MONDAY
(8/4/19)
5:30pm – Pet (B1 level)
Tonight, the class were learning about following instructions and how to write clear instructions to another person. We worked throughout a number of exercises which focused on gathering information from a note left by Tomas to his friend and then moved onto how to construct the instruction left in a note.
Exercise 4 asked the students to choose between:
Long sentences / short sentences
using subject pronouns / not using subject pronouns
using present simple tense / using present continuous tense
using sequencers / not using sequencers
when making their instructions.
Then, using this information we wrote a note to friend giving them instruction for how to use the washing machine. (see examples of their notes below)
Lastly, i gave the students a ‘Post-it’ sized piece of paper and asked them to write another list of instructions which could be stuck on an object. This time they had to be more concise with their wording.
TUESDAY
(9/4/19)
5pm – Starters (A1 level)
Tonight, the pupils were learning about birthdays and how to write an invitation to a birthday party. Their first activity was to listen to an audio track and colour in specific balloons the correct colour e.g. colour the balloon on the girls t-shirt red. The next exercise asked the pupils to answers questions based on their own opinion and experiences. This is useful for me to see each child’s individual ability. As all their answers are different, I know that they are not relying on someone else to supply the answer.
Once the class has completed the rest of the exercises in the workbook, I gave them a worksheet about party invitations. They worked their way through this and towards the end of the class I gave each child a bit of paper and asked them to make their own invitation – based on the example on the worksheet.
6:30pm – Ket (A2 level)
Today, was the third time I’ve taken this class and I have to say it it the most difficult 90 minutes of the whole week. One of the pupils always seems very disinterested and does everything in his power to distracted the other from their work. In the past two lessons I have threatened him with taking him out of the class and having him sit in Daniela’s class. This week it resulted in that. Before we was removed from the class, we had other reached the bottom of the 2nd page, in an hour! The class continually talk over me (in Italian) and pretend that they do not understand just to waste time. Today, once one of the boys was removed we managed to work our way through the rest of the workbook and two extra worksheets.
I sought advise from Daniela about the boys behaviour, prior to todays lesson. I hope after today they understand that I am not telling them empty threats. I hope the boy has learned his lesson and the others see that removal is an option for them as well. I am optimistic for next week and the behaviour of the whole class will improve.
WEDNESDAY
(10/4/19)
6pm – Pet (B1 level)
Tonight, we were working through unit 4 of their Pet Objective 2 workbook – discussing reserving and booking hotels. The students worked through the exercises, mainly finding the appropriate information from the texts, and then I asked them to write a letter to a hotel enquiring about a booking. They had to include:
the dates of their stay
what room type their required
additional information about the hotel or the surrounding area
Then, I collected in the letters and handed them back a different one. The had to then reply to the enquiry as a member of staff at the hotel – informing them whether there are any rooms available on their chosen dates and answering their additional questions.
At 7pm, we finished the workbook and moved onto a worksheet discussing food shopping and discussing different options for shopping.
I teach this class twice a week and I feel that each lesson is getting better, in terms of conversation and their confidence in speaking and replying to my questions. Tonight, we were able to have a discussion over the pros and cons of going to a large corporate supermarket compared to a local fathers market.
THURSDAY
(11/4/19)
4pm – Puppies (pre-A1 level)
Tonight was a very successful class with the puppies. The 3 boys are aged 4 so their interest in particular topics and therefore their behaviour can be very unpredictable. However, from the off-set today the seemed to have an interest in the topic of family. I began by showing them the ‘My Family Tree’ worksheet and going over the vocabulary they had learned on Tuesday with Lisa. They drew their family members in the boxes and we compared the Italian words to the English words to ensure the understood fully. For example:
Madre/mama = mother/mum
padre/papa = father/dad
fratella = brother
sorella = sister
nonno = grandfather
nanna = grandmother
Then, I showed them the family tree on the British royal family. We discussed the names of the people and how they were related to one another e.g. the Queen is the grandmother/nonna of Prince William and Harry. Then, they completed colouring sheets of the Queen and her son, Prince Charles.
6pm – 1-2-1 lesson with Elizabetta
Today’s lesson focused on shopping. Elizabetta read an article on ‘Montreal’s Underground City’ and answered questions on the words used within the text. While she read, I asked to her change the way she read to improve her reading speed and her words per minute. She read the first and second paragraph normally and I timed her so we could gauge her normal words her minute rate. For paragraph 3 and 4, I asked her to focus only on the most important words such as the nouns, verbs and adjective etc. bypassing articles and prepositions.
After the worksheet, we completed another reading exercise – this time about the price of plus-size clothing ‘Should plus-sized clothes be more expensive?’. She read a lot this time and after I asked her about her opinion of the text. Lastly, for the last 5-10 minutes she wrote a response to one of the two authors of the articles and gave her opinion – whether in agreement or disagreement with their view. She choose to reply to the YES author and told her why she disagreed with her opinion. I enjoyed reading Elizabetta’s response. I gave her an opportunity to use more of her vocabulary, which I think she enjoyed. In our lessons, there are not many opportunities to practice writing (mainly reading, listening and speaking). In future lesson, I hope to provide her with more opportunities to express herself through writing.
FRIDAY
(12/4/19)
3pm – 6pm in Pompei.
3pm
Today, I started a new class in Pompei with 8 children aged between 6-10 years old. They had never attended an English class before apart from in elementary school. This first lesson was aimed at gauging their understanding to prepare for the weeks ahead. We made a start on the Unit 1 book ‘Welcome to school’and discussed vocabulary such as chair, pencil, book, rulers clock and computer. Their current knowledge was fairly impressive for never having attended an English lesson before.
To finish the lesson, we played the game in the picture “My English Dictionary”, which the children really enjoyed.
4pm
The next class was 4 4 year olds. They were learning about farm animals. At the beginning, I set out a play mat with different farm animal figurines. Using the flash cards, I taught the vocabulary as the children picked up each animals. Then, we made a start to their farm animals booklet which will get added to each week. Starting with colouring the front cover and then a picture of a cat and a pig.
5pm
With the last class, we were discussing zoo animals. I started by using the flashcards and allowing them to revise the names they had learned the previous week with Katia. We played a few memory games with the flashcards before moving onto completing the worksheets. They had to first, decide where each animal lives: in a house, on a farm or in a zoo. Then, a writing exercise.
The end the lesson, we played tombola (bingo) which the children very enjoyed and it helped them to solidify their learning on the animal names.
SATURDAY
(13/4/19)
Similar to the last two weeks, the puppies were learning about food again – this time dinner foods. They learned the names of the food from flashcards and then completed a number of worksheet on different English and Italian dinner options. Then, in the second hour, we discussed likes and dislikes – suggesting examples of food they liked and disliked while i wrote them into the appropriate column on the board. Lastly, they completed a writing worksheet where they wrote either “Yes I like” or “No I don’t” under a picture of a specific food.
