In this unit I learned that practice activities and tasks are the help that every student needs to extend their knowledge and usage of language. Thus, they can get them through lots of training, mainly in vocabulary, functional exponents, grammar, English skills, etc.
In addition, from my point of view, there are activities that I can apply in the classroom, for example: controlled or restricted practice such as giving students worksheets in any topic they have been learning, so that they have to fill in the blanks with any grammar or lexicon learned. It is important to be very accurate, by using grammar structures. tenses, linkers, etc. Moreover, there are activities which are known as freer practice, for example: asking students to write a letter, an e-mail, etc. It is not just completing with isolated words, but finding out extensive tasks. It is less controlled, and encourages communication with the real world.
It is interesting to know that we as teachers can put practice activities into use through drills which is modeling and repetition. It can be done individually or as a class that is called choral drills. I do not entirely agree with the fact that replacing words in the same sentence is relevant for students to learn. Instead, we can ask students to come up with their own examples, maybe by using key words, specific language and recolling the content previously learned.
Also, we can ask students to take the risk of interaction and communication. Per sure, they can be part of classroom discussions, problem-solving activities, sharing or comparing their own ideas, giving information or real experiences. Furthermore, we can include a wide range of classroom activities such as rank ordering/prioritising which is putting a list of things in order of importance, we can also prompt students to participate in role-plays and surveys. It can be done by giving them specific topics in which they have to learn the script by heart and act it out in front of their classmates.
To sum up, there are lots of interactive activities which can be applied in several ways, using the skills, subskills, interaction patterns and mingling.
Classroom Activities
Web pages you can visit:
1. Sharpen, (2010). ESL Activities, Classroom Activities, Mirror Words. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmUIzJQJABs
2. King, D. (2012). Teaching English the Fun Way, The Game. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpE7Wi-F0ZA
3. Cox. J. (2014). Book Activities for Grades 3-5. About Education. Retrieved from: http://k6educators.about.com/od/BookResources/a/Book-Activities-For-Grades-3-5.htm
Great Job Anita
ReplyDeleteThe video help me in the process of become a teacher, becasue you to take in consideration the different factors that ocuur in this stage.
congratulations Anita!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that it is important to use a variety of activities in the classroom. Also I like when you say we have to make our students take the risk of interaction and communicatio. this is the main aim of a practice activity!