Monday, October 29, 2012

Happy Halloween!

There are so many things you could do with Halloween. It's not only a chance to discuss American culture but it is also a way to incorporate fun and creative projects, readings and media.

I have seen a lot of worksheets floating around the Internet about Halloween, which is fine, but I personally try to limit my use of them and use videos and activities instead.

In terms of videos, the History Channel has some really great ones. I love "Bet You Didn't Know: Halloween" and " Haunted History of Halloween". They both are a little over two minutes, have Greta visuals and a lot of interesting information. I did a KWL activity with my students asking them before what they knew, what they learned in the video and what they wanted to know. We also had a small discussion.

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/videos#bet-you-didnt-know-halloween

This is Halloween

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a fun film to watch and not just for children. I used the song, "This is Halloween" in my class and asked my students, according to the video, what is Halloween?

Here's the link:



We had just finished clothing at the time so I has students design costumes from the clothing they had at home. This was a fun exercise to see who could come up with the most creative costume without actually buying one. Beforehand I gave them some example of DIY costumes including a How To video.

The Velvet Ribbon
This is a classic scary story and perfect for Halloween. It is also quite short and simple, making it accessible for all levels and ages (with scaffolding as needed). There also are many different versions, for more or less advanced classes. I used An McGovern's version with my beginner English class this semester and it worked really well! Here is the text, which I found from http://home.earthlink.net/~halloween_magenta/v-ribbon.html



THE VELVET RIBBON 
by Ann McGovern 

Once there was a man who fell in love with a beautiful girl. And before
the next full moon rose in the sky, they were wed.
To please her husband, the young wife wore a different gown each night.
Sometimes she was dressed in yellow; other nights she wore red or blue
or white. And she always wore a black velvet ribbon around her slender
neck.
Day and night she wore that ribbon, and it was not long before her
husband's curiosity got the better of him.
"Why do you always wear that ribbon?" he asked.
She smiled a strange smile and said not a word.
At last her husband got angry. And one night he shouted at his bride.
"Take that ribbon off! I'm tired of looking at it."
You will be sorry if I do," she replied, "so I won't." Every morning at
breakfast, the husband ordered his wife to remove the black velvet
ribbon from around her neck. Every night at dinner he told her the same
thing.
But every morning at breakfast and every night at dinner, all his wife
would say was, "You'll be sorry if I do. So I won't."
A week had passed. The husband no longer looked into his wife's eyes. He
could only stare at that black velvet ribbon around her neck.
One night as his wife lay sleeping, he tiptoed to her sewing basket. He
took out a pair of scissors.
Quickly and quietly, careful not to awaken her, he bent over his wife's
bed
and
SNIP! went the scissors, and the velvet ribbon fell to the floor
and
SNAP! off came her head. It rolled over the floor in the moonlight,
wailing tearfully:
"I...told...you...you'd...be...s-o-r-r-y!"



There also is audio, which I also had my students listen to as they read along. Since it's short, we were able to go through the words they were unfamiliar with and read it a few times over with out it becoming too tedious

Here is the link to the video which is only audio:


The Raven

Edgar Allen Poe's famous short story, The Raven, is also a personal favorite but is much more difficult and unlike the other short story, requires a higher level.  Despite this, there are some great resources out there.

Below is a link to the full text, broken in two vignettes with vocabulary word definitions and explanations. Very good, I believe, if you're going to read it with your students.

http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa101600d.htm


Here is a fun "interpretation" done by the Simpsons.






Here is Part 1 of a very well made short film which depicts The Raven.

Also, if you'd like to make an extended study of the short story, Edgar Allen Poe and his other short stories, definitely visit this website that has a ton of resources:

http://www.michellehenry.fr/poe.htm



Pumpkin Carving

I think this one is self explanatory. We did this at our school Halloween party. On another occasion I had younger students and we instead painted the pumpkins, which was also really fun for them and got everyone in the Halloween spirit!

Superstitions Around the World

An interesting cultural aspect that can be tied to Halloween is  Superstition. I had a big talk with my students about American superstitions and asked them to think of a list of superstitions from their countries. Then, we looked into one and found the origin of it. Very interesting!



Saturday, October 27, 2012

Blog Spotlight- Edutopia

Edutopia

Edutopia, a website created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, is a fantastic resource for any and every educator. If you are looking for inspiration, advice, educational research or just want to learn what methods other schools and communities around the country (USA) are using, you will certainly want to visit this site.

Body Image- What is Beautiful in your Country?

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/specials/nat-geo-live-specials/cobb-bonusbeauty-nglive/ 

Body Image and Self Esteem

A great segue or transition from a unit on physical descriptions is a class activity or even entire unit on body image. This is an especially great follow up for the magazine activity in my physical description post.

You could even extend it into bullying and tolerance depending on your students' levels. I have to admit, I did some of these activities with my beginner level students and they still really enjoyed it so don't be afraid to take a chance. As long as you have great visuals, multimedia, vocabulary building and of course- scaffold- your lesson, it will be a productive and effective one.

A great way to introduce the topic is to show one of the Dove Ads. They say so much without actually saying anything and are great conversation starters.



Click here for some extra activities from the Dove web site, specifically aimed at young girls. 

After talking about the video and getting student responses, we briefly discussed magazines and how they show a distorted view of beauty and the human body. If you don't want to show the video or you would like something to supplement it, you can also show them some photo shopping flubs. Here are two websites that have some funny and amusing examples. Photoshop Fails 1 , Photoship fails 2


Beauty around the World

We continued the lesson with this video from Jessica Simpson's the Price of Beauty. At first I wasn't sure about the show but when I actually watched an episode I found that it really brought up a lot of important personal, social and global issues.  The video portrays how, unlike in the USA and many other countries, in some societies being overweight is a sign of beauty and affluence. I stopped the video from time to time to ask students comprehension questions and after I split them into groups and asked them to write a list of characteristsics that is beautiful or attractive n their country. After sharing our findings I asked students to write their personal idea of beauty and to find if it differed from that of the greater society.



Continuing with body image, here is a video that addresses how the media and specifically the fashion industry affect our body images. It is from ABC Australia and also includes the transcript!

Body Image Video-ABC Australia

If you want to focus on the media aspect you can use the link below for an article about photoshopping and warning labels on magazines. It includes comprehension checks and exercises. I'm not a huge fan of worksheets but this is always another option.

Breaking News English- Body Image Reading


A great follow-up would be to bring in real magazines (yay for realia) and ask students to design a poster which displays what they just learned about body image. Ask them to be creative, candid and to use the pictures form the magazines as well as any words or phrases they wish.

Music

 
TLC-Unpretty

  

Christina Aguilera- Beautiful



 Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are



Describing Physical Appearances

The old saying goes, "don't judge a book by its cover". Though I wholeheartedly agree that it is never good to make assumptions, having students make judgements and predictions is a great way to not only check their comprehension but also a creative way to have them organize, analyze and synthesize new information.Here are some ways they can do just that with description words and body vocabulary.

Activities



Sketch Artist

This activity requires students to be put into pairs. Ideally each partner should receive a print out of a different caricature but if you don't have access to a printer you could also just have one student face the board where the picture is projected and one have their back to it. Once the caricature is shown they must help their partner draw a picture by describing in English or whatever the target language may be (I also used this when teaching Italian), the features of the person's face. You could also change this a bit and give a crime scene scenario. Later, after the allotted time is finished, the students can finally see the picture, share theirs with the class and then switch.

Below is a website of some caricatures of famous celebrities but if you don't see any you like, a simple google search will do the trick.

http://naldzgraphics.net/inspirations/30-hilarious-and-entertaining-caricatures-of-famous-celebrities/


Guess Who?

 Another fun activity is to split students in groups and have them describe the person in the picture given to them. Later, after the students all finish, they give the picture back and the class has to describe who is who or which descriptions belong to which people. This is also fun because in my experience it has led into a debate of opinion. For example, my students argued whether or not Justin Bieber was talented or Madonna was beautiful.


Readings and Discussion Starters

Easy Group Discussıon Questıons:
Is it better to be feared or loved?
........................  tall or short?
........................  rich or beautiful?
........................  intelligent or artistic?
........................  athletic or intelligent?

Body Language from around the World 

Is the "OK" hand symbol okay in every country? Does a thumbs up always mean good job? This is a fun activity for students of all ages, though it may be better for older students since some may not be age -appropriate or taboo. A fun way to have students interact with the information is to ask them to first make a list of common symbols from their country and then guess the meaning of images from other countries.

Here is one of many articles about different examples of body language from around the world.:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/a-travellers-guide-to-avoiding-faux-pas/story-e6frfq80-1226112216345


The Most Beautiful Woman/Man in the World
This is a great activity for young adults and teens that is educational and fun.

Materials:
Magazines/Newspapers
Scissors
Glue
Poster-board

Students are put into groups of 3 or 4 (depending on the class size) and given the materials. They are asked to cut out images of (appropriate) body parts and glue them on their poster boards to create "the perfect" person. Then, they will present to the class their findings using the vocabulary they learned in previous classes. This is a great group exercise because students can also be assigned many different challenging roles such as image finder, description writer, speaker etc. not to mention it's just alot of fun (which is always a perk!)


Wacky Body Part Reading

Something that can include pop culture and would be funny for students would be to read an article about how valuable (socially and financially) some famous people's body parts are. It sounds strange, which it is, but supposedly some celebrities have actually insured their various body parts for millions of dollars. Below is a link.

http://www.businessinsider.com/20-celebrities-who-insured-their-bodies-for-millions-2012-3?op=1


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Blog Spotlight- I-Learn Technology

I Learn Technology is one of my absolute favorite teaching blogs and by far, in my opinion, the best blog for technology integration. You can spend hours if not days reading her posts and trust me, both you and your students will be happier for it! There is everything from links to innovative new websites to fun online games, articles about technology integration, podcasts from effective teachers and much much more. You just have to see it to believe it!

Friday, October 5, 2012

What not to Wear?



Teaching a unit on clothing is one of the best opportunities to use realia or real objects. One fun way to start class and introduce new vocabulary is by bringing your "shopping bag" and showing students the various articles of clothing you bought.

Shopping Spree

For classrooms with computers students can be put in pairs or small groups and given $100 imaginary dollars which they must spend to create an outfit. Students can chose their online store of choice or all be given the same one ( either way its always in English) and after finishing the task they present their decisions to the class, which later votes on the coolest outfit within the alloted
budget.

What do your clothes say about you? 

 http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/07/03/14/clothes-psychology-what-your-clothing-tells-others-about-who-you-are-and-who-you-want-to-be.htm

Suitcase Challenge

A short activity you can do is bring in weather related realia (rain boots, scarves, gloves, sandals, sun glasses etc.) and have students pack their suitcase for a trip during a specific season. A way to make a little competetive and get them moving would be to put the clothes around the room and time the students to see who can pack their bag the fastest with the most appropriate clothing.

This video of Mr. Bean is a great way to introduce the activity and get the students laughing.


Reader's Theater: The Emporer's New Clothes

Reader's Theater is a great way to get students involved! Literacy Connection is one of the many websites out there that offer free scripts, stories and activities for student. It is also my personal favorite.


Below is a link to the Emporer's New Clothes text along with some comprehension questions and activities.

http://www.sharlagillard.com/eslgarden/stories/dl/emperors_new_clothes.pdf







Fashion Show

Students have a lot of fun with this activity, even those who are quieter in class. As always, break students into and have them choose their differing roles (scribe, writer, model etc), motivating students who are less likely to participate and keeping more advanced students from dominating the activity and instead serving as team leader or moderator. Together the group must describe what their model is wearing, with a different adjective for each article of clothing. then, after all groups are finished the class holds a mock fashion show along with music and a make-shift catwalk (the aisle between a row of desks is fine). This is not only a fun activity for clothing vocabulary but also a great exercise for the present continuous tense. For example, students may say, "He is wearing a gray sweatshirt".


Halloween Costume Creating

There are also a lot of fun ways to incorporate clothing vocabulary around Halloween. Students can describe their actual costume or an ideal one. Teachers can also provide students with a picture of a Halloween costume that they must describe and later have other students guess.

Here are some links for DIY costume ideas:

http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/diy-adult-costumes/

http://www.marthastewart.com/275248/homemade-halloween-costumes-for-adults/@center/276965/halloween

http://blog.couponsherpa.com/50-cheap-and-easy-costumes-for-adults-and-children/










Thursday, October 4, 2012

Movement and Directions

Activities

Map Exercise

Although students don't need to get up and move around for this one, they usually have a lot of fun with it. If you'd like to incorporate technology you could even use Google Maps, but in my experiences I found that the students had more fun with real paper maps. Again, realia is always fun! Whenever I travel I try to buy a city map and bring it home with me but you can also find them in the travel section of your local bookstore.

There are alot of differing tasks you can give them after handing out the maps to each group but one is to have them visually locate the place and then describe its location in relation to surrounding buildings, streets etc in a sentence. Here, you incorporate not only prepositions of place but also city vocabulary. You can then extend the activity by asking them to make a list of five new locations and challenge another group of students to find them.

School Scavenger Hunt

Students are given directions to a "secret" location in the school and once they correctly follow them and arrive must get a new set of directions. The last location will have a special object they need to bring back to the classroom. The group completes he activity the fastest "wins" and must then go around to the other groups to help them complete the scavenger hunt.

Simon Says

Simon says is a quick and fun way to reinforce new and old vocabulary. You can practice both prepositions of place and classroom objects, clothing, body parts etc. Even older kids enjoy it but remember not to drag it in for too long. 

Dances

Almost everyone loves to dance and not only are they a great way to practice direction words and parts of the body, but they also are a great exercise for following directions.  I just actually did this in a conversation class  and even my shyest students were excited and enthusiastic about learning the new dances. It also ended up being a great cultural exchange when I asked them about their country's popular dances. Attempting to explain the importance and teach me the rules of their special dances was a fantastic speaking exercise and a fun one too. After about ten minutes of working together to communicate the steps, my beginner students were able to teach me Damat Halayı, a traditional Turkish dance, and couldn't be more proud.

Here are just a few dance songs that I have had success with in my classes: 

The Cha Cha Slide



  
The Cupid Shuffle


    
                                                                      Cotton Eyed Joe

Additional ideas/extended projects:

A flash mob! Looking at various videos, students learned what a flash mob is and together, we planned to do one this year on campus.



For younger children, Heads Shoulders, Knees and Toes is a great one, too.

In conjunction with H,S,K,T, children may also enjoy a game of Simon Says, which also uses parts of the body. For more ideas on teaching children check out this great link of activities and games:
Http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/vocab/body-vocabulary/.














Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Hello Hello!


This being our first week we started things off by getting to know each other. So the absolute first thing we did was...say hello! Here are some videos from songs that talk about doing just that:

First..a classic song by the Beatles. 



  Next, a contemporary song that will get you dancing...


 And finally a sleepy song to say goodnight :)


Whether you say hello, good morning, good afternoon or good evening, you usually introduce yourself by telling your name. 




You may recognize this character and his famous way of introducing himself...Only  007 can get away with saying his last name first!




Names aren't just words, they mean so much more than that! Here are two very different songs that talk about names.


Cherly Cole- My Name
 

     
The Goo Goo Dolls- Name
  



                                                   

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Welcome Friends!

Welcome!
Hi there and welcome to my English language teaching blog!  Here, I try to post links to videos, articles and music, and ideas for teaching English.  I hope you find some of the information on this blog useful. If you have any questions, comments, resources or suggestions  please feel free to send me an email or message on this blog!

 
 The Name?
 
If you are familiar with the Turkish language, you have probably heard the word ''hocam". As an English teacher in a Turkish university, 'hello hocam' is a phrase I literally hear about ten times a day.  I'm neither a historian or a fluent speaker but I have both experienced and been told is that the word was originally used in Ottoman times for religious instructors yet now "Hocam" has become slang for "my teacher" and even "my friend". Whatever its exact meaning and origin, it is a phrase that reminds me of my students who every day inspire me to become a better version of myself, both personally and professionally. So, with that being said, it felt right to name my blog after this phrase.


A little bit about me: 




Just in case you'd like to know a little bit about the person on the other side of the screen, here is a bit of information. My name is Danielle and I received a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing and an M.A. in English Secondary Education. After graduation I went on to teach at a private language school in Rome, Italy and worked there until quite recently when I began teaching English at a university in Southeastern Turkey.

My educational philosophy is pretty simple: I believe that every student has the potential to learn something new and that learning should be fun, interactive and individualized while also being cooperative and meaningful. I believe that technology is an incredibly useful tool but shouldn't be used in isolation (just like everything else). I value social interaction, discussion, music and just about anything that encourages my students to ask questions.

I addition to this very "professional" summary of my life, I am also bookworm, cook, news junkie, language lover and a lifelong learner. I absolutely love my job and am always looking for new, creative and fun approaches to teaching. So, again, if you have any suggestions or ideas please feel free to share them! 

Thanks and enjoy!