
Planned but not targeted: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Many students have been so enchanted by the book and its drawings that they have bought their own copy.
Many students have been so enchanted by the book and its drawings that they have bought their own copy.
I didn’t invent this game but found it in a text book I used many years ago. I believe it was Oxford Press material. It would take up an entire hour of class without anyone getting bored and gave students lots of practice listening for details, while giving me an easy day. I think I
I love the freedom this gives me to meet my students where they are and adapt what I can say about the images to their particular needs.
It’s an ideal CI activity because everything is 100% comprehensible and compelling and repetitive. The original structures are repeated countless times.
“As for non-native speakers, as long as they are comprehensible, we tend to find their accent charming. “
A good qhodunit can give you weeks of excellent lessons with minimum planning.
Teaching phonics means concentrating on form and it only goes into short term memory , which basically means a lot of time and energy spent on very little gain. As Stephen Krashen says, “There’s an easy way and there’s a hard way. And the hard way doesn’t work.”
“all they need to do is to memorize four questions. The day of the interview they answer the four questions. This gives their presentation structure and a safety net for those moments of panic when their mind goes blank.”
This question was asked recently by a French person who came to the Agen Workshop in July, 2014. She is perfectly bilingual and a creative, hard-working and conscientious teacher of English. She admitted that she didn’t feel comfortable teaching pronunciation.
Every summer for the last ten years something magic has happened in Agen, France. Teachers from around the world have gathered in a friendly little town in southwest France and particpated in what many of them have called a life-changing experience. They come together because they have heard of a different way of teaching languages, a way of creating stories with their students and building a different kind of classroom. They come with open hearts and open minds and they leave with smiles and warm memories and many new friends. That is the magic of Agen.