Investigate a book

K Torrisi has come up with a list called "Investigate A Book".
It combines Bloom’s, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and De Bono’s Six Hats to suggest activities for students. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the link.

Introducing Yourself

Hello everyone,

Addressing students by their name is the first step in working successfully with a class. However, it isn’t that simple and it can be quite boring to simply have students asking their names several times. So here’s an activity you can use in your first class that will provide an enjoyable way to learn the children’s names even if they know each other already.

GRADE: 3rd and 4th

AIMS

·        create a stimulating learning environment

·        learning/revising the children’s name

·        learning/revising some vocabulary       

MATERIAL:

·        A4 sheets of paper

·        Coloured pencils, crayons or markers

PROCEDURE:

Hand out A4 paper sheets and tell students to fold the A4 paper into half.

On one side of the card write your name so everyone can see it

On the other side of the card draw something that begins with the same letter as your name. Eg. Patrícia Panda; Susana Sun; Luis Lion

Afterwards, have all students standing up and making a circle. Be the model and introduce yourself by saying “Hello, I’m Patricia Panda”(don’t forget to show the correct side of the card as you are introducing yourself.)

Then face the child on the right side and ask “What’s your name?”

The child, to whom the question has been made, replies:”Hello, I’m Susana Sun.” Then the “What’s your name?”question is made to the student, again on the right. Carry on the activity until each student has had a go.

***

Depending on the level of students you can make this activity into a more challenging one: the student who has to answer the question “What’s your name?” has to tell his/her name as well as the previous student(s).

Eg. Hello, I’m Susana Sun and she is Patricia Panda.

Or

Hello, I’m Susana Sun, she is Patricia Panda and he is Luis Lion.


:-D

Methodology and Language for Primary Teachers

Hello Everyone,

At Pilgrims I’ve attended Methodology and Language for Primary Teachers along with other 19 Primary English Teachers form a wide variety of countries. During the 2 week course the following topics were covered:

•  How children learn and develop
• Characteristics of young learners
• Teaching through Mulpiple Inteligences
• Instructions giving
• Emotions and learning
• Storytelling
• Songs and Games
• Developing the four linguistic skills
• CLIL
• Classroom management
• Adapting materials
• Learning through Arts and Crafts
• Using Drama
• Portfolio Assessement
• Dealing with Special Needs
• IT for teachers

As you can see, we learned quite a lot but we also shared teaching experiences and useful ideas which made our teaching and learning fun! Hopefully the same will happen to you! 

So enjoy this blog, feel free to put into practice the ideas that fit you and be so kind to give us feedback on your personal experience.

:-D

A Multisensory activity

This activity, which was done in our class by our teacher trainer Stefania Ballotto, appeals to different senses. It can show us the senses that are the most important ones for our students, it can give us the idea of how our students learn and it will certainly motivate them to speak when they compare their answers.
Intelligences involved: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, kinaesthetic, linguistic, visual/spatial, logical-mathematical.
The teacher chooses three different places in the classroom – place A, B and C. The students will have some paper and writing material and will have to go and stay at place A, B or C if they choose answer A, B or C in the following multiple choice exercise. Then the teacher dictates this:
Question 1 – Which do you prefer?
A. reading a book
B. smelling a book
C. hearing a book read to you?
When the students go to the place that corresponds to their choice, they will have to write two reasons why they have chosen that possibility. Then they can share their answers with the whole class.
Then, the same activity is repeated with other questions. Examples of possible questions are:
Question 2 – Which do you prefer?
A. kneading dough
B. smelling dough
C. tasting dough
Question 3 - Which do you prefer?
A. feeling the wind
B. seeing the wind
C. hearing the wind
Question 4 - Which do you prefer?
A. stroking a cat
B. watching a cat
C. hearing a cat purr

Activities connected with musical intelligence

These activities were suggested in class by our teacher trainer Stefania Ballotto.

Activity 1 – The students are asked to remember three important moments in their lives and to link a different music to each one of these moments.
They tell their partner about their choices.

Activity 2 – The students listen to a piece of instrumental music. The teacher asks them what colours they can see while they are listening. They compare their answers with their partner.

Activity 3 – The same music is played again. This time the students have to imagine objects and make a list. Students compare their lists.

Activity 4 - This time, while they are listening, the students have to imagine what is happening and they have to write it down.

Other questions can be asked like these, for example:
- What does the music remind you of?
- What feelings does the music bring?
- How do you think the artist felt when he was writing this piece of music?
- What title would you give to this piece of music?

Here there are no right or wrong answers. The students can say what they want. This can be done in pairs but it can also be done together. A lot of vocabulary will certainly be used. The teacher will write the new words on the board.
These activities involve a range of intelligences – intrapersonal, interpersonal, musical, visual/spatial and linguistic.

Some ideas on active listening

In a Workshop led by Mario Rinvolucri, I got some ideas on how to make the students more relaxed when they are listening to the teacher and, at the same time, make them actively participate in the activities.
Activity 1 – The teacher dictates one sentence and the student has to go on with the text, writing one or two more sentences that complete the first one.
Eg: Teacher: “He thought carefully and then opened the door quietly.”
The students compare their work in pairs.

Activity 2 – The teacher dictates one or two sentences and the student has to write the sentence before and after the teacher’s text.
Eg: Teacher: “She got to the top of the mountain. She could see for miles and miles”.
Students compare their work.

Activity 3 – The teacher reads a story and then after reading it, instead of asking questions about facts in the story, the teacher dictates some questions like these:
- When you were listening were your pictures still or moving?
- Were your pictures black and white or coloured?
- Were they big or small?
- Were your pictures blurred or well focused?
- Were they flat or with perspective?
- Did you ever become one of the people in the story?
- Where were you at the end of the story?
- (…)
Students discuss their answers with their partner. This makes them speak a lot about the story, recalling a lot of vocabulary, in a relaxed atmosphere.

Introducing yourself

This activity was also done in our class in the Pilgrims Course. Students stand in a circle and introduce themselves to the group using an adjective that starts by the same letter as their name and by mentioning two things they like doing, adding some gestures to their words. Eg: I’m silly Sally and I like cooking (student pretends she is stirring something with a spoon) and dancing (student dances). The next student repeats what the first student has just said, together with the gestures ( “she is silly Sally and she likes cooking and dancing”) and adds his/her own adjective, name and two things he/she likes doing, performing the actions. The activity goes on like that.
This activity appeals to different intelligences (intrapersonal, interpersonal, linguistic, kinaesthetic)and it is a good way to practise the present simple, like + ing form, the place of the adjective before a noun and vocabulary (adjectives and action verbs).

A good idea to practise irregular verbs

Another good idea our teacher trainer Stefania suggested to us is this activity for young students, through which they practise the leading forms of the irregular verbs together with certain movements (use of kinesthetic and linguistic intelligences). If the verbs have three different forms, when they say the Infinitive they should put their both hands on the top of the head, when they say the Past Simple they should move their hands to the waist and when they say the Past Participle they should bend and touch their feet with both hands. If the forms are the same, they should just repeat the previous movement.
Eg. go (hands to the head) / went (hands to the waist) / gone (hands to toes)
say (hands to the head) / said (hands to the waist) / said (hands to the waist)
cut (hands to the head) /cut (hands to the head) / cut (hands to the head)

This activity can be a game, which can be played in a circle or it can be played in pairs. If it is played in pairs, the first student says a verb in the Infinitive, the second student says the Past Simple, the first says the Past Participle and the second starts another verb in the Infinitive. Of course they have to perform the movements as they say the different forms of the verb and they can lose if either a movement or a verb form are wrong.

Teaching English through Art and Multiple Intelligences

And now, something practical.
The following activity was done in class by our wonderful teacher trainer Stefania Ballotto. The entry point for teaching is Art, in this case the painting Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.
The painting is projected and the following questions are asked to the students:
- What feelings does this picture bring you?
- What feelings did the painter have when he painted?
- Why? What colours did he use?
- Do you think the painter felt alone or at ease with himself?
The students answer these questions individually and then share their answers with their partner (use of intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences). Then the teacher can ask the students to share some of their answers with the whole class.
Then there follows a vocabulary activity (use of linguistic intelligence). The teacher can ask questions eliciting some nouns, adjectives and verbs that can describe the objects that can be seen in the painting. For example, for adjectives, questions like these can be asked:
- What kind of sky is this? Answer: It’s starry.
- What kind of village is this? Answer: It’s sleepy
(…)
For verbs, questions like these can be used:
What is the tree doing? Answer: It’s swaying.
What about the tall church? Answer: It’s pointing
(…)
In the course of this activity, a list like this one can be written on the board:
Nouns:moon/ stars/ church/ tree/ village/ hills/ sky
Adjectives: starry /bright /green /tall /sleepy /blue
Verbs: swirling /shining /swaying /pointing /resting/dreaming /rolling

With young students, or perhaps with older ones,( it depends on the students and number of students in the class), the following activity can be done to help memorize new words and word order (use of bodily-kinaesthetic and linguistic intelligences). The teacher says the following sentences and the students make gestures that imitate the movement or the situation depicted in the painting:
Blue hills rolling / starry sky swirling /bright moon shining / sleepy village sleeping / tall church pointing
This activity can then be repeated in pairs. One of the students says a sentence and the partner acts the situation.
After this the students can be asked to write a poem with the minimum of three lines and the maximum of six lines with the vocabulary they have just been practising (use of linguistic intelligence). Some of the poems can be read in class.
The students can then join in groups of 4 or 5 people and produce a “tableau vivant” that represents the painting. Then each element of the group can tell the class what he/she represents using the vocabulary they have just learnt (eg. I’m the tall church pointing / I’m the sleepy village resting / I’m the blue hills rolling / etc) (use of kinaesthetic and linguistic intelligences).
At the end of the activity, the song Starry Night by Don McLean could be presented to the students with a gap-filling exercise, which could be then corrected with the lyrics of the song. The students might sing the song if they wanted.
As a follow up activity, the students could be asked to take a blank page, draw a swirl, which would be the starting point, and paint their own picture. (use of visual/spatial and linguistic intelligences ). Questions like these could be asked:
- What if you painted the picture?
- How would you do it?
- Who would it be for?
- (...)

Questions and Answers about MI Theory

There are some myths and misconceptions about Multiple Intelligence Theory. I’ll use some questions to clarify some of them.
1. There are lots of tests that aim at assessing people’s different intelligences. Should they be used by teachers?
Answer: Yes and No. These tests can be useful to show students that they have strengths and weaknesses, that they are “smart” in their own way. So, if a student is not linguistically smart, he can realize that he can be, for example “body smart” or “music smart”. So this will be good for his self-esteem. These tests can also be useful to give teachers an idea of the different intelligences their pupils have. However, Gardner points out that these tests are often inaccurate as they often examine students’ intelligences through the lenses of linguistic or logical intelligences and not through an “intelligence fair” method. For example, according to Gardner, music intelligence should be assessed by exposing people to a new melody and by determining how readily they learn to sing it or recognize it and not by asking students, for example, in a written questionnaire, if they like listening to music while they study.
2. Are multiple intelligences the same thing as learning styles?
Answer: No. Learning styles are the different ways in which a learner takes in information. They can be defined as the way human beings prefer to concentrate on, store and remember new or difficult information. Intelligences are the different capacities a learner uses to make products or to solve problems.
3. Should teachers teach everything using the eight intelligences?
Answer: Not really. Teachers should be aware that students are different from each other and so they should try to reach them all. They should also give all of them the opportunity to show their understanding of what has been taught in the way they prefer. However there are things that cannot be taught in eight different ways. So, it’s better to teach that thing in the way the teacher thinks is the most appropriate one for that subject and teach the next subject with a different approach.
4. Is MI Theory a methodology?
Answer: No. There is no specific methodology connected with the MI Theory. Teachers should use the strategies they want bearing in mind that students are not all the same. According to Gardner (1999) “teachers need to be imaginative and pluralistic if they hope to stimulate revealing performances of understanding” and “when teachers are able to use different pedagogical approaches, they can reach more students in more effective ways”.
5. Is assessment through Project Work and Portfolio favoured by MI Theory?
Answer: Yes. Through Project Work and Portfolio students can show their learning and understanding of different subjects in the way they prefer, according to their specific intelligences. If students were allowed to do so, they would certainly feel more motivated to learn.

A story of multiple intelligences

I had the privilege to participate in a workshop on Multiple Intelligences (MI), led by Phil Dexter, from Pilgrims.  It was during the course on Creative Methodology For The Classroom I attended at the University of Kent, in Canterbury, on the second half of July 2010.

Phil Dexter used different strategies to show how to put into action a variety of MIs in an integrated way. As he dictated a story (All about John), he interrupted it to invite us to respond to activities regarding the story. For example,  in pairs, we were invited to write the first six lines of the dialogue between John and Elaine; individually, we were invited to listen to a few questions, choose two and answer them; in pairs, we were asked to describe his mother's character; in groups, we were asked to design John's room, using the rods and the buttons provided in a box; we were also invited to describe the sort of music John enjoyed and to imagine and write a sentence from his blog post.

This activity turned out to be very funny as we would never believe so many alternative stories would come out from a very simple plot that had been embedded with our own contributions coming out of our MIs.

The activity presented by Phil Dexter was based on an idea in Dictation - New methods, new possibilities, by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri, CUP, 1988.

Multiple Intelligences – Some basic ideas

Hi, everybody!
At Pilgrims, I attended the Course “Teaching English through Multiple Intelligences”. Here, in this blog, I intend to share some ideas and practical exercises I got from this Course. There are lots of books and Internet articles where you can get theoretical information about the MI Theory, its founder, Howard Gardner, and a lot of people who have developed this Theory, which started with Project Zero at Harvard University. So I will not go very deeply into the subject, but concentrate on key concepts that might be useful for anyone who doesn’t know anything about the Theory and would like some basic information before a deeper investigation. So, I’ll start with a post with very basic concepts about this Theory and then I’ll go on with other posts about more practical stuff.
Here are some basic ideas about MI Theory in note form:
• The standard intelligence tests that were used throughout the 20th century focused only on three intelligences: logical- mathematical, linguistic and spacial. Lots of teachers still limit their way of teaching to these three intelligences.
• The traditional way of measuring intelligence, considering it as a general capacity you have inherited from your parents, presents you with problems when you want to measure the intelligence of people with special talents that excel in some areas but that don’t have good results in the areas that are traditionally tested.
• In 1983, Howard Gardner challenged this limited concept of intelligence by proposing a Theory that considered that individuals are born with more intelligences than those mentioned above. Based on the criteria he established, we can consider eight (and a half) intelligences – linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual/spatial, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, bodily kinesthetic, naturalist and existential (the one whose existence is not yet completely proved according to Howard’s criteria). Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language; logical-mathematical intelligence involves the capacity to think logically and to reason about the connections between objects, actions and ideas; visual/spatial intelligence has to do with the potential to think in images and to recognize and manipulate patterns of space; musical intelligence involves the skill in the performance, composition and appreciation of music; intrapersonal intelligence involves the capacity to understand and reflect on your own thoughts, feelings and actions; interpersonal intelligence denotes a person’s capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people; bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using your body or parts of the body; naturalist intelligence has to do with the capacity to recognize and classify the various species of our environment, to think about and understand the natural world; existential intelligence involves the concern with “ultimate” issues of our human condition such as the significance of life or the meaning of death.
• Although we are all born with these intelligences, we don’t have them combined in the same way. So, according to Gardner, (1999), “…intelligences arise from the combination of a person’s genetic heritage and life conditions in a given culture and era.” So, each one of us has a “unique blend of intelligences”.
• As a consequence of this, students should not be treated in the same uniform way and teachers should be aware that each one of them is unique and intelligent in his / her own way. On the other hand, we shouldn’t forget that the intelligences do not work in isolation but they are combined in the different activities we have in our lives.

In my next post I’ll write about some misconceptions and myths related to MI Theory