Snapshot from today - new book

After Banned Book Week last week I will this week introduce my English 5 students to "A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo" as an introduction for our work with the movie "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" which we will go and see on October 16 and then follow up with discussions. LGTBQ questions are extremely important to address in the classroom and why not do it via a children's book that has caused some controversy in the United States.

Young People's Revolutions - Pulitzer Center Education

In English 6 we have, during a few weeks, worked with "Young People's Revolutions" and the basis has been a few articles and lessons found on Pulitzer Center Education . The articles have focused on various places such as Tunisia, Venezuela, Kashmir and The Philippines, where we have taken a look at the causes and effects in each place. Pulitzer Center Education provides good quality lesson plans too. Next week the students will have the task of examining and comparing two revolutions, establishing similarities and differences, using comparative language in a formal essay. Quite a challenge, but also one that I know they are up to. 

Quiz quiz trade - getting to know each other

I have been using the structure of "Quiz quiz trade" (from Cooperative Learning) all of last year in my English classes to promote informal speaking and it was a method that I liked very much since the students became more talkative and showed a great interest in each other. It is also a way of working that can be adapted to the current situation and then changed for the next class with another need.

Below an American teacher tells how she has worked with the structure with her ESL students:

Basically, I created a few different decks of trade cards with open-ended questions since I wanted the students to respond with their own thoughts and ideas. For me, the structure became helpful in getting the students to know each other on a deeper level and to increase the fluency when speaking. At the same time, they get to move around in the classroom and that in turn makes them more alert and "on the go".

These are some of my new quiz quiz trade cards for a course that I will be teaching this year.

Some other questions from last year looked like this:

End of year reflections 2018

It is that time of year again......the students have left the building.....

I have finished cleaning my desk and I have 60 minutes to kill before I go to my colleagues for lunch. 60 minutes in which to summarize this school year. An impossible task of course, but what are some of the things that I take with me from this year? 

The answer to the question is "many things for sure". Let's start with all of the reading that the students have done. 

In year 1 (English 5) we read A Monster Calls as part of the Global Read Aloud (GRA) project during October-November 2017. The process during reading was rewarding in the sense that the students were very active during the discussions and we used Flipgrid to connect with other readers at our school and in parts of the USA and Canada. At the end of the reading we came to a close with watching the film version of the book, starring Liam Neeson as the monster. Thumb's up for the project that always succeeds - Global Read Aloud for the win! 

In year 2 (English 6) my students read Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Rifka Brunt,  Never Let Me Go by Nobel laureate Ishiguro, Flowers for Algernon by Keynes and The Island of Dr Moreau by Wells. Even though all of the books were appreciated by the students it was a definite landslide win for Tell the Wolves. Most students were immensely engaged in the lives of the characters and we had a great deal of fruitful discussions in the classroom. Some even said that "I will carry this book with me for quite some time" and "I loved it!". Never Let Me Go was still a good choice for discussion, however some expressed that "I can't really connect with the characters or feel for them" while some were captivated by the love story between Ruth and Tommy. With this one too, we finished the project by watching the film version with Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. 

The latter books were studied and discussed as part of a joint project with Biology called "Medical Ethics". Among other things, the students argued in a formal essay how the rules of medical ethics were broken or violated with regard to the books. In the end-of-year evaluation a majority of the students thought that the Medical Ethics project was among the best of the year. 

Finally, many short stories have been devoured during the English courses as well, the best ones being "The Moment Before the Gun Went Off" by Gordimer, "Chinasa" by Ngozi Adichie, "Indian Camp" by Hemingway and "The Hour" by Chopin this year.

When it comes to writing the ultimate challenge has been to try to get a few of the students to grasp the basics of writing, such as using capitalization and full stop at the end of sentences (I kid you not!). On the other hand, a few others have penned exquisite writings embellished with the utmost care, consideration and creativity. The first project in August-September for year 2 (English 6) was called "No Limits" and there was a choice between writing drabbles or stream of consciousness narratives, somehow connected to the street art festival "No Limit" in Borås, where we live. Many chose drabbles, which are concentrated forms of prose using exactly 100 words. The results were exceptional. The project was among the favorite top ones when all 90 students evaluated. 

In November we had a look at cover letters and more formal writing. Argumentative essays were dealt with during the fall as well as towards spring, as a preparation for the national tests. The writing task at the national tests in May gave an indication as to what the focal points for next year need to be. As I concluded, students find it bothersome to comprehend the principles of agreement of concord, to keep the formal writing strictly formal, spelling and there is a rather substantial lack of synonyms...

Padena speaks to two students in the Basque country in Spain

Generally speaking, students are good at speaking! At least that is what they think most of the time... What I have gathered though, is that a majority are good at speaking BUT they are also fooled by their own impressions of what and how they sound like. They mistake good fluency and pronunciation for good proficiency. And there is a definite difference between the two! A good fluency and pronunciation do not necessarily mean that you have an extensive vocabulary or that you form sentences in more complex manners. Oftentimes the opposite is true. Fluent speakers tend to be quite informal and sometimes very challenged when it comes to more formal circumstances where a wider scope of complexity and depth is needed. Next school year I need to implement a stronger emphasis on distinguishing between formal and informal spoken English in the classroom. 

I still use Skype in the classroom on occasions and in November we had a Skypeathon again, this time for 12 hours. In December and January we had a collaboration with a teacher and school in the Basque country where the students skyped individually/two and two for about 30 minutes. For practicing informal and colloquial exchanges, as well as useful phrases, Skype is fantastic. Additionally, Flipgrid has been essential too, as a tool used in various projects throughout the year. Some students, however, started to grow tired of the tool at the end of the year.  

Listening is an ability that is always practiced during lessons,  but usually more in an informal way than anything else, and next year an additional focus on listening strategies will be on my agenda. 

To make a long story short...this is what  I will do MORE of and LESS of next school year, based on my own and the students' evaluations:

MORE

* Read (and only interesting, challenging titles)

* Work on expanding vocabularies more continually

* Work on distinguishing more between formal and informal registers, in speech and writing

* Practicing spelling more continually

* Homework (= actually giving them homework once in a while - I am not a steadfast believer in that it actually improves results, but the students want them!! - yes it is true! )

* Evaluation and exit tickets - the feedback is imminent and should guide me further

LESS

* Read uninteresting short stories 

Now, I am going to dive into my book - The Underground Railroad - and not even think about school until August again. Have a lovely summer ! :) 

Making emoji exit tickets

Somehow I still like exit tickets in a paper version, I like the feel of having my students' thoughts in my hand after a lesson. Sitting down and carefully reading and reflecting about the previous lesson. Here is the latest version of an exit ticket - making use of emojis. :)

Emoji exit ticket by pnillaelander

Pride - watching a movie and discussing the content

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_(2014_film)

This week we started a 2,5 week project called "Pride," and the movie Pride is indeed the main focal point of the project.

This is the initial information that the students received:

In this project you will watch the film “Pride” and then discuss the content of the movie in smaller groups. The focus is on oral interaction and discussion of important themes from the film.

Plan:

We will watch the film during two lessons, and you will take notes while watching. Discussions will be in smaller groups during two lessons.

Remember to be able to talk about:

• Setting = where the film takes place; where are we?
• Plot = the general actions and happenings of the film; what happens?
• Mood = Are there different kinds of moods in the film? Do they change?
• Theme = what is the primary theme of the film? E.g. “loss of innocence”, “Man vs. Nature”, “death as part of life” etc..
• Characters = focus on the main characters and describe their personalities (interior/exterior)

After watching the movie the students were divided into smaller groups (of five-six), and, with the help of a few questions and the elements above, there was intense interaction as the movie was discussed.

Examples of questions:

Fight for solidarity and tolerance

Mark Ashton says at the beginning of the film: "An exposed group should show solidarity with other vulnerable groups. It's illogical to say I'm gay and intend to defend our group, but I do not care about anyone else. "
1. Discuss Mark's statement. What makes him, despite resistance, continue his fight for the miners? How does he succeed in persuading the others? Can Mark's thoughts teach us something about how today's cooperation could look between different vulnerable groups in society?

Dai Sullivan is the mining worker who first contact LGSM. Unlike many of the others he is tolerant and grateful for their help. "When you fight an enemy that is so much bigger and stronger than you and you find a friend that you did not know existed, it is the most beautiful feeling in the world.”
2. Which reception does the group get when Dai first introduces them to the other miners? How important is Dai’s role for the relations between the gay activists and the little village?

3. Describe Hefina. What is she like? Why do you think she takes such a solid stand for the gay community?

4. Who else takes a stand for them and is grateful for their help?

The women in the village are generally more open to gay activists than men.

5. What do you think about this? What has the strike meant for the women’s situation in the village?

6. How can one notice that both curiosity and the prejudices that are facing the gay activists also lead to new contacts and friendship?

A woman in the village is sitting together with her sons and want to stop "the perverted intruders" despite the fact that they have collected thousands of pounds that they gave to the village.
7. What is the reason for her negativity? What does she refer to when she tries to stop them? How do the others in the village react to her actions?

Even though the tolerance against gay activists is increasing not everything goes well. When Mark faces the miners and gives a speech to better the relationship, he fails completely.
8. What is wrong with his speech? What does he presume that makes many upset?

When the gossip magazine The Sun is mocking LGSM's activities and collection under the heading "Pits and Perverts" they decide to turn it around by using it to their own advantage.
9. In what way do they succeed? What's the concert?

10. How are the reactions from the villagers in front of the other visitors to the concert? What experiences and discoveries do they have and make during the London visit?

(questions taken and translated from http://www.filminstitutet.se/contentassets/a3eeb380284743f19330572604d42712/pride.pdf )



Additionally, each student was also given the chance to record 1-2 Flipgrid videos:

Snapshot from Today - Quiz Quiz Trade Cards

Slowly I am integrating collaborative learning techniques during our lessons. Quiz Quiz Trade cards are a favorite right now to start off a lesson or to activate the students in the middle of one. General questions about school, learning and student life to get some interaction going and learn more about each other - and themselves. Next I will make cards with questions and given answers (like vocabulary, grammar queries). So far, it has been an appreciated segment of the lesson. 

What would you do? - SA16M

No Hate - a theme day around media and information literacy

Miley Cyrus as photographed by Adam Bouska

Director Lee Daniels - photo credit: Adam Bouska

For many weeks I have been working on and planning a theme day at our school around media and information literacy (MIK in Swedish). Tomorrow's the day and I am very excited! Focus is put on No Hate and how to behave on the net and social media and the whole school is taking part! I will document some of the happenings here as they happen....on Instagram and Twitter we will use the hash tag #erikslundskolannohate. Why not join the cause!!??

No Hate

Jag <3 Internet

Vad är näthat?

Ses Offline?

Statens Medieråd - MIK för mig

Simple checklist for evaluation of websites - digital literacy

A little ahead time I put these up here just to get you acquainted with them. During week 10 we will work with digital literacy and the checklist below. We will also do certain parts of Skolverket's exercises about digital literacy as well as their self-assessment. If you want to, have a closer look at it already..

Self-assessment from Skolverket:

Evaluation of English - year 8 and 9

Change your words - change your mindset

Someone made an interesting share in our English group on Facebook and it was a photo from a classroom somewhere in the world. In the photo there was a kind of poster with the following headline: Change your words - Change your mindset and some examples of how you can think differently. A great reminder of how we need to get our students to think more positively about themselves and also how to try to make their mindsets grow and change with time and experience. I made my own version in Canva and I'm going to put these up in the classroom. I think we can all learn from these examples...

Snapshots from today - blackout poetry and peer response

There is a Blackout Poetry contest on its way at school, here are some of the students' contributions....

The students in year 9 have handed in their summaries (of short stories). I made the summaries anonymous, added a number to each text and sat the students in groups. In groups of four they read through the summaries, kept a protocol where they also commented on the quality of each summary. Afterwards, one student said "this was such a great assignment!" I totally agreed - they took great responsibility, cooperated well and learned a lot. 

Don't forget your self assessment

I hope to use this poster in my classrooms and to come back to it every week. The students should be able to jot down two-three things that they have an opinion about after the lessons. This way they are challenged to reflective thinking. 

and here's an empty document for the students to write on....feel free to use it if you want.

Some post-school year thoughts

After a month of winding down after a busy school year I'm starting to feel ready to slowly start wrapping my mind around another school year. But first, some thoughts about the school year that came to an end in early June.

The highlights of my English lessons last school year were definitely the Mystery Hangouts and Mystery Skypes, that brought the world into the classroom. My students really enjoyed the hangouts and I most certainly did too! As a bonus I got to meet some really nice and fabulous global colleagues and I'm also happy to say that I'll continue working with a couple of them. I have some future projects in mind where I would love some global collaboration.

In May a reporter and photographer visited my 7 graders during an English lesson and a hangout session with New Zealand. Later this fall an article will come out describing how we've worked with hangouts. I'll keep you posted... :)

I've also gotten acquainted with a few new digital tools. I made a list of some digital tools in a previous entry, and following are some tools that I used and really liked:

Canva - great for e.g. making posters, informative tables etc..
Google Forms - I made forms to check the students' understanding and way of learning
Kahoot - always fun and useful to use as a quiz in the classroom
Read Theory - checking my students' reading comprehensions
Thinglink - gathering all the information in one place (links, videos...)
Wordshake - a fun game that we played when we had time to kill

All in all, I'm looking forward to a new school year, starting in mid-August, and I've got many ideas to put to the test. Formative assessment is at the top of my list the coming school year, as well as trying to implement a culture where failure is to become as accepted as a means of learning, as anything else.

Hope your summer is great! I'm leaving you with a photo of the beds in my garden...we still need some more sun but the carrots are on their way and so are the potatoes!

Questions for year 9 for Friday