Limitless

Hi everyone,

Today I'm sharing an activity I created to talk about brain power and to go over the use of adjectives with ed or ing.

I've been using infographics for a while since they are a very dynamic and appealing way to present, analyze and use data. If you are not acquainted with them, I recommend them for your classes. There are many website where you can find them; these are the three I use the most:

http://elearninginfographics.com/

http://www.dailyinfographic.com/

http://infographicworld.com/

Here's one that tackles both topics, infographics in relation with the brain.

I had to work with a reading about the way we could enhance our brain capacity and I wanted to revise the use of adjectives with ed and ing, since I had noticed my students were having some trouble applying them. That's why I created this activity.

As a warm up I asked them what they knew about the brain and showed them some infographics: the way the brain works, the brain on coffee and alcohol, etc.

After they watched the trailer and completed the activity, they read the article on tips for enhancing their brain. Finally they discussed which of the tips the found more useful; applying the adjectives they had seen in the movie.

That's all.

Stay tuned,
Claudio

100.000 visits!

Hi everyone,

Wow! It's quite a number. This blog started as a course final project and it has exceeded my
expectations. It's really rewarding to read nice words from people all over the world about the materials, the tips, the ideas.

Somebody once asked me "why do you take so much time to make an effort and give away your work?". Because I believe in collaboration was my answer. I believe that we have the tools so as to work in a more collaborative fashion, and that way, enrich our practices and come up with better ideas. I have to add now, that it's worth it.

I'm sharing today a couple of activities to talk about culture shocks, perceptions, paradigms, methodology, ideals and or tradition and if you will, the very foundation of our teaching practices. Having recently talked about 21st century education, I decided to use two movies which take place in the educational context.

I hope you find it useful and as always, I await your feedback.

After generating ideas to defend one position or the other, have student's watch the following trailer and role play a discussion between the school authorities and Miss Watson.

Here's the worksheet

Stay tuned,

Claudio

Phrasal Verb Monster

Hi everyone!

Today I'm sharing a brand new activity I haven't even used with my own students on phrasal verbs. I was trying to explain the use of causative verbs with this trailer, and found out that it was a great example of the many phrasal verbs people use when they speak; in my experience, students are a bit afraid of phrasal verbs. That's why I generated this activity for students to match thirteen phrasal verbs with their definitions and apply them to a situation. The movie trailer is very intense and it is my intention to use that emotional component to fix these thirteen phrasal verbs! Let me know if it actually works ;)

NB: I developed this activity to be used with adults or young adults given the complexity of the topic and the violence shown.

Here's the task:




Here's the trailer:

Here's the worksheet.

Regarding the material requested by some people, I promise I will be sending you the info this week.

As usual, I await your comments.

Stay tuned,
Claudio

Shopping, likes and dislikes

Hey everyone!

I must confess I'm really happy to see that the blog is about to reach 90 thousand visits. Thanks to all the people who take the time to send feedback and comments, it has been the blog´s main objective since the beginning.

Today I'm sharing an activity to work on opinions, likes and dislikes, gambits and adjectives. I hope you find it useful.

Here you have the videos:

And here's the worksheet.

I look forward to hearing from you, as usual.

Stay tuned,

Claudio

Unexpected events

Hi everyone,

The posts are back! I missed it already.

Today I'm sharing a lesson plan I used with my students, for them to discover, practice and apply the use of simple past and past continuous. We were talking about vacations and cultural differences, and I decided to use two scenes from Outsourced and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

As usual, I await your feedback.

Here's the first video:

Here's the second video:

Here's the worksheet.

Stay tuned,

Claudio

Thanks!!!

Thanks to all the people who attended the congress last weekend at UNCO and to the ladies from Plottier Institute for organizing it and putting so much enthusiasm and energy to it. It's always contagious and inspiring to see people working with so much passion. Congratulations!!! It was a real pleasure to share the event with all of you and, of course, with Daniela. I hope to hear from you soon...

Meanwhile...

It's been a while since I post new material; however, there's more coming soon!

Meanwhile...

Next stop, Neuquén.

What would you teach?

Hey everyone!

In the last workshop I delivered on material writing, I invited the audience to customize their lessons through material development and I am happy to say I have received really good ideas! Alternatives I would never have thought of, and that's the whole point of this blog: sharing, learning and enriching. 

To continue on this path, I'm sharing a great scene from the X men - Days of the past movie- What would you use it for? What would you teach with this dynamic scene? 

I'll let you know what I used it for but first, I look forward to listening to your ideas!

Second part:

Check all the things the boy had done before the bullets hit the wall.

He put on his headphones, his glasses.
He tried some sauce.
He hit the policeman.
He touch another policeman's cheek.
He threw a plate.
He made a policeman hit himself.
He put on a cap and changed the bullet's trajectory.

Will this scene help you explain the use of past perfect in a clear way? I believe so.
Do you agree?

Stay tuned,

Claudio

Neuquén, here we go!!!

Numbers

Hey everyone!

Today I'm sharing a simple activity I created for B1 students to work on big numbers. I took a part from the movie Now you see me. In this scene, these four amazing magicians rob Tessler, their sponsor.

I hope you find it useful.

Here's the worksheet.

Stay tuned!

Claudio

The secret life of pets

I'm sharing the first activity I presented last Friday at Abs Congress. It's a lesson plan for A1 students with different alternatives to work on grammar and lexis. The movie is called "the secret life of pets" and it revolves around pets and how they spend their days once the owners have left their homes.

I hope you find the activities useful.

Trailer Number one:

Here you have the activities:

Trailer number 2:

Here's the worksheet.

Stay tuned,

Claudio

Thanks everyone!

Hey everyone!

The year is getting started on this side of the world and I'm catching up with mails. Thanks for the support and feedback! And thanks for all the people who attended the workshops I delivered at ABS congress and my partner David Gutierrez, with whom I shared one of the presentations. 

I leave a few pics of the event; later today I'll share the lesson plans I showed in the workshop on movie trailers.