Learning the Ropes

Getting inspiration from the Edpuzzle activity created by Alicia and published on her blog, I’ve decided to create a new task, based on the same video she used ( https://alicerof.blogspot.com/2020/03/ )            I think the video in itself could be quite appealing to my students, given the topic it deals with and also its authenticity. So, to start with, I’d make my students brainstorm on the concept of “bullying”, eliciting their answers and trying to detect any possible wrong ideas or misconceptions. Then, I’d ask my students to listen to the song by Bars & Melody, and making use of Edpuzzle, to answer some comprehension questions related to its lyrics. Finally, I’d make my students do some research on the treatment and handling of bullying situations in schools located in different English-speaking countries, thus raising awareness of the need for measures to be taken to combat this social problem.     ...

ORGANIZING THE PROJECT:    In order to do this task, I asked my students to work in pairs throughout the whole process. Primary or secondary teachers as most of them are, I thought it would be a good idea to give them freedom to choose the topics for their oral presentations; so, that’s what I did. This way, they could feel more comfortable talking about a topic or subject they were familiar with, which could in turn boost their motivation.       I started by explaining them the final aim of this task, which was to prepare just the beginning of an oral presentation on a specific subject, and to present it to the whole class. I emphasized the fact that they were expected to take into consideration a series of important elements generally involved in public speaking (apart from content and form), such as body language, intonation, pauses, and the use of visual aids to make it easier for the audience to understand and follow their speech. Here...

I decided to use Pixton as an innovative tool in class, in the hope that it could boost my students’ motivation when it comes to writing, and specially the motivation of those who are usually reluctant to write anything.                          Taking into account that this tool was something completely new not just to my students, but also to me, I decided to design a task which could be accessible to students, and which at the same time would allow them to be creative to some extent. Bearing all this in mind, the task I prepared consisted in adapting a short story – chosen by students from a range of short stories and tales that they had previously read during this academic year – to comic, changing its ending.   The main objectives set for this task were to further develop writing skills, to reinforce the use of specific language resources, to introduc...

Chelsea Hotel's Uncertain Future  If you want to learn more about the world-famous Chelsea Hotel and its future, watch this video and answer the given comprehension questions:  Chelsea Hotel In order to prepare my listening task with Edpuzzle, I decided to use a video about Chelsea Hotel and its uncertain future. Taken as it is from a BBC documentary, I chose it in the hope that my students would find it appealing and interesting enough. Also, something I took into account when selecting this specific video was the topic it deals with: right now my students are learning about travelling and tourism (including subtopics like accommodation), so I felt that this video matched our needs.   The main objectives set for this task include: to listen for specific detail, to develop top-down and bottom-up strategies, to promote autonomous learning, to widen vocabulary related to the topic dealt with, and to learn about the world-famous Chelsea Hotel.    ...