History Lessons

Last week my students and I were discussing outstanding historical figures and remarkable events in our English classes as long as the topic of the unit was called "History lessons". As a rule, I like adding some extra activities to those suggested in a coursebook (and I believe I'm not alone here). Being a genuine history lover, I designed some activities based on information I'd come across surfing the net. So here's my list.

1. A funny warm-up "You'd never believe it". I found some unusual facts about well-known people and wrote down their names on the blackboard. Then I would present the facts like this: "This person .... did so and so..." and have students guess. After presenting all the facts I asked them what they remembered about each person from the list. We had a lot of fun! A worksheet can be found here.

2. Short jigsaw reading "Dating tips". I found this information in this blog and thought it would be cool to use it with my students. The post was about imaginary replies of famous historical figures to commonplace dating problems of different people. I arranged  problem letters and the replies in a table and printed it out. In class, some students got the letters and others got the replies. The task was to match a problem letter with a corresponding reply. The worksheet is here.

3. A speaking task "Portrait Interviews" (from How to Teach English by Jeremy Harmer). In pairs or small groups, students choose a portrait depicting a person or event from the past. Their task is to present a conversation that might have taken place between the people depicted in the picture. If there's only one person on the portrait, they could present it as an interview with him/her. I've just given this task to my students so I'm looking forward to their presentations. I'm sure they will come up with something special. I was also thinking to help them with a choice of a portrait by using this great tool by Classtools: 3D Gallery

.... and finally decided to do it: http://www.classtools.net/3D/201504_hauPCv

The Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eyck
Image source: wikipedia

Vocabulary Course: Resources On Word Formation

Can anyone imagine a vocabulary course without a stopover in the word formation? It's hardly possible. Besides, this issue obviously deserves more time than just a flying visit. Fortunately, I can take advantage of students' independent work and have a bit of a flirt with "flipping" my classroom. That's what it took me this time.

Step 1. Load them before the class. 

As I only have one class to discuss word formation, I decided to load my students beforehand to reap the fruit of their effort during the class. This is what was on their menu:

1. Check out this site with the ENORMOUS table full of roots, suffixes and prefixes:

http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php

2. Watch these videos and note down roots and affixes mentioned in them

3. Get some practice with the following quizzes on Quizlet:

Flashcards with prefixes and their meanings: 

• http://quizlet.com/37339051/prefixes-flash-cards/
• http://quizlet.com/40661610/prefixes-flash-cards/
• http://quizlet.com/32188431/prefixes-flash-cards/

Flashcards with suffixes and their meanings:

• http://quizlet.com/48242845/suffixes-flash-cards/
• http://quizlet.com/28757788/english-suffixes-flash-cards/
• http://quizlet.com/26089633/noun-suffixes-flash-cards/

Flashcards with Greek and Latin roots and their meanings:

• http://quizlet.com/2783586/ela-latin-roots-flash-cards/
• http://quizlet.com/2784272/ela-greek-roots-flash-cards/ 

Step 2. Lots of practice during the class.

In the class, we mainly focused on the exercises in the book and finally did a matching activity.

The worksheet can be downloaded HERE.

Step 3. A creative follow-up.

1. Choose a quote you like that contains a word with a Greek or Latin root.
2. Use one of these sites to create a postcard with the quote of your choice:
http://www.pinwords.com/
http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx
http://quozio.com/
3. Paste the picture you created in your blog.
4. Write your reflection (180-200 words) on the quote using  words that contain affixes or roots we have discussed in the class. 

Here's an example:

Some samples of my students' creativity:

Hanna

Nadia

Writing and Speaking Prompts

Every now and then I can spend so much time looking for interesting pictures that can be used in the class as writing or speaking prompts. Here is a wonderful collection of print ads that are quite ingenious and thought provoking.

http://news.distractify.com/culture/arts/these-brilliant-print-ads-are-better-than-a-superbowl-commercial-could-ever-hope-to-be/?v=1