Cultura Study Group

A blog for CI Uberlandia teachers. This is a space where we can share material from TTCs, tutorials and interesting sites we can use in class.

My greetings to you:


Get a Voki now!


Teachers interested in taking TKT or in studying about teaching methodology. This interesting video which seems childish at first shows different techniques used by teachers and then asks you questions about the RATIONALE behind each one. VERY INTERESTING indeed!
http://www.in2english.com.cn/media_file/flashs/1859/index.swf
Watch Teachers and students saying why Blogging can be an interesting learning tool.
ASSERTIVENESS
I found this presentation in the Learning with Computers blog and found it very relevant to us. Have a look!
Our Peace week

Thank you so much to all the teachers who contributed and got involved in the project. You can have a look at the photos (posters, pinwheels and video) at the Cultura Inglesa blog http://culturainglesaudi.blogspot.com/ . Remember to tell your students to invite their parents to have a look.




THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE - 21st Sept (Friday) Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

A song for Peace Day: Somewhere over the rainbow / What a wonderful world (HAWAIIAN)


Did you know about this special day? Why don´t we do something special on the previous days? An online colleague of mine , Nick Peachey, shared this interesting site with wonderful ideas for classroom use. I believe this is a unique opportunity to teach more than just English. Have a look at the site:
http://communicty.wikispaces.com/Peace (powerpoint presentations, films and activities)

A young man called Jeremy Gilley , the creator of an organization called Peace one Day, made this great video urging us to do something about PEACE on 21st Sept. Watch it and be inspired.
This is the link to the film:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid933119041/bctid933518995


A wonderful project : Pinwheels for Peace



http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/

WHAT KIND OF WORLD DO YOU WANT? Great Video.




A blog about peace : http://choose-peace.blogspot.com/ (Ramona's blog)


This is a vocabulary quiz about Peace: http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/quizview.php?id=575




Video: "Stand up for Peace" Really Powerful!

Invite students to leave a comment in the following blog:
http://notreblog.edublogs.org/2007/07/21/23/

A video from Ramona´s blog
http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p316/rddietrich/?action=view&current=Peace3_1.flv
TDC- Teacher´s Development Course

Have a look at the workshops we´re having this Friday. Hope to see all teachers there.

*Effective Use of Multimedia Resources
*Starting with a Bang - Warmers
* Kill the dictation nightmare
* Integrating technology into the classroom
E-BOARD TRAINING

The online training was unavailable for some time but you can start learning how to use e-board by clicking on the link below. Choose the course which is free. You'll be asked to create a free account and then have fun. Remember to read instructions carefully.
http://prometheanlearning.com/uk/course/category.php?id=2
Dennis (in Germany) interviews Illya (from Switzerland): (online colleagues)

Listen to a teacher interviewing another teacher about various topics related to teaching. Great Interview! Well done Dennis and Illya!
http://www.webcastacademy.net/node/1114
TOP TEN TOOLS
We can learn a lot by looking at this list of favourite sites written by people who are involved with education. I wanted to share with you.
http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html

These are MY TOP TEN TOOLS.
LABCI 2007 - São Paulo
We had a great freezinnnggg time at SP in July. The workshops were very interesting and helped us bring ideas for next semester. The only drawback was the weather. check out some of the photos taken, there are other pictures at the Cultura Inglesa Uberlandia website.

SHARING GRAMMAR LESSON PLANS



ENGLISH INTERACTIVE
You won't believe your eyes! An amazing site for learners for vocabulary and grammar practice.
LINGUALNET learning English through movies
VISUAL ESL (drag and drog vocabulary tests)
INTERACTIVE STORY BOOKS an impressive collection of online stories
A SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE "Teaching Grammar" by Larsen-Freeman.

To watch this presentation, FIRST click on the audio and THEN click to change the slides.



The original article can be found in the book "Teaching English as a foreign language" by Mariane Celce Murcia.


THE FUTURE IS HERE


Have you ever seen the film "Minority Report" ? You know that scene when Tom Cruise moves images on a board by using his hands? That imaginary future is here now, with the creation of the interactive Whiteboard. It's so amazing I had a hard time to fall asleep after seeing how it works, and the technology is available in Brazil. So, dear colleagues, get prepared for a new era in teaching, there's no turning back, we better get familiar with this new technology as best as we can. This is a page from Promethean where teachers demonstrate and talk about their experience with the E-BOARD.

CLICK HERE to learn more about it.


MORE ON GRAMMAR
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Another suggestion by Larry Ferlazzo: the BBC-Skillwise site. The exercises and games are very interesting!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/
Describing people: adjectives
Giving and following directions (Fantastic)

This one was Libardo´s suggestion:
http://activities.bradleys-english-school.com/

This site has a collection of links:
http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/toppicks/toppicks.html
http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/ (esl blues)

A Past Simple game: http://www.marks-english-school.com/games/b_past.html

Videos to learn grammar and vocabulary: http://www.esl-galaxy.com/multimedia.htm

Now watch a cartoon from Grammarmancomic.com
THE ADVANTAGES OF Blogging

Click on the link and read how teachers have been using blogs to get their students to pracitse WRITING.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


MORE GRAMMAR SITES

This one was suggested by Larry Ferlazzo. It´s the BBC- Skillswise. I´ve tried the treasure hunt on Grammar tenses and loved it. Have a try!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/
WORKSHOP: Blogging for beginners
We´re very happy teachers have enjoyed blogging. Here are some of the pictures taken.


create your own slideshow


You can learn more about blogging clicking in BLOGGING TEACHERS.

RockYou FunNote - Get Your Own

LINKS for working with grammar:


Want something different to teach grammar? Have a look at the following links:

Online articles on the topic:

STUDY GUIDE (“Teaching Grammar” by Diane Larsen-Freeman)

“Teaching grammar means enabling language students to use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately.”


1. In the Three-Dimensional Grammar Framework, which dimensions must concern us? (p. 252)
2. Think of a grammar topic. Try to identify the three dimensions involved. Which dimension would offer the biggest challenge to our students?
3. Which are the 3 insights she mentions about the Learning Process? (p.255)
4. When talking about the Teaching Process, she mentions some noticing techniques such as enhancing the input, consciousness-raising task, the garden path and input processing. Can you describe them? (p. 257)
5. What activities does she suggest when the focus is on FORM? (p. 258, 259)
6. If the focus is on MEANING, what are the suggestions? (p. 260)
7. What are relevant practice activities when the challenge is the USE of a structure? (p. 260, 261)
8. What problem does she point out with the way the PASSIVE VOICE is taught? (p.261, 262)
9. What´s the difference between a deductive approach and an inductive approach to dealing with grammar? (p. 264)
10. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “Teachers should concentrate on teaching reasons, not rules.” “ Reasons are meaning based and use based”. (p. 265)
NEW TOPIC: "Teaching Grammar"

This Friday,18th May, we have our group discussion about the article "Teaching Grammar" written by Diane Larsen-Freeman. Have you already read it?

Have a look at this suggested link, it integrates grammar with listening, reading and writing.
CLICK HERE
MINI-CONFERENCE

The mini-conference was a way of sharing the outcome of our discussions. It´s also the product of our reflexions brought into practice. Congratulations to all presenters! Thank you for sharing your work.


For more listening resources look at the "Learning with Computers" BLOG.
This is a summary of the text "Skills and Strategies for Proficient Listening" by Pat Wilcox Peterson presented during our Mini-conference on Listening.
MINI- CONFERENCE

Topic: Listening
Date: 11/05/07
Time: 15:00 - 16:30

The mini-conference is being promoted by the study group in order to share the outcome of our last meeting with the rest of the staff.

Great News! Camila Sousa and I are taking part in a Yahoo community called "Learning with Computers" and look what we´re discussing this week , LISTENING. I´ve included an extract of an e-mail message written by a teacher called Gladys where she suggests various links to deal with Listening. Have a look!

Remember this month we've agreed to discuss "TEACHING LISTENING WITH COMPUTERS"? This being the first week, it's devoted to "RECOMMENDED SITES". Here goes my shortlist:

ELLO - "ELLLO stands for English Language Listening Lab Online. It is a collection of over 1,000 listening activites that students can view free via the internet. Most listening activites come with a downloadable MP3 audio file, transcipt and interactive quiz. ELLLO offers a variety of listening activities that each target a specific listening skill, need or interest."

ComAudio Online - "You can listen to many different kinds of audio items and read the texts at the same time. To find the meaning of a word, you can click on it and then click the Find button. ... You also have the option of doing a ... CLOZE. You have three chances to get it right. If your answer is wrong, you will see this immediately. However, if your answer is correct, please wait while the full text is being processed."

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - Looots of quizzes in English for General Purposes, and English for Academic Purposes, Videos and a lot more! (classified by level and topic) (also by Randall: http://www.dailyesl .com/ - which integrates listening into lesson plans!)

British Council - LearnEnglish - Stories for Kids - Ideal for younger learners, here you can listen to (and read) short (and longer) stories in simple English. Great fun!

CNN Stories Archive - Each module includes the full text of each story and interactive activities to test comprehension. Your can choose to read the text, listen to the text, and view a short video clip of the story.Enough to get started, I'd say!
Next Article: "When the teacher is a non-native speaker" by Peter Medgyes.

The article we´re reading for our next discussion is about the differences about native and non-native teachers. Read the article and remember to bring some questions with you.
Next meeting: 27 April

Willing to read more? Have a look at the following articles:
The native speaker Concept
Native and Non-native Teacher: A Matter to Think Over
OUR NOTICEBOARD
This is a noticeboard for notes and photos. It´s ours! Study group members, please upload a picture or leave us a note.
MEETINGS 1/07


  • 30/03
  • 13/04
  • 27/04
  • 11/05
  • 18/05
  • 15/06
  • 29/06

In our last meeting, we discussed an article about LISTENING "Skills and Strategies for Proficient Listening" by Pat Wilcox Peterson and decided to dedicate some more time to it. We´ll be trying to use some of the suggested activities from the article during these following weeks so that we can present them to each other during our next meeting on 13 April.

These are some interesting articles on Listening:

Leave your impressions about the articles in the comments area.