Problem Solving Task

The Third Week

I handed out some colourful cards which include some target vocabulary for warm-up. They acted out the words or drew some and their friends try to guess. The students had great fun while trying to convey the meanings of words without speaking. Additionally, this warm-up activity was really practical in terms of time and all the students stayed active during the activity.

I passed problem solving task activity. I explained the situation to the students and asked them to find a solution for the tourist. I divided the class into two groups as individuals and pairs. Each group was handed out a situation that reflects a problem about real life. I also gave the individuals the same situation. The pairs discussed the possible problems seen in the worksheet given by the teacher while individuals were studying on their own.After discussing and thinking of possible solutions, they wrote their solutions about the situation that they had deduced from their situations by using target vocabulary given. I collect papers. The students liked this task very much. They wrote so many interesting solutions. 

I handed out some worksheets which include the target vocabulary. They matched the words with the pictures representing their meanings. It was really an easy activity since the aim was just to provide recall of the target vocabulary. I collected worksheets. 

Jigsaw Task

      The Second Week

I said that they would play a game called “hangman”. I divided the class into five groups and each group chose one student for writing and the writer came to the board. She picked a word up from the box. This word was from target vocabulary. The student wrote blanks on the board according to the given word. The other members of the group tried to guess by saying a letter one by one. When the letter they had said does not belong to the word, the student drew a part of the man on the board. There were two words for each group to write and guess. At the end of the game, we clapped the winner group. I have to say that this activity took more time than I had planned. Since we didn’t have any time limitation, they used time freely. However, they had great fun during the activity and all the students were active and seemed to be excited.

I passed jigsaw task. I divided the class into two groups as individuals and pairs. I handed out some pictures and explained the task steps. The students examined the pictures given. They tried to put the pictures in their right rows. After this section, they wrote a paragraph telling the theme of the story by using target vocabulary given in a box. Half of the class studied on their own and the rest studied in pairs. I collected the students’ papers. Actually, I wanted the same people’s studying collaboratively and leaving the same students alone yet a lot of objections broke out. Some of the students said “I don’t want to do it myself, I want to study with my partner!” or some of them said “I prefer studying individually. Since I didn't want them to do the task reluctantly, I let them change their studying styles. As I thought, they were happier and more productive during the task.

I handed out some worksheets which include the target vocabulary. They matched the words with the pictures representing their meanings. It was really an easy activity since the aim was just to provide recall of the target vocabulary. I collected worksheets. 

Dictogloss Task

First week

I divided the classroom into pairs. I wanted one of the partners from each group to pick up a word from the box I had prepared before. These words had been chosen from target vocabulary and they became group names of them. These pairs were supposed to stand up when they heard their group names in the sentence which teacher said. I started to read the sentences and wait for them. I hoped the activity in high school would become as funny as in secondary school yet it didn’t. The student didn’t stand up immediately but I believe that they could understand the usages of target vocabulary implicitly.

I passed dictogloss task activity. I made them listen to a story from a native speaker by using smart board. I divided the class into two groups as individual and pairs. The students studying collaboratively noted down some key points together and individuals noted down on their own while listening to the text for the second and third times. The pairs discussed their key notes and tried to build up a text through interacting with each other while individuals were creating their texts on their own. This stage was good, there were a great deal of interaction between pairs. Individuals tried to talk to their friends yet I had to make them remember the instructions. After all the students finished, I collected their papers.

I handed out some worksheets which include the target vocabulary. They matched the words with the pictures representing their meanings. It was really an easy activity since the aim was just to provide recall of the target vocabulary. I collected worksheets. 

teaching vocabulary is an important issue

Hi everyone!
I have some news for you :) I and my friend are conducting a thesis in the field of ELT this year. Since we give importance on vocabulary teaching very much, we determined our research topic as "The Contribution of Collaborative and Individual Tasks to the Acqusition of L2 Vocabulary" I implemented the study on my student in Vefa High School. I would like to share the steps of the study with you! I hope you like. Follow my posts and see!

Sincere regards :)

observation again

 -the second week-

The teacher introduced grammar orally. She explained the rules with some examples. They were about “Passive Voice” and “Reported Speech”.

The teacher started a discussion about books and e-books. It was a speaking activity. The students explained their preferences and the reason. I liked the title of discussion.

Then, they passed the reading activity. The teacher asked “Who wants to read?” A volunteer read the text. She focused on unknown vocabulary. She gives their meanings in Turkish.

The students answered comprehension questions. When their answers are true, the teacher praised them by saying “very good, well done etc.”

At the end of class the teacher made them watch a video. The teacher and class spoke about it after watching.

the first week of the second term*

-The first week-

                I started with observing the teacher and class again.  Teacher checked students’ homework. Then, there was a speaking activity. During this activity, the teacher checked students’ pronunciations. She focused on fluency.

                While making exercises, the students talked to each other too much about something not related to the course. The teacher warned them and cut the exercise. She passed the listening activity. It is from Unit 8 ‘Planet Earth’. The students are supposed to fill in the blanks according to the text they listened to. The teacher controlled the class while they are filling in the blanks. The students asked when they saw an unknown word. The teacher explained these words in English. When they didn’t understand the explanations, she translated them.

coming back

Hi everybody!

It has been a long time since I didn’t share any post. There are a lot of things to write! I will share my all experience during the second term.

First of all I would like to say that as a trainee teacher I am supposed to be more active, teach something or make activities in this term. I has done a lot of things so far! I hope you like them. Don’t miss my posts.

                                                                                                                             Sincerely

                                                                                                                             Büşra