



Group 2
Part 2
Grammar: Question. Is that (your sister)? Answer: Yes, it is. / No, it isn't.
Vocabulary: cat, dog, turtle, fish, rabbit, bird.
This part of the class was taught by: Pilar and Karla

This class started in a very energetic way. Teacher Pilar started to play with the kids. Kids had to follow what Pilar did. "Sit down", "Stand up" , "jump three times" were the commands that Pilar said and the kids followed.
After that, she used stuffed animals to introduced the vocabulary for the lesson. She asked "What pet is this one? " So kids had to say "it's a dog" "it's a cat" and so forth.
Pilar challenged the kids by asking "is this a fish?" (as she showed a rabbit) Kids had to say "no, it isn't ... it is a rabbit" With her help, kids did it.
To practice, teacher Karla gave the kids images of animals. They had to fill the images with pieces of papers. When kids finished she asked "Is this a cat?" with her help, kids replied "yes, it is" or "not, it isn't".
Karla used some onomatopoeia voices (animal sounds in this case) to have students guess what animal she was referring to. Kids and Karla jumped like a rabbit, barked like a dog, meowed like a cat, moved slowly like a turtle and so on. After that, she told some kids a secret. They had to do what Karla told them in the secret. For example, she told one kid "bark like a dog" and the kid shouted "woof, woof"
Another entertaining activity was one in which students had to form animals by using some cubes. The teachers said "I's a dog" so kids formed a dog with the cubes.
Then, the animals were put into cages to simulate a pet shop. The students were given some money and pretended to buy the animals.
To finish the lesson, kids were told a story in which the animals and the grammar structures taught in the class were used. They received their meal and class was dismissed.
As teachers, Carlos and I believe that this class was very funny for kids. We think that they were motivated by the stuffed animals and by the energy that the teachers had. We only observed that in some cases, teachers could have used more the visual aids they had to compare and support the kids' work. By the way, the visual aids were very colorful and appealing for kids' eyes. Both teachers helped students by modeling the pronunciation of the words and repeating the grammar structures. In general, it was a great lesson!

 

 

Group 2
Teachers: Fátima, Pilar, Karla and Lily
Topic: Family and Friends

Part 1
Grammar: Question Who's that? Answer: It's
Vocabulary to present: me, grandma, grandpa, friend, teacher
This part of the class was taught by: Lily and Fátima.

In this time, teachers used a flipchart to present the vocabulary to the students. They were very creative because they used a puppet as a friend that was in charge of presenting the vocabulary to the kids. The puppet - Clifford - asked the kids ""Who's that?" and it helped the students to answer "It's my teacher" - Teacher Lily helped the students by modeling the pronunciation of questions and the answer.
It is also positive to say that teachers used stars to reward the students every time they participated in the class. Those stars were put on a kind of chart that they had in the wall.
As time passed, kids had to practice the vocabulary. Teacher Fátima gave them a kind of handout in which students had to circle the picture of the word that she was presenting. To do so, she used the puppet Clifford who asked the kids "Is this my grandpa?" as she showed them a picture of grandpa. It was really great that teachers used images that were appealing to kids' eyes. The images that teacher Fátima was showing were the ones that were in the handout so kids were able to associate them and circle correctly.
To practice the phrase "it's me" teachers used real pictures of the kids. Sincerely, Carlos and I agreeded that it was the best way to present that chunk, and for both of us it was the first time that we saw that technique to teach "it's me"

For kids to practice the vocabulary, teacher Fátima had students draw what she commanded. For example, she said "it's my teacher" so she showed the kids how to draw a teacher.
After this activity the class finished and teacher Lily took the kids to the cafeteria to eat a delicious popsicle!
As it was mentioned before, Carlos and I agreeded that this class was very innovative since they used real pictures of the kids to teach "it's me" In our experience as teacher, we had never seen something like that before. We also congratulated the teachers for using a puppet as a friend of the class. However, the both taught that teacher could have changed their voices a little bit when the puppet was supposedly speaking. In fact, we think that teacher delivered a good lesson, they reached their objectives sinces kids were repeating the phrases tha they taught. It was good that they had a lot of repetition so that kids could internalize all the new words in a better way.

 

Teaching Practicum 1

Period 3

lesson 1

Date: Friday, September 7 ^th 2012

Members of the group: Magaly Pacheco, Mauricio López, Carlos Melara,

Topic: School.

Part 1.

Grammar: Question: What’s this? (What’s) Answer: This is (It’s)
Vocabulary to present - School items: bag, pencil, book, ruler, pen.

      Despite of the fact that the students has had a gap period of the current friday english  classes. For some of them this "gap period" interfered  their performance. Another important aspect that could have affected students performance was the fact that  in this opportunity the class was longer.Nevertheless the students response was acceptable.  We as teacher expected the students  recognize the objects related with the school.  The grammar part was developed by some of the  students.The activities were designed in terms to explore each of the type of learners we have in the classroom. Teachers used the decoration for supporting the lesson. It created a learning atmosphere. In the lesson the teachers emphazised the activities paying attention on each of  details the class. The spinning wheel was one of the most succesful activities of the lesson. The teacher was clear that the time the object was presented.  Finally, The teacher used elements that students easly recognized.

 

Part 2

Grammar: Question: What’s that? Answer: It’s a/an

Vocabulary to present: desk, chair, computer, eraser, window

   

     The second part of the class was very interactive. the students were kind of tired. It was the first time they were in a two hours friday english class. In the first stage of the class the teacher presented the vocabulary and the grammar point. the teacher had to be careful in order to avoid confusion among what's this and what's that. therefore, teacher provided the objects. they had to identify and paste it on the chart. they did it very well. In terms to avoid students getting bored, the teacher asked them to do a contest. they had to touch the object that the teacher mentioned. they seem to enjoy the competion. The spinning bottle activity was exating for the students. It contributed to they were more aware of the possible questions that the teacher could ask. It encourage them to internalize the content rapidly. The attention span in the two lessons was activated from the very begginig with the dinatic stages that were presented. Something important to highlight in this part of the lesson is the improvisation capacity that the teacher should have to manage the class. In order to solve difficulties that we as teachers have.

         With the aim to highlight the experience we had as teacher. we want to say that it was so much possite. We learned a lot from the children. We enjoyed it so much. We felt that they internalized the contents. I think that I provided my portion in order to help them. In my opinion the following time they find this topic they are going to have fun because they have already studied it with me. I made my effort in order to do not disappoint them regarding the second language learning. I consider that I teaching english to children is a challenge that we can overcome and find amusing that the same time. It is riveting  notice that they develop the activities as is expected, because we design each stage of the class base on the children's necessities. It is rewarding to look a their faces when they have a possitive feeling regarding the class. we as teachers believe it is almost impossible to prevent students grow fond. In my personal case I felt that I wanted to go on with the class, but It would have not been fair because I understand it was a tiring schedule for the students. I do really want to my humbly gracefulness teacher for encourage the confidence on me. Without  your help it would not have been an enriching experience that I enjoyed so much.  

Don Bosco University

 

TEACHING PRACTICUM I :TEACHING CHILDREN ENGLISH

Carlos’ and Orlando’s Blog

Instructor: Yanira Peña

Introduction

            In these four years that we have been studying our major, we have been taught theory about education. As future teachers, we have to know that there are several kinds of learners in the classroom, for example, auditory, visual and tactile learners among many more. It is in this course – Teaching Practicum I – where we are going to put into practice all the resources, methods and techniques that may help us address all the kinds of learners in order to make learning effective. Since this course is focused on children, this blog will summarize the performance of five lessons imparted by different groups to students aged between 5 to 8 years old.

 

 lesson 1

Date: Friday, August 13^th 2012

Members of the group: Magaly Pacheco, Mauricio López, Carlos Melara,

Topic: Greetings: hi, hello and the numbers: 0-10

 

 

The first class was successful. The class was led in Spanish and English. It was a great surprise that the children already knew the numbers. Therefore, the assimilation of the content was so easy for them. For that reason we decided to modify a little bit the class and to turn it into practice class and production with less presentation that we expected. The class number one determines the rhythm that teachers could apply to the rest of the course. The teacher is able to modify the plan for the class in minutes just with observing the students response regarding the activities. One of the activities to highlight was rolling dice and the “magic-box”. Regarding the magic-box the children felt curious about the content of the box. Regarding rolling the dice was kinesthetic and so appealing for children eyes. Some activities were more attractive for children than others but all of the activities were created with the aim get involved in each type of learner. Therefore the effect that the first class had was positive.

 

 

Lesson 2

Date: Friday, July 20^th 2012

Members of the group: Juan Campos, Iris Luna Erroa, Gabriel Cubías

Topic: The colors: red, yellow, green, orange, purple, black, white. Saying good bye: bye, good bye.

 Feedback: Greetings: hi, hello, numbers, 0-10.

 

This lesson started at 2:12 pm with a review of the previous class. This group linked the numbers with the colors by doing a kind of memory game. They posted some cards of pool balls containing the numbers on the board. Kids were supposed to say one numbers, they counted along wih the teachers, and then they discovered what color was under that number. John also used a roulette to choose the numbers. Kids were asked “what color is under card number two?” It was really good that teachers modeled the pronunciation of both numbers and colors. The next activity consisted of posting some cards of the colors on the board, with this cards they introduced a new color –sky blue -. In this activity the teachers helped kids to pronounce each color, then kids were asked to turn around while the teachers put aside one card. When kids looked at the board again they were asked “what color is missing?” some kids could guess the missing color.

 

Lesson 3

Date: Friday, July 27^th 2012

Members of the group: Pilar, Karla, Lily and Fatima’s.

Topic: The colors: red, yellow, green, orange, purple, black, white.

Feedback: Saying good bye: bye, good bye, numbers 0-10.

 

 The third class the children felt more confident regarding the two previous classes. It occurred because they were felt more comfortable not only among their interaction but also with the university class environment that could make them feel strange of overwhelmed. The teachers established the rapport with students in a practical way. This lesson presented the fruits and the pronunciation of each one. They also had a chart for they recognize the fruit. Teachers also brought some realia to the classroom in order to make even more appealing the lesson. Students had to develop the “blind hen” in terms to identify some fruits saying the name and the colour of each one. It was an outstanding effect caused on the students despite of the fact that it was a tactile oriented activity. They all learnt getting involved on the class.

 

 

Lesson 4

Date: Friday, August, 10^th 2012

Members of the group: Marleny, Konny, Isaack and Orlando.

Topic:  Animals: horse, dog, chicken, cat, parrot, fish, turtle, rabbit.

Feedback: The colors: red, yellow, green, orange, purple, black, white.  

                    Saying good bye: bye, good bye, numbers 0-10.

                    Fruits: banana, lemon, apple, grapes, strawberry, watermelon, pineapple

 

 

The fourth lesson had some variations and plus that one teacher dressed like an animal. Teacher arranged the class without desks in order to provide students a different perspective of the class. Not only the way that they used the decoration for supporting the class but also a more relaxing environment for the children having the students sitting on the floor. Students seem to be interested on what the way that the teachers developed the class. The activities and the lesson as well were so creative and innovated having the attention spot of the students on the right place. In other words with an entertaining way the teacher put the students in “learning mode”.  The adaptation that teachers presented in this lesson provided an amusing and acceptable effect way to get students attention and to break the monotony of the class with unexpected but successful variations.

 

 

Lesson 5

Date: Friday, August, 17^th 2012

Members of the group: Andres, Heinar, Josue and Ronald’s

Topic: Clothes and acessories: shoes, socks, dress, pants, blouse, shorts, sweater,

 

sunglasses, hat, cap, bracelet, necklace, tie.

 .

Feedback: The colors: red, yellow, green, orange, purple, black, white. 

                    Saying good bye: bye, good bye, numbers 0-10.

                    Fruits: banana, lemon, apple, grapes, strawberry, watermelon, pineapple.

                   Animals: horse, dog, chicken, cat, parrot, fish, turtle, rabbit

This class was a compilation of all the lessons plus the clothing. Teachers were in the situation to mix all of the topics previously studied in all of the activities. They  worked with only three students. This was a not a problem because the teacher were able to lead a more personal teaching lesson paying more attention on the students performance and necessities. The activity that really we all enjoyed the most was the one in which students helped the teacher to dress the models. Because it had the facilitates to get involved the all type of learners plus a little bit of comedy at the time we all looked at the models wearing this amount of clothes. Pretty much the all lesson and activities had a positive and amusing effect not only because all of the previous activities opened the schema to encourage students to internalize the information but also because all of the activities were very good designed and oriented the students to learn.   

 

Conclusion

            All of the lesson fulfilled their objective. Teaching the topics was accompanied with very good activities designed and adapted in order to achieve the students learning. Applying eclectic method and techniques to lead and develop each stages of the class. Both students and teacher made the effort to do a good job. Teachers promoted interaction and learning among students properly which was reflected on students performance.  The participation on the activities was more evident class by class. It is more than clear that not only the protagonist of the learning process who is the student but also teachers learnt with this stunning experience. It was a give a take situation in which we all participated. To have the opportunity to observe encouraged us to provide our portion to enrich the teaching class experience. We all in the roll of teachers and as observers realized the effect of some activities and how improve our results. Finally this experience taught that for teaching children we have to present appealing and colorful materials and to be aware and reduce the time that teachers take to talk.