Monday 26 September 2016

American English Webinar 4.2, Engaging Young Learners

It was another rainy night in Kota Bharu, Kelanatn when he had American English Webinar 4.2, Engaging Young Learners. Young Learners are considered ages 5-12 years old. One of the main techniques that was transferred was Visual Thinking Skills (VTS). Many of the teachers of Older Learners found the webinar applicable to their classrooms as well.


Here is the link to a replay of the webinar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L16UR0v-Yis






Wednesday 21 September 2016

American English Update: International Peace Day Sept 21



  What’s New from American English? 

  • Do you doodle? Encourage teachers and students to enter our American English Doodle Contest. (Graphics to promote the contest are attached to this email.)

  • The latest issue of English Teaching Forum is now available on the American English website, and the English Teaching Forum homepage has a new look!

  • To promote our latest edition of English Teaching Forum, we’ve created a short promo video.

  • Last week’s animated video teaches the phrasal verbs “get away” and “set off” and is now available on the American English YouTube channel and Facebook page.

  • In this week’s Teacher’s Corner, we talk about ways to incorporate movement and interaction into any lesson in the young learners’ English classroom. 

  • This week’s Teen’s Talk interview is with Gabriela, a university student, who talks about her major, her classes, and her family.


Facebook
Twitter
Link
Graphic/Picture
AE Doodle Contest 

















Do you love English? Enter our “American English Doodle Contest”! What does English mean to you? Show us with a doodle! Draw (or paint, etc.) a picture about English. Include the words “American English” in your doodle. Then, take a picture of your doodle and post it to our American English at State Facebook page or our American English for Educators Facebook page. Or send it to: americanenglish@state.gov. Use the hashtags #AEdoodle and #WeLoveAE. Send it to us by September 30. The winning pictures will be posted as the American English Facebook banner and the American English for Educators Facebook banner!
Do you love English? Show us with a doodle! Enter the #AmericanEnglish Doodle Contest. #WeLoveAE

























Graphics are attached to this email and were created by OELP.

English Teaching Forum
What is English Teaching Forum? It's a fantastic resource for English language teachers! Our current issue is now available on the #AmericanEnglish website. In this issue, find tips for conducting an ELT workshop, starting an English club, and making sense of English homework. #ETForum 
Practical activities and advice for teachers in English Teaching Forum. Read the latest issue on the #AE website.



Graphic is attached to this email and was created by ECA.

Animated Video: 
phrasal verbs: Set Off & Get Away
Do you want to “get away”? “Set off” on a phrasal verb adventure with this #AmericanEnglish #video about phrasal verbs! Where would you like to go to get away?
“Set off” on a phrasal verb adventure with this #AmericanEnglish #video about phrasal verbs!
Facebook

YouTube

Graphic is attached to this email and was created by OELP.

Teacher’s Corner: 
Using Movement and Interaction in the Young Learner Classroom




How can you harness the energy of young learners? Incorporate movement and interaction in your young learner English classroom. Learn how in this week’s #AmericanEnglish #TeachersCorner.
Get your young learners moving and interacting! Learn how in this week’s #AmericanEnglish #TeachersCorner.



  


Picture is attached to this email and is CC0.
American Teens Talk: 


What does a U.S. university student talk about? Find out with this #AmericanEnglish #TeensTalk interview.
Listen to native English speakers, increase your vocab, & learn US culture w/ #AmericanEnglish #TeensTalk.


Picture is attached to this email and is CC0.






Monday 19 September 2016

American English Webinar 4.1 UNITAR

Howdy folks, I'm a moderator for the American English Webinar 4 series at UNITAR KB. Here is a link to Webinar 4.1. It is a free gathering for any level English Teachers and prospect teachers. I'm aware this blog is worldwide, so I will post them here so you can benefit as well. Learning is sharing, so I want share it with you. It was titled:
The Role of Humor and Language Play in the English Language Classroom
Presenters: Dave Chisea & Stephen Skalicky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aagTONu7fI

This event took place on September 6th, 2016.We held a webinar for USEKL at UNITAR KB attended by prospect, SK, SMK and University English teachers. These awesome teachers fought traffic, beat the rain and climbed stairs in the evening to voluntarily increase their skills. I get salty when people complain about "all teachers", because there are some teachers who are making unseen sacrifices to improve the quality of education in Malaysia. Much respect to these unacclaimed super teachers.



Our next one will be:

Strategies for Engaging Young Learners
Presenter: Lauren Whitaker


Wednesday, September 21, 2016
8:00-9:00pm Malaysia Time












Sunday 4 September 2016

SK Beris Panchor, Motivation To Speak English

At Heavy Hitters, no job is too big or too small. Moreover, we have a knack for collaboration. On July 22, me and my friend Rohizad were invited to give an Inspirational English event at SK Beris Panchor in Bachok, Kelantan. The program began a 8am with a packed hall of Year 4-6 mixed-abilities students.  Rohizad warmed up the crowd with brief questions/ answers session on the importance of learning English.

We decided to dive into the program with a quick inspirational video and chant, "I Can Do This." It was a nice lead-in to our first action song of the day, "Open, Shut Them." It started with an intro to the words and a demo of the actions. After a couple rounds of the song, the students vocal chords were stretched and ready. It posed a slight challenge to a few of the remedial students, but it was appropriate for the majority.

Next, we watched a short clip on positive attitudes that got some laughs.  This got the kids geared up for a HOTS (high order thinking skills) song. The song is played and stopped intermittently to pose question in which students predict the answer. The kids sometimes gave the answer in BM, but through a group effort we were able to come up with the answer in English. The participants enjoyed themselves.

We did a couple of other activities which led us up to the finale. The final tune for the day was an English Nashid, "I Love Muhummad (sas)." We read the lyrics a couple of times and sorted out 2 words of blocking vocabulary. The song contains words from the first 300 of Fry's 1,000 Words list, this is a list of the most common words in the English language. Nashids are very popular in this neck of the woods, the school even has a nashid group that competes with other schools in the district. Normally nashids are sung in BM, it was well accepted to do one in English. The students enthusiastically sang the song 3 times to perfection. The program closed with all the boys giving salams to Rohizad and I as they filed out the hall with a greater appreciation of English. Please note, I apologise for the lackluster pictures, because they were taking in the beginning of the event before the kid's juices got flowing.