MY FINAL TASK

I have chosen the activity developed by Tatiana Clavero with PIXTON. She did an activity with a group of 3º ESO , focusing on the distinction between present simple and present continuous. In case that laptops at my High School were available and they worked, I would do the same activity, but with students from 1º ESO. It is suitable for them , since they are learning the difference beteween these two tenses right now. Of course, I would make my students evaluate their classmates using the rubric designed by Tatiana.

It is time to say good bye. I am really happy to have participated in this course because I have learnt a lot about TIC focused on the teaching of English. However, the main hinder has been the lack of computers in my Educational Institution . Furthermore, I would have needed more time to put into practise all the applications by myself.   For sure, I will go on practising  !! :)

GENIALLY: motivated tool for students

GENIALLY is a wonderful application to call students´ attention. They usually employ powerpoints for their presentations, so that the introduction of this tool will increase their technological scope.

TOPIC AND MODALITY

The topic to develop in this task is music. Teenagers love singing and listening different kinds of music, mainly in Youtube, so that they will be very motivated.

GROUPING AND TIMING

This activity will be carried out in groups of 3 / 4 people. All of them must share the music style they are going to develop in this project.

As far as timing is concerned, it will de developed in 4 sessions.

- In the 1st session the teacher will project a text on the digital board about different types of music. It will be read and translated aloud in turns . Later on, students will propose some examples of singers or music groups who represent each style. To finish with, some extracts of songs will be heard and students will haave to identify their style.

- The 2nd and the 3rd session will be devoted to the execution of the project. Students will look for information about the style they have chosen on the Internet and later on, they will plan the structure of their work. They will be helped by the teacher as much as they need.

- In the 4th session students will expose their project . The other classmates will have to listen carefully and prepare some questions to be asked once they finish their oral presentation. A final mark will be given to every group by every student of the class

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

- To practice speaKing

- To improve presentation skill

- To encourage interactive listening

- To promote cooperation

PIXTON or how to create a story with fun

I would like to propose a task to be carried out in a group of 1º ESO to develop their writing skill. I would make use of the application PIXTON, since I regard it more appealing for these young students (12-13 years-old). This activity should be developed in class to help them to solve technical questions / problems.

ORGANIZATION OF GROUPS

Students would be organised in pairs (it is supposed that there are enough computers to share

SEQUENCE OF TASKS

Students would be given a list of vocabulary and grammatical structures to use. They would focus their attention on the use of the past simple tense and the thematic field of activities. Previously, they would be shown an example of story created by PIXTON, and they would also be taught the basic technical knowledge

SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES

- To develop students´writing skill

- To develop students´creativity

- To reinforce pair work and cooperation

- To reinforce students´technical knowledge

- To practise the use of the past simple tense and the thematic field of activities.

CREATIVITY AND USE OF IMAGINATION

Students would be lead to the creation of the story. They are free to choose the characters, the setting , the scenes and the plot. However, the teacher would control the content. Although they would be given the specific vocabulary and grammatical structures, they could choose how to develop their story.

It is paramount to show the final activity to the other students. They can learn with the other stories at the same time they get fun.

Application of EDPUZZLE in class

As I explained in my last post, I could not manage to put into practice any task in my class because of the lack of new technologies, this is the reason why I am going to suggest an activity employing EDPUZZLE:

- REASON TO CHOOSE THE VIDEO

I have selected the video where Greta Thumberg, the teenager who defends the protection of the World, makes a speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elv-c3ZTkYg

The reason to choose this topic is to highlight the importance of preserving the world and to create environmental awareness on the part of the students.

- LEARNING OBJECTIVES

- To develop listening skill

- To develop awareness about the climate change and its real consequences

- To develop students´creativity

- To develop students´knowledge about new technologies

- To foster cooperation between students.

- ACTIVITIES

- Students are shown how to use the application EDPUZZLE before hand.

- In class , students brainstorm the thematic field of Environment. The teacher also provides a list with extra words.

- This activity will be carried out by only a group of students.(in every unit the same task will be directed by only one group ). The teacher asks them to watch the video at home. As it is subtitled, students will find easy its understanding.

- They are asked to include some specific information about environment during Greta´s speech. To do this , they must look for information on the Internet, reinforcing their reading skill (flipped learning)

- This group must also prepare a questionnaire about the video , which will be answered by their classmates once they watch the video.

- After watching the video and doing the questionaire, students will discuss the ways to avoid climate change from home.

IMPROVEMENT

Computers and wi-fi connection should be compulsory in all the Educational Institutions from Andalucia

TIMETOAST : a wonderful way to improve the reading skill

When I was proposed this kind of activity I was doubtful about its execution, mainly because of the lack of technologies at my High School . There are only 15 laptops for all the students, and some of them do not work properly. Besides, they are not available for all the classes, since Tic sessions are the priority. I asked my students to carry out it at home, but most of them do not have computers. This is the main reason why I cannot attach any file. However, I would propose this task to be fulfilled with TIMETOAST.

Learning objectives

By means of this activity, students will develop both their reading skill and their creativity using new technologies.

Steps to follow

The procedure and steps to follow are the following ones: tudents are asked to choose an actor or actress. They must look for his/ her biography on the Internet. Later, they must use TIMETOAST to develop this actor´s/actress´ life, making emphasis on his/ her main movies. Here, they must write the plot/ main characters/ film director.

Advantages of using TimeToast for this activity

Obviously, the main advantage is the students´motivation. The mixture of new technologies and the English language makes this activity successful.

Things that you would change / improve next time

Computers and wi-fi connection should be compulsory in all the Educational Institutions from Andalucia