It all started with…. a mask, the day the schools reopened, after the lockdown!
You see, in the beginning of the school year, I always give my class helpers, a simple badge that can be laminated or put in a badge holder so that children can take it in turns to be a classroom helper. A great resource that the children love and show great pride in being picked as a classroom helper.
But, this is a different school year! Therefore, my helpers had to wear helpers’ masks, instead of …badges!
And this is when I ran into this article and this video, got inspired and instantly decided to create a new project for my students, titled :
“ME, Behind My Mask”.
The project ,in a nutshell
When my students came back to school ,in September,they were asked to mask-up. We always seem to start out school year with a selfie and a class photo, so I was bummed when I thought of the idea of my students drawing themselves with their best facial feature hidden…I was really puzzled, till the moment I read the article, mentioned above, where the idea of this surprise drawing came from.
We simply used paper, permanent marker, coloring markers and crayons.
First, I posted the video and simple instructions ,in our asynchronous class platform and I asked the students to create their Me-behind-the-mask selfies, at home and bring them back to class !
That was a typical example of flipped classroom, of course.
FLIPPED CLASSROOM ,IS HERE TO STAY
Thanks to a handful of educators who care more about their students and their success than keeping the school’s general status quo, the flipped classroom model is no longer a theory, and keeps spreading across more and more educational institutions.
What does a flipped classroom look like? Well, physically, the same as a normal classroom.
But instead of paying attention to lectures while in class and applying the new knowledge in their homework after school, students will watch or listen to the lectures at home, before the class starts, and use the time in the classroom to do their homework. Instead of telling students what to learn, how to learn, when to learn and how to prove that they learned, teachers support them in becoming self-directed learners. I personally, love this!
In our case, my students could submit assessments using online tools, I could send assessments to students via our e-me asynchronous platform. Other online assessment tools, we used included Google Forms, Kahoot, and Quizlet.
Additionally, your students could be encouraged to submit video recordings of themselves using applications like Flipgrid. Sadly, our parents were reluctant to allow me use any video recordings.
Last, but not least, I made sure that I provided timely, specific, and instructionally focused feedback.
All in all, no one is excited about wearing a mask but…it’s for our safety! And the best thing we can do for our students is to put a positive spin on it, right?
The project, step-by-step
The first thing I decided to do was to teach them the adjectives they would use on their selfies, in order to be able to describe themselves.
I used one of my most favourite online tools: Quizlet.
I used Quizlet to introduce them to adjectives to describe CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY , asynchronously.
I also used youtube videos, such as this one, to teach them about the vocabulary they would need, to describe their APPEARANCE.
Additionaly, I used more youtube videos, such as this , to help them learn how to describe their personalities, asynchronously.
On top of that, I used another of my favourite online tools : edpuzzle. A great tool to create amazing video lessons ,in a minute! Edpuzzle is the missing piece for remote learning! We can also track students’ progress with Edpuzzle’s hassle-free analytics as we flip our classroom!
“The ABC’s of YOU” is probably, my most favourite Alphabet kids song, of all! Please, visit to see for yourselves.
The next step, was to ask them to write a paragraph ,presenting themselves to their classmates. After they had done so in their notebooks , I decided to create a PADLET WALL to have them share their paragraphs, in our asynchronous e-me hive, as well.
My amazing students’ self-portraits BEHIND THE MASK, have been displayed, in a book creator tool, for sometime now! My students, were regularly encouraged to visit it , from home, as well.
Finally, I decided to add all the links we had used both synchronously and asynchronously, in one presentation tool ,which I truly love: Microsoft SWAY ! Highly recommended!
Games we played
To be able to practice all the new words and put theory into practice in class, we have tried several games, in the school classroom.
The games listed below may require some modification to meet the social distancing restrictions but should give any big class a great starting point for coming up with fun games to play.
1.Name Game
Every member of the class chooses an adjective that starts with the same letter as the first letter of their first name. They put that adjective in front of their first name, and they have their new name. So for example: Joyful Jill. For an added challenge, you can see if people can remember everyone’s names throughout the conversation.
2.Guess who
The Guess Who ESL game is a fun way to practise describing people adjectives with young students, in-class or as a warmer. I encouraged my students to use the adjectives which describe personality more than the ones which describe appearance.
Specifically, it’s great for question formation and practising the different auxiliary verbs that may be used (e.g. Is she old? Does she have brown hair? Is she wearing glasses?).
A similar game for large kids classes (that doesn’t require any special resources) is Classroom Guess Who.
3.Two Truths and a Lie
This is a fun, classic game that allows students to share some little known facts about themselves while trying to stump their classmates too. Each student will write down two true statements and one lie about themselves. In my class, they were asked to include personality and appearance adjectives in all their statements.
We let them know that they can put these statements in any order as the goal is for the class to try to figure out which one is the lie. Although this can be done without writing it down, I have found that with elementary-aged students it is very beneficial to give students thinking time first. Otherwise, you end up with students who try to think when it is their turn and it makes the truths and lie very obvious.
After everyone is done writing down their sentences, then I go around the room having students read their 3 statements. The class will then vote on which they think is the lie. After the vote, the student will reveal the lie and can explain the truths if there is time.
4. Quiz Time
As soon as they mastered the target vocabulary, I made my first pop quiz of the year ,about the class. At the end of the first week, I created a pop quiz asking questions about what they learned. My students loved being the stars of the questions!
You can make it a paper and pencil quiz or use an app like Kahoot, Quizziz or Google Forms to make a digital pop quiz. This is a great way to introduce a new type of digital activity that you will use during the year too!
5. 20 Questions
Play a game of 20 questions (or use the number that is the same as the number of students you have so that each person can ask 1 question). Choose 1 person to pick a secret word(personality adjectives, in our case ) and have them write it down or tell the teacher. Then challenge the class to work together to figure out what the person is. This will require students to listen to each other’s questions, the answers and think about related follow-up questions that might help to narrow down the secret word.
After everyone has asked a question, then let each student take one guess.
6. Bucket List
Each student, comes up with 5 top adjectives from their selfie, on their bucket list. Then they share and see what they have in common, with other class members. They could even take those similarities and use them to connect in the real world .
7.Pictionary
Students , brought their selfie ” Me, behind the mask” in class.
Then, they had to describe that picture while the rest have to draw it.
When time was up, or when the person describing decided to stop, they showed their pictures to the rest of the class and the describer chose the winner.
8. True or False?
A great way to reinforce what has just been taught.
Instead of the traditional pop-quiz to see how much the kids retained from the personality adjectives list, I tried something a bit different…
I asked the students to find paper and instructed them to make a collection of scrunched up paper balls. I put two pictures on two different classroom walls , one with a true sign, one with a false one.
I asked a series of true/false questions, using as many personality and appearance adjectives as possible, about different students. If the kids thought it was true, they ditched a paper ball at the true sign, and false if they thought it was false.
While this can be quite messy ,it can be a light hearted way to review what has been learnt.
My conclusions
a.When we reinforce self-esteem and resilience in our students, we equip them with critical skills they need to succeed socially and academically.
When we communicate genuine, realistic appreciation and encouragement to our students, it’s a powerful way to nurture self-esteem and resilience.
b.I have to admit, that for kindergarten and primary teachers, teaching younger children while masked ,also presents challenges — specifically related to students’ social-emotional learning.
Non-verbal cues carry up to 55 per cent of the emotional content of messages. Without those cues, a lot of important information is missed.
c.Furthermore, the mouth and eyes are even more important than other facial features when interpreting expression. In contrast to adults who get most non-verbal social information from speakers’ eyes, young children pay most attention to speakers’ mouths. This elevates the challenge of clearly communicating emotions to children while wearing a mask.
d.What is more, vocal strain is a significant occupational hazard in teaching, and the increased volume necessary to be understood when wearing a mask may contribute to this risk.
I really hope, the project idea presented here can enhance the learning experiences of young students in the new world of COVID-19 aware classrooms.
ELT inspired 