7th of December 2015 - focusing on our new project

There was so much going on today, that the English lesson was shorter, than I had expected. 

I actually wanted to  review the test and start with this song I wrote about before the Autumn holidays to give them an idea of an interview with an animal... Then I wanted the class to focus on their animal with a ABC list and then research facts about it animal in the computer room but I ran out of time...

I just had a real quick look at the question test with them announced that there will be more like this to come and that I would practise these question forms with them a lot more.

So I just explained real quick, that they were making a presentation about their animal either as

• normal presentation
• out of the eyes of the animal itself
• telling their little sister about it or
• talking about an interview with an animal

To give them an idea of the last option we just had a look at the first verse of the song "Old Man Emu".

On the blackboard I had written, what I wanted them to include in their presentation:

• Why I chose this animal
• Size, weight, speed, food
• life expectancy
• reproduction
• where it lives
• endangered animal?
• migration?

Then I handed out a new ABC List they could do a brain storming about their animal with, but then the lesson was finished already. So I gave them homework for Thursday when I had them for a double lesson of German. I asked them to do the research at home and find as many information about their animal in order to write their presentation in German.

4th of December 2015 - Just enough time to give back the tests

Today's English lesson was canceled because the class wrote a wonderful love story and the vernissage was set up for Monday. So the class needed the time to practice their reading and bind the books. At least I only got the chance to return the tests.

30th of November - Question test and second animal

So I finally caught up with the past lessons and can write about today's :-)

Today they had to take the following test: Question Test & how much/how many

The whole thing was a little complicated because the main teacher had a discussion with her mentor during the last two lessons of the morning. Well first they took this test and then two of them had to take the vocabulary test as well because they had been sick on Friday so I let them start while some of the others were still working on the question test. I had to wait to give them the listening until all the others were finished with their test. So I asked the class to have a look at page 14+15 form the Pupils Book. It's two pages with fact sheets about the Arctic Tern, the Green Turtle, the Grey Whale and the Monarch Butterfly. I asked the class to read very quietly through those fact sheets while the two could listen to the listening test for the first time. Then I talked with the class a little about those animals that they have read about and it was again time for the two to listen to their text again... So I asked the others to look at them again and decide which animal they would like to know a little more about. This was definitely not ideal but these two had to take the test and I had no one else to supervise them outside the classroom...

When the two were finally finished it was just about ten minutes from the second lesson to be over. I very briefly explained what the next lesson would be about and what they needed to do for homework. They could choose an animal and do the active reading, which we usually do in class at home. They all have the MP3 files somewhere on their Players and they should work with this chosen text like they are used to for one hour. If they already understand it all after 30 minutes than the rest of the time could be used as passive listening.

And for Friday they should think of an animal they would like to do a presentation about. I want them to write a text about an animal they are interested in with the help of those two texts from the book. They can use sentences from those texts and just change the animal/speed/weight etc. Or they can write something totally different.

Like for the Rainbow Serpent Project I'll make a checklist for the class so they know exactly that they have to do to be able to make a very free presentation about their animal in front of the class. This will be the main issue of this Unit 2.

I'll write about the outcome of the unit 1 test in my reflection post after I have gotten all the grades.

27th of November 2015 - Vocabulary test

So today they took a vocabulary test I wrote myself and a listening comprehension test from the unit of the book. I have corrected them already but didn't have the chance to put the points into our "Lehreroffice" yet - a tool which gives me the grades.

I'll write a reflection about this unit anyway so I'll just make the test results a part of it.

But here is the vocabulary & listening test the class had to take.

23th of November 2015 - Working on vocabulary again

In this lesson I wanted to pick up this explanation exercise from last week so I asked the students to take out their notebooks, pens and flags. I would describe a word and as soon as the first of them found out they had to put their flags on the poles and start writing the word in their notebooks. All of them got 3 points. Then I said another sentence and the ones who found out then got two points and if they needed another sentence, they just got one point. Then I had the class spell the word for me as a chorus and I wrote it at the blackboard. Who ever had it spelled correctly got another two points.

We played this with at least ten words and they didn't get bored at all. Then I put them into groups of three and let them play the same game in their group.

Me and the main teacher walked around and helped out where ever help was needed.

To be honest, this doesn't sound like it would fill a whole lesson but I can't remember what else I did... If it comes back I'll add it later but it couldn't be something very important.

20th of November 2015 - Vocabulary Training

So, I finally get to write about the last 4 lessons I taught... We had some issues at home that took way too much time but that's kind of solved now so here we go again. I do hope I can still remember the lessons. Maybe the first ones won't be as detailed as they usually are.

Well but like I said, I put up those questions on the wall and tried to get them sorted. My intention was to put them in groups: 1. positive questions, 2. negative questions, 3. questions with question words. And in each group there are the yellow ones with auxiliary verb and the green ones with "to do". I replaced one of those questions but forgot to take a new picture... "What do you want?" is there instead of "Where do you go?" because I was actually thinking of "Where are you going?" as I wrote down that question...

At the beginning of the lesson I made the class line up in two rows and handed one very long mikado stick to the ones in the front. Without saying anything about the wall I read one question out loud and the one who found it first and touched it with the stick got a point for his/her group.

After being through the groups once I let them discuss in their groups what they could find out about the order in which I had hung up the questions and since we'd done something similar before they all found out what green and yellow meant and the obviously saw the groups too. So the next round, I gave them an answer, and they had to be the first to find the question that goes with it to get the point.

Then they went back to their desks and worked in pairs. On kid read the last word of the question like "day?" - pause - "per day?" - pause - "drink per day?" - until the other one found out which question he/she had in mind.

The rest of the lesson was supposed to be a vocabulary explanation training but there were so much into these questions they didn't really understand, what I wanted them to do. I wanted them to hold their vocabulary cards, and describe a words without saying it. And their partner had to find out, which word they were trying to describe. But sooner or later most partners started to ask questions instead of letting the other explain. Time was almost up so I knew I had to work on this again.

At the end of the lessons I announced two English tests that I wanted them to take. One in a week an one the Monday after. Two tests with two different focuses. The first was about the vocabulary and the second about formulating questions.

These are the aims for the two tests: AIMS

16th of November 2015 - getting there :-)

Today's lesson was a lot better than the last one. Actually I thought it was incredible how well the class participated in this lesson today...

My weekend was "something else" and so I got up very early this morning and meant to get the new question chunks ready to put them on the wall but they only made it to the blackboard and I forgot to take a picture. So this will by in the blog next Friday...

But I did make it a lot easier. I printed the list of auxiliary words (without the "do") on a yellow paper and the possible questions with auxiliary verbs on yellow paper too. The questions with "to do" are all on green paper.

WHY WITHOUT THE DO? Well even though "to do" might be an auxiliary verb, I don't ask a question like "Did you your homework?" like I ask questions with auxiliary verbs. I would say "Did you do your homework?" so I use "to do" just like a regular verb. That's why I took it from the list. 

So at the beginning of the lesson, I asked the kids to discuss in pairs what the difference was between the yellow side and the green side. Each group had to give me an answer. In English of course and I just had to remind them once ;-) not all answers were correct but I accepted any English answer with a thumb up. As all groups were through I gave them the correct explanation which most of them found out anyway.

Then I handed out the vocabulary cards to each child and we played the game we played last week again. So I thought of a word from my list (bottle) and they had to guess. They were really excited and quiet eager to find the solution. With my second word I told them, that they could use their own vocabulary cards. So if they asked me "can you eat it?" and I said "no, I can't" than they could put aside all the food cards. This way the kids activate many different neuro-mechanisms (like Vera F. Birkenbihl calls them - this will all be part of my theory part of this bachelor thesis)

The kids categorise their vocabulary words.
They give them a meaning.
They ask questions.
They get an immediate feedback.
They are curious about the words I think about.
They play...

And probably even more. So this way of looking at the vocabulary is (according to Vera F. Birkenbihl) highly "brain-friendly". And it was fun too!!! The kids loved it.

This time I even managed to give all the kids a thumbs up when they said something in English and they could raise their flag a little higher.

Then I put them in groups of three. One of them should chose a word from the word cards and the other two should guess by asking those questions. Me and the head teacher walked around the classroom and listened to the questions and answers. Every time we heard a correct question or a correct answer like "yes, it is." or "no, I don't" the kids could go one up. I stressed this form of answering because I didn't want them to just to say "yes" or "no".

After about two minutes we both realises that pretty much all questions started with "is it ...?" So I interrupted them and asked them for more possible ways to ask like "can I drink it?", "do you have it in the kitchen" and so one. After having heard a bunch of different questions I let them go on.

I have to admit I was almost floating through the classroom. 17 kid sat there being very excited, speaking only English, asking mostly perfect questions, and getting excited as their flag reached the top of the pole. Some of them even took it down to -7 and wanted to go all the way up again :-)

About five minutes before the end of the lesson, I interrupted them and played the hangman game with them at the blackboard. So I drew as many lines as there were letters in the word I thought of and the kids had to guess the letters. First we went trough the alphabet together (I'll have to work on that too...) and then we played. They were allowed to look at the cards since I wanted them to think about their spelling.

So this really was a fun lesson and I'll definitely let them play these two games again.