SHAKESPEARE SCHOOL FROM TEACHERS TO TEACHERS
FIRST ISSUE
CREATIVE IDEAS AFRAID OF SPEAKING IN PUBLIC? Did you know that our number one fear is not death? But fear of speaking in public! Addressing a crowd, no matter how big or small, seems quite scary. It can be nerve-racking, but, there is always a but, you can overcome this fear. By taking small steps. Here are some of the ideas that can be used with students to help them talk in English and without them knowing, to help them learn how to take a stand and speak in public.
FUN ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS
MEMORIES In order to play “memories” each student takes an object from the hat and tries to relate to it, either by referring to personal experience or imaginary ones. For example, you can start by saying “Whenever I see a chopstick I think of” or “Chopsticks remind me of ..”.
TONGUE TWISTERS Project a list of tongue twisters on the board; invite one member from each team to have a seat in front of the class; one student will be the reader, the other one the conductor, giving instructions on how to read, slowly, fast, very fast, loudly, then swap roles.
Debates, interviews, talk
THE HISTORY OF
shows, tongue twisters, chain
Make a selection of objects, put them in a hat; invite each pair of students to take one; allow two-three minutes to think of the history of that respective object, you can give them helping words, you can also play a short video of “How it’s made” as a demonstration, tell the children you will give points for originality, not accuracy.
stories will help
STORIES
overcome their
your students fear of public speaking.
I thought that maybe this time we could create a chain story by giving the children the end line, not the starting one Create a one word chain story: divide the class into two teams, have them sit in circles; one student starts by saying a word ‘I”, the one sitting next to him continues “went”, then the next and so one, without repeating what the other person said, continue for about 2 minutes without interruptions; when you press the buzzer, the two teams stop and tell each other their stories. The children receive a short story on which they will work in pairs; they must substitute the key words in bold with the word “oink” and read the story to the class; the rest of the class tries to guess and write down those key words
DOUBLE PLUS FIGURES Have children read a short fragment of a play; give two minutes to prepare to act it out; in pairs they come in front of the class; one will sit down on a chair, while the other one kneels down behind the chair and becomes his partner’s hands; act out the fragment using as many gestures as you can
IMPROVISATION Have children stand in two concentric circles, facing each other; at one point, teacher calls out a word e.g “balloon”; the children must start a conversation with the person in front of them in which they must include the respective word; they cannot however ask any questions during the conversation, they must agree, disagree or comment; they talk for one minute and then T presses the buzzer which means they must change places
DISCUSSION BINGO Create a bingo chart with various statements e.g “It’s easier for girls to learn foreign languages ”, divide the class into teams and have them call out a number or roll the dice; behind that number there is a statement which must be debated; if they can talk about it for one minute, they get the number; continue until one team gets three numbers in a row and calls out bingo
CREATIVE IDEAS
GRAMMAR IS FUN Teaching grammar has never been more pleasurable for students. Guide me This is a game that helps children practice giving directions, questions, prepositions and even modal verbs and it is suitable for small classes (8-12 children). Divide the class in two teams. Each team has to choose the person to be blindfolded while the others will give directions. Make sure they use prepositions and modal verbs, help them when needed. Display some objects around the classroom which will function as obstacles. Also, draw lines on the floor on which the blindfolded cannot step. The two teams start from the same point and their aim is to find an object. Make sure you hide the object in a box/hat/wrap it in something to make it more difficult to find. The two children that are blindfolded will be guided by their teams at the same time, while the teacher monitors. Whenever they touch an obstacle(book, chair, ball) they must start over.
Fruit Basket I've used this game when teaching phrasal verbs. Prepare tickets with phrasal verbs but write the verbs and the prepositions on separate pieces of paper. Keep a list of all the phrasal verbs you are using for yourself. Put the tickets in a hat. Ask your children to draw a ticket and sit down in a circle (either on chairs or on cushions). Tell them to listen to the phrasal verb you are going to read. When they hear it, the two holding the verb and the preposition of the respective phrasal verb should run and swap places. You should run as well and try to take one of the “Direct children towards learning by empty spaces that the two are swapping. The what amuses their brain.� child left standing has to take the list and read another verb for someone else to swap places.
PLATO
questioning me?
Are you
If you have to teach question tags, this is an activity you can use to practice them. Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair some pictures either of people doing different activities or you can choose an illustrated story. One member from each team will hold the picture while the other one turns around so that he cannot see the respective picture and tries to guess the story behind it. The one holding the picture will help his partner by giving clues. "I see a woman and a baby. They are walking." His team mate will have to try and guess what is in the picture "They are in the park, aren't they?" His partner can only answer the questions with yes and no. The sooner they guess, the better, because they can go on to the next picture. The first team to finish all the pictures, wins. Award them with stamps or stickers or simply give points.
Have fun!
TEACHING TIPS Children, games, imagination In a world of technology , few are those who are lost in their own world of creation , the brand has skill and talent , creativity and inspiration , the brand has its own personality. We propose to take us off from everyday life and go on holiday finds . A self-discovery talent. I want to draw a line in shaping portrait "who are " and we return in the imagination was our best friend . During the games were the center of our universe . Let's reinvent the universe ! To work!
As a teacher I am one of those lucky few who live life through play . I play not only in class but at home working on lesson plans . For those who still believe in childhood games for you those desires and imagination, an invitation to creation. Join me !
DARTS Below you will find a game board that I created for my children for 4 years. All you have to do is print it and find a large and colorful dice to start the game . Pawns can be any kind of object can favorite toy as long as the right size is one game. But I invite you with little ones to accomplish themselves another boardgame with funny drawings , vocabulary that you want to teach children, enjoying your own creation . Just make sure you have enough room to put the game board . Then dice will be thrown .
BOARD GAME Another game that you can conceive it with little ones is Darts , but custom . I 've used it to review families of words , grammatical structures , but can be used in numerous educational purposes .
Let’s reinvent ourselves.
The below is only a version of what you can create . Let your imagination be surprised then to enjoy Learn to be childhood and enjoyment of the game . flexible and adaptable
Using this game in a class of 12 children had to slightly change the rules. We divided the children into two groups that were aligned one behind the other . A child of a team to challenge the opposing team to hit a certain word. If successful, gets points. Otherwise, the child who launched the challenge gets points .
To complicate the game , you can enter a number of challenges for those who fail to hit the target imposed by the opponent. I challenged myself to spell the word
in English , or to form a sentence with that word , or to introduce a certain grammatical structure . A more difficult as each team to create a story with all the words that hit . Get maximum points if they include all the words or downgraded. Make sure the reward is worth the effort and creativity one .
WORDSEARCH
Wordsearch is another version of the game that you can create the team. You can divide the children into pairs again , indicating the steps to follow . First , draw a border that splits it into small squares . Size is determined by how many words you want to include . Step two consists of writing the words vertically , horizontally , from top to bottom , will then fill in the blanks with random letters . The competition begins when all teams have completed and exchanged coins. Set a time limit. Those who finish first will receive three stamps or stickers, second place will receive two stamps or stickers and three one place. Have fun playing!