Four skills Magazine

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INTRODUCTION

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his magazine provides information and activities based on the four integrated skills as a method of teaching the English language, directed especially to teachers in the area.

Integrated skills refer to the interaction of the four principal language skills together during instruction, as we know, these skills are: listening, writing, speaking, and reading.

They represent a great interest in the classroom for authentic communication, as they show students that subject matter and areas of mastery are not divided, but can be merged to promote knowledge. The integration of the four language skills increases the focus on realistic communication, therefore, teachers must be aware of and specialize in the best way possible to have a successful classroom.

In this magazine, each skill is detailed in-depth, starting with an analysis and culminating with examples of techniques that can be useful to the teacher. The interest in training students to express themselves or write correctly is imminent, which is why these four skills provide us with activities pertinent to their needs. However, it is necessary to ensure that one activity is closely related thematically to the next so that there is continuity in learning without overloading. Each of the skills has a complete explanation, a list of strategies, techniques, graphics, and illustrations to make it easier to understand. Finally, personal comments and a list of additional resources exclusively for the teacher are added.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 IMPORTANCE OF THE FOUR SKILLS ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4 READING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 READING STRATEGIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 TECHNIQUES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 SPEAKING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 SPEAKING STRATEGIES ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 TECHNIQUES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 WRITING ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15 TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES ------------------------------------------------------------ 16 LISTENING --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 LISTENING STRATEGIES ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 TECHNIQUES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 FINAL COMMENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

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IMPORTANCE OF THE FOUR SKILLS

In our daily lives, we use the four skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading). Each of them is related to the rest of the skills. While having a conversation we use our speaking and listening skills, at school we use all of them but in fact, we cannot use only one of them and forget the rest of them, it is impossible Native speakers use these skills unconsciously without the need of stop what they are doing and think: What word is this? How do I pronounce this phrase? Do I need to use past tense or future tenses? And this is the reason we need to enhance, practice, and master each skill with our students.

Certain skills might be easier for some students and some might have trouble with the four of them, here is where teachers need to integrate the four skills but also implement their knowledge and experience till all of their students become successful at each skill.

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READING By: Christopher Lopez

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eading ability refers to the ability to comprehend or understand a written text, combining comprehension with prior knowledge that naturally promotes cognitive development. Instilling the habit of reading is the best way to get students to develop the skill of analysis. There are multiple methods that teachers can employ to keep this habit going since nowadays reading goes unnoticed. Even the teacher can merge part of the teaching of writing with it to achieve better comprehension and writing. In today's world, reading is 'basic' to everyday life. As children, we learn to read, and as adults, we read to learn.

Adequate progress in learning to read in English goes beyond an initial level since it depends on how sounds are represented alphabetically, how much fluency can be achieved in the texts, previous knowledge, and vocabulary to make written texts meaningful. Finally, a procedure that monitors comprehension and repairs misunderstandings that bring with them a variety of purposes. The universality of the act of reading comes from the fact that every individual is intrinsically capable of it. Through the stimuli of society and the validity of codes are transmitted preferably through an alphabet.

This practice plays an imminent role in education because once the student learns to read and does not lose this ability, the student may or may not become a reader, since it is defined, in principle, by the assiduity to an institution: literature. Under these contradictory aspects, it is not only a matter of emphasizing the value of reading as a procedure of appropriation of reality but also of delimiting the meaning of the object through which it is concretized: a universal communication and selfcritical thinking. Reading can become a part of the learning process if the teacher can create strategies that generate feelings of expectation in students to encourage them to read.

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READING STRATEGIES

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o improve students' reading comprehension, teachers should present the seven cognitive strategies of effective readers: activate, infer, monitor-clear, question, seek-select, summarize, and visualize/organize. Cognitive strategies are the mental processes that expert readers use to extract and construct meaning from text and create knowledge structures in long-term memory. They are broken down below:

1. Activate: This consists of a recall of previous experiences in students related to the context of reading that the teacher will give.

2. Infer: Its synthesis is to gather what is spoken (written) in the text, what is not said (not written) in the text, and what the student already knows to extract and construct meaning.

3. Monitor-Clarify: This states that we must be aware of what the student is reading, to make sure he or she has understood, and to clarify doubts if they lose the context or the main idea.

4. Questioning: This is the section where the teacher has the responsibility to question the students through learning dialogues or questions regarding reading.

5. Search-select: The teacher looks for sources and selects appropriate information to

define or clarify terms or to collect information.

6. Summarize: Reaffirm the meaning of the text in one's own words.

7. Display-organize: The teacher has to make students imagine the synthesis so that later they conclude with an analysis based on a construction of meaning in the text.

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TECHNIQUES IDENTIFIES THE SEQUENCE It consists of identifying and ordering facts or steps according to how they happened in the text. Narrative and some informative readings include information about a series of facts or steps. The student needs to identify not only the facts or steps but the order in which they happened, to understand the reading. The student can use sequences as a strategy to remember information from a text or to order it.

Context: Science Fiction "Alice in Wonderland The student must read a chapter gradually to understand the different scenarios that are presented. Then he must identify the facts ordering them mentally to start the activity. When the students finish reading, the teacher provides them with a series of sentences that are within the text. So they will have to order them according to the reading.

For example: - Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage‌ - In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

- However, this bottle was nor marked ‘poison’, so Alice venture to taste it.

- She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen. https://www.storyberries.com/bedtime-stories-alice-in-wonderland-by-lewis-carroll-june-feature/ (or you can scan the QR barcode here)

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READING CONTROL The reading controls seek to evaluate the procedural and attitudinal components according to the chapter that has been sent for analysis. It serves to check the mastery in the subject, as well as the demonstration of such knowledge through a brief essay. Therefore, it is imminent that the student reads this synthesis in advance. The teacher must ask questions based on the reading, but with a subjective approach. This will help us recognize whether they read the whole text since one deduces and formulates hypotheses from some of the characters' actions.

Context: Horror "The Mask of the Red Death The student should read Edgar Allan Poe's horror story, which has an interesting theme in terms of descriptions.

To do this, a copy should be given to the students in advance and then provide them with reading control with questions such as the following:

• Summarize the story's plot with four ideas.

• What did the ebony clock represent in the reading?

• Describe each room.

• What characterized the red death?

• How do you think Prince Prospero acted when death entered the party?

• Recreate an alternate ending to the one Edgar Allan Poe gave to this story.

https://www.poemuseum.org/the-masque-of-the-red-death P a g e 8 | 26

THE BOOK CLUB A Book Club is an activity, where a group of people who are fond of a certain genre of novel shares their experience and impressions with other fans. This can be arranged in the classroom. First, the teacher chooses the genre or the secular theme with a context related to the main topic. Second, the teacher shares the reading with them so that they can read it in class or at home. Finally, the whole classroom is placed in a semicircle, and the teacher makes the students discuss key points of the reading or experiences they had while reading. In this last point, I am referring to emotions, many times when the student reads tend to have an impression of the events, and this is the best part of the activity since here we can evaluate if the student fulfilled his reading duties.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUEH7Tkxj2M (or you can Scan here) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10auVRva1Jk (or you can Scan here)

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Speaking By: Samuel Perez

peaking is one of the skills students do not practice due to different facts.

Some students might feel they are not good at learning languages, some might feel embarrassed to speak English in front of their friends and family or some might These are some barriers students have and as a result, teachers need to find proper, interactive and new manners students could face these barriers.

Speaking skills are essential for communicating, expressing ideas, feelings, narrating stories, etc. Speaking is of the most used skills nowadays, we use this skill everywhere, at the supermarket, school, at the bank, while hanging out with friends, Etc. We need to give the necessary tools for enhancing fluency and accuracy which without them speaking becomes a huge challenge for students that not all of them are willing to take the challenge and succeed at it.

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Teaching strategies While teaching speaking, we need to focus on the next principles:

Engage students with fluency and accuracy

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Students need to express their ideas using the right vocabulary, tense form, and word order. By improving these areas students will increase their accuracy while speaking. Fluency means speaking effectively, without the need to stop and think about what to say, what sentence structure use, how to pronounce words. It means speaking naturally. This will take students to a higher English level allowing students to communicate, express ideas & feeling effortlessness.

https://www.etprofessional.com/going-beyond-accuracy-vs-fluency

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Motivate students In class, there are different types of personalities.

Some students might be shy of being heard speaking in a foreign language, feel that they will never speak and second language and this decreases their speaking skills while some students feel confident and excited to speak a second language increasing their speaking skills. With this been said, teachers need to motivate students with a wide range of interactive speaking activities where all students participate, express their ideas, and practice their speaking skills.

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Be technological At these times technology has been developed rapidly, providing a wide range of online resources for teaching languages. Teachers need to adapt to these technologies and start implementing them in their classes. Using technology makes classes and exercise more interactive and it calls student’s attention.

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Make students speak Teachers should give the opportunity to students to participate and express their ideas, it should not be a teacher-centered-class when the only person who speaks is the teacher. It is a student-centered class, and this is how students will enhance their speaking skills. Teachers need to let students speak in the class where he can correct mistakes, pronunciation, word stress, etc. if students feel confident and comfortable speaking inside the classroom, they will speak outside of it.

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Techniques Long story This is an interactive and enjoyable activity. Students make a circle. First, the teacher gives an initial sentence. The first student must repeat what the teacher said and continue the sentence. The second student must repeat what his previous classmate has said and continue with the sentence. The third student must repeat what his two previous classmates said and continue whit the sentence. And so on.

Example: Teacher: Yesterday I was…

1st student: Yesterday I was + Playing outside.

2nd student: Yesterday I was + Playing outside + with my new friend 3rd student: Yesterday I was + Playing outside + with my new friend when I saw……. And so on.

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Show and tell

The teacher asks students to bring their favorite object to class. In the class, they must show what they have brought and describe the object, its use, how they got it, etc.

Example Object: smartphone This is my favorite object because when I get bored I play videogames on it. I also get calls from my parents. Etc.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-speaking-activities-for-adults/

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Debate

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The teacher will make two groups, give one relevant option to each group (mostly something they like the most). groups have to debate why their option is better for them. Students should give important facts, support their answers, etc.

Example: Group 1: iOS Group 2: Android Which one is better? Why? Support your answers.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-speaking-activities-for-adults/

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Tell me what you know first!

Students get in pairs; the teacher gives a list of five different topics to each pair. Each pair must share eight facts or details of what they know about each topic. the pair who finishes the five topics before the rest of the class wins.

https://eslspeaking.org/top-5-esl-conversation-activities-adults/

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Writing By: Jennifer Arredondo

riting skills are an important part of communication. Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or telephone conversations.

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You might be called upon to write a report, plan or strategy at work; write a grant application or press release within a volunteering role; or you may fancy communicating your ideas online via a blog. And, of course, a well written CV or resume with no spelling or grammatical mistakes is essential if you want a new job.

Correct grammar, punctuation and spelling are key in written communications. The reader will form an opinion of you, the author, based on both the content and presentation, and errors are likely to lead them to form a negative impression and it could be only because of your writing skills.

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Why is Writing Important?

Writing is used in many areas of our lives.

• Writing is critical to becoming a good reader.

• Writing is an essential job skill.

• Writing is the primary basis upon which one’s work, learning, and intellect will Be judged—in college, in the work place and in the community.

• Writing equips us with communication and thinking skills.

Why is Writing Important?

Writing is used in many areas of our lives.

• Writing is critical to becoming a good reader.

• Writing is an essential job skill.

• Writing is the primary basis upon which one’s work, learning, and intellect will Be judged—in college, in the work place and in the community.

• Writing equips us with communication and thinking skills.

• Writing expresses who we are as people.

• Writing makes our thinking and learning visible and permanent.

• Writing fosters our ability to explain and refine our ideas to others and ourselves.

• Writing preserves our ideas and memories.

• Writing allows us to understand our lives.

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Techniques to Improve Your Writing Skills

01 Establish your main writing weaknesses. What exactly do you want to improve? For instance, you may want to focus on choosing the right words or writing simpler sentences.

02 Read the work of other writers to understand how they apply writing techniques. If you’d like to write with more simplicity, study Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Or if you’d like to improve word choice, see how Ray Bradbury uses strong verbs in Zen in the Art of Writing; gather all your favorite examples in a swipe file—a collection of writing examples to learn from.

03 Practice a specific writing technique, and compare your writing to the examples in your swipe file, so you can see how to improve further.

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04 Get out of your comfort zone—don’t use the examples to put yourself down; instead, challenge yourself to get better and enjoy the learning experience—nurture a growth mindset.

05 Who are you writing for? Good writers have a pathological interest in their readers and understand their dreams, fears, and secret wishes.

06 Which reader problem will your article help solve? Or which aim will you help achieve? Good content has one clear purpose—to inspire a reader to implement your advice.

07 What’s the roadmap to help your readers solve their problems or achieve their aims? The roadmap is the basis for a clear and logical article.

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08 A powerful headline uses power words or numbers to attract attention in busy social media streams, and it mentions a specific benefit to entice followers to click to read more.

09 A captivating opening promises readers you’ll help solve a problem so they feel encouraged to read on.

10 A valuable main body shows, step by step, how to solve a problem or achieve an aim.

11 An inspirational closing jumpstarts readers into action—you only become a true authority when readers experience the difference your advice makes to them.

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12 Use the 4-course meal plan to create a logical flow without distractions, so readers stay on track.

13 Learn how to use vivid language to make abstract ideas concrete so readers easily grasp and remember your message.

14 Learn how to write bite-sized, simple, and meaningful sentences—a good sentence is the basic ingredient of good writing.

15 Compose smooth transitions so readers glide effortlessly from sentence to sentence, and from paragraph to paragraph.

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LISTENING

By Christopher, Samuel and Jennifer.

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istening is the most important skill a leader can master. It is the basis of so many other skills and traits that make up a leader. However, it is a tough skill to master as it requires us to be more present, attentive, engaged, open and flexible. Good listening skills in this digital era, due to information overload and shortened attention span, is fast becoming an endangered species. Listening involves paying and making nonverbal cues, appropriate to what is being said.

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TEACHING STRATEGIES 1. Connect Help yourself better understand a listening assignment by thinking of things you already know about a topic. This helps your mind build connections between what you know and new information you will hear. Say to yourself things like, “This lecture about animal communication makes me think about how my dog lets me know that he needs to go outside.

He runs to get a sock and brings it to me.”

2. Predict Make guesses about what you may learn as you listen. Guessing helps your brain focus on the assignment. It doesn’t matter if your guesses are right or wrong. For instance, if the topic is a space mission to Mars, you might guess, “I bet it takes six months to get to Mars and it’s probably really cold. I don’t think people can survive on Mars.”

3. Talk About New Words If there is a list of preselected vocabulary words from the assignment, go through the list and think about what you know about them. If you don’t know the words, talk about them with a friend or use a free audio dictionary. If there isn’t a preselected list of words, make sure you understand words in the title and in any introductory material. Have a brief conversation in your head to clarify key words. If you do not know what flaunting means in the title “Flaunting Your Success,” write down a synonym like showing off to refer to as you read.

Sometimes, a rough sketch, such as a dollar sign in front of affluent, can give you quick help as you listen.

4. Listen for Answers As you listen, be listening for answers to questions you have. To identify questions to ask, preview activities you need to complete after you listen or turn the title of an assignment into a question. For instance, if the title of a lecture is “The Science of Love,” you might ask, “How is science related to love?” or “What have scientists learned about love?” Looking for answers to questions gives you a reason to listen and keeps your mind active and alert.

5. Take Notes Write notes that help you remember ideas. Outlining and layering information is always a good idea, but try other imaginative ways of taking notes: Use connected circles and shapes, create a chart, or draw a map. Use abbreviations and symbols that help you keep up with the speaker’s rate of speech; for instance, if the words memory and communication are used a lot, just use an “M” and “C” in your notes and add a reminder that explains this after you finish listening. Speakers also convey ideas in nonverbal ways. Pay attention to intonation, and if applicable, facial expressions, to take notes on a speaker’s opinions and outlooks.

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LISTENING ACTIVITY: FOCUS ON VIDEO This is an activity that consists of playing a video and then asking our students to recall it and write down the main ideas. This activity allows the student to listen to the audio and see the context at once. So they can make an association of both and stay focused on the objective. The video would be focused on a topic but with a varied context, something that draws attention but is not out of focus. For example: if the teacher is teaching relative clauses, she/he might play a scene from a series of student preferences that include a variety of these in the dialogue, depending on the length. The students would then be asked to collect the main ideas using their relatives. The context should not be lost, and the central theme should be maintained.

Fast Supermarket!

Students have flashcards of different products they buy at the supermarket. One student makes a phone call to his/her classmate and starts ordering the products he wants to buy. His partner must listen carefully and select all bought products. After it, check if the order is complete and check the missing products.

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Activities That Teach Students Active Listening Mindful Listening Meditation: This meditation teaches students how to tune out their thoughts and tune into the sounds surrounding them, a strategy that directly connects to active listening.

Listening with Openness Group Activity: This group activity can teach students how to take turns and listen during a classroom discussion.

String Telephone Project: A listening activity with a STEM component!

Build these string telephones as a class and discuss how sounds travel.

Simon Says: Did you know that this classic game can help students learn to listen? Try any of the ten variations included in this resource, then have a discussion on listening to and following directions.

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Final Comments It is necessary to integrate the four skills in a class in order to have authentic communication. This type of integration shows students that subject matter and skills are not divided, but can be applied in many different situations and contexts. Writing, listening, speaking and reading are developed to have an environment focused on the needs that the student has and that is where we must act.

Teachers need to integrate the Four-English-skill in their classes, this will develop student’s skills correctly and give them the chance to understand, use, speak, and write the language. Each skill is related to the rest of the skills, if there is a lack of practice in one of them, there will be a lack of understanding in the rest of them.

It is insane the amount of activities and techniques that we all have to give the best experience in learning for our students, we have to get out from the comfort zone and give the extra mile to our students, they are learning with their own styles and intelligences, yes it is hard to have all of them in the “same page” but that’s our work and since we shared all this for you teacher, we hope you take advantage of it and really engage with your students’ learning to improve their skills and provide the best learning experience, enjoy it!

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