MOBILITY 2. Aspects of Teaching English. Brighton, the UK. Laura Borràs. Day 3

Creative approaches to teaching grammar and vocabulary

A few examples are provided as to how to use poems and stories in the classroom

*Poem 1: Weather Forecast

1. predict content from title

2. listen to the poem, check prediction + emotional reaction

3. Ss reorder jumbled sentences

4. T elicits structure of the poem

5. T elicits verbal tenses / grammar from ss

6. Ss create their own version of the poem

* Poem 2: Fragile

The same structure is repeated several times. Ss change the second part of each of the sentences

* Poem 3: Love is ...

Love is ... could be changed to Happiness is ..., for example

* Story : A Funny Thing Happened to Me

1. predict from title and picture

2. read beginning of the story

3. Ss retell the story

4. T reads the story again with mistakes that Ss have to correct

5. dictogloss

6. Create an ending

7. Read original ending

Meaning comes before form. The focus is on the content, even though work is done on the form

Activities for promoting speaking

A few very practical ideas are explored:

- Choose a personal picture and tell your partner about it

- What do you like talking to your friends about? Ss draw a mindmap and use it to prepare their speech. While a student is talking, the other may interrupt and ask questions

- Throw a Have you ever ...? question, such as Have you ever been arrested?

- Guided talking. A question is accompanied by a number of prompt words that need to be used