USING LITERATURE TO TEACH ENGLISH: OSCAR WILDE

A nice piece of literature to teach in the English class is Oscar Wilde's masterpiece THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, since we can find many adaptations. 
http://www.snazal.com/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-level-4-penguin-readers-simplifie--9781405882293.html?source=webgains&siteid=47684&adnetwork=wg


I even found that there is a comic version, which would be very appropriate and attractive to teenage students: 
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2009/the-picture-of-dorian-gray/ 
http://forbiddenplanet.com/39864-the/




There are also online versions of the novel to work with Bachillerato students: http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray_NT.pdf
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/oscar-wilde/Dorian-Gray.pdf
http://www.quedelibros.com/libro/74342/The-Picture-of-Dorian-Gray-pdf-ingles.html


Particularly, and knowing the low English level in public schools, I would choose an adapted version of the novel for a class of 1st of Bachiller. 


As a pre-treatment activity, and since the film was released some years ago, I would use its trailer: 

Or even this video, which before playing the trailer explains briefly the plot of the film:

As a treatment activity, I would ask my students to write down a small student diary, that is, to write down the dates and thoughts they experience while reading the novel, as well as the vocabulary that they couldn't guess from the context. 


I would ask them to start writing about what they expect the novel to be, how they think it will continue and whether they are liking the novel or they feel it's too boring. Just a few lines each day they have read something. If students don't feel like writing, they can use vocaroo and record the experiences and unknown vocabulary. 


As a post-treatment activity, the students will be asked to work in groups, choose a chapter of the novel and create a photo novel. They will have to take pictures of the different scenes and describe them briefly and creating small dialogues. Also they will have to record them so that at the end we have a picture and recoded version of the novel. 

USING LITERATURE TO TEACH ENGLISH

Teaching a foreign language through literature is sometimes considered to be old-fashioned, since this is related to the grammar-translation method. However, if the story is interesting for students, and it is combined with the right and motivating activities, it can be a great source for learning grammar, vocabulary and even writing and speaking depending on the activities. 


In this webpage there are great short stories such as the parable of the pencil, which can be used to discuss in several different topics: http://www.indianchild.com/short_stories.htm


These stories are quite short, and can be read in five minutes, allowing a long period of discussion,interpretation, activities...


Here we can find a great source of short stories from well-known authors such as Viriginia Woolf, Saki, George Orwell, Roald Dahl... http://www.classicshorts.com/author.html




Another webpage which provides a great quantity of American short stories from authors such as Melville, Poe, or Kate Chopin: http://www.americanliterature.com/ss/ssindx.html

Learning through games (2)

TICS are very useful for learning languages. However, they are not common in schools, especially in public schools. That is why games are a nice alternative. 


There are common games such as hangman, pictionary, mimics, or the forbidden word which can be used as post-treatment activities in any text to reinforce the vocabulary. 


HANGMAN:

The students can play this game by using the new words of a text, so to learn their spelling. 


This game has a virtual option: http://www.hangman.no/. In this webpage, the teacher can even make a list of words and  give the code to the students so that they practice. 




PICTIONARY:


This well-known game consists on guessing words from a drawing. If the class is divided into teams, the students get really competitive and involved in the game.  The blackboard is divided into as many parts as teams are, there is a person drawing for each team. The teacher has a set of words written in small pieces of paper that the person who is going to draw chooses.The person who is drawing changes so that everybody participates.


This game can be used as post-treatment activity to review the vocabulary, or as a pre-treatment activity so that the students learn new vocabulary and/or to introduce and guesswhat the story that is going to be read is about by using key words. 




MIMICS:


Using mimics to guess words or sentences can be very funny and motivating for students. This game is very similar to the pictionary, but instead of playing all at the same time, they will have to play in turns. It can also be used to guess a scene from a piece of literature that has been read, so that they review what the text is about.




THE FORBIDDEN WORD:
Students will have to guess a concept or a scene from a description that one of their peers does. However, the student describing the word or scene cannot say one or several words, so to make it more difficult. 

AUCTION GAME, TIC-TAC-TOE, ACTING OUT: Learning through games

Games are a nice way to learn English. They can be used to review vocabulary and even literature. 


- ACUTION GAME (used for literature). Post-treatment. activity.
In this game, in groups, students are given sentences from the literature piece they have read. They have a pre-set quantity of "money" and they have to say whether their sentence is true or false or if it has mistakes or it's correct, and bet according to it. 


The team that has more money by the end of the game is the winning team. 




- TIC-TAC-TOE: (used for literature/vocabulary). Post-treatment.

This game is very popular and it can be used with words taken from the text. The class must be divided in two teams. The teacher has to prepare a card with words from the text, definitions, phonetics, etc. and the students will have to guess the word of the definition, a synonym, etc. If they guess it they get the point. The aim is that they get three points in a row. In the blackboard the points are shown like this: 

- ACTING OUT: Post-treatment


This can be very funny. The students in pairs or groups have to invent a dialogue from the piece of literature given or memorise it and act it out. This activity may not be suitable for all the students since shy students may feel reluctant about it.

LITERATURE: ROALD DAHL NOVELS

Roald Dahl is a great author to focus our student's interest on reading. 


For the younger ones books such as Matilda, The Witches, or James and the Giant Peach are recommended. 


In order to attract their attention we have videos of the film's trailers available: 

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

MATILDA

However this is the best video to introduce a novel by Roald,  Dahl, in this case THE WITCHES since it is really interesting and thrilling:

TOOLS REVIEW: GO ANIMATE

This is the resource I like the most from all the resources that we have been taught through the course. It is both funny and interesting.


STEPS:


1. Go to www.goanimate.com
2. Register and click on "sign up for free".
3. In the bottom right click"browse all".
        You will have to choose a setting, the characters, etc. E.g. "talking picz".
4. Click on "Next" and choose a setting. Click on "next" again.
5. Write down the dialogues or record them.
6. By clicking on the flags you can change the voices. Also the characters' order can be changed by pressing on the arrows next to the flags.


7. When you have finished, click on "preview".
8. Once you have watched the video click on "save now"
9. Write down a title and a description and click on "publish"


There you have a nice video done by you with the dialogues from the text that you have chosen or that you have invented based on the literature piece studied in class:


http://goanimate.com/videos/0TcKEfZ7BczA?utm_source=linkshare

TOOLS REVIEW: FAKEBOOK

Fakebook is a tool for educational purposes that allows teachers and students to create imaginary profile pages for study purposes. 

POSITIVE FEATURES:

1. It is very simple to use. 
2. It has a video tutorial to help students to create their profiles. 
3. It works like facebook, and it can be nice to investigate on the authors of the masterpieces used in class. 

INSTRUCTIONS

- Enter the name of the person chosen in "*click here to enter name*"

- Add its specifications (birth data, work, etc.) in "edit profile". Use = between the general term and the specification. e.g. Job = writer.

- Write posts, add videos, likes, etc.

- Add friends

When finished, on the top right click "save" and write a password

Here you have an example:

http://www.classtools.net/fb/55/dg2hKQ

TOOLS REVIEW: SOUNDCLOUD vs. VOCAROO

SOUNCLOUD:

I just could follow these steps because it asked me to install the flash player version and I couldn't do it in my laptop. However, I would suggest trying to use it and comment on this post with your opinion. 

1. Sign up. For doing so fill in all the blanks with your data. 

2. Go to your e-mail and confirm it. It will bring you to a page where you can record whatever you want. (or in "dashboard" press the record button. Record a text; in this case it will be the poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Robert Frost

VOCAROO

Positive features:

1. It is simpler than soundcloud
2. You don't need to register

INSTRUCTIONS: 

  Press the record button and start recording; when you finish, press "stop". Listen to it.  Click on "click here to save". It gives you a link to share and the option to send it through e-mail or share via social networks such as facebook.

TOOLS REVIEW: WORDLE

WHAT IS IT?

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Go to wordle.net and click on "cerate your own"

Write down the new vocabulary and sentences and click on "submit"

Then, you can either choose to "randomize" (bottom right) or choose the font type, colour, etc. (top left).

Once finished, click on "safe to public gallery"

HERE YOU HAVE an example of wordcloud: http://www.wordle.net/delete?index=5309896&d=VWFY

SUGGESTIONS:

I would use this tool either as a pre-treatment activity, writing a brief summary of the story and trying that the students guess what the story is about, or as a post-treatment activity in which students review the vocabulary learnt while reading; After the students create their word cloud with the new-learnt vocabulary, they will have to either define them or to look for a synonym.

TOOLS REVIEW: EDMODO

WHAT IS EDMODO?


Edmodo is a social learning network similar to facebook that can be used by teachers, students and parents.   




HOW DOES IT WORK?


The teacher has to register first with the teacher role. After filling the register, he/she will be given a code that he/she will give to the students (and/or their parents) so that they register in the appropriate classroom. 


After that, it is very simple since it works similarly to facebook. Everyone registered in the classroom can comment, upload videos, photos, share links, etc.




PERSONAL OPINION:


I think this social network gives students a great opportunity to practice writing while they enjoy, by commenting on videos, photos, etc. If properly boosted by teachers this can be a great tool.  Besides, they can share their creative tasks so that they learn from what others do.


I would suggest not to correct mistakes, since this may stop students from writing, and what is expected here is that they practice and since mistakes are part of the learning process...let's not correct them so that they keep writing and do not feel frustrated!!!


ENJOY EDMODO!!!