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metuljcek321 -> RE: Julijske čveke 2008-12. del (5.6.2009 21:48:07)
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Čer! Kako ste kaj?
Vidim, da ne dogaja kaj dosti. Jaz sem čist odvisna od mojega doktorata (in doktorja, [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/smiley36.gif[/image] [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/smiley36.gif[/image] [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/smiley36.gif[/image]), zdaj sem mal na FB šla, pa semle pokukala.
Mejte se max. Night night ...
Till tomorrow.
IZVIRNO SPOROČILO: glugluglu
metuljcek [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/bravo.gif[/image] [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/bravo.gif[/image] [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/bravo.gif[/image] [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/bravo.gif[/image] [image]http://www.ringaraja.net/forum/smileys/bravo.gif[/image] , čestitke, o čem pa je ta članek? A si ga že dala sem gor, ali ga lahko nam pokažeš?
Hvala vsem za čestitke. Evo, tule je, če se da kateri malce potrenirati angleščino:)
USING PICTURE FLASHCARDS IN CLASS
Teaching new vocabulary items can on one hand be lots of fun but can on the other sometimes become repetitive and a bit dull. Therefore techniques and approaches used should be highly versatile and adding a new “trick” every now and then is more than welcome. When working with young learners of English, picture-based material has proved particularly effective and I have been using it on a regular basis with my classes. One of our favorites is definitely picture flashcards. Do you know them? Have you ever used them? Here are a few hints as to how to incorporate them in your lessons and make them enjoyable, lively, creative and (last but certainly not least) effective.
FLASHCARDS
I am sure that we, the teachers, are all well aware of the fact that when presenting and practicing new words and phrases in a foreign language, visual support is of key importance. Therefore new vocabulary is usually taught by showing real objects or by drawing simple pictures on the board. Whenever possible, it is best to use real objects to present new words and flashcards come close to real objects, believe me. They are laminated pictures (i. e. pictures covered in plastic) and they often come with a resource pack. If your resource pack doesn’t contain them, they can be bought separately at a publishing house or you can make them yourself. You needn’t be an artist at all – it’s all in the patience and good intentions. Plus your students may help you – each one of them can create their own set of cards, which is a great motivation. You can then put them in a display box in your class and use them whenever you like in whatever way you can think of, actually. Here are a few picture-flashcard use options I have been using throughout my teaching practice:
IT’S A(N) …
As I have already pointed out, the most obvious way of using flashcards is when presenting new vocabulary. When showing the picture, you name it a few times, students listen and then repeat the new word – first in chorus and then individually. A sequence of words is presented and then practiced orally. It should be noted here that special attention should be paid to pronunciation. It’s during this early stage of learning English that students acquire the language at the speed of light, especially speaking skills based on a repetition pattern. Thus each vocabulary item needs to be taught as if professionals were in front of us – we may not be aware of the extent these students remember our pronunciation and carry it for a long time.
WHAT CAN YOU SEE?
The most obvious way of practicing new words is by asking a simple question: “What can you see?” At the beginning the answer is provided in a group where children answer together, then gradually individuals call out the words. Clear rules should be set beforehand and only students obeying them are allowed to take part in the guessing game. If the students get too loud or they don’t raise their hands and wait for their turn, not calling them is usually an extremely effective cure. As cruel as it may sound, it really isn’t that terrifying – on the opposite, it is very useful in organizing such games and it gives immediate results. Once the rules are set (and understood) the game can go on practically forever. Children never get tired of naming the pictures and love pronouncing English words.
To make the game even more interesting, you can invite individual students to play your role – the role of the teacher – and ask question on their own. For most of the students standing in front of the whole class and being in charge of the situation is a challenge they absolutely love.
Another exciting variation on the theme of guessing what there is in the picture is by slowly uncovering the flashcard, then stopping for a few seconds to explore the ideas as to what the answer might be, and then continuing the trick until the right solution is provided. Children may get in your shoes here as well and uncover the flashcards step by step for their school mates. The game is lots of fun and it acquires students’ careful attention.
Dealing with mistakes is up to you and it depends on the kind of vocabulary you are trying to teach – either you decide to correct all the mistakes (self-correction or peer correction would be appropriate here) or you ignore them (at least on the outside) and call out somebody else to provide the correct solution or simply overlook them and be on full alert when the word comes up the second time around – to make sure it’s pronounced flawlessly.
WHICH ONE IS MISSING?
Flashcards usually come in handy when exploring topics such as animals, sports, free-time activities, places in the house, weather conditions, days and months of the year, daily activities, holidays, emotions, opposites, verbs, and the like – the list is endless, really. Once the students are well acquainted with the pack of flashcards covering a certain topic, the idea of playing the “Which-one-is-missing?” game can be tried out. It is a very simple game where all you do is hide one picture. Then the flashcards are shown to students one by one and they have to guess which one is missing.
ODD ONE OUT
When vocabulary on a certain topic has been practiced and revised, the “Odd one out” is also highly applicable and useful. A set of flashcards is put on the blackboard where all the cards are related to the same topic but one. Ask the students to find the odd one out by saying the word-the intruder. You can upgrade the game by asking them to name the topic all the words but one belong to. Then they should name the topic the odd one out would belong to and provide a few more examples that would fit the same category. The class can be divided into two groups where they compete against each other, trying to provide as many examples as possible. Thus students form mind maps, brainstorming is going on and vocabulary items burst to foreground. The whole activity has been very popular among my students and we often play it at the end of the lesson as a sort of sum-up, recap and continuation of the topic(s) dealt with that day.
BINGO
Playing Bingo has always been lots of fun with my classes. As you can see, you can also do it by using flashcards. When vocabulary has been practiced not only orally but also the writing part has been studied, picture flashcards can be used in this game. A set of picture cards should be stuck on the board so that everyone can see them. While you are sticking the flashcards, the students (in a group or individually) call out the names of the items they see. When all of them have been prepared, students should draw a 3 x 2 grid on a piece of paper and write six words in it. Then students cross off the words they hear and the first one to cross off all their words and shout “Bingo” is the winner. This student can then choose another set of flashcards to be put on the board and a new game can be played.
TELL (OR WRITE) A STORY
When dealing with new English tenses and trying to get the class to grasp the new grammatical rules, I often use flashcards to help them do this. I choose various flashcards – different motives – and turning them around one by one I give the class key words around which they form their own story. This can either be done as a chain where each student makes up one sentence, thus producing the whole story by the time the whole class have participated. Or it can be done as a written exercise where each student works as an individual and then reports back to the class. As you can see, this activity is much more contextualized, it motivates students, stirs their imagination and makes them unconsciously use new grammatical forms and rules while at the same time using a wide array of vocabulary items.
The above-mentioned ways of using flashcards in class offer an insight into a few practical suggestions of how to make your teaching more versatile, enjoyable and effective. It’s up to you how to incorporate them in your lesson plans because the options are almost endless. I can assure you the children love the picture flashcards and the games played to practice and revise (new) vocabulary items. And you should see them when they catch sight of me taking them out of my bag. They jump for joy and can’t wait for the lesson to start. There’s only one thing to be said at the end: flashcards are both, enjoyable and educational – and that’s exactly what we, teachers, have always been trying to find in our teaching aids and tools, isn’t it?
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