Target: students of 14 years of age –first year of high school –who do not live in the town center.
Aim/Objective:
Method of working: In group .
Location: Town centre of Reggio Emilia .
During my teaching career, I 've realized that teaching by playing is a method usually very successful and motivating for students. It's easy to understand that they prefer learning in an amusing situation and in a more relaxing atmosphere rather than in their own class, at their desk, listening to a lesson. I admit that it is not always possible to take them out of school because of the daily school routine, the school rules etc. but I suggest that you do this from time to time, when possible. Some time ago, I had some difficulties getting my students to remember specific names (geographical names) and to learn prepositions and the use of some tenses. For this reason I decided to help them overcome their difficulties by playing a game that's like the "Treasure –Hunting"game. First of all, I created a large number cards for each group with clues, questions to reply to, instructions to follow etc. on them. I kept one card for each group and then I hid the others in a variety of places in town. I contacted people in town and gave them instructions to follow when the kids would to ask for some information from them. Then I split my class into 5 groups of 4 people, none of whom were living in the center of town . I took the kids to the town centre and there I picked up a referee for each group who had the duty to coordinate the group and to record all the steps done and information obtained and if requested ( on the card) the questions made or the replies they got. I gave them a deadline and when I said "please let's go " ,they started to read the only card they had and to solve the clue .The clue asked them to take some action or to move towards a specific direction or to follow some instructions … If they responded accurately they would find the second card containing the new set of requirements. The group who completed all the steps with accuracy:
That group would win!
Aim/Objective:
- understanding and giving directions, learning specific nouns and the use of the imperative and the Present Tense;
- taking notes , how to make questions.
Method of working: In group .
Location: Town centre of Reggio Emilia .
During my teaching career, I 've realized that teaching by playing is a method usually very successful and motivating for students. It's easy to understand that they prefer learning in an amusing situation and in a more relaxing atmosphere rather than in their own class, at their desk, listening to a lesson. I admit that it is not always possible to take them out of school because of the daily school routine, the school rules etc. but I suggest that you do this from time to time, when possible. Some time ago, I had some difficulties getting my students to remember specific names (geographical names) and to learn prepositions and the use of some tenses. For this reason I decided to help them overcome their difficulties by playing a game that's like the "Treasure –Hunting"game. First of all, I created a large number cards for each group with clues, questions to reply to, instructions to follow etc. on them. I kept one card for each group and then I hid the others in a variety of places in town. I contacted people in town and gave them instructions to follow when the kids would to ask for some information from them. Then I split my class into 5 groups of 4 people, none of whom were living in the center of town . I took the kids to the town centre and there I picked up a referee for each group who had the duty to coordinate the group and to record all the steps done and information obtained and if requested ( on the card) the questions made or the replies they got. I gave them a deadline and when I said "please let's go " ,they started to read the only card they had and to solve the clue .The clue asked them to take some action or to move towards a specific direction or to follow some instructions … If they responded accurately they would find the second card containing the new set of requirements. The group who completed all the steps with accuracy:
- followed all instructions given ( objective=following directions) ;
- understood the orders (objective=imperative) ;
- wrote down sentences containing correct vocabulary and grammatical point (present tense and names ) ;
- asked the prompted questions etc .
That group would win!
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