Click here for Ed & Ted toon
Tuesday 28 March 2017
Phonics-Toons- Ed & Ted
Phonics-Toons is a pet project of mine. It is aimed at increasing literacy amongst the digital generation. Ed & Ted, Short vowel 'e' story with sight words. Young learners are more accustomed to pick up a phone or pad, so I have some phonics friendly toons for their consumption. Forgive the sound track vocals, I was a bit monotone for my first showing, lol. The pdf version is enrichment materials, meant for the reading corner in classroom. Read with a smile!
Click here for Ed & Ted toon
Click here for Ed & Ted toon
Sunday 19 March 2017
American English, Update 3/15
What’s New from AE?
- American English for Educators and English Language Fellow Programs joined forces for a #MyClassroom photo campaign. We received nearly 100 photos from teachers in 42 different countries. Please share our final video to show the variety of classrooms and the inspiring messages from some of these teachers.
- In this week’s animated video, we teach how to use the prepositions “about,” “above,” and “like” to describe people.
- This month’s Teacher’s Corner is about promoting learner engagement in the classroom. This week’s “Beat the Clock” activity uses time to foster engagement in reading tasks.
- This month, we are posting graphics with commonly confused words in English.
- In case you missed them last week, there are graphics for upcoming days on our SharePoint site: March 17 (green idioms for St. Patrick’s Day); March 20 (International Day of Happiness); and March 22 (water idioms for World Water Day).
- The first facilitated session of our English for Media Literacy MOOC begins April 3. Registration opens March 20. Graphic to promote this MOOC is on our SharePoint site.
- The second facilitated session of our English for Career Development MOOC starts April 3. Registration opens March 20. Graphic to promote this MOOC is on our SharePoint site.
Social Media
Please feel free to use this language to disseminate AE content via your social media platforms.
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Facebook
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Twitter
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Link
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#MyClassroom Campaign – Final Video
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“My classroom is my inspiration.” What is your classroom like? We asked teachers around the world, and they answered. Watch this video to see their stories. |
What is your classroom like? See answers from around the world in this #video. |
Hashtags & handles
#MyClassroom
#AEforEducators
@ELFellows
Links
YouTube:
Facebook:
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Animated Videos:
About, Like, Above
(descriptions)
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Are you like your mother or your father? Learn how to use the prepositions “like,” “above,” and “about” to describe people. #AmericanEnglish #prepositions #video |
Need help with prepositions? Watch the latest #AmericanEnglish #prepositions #video. |
YouTube:
Facebook:
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Teacher’s Corner:
Promoting Learner Engagement
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Can your students “Beat the Clock”? Use this activity to motivate students to challenge themselves while reading. #AmericanEnglish #TeachersCorner |
Can your students “Beat the Clock”? Find the activity on the #AmericanEnglish #TeachersCorner. |
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Tuesday 7 March 2017
AE Webinar 5.4: Using Visual Literacy Skills to Encourage Communicative Language Practice
It was a rainy night in KB town and we had a crowd of about 30 plus amazing teachers attend AE Webinar 5.4. The subject of the evening was: Using Visual Literacy Skills to Encourage Communicative Language Practice. It was another informative session to bring the latest 21st Century techniques alive in the classroom.
A brief summary is as follows: All students are already trained and familiar with using Visual Literacy in their first language. The goal is to transfer that skill to learning English. The host of the webinar was Eco-friendly Katie Subra from Minnesota and the moderator was your's truly, Khidar 'AB' Abdullah. Samples of Visuals include: photos, art, posters, illustrations, signs, advertisements, charts, diagrams, maps, timelines, comics, flags, symbols, brochures and etc.
What is Visual Literacy (VL) you ask?It is the ability to read and understand a variety of visuals in a given environment. Visuals can be categorized as simple or high. A non smoking sign is an example of high while a work of art would be a sample of a high visual.
The benefits of using VL in the classroom is:
One of the activities you can do you with your students is Show-n-Tell. Students can bring in an artifact or take a picture of one. They can share and show it to the class and tell all about it. You can employ productive skills like speaking and for more advanced students they can write paragraph.
You can assign the topic using the prompt, if this arifact was in a time capsule:
1. How would you explain it to someone in the future who is outside of your culture.
2. Include a description of the color and size of the object.
3. What is used for presently and what could be used for in the future.
Then ask the students to rewrite the questions using 2-3 full sentences for their answers. The students should write in the 3rd person (He, She, It, They). When the task is done, they have a nice short essay with a picture of the visual attached. You can blog it and have a nice record of the task.
You can also do small group or large group activities with signs and infographics. Each group can select one sign or infographic or you can provide one and do it as a class activity. Before you jump into the activity you should
A brief summary is as follows: All students are already trained and familiar with using Visual Literacy in their first language. The goal is to transfer that skill to learning English. The host of the webinar was Eco-friendly Katie Subra from Minnesota and the moderator was your's truly, Khidar 'AB' Abdullah. Samples of Visuals include: photos, art, posters, illustrations, signs, advertisements, charts, diagrams, maps, timelines, comics, flags, symbols, brochures and etc.
What is Visual Literacy (VL) you ask?It is the ability to read and understand a variety of visuals in a given environment. Visuals can be categorized as simple or high. A non smoking sign is an example of high while a work of art would be a sample of a high visual.
The benefits of using VL in the classroom is:
- Authentic & culturally relevant materials
- Incorporate intergraded skills
- Develop content based vocabulary
- Motivate visual learners
- Promotes critical thinking
- Promotes Communicative language practice
One of the activities you can do you with your students is Show-n-Tell. Students can bring in an artifact or take a picture of one. They can share and show it to the class and tell all about it. You can employ productive skills like speaking and for more advanced students they can write paragraph.
You can assign the topic using the prompt, if this arifact was in a time capsule:
1. How would you explain it to someone in the future who is outside of your culture.
2. Include a description of the color and size of the object.
3. What is used for presently and what could be used for in the future.
Then ask the students to rewrite the questions using 2-3 full sentences for their answers. The students should write in the 3rd person (He, She, It, They). When the task is done, they have a nice short essay with a picture of the visual attached. You can blog it and have a nice record of the task.
You can also do small group or large group activities with signs and infographics. Each group can select one sign or infographic or you can provide one and do it as a class activity. Before you jump into the activity you should
- Intro the new topic
- Pre-teach it
- Find culturally & authentic materials
- Help students with the task
Another fun activity is work in small groups and have students make their own infographic. The finished products can be displayed in the classroom or virtually displayed in a blog. This activity can be a bit time-consuming, but it is a fun creative exercise. You can go to the website www.canva.com
to create your own free account to make high quality info graphics.
The language used in this task would be an imperative statement like-Conserve Water. It would be followed 2 or 3 'I can statements." I can use less water when brushing my teeth. I can take shorter showers. Of course you would have a general visual attached to express the idea of conserving water. You should model a few samples before you begin the activity. Overall, it was another practical professional development webinar followed by a spirited discussion. Your students are already visual literate, why not apply this skill to learn English.
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