Have you heard about Kodu. I haven't tried it myself but I've been hearing a lot about it recently. Kodu is a free program you can download which lets students create games using a simple visual programming language.Here is what Kodu say about itKodu Teaches more than ProgrammingKodu is a rich tool for narrative creation and storytellingKodu demonstrates that programming is a creative mediumKodu helps children with critical thinking, breaking a complex goal into manageable steps, and iterate on the design process - an approach applicable to all academic subjects, business and personal relationshipsKodu introduces the logic and problem solving of programmingKodu introduces conditions and sequences, which teaches cause and effectStudents learn about cooperation, logic and creativity in addition to programmingKodu is currently being tried in Australian public schools.Kodu has an emphasis on the creative side and is not just for teachers who are technically able. If you are interested, there is a classroom kit to get you started. If you try it out, or if you are already using it, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Ahead of his webinar on 28th and 30th May, Edmund Dudley looks at why it is important for our teenage students to learn about culture in their English lessons. Millions of young people around the world are currently learning English, making it a truly international language. In addition, many teenagers regularly use English to communicate and interact with others online. This raises a number of questions about the cultural content of any English course for teenagers. What do we mean by culture in the context of a language lesson? Let’s begin by thinking about English-speaking countries. Take Britain as an example. When you think about British culture, what springs to mind? What examples could you give? Take a moment to think of three things. So what did you say? Your answers reveal something about what you think culture is. Perhaps you chose traditional rituals or ceremonies, such as the Changing of the Guard or carol singing in December; you might have gone for annual events, such as the FA Cup Final, the Notting Hill Festival or Hogmanay. On the other hand, your examples of British culture might have been more linked to the day-to-day habits and behaviour of ordinary people: leaving the house with wet hair in the morning, queuing at bus stops, or buying ‘rounds’ in pubs. All of these various aspects of culture are of potential interest to students. Day-to-day activities can be just as revealing as special occasions. If we want to get the full picture of life in English-speaking countries and communities, then thinking about how people eat soup can be just as interesting and revealing as learning about how people celebrate New Year’s Eve. Whose culture are we talking about? Given that English is used around the world, should we only be concentrating on the culture of English-speaking countries? Not exclusively. Any meaningful discussion of culture involves comparison and reflection. So, although in the lesson we might be looking at an aspect of life in Ireland, New Zealand, Canada or another English-speaking country, ultimately, however, students are being encouraged to think about themselves and their own culture. And besides, being able to describe aspects of life in your home country to others is a crucial part of sharing cultures and making friends when you are away from home or welcoming guests from abroad. How can culture get students thinking - and talking? Culture can be subjective. Think about words such as cold, sweet, crowded, angry, quiet, and dangerous: they are culturally loaded and so it is easy to disagree about what they mean. Take cold, for example. Two people from different countries might have very different views about whether a child playing on a playground swing on a spring afternoon should be wearing a coat or not. Examples like this can be used as the basis for classroom discussions, role-plays, drama activities - even creative writing tasks. Does the child need a coat or not? Who is right? What does it depend on? And how can the situation best be resolved? By looking at the situation as a cultural puzzle, we can challenge our students to try and interpret the situation from different cultural perspectives. Promoting empathy with others is not only a great way to promote tolerance and understanding, it also shines a new light on our own beliefs and assumptions. This is what makes dealing with cultural topics so interesting: we sometimes begin to see how the attitudes and values below the surface influence the way we see the world. Is there now a global teen culture? Young people are more connected today than ever before - even if they live on different continents. The internet is enabling today’s teenagers to create a shared global cultural identity. What do a teenager in South America and a teenager in Eastern Europe have in common? Well, for starters they are both probably comfortable using technology and also learning English at school. Then you have movies, computer games, apps, pop music and sport - all of which are probably shared tastes. The result is a new kind of international cultural identity: young, online and learning English. Putting it into practice In my upcoming webinar, I will be trying to find the connection between the topic of culture and rewarding learning experiences. In addition to addressing the questions raised in this article, I will be showing some practical classroom ideas for approaching the topic of culture with teenage students. Culture is there to be exploited, and our students are the ones who can benefit. Hopefully, they will not only learn something about various parts of the world, but will also gain fresh insights into their own culture and new perspectives on who they are, what they value, and what they aspire to. To find out more about teaching culture in English classes, register for Ed’s webinar on 28th or 30th May.  Filed under: Cultural Studies, Multimedia & Digital, Teenagers Tagged: 21st Century skills, Cultural identity, Culture, Edmund Dudley, insight, International English, Language learning, Secondary, Teen culture, Teenagers, Webinar

I was very excited to road test a new tool today live in my lesson using a combination of paid and free technology. My school uses the Frog VLE which although a little bit glitchy, is good enough for me to plan all my lessons through and share resources with my students. I still find however that I get to do more creative things with free technologies and as long as the fact we paid for a VLE isn't a barrier to using other useful technologies (which it often is in other schools!), I am happy.Although I am a Physics teacher by trade, I currently teach IB Environmental Systems and Societies. Today my students were looking at case studies of extinct and endangered animals and I wanted them to present it in a creative way. Lately I have been hugely impressed with sites like Padlet and Tackk that let you create high quality content without even logging in, with a simple link to share. Today I used Smore. It is similar to Padlet but focuses on creating fliers or posters rather than 'web sites'.The impressive thing with this tool was how quickly they were able to produce high quality content which they then presented to the rest of the class. Once they completed it, they then shared the link to their poster as a comment on the class blog meaning I was able to access them quickly and they could present their work before the end of the lesson.To give an idea of how easy it is to use I am going to create a flier ( advertising guest posting on Free Tech for Schools hint hint) and embed it here. at the bottom, I will write how long it took.  Total time, including writing and uploading photo: 4 minutes and 6 secondsThis post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Image courtesy of AJ Cann on Flickr Is the value of peer assessment compromised if it is used as a class control for large classes? Charl Norloff, co-author of Q: Skills for Success Reading/Writing 4, discusses how to maximize the value of peer assessment. The value of any technique, including peer assessment, lies in having a clear idea of the purpose for using it and having realistic expectations about the outcomes you seek. Here are some factors to consider. Structure the peer work carefully so that: Students are using the target language Is the class monolingual? If so, then the peer work, especially if it is being used as a control, needs to be very carefully structured so students can easily do it. Otherwise, it can have the opposite effect, leading to students speaking together in their native language, often off topic, and can actually contribute to a lack of control. So, provide clear directions for what language you expect the students to use, including structures and vocabulary required to successfully complete the task. The task is easy enough for the students to do with minimal supervision The level of the students is another consideration in how the peer work is structured. The peer activity has to be such that it encourages use of the target language - in this case, English. If the task is too difficult or too open-ended for the level of the students then, again, it can lead to a situation where there is poor control. So, make sure the task is at the appropriate level for your students, and give and practice models - including vocabulary and structures - in advance of the activity so students have the language they need. Peer tasks are often best following instruction and whole group practice or assignments. There is a time limit Especially where control is one of the purposes of peer work, a clear time limit is also a must. Otherwise, students waste time and can easily end up off task. So, decide on the appropriate amount of time to complete the task, subtract five minutes and announce and post the end time. You can always add a few more minutes back in if students are clearly on task and still need more time to finish. There is an end task with clear measurable outcomes, which can be assessed When students work in pairs or groups, to ensure that the intended work is done, an end activity which holds the students accountable is always practical. That may be where the assessment piece comes in. If the desired result of the peer work is to be assessment, then there need to be clear and measurable outcomes attached to the peer work in order for it serve the dual purpose of control and assessment. Again, provide clear instructions about either a written or an oral assignment that will be due (and assessed, if that’s appropriate) at the end of the peer work. Try to keep the end task one of creating or producing something - a dialogue or brief speech presented to the whole class if you’re working on speaking or a piece of writing or analysis of writing that will be collected if writing is your focus. Avoid asking students to evaluate the quality of their partner’s work. Avoid asking yes/no questions which don’t require the use of the language. Focus rather on producing language or identifying aspects of the language rather than judging the language. Here’s an example: I’ve assigned, and my students have written, a paragraph giving reasons why studying a foreign language is an important part of their education. Prior to the peer work, we have worked on writing a good paragraph and have read a model and identified the topic sentence, supporting ideas, and conclusion. My task will be for students to exchange paragraphs with a partner, read the partner’s paragraph, discuss anything that isn’t understood, then complete a worksheet on the paragraph identifying the various types of sentences. The desired learning outcome in this example is for the students to be able to identify the structure of a good paragraph. I will give the students five to ten minutes to read their partner’s paragraph and discuss it. Then, they will have another five to ten minutes to do the worksheet. The worksheet might ask the students to 1) find the topic sentence, write it on the worksheet and underline the topic once and the controlling idea twice, 2) list the supporting reasons, 3) circle transitions words, and 4) state whether the paragraph had a concluding sentence, and if so, whether it restated the ideas in the topic sentence or not. The final step (and end task) would be to share the answers on the worksheet with the partner. Worksheets could be collected and be part of the overall assessment of the writing. A follow up assignment would be for students to reread their own paragraphs, using the same worksheet to analyze the paragraph, and then to revise it as needed based on the worksheet. In any activity in a language class, including peer assessment, having control of the class is a must. If peer work is done in a way that keeps a class under control, and clear realistic outcomes are expected and measurable, then the value of the work is never compromised. This is our last question for the Q authors. Thank you to everyone who contacted us! Check out our Questions for Q authors playlist for previous answers, or see all of our Questions for Q authors articles.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, Skills Tagged: Adult Learners, Charl Norloff, Class control, Peer assessment, Peer review, Peer work, Q Skills for Success, Questions for Q authors, Teaching adults

This is a guest post from Chris Rawlins at Scholar Match.The consistently rising cost of higher education has left many bright and high-achieving high school students in the Bay Area without the financial resources to attain their goals, dreams, and ambitions of a college degree.  As a result, I have partnered with other Silicon Valley professionals in starting a new financial scholarship fund through the combined organizations of Indiegogo.com and ScholarMatch. Our goal is simple.  To provide college scholarships for 12 very special and deserving students in the Bay area.  This program will also be offering more than just financial assistance.  We will follow these young adults through their college years, providing support and mentoring as they face the many challenges of a post-secondary education. We need your help.  The 12 scholarships will require a combined total of only $16,150 dollars.  We can easily meet this goal with only 646 donations of only $25.  It is our hope that the wide reaching arms of the social media will help our Indiegogo Campaign to quickly "GO VIRAL".  All funds exceeding the original $16,150 will be used to help even more students from the California, Bay Area area.  Won’t you help us with this noble cause? We encourage you to spread the word!  Share this blog link with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter.  Checkout the campaign here. Promote awareness of this scholarship program in your place of employment or office. Help us to help under-financed students who already have a proven track record of academic success to achieve their hopes and dreams of a college education!This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Julie Moore, a lexicographer for the new Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English, looks at the benefit of using dictionary skills in academic writing. In ELT, we tend to approach grammar and vocabulary as two quite separate strands, mostly for the convenience of teaching. Of course, we all know that, in reality, they’re closely interwoven. And perhaps nowhere more so than in EAP (English for Academic Purposes), where complex constructions and the importance of appropriate vocabulary choices often make an understanding of lexicogrammar (the grammar of words) absolutely key to writing clearly and persuasively. Consider the underlined phrases in the following three examples of student writing - are they issues of vocabulary or grammar? This essay aims to exploring how children’s lifestyles can both cause and address the issue of increasing child obesity. Some of these areas are located in seismic belts and encounter with the risk of strong earthquake. In order to better understand the construction of a photoelectric sensor, a brief explanation to the working principle is given here. In each case, it’s the grammatical features or typical grammatical patterns of these specific vocabulary items that have caused problems; the following verb pattern, the need for a direct object, and the dependent preposition respectively. This is tough for the learner because it means that it’s not enough to learn general grammatical principles and bolt on a list of appropriate academic vocabulary; they also need to get to grips with the grammatical characteristics of each individual word. Of course, a lot of this comes from exposure to academic writing; students noticing recurrent patterns as they read and getting a feel for how particular words are typically used in context. But to me as a teacher, that always seems like rather a superficial piece of advice, a bit vague and with no obvious concrete steps that students can take to improve their next piece of writing. The process of learning how vocabulary is used doesn’t have to be a passive one though - students can be encouraged to be proactive when it comes to lexicogrammar. Each of the students above could be pointed in the direction of a dictionary to see where they’ve gone wrong. Below are extracts from the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English, which provides a wealth of information targeted specifically at how vocabulary items are used in an academic context, both in terms of meaning and grammar. aim (verb) … 2 [I,T] to try or plan to achieve sth: … ~to do sth The project aimed to investigate Earth history by drilling the deep ocean floor. encounter (verb) 1 ~sth to experience sth, especially sth unpleasant or difficult, while you are trying to do sth else: One problem commonly encountered by customers ordering products over the Internet is difficulty with delivery … to encounter difficulties/obstacles/opposition explanation (noun) … 2 [C] ~(of sth) a statement or piece of writing that tells you how sth works or makes sth easier to understand: … The author provides a brief explanation of his oral history process. By pointing out in class how this type of information is shown in the dictionary (in each case here by expressions in bold showing the pattern and then reinforced in example sentences), students can start to see how they can learn about how words work for themselves. Dictionary skills can be incorporated into activities where students edit their own writing (as in the above examples) or it can simply provide a regular interlude when an issue over a particular word or expression crops up in class. And as an added bonus, the processes involved in looking up the word and analysing the information they find, will help this new knowledge stick.Filed under: Dictionaries & Reference, Grammar & Vocabulary Tagged: Academic English, Academic writing, Dictionaries, Dictionary skills, EAP, English for Academic Purposes, Grammar, Julie Moore, Lexical set, Lexicogrammar, OLDAE, Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English, Vocabulary

Actively learn is an online ereader which is designed to help teachers interact with and engage students when reading text.It has some great features such as the ability to use it with any online text or upload your own, annotation tools, embeddable questions and features that allow sharing with colleagues.The free version works on any device, lets you use public domain books,  lets you create your own layers of questions, and for American teachers has common core standards based grading. The paid-for version adds the ability to export grades and actively assisted book uploads although what they offer in the free version is really amazing.This is an excellent tool for teachers who have a lot of students where English is an additional language although I see uses for this in every subject to aid comprehension of text. I could certainly use this teaching Physics and Environmental Systems where I could use it to draw students' attention to key points in the text.This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Headway Scholarship competition 2014, on behalf of Liz Soars and the Headway Foundation. Around 230 teachers from 54 countries took part in the competition, which was based on the theme of "Headway makes a difference". Using short stories, blog posts, photo montages, presentations, videos or podcasts, and even some lesson plans and research papers, the teachers illustrated how Headway has made a difference to students, teachers, and the community. They drew on a wealth of experience, as between them they had taught more than 115,000 students over 1600 teaching years! As well as showing what Headway means to them and their learners, the teachers had to show what difference winning the scholarship would make to their own professional development. The various tasks were judged and moderated by a team of specialists, including author Liz Soars herself, and we can now announce that the winners are: Hanna Dudich Magdalena Dygala Olga Gurchak Marianne Chavarría Hernández Irina Krestianinova Gloria Rossa Each of these teachers has won a place on a 2-week English Language Teachers’ Summer Seminar at Exeter College in Oxford, including flights, accommodation and meals - a wonderful opportunity to share and develop best practice. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Headway Scholarship and, thanks to the generosity of Liz Soars and the Headway Foundation, there are six first prize winners this year instead of four. To further celebrate this landmark, additional prizes have been awarded to 12 runners up, and so congratulations also go to: Oksana Bondus Letizia Cinganotto Claudia Gambier Catalina Iacobuta Kiomars Karami Maria Fernanda Montu Elena Maximova Miglena Petrova Uliana Proshina Magdalena Pedro Anna Savina Valeriya Tabarina As a personal ‘Thank you’ to all the teachers who entered the competition, Liz Soars has recorded the below video, and everyone who applied will be receiving a Certificate of Acknowledgement. Go to the Headway fourth edition page for more information, or the Winners Gallery to see all the winners.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, OUP ELT News Tagged: Adult, American Headway, Competition, Headway, Headway Academic Skills, Headway Plus, Headway Scholarship, Liz Soars, Professional Development, Teacher Training, Teachers

Lots of teachers have a strong opinion on students using mobile phones in school, ranging from vehemently against to strongly in favour. I have been quite amused on occasion to see the 'vehemently against' brigade suddenly cave in when they forgot the stopwatches for their Science experiment.There is a risk that mobile phones can be a massive distraction but if you think about it as a hugely powerful computer that happens to also make phone calls, is it worth banning it just because it happens to make calls. It's a bit like saying Steven Segal can't come on the boat because you don't want food. He also cooks.... Yes that was an Under Siege reference.A colleague sent me this list of 26 ways to use a mobile phone in the classroom today. It was originally posted here on the TES community site.26 ways to use mobiles in the classroom1. Recording experimentsStudents use cameras on phones (annotating pictures with applications like EverNote and Skitch) to record equipment layouts, electrical circuits, visible results etc and save for later. These can then be uploaded to their own blog, a school wiki or simply added to a series of virtual revision cards. I’ve only tried it with sixth form due to school policy.2. Problem solving using QR codesCreate a puzzle-solving lesson out of QR codes. Put QR codes around the school building - each QR code leads to a new science based clue. The clue leads the students to the next QR code - it's a 21st century treasure hunt! (See first useful link for more info on QR codes and more suggestions on how to use them in the classroom).3. Using mobiles instead of clickersClickers can be expensive for schools to buy (or in the case of college, for students to buy). There are programs such as Top Hat Monocle (http://www.tophatmonocle.com) and Poll Everywhere (http://www.polleverywhere.com/) that will allow teachers to do instant quizzes and check for understanding using their cell phones, computers and tablets. It’s a great way to find out if your students are understanding the material.4. Visualising infrared remotes with the cameraThe signal emitted by an infra-red remote is invisible to the naked eye, but clearly visible on a mobile phone using the camera. This form of radiation can be detected using this method easily and enables students to visualise something they may otherwise find hard to truly accept or appreciate otherwise. The concept of it as a means of communication could even be used by pupils who can send messages to each other with morse code with long and short flashes of light. Goes down very well with pupils, who are usually a little surprised and very intrigued.  5. Using appsThe use of a number of free APPs in order to plot distance etc. Such as endermondo (free). This could also link with heart rate & GPS. The data collection can be done outside of the classroom (homework?) and then brought in. Could also create their own free APP. I have found that pupils respond to "real" examples and also engage more in the topic if the technology is embedded and they can understand the use and purpose.6. Using the timerMost phones have timers that can be used to record the progress of experiments. This can be handy if there are a limited number of timers available or an opportunity to record something arises when timers are not available or have not been planned into the lesson such as an outdoor activity. Pupils appreciate the ability to investigate phenomenon as and when the opportunity arises rather than sticking rigidly to pre-planned learning.7. Using the calculatorMost phones have calculators and therefore leave pupils little excuse not to carry out relatively simple calculations and can be used in impromptu situations in a similar way to phone timers. More modern phones may also have scientific calculator apps for more advanced calculations. Pupils may not appreciate the incorporation of maths and requirement to do calculations into an investigation but they do appreciate the ease with which it can be achieved and reminds them of the many capabilities of their phones.8. Using the voice recorder as a dictaphoneMany phones have a voice recording function that can be used by pupils to carry out interviews, record events in class; including teacher explanations, or as verbal revision notes when revising for exams. Then either share the files to a shared folder or upload to Soundcloud.9. Using smartphones to record ecology or field study investigationsSmart phones can now take photos, assign locations using GPS and post them to social media enabling pupils to record and share findings in ecological studies or record their progress on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. This was a well-received way for my pupils to meet some of the requirements of their Duke of Edinburgh expedition and record the route they had taken.10. Converting Top Trumps to QR code interactive postersTop trumps are sometimes used to engage pupils with science and they can be converted into interactive posters for display around school. This has been trialled with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council working with the University of East Anglia on a science communication project.https://twitter.com/#!/DrTristanBunn/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2FBpmIZD0u11. Virtual field tripsWith a range of environments and places being studied in the Geography classroom maps apps, specifically Google Earth, offers outstanding topographical views and also ‘Panoramio photos’ that allow students to continue to build their mental images of unfamiliar places. Obviously, if you had tablets or iPads to hand the experience is further enhanced. I recall a particularly successful lesson examining contrasting urban environments.  12. Using Twitter to improve creative writing skills (writing twiction)Students share reveal a story online via their SmartPhones through characters they have invented (with accounts they have created for them on Twitter) who interact with each other through a series of tweets, mentions, direct messages. This will enable students to be more precise in their choice of language, develop the ability to read into (and add) extra layers of meaning, consider what they show the reader and strategies to hook the reader, develop characterisation skills (including viewpoint and voice) and consider and develop structural narrative skills. You can find resources to support students to write ‘twiction’ and give students the chance to win the annual prize for Twiction a www.teentwiction.co.uk13. Using FourSquare to develop orientation around school sites for new students/staffFourSquare enables users to be able to check in via their Smartphone to different locations so schools could set up a ‘treasure hunt’ using FourSquare locations around their ‘campus’.14.  Use Twitter as an on-demand learning toolSet up a Twitter Feed that can provide alerts to the students on-demand.  Students can tweet to this feed when at a conference or taking notes on a field trip or the teacher can send out alerts such as reminders. Students can subscribe to the feed via text messaging so that all messages are received immediately. On-demand learning and communication!15.  Practice speaking in MFLFor MFL use mobile phones as flip cameras and record speaking/drama activities.16.  Memory aid for dyslexic learnersThe photo camera function can be used to take pictures of complicated diagrams, timetables or the menu in the canteen. To write this type of information down would take a dyslexic learner too much time.17.  As an eBookUsing the Kindle App,or iBooks App on iPhone, learners can turn their mobile phone into an eBook and use it to read books, newspapers, magazines and PDFs.18. Tweet your reviewsTeach journalism skills by having students write Tweet length reviews of things such as TV shows, films or new music releases. With only 140 characters students learn that every word counts.19.  Set Homework using QR codesConvert text to a QR code and display through a projector for pupils to scan. One click and they have all the info they need with them. www.qrstuff.com is easy to use.20.  View marked HomeworkHomework can be collected from a dropbox folder via the phone. Teachers can mark the Digital homework by using apps such as Neu.annotate to mark the work.21.  Voxpop FeedbackGet your students to leave visual feedback of the activity, then export the video file into dropbox, this is great evidence for Ofsted, and provides real engaging feedback to entice  backing for your projects from investors and parents.22.  Class plannerBy ensuring Students all have access to a Google Calendar account you can do away with paper planners. Students can share calendars with other students and staff, and receive real-time notifications.23. Use an App such as Do it Tomorrow to make a note of anything that needs to be doneThis App is free in Android market. It is a simple ticklist of tasks and unlike a calendar only has two pages-today and tomorrow. As today’s tasks (say homework or to remember PE kit today) are completed you simply cross them out. Anything not completed is carried forward until tomorrow.24.  Create your own e-Books quickly and simplyCreate an account at Wattpad.com, the website allows you to create your simple e-Books from existing word document just by cut and paste. Educate your pupils / students on the use of the Wattpad app, (available for all Smart Mobile phone platforms) they can then always carry around the current reading list, course guide, assignment help document on their mobile phone.25.  Use twitter to share revision documentsUse twitter as a revision machine! Send tweets out reminding students to revise over the weekend especially when it is good weather.26. Use twitter as a plenary toolUse twitter to check learning during and at the end of the lesson. Create a hash tag specific to that lesson (ie #10FBiology) and have students create an answer to a specific question in tweet form. Using twitter tools these can then be displayed on the board within the PowerPoint or within an internet screen using twitterfall.com or visabletweets.com  Useful LinksUsing QR Codes in educationUsing Mobile Phones in the Classroom - YouTube video - class discusses how they use mobiles in the classroomTop Hat MonoclePoll Everywherewww.teentwiction.co.uk - using smartphones to write storieswww.dropbox.com Share any kind of file between multiple deviceswww.wattpad.com - Very easy eBook creation sitewww.visibletweets.comContributors@teachingofsci@planetscience@lkoster@DrTristanBunn@elicit_thinking@barton_jay@teentwiction@tammyfry@janbaker97@philgregoryTech@Adamrsc@sbhsmrwilson@sbhshistoryThis post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Image courtesy of Wikipedia Vanessa Reilly, teacher, teacher trainer and OUP author, introduces her upcoming webinar on 27th and 28th May entitled: "Having fun with festivals - cultivating interest in the target culture in your young learner classroom." Just how important is the target culture to you when teaching English as a foreign language to young learners? Looking at a language from the point of view of speakers of that language and how they live makes the target language more real, not just a collection of words and sentences to be learnt. All learners need to be introduced to the target culture, no matter how young or early on in their language learning experience, in order to provide them with the optimum conditions for success. My webinar will provide an overview of the following: Target culture in the very young learner and young learner classroom Very early on in my teaching career, I remember reading Claire Kramsch’s book Context and Culture in Language Teaching, and this statement stuck in my mind: If… language is seen as social practice, culture becomes the very core of language teaching. Cultural awareness must then be viewed as enabling language proficiency… Culture in language teaching is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading and writing." So I started to explore: → What are the implications for primary age children? If, as Kramsch proposes, cultural awareness needs to be an integral part of language learning, then I believe that as teachers of English we need to explore the many aspects of English-speaking culture appropriate for all learners, however young the children we teach. → What can we do as primary teachers? We need to look at culture through a child’s eyes and consider what will motivate a Primary child to want to know more about the target culture. Having worked with children for nearly 25 years, I have found even young children are really interested when I talk about what children in English-speaking countries do that is the same or different to their world. I find activities based on festivals very motivational and the children quickly become engaged in the colourful, fun activities; so festivals are usually where I begin to introduce culture into the Pre-school and Primary classroom. In my upcoming webinar we will look at bringing cultural awareness to young learners through festivals that are important to the everyday lives of children in English-speaking countries. In this very practical session we will investigate stories, songs, games and other mysterious things to enjoy with our Primary children.Filed under: Cultural Studies, Pre-school Children, Professional Development, Young Learners Tagged: Children, Cultural awareness, Games, Pre-Primary, Primary, Songs, Stories, Teaching with songs, Vanessa Reilly, Very Young Learners, Webinar, Writing with Children, Young Learners