Методична скарбничка

Teaching Speaking

 SOME TIPS

•                                            Teacher is relaxed, Ss are relaxed

•                                            Have realistic expectations

•                                            Provide the Ss with enough practice

•                                            Praise  the kids whenever they speak English

•                                            Speak English! 

•                                            Remember about balance  - TTT  vs STT

•                                            respect the Ss’ silent period

•                                            Use various error correction techniques

•                                            Fossilization  - help your Ss get rid of “old mistakes”


MY LESSONS SHOULD BE

* FUN*

 *VISUAL*

 *PHYSICAL*

* INVOLVING* 

*RECYCLING *

LEVELS OF ENERGY 

2 TYPES OF ACTIVITIES:

SETTLING

 ·Prepare for listening or speaking exercises by asking children to copy simple prompts from the board. For example, give children a list of five food items to copy and ask them to add five more. Then use the list for simple pair work or listen and tick practice.

​ ·Wordplay activities
Use matching activities with pictures and words or phrases, anagrams, missing letters, definitions games, jumbled sentences, wordsearches, crosswords. Children love puzzles so get them using their brains!
Try doing a simple picture dictation asking children to draw a fun or crazy picture. With very young learners you could dictate a monster or alien to practise colours/parts of the body. With more advanced learners you could build up a crazy scene, practising all the prepositions.
Use games which encourage children to act with lots of others if you have the space. Activities such as ‘ Find someone who..?' are a good way of drilling without being boring. Try this game: Animal stickers. Prepare a sticker with an animal name for each child and stick it on their backs. Children walk around asking questions to find out what they are.
Word circle games e.g. throwing the ball to revise interchanges or vocabulary sets are a useful way of getting all children moving and participating. Clapping and clicking games are good for larger classes as they involve movement without too much hassle. Any team games running to the board are extremely motivating because of the competitive element. Mime games are also a good way of getting children moving

​ ·Whole-class listening activities or games

STIRRING

· Mingles or surveys

​ ·Use action/movement games
.                     Classroom management

Problems with L1

Proactive measures: Speak English in class! Give Ss lots of classroom language, predict their needs and teach them the language for them.

Reactive measures: 'selective deafness' — only 'hear' when Ss ask for something in English, except for the basic needs. Challenge your Ss, “Can you say that in English?”  Praise their effort to speak English!

Rapport  and discipline

Proactive measures

Logical staging of the lesson

The balance of stirring and settling activities

Clear and concise instructions

Involving all students

Teambuilding activities

Reactive measures

Make sure everyone knows the rules and respects them, discuss problems with your students, promote positive behavior rather than punish for negative behavior

Motivation

What can the problems with motivation look like? (Children are very passive, don't do their homework etc.)

Where do the problems come from? (a) Pushy ambitious parents 'take away' the child's own motivation. b) The reward system: working 'for a mark' rather than for deeper knowledge and exploration. c) The texts and activities Ss can't identify with.

What are students really motivated by?

Viktor Frankl and Shalva Amonashvili - reconstructing the positive image of a child.

How to show children we believe in the best in them and help them create a positive self-image?

Targeted praise. Exactly naming the positive quality the person is showing in doing something (hard work, love of exploration, strong will, caring about someone, wanting to be reliable, friendliness etc.)

SOME OTHER PROBLEMS AND TIPS

When students enter the classroom

We need to be firm from the word go. The tone for the lesson is set from this point. It might sound strict, but don’t accept sloppy or rowdy behavior from the children when they enter the classroom: they are not allowed to do that at school.

Minimize the disruption that latecomers can cause: teach them to knock on the door before entering. Train the children to put away their coats and bags, to take out their folders and put everything else away. Chewing gum should go in the bin, food and drink be put away for later.

When we begin activities and give instructions

We need to have EVERY student’s attention. If we begin an activity when only half the class are listening, we not only lose valuable time in setting up and re-explaining, we also send out the signal to the class that what we are doing isn’t important. Wait for silence.

When the teacher asks questions and the students answer

Don’t always respond to the students who are shouting out, otherwise every question and answer session becomes a noisy brainstorm. This also means that it is the louder children who get more of the teacher’s time and attention. Insisting that younger classes put their hands up takes time, but if you stick to it, it works.

Move towards noisy or distracted children, in a non-threatening manner.