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Ethics & AI in Teaching & Learning_Video

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Ethics & AI in Teaching & Learning_Video

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Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning

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Video to promote the launch of the Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for Educators. This is a flagship initiative of the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027), the guidelines support teachers and educators in the ethical use of artificial intelligence and data in the classroom.

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5 tips to improve your critical thinking - Samantha Agoos

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Exemplo de uma rubrica que criei no Genially. Usei um template grátis. O texto nas caixas de cor clara tem que ser inserido por nós.

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Evaluation criteria

April Fool's Day Poster

Student:

Teacher:

Ana Maria Costa

8E

1

Beginning

1

Exemplary

4

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

Observations

Points

CONTENT

WRITING

CREATIVITY

TEAMWORK

Everyone worked for the good of the team, listened to and shared ideas.

Unusual design. Used text, drawings, graphics, colours.

Clear writing. Correct use of language structures and vocabulary.

All information was accurate. Ideas were in a logical and coherent order.

Included relevant details and examples. Used proper vocabulary.

Needed more details and examples. Used wrong vocabulary.

Information was not sufficient. Used unappropriate vocabulary.

Note down 2 things you learned with this project work.

Clear writing. Few language mistakes.

Some language mistakes, but the message was clear.

Confusing writing. Ideas weren't very clear due to language mistakes.

How do you check your writing to see if it's ok?

Unusual design. Used text, drawings and/or graphics and colours.

Listened and discussed ideas given by some members of the group.

Simple layout. Used text, colours and/or drawings.

Discussed ideas given by one member of the group.

Confusing layout. Used text and colours.

What will you do differently on your next poster?

Difficulty in listening to ideas and coming to a final conclusion.

Note down 2 positive aspects of working in group.

25%

25%

25%

25%

FINAL POINTS

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EVALUATION RUBRIC by ana.nobrega4 on Genially

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Evaluation criteria April Fool's Day Poster Student: Teacher: Ana Maria Costa 8E 1 Beginning 1 Exemplary 4 Developing 2 Accomplished 3 Observations Points CONTENT WRITING CREATIVITY TEAMWORK Everyone worked for the good of the team, listened to and shared ideas. Unusual design. Used text, drawings, graphics, colours. Clear writing.

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Great ideas to introduce your lesson topic :-)

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Are you fed up with using the same old methods to introduce your lesson topic? Look no further! Here are 35 ways to kick off your lesson. How many have you tried?

Using an anecdote
Example topic: idioms
You know I play football, right? No? Well I love it. Anyway, I went into town to buy some new boots the other day. I'm in Sports Direct, and I see these Nike boots that I really like, they're the new model. The assistant comes over and is like

"can I help you?"

And I'm "yeah. Can you tell me how much these are?"

She says "They're £500"

And I said "£500???? That's an arm and a leg!"

Here's some example flashcards I made for teaching idioms. These could also be used for a 'dingbats' warmer (see number 22).

Cuisenaire Rods creation
Example topic: Tourist attractions
Give each pair of students a bunch of Cuisenaire rods.

"Work in pairs. Use the rods to create a model of a well-known tourist attraction in [town/city/country/continent]. You have 2 minutes"

Students then look at each model and guess the attraction.

Cuisenaire Rods model

Create your own model using rods. Elicit what it represents.
(Here is my example of the UK political parties and their share of the vote, for a recent lesson on politics)
Musical "Guess the topic"
Example topic: family and relationships
Think of 3 or 4 songs which in some way reference the theme/topic of your lesson
Avril Lavigne - Skater Boi ("he was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it any more obvious?")The Hollies - He ain't heavy (he's my brother)Baz Luhman - Everybody's free to wear sunscreen ("maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't...")Ozzy Ozbourne - Mama I'm coming home
Play students a relevant segment of the song (where something about the topic is referenced). Ask them to write notes on what they hear, compare notes, and guess the topic of the lesson.

Family fortunes (my favourite)
Example topic: British customs and culture / stereotypes
Create a fake family fortunes style question:

"We asked 100 people from England, Scotland and Wales - which things make you a typical Brit?"

Board the following

1 ________________ 2 ____________ 3_____________ 4____________ 5____________

Students work in groups to prepare answers. Make it a little game (they win points for each correct answer).
Five possible answers for the above: queuing, drinking tea, talking about the weather, eating fish and chips, having bad teeth.
Picture parts
Example topic: animals
Make some extreme close-up pictures of animals. Pass them around and get the students to guess what they are and hence the topic of the lesson

Picture association "Guess the topic"
Example topic: 'once in a lifetime'
Gather pictures of things that people MIGHT do only once in a lifetime.

Examples: drive a Ferrari, skydive, run a marathon, win the lottery(?), see a shooting star(?).

Board the pictures or pass them round, students discuss each one and guess the common theme.

Complete the sentence
Topic: Making apologies
Think of a relevant starter sentence and have students complete in their own words

"The most common time to say sorry is...."
Topic: 2nd conditionals
"If I looked like David Beckham, I would..."

Me/not me
Example topic: Food and drink
Get students to create a table with two categories

Read a list of different foods/drinks. Students write each word you dictate into their table in the correct category depending on their tastes. They then compare with their partner/group to see if they are similar or different.

What are they saying?

Display a picture of someone on the board. Give students a speech bubble in groups, or draw a speech bubble for each group on the board. Students write what the person is saying
Example topic: World Cup
You could also do a caption competition
Example topic: hobbies and interests
Me and my partner questions

Make a series of questions or statements related to the topic. Have students answer the questions themselves. Then, they ask their partner the questions and compare answers. They could do this with two different partners to add more speaking. They could even predict their partners answers first, and see if they were right.

Classic 'Find someone who...' mingle
Example topic: fears/phobias
Students walk around asking questions to classmates to find out information. Compare answers with their partner afterwards, and feedback as a class.

Slow reveal...

Start drawing a picture on the board, but only one line of it. Have students guess what it is

'A snake', 'a line', etc.
Example topic: Castles in Britain
Encourage creativity. Add the next line, encourages guesses, keep doing this until eventually a student guesses the picture/lesson topic
Example topic: hobbies and interests
Realia

Bring in 5 items that represent your own hobbies, can students guess pastimes?

Mine - Bit of wool (knitting), keyboard (blogging), crossword, binoculars (birdwatching), rubber chicken (making jokes)

what happens next?

Show a relevant video, pause it at a key point and have students predict what might happen.

Example topic: using modal verbs to express probability

Pause clip after 7 seconds. Students discuss what might happen. Give some process language (that player might... it might... maybe... the ball/the player/a fan will... etc). Or give them 3 options for what might happen. Play clip to see if prediction was correct (note: last 10 seconds of this video has some swearing).

Use authentic listening
Example topic: feelings/emotions
Play students a relevant short clip of a movie/TV. Only let them hear the sound. Create a listening task relevant to the topic.

Listen to the following clip. Write down any emotions you feel the speakers express.

Or

Listen to the clip. Circle all the emotions that speakers show

Excitement anger patience shock humour etc

Now let them watch the clip and write down any extra emotions they 'see'

Make your own audio
Example topic: giving advice
Create a short listening text as a topic lead in.

Matching quiz
Example topic: passives
This is a good way to introduce target language straight away. Teaching English Grammar (Scrivener) gives plenty of examples for how to present target language, I recommend taking a look
The light bulb was invented by... Alexander Graham Bell The telephone was invented by... Tim Berners-Lee The internet was invented by... Thomas Edison
Match the inventions to the inventor...

Etc...

Boggle guess the word
Example topic: Solar System - the planets
Use the letters from the lesson topic to make a little game

Moving true or false

Check what your students know about a topic with quick fire true or false questions. However, make it more exciting. All students, stand up. If they think the answer is true, they stand on the left of the classroom. False, on the right. If they get it wrong, they are out (they sit back down). Continue until one student remains. They are the winner, reward them with... a round of applause.

Moving agree/disagree

This just makes warm up discussion questions more fun and mixes up speakers. Make different corners of the room different opinions - e.g.

Stand near the door if you agree

Stand in the corner over there (point) if you strongly agree

Stand near Pedro's desk if you disagree

Etc

Read a statement, students move to the relevant corner, then give them 1 or 2 minutes to discuss the statement with whoever is in the corner. If there is only one person in a particular space then you could bounce a few ideas from each corner as a class discussion, or send a student with a different opinion over to debate it.

Dingbats

These are fun drawings that represent a word.

Example topic: technology.

Draw a few dingbats on the board. Students guess the words then guess what the theme of the lesson might be.

(smart phone)
Example topic: crime and punishment
Discussion questions

Q1: Do you agree with the death penalty?

Q2: 'life means life'. What does this refer to, and do you agree?

Etc.

Secret realia

Bring in objects in a 'santa's sack'. Put the sack on the table. Allows certain students to feel the objects through the sack. They work with a partner/team to guess the objects and the common theme between each object.

'Coffeepotting'
Example topic: television
This can be done in many ways, but a good one is by providing a short text where the target word is missing, and has been replaced with the word 'Coffeepot'. Students guess the correct word

Coffeepot was invented in the 1920s, but became popular after World War 2. At first, coffeepots were black and white, but then it changed to colour. Coffeepot is a form of entertainment. These days, almost every household has a coffeepot. (etc...)

Verbal 'coffeepotting'
Example topic: MacDonalds
Again the target word has been replaced by the word 'Coffeepot'. Students ask questions to help guess what word 'Coffeepot' actually is...

Student: is coffeepot a noun?

Teacher: yes...

Student: can coffeepot be a verb too?

Teacher: no

Student: is coffeepot an object?

Teacher: well, you can have a coffeepot, yes.

Student: is it a place?

Teacher: is what a place?

Student: sorry, is coffeepot a place?

Etc...

Complete the dialogue (similar to 'what are they saying'!)
Example topic: how and when to apologise
Put pictures on the board of random interactions between people. Have students create suitable dialogues. Choose pictures that will direct to the topic...

Man: _______________________________

Woman: ____________________________

Mnemonic race
Example topic: Feelings
If introducing a familiar topic, a way to activate prior knowledge might be for students to create a Mnemonic from the topic word, using associated words

F -antastic

E -xcellent

E - lated

L -azy

I - nsecure

N- auseous!

G- utted

S -tupid

Whiteboard race

Divide students into two teams, and divide the whiteboard down the middle. Students line up in two teams. The first person in each line has a pen. When you say the topic, they run to the board, write a word related to the topic, pass the pen to the next person then join the back of their line. The next person then writes another word and passes the pen on. Do this for 2 minutes as a race. If one team writes a word that the other team already have they get no points. Again, checks prior knowledge.

Categorising
Example topic: health and fitness
Display a set of familiar words related (or less so) to the topic. Ask students to divide the words into at least 3 different categories. Conduct class feedback/discussion and have students share their categories and explain why they chose them.

Smoking, running, drugs, red wine, football, movies, reading, clubbing, vitamins, snakes, vegetables, birdwatching
Things that benefit your health Things that damage your health unrelated words
Possible student created categories:

(playing) football clubbing (too much) snakes

Smoking (relieve stress) drugs

Reading (relaxation) etc

With this activity, you'll be surprised at some of the categories. Also, it leads to instant discussion:

'Snakes are not unrelated, they could seriously damage your health'

'Smoking is good for you?! No way!'

Etc

What does that mean?
Example topic: lookalikes
Board the lesson topic. Have learners write a short definition of it. I did this yesterday and this happened:

Definitions...

Group 1: like a look (?)

Group 2: to look like something or someone

Group 3: look and act like something

Group 4: be person not you famous (?)

Organise and discuss

Think of a statement related to the topic. Get lots of small slips of paper. Write one word of the statement on each slip. Jumble up the words. Hand one set of the words to each group. The group work together to put the statement in the correct order, then discuss their opinions on it.

If the topic is particularly familiar or the learners are high level, get them to think of the statement and create the organisation task (statement minimum 8 words or something).
For general discussion...
odd one out

Board 4 or 5 common words related to the topic. Have students decide which word is the odd one out and why. Example topic: jobs/ambitions

Fireman Doctor Teacher Nurse
For guessing the topic...
Student: the odd one out is the teacher as the others save lives
Example topic: Endangered animals
Same thing, but include one word that is not related at all, and see if students mention the topic when they share their opinion!

T-rex dodo rhino woolly mammoth

Student: rhino is the odd one out as the others are extinct

(leads into a discussion on things like threats rhinos might face and introducing term 'endangered'.

A conundrum
Topic: giving opinions
Pose a difficult question to the students which may be a topic of debate.

Recently, a teacher recommended the 'do or die' videos by National Geographic. You'll find plenty of these on youtube. Choose one relevant to your topic.. here's an example of one.

Hangman!

I really hope you've found 1 new idea here. Please comment and add your own ways to introduce a topic, let's get from 35 to 100!

Update: I've added some further ideas in this new post.

Categories: General, Lesson Ideas, lists, other

Tags: British Council, efl, elt, elt games, ESL, introduce a lesson, intros, lead in, lesson introduction, lesson list, lesson planning, tefl, warmers

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Are you fed up with using the same old methods to introduce your lesson topic? Look no further! Here are 35 ways to kick off your lesson. How many have you tried? Using an anecdote Example topic: idioms You know I play football, right? No? Well I love it.

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Conjunto de vídeos de sensibilização para questões do ambiente. Os vídeos contam com a participação (de voz) de atores conhecidos.

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Inspirational Quotes - Motivational Quotes - Leadership Quotes

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Find the perfect quotation from our hand-picked collection of inspiring quotes by hundreds of authors.

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Este site permite aos alunos fazer exercícios de forma autónoma, uma vez que lhes dá feedback imediato relativamente aos que vão fazendo.
Também é útil porque nos permite descarregar os ficheiros áudio, caso queiramos fazer o listening na sala de aula.

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Listen to the conversation and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

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Board Game

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Textos sobre diversos temas; testemunhos de vida;....

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The Foundation for a Better Life | Pass It On.com

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1. Criei um Qr Code com texto. Copiei as primeiras frases do texto que vamos ler, mas com todas as palavras juntas (sem espaços nem pontuação).
2. Os alunos leem o código e devem escrever as frases no caderno com a pontuação correta, identificando o assunto do texto.
3. Confirmam se as frases estão corretamente escritas e pontuadas, lendo o texto no manual.

Partilho o slide do PPt que utilizei.

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Uma atividade com Qr Codes em sala de aula

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Uma atividade com Qr Codes em sala de aula

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Partilho convosco uma atividade que fiz a semana passada com os alunos.
No âmbito de um exercício de vocabulário do manual, no qual tinham que registar o 'meaning', 'part of speech', synonym, 'opposite' das 4 palavras que estavam no manual, disponibilizei-lhes este slide no PPt que preparei para a aula e os alunos fizeram o exercício, a partir da leitura dos códigos Qr.
Cada um dos códigos remete para as diferentes palavras num dicionário online.
(Se clicarem na imagem, ela aumenta e facilita-vos a leitura dos códigos. :-)
Ana Costa

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Ethical Guidelines on the use of AI in Education

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Ethical Guidelines on the use of AI in Education

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Se quisermos proporcionar feedback escrito.

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The magic of QR codes in the classroom - Karen Mensing

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Pequenos vídeos de sensibilização; para início / fim de aula; para promover debates, ...

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Pass It On TV Commercials - Inspirational | The Foundation for a Better Life

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK FOR A DAILY DOSE OF POSITIVITY

Click the like button above to access our facebook page, then 'like us' to get a dose of positivity in your feed.

DAILY INSPIRATION

Get PassItOn's daily inspirational quote & weekly blog in your inbox each weekday! Enter your email below to subscribe. It's free!

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Find amazing inspirational stories broadcast on television about the value of good character. The Pass it On collection of inspiring motivational stories.

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Warm up / Introduzir unidade nova

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SMARTMILL (SMART HOUSE 2) – ENGLISH VERSION - REMA 1000

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Do the preparation exercise before you listen. Then, look at the map and listen to the directions while you do the other exercises.

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Board Game

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A National Geographic tem um site dedicado à educação e, em particular, ao ensino da língua inglesa. Tem materiais interessantes, de qualidade e oferece também formação gratuita. Acho que vale a pena explorar :-)

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As a teacher, do you ever have that feeling of mild panic that you've gone in too high with a text? I certainly have. Oh, no, you think, the students are out of their depth here. Should I abandon this or persevere and hope we get through it somehow? You decide to let them struggle on, because it's part of the prepared sequence of lessons. But the whole experience is deeply unsatisfying. What's more, it makes you fearful of the next time it might happen.

In this post I'd like to allay some of those fears and outline simple strategies we can use to help students navigate challenging reading texts. The underlying principle behind the strategies is to involve learners more before and during reading rather than leaving them to negotiate the text alone. I'm going use a reading lesson from Level 3 (A1 - moderate beginners) of the Primary series LOOK as a reference point (see the page below).

Strategy 1 - Make them want to read the text

First, read the text yourself and think about what the purpose of the text is and what you learned from it.

You can see this text is about how kids in different countries travel to school. You learned that for some kids it's not an easy journey. So based on this you now need to think of ways that will give the students both a destination and a sense of anticipation and excitement before reading the text.

Ask each student to write down one way that kids travel to school. They read them out. Then you say, OK let's see how many of these we can find in the text. This question can go alongside the focus question on the page, asking where the children in the photo are.

Strategy 2 - Animate the reading with mime and expression

Read the text aloud to the students, asking them to follow as you read. Animate your delivery using mime and facial expressions. You'll need to think about how you'll do this before the class. For example, how could you animate the second sentence "ln big cities it is dangerous because there are a lot of cars"?

One way would be to mime biting your fingernails on the word 'dangerous' and then mime someone waiting to cross a busy road with cars whizzing by (you can follow them with your eyes and make car zooming noises).

Strategy 3 - Ask and encourage questions during reading

As you read, ask questions to check comprehension and to keep the learners engaged. Think about questions you could ask to stimulate engagement after the third sentence, "In Caracas, Venezuela, some children don't travel through the city; they travel above the city in cable cars".

The questions should be simple. For example, 'Why don't they travel through the city?' Or, 'Can someone draw a cable car on the board?' etc.

Also, encourage questions from the learners and praise them when they ask questions. This gets them into the habit of asking. Questions can be open e.g. 'Any questions?' or more targeted e.g. 'Does anyone have a question about the subway?'

Strategy 4 - Repeat the text

Check the answers to the pre-reading questions. Then get them to listen and read again. This time use the pre-recorded version of the text. Listening and reading are fantastic for building reading speed and for helping with word recognition. As the students read, ask them to annotate the text with a ? for any words or sentences they don't understand. Then get them to ask their questions at the end.

Finally, now that you've accompanied them on this journey through the text, learners should be much better equipped to answer the 'after reading' comprehension and personalization questions. (see questions 3 and 4 below)

From LOOK, level 3

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Help! My students are finding reading lessons too hard | National Geographic Learning: In Focus

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As a teacher, do you ever have that feeling of mild panic that you've gone in too high with a text? I certainly have. Oh, no, you think, the students are out of their depth here. Should I abandon this or persevere and hope we get through it somehow?

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Recortei os cartões e utilizo mais do que uma vez, no início da aula, antes de se sentarem, para encontrarem o par correspondente e fazerem uma atividade com o novo par desse dia.
Coloco as imagens correspondentes às palavras espalhadas numa mesa e os alunos têm que identificar a que corresponde às suas palavras.

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Inteligência Artificial como facilitadora da Aprendizagem

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Inteligência Artificial como facilitadora da Aprendizagem

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Potenciar o ChatGPT para melhorar a Aprendizagem: 12 Técnicas e Práticas Eficazes

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The 8 Elements of Critical Thinking - Educators Technology

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Elements of critical thinking are the topic of our blog post today! Navigating our digitally saturated world feels like wading through an ocean of information. We’ve reached an unprecedented point in history where we’re drowning in data—accessible with just a tap or a click. The very tool that’s rev…

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Ideas for Using QR Codes in the classroom

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Bom para introduzir tema sobre as tecnologias, por exemplo.

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SMART HOUSE – ENGLISH VERSION – REMA 1000

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Listen to the teacher giving students advice for exams and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

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Board game

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Nice to start the week with :-)

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For me, the best classroom activities are usually the most simple, requiring little or no preparation time and few or no materials. They are activities that can be adapted to use effectively with groups of different sizes, levels or ages and they can be used again and again even with the same students.
The Weekend Game
'The Weekend Game' falls into all of those categories. It's an activity I've been doing for decades. I didn't invent it but I think I might have given it its name, just so that I could tell other teachers about it because it's good!

Preparation time: 0
Materials: 0
Suitable for: Most ages, most levels
Playing for the first time
The first time you play, it's a good idea to demonstrate the activity with a volunteer student and to write a few rules on the board. It's also a good idea to explain that although you won't be interrupting the activity to correct their English, but you will be monitoring them and making a note of any errors to be dealt with later*.
How to play
Put students into pairs, A and B and explain that they are going to do a speaking task. Student A has to tell Student B how they spent the previous weekend. It's a good idea to write an actual time frame on the board such as Friday 18.00 - Sunday 23.00.

Explain that students have a limited time. You can decide how long but 4 or 5 minutes works well. The object of the game is for Student A to start at Friday 18.00 and to get as far as possible through the weekend and as near as possible to Sunday 23.00. The object of the game for Student B is to stop their partner from progressing through the weekend by interrupting to ask questions. A typical dialogue might be something like this:

Student A: I had dinner at nine.
Student B: Who made the dinner?
Student A: Me.
Student B: What did you have?
Student A: Spaghetti. After that I watched TV for an hour.
Student B: Where did you watch TV?

Keep a note of the time or appoint a student to be the 'Time Keeper'. When the time is up, ask each Student A to tell you how far they got in their weekend. Then students change roles and play again, with Student B talking about their weekend and Student A interrupting to ask questions. The 'winner' is the person who manages to get closest to the end of the weekend.
A couple of simple rules
1 Questions have to be asked in full but answers can be shortened.
2 Students have permission to invent their weekends. I usually encourage my students to make things up, especially teenagers who might not want to talk about their personal life.
3 Give students some thinking time before they start speaking!
Adapting the game
1 Shorten the time span being described or change 'the weekend' to the previous day for classes which fall later in the week.
2 Do the activity in small groups. One student describes their time and the others take turns to interrupt and ask questions.
3 Give younger students/lower levels 'prompts' on the board (What, Who, Why ... etc.) to help them think of questions to ask.
Follow up
1 *Don't forget to give students feedback when you finish. I usually make a note of glaring errors and then address them with some board work without drawing attention to 'who' said 'what'.
2 These follow-up writing activities work well:

Students write an email to a third person describing their partners' weekends.
Students write a list of (ten) things their partner did at the weekend.
Students write a list of (five) questions to ask their partner about their weekend.
Post script
Don't let the simplicity of this activity fool you. It provides an excellent opportunity to get students talking in a controlled environment but in a fun way. They also revise the past simple and in particular 'question forms'.

It's also worth mentioning that students from all kinds of groups have asked me if we can play 'The Weekend Game' in class. That fact alone should be reason enough to give it a go. I hope it works as well for you as it does for me! Good luck.
Katherine Bilsborough is an experienced teacher, teacher trainer, materials writer, curriculum developer and regular contributor of lesson plans and articles to the TeachingEnglish website

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Katherine Bilsborough: A simple idea - The Weekend Game

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A simple IdeaFor me, the best classroom activities are usually the most simple, requiring little or no preparation time and few or no materials. They are activities that can be adapted to use effectively with groups of different sizes, levels or ages and they can be used again and again even with the same students.The Weekend Game'The Weekend Game' falls into all of those categories.

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Este foi o dicionário que utilizei. Conhecem mais algum online?

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Inscreva-se gratuitamente e acesse conteúdos exclusivos:

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Dicionário Cambridge: Significados, Definições e Traduções

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O dicionário e dicionário de sinônimos mais popular para alunos de inglês. Significados e definições de palavras com pronúncias e traduções.

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Mais um Webinar muito interessante e que nos orienta em muitas reflexões...

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Ferramentas digitais suportadas pela Inteligência Artificial para conceção de conteúdos aprendizagem

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Examples of Critical Thinking Questions for Students

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A platform that provides reviews of educational web tools and apps to help educators, teachers, and students integrate technology in education.

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Exit tickets
(Comecei a utilizar o ano passado e acho muito interessante e útil para recolher informação em determinados momentos.)

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Este site oferece um leque variado de imagens interessantes para promover a oralidade. Cada imagem tem um conjunto de questões associadas para nos ajudar a explorar a imagem. :-)

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Once Upon a Picture - Images to Inspire - Teaching Resources

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Once Upon a Picture - Images to Inspire - Teaching Resources

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Listen to the radio programme and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

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Mind maps can be used for a multitude of purposes. This article outlines how they can effectively be used to help support and develop students' writing skills.

A mind map is ...

The advantages of mind maps

How to make mind maps with your students

Choosing a topic

Note making

Feedback

Organising mind maps

Writing

Continuation

A mind map is ...
A mind map, or spidergram, is a strategy for making notes on a topic, prior to writing. It is a structured strategy, which shows the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas, as opposed to an unstructured strategy, such as brainstorming, in which students produce notes at random on paper.

Having an organised display of information from the outset of the writing process may help some students, as it is more easily converted into a draft, whereas in brainstorming, the random recording of ideas might lead to problems with the structure of students' texts.

The advantages of mind maps
Making a mind map should be a spontaneous pre-writing activity. Students start with a topic at the centre and then generate a web of ideas from that, developing and relating these ideas as their mind makes associations.

Mind maps work well as their visual design enables students to see the relationship between ideas, and encourages them to group certain ideas together as they proceed. Mind maps work especially well when created in groups, since the discussion this engenders aids the production of ideas, and makes the task livelier and more enjoyable.

How to make mind maps with your students
Choosing a topic
Traditionally, students are given a topic to write on by the teacher. However, with certain classes, students may prefer to nominate the topic themselves. This can lead to greater interest in the task on the part of the student, as well as, perhaps, greater knowledge of the topic under study.

The mind map strategy can be used to explore almost any topic, though discursive essays and narrative work particularly well as they front students' ideas and lend themselves to discussing ideas in groups.

I usually start by writing the topic on the board. In the last writing class I taught, with a group of upper-intermediate students, I chose a discursive essay with the title "Why do people start smoking?" I chose this genre as we had recently been looking at the language used to give reasons and explanations. The discursive text is useful in highlighting this feature of English, and in raising awareness of the noun phrase, a particularly tricky area for intermediate students.

Note making
Once the topic has been introduced, I encourage my students to close their eyes and think about it for a minute or two, in silence. They then have two minutes in which to note down their ideas. If they do not know a word in English, they can write it in L1 at this stage, as dictionaries or too much teacher intervention tend to halt and inhibit the creative flow.

Then, working in groups, they can compare and discuss their ideas, perhaps adding to their mind maps as they go. This stage also provides the opportunity for peer teaching, as other students may be available to provide the English word for the idea that was noted down in L1.

Feedback
The next stage, in which the teacher makes a collective mind map on the board, is optional, but is useful for students who are new to the idea of mind maps, or for weak classes. It is also in this feedback stage that any remaining language problems can be ironed out. As the teacher elicits students' ideas, and reformulates expressions or corrects, students will learn how to express their ideas in English. Such personalisation is said to aid vocabulary learning.

Download an example of the mind map at this stage 90k

The map is fluid and changeable, and new connections or subgroups can be made, or branches added, as the students make suggestions. The end result should be an organised display of information, showing the central topic, and a number of subtopics and further points that stem from it.

Organising mind maps
In the next stage the students organise their mind maps into a linear format to decide the best way in which to present their points. They should first think about the overall structure, i.e. the order in which to relay the information, and then focus on the precise function each paragraph will have in their final text, as this helps to clarify their writing. This can be done in groups, or as a class with the teacher leading the discussion.

However it is carried out, it is important to provide a context and audience. I told my class, who were writing about drugs, that they were writing for their college magazine. Having an audience in mind helps students to decide which ideas are most important, and also helps students to choose the appropriate style.

Writing
Students should then begin to write their compositions, working in pairs if they wish. After two paragraphs, they should exchange their compositions, so they become readers of each other's work. This allows for feedback, and possible re-writing. Once they have finished, they should again exchange their texts. This gives their texts a communicative purpose, as well as developing an awareness of the fact that a writer is always producing something to be read by someone else, rather than for the display of writing alone.

Continuation
Once students are familiar with the idea of making mind maps, they can be encouraged to use this skill for further writing activities. It is a useful technique and often improves the clarity and organisation of student texts.

Further Reading
'Process Writing' by Ron White and Valerie Arndt
'How to Teach Writing' by Jeremy Harmer
'Writing' by Tricia Hedge
'Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers' by Michael McCarthy

Vanessa Steele, British Council, Barcelona

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The advantages of mind maps How to make mind maps with your students Choosing a topic Note making Feedback Organising mind maps Writing Continuation A mind map is ... A mind map, or spidergram, is a strategy for making notes on a topic, prior to writing.

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FAN-TÁS-TI-CA!! Um mundo de ideias e utilidades!

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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Join over a million teachers saving hours of time using the #1 AI Platform for Education, MagicSchool, to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more!

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Partilho convosco um exit ticket que criei o ano passado.

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Save Ralph - A short film with Taika Waititi

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Interesting and fun ideas :-)

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A partilha da experiência de uma professora.

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Use this technique to show you what students are thinking and what they have learned at the end of a lesson. Before students leave (for recess, lunch, the end of the day, their next class, or are transitioning to another subject area), they have to hand you a "ticket" filled out with an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or a response to what they've learned.

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Muito interessante!

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Worksheet & audio

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Mind maps - English for beginners. Creative way to teach  or learn English. Lesson 2

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However, with the realisation that all learners are, to some extent, visual learners, the focus on process rather than product, and with increasing emphasis on developing organisational and thinking skills alongside language skills, visual tools such as graphic organisers are being increasingly employed.

Advantages
A graphic organiser (also known as a concept map, mind map or relationship chart) is usually a one-page form with blank areas for learners to complete with ideas and information which are connected in some way. Some organisers are very specific; others are versatile. Often, the information on a graphic organiser could just as easily be written on a form or list, but the organiser offers certain advantages:

Graphic organisers provide the learner with a different way of seeing and thinking about information.

Language barriers (words, grammar) are removed, so that learners can focus on the connections between information.

The visual display conveys complex information in a simple-to-understand manner. Showing (as opposed to telling) how information is structured is a way of facilitating understanding. In most cases, dual-presentation (visual representation plus is more successful than either approach alone, regardless of whether the student is a visual or auditory learner.

Analytical, critical, planning and creative thinking skills are developed. To create the map, the learner has to identify the relationships between items, examine the meanings attached to them, and prioritise the information and decide where each item should be placed on the map. Students are more likely to become strategic learners.

A lot of information can be converted into a structured, easy-to-read, graphic display. A large amount of information can be displayed to provide the "big picture" of a topic.

Changes can easily be made to allow learners to take different perspectives and clarify their thoughts. Organisers are easy to edit, revise, and add to.

Creating the map helps the learner to generate ideas and see the possibilities associated with a topic as the map grows.

Graphic organisers have multiple uses. They can be used to structure writing projects, summarise reading texts, organise and store vocabulary, and help in problem solving, decision making, studying, planning research and brainstorming.

Subject-matter is comprehended faster and more efficiently. Because the demands of processing the language are reduced, content can be considered at more sophisticated levels.

While organisers often represent an individual's arrangement of information, they can also be used at group or class levels. A class flow-chart of the storyline of a class reader may help all the students to follow the plot.

Since most graphic organisers use short words or phrases, and sometimes drawings, they can be used with all levels and with young and less-able learners.

The teacher is given a record of the learner's thinking process. Graphic organisers can be used to assess students' knowledge and understand of the content, thinking skills and creativity.

Types and functions
Graphic organisers can be classified either in terms of their design or their function. Functionally, graphic organisers can be grouped into two categories: those that depict basic information structures (whole-to-part, cause/effect, etc.) and those that serve specialised needs (project planning, goal setting). For the language classroom, the most common functions are:

Describing

Comparing and contrasting

Classifying

Sequencing

Cause and effect

Decision making

There are a wide variety of designs for depicting the same basic information structures, but all serving the same basic purpose of visually revealing to learners how the information is structured. Some common designs include:

Clock, Cluster/Word Web, Describing Wheel, E-Chart, Fact and Opinion, Five W's Chart, Flow Chart, Four-Column Chart, Goal-Reasons Web, Hierarchy chart, Idea Wheel, KWL/KWHL Chart, Ladder, Observation Chart, Persuasion Map, Planning Chart, Progress Report, Sequence Chart, Spider Map, Step-by-Step Chart, Story Map, T-Chart, Time Line, Tree Chart, Venn Diagram.

Choosing an organiser
Choosing the appropriate organiser involves consideration of function, purpose, the nature of the material/information, the classroom activity and personal preference. Some initial questions to consider are:

Is only one topic involved, or are there many?

Is it a complex topic?

Is the information linear or cyclical?

Are there similarities and differences, pros and cons?

Is time involved?Are there hierarchical levels?

Six common designs and their functions are :

spider - adding more details to a single topic

fishbone - cause-and-effect factors associated with a complex topic

cluster - a network of ideas based on a stimulus

cycle - recurring cycle of events, with no beginning and no end,

continuum - topic with a definite beginning and end and a sequence in between.

Venn diagram - similarities and differences

Download visual table 21k pdf

There is a very useful flowchart of how to choose a graphic organiser on the Enchanted Learning website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/flowchart/

The teacher's role
Learners need to be trained to use graphic organisers and it is the teacher's job to introduce them gradually and systematically, beginning with simple mind maps to brainstorm topics and KWL charts to provide a purpose for reading a text.

KWL chart

Other typical uses include planning writing (the map or chart may be included in a portfolio), recording vocabulary thematically or in lexical sets, following the characters or story in a narrative and breaking down the content of a text.
Responsibility for graphic organisers can gradually be turned over to the learners. Typically, this happens in stages:

The teacher constructs the graphic organiser, provides students with a copy, and tells them how and when to complete it.

The teacher and students co-construct graphic organisers showing important ideas as the content is explored.

Teams of students construct graphic organisers cooperatively with the teacher acting as a guide.

The students construct graphic organisers independently.

In the early stages, it is a good idea for the teacher to keep a selection of organisers at hand so that learners have a choice and can experiment with a wider range of designs.
Graphic organisers are as useful for teachers as they are for learners. They are a valuable tool in lesson planning, syllabus design, report writing and research as well as providing an insight into the individual learner's thought processes and learning style.

A graphic organiser generator is available on the Teachnology website:
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/graphic_org/

Where to find graphic organisers
There are numerous educational websites which offer a wide range of graphic organisers to download (usually in pdf format) free of charge, with permission to print and copy for classroom use and advice on how to choose and best utilise them.

Written by Steve Darn, Freelance Trainer, Izmir, Turkey

The plans and worksheets are downloadable and in pdf format. Where indicated, there is also audio available to be downloaded. Audio is supplied in mp3 format. To download audio, right click on audio file in the Attachment below and save to your computer. If you have difficulty downloading the materials see the download section of the Help page.

Copyright - please read
All the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other web site without written permission from the BBC and British Council. If you have any questions about the use of these materials please email us at: teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org

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However, with the realisation that all learners are, to some extent, visual learners, the focus on process rather than product, and with increasing emphasis on developing organisational and thinking skills alongside language skills, visual tools such as graphic organisers are being increasingly employed.

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Potenciar o ChatGPT para melhorar a Aprendizagem: 12 Técnicas e Práticas Eficazes

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Mais uma ideias sobre a utilização de 'exit tickets'.

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1. Ask "What stuck with you today?"

Find out what made the most impact with one simple question. Sticky notes are fantastic for exit tickets; just have each student post theirs to the board on their way out the door.

2. Lunch questions

In elementary classrooms, there's no need to wait until the end of the day. Try using exit tickets before lunch or recess. Kids too young to write? Have them tell you their answer on their way out the door.

3. Have them "tweet" it

This cute "Twitter" board is sure to appeal to young social media fans. Laminate the cards so they can be reused each day.

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4. Gauge understanding with emojis

Here's another way to help today's kids connect and share their progress. Have them circle an emoji on this free printable and explain why it reflects their understanding.

5. Record a Flip video

Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a totally free online tool for schools, where kids record video answers to a question posted by their teacher. This is such a cool exit ticket idea for virtual classrooms, though it works in face-to-face classrooms too.

6. Collect exit tickets on a traffic light

Have students post their tickets on a traffic light to indicate whether they're doing fine or struggling a bit. That way, you can focus on those who need more help first.

7. Give them a prompt

Sometimes exit tickets are very specific, but other times you just want to know what students' general reaction was to the class that day. We like this simple option that offers a few prompts to get them started.

8. Use the "Post-It, Prove It" method of exit tickets

Here's an example of a more specific exit question. Try to ask questions that have more than one right answer, so students don't just copy each other's responses.

9. Let them teach others

Kids often surprise us by looking at things in entirely different ways but still getting the correct answers. Their thoughts on a subject may give you ideas for helping other students who need a bit more instruction.

10. Take a poll

Online polls make terrific exit tickets. Poll Everywhere is free to use, and kids can text their answers. Fun!

11. Encourage self-reflection

Valuable as they are to teachers, exit tickets are also important for helping students self-assess. This version lets them reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement.

12. Tell two facts and a fib

We love this interactive ticket idea! Kids write down two facts about today's subject and one fib. They trade with another student to see if they can guess the incorrect fact before turning them in.

13. Try them in any class

Oui, oui, les "billets de sortie" work in French class, or Chemistry, or Art History ... every teacher should try them.

14. Keep an exit ticket journal

Give exit tickets a bit more substance by having students keep them in a journal. This gives them a nice record of learning and can help when it comes time to review for tests or write a paper.

15. Post exit tickets on Padlet

Think of Padlet as an online bulletin board. Teachers post a question or topic, and kids add their answers. See our review of Padlet here, then give it a try.

16. Print exit tickets on sticky notes

Did you know you can easily print on sticky notes? This game changer means you can easily customize exit tickets for any topic.

17. Write a 3, 2, 1 list

The 3, 2, 1 method allows kids to self-assess, but it also lets them indicate a deeper level of interest in the topic at hand.

18. Make it a mini-assessment

You'll have to prep these in advance, but an assessment exit ticket is sort of like a no-stress quiz. Kids simply do their best, without worrying about grades, and you get a better feel for their progress.

19. Fill up a shopping cart

Here's a chance to really see what their takeaways were from a lesson. This will let you see if your learning objectives are coming through as they should.

20. Follow science lab with exit tickets

Hands-on science exploration should be followed up with written observations and conclusions. Use exit tickets to check for understanding.

21. Sum it up with one sentence

Help your students distill what the day's lesson was all about with a one-sentence summary. This requires students to prioritize the most important elements of the activity and reveals whether they are getting the "big picture."

22. Keep it simple

Sometimes you look out at your students and you see a lot of blank stares. When this happens, take a quick moment to use this exit slip. It will help you assess who's on board and who needs further instruction.

23. Change it up

If you always use the same exit tickets after a lesson, your students might go on autopilot. Change up your format by asking students how they're doing in a variety of ways.

24. Match your exit tickets with your teaching philosophy

These colorful prompts were developed to support the Habits of Mind framework. Choose from questions that encourage your students to observe, reflect, and explore what they're learning.

25. Collect answers on Google Forms

Teaching online or looking to save paper? Collect your tickets using Google Forms instead. This is especially useful if you're already using Google Classroom.

26. Take time to analyze exit tickets

Make sure your exit tickets are worth the effort. Spend a little time at the end of each class or day looking over student responses, and make notes about any needs they indicate.

Exit tickets are just one type of formative assessment. Check out our guide to formative assessment.

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26 Exit Ticket Ideas and Examples That Give Immediate Feedback

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Use exit tickets to check student understanding of what they learned and get immediate feedback on that day's lesson.

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Worksheet & audio

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Sugere 3 atividades interessantes que podemos sempre adaptar ao nível de ensino que tivermos.

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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As extreme weather events including forest fires, heatwaves and floods intensify, our futures are ever more compromised and threatened by the climate emergency. As teachers, we have an enduring influence on the values and attitudes of our learners. The language classroom offers enormous scope for educating our learners with the language and subject knowledge to help them recognise the issues around climate change. It can also help them think about ways in which society can begin to enact the changes needed to address the environmental crisis.

But with such an extensive and crucial topic, how do we know where to begin? Encourage learners to think deeply about the causes and effects of climate change. But they should also think about positive change and potential solutions. This can help to ensure that they don't end up feeling disheartened and overwhelmed. Here are 3 activities to try in your English language classroom to help learners understand and explore issues around climate change.

An activity for young learners

Making a smaller footprint

This activity introduces the concept of what it means to leave a carbon footprint. It also encourages learners to think about ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint to contribute less to climate change.

Begin by having your learners stamp their footprint on a large piece of paper or card. You can do this by brushing paint on the bottom of each child's foot and then have them press their foot onto the middle of the paper. Alternatively, you could provide a stencil of a footprint for children to colour in.

Explain or elicit the concept of a carbon footprint. Then invite learners to share ideas about what contributes to a big carbon footprint. Offer some examples, such as driving a car, flying in a plane, wasting energy and water at home, and buying imported food. Have learners write or draw pictures of their ideas on one side of their footprint.

Next, ask learners to look at the ideas they've written or drawn on their paper. Invite them to think about ways in which they might reduce their carbon footprint. E.g. turn off the lights at home, walk or cycle to school, have showers instead of baths, and so on. Ask learners to write or draw their ideas on the other side of their footprint to complete their posters. If you're teaching online, use an image of a footprint in the middle of a collaborative document such as Miro or Jamboard, and have learners add their ideas on digital sticky notes.

Climate change activity for teenage learners

Circles of Possibility

This activity works well when introducing and discussing the different impacts and effects of climate change. Such as rising sea levels, uncontrollable diseases, dwindling natural resources, or species being threatened with extinction.

Provide learners with 6 different sized circles of card. If you're teaching online, these can be circles on a digital whiteboard. Ask learners to think about one of the effects of climate change, and to discuss how this might impact on them directly. Have them write or draw their ideas on or in the smallest circle. Next, ask learners to think about how the effect impacts their neighbourhood, and to write or draw their ideas on the next circle. Continue in this way, using a larger circle each time for: town or city, country, continent, and the world.

If you're teaching online, learners can display their different circles in a digital portfolio, such as Padlet. In face-to-face classrooms, learners can connect their circles together with a split pin, so they can be turned and viewed together or separately.

An activity for adult learners

Fishbone Framework

A fishbone framework is a really useful tool which provides learners with a structured approach to brainstorming the causes and effects of problems.

Begin by having learners discuss what they know about climate change. Ask them to consider who is involved, and when, where and how we see the impact of it. Have learners write the words 'climate change' along the central line of the fishbone. Then, ask learners to work together to identify factors or causes that may be part of the problem. Such as farming, deforestation, burning fossil fuels, population growth, or consumer practices. Have learners write these on the diagonal 'bones' that come from the central line. Encourage learners to identify as many factors as possible.

Next, for each of the factors, ask learners to brainstorm possible effects that may be related to the factor. Such as increased food costs, declining water supplies, health impacts in cities, etc. Learners can show these effects as shorter lines coming off the 'bones' of the diagram. Ask learners to break down larger or more complex effects and show these as smaller lines coming off each effect line. Finally, have learners brainstorm or research potential solutions for the factors they have identified, and discuss how positive change can help slow the effects of climate change.

A useful way to use the fishbone framework with your learners is to write all the possible effects of climate change down on sticky notes. You can then group similar effects together on the diagram. If you're teaching online, learners could use a collaborative whiteboard with digital sticky notes, such as Miro, to build their framework together.
Discover how we've used our Cambridge English Corpus - a multi-billion word collection of language to see how language has changed and evolved around climate change.

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3 Activities For Teaching About Climate Change - World of Better Learning

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As extreme weather events including forest fires, heatwaves and floods intensify, our futures are ever more compromised and threatened by the climate emergency. As teachers, we have an enduring influence on the values and attitudes of our learners.

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book report - book reports story map maps word definition sentence noun verb adjective star diagram stars diagrams decision making graphic organizer printouts

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Book Report - Story Map Graphic Organizer Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Book Report - Story Map Graphic Organizer Printouts.

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Um site com materiais e oferta de formação que vale a pena explorar!

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National Geographic Learning | English Learning Programs and Resources

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Bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life. Find English language learning materials and resources for young learners, teens, and adults.

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SMARTMILL (SMART HOUSE 2) – ENGLISH VERSION - REMA 1000

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Um artigo com ideias interessantes!

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With a move to online learning, the value of the digital coursebook represented through classroom presentation tools has never been higher. While many teachers will have used them in their real-world classroom, they perhaps weren't seen as an essential component of the classroom, rather a luxury. In contrast, in the online classroom it's hard to think how you can effectively teach a coursebook without them, such is the way they can facilitate the teaching and learning process.

Apart from providing a familiar and reassuring structure for both teacher and student, they ensure all the content is in one place - all the audio, video, answers, workbook activities - which means no scrabbling around trying to locate them all and less teacher stress. Add in additional content, games and various interactive tools - pen, highlighter, window-shade, zoom - and it's no wonder they facilitate more heads up learning and increased learner engagement. In so many ways, they are more than just a substitute for the printed coursebook.

Indeed, if we are to look at where CPTs fit into Ruben Puentdura's SAMR model of technology integration, it's clear that with the functional improvements that they offer, that CPTs go beyond just being a direct substitute. Rather they fall into the augmentation bracket and indeed, if the various interactive tools are used in a creative and imaginative way by the teacher, then actually they can allow for significant task redesign and activities that wouldn't be possible with just a print copy of the coursebook. Thus, CPTs not only enhance the learning experience in the English Language classroom, they can also transform it. However, as with all technology, "it's not what it is, it's what you do with it" (Jones, 1986). With that in mind, here are some ideas for ways to maximize the tools available to you.

Collocation Hunt

This is one of my favorite activities using the highlighter tool as it involves all students and one which works equally well in the F2F and online classroom. At the end of a reading lesson, ask students to re-read the text one final time, but this time ask them to underline/highlight any word partnerships (collocations, set phrases, phrasal verbs, prepositional phrases, chunks, dependent prepositions) they can find. Then invite students up to the board to highlight any they found or to annotate your shared screen. Once they've finished you can go through some of them and do some follow-up activities.

Rationale: The activity raises students' awareness of word partnerships which, as well as helping them develop their vocabulary, can help them improve their reading speed, spoken fluency and writing.

Treasure Hunt

This is a simple scanning activity which works especially well in the online classroom using annotation tools, although it can be done in the F2F classroom as a team game. Explain to the students that you will call out a word from the text and they have to find it as quickly as possible. When they have found it, they should underline/stamp it. If doing it online, make sure you have turned on "show annotators names" before doing the activity so you can see who finds it first.

Rationale: As well as involving all students, it helps develops their scanning skills.

Mind the Gap

This is essentially a "make your own" vocabulary cloze/gapfill activity which can be done at the start of a reading lesson, at the end of it or even as revision the following lesson. Using the pen tool, cover any key vocabulary from the text and ask students to try to predict/remember what the words are. To help the students, you could leave the first letter showing. This is a really flexible activity, so if you wanted to focus on a particular language area - for example prepositions, articles or verb forms - you could hide all those words and ask students to re-grammar it. Then ask students to write their answers in the chat box.

Rationale: This activity helps to review and recycle vocabulary, as well as providing practice in an exam style task.

Pronounce That

CPTs can really help with facilitating and integrating pronunciation work, specifically word stress and linking sounds, without the teacher having to spend ages writing on the board. Simply using the pen tool teachers can mark stress, linking sounds, intonation on anything in the coursebook. You can involve learners in this process too, by asking them to mark the stress/linking/intonation themselves on new vocabulary or sentences you've asked them to read out. You can also do this with reading texts and audioscripts.

Rationale: Increases students' awareness of pronunciation patterns.

Disappearing Dialogue

This activity has been a staple of the English language classroom for years, but one which is made super easy by the CPT and one which can be done with all ages and levels of learner. After students have roleplayed a dialogue once or twice, use the pen tool or window-shade to cover part of the text (try to cover the target language) and ask them to roleplay it again. Keep covering the dialogue as many times as you feel is necessary.

Rationale: The activity makes simple role plays more cognitively challenging and in-doing so removes the repetition/monotony of doing the same activity multiple times. It also helps build automaticity of the target language.

Photo Labeling

One of the best features of CPTs is that they allow you to ZOOM into images and then use that image for different activities. Inviting your learners to annotate/label an image (online or F2F) is one way of involving all students, checking and (peer) teaching new vocabulary. Once students have annotated an image, ask them to take a screenshot (or photo) of it for future reference.

Rationale: Interactive way of checking students' language knowledge and for testing them later on.

Kim's Game

A classic party game, made super easy by the power of the CPT and the window-shade tool. Show students a picture and tell them they have 30 seconds to remember as much about the picture as possible. When the time is up, cover the picture using the window-shade tool. You can then ask students to write down what things they can remember from the photo in the chat box, or you could ask specific questions about the image.

Rationale: The activity involves all learners and is cognitively challenging which increases engagement, as well as reviewing/recycling vocabulary and practicing spelling.

Slow Reveal

This activity is a good warmer at the start of the lesson to trigger students' engagement through their natural curiosity. Using the window-shade tool, cover a picture so it only shows a small portion of the image. Ask students what they think the image is and elicit some guesses (in the chat box if online). Then reveal more of the image and repeat the process until the whole image is revealed.

Rationale: Triggers student engagement and practices models of possibility (it could/may/might/can't be).

Dictoglance

This is a variation of the popular dictogloss activity, but instead of focusing on listening skills, the focus in on reading. Using the window-shade tool, cover a small portion of the reading text you are using (using the introduction paragraph often works well). Explain to the students that you are going to reveal the text, but only for a very short time (10-20 seconds) and that they have to read and remember as much as they can in that time. Reveal the text to the students to read, then cover it again. Ask students to make notes (or type in the chat box, but NOT send), anything they can remember. Then repeat the process another three or four times. Now put students into pairs (or breakout rooms) to work together and using their notes to try to reconstruct the text as accurately as possible. If working online you can ask students to send their finished text in the chat box.

Rationale: Thistext reconstructionactivity has many benefits. As well as developing skimming/scanning skills, there is a focus on grammar, spelling and punctuation in the text-reconstruction, as well as providing an opportunity for collaboration when working in pairs.

Task: Which activities will you try in your synchronous classes?

Further Reading:

400 Ideas for Interactive Whiteboards, Sharma et al

Blended Learning, Sharma & Barrett

ETpedia Technology, Nicky Hockley

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Maximizing Learning in the Synchronous Classroom with Classroom Presentation Tools | National Geographic Learning: In Focus

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With a move to online learning, the value of the digital coursebook represented through classroom presentation tools has never been higher. While many teachers will have used them in their real-world classroom, they perhaps weren't seen as an essential component of the classroom, rather a luxury.

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Muito bom para o Secundário :-)

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The Best of Trevor’s Accents - Between The Scenes | The Daily Show

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5 sugestões de atividades que podemos promover no ensino online, mas também perfeitamente adaptáveis para a sala de aula :-)

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5 Easy Chatbox Activities To Make The Most Of Online Teaching | OUP

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One advantage of teaching synchronous classes online is that there is normally the option of using the chatbox. The chatbox enables more...

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What Is Trevor's Favorite Accent? - Between the Scenes | The Daily Show

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Adaptável a vários ciclos/anos de ensino.

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Great video!

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Teens Talk About Their Struggles and What Parents Can Do to Help Them Thrive  | GetParentingTips.com

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Great resources! :-)

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Strange News: The week's weirdest stories - CBBC Newsround

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De-Graft has this week's seasonal Strange News and there are lots of pumpkins!

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Welcome to the website of the Foundation for a Better Life. The values we live by are worth more when we #PassItOn.

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As Roald Dahl once said, "Life is more fun if you play games." I could not agree more! That's why I believe flashcard games can be an effective and practical tool to introduce a new set of vocabulary, revise newly taught words or as a way of starting a storytelling lesson. There are so many things to do with a bunch of flashcards. Playing flashcard games can help and encourage learners to maintain their work and enthusiasm. I believe every teacher has lots of games in their toolbox, and they get to choose one when needed.

"If it is accepted that games can provide intense and meaningful practice of language, then they must be regarded as central to a teacher's repertoire."

(Wright et al, 1984)

Here are two of my favourite flashcard games which you can play with young learners. You will see a few other suggested versions as well. As you can imagine, there is no one way to play a game. We can get as creative (and as crazy) as we want.

1) The Robot Dance

For flashcard games like this, the purpose is to revise any vocabulary taught and to practise giving directions. Another purpose of this game is to create a collaborative and inclusive classroom where everyone feels comfortable and happy.

First, hang some flashcards of the target vocabulary you would like to revise around the classroom. You can use as many as you want but I believe between 6 to 8 flashcards is a good number. You need a volunteer student for this game. He or she will act like a robot. Have them use robot sounds and movements to make the game even more fun. When you choose the volunteer:

Ask them to come to the front.

Tell the other students that this robot needs to find the flashcard the teacher tells them to find, but he does not think on their own. They need a little bit of help from their classmates.

The robot will listen to the directions from the students and move toward the flashcard.

For example, if you are teaching the words for wild animals and you say, "a lion", the classmates will start giving directions, such as "Go along, turn right, look at your right etc.", to the 'robot'. The robot will have to follow the directions to find the flashcard.

When the robot volunteer finds the flashcard, ask the classroom if it is the right one. If so, congratulate everyone on their good teamwork.

Ideas for adapted flashcard games

Version 2

Instead of saying the name of the flashcard right away, you can play "I spy", as well. You can say "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with the letter "L", and ask the class to give the robot the directions.

Version 3

Similarly, you can play the "I Spy" game, but this time instead of the first letter of the word, you can say the third letter to make it even more challenging. You can say "I spy with my little eye something whose third letter is "i".

Version 4

You can also describe the word in the flashcards. For example, if it is a lion, you can say "This animal lives in the forest. Some may say it is the king!" and wait for the students to guess what it is.

Version 5

There will for sure be some noise in the classroom while you play the above versions of this game, and some people may not like it very much. I believe that some noise in the classroom can make the students feel free and in control. However, if you want a quieter version of this game, you can divide the students into groups and have one robot from each group. The groups can play in turns. If they can give the directions correctly and the robot can find the target flashcard easily, they get 10 points!

2) Pass the Card

The purpose of this game is to practice comparatives and introduce the new target vocabulary. You can also revise previously taught words.

You need to stand or sit in a circle for this game. When you and your learners are all in a circle, everyone can see each other well and you will all be at the same level. Once you have the circle with your learners,

Hold the flashcards in your hand.

Say the first one and pass it on to the student next to you. They will say what it is and pass it on to the next student.

Then, take another flashcard and do the same.

Shout "Faster!" and everyone will say the words and pass the flashcards faster and when you shout "Slower", then they do the action slower.

Repeat this until all the students hold and say the word.

Ideas for adapted flashcard games

Version 2

Have a timer and see how fast you are as a class when you finish. You can compete against yourself, or you can shout "Slower" and see how slow you are as a group. Similarly, the only competition is against yourself. There is no one winner of the game. You win as a whole group.

Version 3

If your classroom is not big enough to have a circle of students, you can turn this into a bus game. Students can sit in a row, one behind the other, and pass the flashcard to the one behind and again you can shout "Slower" and "Faster".

I know that teenagers, at least some of them, are too cool for flashcards, so you can have a little twist by using word cards instead. In the second game above, for example, pass the cards by saying "slower" and/or "faster", but say "STOP" and ask them to make sentences with the words, say the opposite of that word or add the correct prefix or suffix to change the word into adjectives or adverbs.
What other versions of these games can you think of? Share with us in the comment box below!
References

Games for Language Learning (2nd. Ed.) by Andrew Wright, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby. Cambridge University Press, p.1, 1984.

Aysu Şimşek is a passionate advocate of continuing professional development. She has worked with young learners, and now in her role with Oxford University Press, Aysu meets and supports teachers from across Turkey. She has delivered training sessions for different types of ELT events and has written articles for various ELT blogs and magazines. Follow her on Twitter @aysusimsek_ and on Instagram @aysushares.

Categories: Pronunciation, Skills, Teenagers, Young Learners | Tags: Aysu Şimşek, Classroom activities, English Language, English Language Teaching, Language learning, learning games, Teenagers, Young Learners | Permalink.

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Flashcard Games For Teaching English (With A Little Twist For Teenagers!)

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As Roald Dahl once said, "Life is more fun if you play games." I could not agree more! That's why I believe flashcard games can be an effective and practical tool to introduce a new set of vocabulary, revise newly taught words or as a way of starting a storytelling lesson.

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Documentaries are insightful and educational. They document reality from a concrete perspective and represent the world through a non-fictional lens. Documentaries can be used for educational, entertainment, activism, personal expression, journalism, or instructional purposes.

As a teacher, you can use the communicative and educational power of documentaries to introduce students to new concepts, enhance their learning, and expand their academic as well as civics knowledge. Documentaries enable students to experience the world through alternative perspectives, exploring new cultures and ways of living and being. Documentaries are also ideal to raise students' critical awareness about complex issues related to human rights, environment, climate change, oppression, gender-based violence, and many more.

However, concomitant with using documentaries with students, I recommend that students learn the importance of critical thinking as a way to assess and internalize knowledge. A documentary, regardless of its authenticity and educational intent, is always narrated and created from a particular perspective, one that foregrounds certain ideas and concepts and probably silence others. Hence the importance of students being able to ponder critical questions regarding the documentary practice.

A documentary practice "refers to what people do with media devices, content, form, and production strategies to address the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentaries" ¹. Students need to be comfortable asking and finding answers to questions such as:

Who is behind the creation of the documentary?

What purposes is the documentary created for?

What ideologies, agenda, or concepts does it seek to promote or advocate?

Are there any potential ethical problems involved in the creation and sharing of the documentary content?

How are vulnerable groups and minorities represented in the documentary and why?

These and several other questions consist the base of a critical thinking checklist that students need to keep handy to use not only with video content but with any other type of content. Growth happens when we step out of our comfort zones and grapple with complex and challenging ideas and concepts. Documentaries are definitely one of the conduits for such growth.

What is a documentary?

A documentary is a non-fictional movie, one that, according to Google Dictionary, involves using "pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject." As a factual movie, a documentary seeks to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record" ².

Best websites for free educational documentaries

Below is a collection of some of the best websites for free educational documentaries. Check it out and share with us your feedback.

1. Netflix

Netflix offers a wide variety of educational documentaries that you can use with students in class. You do need a Netflix account to be able to access these resources. Netflix offers a one-time educational screenings of its original documentaries. This is basically a free service created specially for teachers and educators. Documentaries that are available for educational screenings are tagged with the label Grant of Permission or Educational Screenings Permission (ESP).

There are certain guidelines that you need to meet to use Netflix educational screenings which you can learn more about in this page. According to Netflix, a one-time screening means "that you can't hold screenings several times in one day or one week - but if, for example, you're an educator who wants to show these films or series once a semester over multiple semesters, that's okay."

2. Internet Archive

Internet Archive hosts a huge collection of free and public domain documentaries and video content. Most of the video content featured on Internet Archive can be downloaded in multiple formats including MP3. Use the site's integrated search functionality to search titles you are interested in. Make sure to play around with the search filters to help you quickly find what you are looking for.

3. Top Documentary Films

Top Documentary Films (TDF) is a website that curates documentaries from various video hosting services such as YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion, among others. TDF organizes these documentaries into accessible collections that are easy to navigate. Top Documentary Films only embeds documentaries and does not host them on its servers. The service is completely free and does not require any registration or log in.

Each documentary comes with a detailed description of what it is about and a section for sharing comments. An email address is required to share comments. Some documentaries generate really fruitful discussions among the community of viewers, however, as a teacher keen on using TDF with students you may want to exert discretion as some of the content in comments may not be age appropriate.

Documentaries in Top Documentary Films are arranged into different categories including Science, Society, History, Health, Economics, Drugs, Crime, Biography, Art, Nature, Philosophy, Religion, Technology, Media, Sports, Mystery, Environment, and more. There is also a list of top 100 non-fiction films as rated by TDF viewers.

4. Documentary Heaven

Documentary Heaven is similar to Top Documentary Films. It curates and embeds documentaries from different online sources (e.g., Google Videos, YouTube, Vimeo, YouKu, Mega Video, etc). It also allows viewers to interact and share feedback through the commenting system (email is required for sharing comments). You can browse documentaries by different categories including Nature, Music, Countries, Science, Society, Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, Politics, Business, Lifestyle, Activist, Human Rights, Educational, Space, Technology, Evolution, War, and many more.

5. Documentary Mania

Documentary Mania is another good resource of free educational documentaries to use in your instruction. These documentaries are sourced from platforms such as MVGroup, Vimeo, YouTube, among others. The important contribution of Documentary Mania besides organizing video content into accessible categories is adding subtitles to make it easy for individuals who are deaf or have hearing problems to enjoy the viewing experience as everybody else. English subtitles are also useful for students learning English. They can help them "improve their English in an enjoyable, relaxed and informative way."

Another cool feature provided by Documentary Mania is the category for 3D documentaries which features a wide range of high quality 3D documentaries spanning various topics from the world of oceans to the world of aeronautics and rainforests. Other categories included in the website are Art, Culture, History, Medicine, Nature, Science, and Technology.

Each of these categories contains a number of subcategories. For instance, under the general category of Culture you will find documentaries arranged into the following sub-categories: Anthropology and Sociology, Current Topics, Ideas and Movements, Peoples, Politics, Religions, Sports, and Travel.

6. Watch Documentaries

Watch Documentaries is another good resource of free online documentaries curated and organized into neat categories that are easily accessible. You can browse documentaries by category, comment using an email address, and check top 100 list.Watch Documentaries also offers a section called Recommended where you can access what they termed a collection of "some mind-blowing documentaries that are educational, informative and motivational."

Featured categories in Watch Documentaries include: 9/11, Art, Music, Business, Comedy, Crime, Drugs, Politics, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Science, Nature, Environment, Media, Sports, Society, Technology, War, Health, Performing Arts, and many more.

7. Documentary Storm

Documentary Storm features a huge collection of educational documentaries fetched from various sources around the web. You can check trending documentaries, explore new releases, learn about top rated titles, and more. You can also browse documentaries by categories including Art, Biography, Culture, Science, Philosophy, Religion, War, Nature, Sports, Society, and more.

8. Over 200 Free Documentaries, Open Culture

Open Culture has this excellent collection featuring over 200 free documentaries covering different topics including politics, religion, literature, cinema, music, physics, and many more. Simply browse through the collection and click on the title you like to access it. Sometimes the documentary is hosted on YouTube and often times you will be provided with links where you can watch and learn more about the documentary.

9. Apple iTunes

This is not free but worth the mention here. Apple iTunes, like Netflix, streams original documentaries that you can watch (for a fee) on various devices including Apple TV. You can browse Apple's documentaries by alphabet or you can use your iTunes application to access them.

Most of the documentaries are available for either rent or purchase. Also, each documentary in iTunes comes with a short overview of its content, information about things such as the cast and crew, director and producers, duration, rating, and many more. The majority of Apple documentaries include accessibility features such as closed captions, subtitles, and support for many languages.

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Best Websites for Free Online Educational Documentaries - Educators Technology

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Documentaries are insightful and educational. They document reality from a concrete perspective and represent the world through a non-fictional lens. Documentaries can be used for educational, entertainment, activism, personal expression, journalism, or instructional purposes. As a teacher, you can use the communicative and educational power of documentaries to introduce students to new concepts, enhance their...

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The Pencil's Tale - a story that everyone should hear

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Worksheet & Audio

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HELLO - a short film about tolerance & diversity (1ST PLACE in the Nikon Cinema Z Film Fest 2019)

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Great resources!

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Help your students learn phrasal verbs effectively

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Um Toolkit com sugestões práticas de atividades com recurso às tecnologias. Achei muito interessante!

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Ideias interessantes e úteis!

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In the dynamic world of education, keeping students engaged and attentive is a challenge every educator faces. Classrooms, the breeding grounds for future thinkers and innovators, can sometimes become arenas of boredom and disengagement. Boredom, as Vogel-Walcutt et al. (2012) stated, "occurs when an individual experiences both the (objective) neurological state of low arousal and the (subjective) psychological state of dissatisfaction, frustration, or disinterest in response to the low arousal" (p. 102). This state of boredom is not just an occasional inconvenience; it is a significant barrier to effective learning.

Research has consistently highlighted the detrimental effects of boredom on student learning. For instance, Wallace, Vodanovich, and Restino (2003) discussed how boredom correlates with attention deficit and memory lapses, signaling a deeper issue than mere disinterest. Furthermore, Pekrun et al. (2010) linked boredom to attentional problems in class, while Maroldo (1986) noted its association with lower GPAs and a decreased motivation to learn. This paints a clear picture: boredom is a multifaceted issue impacting various aspects of a student's academic journey.

Recognizing the gravity of this challenge, educators have sought effective strategies to combat classroom boredom. Rosegard & Olson (2013) suggest that one effective approach is to increase arousal through external stimuli such as "a hook, trigger, attention getter/grabber, or anticipatory set" (p. 2). These methods are not mere distractions but are thoughtfully designed to ignite students' curiosity and pull them into the heart of the learning experience. The goal is to transform passive listeners into active participants, engaged and intrigued by the material presented.

The purpose of this post is to share with you a wide range of practical strategies (attention getters or attention grabbers) to help keep your students focused and engaged. But before we explore these strategies, let us first a key concept which is at the core of students attention: Interest.

Situational Vs Personal/Individual Interest

At the core of any attention grabbing task in class lies the concept of interest. Interest is the catalyst that transforms mundane topics into captivating subjects. But what exactly is interest, and how does it function in an educational setting?

Interest, as Chen et al. () define it, is "a positive psychological state that is based on or emerges from person-activity interaction" (p. 384). Krapp, Hidi, and Renninger (1992) further categorize interest into two main categories: personal or individual interest and situational interest.

Situational interest, according to Chen et al. (), is " the appealing effect of an activity or learning task on an individual, rather than the individual's personal preference for the activity" (p. 384). Situational interest is interactional in nature. It is generated through the learner's interaction with the learning task at hand and as, Chen et al state, results from "students recognition of the appeaking features associated with a specific learning task" (p. 384).

Personal/individual interest, according to the same authors, is "a person's preference for one activity over others. It is developed over time through a person's constant and consistent interaction with the activity" (p. 384).
But why does situational interest matter?
Situational interest plays a crucial role in the classroom as it acts as an immediate, emotional response that sparks curiosity or excitement in students about a specific topic or activity. This kind of interest is akin to a momentary flame that catches students' attention, enhancing their focus and participation in the learning process (Rosegard & Olson, 2013).

Unlike individual interest, which develops slowly and is more enduring, situational interest is a powerful and immediate tool for educators to captivate students' attention, thereby improving engagement and participation in educational activities (Hidi et al., 2004; Deci, 1992; Renninger et al., 1992).

Classroom Attention Getters

Here are some practical attention grabbers/ attention getters to use in your class to keep students engaged and focused:

1. Use Humour

Humour is a powerful tool in the classroom, engaging students and creating a positive learning environment (for a review of importance of humour in teaching see Martin, 2007; Rosegard & Olson, 2013; Wanzer et al., 2010; Ziv, 1988). By incorporating jokes, funny anecdotes, or light-hearted content, teachers can capture students' attention and make lessons more memorable. For instance, starting a history lesson with a humorous story about a historical figure can pique students' curiosity and make the topic more relatable.

2. Use of Multimedia

Multimedia integrates various forms of media, like videos, animations, and interactive content, to enrich the learning experience. This approach appeals to different learning styles and keeps students engaged (Mayer, 2003). For example, in a science class, an animated video explaining the solar system can make the concept more tangible and visually stimulating compared to traditional textbook descriptions.

3. Offer Choices

Offering choices in learning activities empowers students and fosters engagement. When students have a say in their learning process, they feel more invested. An example could be allowing students to choose between creating a poster, writing an essay, or making a presentation for a project. This autonomy caters to different strengths and interests.

4. Change Voice Pitch

Altering voice pitch and tone can be an effective way to maintain student attention. A varied vocal delivery prevents monotony and keeps students alert. For instance, a teacher might use a lower pitch to emphasize important points and a higher, enthusiastic tone for storytelling or explanations, helping to highlight key information and maintain engagement.

5. Use Technology

Incorporating technology, such as educational apps, interactive whiteboards, or online quizzes, can enhance learning and engagement. It caters to the digital natives in the classroom. For example, using a quiz app (e.g., Quizlet, Kahoot, Quizalize, etc) for a quick classroom competition allows for immediate feedback and adds a fun, interactive element to the lesson.

6. Use Music

Music can set the mood, energize the classroom, and aid in learning. It can be used to introduce a new topic, signal transitions, or support memory. For example, playing a relevant song at the beginning of a literature class discussing that era's culture can immediately engage students and set the context for the lesson.

7. Personalized Intervention

Personalized intervention involves tailoring teaching methods and content to meet individual student needs. This approach recognizes that each student learns differently. A teacher might use this strategy by offering different reading materials at varying difficulty levels, ensuring each student is challenged appropriately.

8. Call and Response

Call and response is an interactive technique where the teacher says a phrase and students respond in unison. This method keeps students attentive and active in the learning process. For example, in a language class, the teacher might say a word in a foreign language, and students respond with the translation, reinforcing learning through repetition and engagement.

9. Sing It

Turning lessons into songs or incorporating music into teaching, as we have seen, can make learning more enjoyable and memorable. This method is particularly effective for memorization. In a math class, for instance, a teacher could create a catchy song to help students remember the order of operations.

10. Integrate Games

Games in education, whether digital or physical, can transform learning into an engaging, competitive experience. They encourage participation and can be used to reinforce concepts. An example is using a jeopardy-style game to review for a test, where students compete in teams to answer questions related to the subject matter, fostering both teamwork and knowledge retention.

11. Use Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are a fun and challenging way to grab students' attention and improve their pronunciation and focus. For instance, starting a language class with a tongue twister related to the day's lesson can energize students and sharpen their listening and speaking skills. It's a playful approach that breaks the ice and increases alertness.

12. Try Unexpected Things

Introducing unexpected elements or activities in class can spark curiosity and hold students' attention. This could be as simple as incorporating a surprising fact into a lesson or conducting a class outdoors. For example, teaching a biology lesson in the school garden can provide a refreshing change and make the learning experience more tangible and engaging.

13. Modify the Setting

Changing the physical layout or environment of the classroom can stimulate interest and engagement. Rearranging desks, decorating the room according to a theme, or even holding a class in a different location can make the learning experience fresh and exciting. For example, setting up a mock courtroom for a social studies lesson on government can bring the subject to life.

14. Bring Guests

Inviting guest speakers or experts can provide a new perspective and enliven the classroom experience. Guests can share real-world experiences, offer expertise, and make the learning more relevant. For example, i nviting a local author to a literature class can offer insights into the writing process and inspire students.

15. Reward for Attention

Implementing a reward system for attentive and engaged behavior can motivate students. This could be in the form of points, privileges, or small prizes. For example, offering extra playtime or a homework pass to the most engaged group in a class project can incentivize students to participate actively.

16. Engage students Kinaesthetically

Kinaesthetic activities involve movement and physical activity, catering to learners who thrive on action. This can mean incorporating hands-on experiments, role-playing, or movement-based learning. For instance, in a geometry lesson, students could physically create shapes using ropes, helping them understand concepts through movement.

17. Use Timers

Timers can add a sense of urgency and excitement to tasks. They can be used to manage time for activities, games, or transitions between different parts of the lesson. For example, setting a timer for a quick brainstorming session can make the activity more dynamic and focus students' efforts.

18. Ask Comprehension Check Questions

Periodically asking questions to check understanding keeps students on their toes and ensures active listening. These can be quick, informal questions related to the lesson's content. In a history class, asking students to explain the significance of an event just discussed not only checks comprehension but also encourages them to articulate their understanding.

19. Incorporate Storytelling

Storytelling is a timeless technique that can captivate students' attention. By weaving educational content into stories, or using narratives to introduce new topics, teachers can make lessons more engaging and relatable. For instance, explaining a scientific concept through a story about its discovery or application can help students visualize and better understand complex ideas.

20. Use Real-World Examples

Connecting classroom learning to real-world scenarios makes education more relevant and interesting. Discussing how theoretical knowledge is applied in everyday life or in various professions can stimulate curiosity. For example, in a math class, showing how algebra is used in architecture can provide a practical context and enhance engagement.

21. Create Mystery and Suspense

Building a sense of mystery or suspense in the classroom can be incredibly engaging. This could involve starting a lesson with a puzzling question, setting up a mystery for students to solve, or using a suspenseful narrative to unfold new topics. For instance, introducing a science lesson with a mysterious phenomenon that students have to explain using the day's lesson can pique interest.

22. Utilize Student-Led Learning

Allowing students to take the lead in certain classroom activities empowers them and fosters a deeper level of engagement. This can involve students teaching a portion of the lesson, leading a discussion, or presenting their projects. For example, in a history class, students could be assigned to research and present different aspects of a historical event, encouraging active participation and peer learning.

23. Incorporate Role-Playing

Role-playing allows students to immerse themselves in a topic by acting out scenarios or historical events. This active participation can make learning more memorable and enjoyable. For example, in a social studies class, students could role-play as delegates from different countries in a model United Nations, helping them understand international relations and diplomacy through experience.

24. Conduct Debates

Organizing debates on relevant topics encourages critical thinking and active engagement. Students learn to research, formulate arguments, and consider different viewpoints. For example, a debate in a social studies class on a current political issue can deepen understanding and encourage students to engage with the material actively.

25. Implement Collaborative Projects

Collaborative projects involve students working together towards a common goal, fostering teamwork and engagement. This approach allows students to learn from each other and develop social skills. An example could be a group science project where each student contributes to building a model ecosystem, encouraging cooperation and hands-on learning.

26. Use Visual Aids

Visual aids like charts, graphs, and images can make abstract concepts more concrete and engaging. They appeal to visual learners and can help clarify complex information. In a geography class, using a large, detailed map to discuss geographical features and locations can make the lesson more interactive and understandable.

27. Encourage Peer Teaching

Peer teaching involves students teaching each other, reinforcing their own understanding while helping others. This method promotes active learning and builds communication skills. For instance, in a math class, students who grasp a concept quickly can be paired with those who need more help, facilitating mutual learning.

28. Integrate Field Trips

Field trips extend learning beyond the classroom, providing real-world experiences and a change of scenery that can reinvigorate student interest. Whether it's a visit to a museum, a historical site, or a local business, these outings make learning more tangible and memorable. For example, a trip to a local science center can enhance a unit on physics by providing hands-on experiences with scientific principles.

29. Facilitate Reflection Sessions

Reflection sessions give students the opportunity to think about what they've learned, how they've learned it, and what it means to them. This introspective approach can deepen understanding and encourage personal connection to the material. For example, at the end of a unit, having a class discussion where students share their thoughts on the key learnings and how these might apply to their lives can be very impactful.

30. Use Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Incorporating puzzles and brain teasers into the classroom can sharpen critical thinking and problem-solving skills while capturing students' attention. These activities can be used as warm-ups or to introduce new concepts in a fun and challenging way. For instance, starting a math class with a logic puzzle that indirectly introduces the day's topic can engage students' minds and set the tone for the lesson.

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Final thoughts

In conclusion, combating boredom and disengagement in the classroom requires a multifaceted approach, one that is both creative and responsive to the diverse needs of students. The attention grabbing strategies outlined in this post, ranging from using humor and multimedia to facilitating reflection sessions and brain teasers, are not just tools to keep students attentive; they are catalysts for a deeper, more meaningful engagement with learning.

Each attention getter, underpinned by the principles of situational interest, offers a unique way to ignite students' curiosity and participation. By integrating these approaches, educators can create a dynamic and inclusive learning environment where every student has the opportunity to thrive.

References

Berk, R. A. (2011). Research on PowerPoint: From basic features to multimedia. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 7(1), 24-35

Deci, E. L. (1992). The relation of interest to the motivation of behavior: A self-determination theory perspective. In K. A. Renninger, S. Hidi, & A. Krapp (Eds.), The role of interest in learning and development (pp. 43-69). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Associates.

Hidi, S., Renninger, K. A., & Krapp, A. (2004). Interest, a motivational variable that combines affective and cognitive functioning. In D. Y. Dai & R. J. Sternburg (Eds.), Motivation, emotion, and cognition: Integrative perspectives on intellectual functioning and development (pp. 89- 114). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Krapp, A., Hidi, S., & Renninger, K. A. (1992). Interest, learning, and development. In K. A. Renninger, S. Hidi, & A. Krapp (Eds.), The role of interest in learning and development (pp. 1-26). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Maroldo, G. K. (1986). Shyness, boredom, and grade point average among college students. Psychological Reports, 59(2), 395-398. DOI: 10.2466/pr0.1986.59.2.395

Martin, R. A. (2007). The psychology of humor: An integrative approach. Burlington, MA: Academic Press.

Mayer, R. E. (2003). The promise of multimedia learning: Using the same instructional design methods across different media. Learning and Instruction, 13(2), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(02)00016-6

Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Daniels, L. M., Stupnisky, R. H., & Perry, R. P. (2010). Boredom in achievement settings: Exploring control-value antecedents and performance outcomes of a neglected emotion. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 531-549. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019243

Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., & Krapp, A. (Eds.) (1992). The role of interest in learning and development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Rosegard, E. & Wilson, J. (2013). Capturing students' attention: An empirical study. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13 (5), 1-20. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1017063.pdf

Vogel-Walcutt, J. J., Fiorella, L., Carper, T., & Schatz, S. (2012). The definition, assessment, and mitigation of state boredom within educational settings: A comprehensive review. Educational Psychology Review, 24(1), 89-111.

Wallace, J. C., Vodanovich, S. J., & Restino, B. M. (2003). Predicting cognitive failures from boredom proneness and daytime sleepiness scores: An investigation within military and undergraduate samples. Personality & Individual Differences, 34(4), 635-644. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00050-8

Wanzer, M. B., Frymier, A. B., & Irwin, J. (2010). An explanation of the relationship between instruction humor and student learning: Instructional humor processing theory. Communication Education, 59(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520903367238

Ziv, A. (1988). Teaching and learning with humor: Experiment and replication. Journal of Experimental Education, 57(1), 5-15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20151750

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30 Effective Classroom Attention Getters with Examples - Educators Technology

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Want to keep your students engaged? Check out this list of best classroom attention getters!

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Interesting...

Never too much to give it a thought :-)

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Students who lose their temper in class?Teachers who disagree during a teacher meeting?Parents furious over a new school policy?Conflict does not have to tea…

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Nice strategies to engage our students in activities :-)

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Drama Education: Playful Strategies for Engaging Classrooms

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Porque somos seres, essencialmente, emocionais e trabalhamos com pessoas... Nunca é demais ouvir o que este senhor tem para dizer :-)

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António Damásio: A Ciência dos Sentimentos: