29 May 2017

Plurals

Hi everyone! 
After going to colonies with 4th graders I came back to school today and I reviewed plurals and...oh my God, children have made me so happy! 
I mean, when we were working around healthy life, we were talking and introducing some food items and I decided to do in plural and not in singular. 
I mean, I talked about apples and not apple, or oranges and not orange. 
Why? Because when we talk about likes and dislikes, there is always who says, "I like apple", "I like orange".
So, I think that this makes it really easy for the kids because if they do need to make them singular, the rule is simple: chop the "s" off.
In other words, now that the school year is closed to finish,
I am very proud not only of all students' productions but also the way of planning and introducing the  language.
David Bueno ( look at the Blog on neuroeducation  ) says that the kids build their brain through different neurons connections and learning language through oral activities is one of the most important ones.

Exploring plurals in this way is one of the easy tools that we, as teachers, can consider in order to help them.
By the way, I have run into this easy song so that the kids get familiar with the rest of plural words.

22 May 2017

Brain project

Hi everyone!
I am so happy because another challenge has been another success in my lessons. 
Don't worry because I'm gonna tell you what is going on: 
students from year 6 decided to find out some information about the brain. 
They wanted to know how it works and why it needs downtime. 
So, after introducing the topic, I used the jigsaw strategy to boost students' confidence with the information they had. So, they were distributed in groups of four and each student specialized in one part of the brain. After that, they met with members from other groups who were assigned the same aspect, and after mastering the material, they returned to the "home" group and explained their information drawing a mind map. Each group made excellent ones. At the end, we decided to have one in common. 
Here you have it:




Finally, I designed an activity to encourage them to build sentences about what they learnt. 

They have learnt a lot, they expanded English vocabulary and they improved structures. The end of the school year is here and I am very proud of all of them!
For next week, they have to "dygest" all the information because we will play the brain-game-kahoot. Students are very excited thinking of kahoot activity.
So, I hope that kahoot encourages them to review and study the brain facts they have learnt.
What else can I ask for?

18 May 2017

Spring is in the air

Hi everyone!
Spring is a beautiful season, isn't it?
 I started my day introducing some vocabulary related with the season (clothes, weather, flowers and colours).
Then, children worked in pairs and shared five words for each category:  
1. spring activities
2. Spring clothing
3. Spring weather
4. Spring birthdays
5. Spring flowers and animals
6. Spring colours


After that, I introduced the song below. Children had never listened to it but some of them knew who the Beatles were.
We could talk about the season that the song talks.
Finally, we ended the session filling some gaps with some of the words we had introduced at the beginning of the lesson.
It has been an excellent and grateful time not only for students but also for me.


Cheers!


11 May 2017

Worth to read it

Hi everyone! 
Here you have an interactive web that offers and encourages the development of sharing ideas and knowledge among their visitors.
Tap on the picture below (an interactive resource about stories and legends) and deep into lots of ideas and resources.



Red Nose Day 2017

Hi everyone!
Today is a very special day for American people. They celebrate the "Red Nose Day"!

It consists to be funny for money and give it to help kids who need it most. This year all the main actors and actresses in "Love actually" movie decided to do something to keep money for children. Personally, I think that it is  an excellent idea.
Here you have it.

8 May 2017

PBL

Hi everyone! 
Most of you know that I decided to move from my old school to a new one which works through projects along the school year. This methodology is applied not only in kindergarten but also in primary where projects are focused on student learning goals and include different types of activities.
So after working in a new methodology I want to reflect what have been my feelings about Project Based Learning.
Adopting the PBL approach has produced a change in my way of teaching. I have to improve the presence of different levels of learning and special needs, the competences and social skills. It makes that students have to work in their own way to solve problems, to think and to access to information, processing and learning. 
Personally I think that this way of working has enriched me as a teacher because I have the challenge of improving my lessons every day through individual work but most of the times through cooperative teams by asking questions and doing research as well and making the students decide for themselves. The video below explains the most important aspects and elements of PBL. Worth watching! 


7 May 2017

Mum's Day!

Hi everyone!
It has been a perfect morning today!
I woke up at 7 a.m to run with a group of friends. After that, I had a relaxing shower and I felt satisfied because of the time I spent running. However, what I couldn't imagine is that the day would become better with my family because when I arrived at home, I had a lovely surprise!
My daughters, Maria and Christina, gave a special cup to me. The cup was made of goma eva and it was full of LOVE (lots of tiny hearts inside it). Also, they bought an insulated thermo with an important label on it: "Best Mom Ever" ;D All of those presents were with a cute note... Isn't it lovely? I felt proud of having the best daughters not just for those presents but also for giving their best and being excellent friends and workers.
   
Anyway, I want to wish all the best to those moms who are just the way you are, specially my mum! Here you have her with my two daughters.

5 May 2017

A riddle for the weekend !

http://youtu.be/Cm4OnFLl5Uw 
I am in me
I am in here
I am in her
but I'm not in you!
Who am I?
Click on the face if you want to know the answer