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To Eliz Leite and Lidia Vanessa,my dear moodlemates, for your support and encouragement, for sharing knowledge and laughs
HELLO EVERYONE!
The first bimontlhy period’s over, here we go!
As you know,this blog is the way we're using to monitor the in-service programme this semester.Therefore this is the tool I'll be using to monitor and assess your work with readers.
Now, returning to your work with readers:
This time we’ll look at it
FROM STUDENT’S POINT OF VIEW .
That means you’ll be required to share
your students’ views on the this kind of reading,
and also their productions: texts, videos, sketches,
pppresentations,etc.
As for their views(testimonials)you can post them here.(see link for posts right after my text).
Concerning your students' productions you can comment on them here and in order to deliver them to me you may choose from three different options:
-as for films you can send the link to me via e-mail.
-for pppresentations you can attach them to an e-mail to me.
- for the written productions you'll find a folder on my table where you
can leave them.
Next Friday Lidia Vanessa we'll be sharing very interesting news from Macmilan.(Prizes for students and for teachers as well)
Looking forward to having you and your students here,
AnaMaria
PS:the deadline for our readers' project is June23rd.which means all student's projects should have been finished by then.
Looking forward to having you here,
AnaMaria
I'm sure you'll have a lot to share
“LIFE’S TREASURES ARE PEOPLE...together”
( Collin MCcarthy)
Enjoy this song!
SPECIAL THANKS
To Eliz Leite and Lidia Vanessa,my dear moodlemates, for your support and encouragement, for sharing knowledge and laughs
Snifffffffffffff......no comments....
ReplyDeleteThe aim of this blog is to monitor the in-service programme and to share ideias with our colleagues.
ReplyDeleteLast time, we shared some ideas about how to make our students interested in reading throughout some exciting activities. This time, we'll ask our students to read a book and we'll share their point of view and also their productions.
We can post our students' testimonials on this page as a comment. And we can post our comments on their productions here as well.
For films and pppresentations, we can send a link to Ana Maria's email. As for written productions, we can leave them in a folder on Ana Maria's table.
We have to keep in mind that the deadline for our readers' project is June 23rd.
I've already started a project with my 11 group and I'll keep it a secret for a while. When the work is done, I'll share it with you and I hope you'll like it as they're enjoying it.
It's good to remind about our last Friday session on which Lídia told us about an interesting readers' competition from Macmillan. I'm sure many students will be interested in taking part of it.
That's all for now!
I'm looking forward to read your comments!
Hugs, Roberta Z. Lara =)
Well, what I'm doing is the following:
ReplyDeleteI've divided my 11 into 3 small groups. I asked each group to choose a different book. Then, I showed them a list of activities and each group has to choose one activity to do according to the book they've read.
The list of activities includes:
Pretend you're one character and introduce the other characters to your class;
Make up five interview questions (with answers) for the main character;
List new words learned from your book
(define them and give the sentences in which you found them);
Write a different ending for your book;
Write a poster as if you're selling the book;
Give your opinion and recommendations;
Role play;
Draw the story.
Some activities were included on a list that Laís gave to some of us and some activities were taken from one of our Friday session.
They're enjoying it because they have the power to choose!
Love, Roberta =)
Dear Roberta,
ReplyDeleteSorry for taking so long to answer you;but I believe your students will come up with good productions and I'm already curious to see them.
AM
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteAs Roberta mentioned previously, when we give students a wide range of choices they have more opportunities to use their imagination and criativity and they feel as they have the power. Have a look at what they´re supposed to do:
Intermediate group:
They will choose one of the following activities and will present to the whole group.
1) Write a tv commercial about your book;
2) As a movie producer, explain why you will or will not make your book into a movie.
3) Describe an experience you´ve had that was like the experience of a character.
4) Write a letter to a friend describing this book you are going to send him.
5) Choose some of the following words and explain how each applies to your book: stupendous, exciting, breathtaking, horrendous, fabulous etc.
6)How did the book change your way of thinking?
7)Make a tape about your book.
Pre-intermediate and Elementary (intensive)-Total 2 and 1
They will take part in Macmillan´s competition and will make a video. I have few students in these groups and I do believe they will produce excellent videos.
Elementary(Action 1 and Total 1)
They have 3 tasks:
1) Make 10 questions that we´ve worked along this semester and interview a character from the book.
2) Write a list of words that they have learnt.
*Some of them associated vocabulary to drawing in their first bimonthly reading activity.
3) Then, they´ll choose a passage from the book and will read it aloud.
NOTE: All of them picked up an audio book.
I´m curious to see their productions and share with you.
Cheers,
Leonardo
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteWell, what I'm doing is the following:
Yellow Flash group:
I asked them to have a separate area on their notebook called “Reader’s Area” where they have to write about every reader they read, they are supposed to write:
Book:
Author:
Opinion about it:
3 new words: (they have to draw them)
Summary: (in Portuguese)
They really like it!!
Total English Elementary group:
As Roberta and Léo said, I also gave my students a worksheet with a list of activities in which they can choose what to do, this list was like that:
Working with readers - Choose an activity:
- Pretend you're one character and introduce the other characters to your class.
- Make up five interview questions (with answers) for the main character.
- Write to the author and explain your reaction to his book.
- Design a book cover for your book.
- Make a small dictionary for the subject of your book.
- List new words learned from your book: Define them and give the sentences in which you found them.
- Write a different ending for your book.
It was great! And they enjoy doing it!
Cheers,
Laís
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteThis 2nd bimonthly period I decided to have my students working in pairs. They chose a book to read with a partner. Once a week we take a few minutes of our lesson to have pairs discussing what they're reading, so as they can share their feelings,impressions as well as doubts about the book.
The second part of the project will be a sketch. Each pair is going to choose a scene from the book and make up a dialogue from it to be presented. Also they are supposed to present a short summary of the book in order to contextualize their sketches.
I guess they'll enjoy doing it because this time they were free to choose the book and also because they'll be able use their creativity and imagination to make the sketches.
PS. I'm doing this with my two groups, both pre-intermediate (Total 2)
Cláudia
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all thanks for sharing your ideas. I actually got one or two ideas from Roberta ;D
Well, with my intermediate and upper groups I didn't choose their books. They chose by themselves.
I gave them 3 or 4 tasks to choose from the home page I found out previously and they presented it as a one minute speech.
My pre-intermediate group can choose from producing a short video about the book, changing how it ends or making a power point/movie maker presentation. They will present it next week and I can't wait to see it!
Action one read books in pairs, told the whole group the story, looked for words that they've learnt since they started studying at CI and they they made a poster which you can see at room 10!
Well, The comments I got from the students were very positive. Not only did they had the change to practise reading but also they had to work on their speaking skill.
My pre-intermediate group seems to be enjoying the activity. Some of them love taking risks and I'm sure they will produce something good.
As for the Action group, I think reading has played a major role this term because it helped them realize how much they have learnt so far!!!!
I would like to add something else that I've been doing with 3 students of mine. Two of them are at the intermediate level and one is from the pre-intermediate group. They all have problems with listening and speaking. So I have asked them to take home a book with audio CD and practise listening and speaking with the help from the book. I told them to listen for a minute or two with the book closed then repeat the CD reading aloud together with the narrator. I'm pleased with two of them. Believe me, they are definately improving. However, one of them seems not to be going anyhwere and I firmely believe that she is just not doing what I suggested. I can make suggestions but unfortunately I can't make them actually do it. I know she has taken the book home...but she probably hasn't done any work on it. What a shame!
Bye for now
Sirley
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your ideas! Here it goes what I've done so far...
With my intermediate group I chose to work with an online version of The Canterville Ghost, I thought it would be a better way to get them to read since they´re not very fond of it.Each lesson we would discuss a different chapter,this way I could follow their progress. For the final task they prepared a sketch based on a scene they liked or found interesting.
My blueflash groups made a video using the zimmertwins website according to the book the've read.
That's all for now...
Bbye
Diana
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteThe following is what I'm doing with my groups:
- Pre-Intermediate (phase 3) and Intermediate (phases 2 and 3):
I gave them some options taken from the following site: http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/books.html
The options are the following:
. Make a time line of the events in the life of the main character.
. Compare your book with another book you've read.
. Write to the author and explain why his book appeals to your age group.
. Write to the author and explain your reaction to his book.
. Use this as a topic sentence, "This book made me (any verb)."
. Defend: This book should be read by everyone who hates reading.
. Write a different ending for your book.
. Write a letter to a friend describing this book you are going to send him.
- Action 3:
I created a blog where they should post:
. Title of the book
. Author
. Characters
. Recommendation
The address is:
www.action3-rosana.blogspot.com
- Upper-Intermediate (phase 2):
I have 2 groups: one group is reading "The Phantom of the Opera" and the other is reading "Deadlock" or "Oficially Dead".
First of all, they have to make an analysis of the plot:
. Opening situation(s) / problem(s);
. Key events;
. Climax;
. Ending.
This idea was taken from "Penguin Readers Teacher's Guide to Preparing for FCE".
Then, they have to choose one of the following options and write a composition:
Answer one of the following questions based on your reading of the set book. (Write between 120-180 words.) Your answer should contain enough detail to make it clear to someone who may not have read the book.
1) Your English teacher has asked your class to write an article on an important event in the book you read. Choose one event in the story, describe what happens and explain why it is important.
2) "Good stories always have happy endings". Is this true of the book which you have read? Write a composition, explaining why or why not.
3) Your teacher has asked you to write a composition on the book you have read answering this question: "Which of the characters in the book is the most memorable, and why?"
4) You and your colleagues would like to use the college video equipment to film one part of the book which you have read. Write a composition, describing the scene you would choose to the film. Give your reasons.
That's all for now..
Cheers,
Rosana
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteIt's really nice to share my Readers Project with you. I decided to work with the zimmer twins website in this second bimothly period because students are usually tired and I wanted to seize their interest.
First of all, I decided to ask them to read books and bring their comments about it to share with their colleagues. Then, I showed them the zimmer twins and how to make a movie.
I had a positive feedback immediately. The students were interested and amazed with the website. After that, they chose one of the books they had read and started producing the videos at home.
As a matter of fact, they presented excellent videos. And I do hope to share them with you. I'm sure that you'll enjoy and have fun.
You only have to visit the site www.zimmertwins.com.ca/movie/watch
and search for: Action 3,
Action 4,
Total 2.1,
Total 2.2,
Each group has its own nickname.
It'd be nice if you post a comment for us, they'd be even more motivated.
Cheers,
Karina.
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteShall I share what I've been up to with my groups in terms of extensive reading? Some of these ideas were borrowed from handout I got in Beth's session on readers in the TKT course and adapted by me.
INTERMEDIATE:
I asked students to imagine that a director was to shoot a film from the book they've read. Their task is to write recommendations of suitable actors/actresses to play certain characters. Students have to explain their choice, comparing and constrasting or just saying why/why not. (no less than 100 words)
ELEMENTARY:
In this elementary group of mine, students were asked to imagine that they interviewed one character, from the book they've read, for a magazine. Their task is to "transcribe" the interview so that it can be published in a teenager magazine. Students are expected to resource to language they already know - especially to personal questions.
All in all, I hope to learn a lot from the outcomes of these activities. I know it will not follow as planned BUT that's all part of learning. Besides, I could learn a lot from my fellow teachers. I got quite keen Rosana's and Leonardo's ideas.
Thanks a lot!
Ever yours,
Vitor.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFEEDBACK ON READERS – June 2009
ReplyDeleteTeacher: Karla
ADVANCED GROUPS (51, 52 and 53)
SS read “The Pelican Brief” and they were asked to write a Cambridge Set task based on the book.
(essay or review)
TESTIMONIALS:
“Despite the fact that I’m not keen on reading, I must agree that this is absolutely vital to improve our English. As Karla said, if she hadn’t ‘forced’ us to read, probably we wouldn’t have done it. So, although it was a tough task for me, I should say that, in the end, it was worthy my efforts.”
Rubens, young adult.
“I know reading is one of the best ways to learn but I’m not motivated. So, I like the idea of the teacher ‘making’ us read. Also, it could help us get ready for Cambridge exams. Not to mention the vocabulary and our improvement in English” Rolfgan, late teens
YELLOW FLASH
ReplyDelete1st bimonthly period: SS started reading just for fun and without any specific task
2nd bimonthly period: they had to read 4 books and fill in a form (READER’S AREA) with the following points: -Title/ author/ summary in Portuguese/ opinion in English/ 3 new words
TESTIMONIALS:
“Eu gostei de ter lido os livros, pois aprendi muito. Aprendi palavras novas e eu vi um filme legendado que teve palavras que nem precisei ler a legenda. Os livros da Cultura são ótimos.” Giovanna, 9
“Foi muito bom ter lido os livros. Quando eu vim para a Cultura, eu nao sabia ler direito, agora tem livros pequenos que eu já sei ler. A experiência foi muito boa, agora eu consigo entender algumas palavras em filmes também.” Joao Victor, 10
“Achei que valeu a pena as leituras que fiz, mas poderia ter lido mais livros. A partir do momento que começamos a escrever sobre os livros, aprendi mais palavras. Obrigada por me ajudar nas leituras, pois no começo pensei que tinha que entender tudo e você me ajudou pois não preciso entender tudo. Adorei a experiência.” Luana, 10
BLUE FLASH
ReplyDeleteAfter reading their books, learners prepared short stories using www.zimmertwins.com
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708457?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/707652?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708285?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/723920?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708680?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/706402?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708565?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708854?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/709149?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708870?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/708868?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/702919?designated=new
http://zimmertwins.com/node/705924?designated=new
Testimonials:
“Para mim, eu achei interessante criar uma interpretaçao do livro no zimmertwins, pois foi uma nova forma de ler, aliás amo ler, mas tenho um pouco de dificuldade. Eu gostaria que pudéssemos fazer mais atividades lá, eu recomendo que visitem o site.” Catharine, 11
“Não gosto nem um pouco de ler livros em português mas livros em inglês é outra história. Lemos para fazer ‘readers’, especialmente no zimmertwins e é divertido.” Marcela, 11
“Eu acho muito legal ler mas em inglês é um pouco cansativo mas com o zimmertwins, deu mais ânimo e ficou mais divertido e assim, prestamos mais atenção no que lemos, aprendendo a escrever melhor. É um meio de incentivar a nossa leitura.” Rafael, 12
37 – New English File Intermediate
ReplyDeleteAfter reading, SS were asked to prepare a 1-speech about their books (plot, opinion, recommendation…)
Some learners started reading “authentic” books such as TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, BREAKING DAWN, THE SHACK and THE LAST LECTURE. As a result, other learners decided to give it a try as well and they felt quite proud of themselves.
62 – Proficiency
SS read at least 2 books this term. Next term, we intend to work on THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING.
“What I would particularly mention about this reading approach is that it gave me the opportunity to do what I wouldn’t have done otherwise: I could read a whole book in English!!! I clearly noticed a considerable improvement in the speed of my reading and more familiarity with long and complex English texts.” Mohamed, economist
“Well, first and foremost, I have to admit that it wasn’t easy for me to start reading a book in English as I wasn’t used to reading even in Portuguese. However, I gave it a try and I must say now that it’s definitely worthy. It’s true that it requires time and determination (and why not some pressure!?) to get involved in this kind of reading but once it becomes a habit, you can’t stop. Let alone the chance to develop our speed when it comes to reading in tests and to boost our vocabulary.” Luciele, teacher of English
HI everybody!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed with the number of different things you have been doing! Well done!
As for my own groups, believe it or not, I am late in the final productions. But I will have them ready by the end of this week, I hope.
ADVANCED 51, 52 and 62
Students read Cambridge set books and wrote one of the set tasks.
Before the writing moment, we had discussions in class. For each week I set a number of chapters to be read and then, we talked about it in groups and as a whole class ( my groups are small ).
It was an excellent opportunity for them to speak and express their opinions.
As for the writing, the proficiency group did a very good job - trying to incorporate the new vocabulary they had learnt in class into the book review they were supposed to write.
INTERMEDIATE ADULTS - 31
This group is not very keen on reading and I " struggled " to convince them to keep on reading. To my surprise, they read a lot during the semester.
My main aim with them was to develop their speaking so I had a reading moment every fortnight. They were supposed to tell about their books. Not an easy tasks for some of them, but in the end , I could feel some progress.
INTERMEDIATE KIDS k37
I tried the Reading Circle activity.
I imagined it to be rather demanding for them but they managed to do it very well.
In fact, it was really nice to see them so involved in the work.
One of the teenagers said:
"Well, with this activity we have to read the book mesmo!"
With this same group of intermediate kids, we are on the process for the second book of the bimontly period and they will do the zimmer twins video. I'll post it as soon as it is ready.
PRE INTERMEDIATE - 27
This is the group that reads the most during this semester.
My main aim with them is to develop their writing so, for all the books they read, they have to write a recommendation. The project works as follows :
1st reading - students come to class and have to be prepared to tell each other about their books. We do the 2 lines , 2 big groups.
2nd reading - students have to write a recommendation on the book to hand in to the teacher.
Before they hand it in, I swap compositions so that they can read each other's piece of writing.
Here are some testimonials :
" O trabalho de leitura do livro é de extrema valia para enriquecer o nosso vocabulário.Além disso, propicia o conhecimento de expressões novas. E é através do " pedido " do trabalho que nós, estudantes lemos os livros." Jaqueline - university student.
" Esses trabalhos ajudam a desenvolver a nossa fala e " escuta ", quando o livro vem acompanhado de um CD. Acrescenta muito o nosso vocabulário. Daniela - university student.
" A cada livro, aprendo novas expressões e vocabulário. Além disso , melhoro a minha escrita." Guilherme - university student.
I have spread their book recommendations around some classrooms and I also exchanged some of them with teacher Leonardo.
That's all from now.
Beth
Hi everyone!Great contributions!!!
ReplyDeleteBeth,I've found it really effective that readings led to discussions!Fantastic!
It seems that "Paola's" reading circle was a real success.Another issue which called my attention was the very positive feedback from your university students.
Karla,I found Mohamed's and Luciele's testimonals really amazing!Well done teacher!Congrats on your sts'zimmers:I've visited some of them.
Vitor,could I watch some of your sts' videos?
Rosana, great job!I visited both the site-very good ideas indeed- and your site-Congrats!
Diana and Claudia,now I'd like to know your opinion on your sts' work,right?
Sirley,your student's view on audio books is really worth sharing;hope some other teachers use them.
Leo and Roberta do you already have any feedback on your students' work?
Well,I'd say this reading project is already fostering a great language improvement around this place.Congratulations teachers I do believe that you're contributing to make our world more colorful and more interesting!
Love,
AnaMaria
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteWell as this second bimestre was focused on SS' point of view what I tried to do was to collect their feedback throughout the process. In my pre-intermediate group(K27) I used a role-play and then Zimmertwins. They loved creating their own cartoons in this so special site. Then, in my intermediate group(38) I selected a short stories audio book by Edgar Allan Poe taking into consideration that they are all university students. We had one minute speech presentations and after that they wrote a review of the book. Some of them didn't like the stories as they are horror ones but they all liked the experience of reading a book in English. For my upper level (K47)we worked with The Phanton of the Opera and by the end of our project they wrote a letter to a friend recommending or not the book and amazinly enough, all the students said that everybody should read this book.In the beginning they thought it would only show a love story which they found out it is not true as they could see mystery and triller all together.In my 51, the students read a short story book called Ghost Stories which was a set book for Cambridge exams some years ago. When asked how they felt about the experience, they said they liked it and that it wasn't as difficult as they thought it would be. However most of them keep saying that they don´t like reading even in Portuguese. Finally, im my 52, we used another Cambridge set book: The Pelican Brief. This was, all in all, my best surprise. All the students loved the story and they wrote excellent reviews on the book. They got so involved in this thrilling story that they even watched the film. I was really impressed by their interest. I think that's all for now.
Lidia
Great suggestions everybody!!!
ReplyDeleteThis term I decided to let students work in pairs. I wanted to encourage SS to talk about their readers. Thus, I suggested them to make power point presentations or one minute speeches about the book they've read. Last bimester they had to produce something oral too but they got a bit confused when retelling their stories and it also took sooooo long.
Then, this time I did it differently. I asked them to present their books using key words / pictures/ power point presentations but they had to retell their stories IN ONLY 10 sentences. This way they avoided getting into details and were much clearer.
Chrys, a pre intermediate St said: " Desse jeito eu teria dado conta de te falar sobre o livro que li no bimestre passado. Eu tinha lido e não apresentei porque achei que não conseguiria falar sobre ele todo em inglês. Você deixa eu apresentá-lo usando 10 frases e melhora a minha nota???"
To be honest, I don't think my action 4 group enjoyed so much working with Zimmer twins. Maybe it would work better with younger SS.
Did any of our teachers used audio books and focused in pronunciation???I need some ideas because I have a student who has such a terrible intrusive Ehhh (The brazilian ehhh) that we can hardly understand her.
Magda
Dear all!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been collecting my students' testimonials and I'll be posting them here next week!
Cheers =)
Dear All
ReplyDeleteWe're heading for the end of this 1st half 2009 and it's fair to say that not only have we got too much on our plate but also our students. It doesn't mean that a quality job can't be done, though. That said and done, I can easily tell you how successful and rewarding the work on readers, let alone reading in general, has been.
I go along with Lidia when it comes to see things in the long run, and from the oral feedback given by learners one can identify a high level of motivation and involvement. I must confess, though, such thing never surprised me since extensive reading has always played an important role in my teaching.
Learners in general found the whole thing rewarding on the grounds that their reading speed got better, their understanding of more complex structures developed and, above all, that they have increase their culture. In addition to discussions in class, written reviews and essays, I had students involved in PPS presentations, which I have on tape and providing them with a blog (www.azgoodread.blogspot.com) on which they would be free to share their reading attitudes as well as their learning of this experience.
I have made use of different materials such as magazines (Newsweek, Seventeen), online reading (MSN, BBC) and of course, a full range of readers, from audio-books (then a wonder for elementary students) to graded readers (like a glove for intermediate ones) to paperback novels (challenging for advanced ones)as The Pelican Brief.
Alternatively, learners could compare different versions of books made into a film, like the Phantom of the Opera and The Pelican Brief.
As far as integrating skills is concerned, it's needless to say how much students have capitalised on reading, listening, vocabulary and, above all, speaking.
In short, after gathering my thoughts, I reckon that we should treasure our students' involvement and tap our own back as far as education is concerned. I dare paraphrase Armstrong's quote and say that 'It is a small step for us, but a giant leap for our learners'.
Well done us.
Cheers
Dear all,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your contributions! I’m sure I will have plenty of ideas to keep up the good work we have been doing concerning extensive reading. Well done!
Feedback on readers
Intermediate – 37
The whole class read the same audio book I chose for them – Red Water. First, to engage students, we did the pre-reading exercises from the book in class and also some activities I found in the book website. Then, I created a blog and for each chapter they had some task to be done. Finally, they had to post their comments and thoughts about the book and some about the blog.
http://nefreaders.blogspot.com
“Hi Paola,
Gostei muito da leitura através do blog. me senti motivada em ficar sempre verificando qual seria o seu pedido para o próximo capítulo.
A dificuldade foi natural com relação ao Inglês. Mas, para mim isto é um desafio, então, encarei-o de frente.
Achei muito legal o sistema de postagem das respostas no blog. Isto condiz com o desenvolvimento tecnológico e a proposta inovadora da cultura.
Como já disse a leitura de livros em Inglês para mim é um desafio. Só que um desafio prazeroso porque eu gosto e quero muito aprender.
Obrigada, pela sugestão e oportunidade da leitura .
Abraços.
Lúcia”
Action 3 - T13
During the first bimonthly period we worked with their blog. They were supposed to read two books: fill in a form about the book (title, author, summary, new words, opinion) and write a different end for the story. Throughout this bimonthly period they created videos using the amazing site zimmertwins. As we are talking about teenagers, I guess you all know how hard it is to make them happy… I must confess I felt really frustrated with some of them. It was not an easy task for me to keep them motivated, but in the end, I could feel some progress and it was worth a try.
http://action2cultura.blogspot.com/
Zimmertwins
Nickname: Action
Password: 2403
“Eu adoro ler livros.Em inglês também é divertido, pois ajuda na minha escrita e conhecimento e eu adoro os que tem figuras.Leio dois por semana.
Muito legal pois é uma forma de ensentivo para lermos mais livros.” Sarah
“Não sou muito afim de ler livro não... Em Ingles até que é um pouco melhor mas mesmo assim... Não gostei das atividades propostas pela net (Blog e Zimm...) Não leio com muita frequencia ;P
Ta bom?” Paulo Cesar
“Gosto de ler,mas em inglês só leio quando tem trabalho,pois são díficeis de ler o blog é muito bom e o zimmertwins melhor ainda” Tiago
Green Flash – K13
ReplyDeleteI have 3 different groups and although they are about the same age they are all completely different groups concerning learning style, knowledge of the world and maturity. Firstly, I started reading the “Big Books” in class which was a real success. By doing that, I could work on some reading strategies and mostly create a positive attitude towards reading. I assigned some audio books as homework and they had to read the book to someone from their family. I received a fantastic feedback both from them students and their parents. I find it crucial to get the family involved in the learning process when it comes to young learners.
“Eu achei esta atividades bastante enriquecedora pois aumenta o vocabulario e ismera a pronuncia do aluno. Parabéns! Acho que devera continuar dando atividades assim.” Yone Maria – mãe de Jordano Paiva
“Paola, achei genial a proposta de bárbara trazer um livro para fazer a leitura. Ela e empolgada, fez questão de ler cada letra, embora algumas palavras fossem desconhecidas...” Cleonice – mãe de Bárbara Gomes
As they are considered the “digital generation”, even though they are really young, I deciced to try out zimmertwins. The result was just amazing! They were so enthusiastic that every class we have to have a moment to watch the new videos. I also created a blog so that they could post their opinion about reading.
Zimmertwins:
Nickname - Password
Green 2 – 7928
Green 3 – 6722
Paola SJDR - 1787
http://www.greenflashcultura.blogspot.com/
1)Voce gosta de ler? Qual tipo de livro voce prefere?
2) O que voce acha dos livros da Cultura Inglesa?
3) Voce gostou das atividades feitas no site zimmertwins?
4) E para o proximo semestre? Alguma sugestao?
Paula Hallak Goddi Campos disse...
1)Sim, eu adoro ler.E prefiro os livros de mistério e aventura.
2)Eu acho eles legais, interessantes e bons para aprender a falar inglês melhor.
3)Eu adorei, foi uma forma boa de fazer uma atividade sobre um livro.
4)Sim,fazermos uma competição de quem le mais livros da Cultura, até o fim do ano.
Amanda Marcia de Lima Resende disse...
1- Eu adoro ler. Os meus livros favoritos sao os de humor e misterio.
2- Sao muito bons, ainda mais os de audio.
3- Adorei, pois e uma forma de aprender nos divertindo.
4- Nos poderiamos fazer uma apresentacao com tudo o que nos aprendemos em forma de um teatro.
Well, I guess it is enough for now. I will post comments about my other groups as soon as I can.
All in all, it has been a wonderful experience for me as a novice teacher and I am positive that me and mostly my students have benefit from it.
Paola Azevedo
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeletefirst and foremost, I´d like to thank everybody for the great ideas that you shared.
Well, in order to call student´s attention (mostly teenagers) to our reading project, I decided to relate songs to books. I asked my students to read a book and then, choose a song, which, in their opinion, would remind them of the story of the book. Afterwards, they wrote the reasons why they had related the book and the song. It was a great success and I also showed them part of the clips of the songs. I heard some great comments such as:" wow, this is cool!" "I really like to do it." "It is the first time I´m happy to do the reader´s work."
Another point I´d like to make is that the zimmer twins site proved to be really handy in what concerns drawing the student´s attention to reading and having fun. My action 3 group was always eager to present their movies and they did more movies than expected. If you want to watch the movies, go to www.zimmertwins.com (name: luarinha, password: 8192)
It´s worth pointing out that another useful activity was the one for the FCE students. I asked my 42 group and 1 to 1 student to read GREAT EXPECTATIONS and do a writing task for the FCE exam. The students benefited a lot from this activity in as much as they had the opportunity to get to know one of the FCE writing task. Moreover, I could see how interested students were in the story.
In addition to that, my pre-intermediate students are quite creative so
they were really happy to read the book and do a simple task: change the
end of it. When they presented the endings to the group, we decided to
choose the funniest one. It was really interesting and it clearly motivated
the students to read more.
Last but not least, I used audio books in my Intermediate group. I
asked them to read the book, give their opinion about it, listen to a
chapter and later, read one paragraph to me. It was nice because they could
use a book to improve, not only the reading skills and vocabulary, but also
their pronunciation.
All in all, I´ve always believed that reading is an essential tool to
learn another language. After this project, I´m convinced that reading is
vital to the learning process and it needs to be mandatory in our lessons.
What´s more, it´s our job to motivate students to read. By using a wide
variety of activities, most of them learn to like books and benefit from
them. Cheers!Paty
Sorry!!!!
ReplyDeleteI posted my message in the wrong place. If you want to read it just have a look at "My approach to readers".
Thanks!
K3F - Green Flash
ReplyDeleteTheir testimonials:
Eduardo Resende Vilas Boas: "Achei interessante, pois quase ninguém lê livros em inglês e essa atitude da professora Roberta foi fantástica, pois o inglês ficou mais na ponta da língua e temos pontos no final do bimestre. Parabéns, Roberta pela atitude de fazer esse trabalho."
Gabriela Carneiro Neves: "Achei muito interessante participar desse trabalho, pois gostei de ler um livro em inglês. Depois, confeccionei um lindo dicionário. Parabéns, Roberta."
Luiza Sales Rocha: "Amei fazer o trabalho e o achei muito legal e interessante. Amei o livro e não tive muita dificuldade ao ler. Parabéns!"
Ana Luiza de Freitas Carvalho: "Adorei! Achei muito bom de aprender inglês lendo. Esse trabalho foi o melhor de todos. Adoro você! Muito legal! Parabéns!"
Rafael Marques Campos: "Achei esse trabalho um barato porque a maioria das pessoas tem preguiça de ler e muito mais preguiça de ler em inglês. Por isso, gostei do trabalho, pois mostrou como é bom ler em inglês."
Luiz Gustavo de Carvalho Cherfen: "Achei muito legal porque é um trabalho livre. Você pode escolher o que vai fazer e o livro também é muito bom."
Pedro de Souza Neto: "Gostei da idéia."
K3E - Green Flash
ReplyDeleteTheir testimonials:
Laura Frinhani Valadão: "Eu não fiquei muito feliz porque foi cansativo."
Pedro Henrique de Paula: "Eu gostei do trabalho, mas eu achei que este trabalho é um pouco chato."
Ana Clara Silva Moraes: "O trabalho teve uma parte legal que deixava os alunos fazerem sua preferência, mas ele era um pouco enjoado."
Eduarda Resende Ávila: "Achei legal, mas só que também é enjoativo."
Augusto de Oliveira Etz: "Eu não gostei, pois dá preguiça de fazer."
Maria Eduarda Carvalho: "Achei muito legal porque eu adoro ler livro."
Esther Silva Peixoto de Souza: "Eu achei legal, mas enjoa um pouco."
Larissa dos Santos Freitas: "Achei o livro muito legal, pois nele podemos aprender muitas coisas e também adoro ler vários livros."
Humberto Galli Resende: "Eu gostei do trabalho, mas foi um pouco chato."
11A - Total English I
ReplyDeleteTheir testimonials:
Maria Eunice Mansur Alves Damaso: "Very good! Descobrimos palavras novas e seus significados, enteragimos com nossos colegas, oportunidade em ler livros de nossa escolha e a troca dos mesmos."
Wagner Monteiro Bagnolli: "Oportunidade de conhecer palavras novas."
Dyonara Monartes Rodrigues Sousa: "Adoro quando tem trabalho do livro, tenho a oportunidade de ler, conhecer palavras novas e I practice English. Very good!"
Ana Ribeiro Chagas: "É muito bom para descobrir o Inglês através da leitura e da escrita e também de interação com o colega e interpretação do próprio inglês."
Arine Cassia Pires Bassi: "É muito interessante, pois temos a oportunidade de conhecer palavras novas, de aprofundar a leitura e interpretação de texto."
Leticia Natalia Soares: "Achei muito legal, pois conhecemos novas palavras e com o trabalho aprendemos o significado e também foi uma maneira de estudar inglês. Espero ter mais atividades assim para sabermos mais significados das palavras em inglês. Very good!"
Sara Ribeiro Chagas: "Bom, depende do livro, pois tem alguns que são muito tediosos, fáceis. Mas foi legal desenhar o trabalho."
Feedback on extensive reading
ReplyDeleteFrom: Eliz Leite
I’d like to share with you my students’ productions from this second bimonthly period.
1.1 – with my beginner group, we read a book in class (the same title for each SS) so that I could introduce some strategies to them. (guess from context, pictures, audio books, etc.) Then I asked them to read books and get the general idea of the story. The idea was to work on extensive reading habit formation.
T13, K23 – as they are still very young, every time they were asked to read a book they had a task such as: a summary, a speech, collect chunks, draw a cover for the book, etc. I got very positive feedback from my T13 book and many ideas for the following term.
27 – we worked with a readers series from Thomson & Heinle called Footprint Reading Library. The collection contains 15 real world stories similar to National Geographic content (Machu Picchu, Horses from Mongolia, Artic Whale, Volcanoes, etc), a DVD and audio CDs. My students (most university ones) loved this extensive reading project. They exchanged readers among themselves and discussed their contents in English. I prepared specific tasks for each book: questions about the book and an internet search task so that they could improve their knowledge about the subject of the book. (I tried to integrate extensive reading to authentic reading – it was great!).
48, 47 – SS read The Phantom of the Opera. I gave them a range of writing tasks from Cambridge. They had to choose a task and write their essay. During the FCE test, 2 students chose the task about The Phantom.
51 – The Pelican Brief – SS were asked to read the book and write a review. Next term, we’re going to read the book again and work on the tasks from Cambridge.
All in all, I agree that ‘this reading project is already fostering a great language improvement around this place.’ We, our students and our school are certainly benefitting a lot from it.
Eliz Leite
Hi fellow teachers,
ReplyDeleteCultura InglesaSJdR may certainly feel proud of this Readers Project(at least of the feedbacks and evidences I''ve been receiving so far)As there are lots of them already ,I'll start by commenting on:ROSANA's,DIANA's,LAIS's PAOLA's,NATÁLIA's,CAINARA's
ROBERTA's, CLAUDIA's,SIRLEY's.
ROSANA-(6classes)Her two goups of Upper level produced (based on four different tasks) excellent texts of around 120 to 180 words!The Intermediate class produced eight interesting texts showing evidence of reading;as for her Pre-int.group her 12 sts used excelent vocab to write texts of around 150words!!!AMAZING ISN'T IT??CONGRATS Ró.
PAOLA(7 classes)This nearly-novice teacher engaged in an impressive project!!!Varied,rich,involving: BIG BOOKS to launch the project in some groups: "I could work on some reading strategies and mostly create a positive attitude towards reading",with another group she gave us very good ideas on the use of AUDIO-BOOKS and even the site of books .ZIMMERTWIN was used quite effectively,and last but not least for another group she created a BLOG.By reading her sts'blog, I concluded (and I will act on that) that boys, more than girls,dislike reading;however they enjoy thrillers !Besides, Paola brings us not only sts' but also parents'testimonials .I strongly recommend you should read Paola's feedback!I'm sure you'llearn a lot by reading it.
LAIS motivated her 4 groups by creating an interesting 'MENU'of activities.Great ideas!
CLÁUDIA STA.ROSA-(2 classes)She experimented with a kind of PEER-READING and also used SKETCHES;there's evidence her sts.not only beneffited from her work but also enjoyed it.
DIANA(5 classes)Please,don't miss Diana's feedback;it's also a learning opportunity for us:her suggestion for sts who are reluctant to read is fantastic.Watch the zimmertwins her sts created.(my favourite were Friday 13 and Rock).
ROBERTA(5 CLASSES)Have you read her students' testimonials:they say it all! she's anotehr teacher who used a 'menu' of tasks and activities for sts to choose from.Congratulations on your work Roberta!
Last but not least,SIRLEY!(5 groups)
I specially liked: her using a 'MENU' of diferent tasks and activities for learners to choose from.Her efective use of AUDIO-BOOKS.
Well,THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS.
Hi dear all, I haven’t post my student’s point of view on the reader’s project yet, here are some of their comments:
ReplyDeleteTotal English 1:
The students in general pretty enjoyed the activity, here are some comments:
"Eu achei legal porque conseguimos entender, praticar a leitura mesmo não entendendo algumas palavras. Com a leitura praticamos o inglês."
Gustavo
"Axei bom, mas só porque teve mais de uma opção de atividade. Melhorou nossa aprendizagem."
Marcos
"Eu gostei de ler o livro porque ele era pequeno e não foi muito dificil de entender"
Nathiele
"Ah eu gostei, eu consegui entender o que o livro falava. A atividade foi very cool."
Nicollas
"Não gostei porque não entendi o livro que li pois era só você resolver as perguntas e pronto. Não gostei do livro também não."
Yuri
Action 1:
The students’ point of view was a bit mixed, some of them really liked the activity and the books but others hated it all. Have a look at some of their point of views:
“Gostei de ler o livro pois pratiquei meu inglês. Não gostei muito da ativiade.”
Juliana
“O livro é legal, gostei da atividade também!”
Luis Eduardo
“Eu achei o livro muito divertio.”
Renata
“Eu gostei do livro e não gostei da atividade pois era muito cansativa.”
Jacqueline
“Eu odiei o livro. Ele é muito mau explicado e tedioso. Os exercícios foram fáceis e valeu a pena ler o livro para fazer os exercícios.”
Laura
“Eu achei o livro muito legal... ele é MARA!! Eu não gostei muito de fazer a atividade, eu não gostei muito mas tá bom...”
Júlia
Yellow Flash:
The students really liked the activity, every lesson they showed me a different activity on their notebooks that they did of a different book they’ve read, I didn’t have to ask them to read more and they are doing it regularly. And I can’t forget to mention that they are competing with each other to see who reads more! It’s amazing to see their motivation to read!
All in all, I want to thanks all of you for sharing your ideas!! It’s a great pleasure to work with you all!! I’m learning a lot!!!
=)
Laís
Feedback on readers: June 2009
ReplyDeleteBLUEFLASH: At the beginning of May I asked my two Blueflash groups to read a book and make a video about it using the zimmertwins website. Before setting the task I went through the tutorials with them and we made a video together so that they could be familiarized with the tools before working on their own.
After presenting their videos for the whole class SS moved on to the second task, this time they were supposed to read another book and make a poster recommending it and trying to use the superlative (which we had just learned), that way they could work on their reading skills and also recycle what we had learned.
ELEMENTARY (1.3): After reading their books, SS discussed it in class telling each other about it . After that, they prepared a poster recommending (or not) the book they’ve read and commenting on it.
Testimonials:
“ O trabalho de readers desenvolvido por nós durante todo esse semestre só trouxe a mim pontos positivos, pude perceber que com a leitura de tantos livros a escrita melhorar, o entendimento dos textos em inglês fica mais fácil, o vocabulário: a cada livro que li pude perceber as inúmeras palavras novas que aprendi e que tantas vezes foram úteis para a elaboração de textos. (…) Só sei dizer que o incentivo dado para a leitura valeu a pena e sei que muitos frutos bons poderei colher dessas leituras”
Cláudio
“In my point of view, the readers activity is the best way to learn English. I can learn new words and expressions. Reading is an important exercise to enrich our vocabulary. It was very good, I hope it continues in the next semester.”
Guilherme
INTERMEDIATE (33): SS read The Canterville Ghost (online version) and prepared a sketch based on it.
Testimonials:
“Although I read slowly, I think this work is very important and interesting because improves my speaking skills and gets me excited about reading other books in English.”
Raphael
“In my opinion reading is good because I can learn new words as well as I can understand fantastic stories in English. Although I hate reading books (I prefer writing in English than reading books in English), the readers project is a fantastic project that Cultura is making happen.”
Agostinho
Diana
Sorry!!!!
ReplyDeleteI posted my message in the wrong place. If you want to read it just have a look at "My approach to readers".
Thanks!
Natália
Dear all,
ReplyDeleteHaving shared with you some of my SS’ views on the extensive reading project I’d also like to share my opinion on their work. I can safely say that it was a great experience for me, as most of you know I’m a book worm (lol), and I’ve always wondered if it was possible to get SS to see reading as a hobby instead of a duty.
Well, it goes without saying that not all of them took part in the project while others did without enjoying it much. But there were also those who started reading and enjoyed themselves even without me setting any tasks. Mainly I’d like to mention one of my elementary groups (1.3 - Saturday). As you all know, those who study on Saturdays can take more than one book home, which is exactly what most of my SS do. They read at least two books a week, sometimes more, because they exchange their books among themselves during the week. Needless to say, these SS have an amazing level of vocabulary, not to mention how their reading and writing skills have improved throughout the semester.
As for my Blueflash groups, it was amazing to see how they got involved with the whole making-a-video activity. They got so excited that some of them would even read more than one book in order to make more videos. It was an invaluable experience watching the videos they prepared on their own.
When it comes to my intermediate group it is a fact that most of them are quite reluctant to reading. That is the reason why I decided to use the online version of The Canterville Ghost. That way we could work on an extract of the story each lesson and I could clearly see the ones who were reading and those who were not. I guess it’s safe to say that the ones who were reluctant started to feel embarrassed and ended up reading so that they could keep up with the rest of the group. That was not how I intended to achieve my goal of getting them to read, but it worked. Anyway, in the end I felt that they were enjoying the story and preparing a sketch based on it was great fun!
Cheers,
Diana
Dear teachers,
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed with such good contributions you've made above.
As far as reading is concerned, we have to bear in mind it's not an easy task to be done once our cultural aspects lead us to face reluctant students to read not only in Portugues but in English as well. Fortunately, it's also not impossible if we use our creativeness in order to boost learners interest in reading in English. The following activites have been done bearing these in mind.
T27
My students have been asked to judge the book by the cover in the classroom and then choose one. Having done that, I sticked named labels in each book and sent them to the multimedia asking SS to pick them up later. Then, they were supposed to read the book and do a written activity n which they summarized the plot(English or Portuguese), chose five new items to be recorded, changed the end of the story and recommended the book or not. Students felt at ease by doing this activity.
K21 (two groups)
I've done the same activity stated before in which they judged the book by the cover and labelled them. After that, they've been shown the stripcreator or zimmertwin website. Most of them chose the latter and the comments were as follows:
The activity was different, interesting, fun, Ok, terrific, nice.
43
I've also selected books from the level and have taken to class for the judgement activity. After that, SS have been invited to choose an activity from Sirley's website suggestion. They chose to write a letter to a friend telling him/her the reasons why they were sending the book as a present. They moaned at first due to the fact they were overloade with different tasks such as Mocks, but after that they felt relieved and commented about the books in the class and the good opportunity of learning some vocabulary.
33
The same above.
K38
After selecting a book, students have been asked to prepare a powerpoint presentation in which they posted the summary of the story, new vocabulary learnt and recommendation or not.
K23
The same selection and they have been asked to use zimmertwin. When asked about the reading and zimmertwin activities, those are what they wrote:
"...reading is important because we learn new words."
"treina o nosso inglês e a gente aprende palavras novas"
"É bom ler livros em inglês, pois aprendemos palavras novas, e treinamos nossa leitura, é importante sim".
23
The same activities mentioned above.
All in all, I do believe the activities we have been searching and using in the classroom will guide our students to a better use of books in the learning process and undeniably, it will take some time for them to get their bearings in the new activity.
Rômulo
Dear teachers
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised to read a great amount and variety of activities people have designed and created for this project. Congrats to you all!!
All I can say is that professional commitment makes a tremendous difference in teaching and learning processes.
Through this nice project I learned how to involve and make my learners aware of the importance of reading in their lives.
I prepared the following activities for my groups
1.1
After reading their books SS had to keep a short written record on their notebooks
Title:
Author:
It´s about...
Opinion
4 new words I learned
1.2
SS had to talk about their books in class (Title / author / characters / It´s about / Opinion / Words I learned)
After reading the books, I asked SS to do the following activities as a written record
1st book – write 4 examples of simple present
2nd book – write 5 examples of past simple
3rd book – choose a character and write a physical description about him/her
2.1
SS were paired up and they chose from the teachers´ topic list what do they would like to talk about. Each pair choose a different topic
TOPICS: THE STORY / THE CHARACTERS / THE MOST INTERESTING PART / THE NEW WORDS I LEARNED
The last book they read I asked them to prepare a one-minute speech
3.1
After reading their books SS prepared a one-minute speech.
5.3
After reading their books SS prepared a one-minute speech or a discussion based on a problem raised from the story
We, from Cultura Inglesa Barroso, created a blog so that SS could leave a comment on readers project. They give opinion, suggestions and show their point of view.
Access and visit us! www.culturainglesabarroso.blogspot.com
Eliângela Freitas
Dear all,
ReplyDeleteI quite agree with Elizângela Freitas: your commitment makes the whole difference. After that, I have very little to say. But my students do, actually. I hope it's not too late to let their voices be heard.
Students gave me a very positive feedback. I myself could see elementary students going to the Multimedia Centre in groups in order to read. They told me that reading in English is not so difficult as they had thought; they seem very likely to be motivated to read in the future or carry on reading extensively.
Two of my intermediate students wrote the following comments about the activity they did:
"After my debut as a director (!) I improved my English and this exercise reminds me of how much I love films. In my point of view, changing place from spectator to director was an excellent experience." (Ananda da Lua)
"I was so excited reading this book, I like action books like this one [The legend of Zorro]. Also I like MExican habits, and Zorro is a Mexican hero. This book is one of the best books I've ever read." (Eduardo Testoni)
Moreover it was very reawarding for me to see their ability to talk about the book and their progress.
I'd like to add that I myself had REAL fun reading their recommendations. I think that I achieved my objectives: motivate Students to read and show them that working with readers is worth it.
Feedback on readers-May-June
ReplyDeleteUpper-intermediate groups-42:
After discussing parts of the book,Ss were asked to write a book review.Most of the Ss., read "Great Expectations".
Testimonials:
"Eu gostei de ter lido os livros pq foram livros com boas estórias,apesar de ter demorado um pouco para lê-los em relação aos livros em Português"
"Eu gostei de fazer os trabalhos desse semestre,pq são de um jeito diferente e interativo de aprender,apesar de gastar muito tempo."
"Eu gostei de ler os livros,pq com eles pude aprender mais coisas e expandir o meu vocabulário."
My pre-intermediate groups,were asked to read different books at their levels,and change the end of the book.
Dear all,
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never, right? Well, concerning the Readers Project we were supposed to develop this bimonthly period, what I did, in each of the groups I teach, doesn't differ much of what I did in the previous one. Firstly, because I noticed how effective and appealing it was for my students and also because by doing this activity I was able to integrate both: reading and speaking skills. So, here it goes:
Groups: BK11A and BK11B (Blue Flash) BK21A (Action 4) B13C (Total English 1):
In these groups I encouraged students to read a book once a fortnight.
The activity I did the most was to ask students to read a book and then, in class, I would put them in pairs so that they could report on the books they had read by following the questions below:
- What’s the name of the book you read?
It’s…
- What’s it about?
It’s about…
- What’s your opinion about it? Did you like it? Why (not)?
In my opinion/I think the story is cool/interesting/boring/exciting because…
- Do you recommend it? Why (not)?
Absolutely!/Definitely! / Not really!
- Did you learn new words?
As you can see, some prompts were provided in order to guide students when speaking. But what I noticed was that once they got used to that they started to ask and speak in a less controlled way even taking risks and trying to say more than they were expected.
Plus, another activity I’d like to mention was done only with the Blue Flash groups: I selected some books from the Multimedia (which I found would relate to my students) and took them to the classroom. Then, I paired students up and each student had to choose a book for his/her partner to read. After reading, students chose the part of the story they liked most and illustrated it in a poster together with some information about the book.
Group: B41F:
This group did quite the same thing but bit by bit, I mean, as the books students read at this level are thicker than the ones read by elementary and pre-intermediate students, (I must mention here the titles: Pelican Brief and Last Kiss) I gave them a month to have them read but, in order to keep track of their reading, each lesson (my group is a compact one, so I have lessons with them just once a week) they were asked to give their impression/feedback/opinion about the book by answering questions like:
- What was the first impression you got of the book?
- Did your opinion about it changed? Why?
- What’s the main character like?
- What do you think will happen next?
Group: B11C:
I must admit that in this group I didn’t develop any special thing. I just let them know about the multimedia and encouraged them to get books and read. I tried to make them aware of the importance of developing reading skills. But no more than that.
So, that’s it. Well, again (because Karla has posted my testimonial above and you must have already read that)I personally believe that reading has to do with practice which ends up in a habit. In this sense, I’d say that is crucial and that it is our duty to - at least try – to get our students into it. I guess my attempts were worthy. Just have a look at our blog and you’ll see our students’ comments on that. There are until now 114 comments :) …Hurray!!!
http://www.culturainglesabarroso.blogspot.com/
Oops! I almost forgot to mention that I’m looking forward to trying your suggestions next term, especially the ZIMMERTWIN one I guess my Blue and Action groups will love it!
WOW!!! I’m really impressed with the great amount of reading activities you guys experienced this 2nd bimonthly period. They’re definitely FANTASTIC!!! And you know what?! I am very proud to be part of this clever and creative group!
ReplyDeleteSo now I’d like to share what I did with my students concerning the Readers Project.
Total English Elementary (13) and Pre-Intermediate (22 / 23)
After reading each book they were asked to report back in class, and to help them with their speech I showed a flipchart with the following questions:
. What’s the name of the book you read?
. What’s it about?
. What’s your opinion about it? / Did you like the story? Why / Why not?
. Do you recommend it?
. Did you learn new words or expressions?
Students asked the questions to each other.
I used the ‘two lines’ and the ‘two big circles’ in order to have students working face to face.
Students also prepared a one minute speech following the useful language below:
. The name of the book I read is …
. It’s about …
. In my opinion the story is …
. I definitely recommend it because …
. I don’t recommend it because …
. The words / expressions I learned are …
Students were asked to hand in their comments as well.
New English File Intermediate (31 / 32)
As some of the books for this level are a bit thick I decided to work with a ‘while and post-reading activity’! And this is what I did:
‘While-Reading’
They asked these questions to one another:
. What’s the name of the book you’re reading?
. What’s the story about?
. Who is / are the main character(s)?
Tell me about him / her / them.
. What do you think of the story? Are you enjoying it? Why / Why not?
. What do you think will happen in the end?
. Have you learned any new words? What are they?
‘Post-Reading’
After they read the book, I asked them to work with the same student they’ve worked previously and say what really happened in the end and give their opinion about it.
Well, as a final production I asked all my students (13, 22, 23, 31, 32) to post a comment on our blog (www.culturabarroso.blogspot.com) talking about this readers project! There are more than 100 testimonials there and they’re definitely worth visiting!
Eliz Costa
Reader’s project: final considerations
ReplyDeleteAt the end of this project I could notice that even though some students reported that they didn’t like reading at all they enjoyed taking part on this, especially this second bimonthly period when I asked them to present a sketch based on the books they read (although some students felt a little embarrassed presenting the sketch). I was really satisfied with the results of it and I get the feeling that my students started to realize the importance of reading. What most surprised me was that when asked if they would like to continue this project next term, most of them said that they would and they even gave suggestions of ways to present the books they are going to read.
Here are their comments: (class T21)
“Gostei porque nós fizemos um sketch e foi muito legal. Não gosto muito de ler, mas foi um bom projeto. Aprendi novas palavras. Gostaria de continuar o projeto, pois nos ajuda a ler, falar e conhecer novas palavras.”
Gabriela A.S. Andrade
“Eu gostei muito desse projeto porque eu treinei minha pronuncia e vocabulário.”
Alain Philipi
“Eu gostei do projeto porque gosto muito de trabalhar com livros e sempre aprendo muito com eles.”
Alexandra Silva
“O reader’s project foi muito bom, mas acho que o teatro na hora de apresentar da um pouco de vergonha. Sem ser isso o resto foi muito bom.”
Alex Edgar
“..muitas vezes esquecemos de ler, então esse projeto nos incentivou a ler, o que contribuiu para enriquecer nosso vocabulário. Na minha opinião acho que esse projeto é interessante, eu queria que ele continuasse, porém com uma forma de apresentação diferente, porque eu não gosto muito de apresentar sketch.”
Nathiery
“Eu achei bem legal. Amei apresentar. Eu adoraria continuar. A gente podia escolher o jeito da apresentação em vez só de falar na sala, fazer um vídeo ou algo parecido.”
Luna
“I liked it very much! I will like more when we start to make films.”
Ana Luiza
"Gostei do projeto porque ler também é um exercício. Ler aumenta nosso aprendizado. Eu gostaria que o projeto continuasse, mas eu não gostaria de falar o resumo só o sketch.”
Bruno Ramalho
“Eu gostei da parte de ler, mas não gostei de fazer o sketch porque não fiquei a vontade.”
Luana
Reader’s project: final considerations
ReplyDeleteAt the end of this project I could notice that even though some students reported that they didn’t like reading at all they enjoyed taking part on this, especially this second bimonthly period when I asked them to present a sketch based on the books they read (although some students felt a little embarrassed presenting the sketch). I was really satisfied with the results of it and I get the feeling that my students started to realize the importance of reading. What most surprised me was that when asked if they would like to continue this project next term, most of them said that they would and they even gave suggestions of ways to present the books they are going to read.
Here are their comments: (class T21)
“Gostei porque nós fizemos um sketch e foi muito legal. Não gosto muito de ler, mas foi um bom projeto. Aprendi novas palavras. Gostaria de continuar o projeto, pois nos ajuda a ler, falar e conhecer novas palavras.”
Gabriela A.S. Andrade
“Eu gostei muito desse projeto porque eu treinei minha pronuncia e vocabulário.”
Alain Philipi
“Eu gostei do projeto porque gosto muito de trabalhar com livros e sempre aprendo muito com eles.”
Alexandra Silva
“O reader’s project foi muito bom, mas acho que o teatro na hora de apresentar da um pouco de vergonha. Sem ser isso o resto foi muito bom.”
Alex Edgar
“..muitas vezes esquecemos de ler, então esse projeto nos incentivou a ler, o que contribuiu para enriquecer nosso vocabulário. Na minha opinião acho que esse projeto é interessante, eu queria que ele continuasse, porém com uma forma de apresentação diferente, porque eu não gosto muito de apresentar sketch.”
Nathiery
“Eu achei bem legal. Amei apresentar. Eu adoraria continuar. A gente podia escolher o jeito da apresentação em vez só de falar na sala, fazer um vídeo ou algo parecido.”
Luna
“I liked it very much! I will like more when we start to make fikms.”
Ana Lauiza
Gostei do projeto porque ler também é um exercício. Ler aumenta nosso aprendizado. “Eu gostaria que o projeto continuasse, mas eu não gostaria de falar o resumo só o sketch.”
Bruno Ramalho
“Eu gostei da parte de ler, mas não gostei de fazer o sketch porque não fiquei a vontade.”
Luana
“Eu gostei do projeto do livro e adoraria a sugestão dos vídeos.”
Thais Stephani
Well ,here we are at the end of our readers' project!After recording what EACH of you -teachers- did, I experimented an exhilarating feeling of success and pride!!!WOW!!!
ReplyDeleteDIVERSITY,ENTHUSIASM,COMPROMISE,RESEARCH,
PRODUCTIVE RESULTS,...ALL THESE NOUNS CAN BE USED WHEN DESCRIBING OUR PROJECT.
An interesting aspect I'd like to highlight is the fact some teachers realized that success in a reading project does not mean that you made each student become addicted to reading but instead THE TEACHER, as a responsible committed professional offered each student an INTERESTING READING OPPORTUNITY to which the student reacted positively or not.
As Leonardo Soares said ,"when we give students a wide variety of choices,they have more opportunities to use their imagination and creativity and they feel as if they had the power"
Bye , for now see you on Friday,July 10th.
AnaMaria
Hi everyone! I´m very glad with my students´ testemonials and I´d like to share with you.
ReplyDelete"The reading activity was an opportunity to develop comprehension and promote knowledge. So, it´s imporant and interesting this kind of learning English." (Fernanda)
"I liked this activity because I learned new words and more expressions. Besides it, I knew stories and I could see the development of my English. Next semester, I want to read other books again."(Mário)
"In my opinion, this activity is very important because I learned other words. I don´t like reading, but this year, I´m really determined to read some books."(Paulo Vitor)
"I think the book activity was very interesting but much more difficult than other activities. My friend helped me and I learned how to make a film using the xtranormal website. I really liked this new way of learning. I remember much more things." (Shirley Maria)
"It was a very good activity. In my opinion, reading a book is boring but it is necessary and making a video was so interesting, because you can see and listen what you made." (Rafael)
"Foi muito importante a atividade de readers. Além de enriquecer meu vocabulário, no segundo trabalho minha leitura ficou mais rápida. Acho MUITO importante a leitura." (Paula)
"Ler um livro em outra língua foi uma experiência bem legal, afinal deu para aprender mais vocabulário e ter mais experiência em ouvir e ler." (Letícia Brezolini)
"As atividades de livro foram bastante produtivas, embora eu ainda não tenha me adaptado, ou melhor, acostumado a ler em outro idioma. É uma atividade que eu gosto. É improtante que seja obrigatório, porque assim criamos o hábito da leitura, que enriquece bastante o vocabulário e assim temos contato com outras estuturas, aumentando a familiarização com a língua estudada." (Guilherme Henrique Souza)
"Muito produtivo e contribuiu para aumentar o meu vocabulário. Gosto mais de ler em inglês do que em português." (Patrícia R. Campos)
"O primeiro livro que li era em fácil, mesmo assim eu acrescentei palavras em meu vocabulário. O segundo era um pouco mais difícil, mas as imaens ajudaram bastante. Com isso estou aprendendo que nem tudo no inglês pode ser levado ´ao pé da letra´. Além das expressões e palavras novas que aprendi. gostei de fazer o vídeo, pois além do livro tive que consultar outras fontes como a internet para melhorar o vocabulário." (Fernanda)
Well, I´m very proud that I achieved my goal. My students are much more motivated and engaged in the reading process. They discovered that reading can be fun, besides expanding vocabulary, promoting research and knowledge, developing comprehension strategies, improving language skills and so on.
Making a video was the beginning of enhancing students´ motivation but a task must be implemented together.
NOTE: all my students from elementary level read two books this semester.
Leonardo Soares
Hi everybody!
ReplyDeleteI finished the project with my K37 - Connexion 1 with the Zimmer twins.
To my amazement, some students knew another site to make videos. It is called Goanimate.com
It has more tools and you can make a longer story. Some of them presented their stories using this new tool and the presentations were hilarious!
Have a look at some of them!
Goanimate.com :
The Boys from Brazil by Leonardo Canaan
The Perfect date by João Vitor
the Return of Shelock Holmes by Gustavo
the Perfect date by Marcus Vinicius
the Picture by Tiago
Zimmer Twins :
Robinson Crusoe by Victor
The Werewolf by Lorran
B is for Burglar 1 and 2 by Julia
The Perfect date 4 videos by biaribeiro
A Kiss before dying by Isadora ( deleted because of scenes of violence ! kkk )
Students were so excited about this project that they did not care that much for the language produced. There are many mistakes, which I asked them to correct by I am not sure if they actually did it!
Beth