Motivation and learning A learner-centred classroom can help our students feel more motivated and engaged in the language classroom. Following the think-pair-share model* gives our students thinking time, a chance to prepare and practise in pairs and small groups, before producing language with the wider group. This can help to reduce student anxiety, promote self-esteem, and increase motivation. Students working in groups need clear instructions and goals, with rules to follow, and group members can have specific roles. We also need to consider group size, and have activities at hand for early finishers. Here are some examples of learner-centred activities that focus on the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Speaking lines Students prepare questions or statement to discuss. Next, set up the classroom so that the students are in two rows facing each other. Ideally do this with two lines of face-to-face chairs but have students standing if you can’t move the furniture. With an uneven number have a student as a ‘listener’ at one end of a line. Students now have one minute to talk to the person directly facing them about their prepared questions or statements. They should take turns to talk. Remind students that they can respond I’d rather not answer that question if asked about something too personal. Stop them after one minute by raising your arm and shouting ‘Stop!’ Now, have students all move one place to the left so that they are facing a different person (and, with uneven numbers, there is a new ‘listener’). Repeat as before with new pairs talking. Monitor and encourage students to keep speaking English if necessary. Stop them again after about a minute. Repeat and continue in the same way. When you finish the activity, students can report the answers they have received to the whole class. Split students into two or more groups with a very large class. Speaking lines is described in this lesson plan: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/all-about-
me Back to back video Display the opening, static image of the video from LearnEnglish Kids: (http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories/george-and-the-dragon ) or Teens: (http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/uk-now/film-uk/zombie-school-survival-guide ). Ask students to predict what they will see in the video. Elicit useful vocabulary and write these words/expressions on the board. Students sit in pairs, back to back (or student B with eyes closed if you can’t move furniture). As you play the first section of the film, with no audio, student A describes what she can see to student B. Next, all students watch the same video section, again without audio. In pairs they can either predict what will happen next, or invent the script of the video so far. Next students watch the whole video with sound – they have a real reason to listen and watch now. After viewing, students compare their ideas (predictions or script) with another pair. Finally students can work in pairs to do the online or printable activities that accompany each video.
A framework for authentic texts An authentic text about a fresh, engaging topic will not normally include prepared learning activities to use with your class. This framework helps you make authentic materials accessible to your students and allows them to work collaboratively to understand and learn from the text. -
-
Choose a text and write the title on the board. In pairs students predict which words they will find in the text. Students read and look for any of their predicted words. Invite learners to come to the board to cross off the words they found. Next, they underline any names or numbers they find in the text. Write these names and numbers on the board. With a partner, students turn over their paper and try to remember what each name and number refers to. Pairs then compare with another pair, and finally compare with the whole class. After this, students individually underline 5 new words from the text. They should choose words that they don’t know and that they think will be useful to learn. They then compare word lists in pairs and reduce the possible 10 words to 5 by explaining any that that they can to their partner. Then, pairs join to make groups of 4, and again reduce their word lists to 5, explaining/translating any that they can. Finally each group writes their list of 5 words on the board. Cross off any words that are repeated and discuss the meaning of the remaining words with the class.
Writing on LearnEnglish Kids By posting comments on the LearnEnglish Kids website, learners are joining the global community in a very learner centred environment. The Your turn section on LearnEnglish Kids (http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/your-turn) has activities to help with writing skills on lots of different interesting topics. Download the worksheets for students to work on individually so that they can think about their answers. They then work in pairs to compare ideas. After this preparation they can write and publish a post on the site which is shared with the global community around the world. All comments are pre-moderated so only comments that follow the house rules are published. Students have to register to post comments on the site. They can register here: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/user/register/kids and have fun choosing a username and creating an avatar. If your students aren’t registered they can read posts on the website and decide whether they agree or not, and then they can write comments in class to make group posters.
* Further reading – Teaching children to think, Robert Fisher
Sally Trowbridge 2015