Learning ,by acting and doing! #Experiential learning.

Ι assume,all teachers recognize that children learn best through direct experience ,simply by providing them abundant opportunities for experiential learning—experiential learning is the process of learning by doing. By engaging students in hands-on experiences and reflection, they are better able to connect theories and knowledge learned in the classroom to real-world situations.

To me, the way we learn is the way we approach life in general. It is also the way we solve problems, make decisions, and meet life’s challenges. Learning occurs in any setting and continues throughout our life. 

“There are two goals in the experiential learning process. One is to learn the specifics of a particular subject, and the other is to learn about one’s own learning process.”
— David A. Kolb

At the core of my classes, self-directed play and exploration of materials allow for cooperative social interaction and support my students’ construction of knowledge about the world around them and this is crucial!

SOME THEORY

THE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CYCLE

According to research, learners retain 75% of what they do compared to 5% of what they hear or 10% of what they read (study). In a world where there are many distractions amongst the learning environment (think cell phones and other forms of technology), experiential learning keeps students engaged and attentive to the learning goal .

David Kolb’s work on the experiential learning cycle is among the most influential approaches to learning I have read about.

The experiential learning cycle is a four-step learning process: Experience – Reflect – Think – Act.

While verb drills and memorisation may have their places in language acquisition, taking a more interactive approach can offer students a wide range of important benefits when learning English.

All in all, by practicing their language skills through fun activities like cooking, photography, arts and crafts, music, drama, and sports, students can develop their skills much more quickly than they would through less active teaching methods.

“Learning by doing” can also boost students’ motivation and desire to learn, help them develop practical language skills that can be applied in their daily lives, and boost their confidence in their own English language abilities.

When students are learning a new language, it’s important not only to equip them with the basic grammar and vocabulary they’ll need to progress, but also to spark their interest and keep them motivated.

Therefore, learning English through fun activities makes second language acquisition an engaging, joyful, and interactive experience, building students’ motivation and ensuring they’re always looking forward to their next English lesson.

Benefits of Experiential Learning

There are many benefits to experiential learning.For example, students are able to receive a deeper understanding of the content being taught. Experiential learning also increases engagement and participation. 

By incorporating experiential learning into our curricular learning, we can result in a real mindset change, through learning skills such as leadership, empathy, collaboration, and communication through meaningful opportunities to practice.

If these benefits have not convinced you on this teaching and learning method, below there are a few experiential learning activities that have worked in my classes and  you can use in your class to help solidify the use of more hands-on activities in your classroom.

A growth mindset embraces learning by doing.

In my experience, students respond better when being engaged in practical activities, rather than reading from textbooks.

So, getting the children involved in practical activities that teach them English, among other subjects, is a highly effective way of engaging them in their learning.

Gone are the days when I was a student and where we were seated in rows and listened, for what seemed like hours, to the teacher on a particular topic.  It was as if the students were considered empty vessels to fill up. There was no time for trial and error for us to ‘play’ with various concepts or to learn a particular concept further. 

Course material would be taught in a predetermined way . With little ‘play’, one approach to learning and a fixed way of looking at the learning process, this could only lead to a very limited mindset to what each individual student could achieve.

Contrary to this view and at the heart of what makes the “growth mindset” ( please, click on the link to read all about it in an older blog post of mine) so winsome, Dweck found, is that it creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval.

 

 

Experiential Learning Activities to try ,that have worked in my class

Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are great experiential learning activities that get students moving and thinking. These hunts often involve having students solve riddles and clues, and students must work together to get to the next stop. Make the hunt lead to a reveal of the class field trip, incentive party, or as a study guide before the next test. The options are limitless and sure to excite our learners!

Put on a Play

What better way for our students to work on their cooperation, leadership, and creativity skills than by practicing and presenting a play. Maybe our students have just learned a new topic.. Use a pre-found script (a simple Google search is sure to provide many), or have older students create their own. You can also use the course book dialogues or a picture book as a starting point for a play. Theater is a great hands-on experience, and my students do love showing off their acting skills!

Engineering and ELT?

Giving students the opportunity to build is appealing for so many. These sorts of experiential learning activities can be used as part of the curriculum, for brain breaks, for projects or as fun school-wide competitions. You can have students use straws and other recyclable materials to build practically anything related to any topic! The competitive atmosphere of these sorts of building competitions creates excitement and fosters class unity.

Games students play

Games or gamification of courses can be a way of keeping students engaged and motivated while achieving the learning goals in a way that is fun and low risk. Points ,stickers or badges can be awarded for satisfactory participation or completion of the game or goals in the game. Allowing repeat play of games also enables students to see failure as  indication that more work is needed to master the skill or knowledge at hand.

As educators, we can incorporate gaming elements (gamification) into other components of our course, include gaming activities or even structure the entire course like a game!

Games or gaming elements can be designed to be competitive or non-competitive. A competitive element, such as an individual-based or team-based point system, can facilitate friendly competition to make activities or the course fun and active. Games can also be non-competitive and have students work towards achievements and badges in class that signify proficiency with a learning outcome or goal. I have tried both, I can recommend both.

Ask students to bring in their own realia

If you want to get to know students better you can ask them to bring in several items from home that they feel represent them. If you’re teaching online, students can hold objects up to their camera instead. Have them present these items to the class and explain why they chose each object. For a variation of this activity, have classmates guess how the objects represent their fellow students. Students love to share things about themselves and are usually excited about activities that involve getting to talk about their own lives.

 Incorporate realia into a writing prompt

To make writing assignments come to life, I often bring in random objects and place them at the front of the classroom. I have students write a short story (usually with a prompt) incorporating all or a certain number of the objects. This activity gets students to think outside of the box and reflect on how we use the vocabulary they’ve learned in everyday life. It’s a great one for both the physical and virtual classroom as well, as you can simply hold the objects up to the screen if you’re teaching online.

Memory

I in a virtual classroom, quickly pass objects by the screen, one after the other. See if students can recall which objects they saw and whether they can name them in the correct order. If you’re in a physical classroom, you can set the items out on a desk and hide each object under a cloth ,in a box or in a paper bag. Then, lift the bag/cloth/box for a few seconds to reveal the object. You could also play “Memory” with hand-made vocabulary cards or use any items available such as cups, maps, toys, to help students boost their memory .

To me, if you’re wondering how to teach/revise vocabulary, this is a great activity, as you can choose items from a specific theme/category (ABC,food, sports, objects that are different shapes or colors, etc.).

 What is it?

I suggest that you fill a bag/box with realia and have students take turns trying to guess what one of the objects is by putting their hand in the bag/box and feeling it. They can use vocabulary to describe the object to their classmates as they guess. This game can be adapted to the virtual classroom by hiding an object in a bag or under a cloth. Students can have a look at the shape and listen to you describe the object (e.g., it’s heavy, it’s round, etc.) while they try to guess what it is.

CONCLUSION

We all know that,every child learns in a way that is unique to themselves. Experiential learning activities help to take all students’ learning styles and make the activity suitable for a diverse group of learners. The benefits make experiential teaching worth a try. So do a scavenger hunt, put on a play, plant some seeds, rot an apple, or build a tower. Students are sure to walk away with powerful and memorable learning experiences.

Here is a link to visit and find out a lot more about experiential learning activities and useful tables such as this one, below.

Traditional learning activities	Experiential learning activities
Teacher-centered/focused	Student-centered/focused
Learning outcomes are prescribed to a fixed rubric or scoring system	Learning outcomes are flexible and open
Aim to explain knowledge and/or skills by transferring information	Aim to develop knowledge and skills through experience
Fixed structure, high degree of facilitation	Flexible structure, minimal facilitation

• 

• 

• 

• 

“Out Tree of Wishes” 2019-20 etwinning project

For all those -mainly non-European -teachers who keep asking me about what etwinning is about:

eTwinning is the community for schools in Europe.

eTwinning offers a platform for staff (teachers, head teachers, librarians, etc.), working in a school in one of the European countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most exciting learning community in Europe. eTwinning is co-funded by the Erasmus+, the European programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport.

eTwinning promotes school collaboration in Europe through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by providing support, tools and services for schools. eTwinning also offers opportunities for free and continuing online Professional Development for educators.

Launched in 2005 as the main action of the European Commission’s eLearning Programme, eTwinning is co-funded by the Erasmus+, the European programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport, since 2014.

Its Central Support Service is operated by European Schoolnet, an international partnership of 34 European Ministries of Education developing learning for schools, teachers and pupils across Europe. eTwinning is further supported at national level by 38 National Support Services.

TwinSpace

The place where eTwinning magic really happens is the TwinSpace; a safe platform visible only to the teachers participating in a project. Students can also be invited in the TwinSpace to meet and collaborate with peers from their partner schools.

One of the most important elements of eTwinning is collaboration among teachers, students, schools, parents, and local authorities. In eTwinning teachers work together and organise activities for their students. They have an active role, interact, investigate, make decisions, respect each other and learn 21st century skills. eTwinning projects involve the contribution of each member of the team. Take inspiration and explore these awarded projects.

Finally, in eTwinning, our work is important and deserves to be shared and recognised locally, nationally and Europe-wide. eTwinning recognises the work carried out by teachers, students, and schools through National and European Quality Labels, eTwinning Awards, eTwinning Schools and the eTwinning Portfolio.

One of our school  inspiring etwinning projects, this year, was a project about… wishing trees!

In “Our Tree of Wishes”project, teachers and students of about…200 European Schools,worked together ! What an unforgetable experience ,for all partners !

Our “Our Tree of Wishes” project, in a nutshell

Students 7 to 15 created a collaborative Tree of Wishes.
We  decorated a real or drawn tree using wishes cards written by our students.
They wrote  their wishes ,for a festivity of their choice and hanged the cards on the tree. Then each school prepared a wishes card,to be shared with all partners. The cards from the other countries were printed and they decorated our collaborative Tree of Wishes. Finally we held a ” Best Tree of Wishes Contest”.

Our pedagogical objectives

– The students  improve their language skills

– They learn to express their feelings and wishes

– They develop positive thoughts and create positive wishes and send them to Europe and the world

-They develop their creativity 

– They get to know other cultures and broaden their horizons

– They create collaborative Wishing Trees 

Our project detailed plan

AUGUST

1) We wrote our addresses on the page “Our e-mail addresses” and joined the Whatsapp group of the project .

2) We added a marker for our school on the page ” Our schools on the map” 

3) We wrote a brief presentation of ourselves in the project FORUM.

4) On the page ” Organizing the project together” we added our name, school address, number and age of our students.

5) We uploaded our students’ posters, introducing the project to the school community  and the Twinboard, in the  Pages.

6) We added our expectations ,as teachers, at the beginning of the project, in the page “Survey on the project”.

SEPTEMBER

1) We presented the project and the TwinSpace, to our students. We also informed them about the netiquette of the project and the e-safety rules by playing the “kahoot” game.

We uploaded photos and/or videos of our students playing the ķahoot game and learning about the e-safety rules, to the sub-page “We learn e-safety in the classroom”.

We invited our pupils, as members of the TwinSpace.

2) Students introduced themselves, in the page “Students introduce themselves”, through a video, a text, or avatars.

3) We joined the project Logo contest: we uploaded our logo suggestions on “Tricider”.

4) We selected 4-5 drawings, which our students had drawn, for the logo contest. We uploaded those drawings to anArt Gallery, made with “emaze”. 

5) All teachers joined the Facebook group of the project https://www.facebook.com/groups/415721049072509/

OCTOBER

We presented our countries, to our project partners.We created trasnational groups ,to do so .

We created a “Thinglink” account for the project.

When our work was ready,we logged into “Thinglink” and uploaded it to the right country link.

NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 

Our students wrote their wishing cards and a wishing letter, and shared them with all project partners.

In particular:

1) Each student wrote a simple wishing card in his/her own language. We helped the students translate the cards ,into English. Students , added a drawing to their cards.

We made a video /slideshow, to present our wishing cards.

We uploaded the video on Youtube or Vimeo first. Then ,we posted the link to the Youtube video, in the twinspace.

2) Students wrote a wishing letter, in English for the project partners, helped by their teacher.

The letter was uploaded ,as a pdf file ,to “Materials”, in the TwinSpace. Then we visited the subpage “Our letters to our partners”,and we uploaded our students’ letters.

3) We  printed our students’ wishing cards and all the letters from our partners.We decorated our Trees of Wishes, with them. 

4) Finally, we  took a photo of our own Tree of Wishes and we posted it, in the  twinspace Pages.

 JANUARY

1) We posted all the photos of our beautiful “Trees of Wishes” ,in a collaborative e-book,made with “Book Creator”.

The Book was uploaded to the page “Best Tree of Wishes Contest”. We used the numbers on the pages of the Book, in order to vote for our favourite trees.

2) We posted  the wishing letters , written by all  partners, in a collaborative e-book made with “Flipsnack”, divided into three volumes: the books were uploaded to an interactive image created with “Genially”.

3) Our students wrote their wishes for all our partners, in the Forum “Our wishes for the New Year”.

4) We completed a survey, in the page ” A survey on the project “

5) Teachers created a common Domino Game using New Year words and pictures, as a nice Holiday gift ,for all student-partners .

6)  Project Evaluation

 We filled in three easy and quick forms: one for the teachers, one for the students and one for the parents. 

7) We applied for the etwinning Quality Label.

Our own school wishing tree idea,in brief

” Our Tree of Wishes “, our inspiring etwinning project wishing tree ,is a Greek olive tree decorated with origami paper boats !
The idea behind it: during the Festive Season, all around Greece ,you will find Christmas boats (karavakia) decorated with lights and ornaments, which are very traditional and symbolic.
The Karavaki symbolises sailing towards the new life!
According to the Greek Christmas traditions, especially in the islands, kids prepare their own boats with paper and chips of wood, and on Christmas Eve, they use these little boats to collect the treats they receive, when singing the carols (kalanda) from house to house.

All our project links

Our intro school video: Making our wishing boats and decorating our wishing Tree

“Our Tree of Wishes” etwinning project online meeting

Our final school video ,about our project

“Our Tree of Wishes” etwinning project summary

Our Wishing Trees Art Gallery

Our project interactive map

Our Book of Trees

Our Book of Letters

The TwinSpace Netiquette of the project Our Tree of Wishes

A kahoot game for our students to play and check how much you really know about Internet safety and netiquette (good behaviour on the Internet)

A list, of all the web tools we used

https://docs.google.com/ : collaborative project plan

https://www.photocollage.com/

https://biteable.com/: project presentation and project netiquette 

https://www.kizoa.com/

answergarden 

mentimeter.com (survey on the expectations from the project) 

renderforest.com

pixiz.com

pizap.com

padlet

thinglink

vimeo for videos 

vocaroo.com 

powtoon.com

animoto

emaze: art gallery

kahoot :  e-safety and project netiquette

Google presentation: survey on the project 

Scrap coloring

Canva (for posters)

Pic.collage

Snapchat

Screencast-o-matic: tutorials

Google Maps: interactive map

Pixlr:Online Photo Editor

LearningApps: games

Break Your Own News: creation of posters for breaking news

Logo Maker and MsPainting (for logo – painting/drawing)

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1adcc321c083

http://www.glitterfy.com/

http://www.postermywall.com/

Blogger: project blog

Book Creator: collaborative ebook

Story Jumper: fairy tale on the tree of wishes

Educandy: instructive games

Flipsnack:  books of letters

Our English class record holders

The idea

Last year, we got motivated by the Guinness Book of Records, while teaching the Comparisons so ,we decided to look for our own class record holders and award them, accordingly!

This incredible “class record holders idea”, brought English to life in a fun, yet impactful way. 

Through engaging my English language learners in an exploration of class records, helped me support their growth in vocabulary, oral conversation, and written expression. Students had a chance to complete their  world record scavenger hunt, working in groups and creating their own awards.

The procedure

First, I made a few copies of the Guinness Book of World Records available to my students to peruse.

 I asked them what their impressions were.

Talking about world records is an opportune time, to review comparisons, of course .

I gave my students a chance to practice, using superlative adjectives, by making superlative statements about the students in our class using the list of adjectives I had already generated. Again, I gave them a chance to share with the class.

After my students had had some time to become familiar with the book and Grammar points, I  asked them why they thought those people were able to set those records. Was it because of a special skill? Was it luck? Were any of the records simple trickery? Was it effort and hard work? On the board, I wrote the words talent, skill, trick , effort and luck. Students discussed in small groups which of these five qualities was most important. Then, I had each group present to the class what they had agreed was most important or where their opinions differed.

As a final activity , I had my students each choose one other student, who held a class record .

 Then, I had my students partner and role-play an interview that they had written in pairs, in front of the class – one student asking the questions as the class reporter and another pretending to be the record holder and answering the questions.

 Conclusion

 Whether you have a class full of future record holders or not, your students are sure to find the information presented in the Guinness Book of World Records fascinating, especially if they have never actually looked inside its pages.

While our students are imagining their record placements, they will be practicing their language skills and becoming better students of English without even knowing it.

 

“CUbeS: CUlture and Smiles in a Cube” An inspiring etwinning project 2018-19

My non European colleagues, often ask me what eTwinning is all about!

Well….

eTwinning is a free online community for schools in Europe which allows you to find partners and collaborate on projects within a secure network and platform.

Through participating in eTwinning, your school will be able to:

• enrich learning and motivation of pupils (aged between 3 and 19) and staff
• access high quality professional development and ready-made resources
• raise standards across the whole school community
• gain recognition for your commitment through eTwinning awards and the International School Award.
• Search for an Erasmus+  partner to carry out projects with and apply for mobility funding.

There are, also,  special quality labels, for students, teachers and schools!

Quality labels

1.National quality label

A National Quality Label is awarded to teachers with excellent eTwinning projects and indicate that the project has reached a certain level of quality in their country.

2. European quality label

The European Quality Label is a second mark of success and indicates that the project has reached a certain European standard.

3. eTwinning School label

In order to recognise the eTwinning work done at school level, there is now, a new label  available – the eTwinning School Label.

The concept of recognition for work done in eTwinning has been in existence since the start with Quality Labels being available to teachers for their projects both at national and European level. However, these labels are applied only to the work of individual teachers in projects. In order to recognise the work done at school level, a new label is now available to apply for – the eTwinning School Label.

The principle behind this new label is that eTwinning wants to recognise and appraise the involvement, commitment, dedication not only of scattered eTwinners, but of teams of teachers and school leaders within the same school.

The concept of attaining the status of an eTwinning School is that of a developmental journey with components that can be objectively assessed. It is not a competition, but rather a progression from one level to the next.

A summary of our project, this year

Our project celebrates culture and happiness.

What the four partners ( Greece, UK, France and Poland)  propose is that, students produce a presentation or “Culture and Smiles in a Box” on their partner country in groups, both in class and on twinspace Forums. To be able to do this, students  gather information about their own country and life and send it to their partner schools, which are responsible for producing the presentation on their partner country’s cultural assets on twinspace Forums .

Students :

– Consider the definition of culture, and reflect on what this means to them

– Share relevant information about their lives with their European partners

– Create”Culture and Smiles in a Box” presentations

– Reflect on what they have learned about the other country and the differences and similarities between the two cultures

– Write reflective essays on what they have learned

 Objectives

1) To help pupils to identify, explore, and become aware of European values.

2) To raise pupils’ awareness of what makes them happy and share this happiness with their peers in Europe.

3) To assist pupils to identify European linguistic diversity and become aware of the importance of learning European languages.

4) To develop pupils’ insight into the similarities and differences among nations.

Our project in detail

This  #eTwForCulture project ,lasted the whole school year 2018-19. 

There were tasks to be completed to share SMILES in many ways such as passing a ‘messages and our CULTURE in a box’ from one country to the other.

This is a project on happiness; it is about helping students find happiness and sharing it with others. It focused on ourselves, well-being, friendships and relationships. Children have truly enjoyed communicating and participating in a variety of tasks and realising that they have many things in common with their e-pals. Pupils have learnt about the culture of their e-pals / friends (tangible and intangible). It was definitely a project celebrating internationalism and individualism.

Depending on the activity, children had the opportunity to work independently, with talk partners both in class- in 2s, in small mixed ability groups or in whole class situations and on twinspace, using ICT for research or to communicate and present their ideas in different ways.

Pedagogical Innovation and Creativity

The overall aim was to realize that, happiness comes from within us but can be spread and shared with others!

Children reflected on themselves as individuals, identifying positive things about themselves, valuing their abilities, qualities, strengths and achievements as well as their mistakes, sharing and comparing them with their European peers, at the same time!

Children recognized that their culture  affected themselves but also others; they thought of ways to make others smile, by means of intercultural projects !

Children considered their own and their partners’ feelings (empathy) and thought of appropriate strategies to cope with uncomfortable feelings as well as skills for solving problems and different ways of behaving to different types of intercultural relationships.

Children also focused on intercultural relationships and they explored the value of these relationships as well as their feelings within the context of important relationships, including family and friends of a different cultural background.

Children made each other smile through their dialogue, written work and through technology!

 All in all:

Children felt able to be creative with their audience in the partner schools in mind and dare to share and compare.They also used their imagination and creativity as well as their artistic skills, in order to fill their CUbeS with content.

The learning from the project was so significant that it will not be lost from children’s minds

Our  project, provided the opportunity to break down classroom walls. Happiness in learning, became a practical ,rather than theoretical, part of the curriculum.

 Our work  provided in the shared learning environment were a meaningful pathway, towards understanding  the concept of feelings.

The true revelation has been that  people in Europe are essentially very similar with shared values, cultures and interests. Surely, this  helped us to overcome our prejudices and made us more open to intercultural cooperation. 

Curricular integration 

The work was mostly linked with the English, MFL, Topic and Computing objectives. To help partner schools to fulfill their statutory responsibility to support their cultural development and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life. To use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.

 The theme was chosen deliberately to ensure that the project and its work was as cross-curricular as possible. The areas of ,EFL,  social studies, expressive arts, citizenship,and basic IT , have all been integrated into the sharing of our common project activities .

The main focus was to improve the learning of English.

This fitted well into the Curriculum and all the pupils benefited. 

OUR EUROPEAN COOKBOOK

We held a European Day of Languages to get the rest of the school know our European friends better. We also had etwinning school  days, when our students presented their etwinning projects to the rest of the school.

A second focus was citizenship. By exchanging information about each other’s towns, lives  and heritage, the pupils learned a great deal about each other’s environment, way of life and culture. Our coursebooks , are based on both cross curricular and cross cultural topics quite relevant to our Etwinning project theme! 

I  made sure that, ALL my 95  students, in different age and  language level, took part in our  etwinning project.

Communication and exchange between partner schools 

We used a variety of ways to communicate with each other and as a group: the teacher bulletin in twinspace, a messenger group,  email. Communication was regular and effective.

The tasks were mostly set by the coordinating schools in the United Kingdom and Greece  but we were open to suggestions and ideas of the fellow teachers. The activities and work produced was shared in pages of twinspace by all schools and the work process was communicated using the journal. I coordinated the work but also set responsibilities and supported teachers in using a variety of ICT tools so that they successfully participate in the project.

From the beginning, there was a strong plan on twinspace Pages, which gave the teachers guidelines, responsibilities and timescale for each element of the project. 

Students were encouraged to interact with their partners,and share their  work on twinspace,both from the school ICT lab and from home. This all gave a real purpose and meaning to learning a foreign language.

Our students were able to share their feedback on our Twinspace “DiscussionsForums Threads” , on a regular basis . The pupils shared information and experiences, and thus learned from each other and strengthened their communication skills. 

Collaboration between partner schools.  

In collaboration ,we all decided on the range of topics that we would cover and the optimum time for posting/sending/receiving the correspondence items. 

We tried together  to do some pre-matching of pupils and classes , based on their known interests. 

By all means we  ‘recycled’ language that pupils have previously learnt in their English class . 

We created a teachers’  e-mail exchange, too and a frequent collaboration on the Teachers’ bulletin.

We created  our 6 CUbeS threads on Forums , which we often updated with the help of our students.

Teachers and children participated and collaborated in monthly activities  such as: they uploaded posts in padlets, liked and commented on other posts, worked together to produce web presentations to introduce the schools , towns and countries ( taking-drawing pictures, writing the scripts and deciding on the school areas/town sights/country favourite places to present) and to share customs and traditions on collaborative web tools, they participated in a drawing logo competition and explained their reasons  in a forum, expressed what they have learnt in forums, shared playtime games and healthy recipes, made, posted and received cards, little gifts and beautiful origami crafts , which made them smile, shared well being strategies. They have enjoyed their twinspace membership, participated in all the activities, emailed their e-pals and expressed their views in forums – and they even suggested their own questions to be added in the forums – and joined in live chats, supervised by teachers! Children have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the project and have majorly contributed to its success.

Use of technology

Children had the opportunity to use ICT to communicate and present findings in a variety of ways.

All children had Twinspace membership and emailed their epals; however, before using the email feature, we had lessons and discussions on the appropriate use of email, what information to include to be safe and respect each other while considering cultural differences. Children expressed their views in forums ,supervised by teachers!

The project linked with aims / objectives of the ICT / computing curriculum. Pupils were taught to select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design content that would accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information. They created work for a specific audience making sure that the content would be interesting but at the same time reliable. Children were also taught how to use technology safely.

Specifically: I had small  groups of my students,to use Photoshop to enhance and crop photos and then put them into Movie Maker to produce our videos and also had them  create a Quiz on pages. We also used Movie Maker to make short videos, Padlet to work on collaboratively, and a Word Cloud Generator,for feedback. We also used other collaborative web tools such as:  GoConqr for our mindmaps, Google Tool Builder for our virtual travel guides ,Thinglink for our interactive photos , Artsteps and Classtools.net for our 3D exhibitions,Canva and Linoit for our posters, Issuu for our Cookbooks.

 Through eTwinning,my  pupils learned to use ICT tools in a pedagogically meaningful way. 

They wrote comments in the forums, chatted with real people, did interactive exercises, took and uploaded digital photos and videos, searched for information, etc. And all this took place in the pedagogical context of studying English communication.

Results, impact and documentation

This project, enthused and motivated the children. Children fully enjoyed and participated in the project. It enabled the pupils to use new technologies, to learn about the culture of their European friends (tangible and intangible) and experience through their communication how English is not only a school subject but an indispensable means of communication. Most importantly it extended their cultural awareness and knowledge, it enabled them to learn about, respect and celebrate similarities and differences among them, celebrate individualism and internationalism through fun activities and tasks. Children were HAPPY, shared and received HAPPINESS AND SMILES!

Here’s the link to : OUR EUROPEAN COOKBOOK

Children need to understand the diverse world they live in, respect values, different languages and faiths by working together and this is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity.

Our project, helped us to widen our horizons, reconsider our perspectives, improve self-esteem, increase understanding of different cultures and feelings , enhance tolerance and prove that “communication is at the basis of understanding”.

All in all, we achieved   : 

• to promote group activities  for tolerance and cultural understanding; 
• to strengthen my students’ intercultural competences in order to be ready for responsible understanding of Europe’s identity and common values;
• to develop the European dimension through arts education (origami crafts etc) and creativity with the aim to promote multiculturalism and tolerance between students; 
• To develop “Out-of-the-box” activities that would encourage mutual support, team building and group cohesion ; 
• Encourage personalized learning approaches by acquiring new artistic and pedagogical skills with the aim of developing new ideas and creativity of the students involved in the project.

 

 

Balloon tennis- a fun word game

This fun game, comes from Olha Madulus’s Blog!

When Olha, first mentioned the game on her facebook page , I told her that I loved the idea and asked her if I could try it in my class! She agreed and  was kind enough, to promise me to write a blog post about the game, as soon as possible!

I adapted the game ,a bit, to suit my classes ,but the main idea worked really well with my students , therefore, it is highly recommended to any other colleague, wishing to give it a try, too.

I have to thank Olha, again, for her generosity ! She is one of the most inspiring Teacher Trainers I know!

This game is suitable for all ages and levels

·       Blow up one balloon

·       Divide your class into two teams (once the students have got used to the game, you can organise them into smaller groups of 2 teams each, each group needs a balloon – but consider the space you have available. You could use the playground for this).

 

 

·       e.g. with younger learners explain that they have to remember vocabulary for food

 

·       One team starts with a member hitting the balloon across to the opposition team and at the same time shouting (so all can hear) one word for an example of food e.g. chocolate

 

·       Next a member of the opposition team has to hit the balloon back shouting a different food word

 

·       If no one can think of a new word or repeats a word – that team loses the point (this encourages the learners to listen carefully)

 

·       If the balloon drops to the floor – the receiving team loses the point

 

·       You can score the game like tennis

 

·       You can change the lexical set whenever necessary

 

 

·       With older learners you can review a topic prior to a writing task e.g. the advantages and disadvantages of the internet

 

·       Nominate which team should shout advantages and which disadvantages

 

·       Play as above

 

This game has a number of advantages

 

·       It is kinaesthetic and can energise the class

 

·       It’s a team game and promotes a sense of community

 

·       The focus is on the balloon and shyer students feel relaxed and more likely to participate

 

·       You can change/play with the rules to suit your class and any language you want to practise

 

·       The balloon is quite slow and easier to keep in the air than a ball

Our Magic Box Treasure hunt

Research Says: The benefits of using games in the classroom are various. they “range from cognitive aspects of language learning to more cooperative group dynamics.” Games also lower the affective filter and encourage “creative and spontaneous use of language,” promote “communicative competence.” What’s more—games are fun.

Treasure hunts (aka scavenger hunts) can be arranged in a variety of ways, and so they are suitable for any level.

Here’s one of the things I do, with my junior classes  :

I bring a “Magic Box ” in class and ask my students to fill it in, with …”magic things”!

They make their own word cards, with their favorite “magic items ” on . They are asked to draw items, based on vocabulary studied.

I hide these  vocabulary cards around the room and use verbal, visual or audio clues, to direct the students to where the cards are. (They can only keep the card if they can name the item, or pronounce/spell what’s on the card correctly). I generally only let one student loose at a time to prevent scrapping !…

I love working on Treasure hunt games, with my junior classes, the most.

Of course, as the students progress we can make the treasure hunt (clues etc.) more difficult.

 

General intrsutions

How to Play

1. Students are divided into groups.
2. Each group has a list of items/cards to find.
3. The rules are explained: Students are to find as many items as they can within an allotted time period. They can find the items in any order, but the team must stay together.
4. Inform players of the area of the hunt.
5. When the time limit is up, the teams meet at the designated spot.
6. Each group responds with their card item spelling/definition/ etc.
7. If they do it right, the team is awarded one point.
8. The team with the most points wins.

How to Make It

1. First, prepare the list or cards of items to find
2. Make sure the items can be “found” in the area that you have the scavenger hunt.
3. Select items based on vocabulary studied.

Variations

1. Students can each submit a card/item to be found.
2. With older students, you can use clues, with a certain part of speech (e.g., adjective or adverb).
3. The game concludes after so many cards are found instead of being limited by a certain time frame.

 

 

End of the School Year fun ideas, for YL

Each June, my students and me, get to celebrate all of the learning, hard work, and progress that we have made with end of the year  activities, in class.

After a long school year, creating and planning activities for an end of the year celebration is the last thing on my mind. There are always end-of-year assessments, data entry, deadlines, assemblies, and the usual chaos that stands at the forefront, but I still want to do some special activities with my classes.  I have tried several awesome activities that work, all these years! I save time by providing end-of-year activities for my students that are ready to decorate! Sharing here, some exciting ideas that double as great keepsakes:

Most of these ideas, which I have tested in class, with huge success, come from this site.

BALLOON TOSS: GOALS FOR THE FUTURE

I give each of my older students, a slip of paper and invite him or her to write one goal for the future.
I have students slip the notes inside balloons and then inflate them. Later, I have them toss balloons (like graduation caps), keeping one to pop and share its (anonymously) written message aloud –with the rest of the class.
(Actually, work the last part out in a way that the majority of the group likes—read one message, several messages, or all or no messages)

My 6th graders, simply love this activity! Alternatively, you could try the…

“Fortune Cookie” Balloon Toss    
I have a brainstorming session with students about the adventures of summer and all of the good things that might happen. I have every student write one positive “fortune” on a pre-cut slip of paper such as “You will go on a marvelous adventure,” “You will achieve your goals,” “You will make a new friend,” etc. Each student will put his or her slip into a balloon, inflate it and tie it off. We make a large circle and play a song. I have students toss balloons around until the music stops. Each student should end up with one balloon. Using whatever means they like (sitting on it, using a sharp pencil, hair clip, etc.),  students pop their balloons and read their fortunes. I go around the circle and have each student share his or her fortune aloud.

THANKS FOR THE COMPLIMENT

(A nice way to end the school year! Especially with older students or the ones who graduate)
Need: Paper, markers, tape
1.  Everyone gets a piece of paper taped to their back. (Make sure their name is at the top of the paper.)
2.  Each person is given a marker.
3.  Each person in the group must walk around the room and write a compliment or positive remark about that person on their back….. NO PEEKING!
4.  When everyone has written something positive on each others back, they return to their seat and read what was written.
5.  With a smaller group, everyone exchanges papers without looking at their own. Each participant can take a turn at reading aloud from person’s list they have.

This is a great self-esteem booster for kids! If some children still don’t know each other very well…they can write such things as: You have a great smile; You’re hair always looks nice; Great blue eyes; etc.

AUTOGRAPH BOOK

At the end of the year I have each younger student make an autograph book. They pass around their books and get everyone’s signatures and special notes ,for a summer keepsake.

IDEA: TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS DURING THE YEAR and put together a slide show.

1.  Of course we can show this as PART OF A YEAR-END SCHOOL EVENT—but it would also be a wonderful “WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION to the new children we will have the next school year.
2.  We could use it to show children and families some of the things we do-how they’re done–and what to expect!

I do it, every single  year! Both parents and students, appreciate it!

‘Indoor or Outdoor FIELD DAY’ ideas 

All children love playground games and some movement is crucial, when it comes to young learners. I usually, pre-teach the instructions and basic English games vocabulary in class, before we move out to play.

• Potato Sack Races (using old pillow cases or sacks purchased from Oriental Trading or similar supplier)
• Shoe Mix-Up: Have children take off their shoes and mix up the whole pile; have them race to put the shoes back on.
• Tug of War: Using a huge rope have Kids vs. Kids and then play with Kids vs. Adults (They’ll like that one!)
• Sock Throw: Put a tennis ball into a long sock and have kids throw it to see who can throw it the furthest!
• How about the games played in ‘Summer Olympic Games’ such as:SOFTBALL, FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, HANDBALL, HOCKEY, TENNIS OR VOLLEYBALL? They’re all Summer Olympic Games!!!

A LETTER TO PARENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR…

This letter below, is just one example. It’s a tradition for me, to write a letter to all parents, both at the beginning and at the end of each school year! I include all our goals and achievements. It works well, so far.

Dear Parents,
I give you back your child ~ the same child you confidently entrusted to my care last fall. I give him/her back pounds heavier, inches taller, months wiser, more responsible, and more mature then he was then.

Although he would have attained his growth in spite of me, it has been my pleasure and privilege to watch his personality unfold day by day and marvel at this splendid miracle of development.

Ten years from now if we met on the street, we’ll feel the bond of understanding once more, this bond we feel today.
We have lived, laughed, played, studied, learned, and enriched our lives together this year. I wish it could go on indefinitely, but give him/back I must. Take care of him, (or her) for he (she) is precious. I’ll always be interested in your child and his destiny, wherever he goes, whatever he does, whoever he becomes.

Program/Class AWARDS

 

This school year, I made  up some fun and unique awards for my older students. Together with the students in class, we found  something unique about EACH CHILD and recognized them for that unique quality.I created the awards myself on a PC but you can also download a template from the internet.

A suggestion I have found  here and we loved, in class:
We made up awards to match candy bars (I personally, adapted the names a bit…Had to match candy bars, we can buy in Greece ). Here are the names, in the original post :

• ALMOND JOY AWARD: For the person who is always happy
• BIT-O-HONEY AWARD: For someone very sweet
• BUTTERFINGER AWARD: For the person who broke the most things
  accidentally
• DOVE AWARD: For the program/class peacemaker
• GUMMY BEARS AWARD: For a very lovable child, who is always laughing
• JOLLY RANCHER AWARD: For the person always telling jokes
• KIT KAT AWARD: For the student always at the teacher’s side
• LAFFY TAFFY AWARD: For someone with a sweet disposition
• LIFESAVERS AWARD: For the person, who is always helping someone in need
• MILKY WAY AWARD: For the group daydreamer
• MR. GOODBAR AWARD: For the student who exhibits the good qualities of friendship
• NESTLE CRUNCH AWARD: An alternative to pencil chewing
• NUTRAGEOUS AWARD: For an outstanding personality
• NUTRAGEOUS AWARD: for the wild and crazy person in class
• SKOR AWARD: For athletes in the class
• SNICKERS AWARD: For having an outstanding sense of humor
• SWEET TARTS AWARD: For a sweet girl/boy
• SYMPHONY AWARD: For anyone musical
• TEDDY GRAHAMS AWARD: For the most huggable
• THREE MUSKETEERS AWARD: For the one always with the group
• WHOPPERS AWARD: For the best storytelling
• ZERO MATH AWARD: For outstanding performance in Math

etc

End-of-Year Charades

I have each student write out one memorable moment from the school year on a slip of paper. I collect all the slips in a bag, hat, etc. I divide kids into teams and have them come up one team at a time, choose a slip and act out the memory for the group. No need to keep score—the goal is just to relive all the happy memories from the year and…use their English , of course…

Alternatively, I have them write their “End of School Year Reflections”-my own favourite end-of-school-year read!

“I Remember When …” Mural 

This is a great activity when we have a few extra minutes to fill or when kids need a short brain break. I always use it ,on the very last day in class. I decorate the top of a long piece of butcher paper with the words “I Remember When …” -older students – or ” I want to say goodbye to…” -younger students- in large print.  I allow students to write and draw favorite memories from the school year until all the space is filled. We display our banner proudly in our classroom or out in the hall for others to enjoy.

 

 

 

ABC with bottle caps games and a… Beanstalk !

Have your little ones just mastered the alphabet? Then it is time for a revision! And what could be a better way to revise than by playing a game? After searching online, I found this incredible idea: The ABC Beanstalk on this amazing blog! I tried it and it really worked! Why don’t you give it a try, too?

https://rockinteachermaterials.wordpress.com

I found this idea a great one,  since it can also be used as an in-class project which can later decorate the wall of your classroom! Let’s take it step by step.

Firstly, make sure that your students are familiar with the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Prepare the beanstalk and bring it to the class, but make sure that you haven’t glued the leaves. Give the leaves to your students and ask them to put them in alphabetical order. Then, you can glue the leaves all together.

Now that the beanstalk is ready, it’s time for a board game! Give each student a game piece and ask them to place them at the bottom of the beanstalk. Explain that they have to roll the dice and move forward the number they roll. Once they land on a leaf, they have to say/spell a word starting with that letter.  If not, then they have to move one leaf back. The students who reaches the cloud first is the winner. Make sure you reward the winners! You can give him or her a big sticker. I often play this game in teams and not in pairs, using a big beanstalk poster on the wall. In this case, I award them one point, if they get the word right and a second point , if they manage to spell it right, too.

This is a fun and engaging way to revise the alphabet that your students will certainly love!

Bottle caps games

a)HOW TO PLAY the “Bottle Caps ALPHABET” memory GAME

(1) Make sure that all the caps are messed up so that they aren’t in order.

(2)  Turn all of the caps over so you cannot see the letters anymore.

(3) Place them in neat rows.

(4) A player turns over 2 caps.

….. If there is a match, they put those caps in their own pile and then gets to take another turn.

….. If there is NOT a match, the player then turns the caps back over ( in the same spot that they found them) .   The next player then gets to take a turn.

(5) The game is over when all of the matches are found. The player with the most caps wins the game.

b) The “Bottle caps ALPHABET” word game

(1) Make sure that all the caps are messed up so that they aren’t in order, on the floor.

(2) Divide the class in two teams

(3) Invite two students, representing the two teams,to come where the caps are

(4) Give them one word and ask them to try and write using the bottle caps, as fast as possible!

(5) The fastest student, wins a point for his/her team

(6) The game is over when all of the students have had their turn. The team with the most points, wins the game.

Let’s have a ball, with a ball!

I love trying  activities, which I find online or hear about in Seminars and Conventions, in my classes, to see how they work! These amazing ball games ,which I read about here, few months ago, really worked !! So, I had to share!

By the way, busyteacher.org, is by far, my most  favourite site!

 With a database of 17,246 free printable worksheets and lesson plans for teaching English. BusyTeacher will save you hours in preparation time.

Highly recommended to all!

Sometimes, low tech is better! Even the most financially lacking classrooms or schools can provide fun, creative activities for their students!

So, here are some great activities for our English class that will only require a ball

Spelling Ball –This game is as simple as ABC. Have your students stand in a big circle. Say a word and toss the ball to one of your students. Student says the first letter of the word and tosses the ball to a classmate, who has to say the second letter, and then tosses the ball to another. Students who make a mistake must sit down and play starts again with the teacher. The last student standing is the winner!

Shoot for Points-Set up a trash can, bin, or any container that will serve as your “basket”. Students line up. Choose a topic or grammar point, for example Past Simple. Ask each student a question: Where did you go last weekend? If student uses the verb in simple past correctly, they may shoot for points: 10 points if they score; 5 if they miss, but answered the question correctly.

Choose Your Victim-This is a great way to make a Q &A session more “active”. Students stand in a circle. Give them a grammar point to practice through questions, for example, tell them to ask questions with “ever” so they practice Present Perfect. First student asks a question with “ever” (Have you ever been to London?) and tosses the ball to a classmate who must answer correctly to stay in the game and earn the right to ask a question. Those who make a mistake must leave the circle. 

Freeze!-This game is ideal for little ones! Practice vocabulary with flashcards. First, teach students the meaning of “Freeze!” as stop. Students sit in a wide circle with a set of flashcards in the center. Students pass the ball around the circle. Tell them they can’t hold the ball for more than a second. Cover your eyes while they do this and say, “Freeze!” The student who has the ball must stop and take a flashcard from the pile. Depending on your students’ ages and level, ask them to either say the word or use it in a sentence.

It’s a bomb!-This is a great way for students to introduce themselves and learn their classmates’ names in a first lesson. Also a fun way to practice or review possessive pronouns! Have students sit in a circle. Give one of them the ball, and say, “It’s a bomb! The timer is ticking (use an egg timer!)” Tell them they have to say their name, pass the ball, and say their classmate’s name: My name is Juan. Your name is Maria. The student who has the “bomb” when the timer goes off, leaves the circle. Have students re-arrange themselves in the circle so they’re sitting next to different students, and start again.* I have also used this game to revise vocabulary! It works great with spelling tasks.

Description Dodgeball-Use a very light, soft ball for this game, as students will be trying to hit each other! Have students line up on one side of the classroom (if you can play this in the schoolyard, better!) One student stands in the front next to you holding the ball. Describe one of the students in your class: This student is the tallest in the class. The student you are describing has to run to avoid being hit by the student with the ball. If the student is hit, he/she becomes the next thrower. You may also have students wear tags with names of cities, animals, or places for you to describe.I have used the same game to revise parts of the body. The teacher or a student, describes one of the students standing in the circle and the student with the ball, tosses it to the student with that characteristic. He must then spell /translate/define etc a word to stay in the game. eg ” He has blue eyes-She is has long brown hair…”

Basketball Dare-Practice giving commands. Set up a “basket” far enough away for it to be a challenge, but not impossible for students to score. Students line up and shoot for the basket. If students score, they get to give you a command you must follow: “Walk like a monkey”, “Say something in Chinese”, “Stand on one foot for 30 seconds”, etc… Make sure you establish some ground rules, for example, students can’t give you commands that involve shouting, leaving the classroom, etc…

Mini Golf spelling game

The only equipment players need are a putter and a golf ball, which are supplied at the course.

There are two teams.

Players use their putters to hit the golf ball from the tee area and straight into the hole. The objective is to make it into each hole in as few strokes as possible. Every stroke taken counts as a point, although I limit players to a maximum of five strokes per round . The player with the fewest strokes at the end of the round wins those points for his team IF he manages to spell a word he/she is given by the opposing team or the teacher, correctly.

 

Enjoy! I am sure your students will just love them!

Interactive Grammar Notebooks-part c

As I had already written in my first  and second posts on Interactive Grammar Notebooks, last year was my first year to use interactive notebooks.  Before school began, I found myself  with the desire PLUS precious  direction, from my  amazing Greek colleague, Papadeli Sophia !

I have to thank her again so much, for all the inspiration and support!

Overall, they were a success- Experimenting on them during this first school year with few students, among whom was my daughter, was great fun!…I’m sure, we’ll do much better this  year ,with all my afternoon classes, at school!

This  notebook is built, by adding each grammar skill or concept as an insert gradually throughout the year as they are introduced to new material. By the end of year, they  have a complete notebook they can use as a reference and I can use as an assessment tool or portfolio piece.This is simple and can be done with any grammar curriculum we are using.

First, I used a common notebook,  school glue, scissors and markers/colored pencils. Since we are fully stocked on school supplies, I did not need to make any new purchases.

Then, ideally, we should reserve the first 1-2 pages for the table of contents. I admit that, I didn’t do that, this first year…Going forward, we add a new page for each skill.

The next step is to find some ideas or even printables and foldables for the Grammar notebooks …I asked Sophia Papadeli to help me get started and I also visited Pinterest and used my imagination and creativity, of course!

Here are just  few new pages for you to have a look at, get inspired and hopefully, start your own Grammar Notebooks, this school year!

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE/MOVEMENT/TIME

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

BE GOING TO

 

 

BE GOING TO for making predictions based on evedence

BE GOING TO -plans

WILL

PAST PROGRESSIVE

 

ARTICLES

RELATIVES

COUNTABLE-UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

REPORTED SPEECH

EXPRESS FUTURE PLANS, USING THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

SOME/ANY- EXPRESSING QUANTITY

MODALS ( A guessing game, using pictures)