= Pages 4, 5 Page 25 rT COlenne, : ae big? Alo. Ht isn't. Te iraing Dieabiities 10 Welcome to this issue of The Teacher's ifs emul he Exglsl class. Magazine. This month, we help you introduce your students to the world of Pages Ge s Pages 26. 27 ‘opposites in a fun, active way. You will find H's black .. it's white! The power of flowers. plenty of activities to foster their critical Like day and night. thinking skills through classification. s Pages 26 to 30 Attractive pictures will help students Page 8 : Using games in the recognise and compare likenesses and Knock, knock! It's me. EFL classroom. differences building and extending ‘Spring! ater 1 vocabulary in a meaningful way ee Porter We hope you enjoy it Phetecepiable activities v Poster 2 RY creactivity ‘gos para aul: “igi a todos fos - Estas Joctas del Club EDIBA (Argentina) rectbtran muy pronto en su. aimetoas penta dorpresa "W ereyaDe Marquez, Varina vana San F dal 9 Murer, Mariana Vila La Angrstar, Newquén. $6 Ippolito, Natali. Clad de Buenos Aires, Cad Vile Be eatamarea, Catamar. 6 Zor, Gabriela Ether Formas, Samosa, Anon des. As. “9 Mors De Peri, Maria Lun. Rivadvia, 3H Conall, Maia Cristina. Putin, Cordoba. 9 Forse, Clzdia Para. Eau, Chub San Juan % Boros, Noon Stina. Resistencia, Chace “36 Boab, Marie ta. Gualeguave, Bre Ris. Conan, Nay Noe. Caron, Corinic, | Sos parte de nuestro Club Eadiba? ;No dejes de asoeiarte? i lick en ta ander de Argentina, dngrst en ta sein *tates” atten cri i ryc jad NO, IT ISN Magic match boxes $@ "AD O,) caching the concept of : opposites may be a difficult task for teachers at kindergarten. In this issue, The Teacher’s ‘Magazine introduces opposites in a fun, active vay. The following activities will foster the children’s critical thinking skills through classification, Pictures will help them recognise and compare likenesses ‘and differences building and extending knavledge and vocabulary through these language concepts in a meaninglul way. HL NN eS Be ‘Therefore, learning opposites stimulates basic thinking skills, using descriptive words and enhancing language development, association ‘and generalisation. Let’ try these visual and tactile” activities; they are simple to prepare and they introduce young leamers to new concepts and academic skills while offering lots of enjoyable practice Before preparing your lesson plan on opposites, take nine match boxes and paint the covers and insides in a bright colour. Insert alittle hook in the sliding part ofthe box so that they look like lite drawers which will be easy to open. (See photo below.) On pages 16 and 17, you will find nine pairs of opposites to cut out and paste on the cover and the inside of each match box. Make sure the right opposites are in the same box.pee ‘When you start the lesson have the hildren stand up and sit down several imes. Explain to them that today you are going to learn about opposites, and sit and stand are opposites. what's this? Elicit the answer, It's @ mouse. Say the answer is right and ask, is the mouse small? Yes, it is t's a small Have one child open the magic box. What is there in the magic box? An clephant! Show both pictures and ask | Show them the first magic box. Ask, the children to compare them. Is the elephant big? Yes, i is! Is the mouse small? Yes, i &. Ask them to repeat after you, big - small. Explain to them that big and small are opposites. Follow the same procedure with the rest of the magic boxes, Once you have presented all the opposites, let them play and discover the opposite inside the box. In the following classes you may scatter, all the parts of the boxes on your desk and let them put the insides in the right place calling out the opposite pairs. Asa variant, change the insides of the magic boxes before the class. Let the children find the right pairs Once the children are familiar with the vocabulary, you can present new paits of opposites. By then, they will have got used to the procedure and will find it easier to learn the new pairs of opposites. Surprise box Using tactile senses, children will learn about size and opposites through manipulation of different objects hidden into a box. Take a cardboard box like the one shown in the photograph. Paint and decorate it in attractive colours. Cut an opening on top of the box so that the children can put their hand inside to look for the objects you call out. Cover the ‘opening with a piece of cloth or plastic to avoid peeping through. Before the class hide four pairs of things of opposite qualities. In this case, we have included a long anda short worm, a big and a small ball, a fat and a thin animal, a soft and a hard toy. Explain to the children that they have to put their hand into the box and take, for example, a long worm out of the box. ‘Then, ask another child to take a short worm, Follow this procedure until they take all the pairs of objects As a variant, they may take whatever they like to and call out the quality of the object they have grabbed or say ‘what they want to take before putting their hand into the box. Also, you may want to change the ‘objects before the class to surprise them and revise all the pairs of opposites they have learnt so fa.earning vocabulary requires tricks that help students acquire the new words, ‘The posters in this edition are designed to help learners understand and remember opposite adjectives, You will find them useful to introduce and revise adjectives for describing people and things, Cut out and laminate the flashcards so that they last longer and will not be spoiled through use, Presenting opposites Show the card illustrating old, stick it on the board « say, Look! He's old. He's very old. He's ninety-five old, Ask one of the students, How old are you? Elicit: their age I'm thirteen years old. Say, Oh! You aren’t old. Yo You're very young! Stick the card illustrating young next to the previous one, Present a second pair, for example tall. Say, Look! He's tall. He's very tall. He's two metres tall. Ask one of the students, How tall are you? Elicit their height 7m one metre fifty. Say, Oh! You are tall, too! You're very tall! Present the card illustrating short to complete the pair, Follow the same procedure with the rest of the adjectives you would like re young Stick several cards on the board and scatter their corresponding pairs on your desk. In turns, the students pick up a card and stick it next to its opposite. You may turn this game into a competition if you divide the students into two teams and time the opposite ‘matching. The winner is the group who can get more pairs, Variant: Stick the cards on the board and have the students: write the opposite next to each card. They may add a drawing. if they want to, Huge memory game Divide the students into pairs. Ask two groups to stand in the front of the class. The rest of the students remain in their places. Give out the cards, one for each pair and tell them to put the card face down on their = desks, 2In turns, the groups standing in the front call out the name of a mate who has to show their card, say the adjective aloud and ‘put the card back on the desk. This procedure must be repeated until they come up with the right match, The group with the most number of matches wins the game. Mime the match Scatter all the cards face down on your desk. Ask one of the students to pick up a card without showing it to the rest of the class and mime the adjective on the card. Encourage the class to guess the adjective that is being mimed. The student that ‘comes up with the right guess stands up and mimes the ‘opposite, In case your students are shy, you may suggest they do the mime in pairs. ‘To make this game more competitive, divide the class into two teams, In turns, a player from each team picks out a card and mimes the word for their team to guess, Each correct guess scores one point, Drawing opposites Divide the class into two teams. A member of team A makes a drawing illustrating hot, for example, a person under the sun in the middle of a desert. Team A has to guess the adjective represented by the drawing. If the answer is correct, they score one point. To get an extra point, they have to write the opposite word, For higher levels You may find these cards useful for a variety of activities for higher levels. For instance, the students can describe the pictures, state the differences, use the opposite pairs in a context and make oral or written compositions. Give out opposite pairs and ask the students to write a short paragraph like the following: Hot-cold Once a month, 1 go to my favourite restaurant. 1 always eat arilled chicken with salad. 1 like to have something cold as dessert. Vanilla and chocolate ice cream is delicious! But after having something cold, I need to have a hot drink. So I onder a cup of coffee. Follow-up activities On photocopiable pages you will find plenty of activities for you to assign as extra practice in class or for homework. wePuppet play Characters Flower Winter lower wakes up in a beautiful garden. Soon it realises that Winter is stil there and it gets angry “Cp because it’s cold ard the children cannot go out to play. So, it gets dressed and goes to knock on Winter's door. (Knock, knock!) Winter: Who is It? Flower: It is me, Flower! Winter: Flower! What a surprise! Flower: Listen, Winter, you have to leave! Winter: Me? Leaving? Flower: Yes, please, it’s time to go away! Winter: No, no, I want to stay! Flower: (To the children) Can Winter Children: No! Flower: You see, Winter, everybody ‘wants you to leave. Winter: Oh! Poor met I have no friends, nobody tikes me! Flower: You are wrong, we all like you! But now we need colours, flowers and warm days! Don't be sad, you can come back next year. (To the children) Can Winter come back next year? Children: Yes! Winter: (Showing a happy face) Ok, I'm leaving now. See you next year! Goodbye, Flower! Goodbye, childrent Children: Goodbye, Winter! Flower: Bye Winter! See you next year! Flower: (To the children) Happy spring, children! ‘Tip: Make the puppet theatre of hard cardboard and paint it white. You may want to slick some decorations for the ‘grass and the sky which can be easily removed and reused, ‘The puppets are very easy to make. Just some Eva foam and skewer sticks stuck con the back of the characters. Leave the theatre and the puppets in the classroom so that the children can use It whenever they like.Ra cence Hello, I'm Red Rooster. I live on a farm near the river. It's raining and there is a beautiful rainbow across the sky. There are many nimals running on the grass freely. habit... balloon, Jam, haven, mistake, Opioueee or‘Snappy Snail slithers slowly across the ground. He's so snobbish and selfish. He never smiles! He leaves a sticky, slimy trail wherever he goes. On his way to see his friend the slug, he Can you glue the things that start with the bumped into many things. sound /s/ along the path?PSCaer ao Hi, I'm Tired Tiger. I'm a writer. I'm exhausted because I worked a lot today. Now I'm writing some interesting facts about tigers. Can you help me please? Fillin the gaps with the right words. closest - better - night - fifteen - Sumatran - largest - striped - extinct - meat ‘The tiger's the. ssceseeneatember in the cat family and it's also the largest land-iving mammal. Its diet consists entirely of. ‘The tiger's the only cat with . fur The tiger's occ esetssseeetelative is the lion, A tiger usually hunts at ‘The smallest of all the tiger species isthe, Atriight, a tiger's vision Is si times ...sssesseentvee than a human's. A tiger can live for about. years in the wild, Allsubspecies of tigers are endangered and some have already become Extra activity: How many words with the sound /t/ can you find? Mark them on the text.Pci Doon eR THE POWER OF FLOWERS Read and complete with the right words. ‘The basic parts of most plants are the roots, the stem and the leaves. Some plants also have flowers and fruits, ‘As you surely know, the main function of the roots is to absorb water, but itis not the only one. The roots provide support by anchoring the plant to the ground. Some roots such as carrots and sweet potatoes can store sugar. The stem distributes the water taken by the roots and the food. produced by the leaves throughout the plant and it also supports the plant. ‘The leaves produce food by photosynthesis and are in charge of the plant respiration. In flowering plants, you can also find buds. The bud is a flower which is not developed yet. Buds can be on top of the stem or at the sides, Label the parts of the flower and explain their functions. Part 2: The parts of a flower ‘The corolla or coloured section of the flower is the part where petals can be found. The corolla is colourful and contains perfume because its function is to attract the pollen carriers. ‘The calyxis the green section of the lower. Itis formed by ‘green leaflike piaces called sepals. Its function isto protect the bud, ‘The stamens are the male organs. They are divided into {two parts: the filament, a sort of stick which supports the anther, a bag-lke structure that contains the pollen The female reproductive part of the flower looks lke a bottle standing upright inthe middle ofthe flower. It consists of three parts: The stigma, on top, isin charge of picking up the pollen. 3y The ovary, expanded inferior part of the “bottle”, contains the ovules which receive the pollen, and the style is the tube that connects the stigma to the ovary. The peduncle or stalk links the flower to the stem. Between the stalk and the corollais the receptacle. It protects the fertilised ovules. 5. i (01 pq axa sod 2 (60d 211 3982395 S9NN0 (gsaHO ap SEAUED sexo (as (aod md sor UB (s yor tA Sey sae Si osu Baa (uoqiue an stiodcns vow (png a so01d eds Spe Vajlod ay eRe ead (Leg Oe ens Eanes (esas (LH ed oy,s 8 a ‘S 1g iB ‘2}9fo s9moy UL ¢ Hed “soBeys oup jog pue ‘2}942 s9moy aun anoge PeaySYNONEMS AND ANTONYMS MAGIC MIRRORS | tthe circus the children visit the hall of mirors. Look atthe reflections onthe magic mirrors and ! complete what they are saying.SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT? Mr and Mrs Brown want to go out, so they called Mabel, a babysitter, to look after their identical twins: Sam and Tim. Complete this dialogue with the opposites of the words in bold. Mrs Brown ~ Hi, Mabel! Thanks for coming! Here's a lst of things for you to bear in mind, what else? ‘Mabel - Why don’t you tell me something about the twins? Mrs Brown ~ Well, they are identical except for their personality, you see. Mr Broun ~ Yes, forinstance, Sam is very quiet, but Tim is rather (1) ‘Mrs Broun ~ Be careful with Tim, he is abit (2) nothing to do with Sam, who is very easy-going. ‘Mr Broun ~ While Sam is detached, Tim is very (3) 7 ‘Mrs Broun ~ Watching TV may make Sam feel relaxed, but Tim may feel (4). My Brown Talking to Tim is very easy because he is extroverted, Sam, on the other hand, is quite (5)uu . Mrs Brown Ifyou ask them for help, you won't have problems with Tim because he is . penne NM (7) nny HOWEVER, don't expect much from ‘Sam, he isa bit lazy and untidy. ‘Mabel- Don't you worry, go and have fun. Tis s going to be an (8)... experience, not boring at all!=X % 4 . S a” “ iC Aa xA LETTER OF COMPLAINT ‘You saw the advertisement of Blue Sky Hotel in a leaflet; you thought it was a nice place and decided to stay there for several days. To your surprise, things didn’t go well. Complete the letter of complaint with the ‘opposites of the words in bold and sign it. Breath-taking views = Low sates Modern facilities J demand a complete h 1 ak werd han yo "Yous fully (yn gralune) | POUONSE 1 (46x (9 4dr (5 aysou/puayU fy rypesp/oOY (EGO (2.0 (LAOLevel: Beginner * \dolescents / Adul CUPID You work for a magazine and you are in charge of the “Cupid section. Match the following people. a SL tema satay men. ») XS —____/ a 2 C Oe am very anxious, = a Andrew is looking for information about Hollywood fora school task. This is what he found, but he doesn’t want to copy the info exactly as it appears because the teacher will notice and get disappointed. Help him to rewrite the text using appropriate synonyms. od sets are really (1) vtprmous with 2 varied settings f se yalk through them, you can @) ies (4) amazingl Everything I (8) shiny fand you can also meet (6) Good ooking actors who willbe (7) glad to ‘Sve you their autographs, Producers Fave a tendency tomake (8) Seay rovies for (9) adolescents, Deca they are usually abig (10) BtPaco eee cera 29 SEPTEMBER - INVENTORS DAY ta A) Answer these questions. 1)Do you know any inventors’ names? . 2) What did they invent. '3) What did the Wright brothers invent? .. 4) Why is Johannes Gutenberg so famous’... '5) What is Henry Ford known for 8B) These are famous inventors from around the world. Can you match the names with their corresponding nationality and their inventions? = ua cco) | 2)Benjamin Franklin Italy fight bulb | | 3)ohannes Gutenberg USA microscope andtelescope | 4) Anders Celsius USA telephone | 9) Galileo Galil Sweden printing press L 6) Thomas Edison Germany thermometer ©) Let’s read about Ladisiao Biro, the inventor of the ballpoint pen. Match the facts with the corresponding year inthe timeline, 1) Biro took out a patent on the ballpoint pen. 2) The Eberhard Faber Company purchased the rights to manufacture ballpoint pens in the United States. 3) Biro died in Buenos Aires on 24 November, 1985. 4) Biro, his wife, his daughter Mariana and his brother George moved to Argentina. 5) Ladisiao Biro was bom in Hungary. ( 1899 1938 1940 2 1945 1985 cE D) Guess if the following statements about Lat your teacher. lao Biro's life are true or false. Then check the answers with 1) Ladislao Biro is one of the most important inventors in Argentina. 2) Henever went to school 3) He could speak more than six languages, 4) He worked as a repairman, 5) He invented more than 30 objects. 6) He created a writing devise that dispenses ink with a small, rolling ball locked into the tip of an ink cartridge. 7) Hewas a journalist, hypnotist, and a sculptor. 8) He always wanted to be a politician. 9) He worked asa car salesman and a stockbroker. 10) His original name was Laszl6 Jézsef Bit, to sony souang pap osgsa6) Saves pawn ou sued Yodyeq amzennuew or 4b a ose\>ind Kuedwn} sages Peliod3 OM Sl POE ou boon 40.9 5 pue ue ew saSep sy'n sy 'OH9-op6L “ed 1jedeq an Uo aLaIed Eno Yoo Ong-Beet foeBune UI wHog eM 0H9 CrPET "681 ana WO Sy uosPa Seo (9 ado2s9; fue ado>rO.IU / en IeD OED (iNBUIOUAA/LOPaMS 15>) sl9puy (psa! Bun 7 eas Biaguaing sowveyor "pos Guy Ys / wp uRulL99(@"2uE4eEX VSN /v8 WED pu, (@"BuLnre;NvEU opAUOIME 0) ‘2 Aquos ua poauon 2} (Sand Buna ay pawanl 24 35ne30g(yUeyone axa ponuan ays (eomsue sivopnas(@Sionsue SSSPMIS L(Y :KOM) Guess ifthe following statements about Ladislao Biro’s life are true or false. Then check the answers with your teacher. STUDENT A Some words from your text are missing, but your partner knows all the answers. Ask her/him all the necessary questions tocomplete your text. Liszl6 J6zsef Bird, known in Argentina as Ladislao José Biro, was born in (1 .-0n 29 September, 1899. On this day, Argentinians celebrate (2). in honour to this incredibly creative man, to his talent and his love for his adopted country. {Although he had originally planned to be a doctor, he could not finish medical school. He did a wide variety of jobs, from ‘customs agent and @).. 10 engineer. He was also a journalist. When working as a journalist, he used to take notes at high speed, using a fountain pen. This pen was messy and its ink did not last long. Ladisiao got tited of this. The legend says that once he was watching some (4) ...-a.n-»-Play with marbles, when, suddenly, one marble rolled over a puddle and continued moving, leaving a wet line on the dry road. This gave him the idea to develop a (5) with a rotating bal/tip, so he made a prototype in 1938, but it was never put on the market : In 1940, Ladislao, together with (6) a. and daughter, his brother George, and his friend Meyne, migrated to Argentina. They created the Biro Meyne Biro Company. They employed forty workers and, with a very low budget, they launched their "BIROME" to the market. ‘Some of this pen’s advantages were that its ink was waterproof and (7) ., which made longer-lasting written records, and it lasted several months. It could also be pressed to the paper much harder and it was easier to make copies using (8). In 1943 he sold the rights to the American company (9), _--and they started to sell many of these pens. In 11950, the French businessman Marcel Bich bought the patent and the pen became the best-selling product of Bic Company. Eventually, ballpoint pens completely replaced fountain pens because they were much cheaper and more convenient: In ‘Argentina, people call the ballpoint pen "birome'. In some European countries, as well as in Australia and New Zealand, ballpoint pens are known as “biros" STUDENTB Some words from your text are missing, but your partner knows all the answers. Ask her/him all the necessary questions to complete your text. Laselé J6zsefBit6, known in Argentina as Ladislao José Biro, was bomn in Budapest on 29 September, (1) . On this special day, Argentinians celebrate Inventor's Day, in honour to this incredibly creative man, to his talent and his love for his adopted country. [Although he had originally planned to be (2) _ he could not finish medical school. He did a wide variety of jobs, from customs agent and painter to engineer. He was also a journalist. When working a a (3)... sa he used to take notes at high speed, using a (4) nn This pen was messy and its ink did not last long, Ladislao got tired of this. The legend says that once he was watching some children play with (5) vvsnw when, suddenly, one marble rolled over a puddle and continued moving, leaving a wet line on the dry road. This gave him the idea to develop a pen with 2 rotating balltip, so he made a prototype in 1938, but it was never put on the market. In 1940, Ladisiao, together wth his wife and daughter, his brother George, and his friend Meyne, migrated t0 (6) ‘They created the Biro Meyne Biro Company. They employed forty workers and, witha very low budget, they launched thelr “BIROME to the market. Some ofthis pen’s advantages were that its ink was waterproof and permanent, which made longer-lasting written records, and it asted (). carbon paper. ln 1943 he sold (8). ..to the American company Eberhard Faber and they started to sell many of these pens. In 1950, the French businessman Marcel Bich bought the patent and the pen became the best selling product of Bic Company. Eventually, ballpoint pens completely replaced (9). because they were much cheaper and more convenient. In Argentina, people call the ballpoint pen “birome’. In some European countries, as wells in Australia and It could also be pressed to the paper much harder and itwas easier to make copies using [New Zealand, ballpoint pens are known as “biros". 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When there is more than one spelling suggested (e.g. bumblebee / bumble- bee), the first one is the most ‘commonly used, La Y Aspring - thats often eaten in salads. 2) Aspring _.-is.afast-running gazelle from South Africa. 3) Aspring isa _-wthat contains springs in a rigid frame. 4) Spring isa feeling of laziness or excitement often associated with the coming of spring. 5) spring... isaflexibh -for jumping off to give height in diving or gymnastics. 6) Aspring is Chinese food consisting of bits of vegetable and sometimes meat wrapped in a pancake, and cooked in oil 7) Spring .. is the period during the spring when a team gets ready for competition, BY SHIM an nemnnns 8.2 large rise and fall ofthe sea at the times of the new and full moon when the sun ‘and moon are directly inline. 9) Tospring isto. {an entire place (usually the house) thoroughly once a year (often in spring). 10) Aspring. isa one or two-week holiday during the spring term at school, 1) Aspring is ayoung, having tender meat for cooking. 12) Spring, is the season of spring, ‘ound aun (2 {vere Buds) up (114919 Gud) YEON (01 ueay>-Bunds) Zura (6 (apn Buds jopaBuUNS) apa (Ouluen Buns) ‘ursen es Buns 01 preoq Buds) cx preog (ara Oud) ona Gy soeu Bus) 2x same fe Pyogsuuds) yoq( (UONO Gui) 2x"uU0 (LAOtudents with a learning disability have trouble ‘understanding, processing and/or storing formation, find it hard to focus, lack interest in school tasks, since they find it hard to do them well, are usually less confident than average students, lack organisational skills and often get caught up in behavioural problems. Learning difficulties are thought to be caused and/or worsened by different factors, namely genetic influences, anomalies in brain development before and aiter birth and environmental factors. There is no cure for them, but they are not related to 1Q or creativity. The sooner the disability is spotted and recognised as such, the quicker the problem can be solved and its side effects minimised. Most students learn to adapt if they develop special strategies to help them achieve their goals. When difficulties arise in a learning situation, you should first rule out certain causes such as poor eyesight or hearing, family problems, stress or discontinuous schooling (due to strikes, illness, etc.). 1 is also important to consider that children develop at different rates, so allow yourselves time for observation and pace your students’ progress. Likewise, bear in mind that some people have milder forms of the disability, so they may have less difficulty. Nevertheless, experts agree on a number of signals which appear in early childhood and could show some degree of abnormality. Some of them include difficulty following simple instructions, lack of interest in words, letters or books, limited attention span, troubled motor coordination or clumsiness, reverse writing of letters/numbers, serious spelling problems and illegible handwriting, any task takes much longer than average, child looks Inattentive, persistent comprehension failure, problems with sequencing, difficulties in organising work and meeting deadlines, noticeable inconsistency in class production, continual underachievement EARNING Disipiliries As teachers, we should let parents know when a child is not meeting normal developmental milestones and advise them to have the child evaluated emphasising on the importance of an early finding, A learning specialist will use specific tests to diagnose the disability and will guide both parents and teachers so that they can help the learner to master specific skills and strategies. Once the learning disability has been diagnosed, itis vital to start working at once. Disability can create difficulty and frustration in a child’s life, and a consequent lack of confidence and poor self-esteem. They sometimes make up for their poor achievement by acting up in class, They pretend they do not care or they claim that school is uninteresting. At times their distraction causes concern in the teacher and affects normal class development, since other students are negatively affected and lose track of what they are doing ‘while the teacher struggles to engage them in their daily task. Their undermined self-confidence makes it harder for them to get along with other children and bullying can be a problem. Statements such as “If he paid more attention”, “he just doesn't care”, or “If she tried harder” only increase anger and frustration, We ‘conclude, then, that remedial education is strongly advised. It will be necessary to develop a special multisensory programme of learning in which the child's educational needs are catered for. Remedial help should include the teaching of learning strategies and organisational skills, the implementation of appropriate teaching techniques and the development of proper specific assessment, Looking into specific learning disabilities and getting practical up-to-date ‘information are basic steps to star. So, in our next issues wwe will explore the most frequently found learning disabilities. , Silvia Gianotetler years of evolution, plants have found the Part 2: The parts of a flower way of adapting to the environment assuring Each group needs a copy of the text on page 12 and a flower, their survival: the flower. We are so used to _for example, a lily. Ask them to observe the flower, read the seeing them that we sometimes forget how text and identify its different parts. Then they should label the ‘wonderful flowers are. Not only for their parts in the diagram and lst their functions. colours, scents and shapes but also for being a perfect reproduction machine. Albert Einstein said I have no special talent. tam onty passionately curious, So, this spring, let's develop our curiosity style and have a look at the wonderful world of flowers. stigma The flower journey This journey is divided imo several parts, Each one provides different pieces of filament information about flowers and a varlety of activities 1 do with your students. Part 1: The basics Each group needs a copy of the text on page 12 and pencils. Ask students to draw a sketch ofa plant and use the information in the text to label its parts and list their functions. Then ask them, Do alt plants have flowers? Can you give an example ofa plant without flowers?Part 3: The flower cycle Students read the information in the text and use the words in the box to complete the flower cycle. (See page 13.) Part 4: Flower names Students match the flowers and their names. These flowers can be easily found at this time of the year. Prepare slips of paper with the following names: ROSE / DAISY / CARNATION / TULIP / FORGET-ME-NOT / CALLA / FREESIA / GERBERA DAISY. Note: the daisy includes the white species only; the gerbera daisy is the colourful one, Part 5: An experiment: “Magic flowers” Flowers can be used as natural PH indicators. Depending on the age of your stucents you can use this experiment to revise PH concepts or just to amuse and surprise them. Materials 10 beakers or transparent containers; ammoniac or sodium hydroxide; hydrochloric acid or vinegar {if you have access to the school lab, use diluted ammoniac and hydrochloric acid); violet, white, yellow, orange and red flowers. Method: Prepare 5 beakers with ammoniac and 5 with hydrochloric acid, Make two sets of each colour flowers. Ask your students to predict what will happen if you put one set in ammoniac and the other in hydrochloric acid. Do it and observe. Fruit formation Let’s do some research! Flowers have colourful petals to attract insects. Does it mean that insects can see colours? What about white flowers? Language connection The scent and beauty of flowers have been sources of inspiration for poets and writers. Ask your students to choose a flower and write a poem or story about it. Social studies connection Valentine's Day, birthdays, births, anniversaries, any occasion is ood to give flowers as gifts. What is the origin of this custom? Is it present in all social groups? There is a meaning behind each flower. Can you find it? Art connection Make a collage piece of art using petals and other plant parts, Laura Metehiore Related web sites ‘usps botanieat-ontinecom/asplantasangles tam mp: rowu.urtanert tue te/epe/ indexer npr bbe co uk/schools/ks2btsize/science/rvision_ites/fe cycles shtml tp. 800foralscom/eare/gossary.asp up primaryresources.o.uk/scienceseience2e him ht |a earning a second language is not easy. That is ‘why using games in the EFL classroom plays ‘an important role in our students" language development. They are highly motivating and they provide a meaningful context for language use, According to Jil Hadfield (1984) “a game is an activity with rules, a goal and element of fun.” Also, ‘Wright, Betteridge and Buckby (2006) define games as “an activity which is entertaining, often challenging, and an activity in which the learners play and usually interact with others.” Games should be central to a teacher's repertoire as itis, believed that real learning takes place in a relaxed atmosphere. Games may be used for presenting or revising vocabulary and {grammatical structures... or just for having funt Students of all ages and levels can take advantage of a well-chosen game. ‘They may be played individually, in pairs or in small groups. ‘They are ideal for breaking the ice and integrating students into ifferent groups. Whenever we plan to put 2 game into practice, we should bear in mind certain factors such as the number of students, their level, the timing, the development and proficiency. They should be used with a clear ‘objective in mind so that the students achieve the goal successfully. Games involve rules and competition, fun and relaxation, but most importantly, learning. Here are some game ideas: Jeopardy ‘A gid with categories and points is stuck on the board for everybody in the class to see. Students are divided into small jgroups and each group ata time selects a category andthe Points they are willing to risk. The teacher reads the question Aloud and allows two minutes for answers. they answer correly, they win the points. not, the other group i given the opportunity to answer. their answer is also incoret, they miss tur ‘This san example of categories and questions the teacher may ak Cultural context, the language item to [Gancomes [00 aan wo Tn mo be dealt with and the students’ usual behaviour NAME 3 THINGS THAT [A game gives the students a reason to. | START P R s M E speak, a chance to learn, revise and wiITH. practise and an opportunity to enjoy Teaming, all atthe same time. As | yuarerup games lower the affective fites even | gpposire oF | BLACK Tau. sic | excetuenr | tarce shy students may be willing 10 : participate. Many times, they also promote creativity and they easly integrate the four linguistic skills: | HOW Do You reading, listening, speaking and spe? | eNcusH | sTupent | paseRaLL | BEAUTIFUL | WEDNESDAY rwriting, What is more, the role ofthe teacher during a game's that ofa | axsier | where ae you Whats your when s your | Have you got | What ime do facilitator so thatthe activity is fuse complete | from! [lavoutte sor | birthday? any brothers or| you go to bed? student-centred. sentences) sisters? De ENGLISH How de ‘What's the ‘What's the How de |How de : on | Hiowdoyou.| Whar he esthe | tow do you. ftiow do you sa Fe aor | ees | ap eaten | seat a [spam l fay seiat | ea class planning because they | ee a | Barca ae contribute to the learners’ language pel . iasie a iningMemory game ‘The teacher displays two sets of cards face down on the board. One set is for the pictures and the other for sentences in the Present Continuous tense, The students are divided into two ‘groups and take turns to select one card from each set to find the pair. If they do it successfully, they have another opportunity. Example: He is swimming. ‘The winner is the group who finds more matches The alphabet game Students are divided in groups and they are given a piece of paper to write the letters of the alphabet one letter below the other, The teacher calls out a category (for example, animals) and the students have three minutes to write a list of as many animal names as they can think of starting with the each letter of the alphabet. Example: ‘The group who writes more names is the winner, Find someone who... (To practise the simple present and free time activities) Students go around the classroom to find someone who does one of the activities on his/her list, They should ask yes/no questions and write the name of their classmates in the space next to the sentence. Example: Find someone who plays video games. SI: Do you play video games? $2: No, I don’t $3: Yes, Ido. Find someone who. (To practise the simple past) Students go around the classroom to find someone who did one of the activities on their list. They should ask yes/no questions and write the name of ther classmates in the space next to the sentence, Example: Find someone who went to the cinema last weekend. S1: Did you go to the cinema last weekend? $2: No, I didn’t. 83: Yes, I did. Tutti-frutti Students can play individually or in pairs (depending on the group). The teacher hands out a copy of the chart below to each student/pair. Then the teacher or one of the students mentally goes through the alphabet until somebody says “Stop!” The letter they were stopped at is socialised and everybody starts thinking about words that begin with that leter and complete the columns in the chart. Example: with the letter “P” [NATIONALITIES [ANIWAlS [oRECTS [COLOURS] vmRES [ADJECTIVES [POTS] Few oarot [pet pk | pay [prey ‘A word in a category that no other student/pair could complete is worth 20 points, a word that another student/pair used to complete the same category is worth 5 points, and a word that is different from another student/pair for the same category is worth 10 points. Each student/pair adds up the points and the cone with the most points is the winner.Draw it! On photocopiable pages 22 and 23 there are two sets of cards, cone for beginner and the other for elementary level. The teacher may cut out these cards and put them face down on the desk. Students are divided into groups and take turns to come to the front, pick a card and draw (speaking for this student is forbidden!) the meaning of the word on the board. The class has to guess what the word is by calling out the words that they think are related to the drawing. They have 2 minutes to guess, The student who gives the right word wins a point. If they can’t guess and time is up, they miss their chance and ‘win no points. The idea is that all the members of the to the front even if they claim they don't know how to draw. this way the game will be more fun! Variant: the students can be divided into smaller groups to play this game, For that purpose, the teacher makes as many copies of the sets of cards as groups in the class. Micaela Emilia Bertoya FOL Re LLU LUMT CAAT lxa (Colm eS ontte, Libros de lectura complementaria para estudiantes de inglés. enol Divertidas historias con pictogramas y stickers para cada vocabulario. EMENTARY * PRE-INTERMEDIATE WUE ener) PSTN comer Ceol)