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Using Notebooks with Young Learners  pt1
 
Notebooks are an almost universal part of young learner courses. They are a great resource for helping  with reading and writing. With notebooks learners have a permanent record of what they have achieved in class, and can also be used, week on week, in project work and extended activities. They also provide a chance for parents to see what their children have bene doing in lessons.
Below are some ideas for activities using the notebook. This will be part one of the series.
 
Picture dictation
Draw a simple picture on a piece of paper. This could be just a series of shapes; e.g. a square with a triangle on each side, or else a simple picture; e.g . for a house you could have a square with a triangle on top of it and then a small rectangle inside for the door etc…
Keeping the picture hidden, read out a description of the picture; e.g. draw a square, draw a triangle on the square. The children should then draw the picture following your ...

Over almost fifty years in the classroom, I found I needed to find ways to reduce stress. Stress became greater as I accepted more responsibility in the second half of my career as a head of a large Mathematics department. During this time, the school grew and there were significant changes in the Mathematics syllabi and in the teaching of Mathematics.
I found that my time was not mine anymore with students, parents, teachers and the school administration wanting my time. Below is how I chose to meet stress head on.
The first thing I realised was that I had always to be available for consultation for thirty minutes before and after school so that teachers, students, parents and the administration could see me. This left me no recourse but to use the time before and after these periods for my planning, setting and the marking of assessment. (In normal term time, I was always reluctant to take work home. Only at exam marking time would I do that so that I finished my marking quickly to ...

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. - Henri L. Bergson
Teaching is pointless when behavioral objectives are not highlighted and employed. They are performance indicators that determine the effects of learning. They direct how the learning process should be administered in a formal or non-formal classrooms. Their effects can generate feedback on how reinforcement, remediation, and development can be designed. With a few of these significance mentioned, every educator has to advocate and develop consciousness concerning their presence in all pedagogical operations being undertaken at any instructive setting regardless of any specialization in the academe.
Behavioral teaching objectives belong to three domains which are cognitive, psychomotor and affective. Cognitive is where knowledge are attained. Psychomotor generates physical skills out of the knowledge while affective leads to attitude or values displayed by learners after knowledge acquisition. These three ...

Early age is the years, which involve a lot of learning and absorbing capacity. This capacity can be tapped by developing games which are friendly and easy. Fun learning is becoming a very important aspect in today's world with the advent of technology. The old boring methods of education with strict teachers not only restrict students to learn but also feel less confident. This leads to various problems like inferiority complex from the beginning, which does not lead to the full development of an individual.
Also, there are many countries consisting of people who are not having access to education around the world. These children are given access to education by the non-profit organizations. These organizations focus on imparting English as a medium of language so that the students are able to understand the language properly, speak fluently and express one.
Making learning fun:
With the old methods of blackboard teaching, the students are drawn towards tablets of their parents. In ...

  Playschool is the first steps of the child towards his or her future. It is an essential part of a child's early education. Preschool is supposed to be the stepping stone for a child's foundation. Preschool provides a foundation for learning both socially and academically that will help your child succeed in elementary school. Playschool gives a child exposure to the world and helps him understand the morals and lessons which he/she carries with themselves in the future. Benefits of Preschool in a child’s life- Growth in a child- Playschool helps a child grow into a better human and gives the child’s the confidence he needs for his future to tackle the world in front of him or her. It's an opportunity for a child to learn and understand things and follow instructions given to him/her. Improved attention spans-  Children are curious and interested in learning new things. Quality education is essential for a child. Something new and exciting always grabs the attention of the little ...

When we are ESL educators, we also become mentors to our students of any age from many lands. This is a two-way process which benefits both the students and mentors. We can create an environment and community where we collaborate to improve English skills, and knowledge of a new land and culture.
As the ESL students are learning, we, as their mentors, can learn from them. We can determine what our ESL students can do, not what they cannot do. Our students can seek what we offer, to share our experiences of the paths we have travelled.
There are many benefits for the mentors of ESL students, such as immense job satisfaction, when mastery of English is accomplished. We can build bridges in our rapport with our ESL students, by providing feedback and communication skills. This creates  a beneficial effect, by investing in the future of our classes, and in the wider community.
As we reflect on our lessons in ESL, we can aspire to improve our perspectives, and attaining of objectives, to ...

Parsing English sentences is a great way to learn about English grammar, and to master practical skills.
Here are some steps to practise parsing.
(1) Find the verbs, determine whether they are Active (Action of Verb) or Passive (Received action of Verb).
(2) Locate auxiliary (or helping) verbs.
(3) Identify tense of verb--(Past, present, or future).
(4) Identify subordinate clauses, and their tense.
(5) Determine the basic elements of each sentence.
(6) Identify subject of sentence--what is the sentence discussing?
(7) What type of sentence is it? Is it a statement, question, exclamation, command (imperative).
Elements of Grammar:
(1) Verbs, auxiliary verbs.
(2) Nouns, (common, proper, abstract, collective).
(3) Adjectives--describe nouns.
(4) Adverbs--qualify verbs,
(5) Conjunctions--joining words. (and, but, nor).
(6) Articles--qualify nouns. (the, that, a, an, this, that).
(7) Pronouns--used in place of nouns/pronouns. (I, you, he/she/it, we, they).
(8) Preposition--Modify nouns. ...

~~Learning a language involves learning new words. The more words you know the more you will understand and the better you will be able to communicate.
It is said that in order to “get by” in a foreign language you need a vocabulary of at least 120 words.
 Read: The more words you are exposed to the better vocabulary you will have. When you read and see words you don’t know first try to guess the meaning from the sentence/story and then look the word up. Read and listen to things you are interested in. There are lots of graded/guided readers available and even manga/comics.
 Play with words: Do puzzles, crosswords, play scrabble etc. Many of these are available online.
 Themes: Focus on a single theme per week, the mind naturally links connected words together.
 Use context: Research shows that the vast majority of words are learned from context. Pay attention to how words are used, the sentences etc.
 Review: When you learn new words recycle them (use them again and again) this ...

Here are some effective tips for planning to write a Persuasive or argumentative essay.
--Read the topic,
--Think about positives and negatives of the issues in the topic.
--Brainstorm arguments 'for' and 'against'.
--Consider the overall picture/key idea of the topic.
--Make your sentences about ideas.
---Here is a template, like a 'recipe', for planning the paragraphs for paragraphs  for a persuasive essay.
BASIC ARGUMENTS: (Expand and adapt to each topic).
POSITIVE ARGUMENTS: (Example topic: Should sport be compulsory in schools?)
(1) Progress is good.
(2) Need to live in the 21st Century.
(3) Same methods lead to same results.
(4) We all need to be responsible.
(5) If we don't change, we might regret it.
NEGATIVE ARGUMENTS:
(1) What happens next?
(2) It is expensive.
(3) It affects people's freedom, to choose to do what they want.
(4) What is wrong with what we are doing now?
LAST PARAGRAPH (Conclusion):
Consider the topic in relation to its effect on any of these:
(1) Social ...

“Knowledge is an elixir that immortalizes you and what you create out of it.” This quote aptly explains the gravity of why one must possess sufficient knowledge. The primary source of acquiring knowledge is from the traditional setting of a classroom. Classroom learning has been prevalent since the age of Plato and Aristotle. The basic definition of classroom learning includes the imparting of knowledge from a learned individual to pupils in organized methods. This traditional approach to education is partly resilient and partly constrained. When it comes to instilling discipline into students with knowledge, this approach can be assumed viable. But when the question of an all-encompassing and qualitative education arises, this approach lags behind extensively.
To make up what is lost in the traditional approach to learning, a contemporary formula of learning outside the classroom has to be applied. This approach assists young students to relish the pleasures of learning, through ...