Figurative/descriptive language

Planning our Skypeathon

On March 16-17 we (my students and I) will host a 24-hour Skypeathon. I am still in the process of planning the whole event and I have managed to fill about 20 out of the 30 or so slots, so far. We have a few slots left on Friday morning and up until noon, but I am hoping to fill them soon!!! 

Why Skypeathon you might ask? Well, I thought about it myself and came up with these answers:

• Give students an opportunity to practice their English in “real” situations with native people.
• Cultural interest - compare living conditions, school cultures, food traditions, leisure activities etc…
• An international/global perspective is extremely important right now.
• Students will increase their knowledge on certain issues, e.g. World War (connections with former battleship museum at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and museum in New Orleans, Louisiana), National Parks (connection with park ranger in Yellowstone National Park), Biology (connection with marine biologist Jennifer Nolan in Florida), Journalism (connection with journalist at newspaper in Stockholm )
• Students will get to document and reflect on their Skype sessions by blogging, tweeting and using social media to spread the message...hence, increasing their digital and social media skills by working on their digital strategies. Teachers will monitor communication. There will also be an article in the local newspaper and hopefully a short clip on local television.
• Social happening that will strengthen bonds between students/teachers
• Environmentally friendly! We will travel the world practically for free!
• and more....

in the Classroom by pnillaelander

Making entry and exit tickets in Canva

I have been using exit tickets for quite some time now, not every week but a few times a month and I use them to either evaluate, assess or check something before the students leave the classroom. Now I have decided to also start using entry tickets to get the students active right away when coming into the classroom. Here is a newly made version! Feel free to use, if you want. :)

Entry and exit ticket by pnillaelander

Reading "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck - SA15M

Last week we started reading "Of Mice and Men," the classic by John Steinbeck, and as we continue this week there is also an opportunity to listen to the audio file simultaneously while reading.

The book as audio file

Here is the mini-biography that we took a look at last week

Link to video about the Great Depression

Link to video about the Dust Bowl

Tell the Wolves I'm Home - first discussion

Snapshot from today - starting to read "Tell the Wolves I'm Home"

Made a laminated "plan for reading" with my class SA15P as we started reading the above book today. Looking forward to discussing the many trials and tribulations of Greta and June.

ENG 5 - working with news articles

My agenda for the first half of 2017

As I am writing this it is freezing cold outside. All of a sudden, after months of mild weather, the frosty and shivering cold winter has made a visit.. I suppose it is a welcomed one, after all. :) I am sitting and writing my agenda for 2017, things that I am planning for my students, things that I am especially looking forward to during the first half of 2017. There will be a focus on reading at the start of the semester in English 6, and in English 5 we will take a look at news articles and then move on into a creative writing-project with inspiration found in the art of Banksy and Alice Pasquini. English 6 will then dive into a Spoken Word-theme and I am all excited about that one! More to come - all the best for the New Year! /Pernilla 

Happy Holidays and Peace to All

I am taking a week or two off from work and I will be back here in the beginning of January. Until then - Happy Holidays! 

Snapshots from today

Final lesson and what is better than to focus on some small talk (interaction) while decorating gingerbread cookies. Very Christmassy! An informal, creative, cozy and fitting end to a great semester! 

Presentations about female short story writers

On Monday my students in NA16F finished their studies on female short story writers and one part was to - in their study groups - gather information about one female writer and additionally summarize one short story by the same. The questions to be answered were:

• Where and when was she born? Include a photo of the author in the presentation.

• Where did she live growing up?
• With whom did she live during her childhood?
• When did she decide to become an author?
• Has she won any awards?
• What kinds of books has she written? (Themes in the books?)
• Summarize the short story you read by the author and tell it to the audience.
• Comment on how easy/difficult is was to find information about the author. What sources have you used? Were your sources reliable? Why/why not? Include a list of sources at the end of the presentation

The students worked with a joint Google Presentation and made an oral presentation in addition. Here are some of their presentations:

Students as teachers - instructional grammar videos

During two weeks my students have worked on making instructional grammar videos for the target group: year 6/7 in school. Here is a taste of some of them...more will come: 

Skype session with Melbourne, Australia

Yesterday we Skyped with Benjamin Lannen and his students from Melbourne, Australia. We were able to kind of quickly guess that they were from Australia (due to their accent) but it was a bit trickier locating their city. However, after a while it was revealed that they were in Melbourne in the south-east. Among other things, the students learnt what Lamingtons and Tim Tam's were....and it's all good! :)

Showing us what Tim Tam's are

Anna, Aphinya and Soleman asking questions

After having figured out that they are in Australia

A December classic - short film

DECEMBER from Andreas Pasvantis on Vimeo.

Reading comprehension strategies

Snapshot from today - reading different text genres

We are focusing on reading in English 6 - different kinds of genres such as scientific articles, poems, short stories, non-fiction texts and integrative texts. These are the ones we are using, practicing before a reading comprehension test in early January. Discussing reading strategies too.

Poem about America - by student in ENG 6

Right now we are reading different types of text genres in English 6, and after reading "Let America be Great Again" by Langston Hughes, one student decided to write a response poem. I thought this poem pin-pointed a lot of current things in today's America...what do you think? 

Poem about America

America portrayed itself with all the good things it used to be. 

A home for the brave, land of the free. 

A land of pioneers and a people of adventurers. 

Nowadays, a nation controlled by business ventures.

Because all things great will decline, which is a must.

Why? Because mankind has arrived with his greed and lust. 

- Anonymous student ENG 6

Follow Pernilla's English Classroom on Instagram for updates on what's happening in the classroom!

Do you want to see what is going on in Pernilla's English Classroom? Follow the Instagram account named just that for ideas on apps, web pages, documentation and videos taken from the action in the classroom.

Comprehension questions to "The Famous Poll at Jody's Bar"

Story map - write notes while reading your short stories - NA16F