Stimulating Creativity - Art in the English Language Classroom

I sometimes use art (paintings or photos) in the classroom, because I think it’s a good way to stimulate student’s creativity (as important as any other skill), and bring something different to the English Language classroom. As the means to creativity is imagination, this one has to be carefully planned, structured and practiced. In addition, by developing students’ imagination we are providing them with different ways of learning, which is one of our teaching goals.
Many teachers think activities that stimulate student’s imagination will be a source of indiscipline in the classroom, but that is not so. Sometimes students who do not use their imagination may become uninterested and misbehave. Thinking about or even creating art can be very motivating. It can take the emphasis off accuracy and put it onto fluency and the ability to clearly express thoughts and ideas. This is great for students whose progress in speaking is hindered by a fear of making mistakes.

So here are some examples of activities on two paintings (I couldn’t find the authors’ names. My apologies for that!). They were developed as speaking activities, but they can be used as writing ones too.

Painting one: for 7th graders (Places in Town)


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Activity
-Imagine where this town is.
-Is it a large one or a small one? Say why.
-Where is everybody?
-What kind of shops are there in this town?
-Would you like to live there? Why (not)?
-What do you feel when you look at this town?
-Find a piece of music to go with this painting.

Painting two: to be used with 9th graders (Multiculturalism)


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Activity
-Compare the two paintings. What do they represent?
-Where do these families come from? Where do they live?
-Similarities and differences (9th grade)
-Which is the happiest family? Why?
-What feelings are conveyed in these two paintings? (9th grade)
-Choose one of the paintings and write a short story about it.


Well, these are only two ideas to practise speaking and stimulate our students' imagination. You can also teach grammar using paintings. I love this topic. I'll get back to this subject with more ideas.

Meanwhile, I leave you with a talk on creativity by Sir ken Robinson. Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. He is also one of the world’s leading speakers with a profound impact on audiences everywhere.
So listen to his talk "Schools Kill Creativity" and enjoy!

Jing - a great tool for both teachers and students!

Ever heard about Jing? If you havent't, give it a look - it's a great tool!
Jing is a quick way of capturing images and videos (up to 5 minutes) of what you see on your own computer monitor. As a teacher, how can you use Jing? Here are some ideas:
- You can create teaching tutorials as a learning tool. For example, explaining students a difficult grammar point;
- you can make a video about vocabulary students have to know for a specific test, or for them to know how to pronounce these words;
- you can highlight a webpage for your students;
- you can give feedback on compositions (correction of mistakes). It’s time consuming though;
- you can talk about a picture / describe a picture (students use Jing themselves). A good speaking activity!
- you can talk about someone famous (students use Jing themselves) as a homework / project work. Also a good speaking activity!
- you can read aloud. Students can choose a passage or a story to read, record it and then send it to the teacher.
- you can create tutorials for working with new technologies.

Well, I'm sure you'll come up with other ideas. Enjoy learning!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Here is a video about St. Patrick's Day history Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day Activities

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St. Patrick's Day is arriving! Although it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in countries around the world. People with Irish heritage remind themselves of the beautiful green countryside of Ireland by wearing green and taking part in the festivities. Saint Patrick’s Day is usually celebrated with a parade. The one in Dublin, Ireland, is known to some as the Irish Mardi Gras. But the one in New York City is actually one of the biggest. It lasts for hours. Two Irish wolfhounds, the mascots of the New York National Guard infantry regiment the “Fighting 69th”, always lead the parade. More than one hundred bands and a hundred thousand marchers follow the wolfhounds in the parade. To promote sudents' awareness of this cultural aspect in the classroom, here are some ideas. Happy St. Patty's Day!

St Patrick's Day activities.docx
St patrick's Day isa.pptx

More Activities to Celebrate Women's Month

Four different activities to celebrate women's month. Click on the link below to download the activities.
women's month activities.docx

Women's Month Activity

In 1911 in Europe, March 8 was first celebrated as International Women's Day. Later, in the United States, March became the women's month. Contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society are highlighted throughout March.
So as to find out about some women's contributions, not only in British and American history, but also in Portuguese histoty, I gave students this webquest (WOMEN IN HISTORY), which I share with you.

women in histoty webquest.doc

To get more ideas and information on this topic, check out this site:
http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history-month

Teaching Listening - Resources

As promised in my last post, here is a list of some sites where you can find useful listening resources for your classes. I hope it'll be useful.

Listening Sites