Dictogloss

Dictogloss

Dictogloss is a classroom dictation activity where learners are required to reconstruct a short text by listening and noting down key words, which are then used as a base for reconstruction.

Example

Learners discuss the sea. The teacher then explains the task, and reads a short text on the sea to the class, who just listen. The teacher reads the text again, and the learners take notes. In groups, the learners then reconstruct the text.

In the classroom

Dictogloss is often regarded as a multiple skills and systems activity.Learners practise listening, writing and speaking (by working in groups) and use vocabulary, grammar and discourse systems in order to complete the task.

The Hot Seat

Level
Beginner to advanced.

Skills Practised
Speaking and listening.

Time
Flexible.
Preparation
1. Prepare a list of five to nine words your class has recently learned.
2. Draw a scoring table on the board, like this:

Team A	Team B

How it Works
1. Ask your students to form two teams and have them move their chairs forward to form two groups facing the board. After explaining the game and modeling the roles if necessary, ask for one player from each team to move his or her chair forward again and turn it to face his or her group. These players then sit in their chairs (now 'hot seats') with their backs to the board.
2. Write the first word on the board, making sure the players in the 'hotseats' can't see it. After you say 'Go!', the members of each team try to elicit this word from their team-member in the 'hot seat' without saying the word or giving any clues as to its spelling (such as the first letter). For example, if the word is 'vitamins', players could make statements such as 'We need lots of these in our food' or ask leading questions such as 'What doesfruit have a lot of?'. The team whose 'hot seat' player first says the target word wins a point.
3. The two players in the 'hot seats' then swap seats with another member of their respective teams. After writing the second word on the board, say 'Go!' again,and so on. The game continues until all the words have been used, with the team having the most points at the end of the game winning.
Notes:
- If neither of the players in the 'hot seats' has stated the word within a reasonable length of time, move on to the next word without having the players swap seats.
- It's a good idea to tell the players the total number of words you intend to write on the board before play begins. This allows players to gauge their team's chances of winning as the game progresses.
Variations: There are many possible variations on this game. You could write the names of famous people instead of recently-learned words, or movie titles, song titles, countries, famous places, etc.

Thank You

Once again, I had a fantastic trip to Jordan (14 in a row!). And although it was a great trip, I am very aware that many people worked very hard to make it so - I just had to show up and enjoy it. Some of the highlights and people who made it all possible:

Shorouq - I come up with all kinds of fun ideas, she does the hard work to make it all come true - and then hosts me for wonderful meals with her family
Bassam - He came out late at night on a work night and picked me up at the airport, arranged all my classroom observations, then carted me around for nearly a week - above and beyond the call of duty
Zeinab and Salam - they presented me with a wonderful plaque: Zeinab also helped with my visits, and Salam hosted me at her school
Alaa and Fatima - the dynamic duo helped arrange the executive team meeting and keep everyone in touch and enthused with their work on the blog and fb page. They too hosted me at their school.
Ahmed, Sultan, Salam, Khadijeh, Sara, Fatima, and Alaa - they all gave me the honor of visiting their schools and observing them teaching. I was universally impressed, and I will be sharing some of my observations with you all very soon!
Sabreen, Mervat, and Nihaya - They took time out of their busy schedules to join me on my school visits
The Executive Team - They met with me, presented me with some lovely flowers, and agreed to shoulder even more responsibility for this very important mission
20+ Members of the Academy - Despite short notice and terrible weather, they came to meet me at my hotel for day (on their day off!) and worked wonderfully together. Several others who couldn't make it sent me their regrets
The Oxford Team - Samah, Ibrahim, Sanabel, Inas, Osama, Haneen, Zeinab all treated me like an honored guest, I always have fun when I visit there. I also got to work with a lot of the staff,and even some parents who were equally wonderful
Muath - My perpetual Mixed Grill partner
MZ and Kids - A wonderful trip to the mall, despite the fact they tried to get me stuck in a tube
The EP students who welcomed me in their class, and Alaa, Fufu and their Irbid crew who stuffed me with a few kilos of meat
Sanabel and Haneen who introduced me to raw meat and funny tasting sweets :)
Mervat, Inas, Alaa, Zeinab, Salam, and everyone else who was thoughtful enough to get me gifts
All the headmistresses, headmasters, ed specialists, and teachers who welcomed me to their schools

And anyone else I have missed! Several people told me what I knew to be true - that we are like a family :)

Crossing the River

Read the words correctly & cross the river!

A simple game that implies a drawing of a river &some crocodiles, some circles to be stones. The teacher has to write a word on each stone & invites sts. to read the words correctly , so they can cross the river safely. This simple game can be applied to writing & dictation also. Try it sts. will be motivated & challenged!

Running Dictation

Running Dictation

You can usewith any level group, with any number of students from two. Use it to practise dialogues, role-plays, short texts, and grammatical structures – anything your students would find interesting.This task involves speaking, listening, reading and writing. It is an activity,which students enjoy as it is a race!

Organizing a running dictation
Choose a short text at the right level for your group or class.
Photocopy several examples of the text depending on the size of your class. Pin the examples up on the walls of the room where you are working. The challenge for each group is for them to reproduce a written form of the text you choose.
Explain that each group or pair must choose one person to write down a text.
Depending on the size of your groups, explain that the other members of the group will leave take turns to go and read the text you have pinned up on the wall. It is very important that only one person from each group is reading and memorising at any one time.
That person memorises as much as s/he can and then returns to the group to dictate what they have remembered to the other members of the group. The student chosen to do the writing must write down what it is said as accurately as possible. When the person reading and running has come to the end of what they have remembered, the next person in the group sets off.
Continue like this until the group has written down the whole version of the text.
The group that finishes first is the winner!

Fatima Ramadan

My Resources

I rememberd the first time when I entered the classroom and had no idea where to start ,especialy using different kind of aids which is sadly don't exist in our schools.

So, I decided to search in the second hand market for different kinds of games, cards, stories......etc. hopfully I found alot in cheap prices, today I want to share one of them

PUPPET, very intresting,colourful, exciting and can be used to teach any vocabulary, mime any action verb, to make a role play. try it.

Maisa

"Wonders of the Ancient World"

"Wonders of the Ancient World"

Seventh grade students at Jerash Camp GS2 have made a diorama of their own favorite ancient world wonders. Teacher Mariam had asked them to carry out a project with the title (Make your wonder diorama).They have worked in groups to complete the project & to write their reports.

Fatima Rammadan

Team Work

Team work  at Jerash Camp

In Jerash Camp GS2 we work as a team, six  English teachers of  different grades, we co-operate,  hold meetings, share ideas & resources, we support each other, support our sts., try to understand their conditions better,…….etc.
This has it's powerful impact upon our work as teachers in the same school! For example: we provide the necessary resources for each other, those in the picture were provided by teacher Maisa & I would like to thank her & the other teachers! ( Widad, Mariam, Manal &Israa)
Fatima

An Ice Breaker

An ice-breaker

 A simple game you can apply in your classroom , that motivate sts, especially those who like action & moving. Ask.  sts. to stand up back to back, then ask each one to describe his\her partner's clothes, their colors….etc.

Try it! It's very simple & interesting. I will be waiting for your feedback!

Fatima Ramadan

I carved out my core values in teaching - Sara Subhi

I carved out my core values in teaching:

 I believe that each child is a unique individual .teacher is going to instill a lot of things (respect , love, ethics ,enthusiasm , passion) to help this plant to blossom and grow .they need to grow emotionally, intellectually, physically, psychology and socially.

I believe the teacher acting as a guide. Show students all the beauty they have inside....

-It's very important  to find something in every student to respect. students feel free to express themselves. I spoke with students before and after school and during breaks about their lives at home and admire many of them simply for their behaviors . I had to  know the person behind the student, I knew students needed. I help students to express their passions .I shared stories about my family and weekend. -To help students to find their own paths and to draw their objectives.

I believe that teacher should earn the approbation of students, build a rapport with them, give them a sense of pride and joy, inspire them, create his own culture and safe classroom environment.

 I will tie learning into the world community to help children become caring and active members of society.

I work as a teacher with the social society to provide students with a supportive environment. Teachers and parents are working on the same road . children are our future.

- Finally My slogan is to instill a love of learning in my students

TKT Training

Today Mrs. Jill Davidson the TKT trainer at the British Council has attended the last session of the workshop at Jerash Camp School.( Selection & Use of Supplementary Materials\ Teaching Aids)

It was very interesting to share us the activities & the games! I carried out a communication test for them all. She is (A)! !! She will post her feedback about the workshop soon here in the blog!

Look at her answering one of the burning question!

She liked the idea very much!

Fatima Ramadan

Domino Beans

Domino beans from a creative teacher

Teacher Talaat Afana has made his own domino beans on which he wrote   alphabets & words. He uses them in his classroom to help sts. spell, read and make sentences. Such beans can be also used in competitions, games, warming up activities….etc.
They are easy to make, motivating and creates fun in classroom.

Thanks a lot Talaat Afanna
Jerash Camp BS  

Cuisenair Rods

Cuisenair Rods

These are wooden or plastic blocks which were invented  by George Cuisenair to teach kids Maths in an interesting way. Then they were used to teach language. They can be used in many different ways :
1- for representing strong & weak syllables.
2 - indictation for e.g. the teacher describes a house & sts, form the house with the rods & compare it with the teacher's version after then they do the same in pairs
3-for telling time & to represent time lines.
4-to introduce & practice comparatives & superlatives.
5- to teach phrasal verbs ( using rods of different colors for different parts of the verb so sts become familiar with them).
.
Usingthe  Cuisenair Rods is fun and they can be used by both adult & young learners as they create enthusiasm.
They also provide an opportunity for group work without book , pens & paper.They also motivate & challenge learners with different learning styles.
 Fatima Ramadan

Mingle

A mingle is a short activity where learners walk around the classroom and talk to each other. An ice-breaker, where learners get to know each other, is a type of mingle.

Example
The learners are talking about their favorite references. They prepare a question each and then mingle to ask others in the class what they think.

In the classroom
Mingle activities include class questionnaires, matching activities (finding your partner), group dictations, and role-plays. I apply this technique in my classes - first it was strange and difficult to get sts. use to it but later it became their favorite interaction pattern! I've applied it also in my TKT training workshop and you can't imagine the results!

Fatima Ramadan
Jerash