STORYTELLING

I have choosen this book because I think its a really good book for reading in english class with young learners.

"Cat" and "Mouse" are two english animals who don´t know how to speak in spanish, so we have to try to understand what they want to tell us. This way, children will always connect this two characters to english learning.

In this book they present us the good food: fruits and vegetables, using underestandable repetitive sentence patterns to make the comprehension easier for children, and its also a good way to encourage  them to make predictions of whick is going to be the next food, or what is going to say "cat" or "mouse"...

This characteristics makes easier for students to remeber the vovabulary of the story, always in real-life situations, using feasibles conversations. which its really important for teaching english to very young learns.

You will find a Cd with these book, which its a great support for teachers and also for children, who can listen to native english at the same time they can follow the story with the pictures of the book.

VOCABULARY ENGLISH-SPANISH

- Look at this!:  ¡Mira esto!

-What is it?:  ¿Qué es?

-It´s an apple:  Es una manzana.

-Taste it!  ¡Pruébalo!, ¡Pruébala!

-It´s good:  Está bueno/ Está buena.

-It´s very good: Está muy bueno/ Está muy buena.

-Yum/yummy: ¡Ñam, Ñam!; ¡Qué rico!/ ¡Qué rica!

-Enjoy your meal!: ¡Disfruta la comida! / ¡Disfrutad la comida!

•Good: buena/bueno

•Fun, funny: divertida/ divertido; graciosa/gracioso

•Delicious: deliciosa/delicioso

- An apple: una manzana.

-A banana: un plátano.

-Cherries: cerezas.

-A strawberry: una fresa.

-An orange: una naranja.

-A tomato: un tomate.

-A potato: una patata.

-A lettuce: una lechuga.

-A carrot: una zanahoria.

- A mushroom: un champiñon.

There are also other "Cat and Mouse" books which can be used in english classes to teach and introduce new vocabulary to young learners.

MAKING A READER

ANTS= FROM "A BUG´S LIFE" FILM FROM DISNEY PIXAR.

BEAR= "BEAR HAS A STORY TO TELL"  WRITTEN BY PHILIP STEAD AND ILUSTRATED BY ERIN STEAD.

BEE= "BEE MOVIE" DREAMWORKS

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I have make this reader trying to use simple rhymes for making a "funny" story for children.

The story has a beginning, and an end, using short and not difficult sentences to make the story easy to follow for young learners. 

I tried to use real-life language, making the story more usefull when you´re teaching english. I also used pictures to accompany the rhymes for helping children to understand the story.

After reading this story, teachers can talk about rhymes and make some short rhymes and poems.

1: MATCH THE WORDS WITH THE SAME SOUND:

2: ANOTHER IDEA IS TO MAKE YOUR OWN RHYMES BOOK. Where each child can write, with teachers or their parents help, some words or short rhymes that they know.

  

SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS

ACTIVITIES ABOUT METHODS:

1:It has been said that the Grammar- Translation Method teaches students about the target language, but not how to use it. Explain the difference in your own words.

The "Grammar-translation Method" is a method supported in the grammar of a language. In this way, you can acquire lot of grammar knowledge but in order to be a communicative person in a second language this method is not useful. Using just this method for teaching a second language its will ineffective,

2:In the Grammar-Translation Method, grammar is treated deductively; in the Direct Method, grammar is treated inductively. Can you explain the difference between deductive and inductive treatments of grammar?

A deductive way is when you work from something general to something more specific. In the "grammar-translation method" grammar is learned by rules and how to use those rules for making grammar activities. For example:  Put the verb in brackets in the correct form using the present continuous:
       - I like _____ (play) basketball.
       - My brother is _____ (live) in New York at this moment.

However an inductive way is when teachers encourage a situation to develop some specific knowledge. In this way, are the children who have to experiment and try to work their own knowledges.
For example: teacher reads a book about Sara´s first day of school. Students will learn some vocabulary in a real context, not with rules. 

3.Which of the following techniques follows from the principles of the Audio-Lingual Method, and which ones don´t? Explain the reasons for your answer.

Any of the 3 examples is exactly an "Audio-Lingual Method", but example B is the one wich nearly follows the "Audio-Lingual" principles.

5. Asher believes that foreign language instruction can and should be modelled on native language acquisition. What are some characteristics of TPR that are similar to the way children acquire their native language?

There are lot of similarities between the way that children acquire their native language and the way they acquire second language knowledges. Some similitudes are:
"The imperative": which is very used with children.
"Using simple instructions".
"To imitate": imitation is very important for acquiring language skills.
"The right to be silence".

7: A lot of target language structures and vocabulary can be taught through the imperative. Plan part of a TPR lesson in which the present continuous tense, or another structure in the target language, is introduced.

Teacher will prepare a place in the classroom to simulate a fruit-shop. One child could we the fruit seller and the rest of the children the shoppers. Each child will have to go to the shop and buy something. They will have to simulate a real situation, saying: Hello and goodbye, thankyou... and they will have to think on their own what they are going to say. If they really need it, teacher can help them.

READING ACTIVITIES:

MICE

Activities about reading technique

Skimming

1.      How many kinds of mice is the text talking about?

                            three                           five                        two

2.      Which is the smallest kind of mice?

pygmy mouse               jumping mouse         harvest mouse         dormouse

Scanning

1.      The jumping mouse has______back feet.

short                               long                    narrow

2.      Small dormice sleep for seven______every year.

nine                             seven              five

3.      The harvest mouse can_____very well.

eat                                climb                 fly

Intensive reading

1.  Read again about the jumping mouse and later draw it down and draw  their food.

Making inferences

1.      Who can sleep inside of a sock?

H_____         M______

2.      Which mouse can see a snowboarder?

H_____         M_______

3.      Who can touch the sky?

_______________

4.      If you were Julio Cesar which mice prefer to eat?

_______________

Predicting

Before reading the text we will ask some questions about mice:

1.What is a mouse?

Animal                        toy                             clothes

2.Have you ever seen some mouse? Where?

Film                 street                     home

3.How is it? (Length, colour,…)

4.Do you know some house mouse?  what kind of food do they eat?
where do they live? how are they? 

5.Do you know anohter object that is called mouse?

Contextual Guessing

1.      Match photos with words

Nest                      tail                  pets

 to Climb             back feet       to  eat

Other activities

1.      Match photos with words

Pygmy mouse                       jumping mouse

House mouse             harvest mouse          dormouse

Worked with:
  Patricia Dominguez, Irene del Pozo, y Cristina Vieco

PICTURE ACTIVITY

Aelita Andre is an Australian abstract artist at six years old.

I have choosen her because I think that kids can really identify with an artist of their same age. They can see that with their age they are able to make lot of things, and they can also make ART.


Aelita has already presentated her Art in different galleries all over the word, including New York.

Making abstract things is not difficult for children, they love painting and even that in some occasions is difficult to recognise what they meanted to draw, they perfectly know what they wanted to draw.

After talking  about Aelita and her art, each child we will make their own painting.


It is very important to explain them that they can make whatever they imagine, using everything they need in the way they pleasure.
Teacher will provide them with many different paint colours, and materiales, and she will ask them to bring things of their homes that they want to use for their pictures.

Once they finish their own painting and leave them get dry we will make a museum in class.


Each painter will have to presentate their own painting which has to have a name. They will have to talk about the materials they had used, and why had they used those, and whatever they want us to know about their ART.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- http://www.ehow.com/how_7865486_explain-abstract-art-children.html

- http://agoraartgalleryblog.com/the-prodigy-of-color-aelita-andre-a-solo-exhibition/

THE VERY HUNGRY CARTERPILLAR

Here you can watch a nice video of the story of the very hungry caterpillar represented with pupets. I think its a good resource to use with children after they have seen the book. If teachers think that learners are too young for understand everything, he/she can use the video support and adapt the text, dramatizating the dialogues 

- Draw lines to connect the food that the caterpillar eats each day: 

- Which of all this food is healthy and wich one isn´t it?

Teacher will ask children, one by one, for different food, and children will have to recognice the food and decide if it is healthy or unhealthy food. Once listened to what teachers asked for, they will have to go to the board, pick up the correct food and put it inside the correct box.

GOOD FOOD = HEALTHY                                                               BAD FOOD = UNHEALTHY

-"LIFE CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY"
We will use this video to discuss the stages of the caterpillar's life:

-Later we can use flashcards with the different steps of the butterfly life-cycle. Teacher can put them in a mess and ask children to reorganice them and put them in the correct order,

- Draw a picture about "The very hungry caterpillar" book: 
Later they will have to try to explain what have they draw, and why did decided to draw that.