A Christmas Carol (1º ESO)

Who doesn't like Charles Dickens? There's no doubt of Dickens's significant contribution to world literature, or of the effects some of his works had on popular culture even today. His works are still relevant, still alive, still connect with audiences far and wide, and that is why I thought it was a good idea to get to know him and his works in a little bit of detail.

Not long before Christmas, I asked my 1º ESO students to research the figure of Dickens, as we were going to read an abridged version of A Christmas Carol.




It is important for learners of English to read authentic material, even if it may have simplified language, written for younger native speakers. It gives them a sense of accomplishment, it makes them realise the usefulness of their learning and it also pushes them out of their comfort zone, which usually is to conduct research in their own language and then translate it into English (with varying degrees of success... ).

Their posters were interesting, although some of students limited themselves to copying and pasting text and pictures. The students had to present their posters to the rest of the class, drawing attention to the facts that had surprised them the most.

After reading the simplified version of the story and doing some comprehension activities about it, the students had to design infographs on each of the characters. They also had to present these posters to the rest of the class. 

I used a rubric to assess the students: 

We rounded up this activity watching the 2009 film version directed by Robert Zemeckis. 

In an activity like this, students develop their reading and speaking skills, their digital competence, their cultural awareness and expression, and since they have to work as part of groups, they also develop their social and civic competence and their teamworking skills. It was a great activity which the students really enjoyed. 

Thanks for popping in!

Edgar Allan Poe: Short Stories (1º ESO)

The master of horror, the father of detective fiction, the main contributor to the obscure and the macabre... Halloween wouldn't have been completed without  Poe. Last year, I got my Advanced students to read The Raven collaboratively. Because of technological glitches, I haven't been able to upload the recording anywhere... so this time I approached the task differently.

It was my 1º ESO students this time. First, we had a look at the following presentation, which I created specifically for this project:




The students were given a calendar to help them plan their work:


Then, we split the class into two groups, and having a close look at the (adapted) text of the two stories, the students began to unleash the performers within and finally... we made two recordings, added pictures and... voilà!

The project was complete.

In a task like this, students learn about literature, read a creative story, practice pronunciation and intonation, and develop their digital competence by putting together an audiovisual product. They also work as part of a team and develop collaborative working skills.

The assessment was done by using this rubric:




As expected, this project involved quite a lot of hard work, but the students really enjoyed it.

Thanks for popping in! See you next time!

Project: a tutorial

This week, in my 1º ESO class, we have been working on conditional sentences. We have discussed '0' and 1st conditionals. In order to practice, I have asked them to create a mini-project. These are the instructions,




It's just a short activity in order to practice a specific grammar point. I didn't want to use the typical activity in which students are presented with a 'condition' and have to come up with a consequence or result (we practiced that orally as a chain kind of activity), and I wanted the students to write down sentences, so I came up with this. Not a genius idea, or completely original, but effective (once the students understand they have to move away from just giving instructions).

I asked them to use Snapguide because it's really easy to use and the final product is really eyecatching. This contributes to the students' feelings of achievement and satisfaction... an important element for students!

Thanks for checking in! See you next time!