Day 4, Session 1: Handout 1

Look at the considerations for designing materials. Put them in order of

importance for you then add three more that you feel are important.

- Develop a positive attitude towards language learning

- Increase general motivation
- Enrich the learners learning experience
- Relevant to their interests
- Encourage active participation
- Arouse curiosity
- Draw on their personal experience
- The coherence of the teaching purposes
- The content implied within the material
- The visual attractiveness
- The language learning potential
-
-
-
Day 4, Session 1: Handout 2
Complete the questions about the activity.
DICTAGLOSS SHAPES
What age or level is the
activity appropriate for?

Is it adaptable for other levels?

Does it cater for learners’

interests and needs?

Is it related to learners’ culture

and experience?

Does it provide opportunities

for interaction and generate
language?

Is it contextualised?

Does it promote autonomy?

Is it dependent on a lot of
resources?

Does it achieve the aims it was

designed for?

Does it provide opportunities

for mixed ability?

Does it challenge the learners?

Is it motivating or fun to do?

Does it look attractive and

professional?

Is it time consuming to create?

Day 4, Session 1: Handout 3
TECHNOLOGY - Why do we use it?
Please read the results from a survey a large group of schools decided to do
with its teachers about what they thought were the benefits of using
technology in the classroom then place the headings in the correct place.

 Meeting students’ needs and giving them autonomy

 Good for the teacher
 Time Saving
 Positive effects on a class and materials

1. _________________________________
A. It can be fun and memorable and seems to get and hold their attention.
B. Technology in class helps to switch learner attention from teacher to the
material itself.
C. Authentic materials are available in the classroom which means the BBC,
YouTube and others.

2. _________________________________
A. It’s a new exciting dimension to our teaching and we are encouraging all the
teachers to update their skills.
B. It gives me, as a teacher, much more freedom and opportunities to reach the
students than a simple chalkboard.
C. It is another tool in the teacher’s toolbox that helps create interest and
stimulate different learning styles.

3. ___________________________________
A. It can reflect students’ ‘real life’ experiences with English and it helps promote
learner autonomy.
B. It extends communication, and learning beyond the classroom.
C. We believe technology is important because it opens up different ways of
communicating in our modern world and introduces students to a huge wealth of
resources.

4. ___________________________________
A. It saves a lot of time, which could be spent on other activities.
B. It makes the class more interactive and makes the teacher’s job easier.
C. It can be an extremely efficient way of banking and sharing resources.
Day 4, Session 1: Handout 4

PRESCHOOL

ACTIVITY A

PHONICS WITH GERALDINE (Youtube)

1. For this activity, about Geraldine the learning Giraffe who has lessons on
how to say words or sounds with Mr. Thorne, her teacher, you can use an
iPad or go directly to the YouTube site and project it onto a IWB (if you are
lucky enough to have one!).

2. Your learners can watch and listen to Geraldine and say the sounds and
words. When they have done this, play the video with no sound and when
you get to a sound or word ask the learners to say it and then record it on a
mobile phone.

3. When finished play the video again, stopping at the sound or word,
playing the learners’ versions then comparing them to Geraldine’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJtvjxBYg7I

ACTIVITY B

Ask the class a question then turn on your recording device on your mobile
phone and record their answer then let them hear their own voices. Another
possibility is to get the learners to choose what part of a song they want to
sing as a group; ask them to stand in front of you to sing it as you record
their voices on the mobile phone. When all the learners have recorded their
section invite learners to form a circle to hear their voices and the song.
PRIMARY

ACTIVITY A

Show learners how to record their voices on a mobile phone by

demonstrating. You can use a song done in class. Divide the class into groups
and tell each group to record 2 lines from the song. Assign each group 2 lines
in sequence so that as much of the song is recorded as possible (you will
probably need to give lots of support for this). When they have recorded
their lines ask the groups to make a circle then take turns playing their lines
so by the end all the song has been heard through the mobile recording
device.

ACTIVITY B

CREATING AN AVATAR (Voki app)

1. Learners chose a character (an avatar) from Voki, a free podcast creating
service (go to the section which says create). You will need an internet
connection, an IWB or laptop to show the site and preferably laptops, iPads
or mobile phones for the learners. An alternative is to show the site then
ask learners to create a class avatar or several of them in groups.

2. Learners then create a personality for their avatar using the questions
below as a guide:
- What is the name of the character? What is she/he/it like? (hair colour,
eyes, etc.)
- What is she/he/it wearing? What can she/he/it do?
- What does she/he/it like doing? What does she/he/it do every day?

3. The learners then either make a drawing of their avatar or use their
laptops/mobiles to display it.

4. Ask learners to show and share their avatars in groups in open class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMSKmVhakFE
SECONDARY
ACTIVITY A

TALKING ABOUT APPS

1. Learners make a list of all the apps they have on their phones.

2. When they have completed their list they sort the apps into groups, such
as: • games • photos • videos.

3. Learners explain some of the apps to you and other classmates.

4. If learners mention any language-learning apps, ensure they get the

chance to tell the other learners about them. They should say what
features and aspects they like or don’t like.

TIP: If your learners don’t mention any language-learning apps, set them a
homework task. For example: Ask them to download and try out one free
language-learning app before the next class. You may want to provide
them with a few key search words or suggest a few apps that you’re already
familiar with. They can report back about the app – how it works, what they
liked or didn’t like about it, etc. – and demonstrate it in the next class.
POST-SECONDARY

ACTIVITY A

WRITING A REFLECTIVE BLOG

1. Direct each learner to set up a learning journal blog. Tell learners they
can respond to any of their classmates' blogs, but that they should
comment on one specific person's journal. You can either let the learners
choose who that is, or you can match the learners based on interests or
writing skills.

2. Discuss with your learners the benefits of keeping a reflective journal and
of sharing what they write with you and other learners.

3. At the end of each week, ask learners to write about their progress in
their journals. Tell them they can write as much or as little as they want.

4. As well as writing about their own progress as learners, ask them to read
their classmate’s blog and respond to what they read.

5. Visit the blogs yourself and leave comments responding to what your
learners write. This will become less necessary as the project gains
momentum and learners comment more on each other's blogs.
Day 4, Session 2: Handout 5

Look at the examples of writing activities from coursebooks. Decide what

kind of writing and each one deals with. Do you think any of the examples
reflect a communicative approach to learning? If so, why?

Cutting Edge Elementary, Unit 3 (Longman, 2005) Cunningham, Moor & Eales
Superminds 1 (CUP, reprinted 2016) by Melanie Williams with Herbert Putcha Gunter
Gerngross and Peter Lewis-Jones
Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate (Longman, 2005) Cunningham & Moor
Day 4, Session 2: Handout 6

WRITING (sub-skills)

1 At the script level

Recognition: identifying letters of alphabet/words, in lists/texts
reading aloud – words/sentences
spotting differences in words/sentences
matching pictures with words

Production: copying
mechanical exercises – letters grouped in shape families
dictations – letters, words, sentences

2 At the spelling level

Recognition: grouping words according to rhyme/according to spelling rule,
odd man out
deducing rules from word families – take/came
confirming/checking deductions through dictionary
work

Production: dictation
help them to use spell check
mechanical exercises based on rules – shop/shopping,
stop/stopping

3 At the punctuation level

Recognition: identifying punctuation in a text – how many capital letters?
what’s the difference?
A) He likes fast cars, and boats B) He likes fast cars and boats.

Production: dictation
unpunctuated passages – complete

4 At the appropriacy level

Recognition: stylistically unsuitable texts; discuss, rewrite
2 jumbled texts – same content, different style
2 texts – same content, one written, one spoken identify and
note differences
spot the “inaccuracy” in a text – correct

Production: adapting spoken text to written form

rewriting following from recognition activities
5 At the cohesion (sentence) level
Recognition: identifying linkers, grouping these according to whether they
add, contrast, summarise etc.
paragraph with wrong linkers – correct
split sentences on cards – students find partner
identifying forward and back references (e.g. What does “it”
refer to?)

Production: gap-filled passage – students add linkers (perhaps from list)

a number of short sentences (in order or jumbled), students
link (and order)
writing up a paragraph from notes, or from listening, using
linkers from list

6 At the paragraph level

Recognition: unparagraphed text to be divided into appropriate chunks

Production: rearranging given sentences to form a paragraph

given topic sentence – group work to discuss contents of
paragraph topic sentence and last sentence of paragraph –
students fill in middle

7 At text organisation level

Recognition: identify topics of paragraphs
order jumbled paragraphs
identify function of text
identify reader-writer relationship
match pictures/topic headings with text
match notes with paragraphs

Production: reconstruct text from notes/grid/form/diagram

write answer to text (e.g. letter)
write the letter to which the text is an answer
write text based on model, but with different f function, or
style, or content
freer composition – personalisation
Day 4, Session 2: Handout 7

Write a poem for a friend

• Give the learners some vocabulary to integrate into a poem for a
classmate or allocate a topic and let them choose the vocabulary.

Create a story for a younger class in the school

• Put the learners in groups and ask them to create a story for some
younger learners to read.

Have a story competition

• Give the learners six pictures and ask them to create a short story
around them then vote on the best.

A writing journal
• Ask the learners to create a section in their notebook to write a
sentence or paragraph about their day or the things they enjoyed in
class.

A reflective journal
• Learners write reflections about their learning.

A class blog
• Groups create a class blog.

A class magazine
• Create a class magazine with short stories.
Day 4, Session 2: Handout 8

Look at the examples of writing from again and complete the analysis.

Example 1: Real life and writing

1. What kind of writing task is it?
2. How are the learners guided in preparation for the task?
3. Does the writing task contain any of the following elements?

 Personalisation
 Challenge
 Exposure to language that is authentic
 Build cultural awareness
 Relevance to learner interests

Add a comment about your opinion of the activity:

Example 2: Look, read and draw lines

 What kind of writing task is it?
 How are the learners guided in preparation for the task?
 Does the writing task contain any of the following elements?

 Personalisation
 Challenge
 Exposure to language that is authentic
 Relevance to learner interests

Add a comment about your opinion of the activity:

Example 3: Problems and oddities

 What kind of writing task is it?
 How are the learners guided in preparation for the task?
 Does the writing task contain any of the following elements?

 Personalisation
 Challenge
 Exposure to language that is authentic
 Relevance to learner interests

Add a comment about your opinion of the activity:

Day 4, Session 3: Handout 9
A. Choose the area you want to focus on, then complete the grid with two or
three ideas for each section.

LEVEL IMPLICATIONS FOR WRITING POSSIBLE ACTIVITY TYPES

Preschool

Primary

Secondary

Post-
Secondary

Now form groups to share your information.

Day 4, Session 3: Handout 10
A. As you design your writing activity think about the questions below and
take notes.
What kind of writing will you ask your
learners to do? Why?

What do you want the learners to know by

the end of the lesson?

How will you prepare them for the writing?

For example, a pre-task or a series of
activities leading up to the writing??

How can you make the material appealing

to your learners? For example, think about
their interests, culture and level.

How will you present the material? Will you

integrate technology?

How will you ask them to do the activity or

activities? For example, will you ask them
to co-operate, work in pairs?

Are you going to display the writing once

they complete it?

How will you deal with correction?

How will you help them improve? For

example, will they do a draft first?

How much writing will you ask them to do?

B. Be prepared to present your writing task to the other teachers. Complete
the form to help you explain it.
Aim of writing activity

Kind of writing activity

Level of learners

Resources

Interaction patterns

Procedure
Day 4, Optional Handout: Handout 11
GUIDELINES
Think about the following questions and create a set of guidelines for your learners on the
use of mobile devices in your lessons.
1. Do you want your learners to have access to their devices at all times during lessons, or
only when required to do a specific video task?
2. Should your learners be allowed to film each other? Should they be allowed to film you?
3. What should happen if a learner is unhappy with their appearance in a video?
4. Should your learners be allowed to post videos they have recorded in class online?
5. Would you encourage your learners to share video content they find online with
classmates? If so, what kind of content?
6. Should your learners be allowed to use their devices in class for things like checking
Facebook? Or just for the task that you have set?

Suggested classroom guidelines for learners

- Keep your phone/tablet in your bag until your teacher tells you to take it out.

- Only film people if they give you permission to do so. Don't film people secretly.

- Delete a recording if you (or the person you are filming) is not happy with it.

- Don’t share videos of others without their permission (e.g. on YouTube).

- Use your device for the task the teacher sets, not for other things like checking Facebook.

- Show respect: only share content that is appropriate and doesn't offend others.

- Put your phone/tablet away when your teacher tells you to.

You could consider getting the learners themselves involved in setting guidelines for
appropriate use of mobile video in class. This may mean that they are more likely to
follow them! Alternatively, you could ask learners to create a poster (or a short mobile
video film) to illustrate the guidelines.