finding a spark
DESCRIPTION
Effective ways to use sparks in the ESL classroomTRANSCRIPT
Finding a spark
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
ObjectivesYou will….• Increase confidence in using ‘sparks’.• Share your own ‘sparks’.• Learn some effective teaching techniques.
What is a spark?• A small piece of information, stimulus or
challenge. (Salmon, 2011)
• Something that promotes a dialogue.• Something to unleash the imagination.• Something which engages and motivates
students to participate and become involved.
• Ex. Short video clips, images, art, music, comics. (The internet is rich with sparks)
Comics and graphic novels
How do you use comics effectively?
• Comic Jigsaw-find the text to match the picture.
• Fill in the text – Generate text based on the picture. Then act it out.
• Fill in the picture- Generate pictures based on the text.
• Put the panels in order – Cut up the panels and Ss have to put them together.
• Create an original comic- Give a theme.
Comic book lesson
Music
How do you use music effectively?
• Speculation- provide the title/pictures. and guess what the song is about.
• Fill in the blanks.• Strips of paper- jigsaw challenge.• Madlibs.• Listen for pre taught vocab- Shot stop!• Use to demonstrate a grammatical pattern,
vocabulary or idioms.• Use for conversation topics-What’s the
message, story or themes.
Music Lesson
Music Review
Music-Emotions
The X Factor
Video
Why use videos in the classroom?
•Brings some life and energy into the classroom.•Makes classes more lively and interesting.•Provides authentic material – Presenting real language in context.•Visuals can motivate students.•They can be chosen to suit the learners environment.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Why use images in the classroom?
• “Images speak to us. They give rise to outbursts of emotion, thought, and curiosity. They bring back memories and remind us of the experiences we have had. Image refreshes the parts of the brain that words alone fail to reach.” (Keddie, 2009)
The power of images• The whole learning experience is more
memorable and productive.• Language can be extracted from images.• They can engage, stir up curiosity, provide
inspiration and motivation.
Newspaper images
• What do you see?• Where is it?• What’s happening?• Choose a date. Match story with picture.
Power of images
Graffiti Project
Project Runway
Find a Spark!• When planning your lesson always
consider:• How can this activity be enhanced,
improved, strengthened and become more memorable to my students through incorporating a spark?
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou)
References• Keddie, J. (2009). Images. OUP• Salmon, G. (2011). E-Moderating: The Key to Online Teaching and Learning.
Routledge.