# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Farm Animals Song - Animals Sounds Song - Walk Around the Farm - ELF Learning

# data[].attributes.headline
Did the students contribute actively to the lesson?

# data[].attributes.subject
Did the students contribute actively to the lesson?

# data[].attributes.body
I invited them to watch a video called “walk around the farm”. They were eager to watch. During the video song, they participated actively. For instances, when the song made questions, they answered quickly. I could see that they learnt in a positive way. It made me feel proud of them because they did a great job and they made incredible progress. With respect to the last activity, they had to stick with cotton on the sheep. I observed that in this activity they also contributed actively because they were very interested and motivated.

# data[].attributes.headline
What teaching materials did I use? How effective were they?

# data[].attributes.subject
What teaching materials did I use? How effective were they?

# data[].attributes.body
I invited them to play a dice game to consolidate vocabulary about farm animals and their colours. I explained to them that the faces of the dice had different farm animals. I modelled what they had to do. After that, I invited the girl to throw the dice. She was enthusiastic and then, it was the boys´ turn. They were very enthusiastic and they wanted to continue the game. I could see that they had a great time.

# data[].attributes.body
After finishing the lesson, I told them that it was my last class with them. I was a little sad because they didn´t want it to be their last class. However, I promised them that I would organize a party to play one more time. Also, I gave them sweets and a happy face. I thanked them and their teacher for being kind and helping me during all my practicum.

# data[].attributes.headline
What teaching materials did I use? How effective were they?

# data[].attributes.subject
What teaching materials did I use? How effective were they?

# data[].attributes.body
I invited them to build a real farm to reinforce the vocabulary about farm animals from the previous classes. I told them that they had to help Old Mcdonald to build a farm. After that, I showed them the materials they were going to use to build it. They were anxious to start. I gave them real grass, different pieces of toys corrals, farm animal toys, a toy mill and a toy drinking trough. They were really fascinated.

# data[].attributes.headline
Did the students contribute actively to the lesson?

# data[].attributes.subject
Did the students contribute actively to the lesson?

# data[].attributes.body
During this class, I invited them to play a farm animal bingo. It surprised me because when I named the selected farm animals, they were able to say whether they had them on their boards or not. After doing this activity, I encouraged them to play a game in which they had to guess what farm animal they could see. They really liked the game, since they didn´t want to stop playing. In these activities, they reacted in a positive way. I became aware that the activities kept them motivated and enthusiastic.

# data[].attributes.headline
Which part of the lesson was least successful?

# data[].attributes.subject
Which part of the lesson was least successful?

# data[].attributes.body
In this lesson, I presented an activity in which I showed them a barn flashcard. I told them “It is a barn” and “here live farm animals”. After that, I explained to them that they had to colour the barn. This activity took a long time because that they did it very slowly. To be honest, I do not think this activity was very fruitful, because I saw learners getting bored easily. To overcome this difficulty, I invited them to proceed with the next one. This mistake made me become aware of the fact that I should try to avoid activities like this in the future.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
(Animated Story) Farm Animals by Amy Reule

# data[].attributes.headline
What did the students really learn from the lesson?

# data[].attributes.subject
What did the students really learn from the lesson?

# data[].attributes.body
It was my third class, I worked on the topic “Farm animals”. In the first activity, we reviewed the vocabulary about “Farm animals” and “Colours” from previous classes. They remember nearly all the animals. After that, I introduced the second activity, in which they had to watch an interesting video farm animals. It was an interacting video where there were hidden farm animals. The video asked listeners: “Who is hidden in the barn?” and then, it showed the animals. Before the video said of the name of the hidden animal, I paused the video and I asked them: “What animal was it?”. They remember almost all the animals. They worked actively and reacted in a positive way during this activity.  I felt that they were learning and I could observe excellent results.

# data[].attributes.headline
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

# data[].attributes.subject
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

# data[].attributes.body
During the class, I realized that they really enjoyed playing. They were really interested in the lesson, which made me feel glad because it meant that I was able to get their attention and motive them. Above all, I think that they were fascinated with the video and the song. When the class finished, they continued singing the song and they asked me “How do you say “vaca” in English?”. It was a pleasure to see their interest in my lesson.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Christmas Songs and Carols - Love to Sing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Old MacDonald Had a Farm | Kids Nursery Rhymes | Children Love to Sing

# data[].attributes.body
In this second lesson, I worked on “Colours” and “Farm animals”. I invited them to watch a video song about Old McDonald´s farm animals. They truly loved it because the video was based on real farm animals that captured their attention. Then, to reinforce the new vocabulary I showed them flashcards and they had to say what animals they saw. If they couldn´t remember the animal, I helped them by saying the correct animal in L2. After that, I introduced them a memory game. Although they liked, a problem came up. I guess the flaw was that the learners could not find the matching card quickly enough. Consequently, the whole situation turned amusing because they couldn´t find the matching cards. Anyway, to prevent students from stopping the game, I decided to take part in the activity and help them to solve it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Did I have any problems with the lesson?

# data[].attributes.subject
Did I have any problems with the lesson?

# data[].attributes.body
During the lesson, sometimes they couldn´t understand me when I spoke L2, even when I provided them with the necessary visual aid, such as flashcards or gestures. Nevertheless, it wasn´t enough for them to understand me, so I had to help them by speaking in L1. I know that my first class had some flaws, but I am sure that practice makes perfect. I definitely need to make some changes. Above all, it is my intention to correct mistakes and try to avoid them in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
Before starting my practicum, I was a little nervous because it was my first time teaching young learners. In this lesson, I started with “Greetings” and “the weather”. I taught them how to say “Hello” and “How are you?”. After that, with respect to the topic “the weather”, They learnt different vocabulary items about the weather, which I supported with visual aid. Later, I introduced them to the topic “Colours”. I invited them to play a game with balloons. The purpose was to teach them some “colours”.  I told them that they had to blow a balloon and then, I asked them what colour it was. I felt that they liked this activity a lot and enjoyed doing it . In the second activity, they played a game where they had to jump on colorful stepping stones.  I chose a colour and I said it. When the colour was named they had to jump on it. They were very excited about playing this game. To conclude, the group made me feel very comfortable and it was easy to work with them.

# data[].attributes.headline
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge and insight in this lesson.

# data[].attributes.subject
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge and insight in this lesson.

# data[].attributes.body
I chose this quotation because it highlights how much I learnt from this experience. This lesson gave me the power to decide what kind of activities, I will plan in my practicums.

# data[].attributes.headline
What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?

# data[].attributes.subject
What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?

# data[].attributes.body
In the second class, they had to continue working on “the plants”. Firstly, I gave them a worksheet with a plant on it and then, asked them to stick small pieces of colourful paper on it. They wanted me to work with them so I helped to stick the papers on their worksheet.  I learnt that they didn´t like this type of task because they seemed to get easily bored. For this reason, I will try to avoid this type of activity in my lessons. Finally, when they finished, they gave me their activities as a gift. It was very sweet of them.

# data[].attributes.headline
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

# data[].attributes.subject
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

# data[].attributes.body
I highlight the fact that it is important to foster children´s understanding. It is essential to know that they learn and construct their knowledge in a social context. It gives them the possibility to incorporate new information.

# data[].attributes.body
First, the teacher welcomed the children. Then, she asked them “what day is it today?” to elicit the correct answer. After that, she asked them “What´s the weather like today?”.  After they answered, they sang a welcome song.

# data[].attributes.headline
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge and insight in this lesson.

# data[].attributes.subject
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge and insight in this lesson.

# data[].attributes.body
I chose this quotation because I became aware of the meaning of teaching.

# data[].attributes.body
In this class, they learnt plants and their parts: roots, stems, leaves, flowers. In this lesson, the teacher gave me the possibility to hand them out the worksheets and explain what they had to do in this task.  After that, the teacher encouraged them to colour each part of the plant. When they finished to colour them they had to cut out the names of the different parts of the plant and they had to stick them on their worksheet.  In this activity, they made some mistakes because they couldn´t read. So, the teacher let me help them to do their tasks. The objective of this lesson was to get children familiar with the words and their meaning. To conclude, this experience made me feel that my role was important and I had to face a great responsibility. When they asked me what they had to do, I felt that they needed me and trusted me.

# data[].attributes.headline
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

# data[].attributes.subject
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

# data[].attributes.body
I think that she succeeded in engaging the learners in the lesson because the children seemed to love stories. While the teacher was narrating the story, the children were fascinated.

# data[].attributes.headline
What insights into teaching did this observation activity provide?

# data[].attributes.subject
What insights into teaching did this observation activity provide?

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher began the lesson saying some animals had escaped from the farm, so she was going to tell a story to know what had happened to those animals. Then, she asked some questions about the animals in the story to interact with the children and to check their understanding. After that, she told them to draw the animals they liked the best. To conclude, the teacher sang a song and invited the children to sing along.

# data[].attributes.headline
Third observed lesson -  September 14th 

# data[].attributes.subject
Third observed lesson -  September 14th 

# data[].attributes.headline
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge and insight in this lesson.

# data[].attributes.subject
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge and insight in this lesson.

# data[].attributes.body
I chose this quotation because I think that the teacher managed to resolve the problem quickly. The unplanned lesson motivated the children and the teacher could get their attention.

# data[].attributes.headline
What insights into planning did this observation activity provide?

# data[].attributes.subject
What insights into planning did this observation activity provide?

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher showed her students a picture and asked what animal it was. One of the children answered “a rabbit” and the teacher said “It is a nice rabbit”. Then, she asked them “Do you know? What the rabbit eats. Suddenly, the little girl started to cry because she wanted to go to her house. So, the teacher had to stop the class to assist the girl. She asked her what the problem was but the girl didn´t say anything and she didn´t do the activity either.  The teacher had to change her lesson plan and asked them if they would you like to play with dough. The question motivated them in a positive way. After that, the teacher said “It would be a good idea to create animals”. The little girl liked the idea and then, they started to make different animals. I learnt that sometimes unplanned lessons can also be effective.

# data[].attributes.headline
Second Observed lesson – September  7th 

# data[].attributes.subject
Second Observed lesson – September  7th 

# data[].attributes.headline
What have you learnt from this observation?

# data[].attributes.subject
What have you learnt from this observation?

# data[].attributes.body
In this activity, the two boys finished the task before the girl and they got bored. I want to highlight that the teacher was resourceful and to overcome this difficult, she asked them different questions about the animals they were working on. I think that the balance of the activity was right

# data[].attributes.headline
Is the class attentive while the teacher sets the homework? Are they interested?

# data[].attributes.subject
Is the class attentive while the teacher sets the homework? Are they interested?

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher showed them a worksheet which had several animals. She based the task on the following question: where do these animals live in the country/ in a house? After the children answered that it. She praised them for answering correctly. Then, she asked them to cut the photocopy out and glue it into the corresponding column.  During the presentation of the task, the children paid attention and the task motivated them because they seemed to be interested during all the activity. It took a long time since before starting the task, they reviewed with the teacher which animals lived in the country or city.

# data[].attributes.body
With respect to activities, the headmaster and the course teacher explained to me that the children had never had English classes. For this reason, they suggested that I spoke in l2 and then in L1. They told me that it would be better to foster their understanding.

# data[].attributes.body
The group was made up of three children, two 5 years - old and a girl 4 years old. It is important to highlight the fact that one of the boys lives far away in the country. For this reason, he sometimes doesn´t attend school. During my practicum period, he only took one class. The children were very kind and they didn´t exhibit misbehavior during my practicums.

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher´s name is Lorena Nievas. She teaches at k4 and k5. She´s a funny and kind person. From the very beginning, she made me feel very comfortable. I really felt supported by her all the time.