S e ry, i o Seat ie OE PT a F< Facie & |; WM e‘Atask-oriented Making the most project. Amuzing of a eader. tourist places. P d 7 Many hands make Learning the fight work numbers. Dear colleague, We are very pleased to present this July edition of P Assessing, ‘The Teacher's Magazine and Pagi hare with you these Hapey Friendship preschool Pee cet siiy desizned ay! students’ progress materials, specially designed eae to brighten up your classes Pages 9 cs and aid you in your Photocopiable challenging but rewarding activities. Postert task, We hope you find them = peice, mine aun 4 E places. useful - Using readers in Best regards, q the EFL Poster 2 Putricia Sainz classroom, True friends are Editor forever. 5 Readers. Estas Sociads del Club EDIBA (Argentina) rectbiran muy pronto en su domicilio un premio sorpresa BE Barnagin, Nar Jose. esis Mara, Coots 36 Fiquera, Glads Yolanda formosa, formosa We Goerzon, Ana Maria. Newgaen, Neuguén MH Albornoz Liana Cristina. Dimes Comurso, Andiow Arala. Chimbas, San Juan, Resistencia % Lower, Natalia. Capital edeval, Cuda Autinoma de Bs As lta Carmen, Gor Virasoro, Co Culdobeld, Sloe Andra. Puerto Maryn, Chabue WF Usa, Evangelina, Tag $808 parte de nnestro Club Edibai ;No dejes de asociarte! Tenemos muchas sorpresas para vos Visitd nuestro sito wan ediba.com, hace slick en la bandera de Argentina, ingvesten la secelou "Clabes" y encontrards toda la informacion, ;Teesperamos!he following activities, which can be used for 1pre-intermediate or intermediate learners, have the purpose of taking the students beyond basic writing and speaking to sell-expressive presentations and improve fluency through practice and interest ‘These activities also aim to provide an active learning environment promoting students’ independence and) collaborative work. Working in small groups, they will deal ‘with geography, mathematics and the concept of interculturality, complete the tasks assigned, look up the necessary information, and present their work in class. ‘Students will discover, interpret and understand the cultural practices which are strange for them and uncover their own cultural understandings, always taken for granted. like to travel somewhere, but you need help to choose the place and plan the trip. You would like to learn something about a different culture, enjoy their food, visit many interesting places and know where to stay and how much money you would have to spend, Divide the class into groups of four or five students. Each group will be tour operators. Explain that a tour operator is the person ‘who puts tourist packages together, that is, the person who offers the tourist everything they need: means of transport, accommodation, food, sightseeing tours and entertainment. Present the cards on poster 1 showing places that are representative of different types of holidays and different cultures. Each group has to choose a place among the following: New York, Rome, Cancun, Athens, Gstaad, Ghiza, Iguazu Falls, yainey, Consequently, they will benefit from confronting and contrasting their own representations with different customs of other people. ‘The teacher will encourage independent work for the students to become responsible for their own learning process and increase their capacity of analysis and critical thinking, They. ‘will also be flexible enough to allow the students’ creativity, ‘which should be constanily encouraged. Material needed Poster 1 to introduce the activity; travel guide books; brochures; geography books; pictures; world maps; the Internet. Introduction ‘ell the class that you have a ten-day holiday and you wouldDevelopment Once the places are assigned, the students should organise their tasks, for example, to place the city on a map, decide the means of transport needed, check the fight frequency to the place, how much the air fare is, types of hotels and their different standards (one to five stars), hotels’ availabilty, services offered, traditional food, sightseeing spots, famous ‘monuments, customs and traditions, Just adapt this list to your students’ level Students should decide the way they are going to gather all the necessary information to put this package tour together and sell it to you. According to their level, they will make an oral and a written presentation on their findings, supported by visual aids such as maps, pictures, posters, brochures, advertising the place they have to sell A cross-curricular project In case you want to have a ctoss-curricular activity you may set a limit in your budget and let them make a plan for you. They will have to budget the trip according to the limit you have set taking into account number of days, travelling cost, transport, the hotel daily rate, famous places to visit, delicious food to try traditional souvenirs to buy, interesting things to do such as. going to the opera or the theatre, among others. ‘Once all the groups have budgeted the place assigned, they have to present the results of their research to the class: We recommend that you visit Gstaad in Switzerland, The round trip is $.. It includes $... for transport, $... for a day on your meals accommodation/hotel. You will spend $. ‘and other expenses. On this rrip you can walk along beautiful paths, attend music festivals, tennis championships, the Polo Silver Cup and the hor air balloon festival in summer. In winter, you can enjoy snow sports or go on mountain and lake excursions. If you are hungry, you ean eat Swiss chocolate. It is really deticions. Afterwards, they will compare all the possibilities offered and decide which place is the cheapest, the most expensive, attractive, etc. When the results of their research are presented to the class, you will surely buy all the package tours suggested. ‘Amazing Tourist Places The flashcards on poster | are also suitable for students at beginner and elementary levels. Using the photos as prompts, they can describe the places, their typical food, lodging options, sightseeing tours, customs, traditional handicrafts, ete. They can speak about imaginary trips, holiday resorts, ‘means of transport and entertainment. You can provide a guide (see page 22) for speaking or writing activities to work ‘with these topics individually or in groups.‘fe are some fun activities to help you make light work ‘of teaching the numbers to young learners in the First Cycle of primary education. Number surprise cards Make number cards out of cardboard, like the ones in the pictures. They have three parts; the two parts that make up the cover present the numbers, made of different materials and colours. When the two ‘outer parts are pulled apart, a third piece is disclosed, where the number word is hidden, Your stucents will have fun playing with them and you will be able to use them as a teaching or assessment resource.Word and number race Li This engaging game offers opportunites to work on word 1p Pi ggol spelling cud sussbers. Vocal adapt to otter taney a bangles ts fA ee ok nivel ok gngeger oral erage 16 Wesel ain Materials ~ a large piece of Kraft paper cardboard or construction paper pictures of animals (e.g. seal, lion, duck, frog) letters to form animals’ names “a big dee Game preparation ; ag at 4 q "To prepare the game board, cut Jour winding pathwaysout MIA ] \ 4 Hanes igoetenonhekatomer nce we fF Of f UR CH EK each pathway into 10 or 20 sections (depending on the as number series you want to focus on) and number them, Display the board on the floor and, place the picture of an animal at the end of each pathway. How to play i The aim is to form the name of the animal at the end of the [If pathway. Before the game, scatter the animals’ letiers ona | able and divide the children int four teams, Each team stands in a row at the start. They take turns to throw the | dice and move forwards along the pathways. When the first child im a team reaches the picture, they run to the table, choose a letter to form the corresponding animal’sname and place it next to the picture, 5 SMotherestof the players until they manage to get all the detiers tgleomplete the name. The first team to do this Feonipetly is the winner. Variant: in the case of weaker student groups or if they are not very familiar with the voeabulary, you can ask each team to practise how to form their animal's name before starting the game. In this way, they will have a litle help until they reinforce the spelling of the new words, ‘They can also use the individual letters as counters to move along the pathway. (See photograph.) osSIP IASBILEE, OCORINP IE CSS > Hil I'm Lazy Ladybird. T love reading letters from my friends! But I am a little lazy to write back! Can you help Lazy Ladybird finish her letter? Write the words in the right spaces. Dean friend, Thanks for YOU (conn nnen JBM OB) ceasesisenncrnncens bats Ibe (8) What aboub you? J like te 20h 8) cusonnn Libis hare (6) 5 O: = & ‘S is, z SG; ieHi, everybody! My name is Messy Mouse. It’s Monday morning and my bedroom is a mess! Which things have my sound? Can you help me? HoTeCOPINGL: (PHoTeCoRtvaucge HoTeC ORINeLE Ie,FOPRINBLE| GO & = = Q ane: 2 ‘3: Hello! I'm Noisy Nightingale. Nice to meet youl I like collecting things in my nest. Can you write the name of my new objects? REOFOGREADING IS FUN! LITERARY ELEMENTS Workin groups to find the literary elements of the story. TITLE OF THE STOR * Characters’ names (Who are the characters Involved in the story? += Setting (time) (When does the story take place?) * Setting (place) (Where does the stor take place?) ‘= Plot: Opening {What happens atthe beginning?) = Plot: Conflict (Whats tie most important problem?) ‘= Plot: Complications (What are the other ‘important problems?) + Plot: Climax (What happens before the resolution?) ‘Plot: Resolution (How is the problem solved? Genre (_] detective Story CQ crime story Theme (] piscrimination (J Life and death Clisecsaey Cohost story Owe Ci Friendship Cl iano D suspense story OO toveand ate Cotte nnn Qadventurestoy lence Fonaula) 78nd OD0,0H a Wid 229.0 IMINO CLO AN am INNA ST iNMA ST Surdvyas = PNT AWAY ‘opposite imber in the first and second columns. Then find the opposites of the words in the story and complete the chart, PAGE NUMBER READING IS FUN] Working with vocabulary: OPPOSITES ? $ g 3 5 =aus! =) aD) PHoroGe RiN\MeMPRHoloCOPINBL ETc? HoloCORIAeLegahHo1oCO WHAT IS A FRIEND? A Sriend is some one Who ... + listens to you. « Feels happy when you make progress. + Feels sad when you are sad. + doesn’t let you down. « Yeassures you when you are in doubt. And as time qoes by, even if you are Car apart, You will be together, Because true Criends are forever!RaQ ansans sonnnnnee ‘unhaany Seales — *thRd teh BP retaro re PHolocoPine re -RHoloCoRineunPHotoCoRINelOD) © O10 me orate! im PS IUEMP IS Cut out the circle shapes and paste them on construction Paper. Cut along the lines on the ‘cover to open the windows, paint both wheels and decorate ‘them as you wish. ‘Then fasten the cover of the wheel on to the base with a paper fastener. THE NUMBER WHEEL | THE NUMBER WHEEL |THE NUMBER WHEEL 2 Pe (PRHoToGoRENcImemeHO!‘WHAT DID THEY SAY? Report these famous quotes. “You can discover more aboot a person in an sour 9 ply than in a ‘year 2€ conversation.” | be aman &€ value.” ! 3) Confucius told his followers 4) Gandhitold the Indian people... 5) Einstein told his friends Oscar Wilde we must learn 4 ive + 9gefher as brothers or perish fogether 2s Gels.” 6) Martin Luther King said to Americans... 7) Oscar Wilde once said ‘Suyptons mov4 01 YOno¥e Bunof 0 sem 2 300} 24.2600 Ysuad 0 siowi01q se 1049604 90) 0 UEC ev fous ("aie o usu 29 ss22ns Jo ual 9q oF 304g 29UU5 3u 2/0/03 "HS a4 EY Oy SSOUPUNY 2610} 0) JOU SUNN BONO} OE "UONES!SNUD sFaK ut Ae JoNoY Ue U Lose enoqeasouane>sp pno> fous (2a ey Ka Vay ainpue pu pron Kan usu Lua 03 (4:9,‘anuquod 0} Aay Aue ssaig ED quem nok op saidoo Auew MoH Sly a}3/9P 0} ueM Nok og EP ‘Mo|9q Nua ayy Woy} aso04D EB 4 0} ueM NOK og KP ‘uo Bo) ou og épsomssed unok Ss! yeu & ‘piomssed anok 1913 sa}qang wpaads ap arajdui0> -s04 djoy 03 BuyAa 5} uospueds s9y os “ueaUl Kayp reYm MOU 3,USBOP ays anq users ay uo saBessou awos peas ue> ays s|)¥5 12yNdwo> U1ea] 0} GBun183s st aynoMIpUEIG s,wHES iSLV1 OOL IAIN ayaa8B) Put the following facts in chronological order. JUAN HIPOLITO DEL CORAZON DE JESUS YRIGOYEN (2 July 1852 - 3 July 1933) A) Answer these questions. 1) What do you know about this man? 2) Was he an artist, politician or a doctor? 3) Where was he from? a) A military coup overthrew him in 1930. bb) He supported the 1918 University reform, ©) He became the first Argentine President elected bby popular suffrage after the 1912 Sdenz Pena Law. 4) He died in Buenos Aires on 3 July, 1933. €¢) He took over as President forthe fist time on 12 October 1916. {f He taught History, Philosophy and Moral and Civic Education and he donated his salary LJ tothe children’s Hospital. 19) He was born in Buenos Aires on 12 July, 1852. €) Decide if the following facts are T (true) or F (false). Then, check your answers on the Internet or in books. 41) The 1912 Séenz Peha Law established the universal, secret and obligatory male and female suffrage through the creation of an electoral ist. 2) Hipélite Yrigoyen was elected president three times. '3) He was the leader of the Radical Civil Union Party. A) His most famous nickname was "El Peludo” (The Hairy Armadillo) because he never made speeches or appeared in public. 5) He nationalised the railway system, 6) He followed a policy of neutrality during the First World War. ‘THe studied Law. 8) He was a revolutionary. "NOTE: Hipdito Vigoyen was bom in Buenos Aires, He was usc President of Argentina fom 1916to 1972and again from 1928 to 1930, He represented the Radial Paty [UCR). He was removed from oficeby an army coup 1930,oat otto teicntss sy D) Let’s read an interesting urban legend about a girl who lived in Hipélito Yrigoyen’s times. In La Recoleta Cemetery, one of the most picturesque mausoleum is the tomb of Rutina Cambaceres. In her tomb, there isa). . representing Rutina trying to open the door. Her parents were Eugenio Cambaceres, a She WAS A/AN 2) os sssmnsensen «When her father died, she was 4 years old and she became more and more ionely and introverted, and these traits were more evident as she 3) : Rutina was 14 years old and she was a beautiful young lagy. Many young men wanted to ask for her 4 - However, she 5) them all. When she turned 19, on 31May 1803, her mother gave a huge party. When the party was over, Luisa 6) aterritying scream. She went to her daughter's room and found the maid holding Rufina’s dead body in her arms. Three doctors agreed that she had had a stroke. The legend says that Rufina was 7) alive after suffering an attack of catalepsy and tien tg she soratched the 9) i she managed tn get ut As the door of te mausoloum was Coséd, she actually dled 10). Méarvatbc E) Choose the right option to fill in the blanks. o a a Mehta Mamie aihend a) denied b) statue 'b) lonely 'b) grown up ‘b) heart b) accepted ©) portrait alone ) grew up head ©) rejected d) bust d)one d) growing up d) feet d) refused oe 8 a a) hears, 1) dug a) got up. a) coffin, a) from iwashearng —b)busal ieee bias bot ¢) listened ‘¢) buried <) rose up <) drawer ) with d) heard d) undertaken d) stood up d) vessel d) by Sources hupy/wonw.elhistoriador.comar htpi//www.odonnet|-historla.comar/blografiasindexthtm httpy/wawJointeresante.com brtpi/wawansmers.com/topic/hip-Ito-yrigoyen-1 famous Argentine writer and Luisa Baccich, an Italian dancer. (qo Ae (6 1418 0 (LAP (90 (540 (ee 1414 (91 (24 (9 0V Jo a4 pasjeroneD a4 (SL (4 (eeunUebIY Jo1Lepserd ina sem UahOEUA oc ¥0u1 10} uo abe4yns Korey qo pu 0.095 s19WUN An P2YSIgEAS MET OUDA 7URRS ZLGl BULL" ( 2 We (PE (KOH 2 PEBOGCPINELE (2 ESClass survey to work with poster 1 (see page 5) AMAZING TOURIST PLACES Nts tga Com 1S. | A)Answer the questions about you. Then ask your friends and complete the table. G : Me | Student 1| Student 2| Student 3 | Student 4 cS | pWhere did you go? | JpWhen did you go? a J Who did you go with? i) v= ai did you travel? ; Mier did you stay? io: \ What did you see? 3 a pp What did you eat? a C) P What did you drink? é = J what did you buy? ‘c: 5 } What did you like best? ae) a as B) Complete this paragraph about you using the information in the table. We stayed in. re ARE I bought... ssommee BeStI had a great time! 5 ©) Write a similar paragraph about a friend. jew and drank... Last seine WANED onrnnnonnnenen WERE WHIM snnennnnnne WE RAVEMED BY cn nnnnnnnTee GUIDED WRITING A FAMILY ON HOLIDAY A) Look at the pictures of a family going on holiday and describe what happened to them. vez —_—<" lang! Clana]! CLANG! 8B) Choose names for each character and write a short description (include age, personality, profession, hobbies, etc). ©) Look at the pictures and answer. 2) What happened while they were sleeping? | 4) where id they 902 3) What did the eldest gir see?.. 4) What was the matter with the dog? | 5)Why could't they sleep at night? D) Write two different endings for this frightening story: a predictable ending and an unpredictable one. ‘Share them with your classmates. Choose the two best endings to complete the story. 5 de write your complete version of this story, including the ending you liked the most and any other jor event you may want to add. Give it an original title, toolWhat is a reader? SD) Oe. reader is an abridged book writen in simplified language that is suitable fora certain level of language development. t may be a version of a well-known classic or a new story. Why using readers in our English classroom? Using readers in the EFL classroom means exploring and, exploiting literature. Collie and Slater (1987) explain that “engaging imaginatively with literature enables learners to shift the focus of their attention beyond the more mechanical aspects of the foreign language system.” Students will read a story, enjoy it, and learn the English language as they follow the development of the story. According to Penny Ur (1996) efficient reading takes place when: 36 "The language ofthe text is comprehensible tothe leamers. % The content of the text is accessible to the learners. ‘3 The reading progresses fairy fast 4% The reader concentrates on the significant bits, and skims the rest 4 The reader guesses the meaning of incomprehensible vocabulary from the surrounding text, or ignores it and ranages without; uses a dictionary only when these strategies ane insufficient ‘46 The reader thinks ahead, bypothesises, predicts, ‘36 The reader has and uses background information to help understand the text 46 The reader is motivated to read: by interesting content or a challenging task ‘36 The reader is aware ofa clear purpose in reading Se. 98 The reader uses different strategies for different kinds of reading, What sort of reader particular group? Whenever you select a story, you should take into account your students’ background knowledge, age and interests. Also, make sure the level of the reader is right for the group of students you will be using that story with, Apart from this, try to expose your students to a variety of genres and authors, Maybe they are only interested in crime stories, but you can ‘guide them to enjoy love stories or science fiction stories, too. is suitable for one USING READERS |S Ls {2 = te Lites ean xenon) YUNA Le TecMzarINen ised LASS eatineseyaatnts Li Tz Nar ten Sterna LSU cae ate otu 2 Find this picture on poster 2How can teachers and students work with a reader? To make the most of the content of a reader you should carefully design pre-reading, while-reading and post | reacting activities. This way, you will also ensure yout | students’ comprehension of the plot. What is more, prepare a variety of activities to keep the level of your students’ interest high. Also, develop your students’ critical thinking by making them go beyond the text. Remember that you should always respect everyone's opinions and. views because there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to opinions. Bear in mind that students at an. elementary level may have a lot to say but in Spanish. Don’t panic; just listen to them and write their ideas on the board providing the English versto Another important aspect to bear in mind is working with literary elements such as characters, plot, setting imagery, etc. The story will be richer and easier for students to grasp once they know how to ici different literary elements in it Last but not least, practise different reading techniques with your students (teacher reading aloud, students reading in tums, reading in small ‘groups, silent reading or listening to the recorded So, let's read in the English class. Readers are vital to be used in the EFL. classroom. Even — though they are time consuming, they are “well worth the time spent in trying to achieve a good match between a particular group of learners and the literary work they will be asked to read” (Collie and Slater, 1987). Your students will inevitably profit from using readers as stories enhan enrich their learning process. Bibliography Ur P (1996), Reaching tn 4 Course Language Teac Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Collie, J. and Sl Later ithe Lar Gazsroore. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. 8. (198akin a he following suggestions may be applied to any selected reader or short story, taking into account the group's level and its characteristics. Pre-reading activities Hang man Play Hang Man on the board and let students tell you letters to guess the tile ofthe story ‘Then, you can make your students predict what the stony il be about from the presented ttl Using pictures Stick three or four pictures (big enough for everybody to see) related to the story on the board and let students guess about the plot. Write their ideas on the board and once they have read the story, go back to these predictions to see which one is right Reading about the author When working with a simplified version of a classic, it is, important that you work with and analyse the author's biography. You may provide a short text and make your students complete a chart with personal details or main events or answer true or false statements, Reading about the setting (place) Some stories take place in important cities (London, El Cairo, Paris, etc.) and the main events take place in well-known places in that city. It helps students if before plunging into the story, they have a clear idea of what the city sightseeing places are. You may probably ask them to do some research on that city beforehand or bring them a short text with a chart to complete, questions to answer or with some true or false statement Using the cover Make students examine the cover in detail and ask them to make predictions by answering some questions, tue or false statements, describing the chatacters or the place they can see, ete (taking the Yea Os er While-reading activities Asking questions ‘When reading the story aloud to your students you may carefully select when to make a pause to ask them ONE question for predictions. This activity should not take more than two minutes so that you keep their attention and the plot is not lost. You should not either overdo this because again, they may lose concentration Listening to the story Many readers nowadays are also available in cassette or CD, Students enjoy listening (o the story told by somebody else (the teacher or the storyteller). Exploit this resource whenever possible. Post-reading activities Using pictures Display five or six pictures on the board and tell students to hey choose the one that best describes the plot of the story. 1 should account for their answers (even if they do so in Spanishi). Drawing a “Wanted” sign IF the story is a crime or detective story and the plot gives room for this, activity, students could draw a “Wanted” sign of a character that hasn't been shown in any picture in the book and they could refer to sentences that describe this character in particular. It is even more interesting ifthe police couldn’t catch them and they are still looking for them, Who said it? Select 8 or 10 quotations and give the students the list. They should find out which character said it Literary elements Discuss with your students the meaning of the following literary elements. Then, students should work in groups to find the literary elements of the given story. (See photocopiable on page 12.)Note: It may be hard work forthe learners to spot what the theme and genre of a story are. So, when dealing with gente it is advisable to provide the options to make it easier for your students. [sionsarans (Winrar wolved in the story?) Setting (ime) | { (when der he story take | 1 pice i ‘Setting (place) (Where does the story take t Plot: Opening (What happens at 1 Poe cimax | Gar Aappens betes son) War Love and bate fe and death [7 Dewative Sony Love story Homer Story {Adventure Story J Grime try Ghost tory ‘The Hot Seat One or two students (depending on the story) go to the front of the class and sit down on a chair. They will play the role of one of the most relevant characters in the story. The rest of the class may ask them questions and they will have to answer as if they were the character in the story. Vocabulary: Solve the puzzle / crossword Prepare a puzzle or a crossword with clues with six or eight words taken from the story. Make sure the words are relevant so that they help yout students understand the story and they are either useful for future use or new. You may also git them gap filling exercises that they should complete with the ‘words presented in the puzzle o crossword (in this way you «will make sure your students understand their meaning and they are able to put the word in practice in different contexts). Vocabulary: Opposites Give the students six or eight words and ask them to find their opposites in the story. You may even give them the number of page in which they may find each word in order to help them. (See photocopiable on page 13.) WORD PAGE NUMBER_| OPPOSITE (INTHE STOR Linkers Give students two columns A and B with split sentences, All the sentences in column B start with a linking word (or, but, because, so, and, etc). Ask them to match the two columns taking into account the plot and the linkers. Summary Give students three short possible summaries of the story and ask them to find the most appropriate one. Micaela E. Bertoyaesponsibility is avalue educational path, responsibility hands understood, the three partes involved ‘which is difficult to find. over its place to recrimination, and will take advantage of the exchange of I suppose it is due to the Parents’ evenings end up being the ideal _useful information which can impr finconselous result of the Moment to flaunt personal frastation. the teaching-learning process lighter backpacks we Unfocumately, this isnot what happens carry or our reluctance to ADOUL Wwo or three times a year, Schools in most cases. I believe this is partly due anchor in different ports as we ei organise meetings with parents. If the to the fact that responsibility has taken a along. However, education seems tobe _&ssenb8 of these parents secondary roe in our lives. Some marching to the beat ofa diffe evenings i clearly students consider these encounters drummer because it precisely lays its 4s moments in which teachers foundations on a three-party tacit deal. only inform their parents about Students need to fee! responsible for their behaviour in class, complain their own learning and make the most about their short concentration of their academic, social and personal span, list the homework they abilities; teachers should be have not done, the deadlines committed to their duties - prepare ‘they have not respected or Jessons, model behaviour, the tests they have failed. monitor learning, among others, Some parents do not and parents’ involvement in attend because they the teaching-learning thinkc teachers will process is necessary to show they have Support and failed to check if encourage the their children development of their own children, If this three-legged stand goes lame p at any point find thorns Start growing along thetalent: Finally, we fear these meetings cause we feel we are the parents’ target and they come with bows and arrows ready to blame us for their children’s lack of interest, concentration ifficulties and impoliteness. In all these years, I have come across the most sgative excuses which have made me sider whether I was talking to an dul or to a kid at hear. If their kids are failing their tests, itis because we re not teaching, correcting the activities on time or monitoring progress ficiently and if they fail to concentrate pr work responsibly, itis due to our ‘pot motivation techniques. Our students are only disrespectful to adults and peets at school because at home impoliteness is unacceptable. To cap it all, it all ends up in Pilato’s negation sttategy - wash off your hands and ‘make somebody else responsible for something that does not seem to be working out. Life in general would be s0 much easier if we all managed to understand that whichever enterprise we decide to undertake necessarily brings about a series of responsibilities and itis up to each one of us to accept them and respond to them effectively. Its at this point where [ would like to rescue the essence of these parents’ evenings which has become distorted in these last few years. Institutions, schedule these meetings during the academic year for the students” benefit and itis of uttermost importance to analyse the advantages they offer to the three parties involved. 9B feel their parents actually care for their own learning and well-being, 8B sense the teacher feels part of the learning process. 296 lear about aspects that they need to ‘work on 98 use parents and/or teachers as, indirect communication channels to reach either the former or the latter when they fail to tell them what is going on face-to-face. 9% profit from a parent-teacher combined scheme of work. S eiiel eae {n charge of helping their chit 236 sign a tacit commitment with he teacher to support their child, 298 receive information about a student's learning style, progress, aspects and strategies to work on. 36 agree on aspects to observe and comment on in future meetings. 4 lear about interpersonal relationships or intrapersonal ‘behaviour parents may not have access 4% introduce themselves to the adult responsible for the student. 236 sign a tacit commitment with the adult to care for the child’s learning and welfare. 36 give information about a student's learning style, progress, aspects and strategies to work on. ‘96 agree on aspects to observe and ‘comment on in future meetings. 3% have feedback on how the student feels outside the classroom, 98 have access to information about the student's performance and behaviour. I believe that if we want to bring the essence of these parents’ evenings back to its origin, we need to work on the concept of responsibility with parents and students from the very beginning of the academic year and share with them our own responsibilities as wel. ‘Making every leg of the tripod feel involved in the process will definitely bring about commitment and constructive analysis, Another aspect that needs to be revisited is the concept of criticism. Its meaning needs to be narrowed to the views about the good or bad qualities of a student’s learning, progress or behaviour in order to try t0 ‘get the most of the exchange. Parents’ evenings are not battles because patents, teachers and students have the same aim. The solution is to get organised, agree on a strategy and divide work because ... many hands make light work. ‘Maria Lidia CamporroASSESSING PRESCHOOL SrUpenT PROGRESS IN THE ENaLish CASS ss you may already know, teaching English to preschoolers is no easy task. It requires Knowledge about the stages in children’s development and the special characteristics of me this age group. ‘When the time comes to assess their progress, we should not forget that young children learn best through play. It not only helps them acquire practical skills, but also develops children’s physical, social, intellectual, emotional and linguistic growth, First of all, observing children while playing will give us insight, into their physical developmental level inthe form of gross and fine motor skills; their intellectua? development as they try to apply deducting skills when exploring and constructing; their ‘emotional development, in the expression of their feelings through symbolic play; and their social development through ‘games with rules that show how well they can relate to others in solving problems and taking turns or making contact with pee “Therefore, to make the most of your class, play should occupy most of the time in preschool lesson plans and the activities designed to assess students’ progress should also be based on play Regarding the assessment of students’ linguistic abilities in the English class, a relevant factor to consider is that children will nol spontaneously use the foreign language while playing, A special characteristic ofthis age group is that reception skis Cutweigh production skis; this means that even though children cannot generally produce, they can understand what is said in the foreign language. This gives you a tool to evaluate their language competence Unrough their response to language stimuli Children tove playing with words. If you have taught them using poetry, rhymes, riddles or songs, you can use the same resources to check their learning progress. Use visuals, read the poems or rhymes out loud while the children perform the actions in the verses or stop every now and then for them to supply missing words or phrases. Just as native speakers, children learning a foreign language first assimilate the words they can use to ‘do’ things with the language in an active way. Being able to get what they want when using these ‘words gives them a sense of satisfaction and power, so the best way to help them make progress is to focus mostly on nouns like ball, friend, mum, dad, and simple verbs like look, give, stand, sit, ut, come, go, etc Ston)-elling and puppet plays are also excellent ways fo carry out assessment You can use stories the children know and invite them to share in the story telling, to provide the characters with different prompts, or maybe ask for answers to questions or problems related to the story as you read through. Whichever way you choose to assess your class, bear in mind that children at lose interest very quickly as have a very short attention span, 50 always have a set of well-planned activities up your sleeve!1334 (NV ANIHL NOA LVM ONIAVSS acl Ro M MEP AaoRE|\ on AONKONED . | . 4 Ele eck NIECOMN EE | f ( SmdomM MIN DNI43AC)S1 @ 7 LN3W3S Wg Muom JIOVW ¥ ONIMSLNe ice rare lunar raEl(NeoMMaNIKNED . | Cr Sdadvad DONISN eee ge