Apabal magazine issue_2

INDEX

02 04
SUCCESS IS THE SUM OF SMALL EFFORTS, ONE OF THE BEST TECHNOLOGY TOOLS I
REPEATED DAY IN AND DAY OUT. HAVE EVER FOUND: MYBRAINSHARK
Montserrat García Comino Russell Stannard
Presidenta d'APABAL

06 08
ALIENS LOVE UNDERPANTS! AND OTHER GAMES FOR VOCABULARY
TEXTS TO INSPIRE YOUNG READERS IN REVISION AND ACQUISITION.
THE MODERN CLASSROOM. Àngela Pont Rosselló
Therase Jenkinson

10 14
ENGLISH THROUGH A GLOBAL SPRING FEVER: CONTENT BASED
APPROACH. ACTIVITIES FOR SPRINGTIME.
Àngel Molina Molina and Angela Nina Lauder
Battafarano

17 20
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES AT SCHOOL ENERGIZE YOUR LANGUAGE PAIRINGS:
(REVIEW)MARY FINDS SOME MONEY. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!.
Gabriel Timoner, Gaël Thyus, Magdalena Balle Garcia
María Antonia Santandreu, Pere Quetglas

24 27
CHARLES DICKENS AND COMPUTERS. LANGUAGE LEARNING AND LANGUAGE
Cathy Cobb Castrec and Antònia Vidal TRAINING IN EUROPE: EDUCATION
POLICIES FOR COLLECTIVE EMPOWER-
MENT.
Mª Neus Lorenzo Galés

30 32
ALL SHOOK UP: EMOTIONS. USING PORTFOLIOS AS AN INSTRUCTIO-
Oliver Fuentes Fuentes NAL TOOL. PORTFOLIOS TELL A STORY.
PUT IN ANYTHING THAT HELPS TELL
YOUR STORY.
Montserrat Garcia Comino

37 40
BOOSTING BRAIN POWER: HOW TO ENGAGING THE IMAGINATION BY
FULLY ACTIVATEOUR STUDENTS’ LEARNING IN DEPTH.
BRAINS IN THE EFL CLASSROOM. Kieran Egan
Liam Fitzpatrick

44
WORKING WITH INTERDISCIPLINARY
TOPICS VIA ETWINNING
Neus Oliver Manera

APABAL MAGAZINE / 4

Success is the sum of
small efforts, repeated
day in and day out.
Robert Collier

We have successfully reached our sec- consolidate APABAL and remain faith-
ond year of existence and have come ful to our original commitment.
through a lot of experiences here, in It is also a pleasure to announce the
APABAL. This is thanks largely to our 1st Apabal Convention, which will
commitment to teamwork and to the take place on September 10th 2012.
effort made by all the members of the All our efforts are now devoted to the
committee, our associates, supporters organization of this event and to
and sponsors. Without them this sorting out the arrangements re-
dream would not have come true. quired to make this day a very special
Even in the face of challenging eco- one for all teachers of English and-
nomic conditions, we have been why not?- for those who teach other
working hard to find new ways to get subjects through English.
funding and sponsorship. It has been I must praise each member of the
very exciting seeing the huge quantity, committee for making this past year
not only of teachers involved in our such an exhilarating success, in spite
activities, but also of other people at- of these turbulent times. I would also
tending the lecture series or the litera- like to extend my thanks to our asso-
ture-themed film series this year. One ciates, followers and sponsors for
of our colleagues always describes their unfailing support, without which
this teachers’ association as “more of our flame would have gone out.
a marathon than a sprint”. We take If you are not a member yet, please
pride in this characterization and em- think of becoming one of us soon.
brace it as a philosophy for planning www.apabal.com
our forthcoming events as we seek to

Montserrat García Comino
Presidenta d'APABAL Associació
de professors
d’anglès de les
www.apabal.com/ Illes Balears

“APABAL MAGAZINE” Direcció Aina Forteza Correcció i revisió APABAL
Montserrat García Joana Salazar Sarah Brierley (ICE)
És una publicació de
Assumpta Sureda C/ Miquel dels Sants Oliver
l’associació de professors
Coordinació Àngel Molina Disseny i maquetació nº 2
d’anglès de les Illes Balears Magdalena Balle Dúctil Palma
Equip de redacció www.ductilct.com www.apabal.com
Consell Assessor Aina Carreras info@apabal.com
Aina Carreras Joana Salazar Impressió
Revista nº 2 Carmen Moreno Jan Wright Copysteria Institut D.L. 916 -2011
Maig 2012 Margarita Truyols Rosa Maria Viñuales C/ Alfred Bonet, 8A Baixos ISSN 2174 - 8497
Preu: 4€ Vivienne Birch Vivienne Birch 07003 Palma

APABAL MAGAZINE / 6

Russell Stannard is a Principal Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick, where he trains teachers in using
technology for the MA in TESOL. He won the British Council “Technology” award and the Times Higher
“Innovation” award for his website www.teachertrainingvideos.com: a step by step video explaining the use of
different technologies in education. In 2011, the site received over 287,000 visitors.

By Russell Stannard

ONE OF
THE BEST
TECHNOLOGY
TOOLS
I HAVE
EVER FOUND:
MYBRAINSHARK
I have been writing about technology and language teach-
ing for over ten years. In fact, my ‘Webwatcher’ articles in
at the University of Warwick suggest it has a lot of potential.
It is called ‘myBrainShark’ and is free to use.
the ET Professional have been going for twelve years. In myBrainShark allows you to upload a PowerPoint presen-
that time, there has been one tool that has stood out from tation onto a site (a Word or PDF document) and then add
everything else: JING. In my opinion, it is just about the voice narration. myBrianShark packs it all together and
best technology I have ever used. However, in 2011, I came provides a link. By clicking on the link, you can see the doc-
across a tool that comes a close second. This tool could rev- ument and listen as the narration and presentation is
olutionise the types of speaking activities we get our played back. For example: you can ask your students to
students to do, both inside and outside the class. The tool is create a presentation about their hobbies and interests in
free, easy to use and offers an incredible number of possi- PowerPoint; they upload it onto the site and add their com-
bilities in language teaching. Initial tests I have undertaken mentary; then, they send you the link. There are other tools

APABAL MAGAZINE / 7

like this, but none with such a clear interface and a record- emergence of all these technologies, we are now able to
ing duration of fifteen minutes. plan lessons that tightly link what we do in class with what
Now, take a step back and think about that! Imagine it is we want out students to do for homework. Indeed, we can
the first day of a high level class. I ask my students to list literally say that the work the students do outside of the
some things about themselves, put them in pairs and tell class is really just an extension of what they do in the les-
them to talk about these characteristics (hobbies, lan- son. When I first started working as a teacher in 1987,
guages they speak, places they’ve travelled, etc.) Then, I get homework was often an afterthought. It was something I
them to sign up for a free account on myBrainShark. For thought up at the end the lesson. What I have found with
homework, I tell them to make a PowerPoint presentation tools like myBrainShark and the ideas that I have suggested
about their lives, upload it onto myBrainShark and then is that they work best when we do the preparation work in
add their voice narration. They can then send the link to class. For example, in the lesson we might get the students
me: I can listen to them talking while I watch their presen- to make their PowerPoint presentations: we might put
tations. I take notes on their oral level and at the same time them into pairs and get them to practice; we might even
find out something about them. offer them some tips or appropriate vocabulary to help
This is almost revolutionary! I can now set oral exercises for them give an effective presentation. This work — done in
homework. Ten years ago, even five years ago, this would the classroom — prepares and motivates them to go home,
have been almost impossible. Let’s take another scenario. I upload the presentation onto myBrainShark, then add
am in a high level class and the students want to practice their voice. The better we connect the classroom part with
doing presentations. They have to do an oral presentation the homework, the better the students seem to respond.
as part of their assessment next week; they want to practice One of the most interesting things about this approach and
and get feedback from me. Now, in the past, that would this particular tool is dealing with the content that is sent to
normally mean them doing a presentation in class. That you. Remember: you will receive a link, you click on it, and
has all changed now. I can ask them to you hear and watch the student pres-
make a PowerPoint presentation: entation. It is all played back in the
upload it onto mybrainShark; add myBrainshark player. You can listen,
their voice; then send me the result- take notes and then offer feedback to
ing link. I can listen, give some the students. It feels very different to
feedback and help them prepare for be suddenly marking students “oral”
their presentation. This is exactly work. Students can use this tool to
what I did with my students this year. create recordings of up to 15 minutes:
You can click on this link and listen you can end up with a lot of listening
here: material — this can definitely be a
http://my.brainshark.com/security- problem, but a ‘good’ problem!
and-privacy-29852347 I suggest playing back some of the
You Can Use Pictures,Video PDF or best presentations in the next lesson.
Word Documents,Too Students are always interested to hear
The incredible thing about myBrain- what other students have created and
Shark is that it doesn’t only work with it is a chance for you to highlight good
PowerPoint. You can uploadpictures, examples and point out what makes a
video or even a PDF file and do exactly the same procedure. good presentation.
A student could upload a selection of pictures from a recent For those student and teachers who are technically savvy, I
holiday; add voice narration on myBrainShark; and then have even more good news for you. You can embed your
share them with the teacher or other students. This tool presentations from myBrainShark into a blog, a virtual
opens up all sorts of opportunities. In a low level class, stu- learning environment or even a webpage, increasing the
dents could limit themselves to just up loading one picture. potential to share your work.
Of course, myBrainShark can be used by teachers, too. You
We have been running some experiments with the might want to upload a presentation and then share it with
myBrainShark site at the University of Warwick. Students your students or an even wider audience. Remember, you
have done a variety of different activities. For example, can do this with documents, too. In fact, that is how
uploading a PowerPoint presentation about their favourite myBrainShark is normally used. Companies use it to add
recipe and then talking it through. Other students have voice narration to clarify documents or for PowerPoint
used it to upload pictures of an interesting place in their training.
country and then talked about it; some students have even You can sign up to myBrainShark for free here:
uploaded video content. The ‘Power’ is in the fact that they http://www.brainshark.com/mybrainshark
can then use the site to add commentary to the content;
then, myBrainshark packs it all together and creates a link Here is a set of step by step videos that show you exactly
to access the recordings. Feedback from students has been how to use myBrainShark
very positive. http://www.teachertrain
The Connected Classroom ingvideos.com/brain/index.html
There are several key issues that are beginning to emerge http://www.teachertrain
from this work. Firstly is the idea of what I call “The Con- ingvideos.com/brain2/index.html
nected Classroom.”What I mean by this is that with the

ALIENS
LOVE
UNDERPANTS!
AND OTHER TEXTS TO INSPIRE YOUNG READERS
IN THE MODERN CLASSROOM

By Therase Jenkinson

Therase Jenkinson
I have a B.A. (Hons) in Social Policy and Politics, where I produced a thesis investiga-
ting the concept of whole school anti-bullying policies in UK state schools. I then took
a post graduate course in teaching English. I have been teaching English as a second
language for 15 years and have taught privately, in schools, in academies and in com-
panies in the U.K, Paris, Barcelona, Valencia and ﬁnally Mallorca. I currently teach
English in the Infant department at Agora Portals International School. I am the mot-
her of two boys, aged 9 and 2, and teacher for 180 more children, aged 3 to 5!

APABAL MAGAZINE / 8

APABAL MAGAZINE / 9

In education today, the tendency is towards multi-sensory planets, spaceships, aliens or underpants! Once each
approaches to teaching and learning. Research into learn- group has completed their part of the project, the scenery
ing styles has shown that each individual processes and and props are put together and the teacher takes a photo of
absorbs information in very different ways. The result of each scene (once the children are happy with the arrange-
these findings is that the teaching profession is now well ment), using the earlier produced storyboard as a
accustomed to hearing about VAK (visual, auditory, kines- reference.
thetic) and the importance of its application in the There are many advantages to this type of activity. Prima-
classroom. rily, the kids love it! It’s a rounded activity that encompasses
Great. The research is done, the facts are presented and each learning style and the children are always thrilled to
now all we have to do is implement it into our classrooms. see their comics displayed in comic strip form or on a
Hmmmm! Now what happens? We find ourselves in a comic strip power point.
room of up to 28 little minds – that’s 2800 billion neurons – Now that the children have fully understood the text and
waiting to be fired up by our inspirational, multi-intellec- have passively absorbed the target information and vocab-
tual and individually tailored teaching methods. My initial ulary, we may direct the class towards a variety of themes
reaction to this methodology was, to be honest, sheer based on the text. This story especially lends itself to sub-
panic. Having being schooled in the era of ‘open your ject types, such as parts of the body and verb forms. I
books to page 25 and answer the questions’, this was for- usually ask the children to design their own alien and write
eign territory to me. Two options presented themselves, a short modeled sentences about their alien likes and dis-
radical career change to something less daunting, or battle likes and physical descriptions. For example:
on. Not being a quitter (and being past the age of radical My alien loves ice cream.
career changes), I decided to face this thing head on. My alien hates carrots.
And guess what? After some trial and of course lots of error, He has three arms and two heads.
I have discovered that teaching in this way is actually fun. Using this type of activity, we ensure that we cover the
Yes, FUN. I began to really enjoy each class and in some range of learning abilities while inspiring the children’s
cases positively look forward to them. interest in books; and also deepening their understanding
In this article, I want to share with you some of my tried and of the text, use of language and vocabulary.
tested class projects, using good old fashioned story books Below, I have listed a few of my favorite story books for
as a basis for multi-sensory teaching, which I have found early years learners and made a few brief activity sugges-
both stimulate and delight my early years learners. tions. I hope you will find them as useful and as
Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman entertaining as my children and I have.
This is one of the story books that I use year after year with Dogger by Shirley Hughes: the story of a little boy and his
my five year old children. The book is beautifully written lost teddy. A great follow-up activity: tell the children you
and the illustrations are equally charming. The title itself is have lost an item. I usually claim to have lost a ‘diamond’
enough to call the attention of the children: “Did Miss necklace. I then ask the children for their help. They create
really just say ‘underpants’?” lost posters to place around the school and then go on a
The first reading offers an audio and visual opportunity for necklace hunt. They are always so excited to find the miss-
those with the corresponding learning styles. From this ing item and use their English in a real world sense. Any
point, we can then adapt and develop the text according to title based around lost objects is a suitable starting point
the needs of our class. I think it appropriate at this stage to for this project.
consolidate the understanding of the text before progress- The Shopping Basket by John Burningham: the story of a
ing onto related activities. Role play is an attractive option young boy sent to shop by his mum; on the way, he
as it can appeal to all types of learners; however, it is a fre- encounters many obstacles. This is a repetitive text and so
quently used resource. With new technologies at our is really great for learning vocabulary such as names of ani-
disposition, we are nowable to convert this time-honored mals, food and prepositions. We encounter many bullies in
activity into equally stimulating alternatives such as video the story, so it is perfect for discussion on this topic. It’s an
clips, cartoon strips and comics. I have found that my chil- ideal starting point to set up a shop in the classroom; the
dren react particularly well to the latter. children make shopping lists, before setting out to collect
The first step in producing the comic is to set up a story- their items from the shop. Our class shop is made from
board as a teacher-led whole class activity. Provide the cardboard boxes and lots of imagination.
children with an A4 sheet consisting of six equally sized The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg: a beautiful little story
blank square spaces. From this point, the whole class may following a postman on his daily route, delivering his let-
then discuss the best way to tell the whole story in six parts, ters to various well-known fictional characters like the
with the teacher writing simple sentences on the board to Wicked Witch and Goldilocks. The letters and postcards
match the storyboard suggestions. This is not only useful are removable, giving the book an extra dimension reality.
in checking the class’ comprehension of the story; it also The children can then write and deliver their own letters to
helps the children to develop the ability to logically classmates, families, teachers or other members of the
sequence a story and summarize a text. Once decided, the school staff. I was absolutely thrilled at finding an envelope
six story parts may be drawn in order onto the worksheets on my desk one morning with `To Miss Jenkinson’ carefully
and used as a reference for the comic project. Now, we’re scrawled across the front!
ready to create. The class is divided into groups; each group
is responsible for a given task, be it preparing the scenery,

GAMES
FOR
VOCABULARY
REVISION
AND
ACQUISITION
by Àngela Pont Rosselló

Àngela Pont Rosselló
holds a degree in English Philology from the University of the Balearic Islands and has
also worked as a Spanish Language Assistant in England. As one of her professional
interests is new technologies, she is now completing a Masters degree in Education and
ICT with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).

APABAL MAGAZINE / 10


Vocabulary plays an important role in language, whether - Finally, it is through games that the four basic skills can be
one is using a mother tongue or a second language. When practised simultaneously; reading, writing, listening and
the communication process includes a varied vocabulary, speaking.
it allows for a more natural, fluid and precise interaction. While games provide numerous advantages, one should
Traditionally, teaching a second language has been char- not forget to carefully select or modifying them for your
acterised by lectures, memorising concepts and text group. Factors such as students’ level, classroom numbers
translation. or cultural backgrounds should be taken into account.
However, recent research has underlined the importance Here are some games through which vocabulary can be
of three concepts for increased motivation in secondary introduced and/or reviewed. Although you may be famil-
language acquisition: the students’ active role in the learn- iar with some of these games, a brief description has been
ing process; the absence of the mother tongue; and included and some examples, just in case you want to use
entertainment. The degree of concept acquisition also them with your pupils.
improves in these circumstances. One author that shares Word Bingo: each student has a card with the words the
this new viewpoint is W. R. Lee, who states that games teacher wants to practice. The teacher reads out word defi-
should be used frequently in the classroom and not as nitions and the students cover up the words they have on
‘peripheral or time-filling’ activity, as they have a high edu- the card. The first student who has all the words covered,
cational value. wins. ‘Antonym Bingo’ is also interesting and challenging!
This article intends to show how using vocabulary games Another way of playing this game (e.g. with younger stu-
in ESL has many benefits. In addition, a selection of games dents), is to have the concepts drawn on the card. Next, the
will be provided to supply ideas for those interested in the teacher (or the appointed student) reads out the words; the
topic. These games are focused on either vocabulary revi- other students (individually or in groups) have to cover up
sion or acquisition. the drawings that have been read out.
According to John Holt, a person’s learning capacity is Who wants to be a millionaire? This game makes multi-
determined by two factors: the motivation produced by ple-choice exercises more interesting for students. To
the proposed task, and a person’s capacity to carry out the make it even more entertaining, the teacher can use a Pow-
task. Even if we cannot modify the second factor, we can erPoint presentation and adjust the questions to the
present activities that foster students’ motivation towards students’ level. If the game is played as per the TV show,
the subject being taught. one student should be elected as the spokesperson; their
As mentioned above, games normally used as time-fillers role is to read the fifteen questions and reveal the appropri-
should in fact be used more often, for the following reasons: ate answers. The contestant/s may make use of ‘life lines’ at
- They provide diversity, refreshing the established routine. their disposal: ask a friend (previously selected); 50:50, in
Student interest is renewed, and they are more motivated which half the possible answers are removed; or ask the
to carry out the suggested activities. Authors such as audience for help.
Richard Amato or Wierus consider that games create a Who is Who? This game is good for becoming acquainted.
relaxed atmosphere, leading to faster and more effective Individually, students answer a few questions about them-
acquisition of new words. selves (favourite colour, food, band or subject, etc.) and
- They enable teachers to create meaningful contexts in write them on a card. Then, they go around the classroom
which the usage of the foreign language is essential. The asking different classmates about their preferences, trying
target language is remembered more easily because the to remember them. The game starts when a student picks a
students find themselves in real-life situations. Games card and reads the first sentence; the other students try to
make it easy to introduce new ideas, always an advantage guess the name on the card.
for the teacher. Games can also be used to review previ- A variation is to let students ask yes/no questions to find
ously learned concepts in an enjoyable way. out the name of the classmate. NB, this game can be played
- Normally, students want to participate in games; they are without the card, by using other clues, e.g. the students’
motivated to acquire the basic concepts in order to under- clothing.
stand what their classmates are saying and, at the same Scattergories: each student or group fills in as many cate-
time, to be understood by the rest of the group. Games are gories as possible, with words starting with a chosen letter.
an incentive that motivate students to learn. Additionally, Scoring: one point is given for each correct word; two
games enhance active participation, cooperation, group points if it is a word that no one else has used. For cate-
interaction and communication. As a consequence of gories, the teacher can select different options, depending
using games, the fluency level increases as well as the on the topics studied. Here is an example:
spontaneous use of the second language.

LETTER COUNTRY FOOD DRINK ANIMAL FILM SONG NAME
S Spain Salad Soda Snake Shakespeare Sweet Sandra
in Love Child
of Mine

ENGLISH

THROUGH
AGLOBAL
APPROACH
by Àngel Molina Molina
and Angela Battafarano

Àngel Molina Molina graduated as a Specialist in Angela Battafarano is a teacher from the U.S.A, spe-
Reception and Companies Management and as a cializing in teaching English as a second Language.
Foreign Language Teacher (English). He has worked She graduated with a degree in Early Childhood
for 14 years as an English teacher with young learners Education and completed her Master’s Degree in
in Mallorca and Eivissa and freelancing on his own. Literacy, Culture, and Language Education. She has
He has taken part in the European Sections Program, spent the year in Mallorca teaching alongside Àngel
developing Math projects in English through ICT. At Molina as his language assistant.
present, he is teaching English and Art in English at
CEIP Gabriel Vallseca in Palma.


For years, there has been a need to introduce changes not least (as per the curriculum), students learned
in primary school methodology, in order to obtain a about different actions within the monster’s capabili-
greater efficiency in the education process. That is ties, e.g., jumping, speaking, flying, swimming, hiding,
why it is necessary to teach content from diverse areas etc.
in a global way. For the last three years, CEIP Gabriel In another group, the topic investigated was “The Uni-
Vallseca (Palma) has worked on using global methods verse”. We converted the English classroom into a
in Infant and Primary Education. spaceship; with the help of ICT, we were able to travel
around the Universe. We sang songs about the plan-
ets; and created a mini-book with vocabulary, where
each student explained the elements that form the
universe.

Studying these topics using this global approach was
very rewarding for students: they could see what they
were learning, and they learned by playing.

In the second cycle, students decided to study “Pi-
rates”, “The Lone Ranger” and “Motherhood”. In the
Working in a global manner means using motivational third grade, the students made a list of what they
topics integrated into all subjects. In our case, English wanted to learn about the pirates and the Lone
is taught using a global approach based on: Ranger. Working in groups (cooperative learning), they
investigated what clothes these characters’ wore, the
- Enhancing inclusion through group work. food they ate and where they lived — basic content
- Work by Basic Competences. for primary education curriculum. Learning about
- Motivation. Jack Sparrow’s clothes and the Lone Ranger’s favorite
- Designing methodologically attractive tasks. food made it fun!
- Different types of learning.
- Meaningful themes for the students; breaking with Content was taught via songs, stories, and ICT. Stu-
traditional practices. dents felt confident: they could apply what they
- Transporting the real world into the classroom. learned to real-life. As ‘food’ was a topic with the third
- Flexibility (possibility of integrating new contribu- graders, they decided to make a classroom snack.
tions). They voted between a sandwich or a milkshake. The
- Manipulating a number of possible resources. sandwich won! They loved this activity because they
- Adapting to individual students needs. could apply their newly-acquired sandwich-making
skills at home. By using the global approach, students
We knew that if we want the students to work using were motivated and eager to learn more.
this method, textbooks should only be used for con-
sultation; the students decide on the topic to be
learned. Additionally, coordination between teaching
staff is fundamental. Meetings with classroom teach-
ers are important in developing a joint program with
linked objectives, contents, evaluation process (used
throughout all the sequences and learning interrela-
tions), basic skills, etc. Also, sessions with the English
language assistant help students improve their English
linguistic skills.

Our Experience Using this Methodology Once students learned what pirates and cowboys had
for lunch and supper, they learned about where these
One of the topics studied in the first cycle was “Di- characters lived, writing a description of ships and
nosaurs”. In English class, we continued the theme by houses. With all this accumulated knowledge, the stu-
studying the famous plesiosaur that lives in a Scottish dents had the fantastic idea of ‘visiting’ each class
lake: Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster! Using Nessie’s member’s home — so we did! Each student showed
story, we investigated how the Earth was formed, the us his/her home by creating an oral description of the
movement of the tectonic plates, and how the mon- parts of their house. This activity made students feel
ster was trapped in the lake. All of these activities in- proud and important. It was very exciting for them to
volved stories; later, the students acted out the stories. be able to show the rest of the group where they lived.
Using ICT, the students played games with the mon- They felt very proud to be able to do this in English.
ster and explained what she was like. We also studied
Nessie’s environment; the students even made a The fourth grade chose one of the most fascinating
model of the lake, complete with monster! Last but topics: “Motherhood”. The students wanted to know

how their mothers felt when they recreational activities. Students “The House”, we did some sessions
knew they were expecting, and the were excited to be able to ask ques- together: older students helped
circumstances of their birth. In the tions they had practiced in class younger students to describe the
English classroom we used the and at home, and then take it be- Lone Ranger’s house.
same theme, working on a descrip- yond the classroom. It was a
tion of ‘mothers’ using as many ad- unique experience. In conclusion: working with the
jectives as possible: sensitive, kind, global approach has been very
beautiful, intelligent, hard working, In the third cycle, we employed meaningful and stimulating for the
etc. Later, the descriptions were ex- similar methods. Students decided students. It satisfies the educators’
panded to include physical de- to study the city. In groups, they demands; and it fulfills both the
scriptions. During this activity, you used cooperative learning for the educational requirements and the
could sense the students’ love for first time to decide what vocabu- demands of today’s society. The
their mothers. In their regular class, lary to use and how to work to- global approach allows students to
the students prepared a related ac- gether. The first task was the cre- be more prepared, confident and
tivity: an interview with their moth- ation of a big city poster: they competent in an increasingly mul-
er, asking how she reacted when learned relevant vocabulary and tilingual and intercultural environ-
she found out she was pregnant. In transport questions, e.g., “Excuse ment.
English class, we used elements of me, can you tell me the way to go
this interview to ask simple ques- to . . .?” Afterwards, they designed To find out more information
tions, e.g. the mother’s place of ori- their favorite city and then their about our school task, please visit
gin, age, hobbies, favorite activities, ‘dream house’. Using materials they our blog at
meals, country, animals, etc. This created (posters, house drawings, http://www.ceipgabrielvallseca.co
method integrated the parents into etc.), they wrote house descrip- m/english/
the classroom project. Many moth- tions. The ICT sessions were par-
ers came to class be interviewed. To ticularly rewarding for the stu-
make this activity even more dents. The teacher created a
meaningful, students decided to in- mini-web with links to house activ-
terview tourists in English (using ities, of varying degrees of difficul-
the same questions), to put into ty. These activities had autocorrect
practice what they learned in class. features, providing valuable imme-
This resulted in one of the term’s diate feedback. As both the sixth
most meaningful, motivating, and and third graders were studying


SPRING Nina Lauder holds a B.A.
in Humanities from
Bishop’s University,
Canada. She has been

FEVER:
teaching at all levels
since 1990. Nina is
involved in educational
consulting and teacher
training. She has given
workshops all over
Spain and abroad. She is

CONTENT
a materials writer for
ELT and CLIL books and
has published several
articles. Nina is co-
author of Explorers
(OUP 2011). Currently,
,
Nina works as a free-

BASED
lance author and
teacher trainer. For
more information:
http://ninaspain.blogsp
ot.com

ACTIVITIES
FOR
By Nina Lauder

SPRINGTIME
Spring is just around the corner gether in springtime activities that subject, for example, Science or
and, as days get longer and flowers appeal to different types of learn- Social Studies, through a foreign
burst into bloom, the pupils in our ers in our class. language (in this case, English). In
class show newfound surges of en- ……………………………………… doing so, the emphasis is taken off
ergy. As teachers, we need to know CLIL (Content and Language Inte- learning the language itself and
how to tap into this energy and grated Learning) is a term with placed on learning content. Re-
channel it accordingly. One of the which teachers are becoming in- search and feedback from teachers
ways we can do this is by bringing creasingly familiar. The basic idea in a variety of settings has shown
content and language learning to- of CLIL is to teach a non-language that this approach enhances the


pupils’ educational experience while allowing them to fill tasks at sentence level; or general knowledge ques-
receive additional exposure to English without requir- tions (see below).
ing extra time in the curriculum.
Spring Music
CLIL is currently being incorporated into educational
contexts around the world in a variety of ways. In It is said that “music calms the savage beast” — so
some cases, pupils are given small ‘doses’ of the con- springtime is a perfect time to bring music into the
tent area in English; in other settings, pupils are classroom! Depending on the age group and level of
studying in full-fledged bilingual immersion pro- pupils, they can work on traditional songs, popular
grammes. Some educators make distinctions between songs or pieces of classical music that tie in with
hard CLIL, where limited concessions are made to re- springtime. Younger learners enjoy songs such as
duce content and language load, and soft CLIL, which “Rain, rain, go away”, “Itsy bitsy spider” or “Five green
is seen as being less demanding. and speckled frogs”; older learners can listen to and
discuss the lyrics from songs like “Big Yellow Taxi”
The activities that are suggested in this article can be (Joni Mitchell, 1988), “What a Wonderful World” (Louis
used in the English class or in content area classes Armstrong, 1967) or “Beautiful Day” (U2, 2000). To de-
and can be led by either the language teacher or con- velop music awareness, pupils can listen to classical
tent area teacher. In most cases, the activities do not music pieces such as “Spring” from Vivaldi’s The Four
require extensive preparation and can be carried out Seasons or the “Waltz of the Flowers” by Tchaikovsky.
with primary or lower secondary pupils. The activities
can be used to start classes, as fillers, and as lesson Fly Butterfly Fly!
closers; or, they can help introduce a new topic or re-
view activities once a topic has been covered. One way to bring colour and life to the classroom is to
make butterflies. Pupils make butterflies from differ-
Spring isn’t spring without . . . ent coloured construction paper, then place a paper
clip onto each butterfly. They hang the butterflies
To kick off the topic of spring, write the sentence stem from the walls of the class using thread or string.
‘Spring isn’t spring without . . .’ on the board. Give the Hand out magnets to different groups of pupils and
pupils a minute to brainstorm appropriate answers. help them make the butterflies ‘fly’ using magnetism.
Encourage pupils to share their sentences with their If done carefully, the butterflies will flutter and twitch
classmates; then, hand out paper for them to make a without having the magnet actually touching them.
list or a poster with their ideas. Suggested answers Materials: coloured construction paper, paper clips,
might include: Spring isn’t spring without . . . rain- thread or string, magnets.
storms, flowers, baby animals, sunny days, Easter, mi-
gration . . . Spring Symmetry

Pairwork The world of nature is full of examples of symmetry.
Encourage pupils to look at different plants and ani-
Pairwork activities in class make the use of language mals and decide if they have lines of symmetry or not.
more meaningful and give pupils the opportunity to Bring in a variety of leaves for pupils to look at. If they
speak more than in teacher-led tasks. Pairwork activi- divide a leaf in half, they will find that one half often
ties for CLIL include labelling tasks (each pupil has a has the same shape as the other.
labelled illustration with some words missing, they
ask their classmates for the missing information); gap Butterflies are also exceptional examples of symmetry
in nature. Show a picture of a butterfly with its wings
open and encourage pupils to think about how it is
symmetrical (butterflies have an antennae on each
side, the same shape on each side and the same pat-
tern or design on each side). Butterflies and beetles
are example of line (bilateral) symmetry; in contrast,
certain flowers illustrate examples of rotational (radi-
al) symmetry. Honeycombs formed by bees are exam-
ples of hexagonal symmetry. Encourage pupils to find
pictures or examples of symmetry in nature and to
display them.

Egg Quiz

Many cultures around the world see the egg as a sym-
bol of new life and therefore associate it with spring-
time. A number of these cultures paint eggs with


bright colours and give them out or hide them at East- tions like Groundhog Day (February 2nd), Saint
er time. Find out how much pupils know about eggs Patrick’s Day (March 17th), Earth Day, Songkran Festi-
by doing an egg quiz in class. Questions can include val (April 13th, Thai new year) or Holi (Hindu spring
things such as, How many eggs does an average hen festival) and share their findings with their classmates.
lay yearly? (approximately 300), Which part of the egg
is highest in fat? (yolk) or How old is the average hen Websites
when it starts laying eggs? (20 weeks). Older learners
can find out information on eggs and write the quiz There are endless resources online to help bring
questions themselves. spring into the classroom. Some examples of web
pages with activities include:
Experiments
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/topic/topic.htm -
Doing hands-on experiments in class encourages chil- Topic, theme and cross-curricular resources. Section
dren to make observations and hypothesis, take notes, dedicated to Easter activities and lesson plans.
and come to conclusions. Some springtime experi-
ments than can be carried out in class are: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/spring/index.htm -
Spring crafts and printable colouring pages for young
Spring Potato Pets learners.
Younger pupils enjoy watching things grow. Time and
space providing, pupils can make ‘potato pets’ (see il- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/spring/ -
lustration) and grow ‘hair’ on them using grass seeds Springtime crafts and worksheets from Enchanted
or alfalfa seeds. Pupils cut a section of the potato (on Learning.
what will be the animal’s back) and scoop out a few http://www.hunkinsexperiments.com/ - Hundreds of
spoonfuls of potato. They draw a face on their pet, experiments with food, light, sounds, clothes and
add toothpick legs, and then sprinkle seeds onto more. Each experiment comes with an illustrated car-
dampened cotton wool on the animal’s back. Place toon to help pupils understand procedures.
the pets in a safe, sunny place and watch their green ……………………………………………………………
hair grow. Pupils can make daily observations in their Language teachers and content area teachers can use
notebook or on a chart. fast and easy ideas like these to bring language and
Materials: beans or grass/alfalfa seeds, cotton balls, content together in their classrooms. Using language
potato, toothpicks. as a vehicle to teach content offers pupils a switch
from the language-driven approach and enhances
Tree Rubbings their learning experience. Have fun brining spring
Pupils can learn to identify pattern and textures in dif- into your classroom J !
ferent types of tree bark by doing rubbings. Give each Useful Resources
pupil a piece of paper and a crayon. Explain how to
do rubbings then take them outside to find two differ- Birdsall, Melanie, Timesaver Cross-Curricular English
ent types of trees and do their rubbings. If children Activities, Mary Glasgow Magazines, London, © 2001.
cannot leave the class during lesson time, this step
can be assigned as homework. When they have done Bowler, Bill and Thompson, Lesley; Timesaver British
their rubbings they compare them and observe distin- History Highlights, Mary Glasgow Magazines, London,
guishing features on distinct tree bark. © 2005.
Materials: crayons, paper, different types of trees.
Burwood, S., Dunford H., Phillips, D., Projects with
Rainbow Celery Young Learners, Oxford University Press, © 1999.
To demonstrate how the stems of plants absorb water
and carry minerals from the soil to the leaves, make Fried-Booth, Diana L., Project Work, Oxford University
rainbow celery in class. Cut the stalk of piece of celery, Press, © 2002.
but not the leaves. Place the leafy celery stalk in 10-
12cms of water with food colouring and ask pupils to Lauder, Nina, JET: Projects Across the Curriculum,
imagine what they think will happen. After several Mary Glasgow Magazines, London, © 2006.
hours (or overnight), the coloured water should begin
to rise up the stalks to the leaves. This experiment can Marsh, D. , Using languages to learn and learning to
also be done with white carnations. use languages. Eds. D. Marsh - G. Langé. Finland: Uni-
Materials: food colouring, three stalks of celery, knife, versity of Jyväskylä, © 2000.
water, clear glass containers.
Svecova, Hana, Cross-curricular Activities, Oxford Ba-
Spring Festivities sics, Oxford University Press © 2004.

A number of holidays around the world take place in
spring. Pupils can find out information on celebra-


RESTORATIVE
PRACTICES
AT SCHOOL
(REVIEW)
By Gabriel Timoner, Gaël Thyus,
María Antonia Santandreu, Pere Quetglas

MARY FINDS
SOME MONEY


Gabriel Timoner Sampol has a B.A. two years, Maria has been Deputy Department of IES Calvià for the
and Ph.D. in Biology from the Teacher at CEIP Miquel Porcel. last six years. Currently, Gäel works
University of the Balearic Islands. Currently, Maria is working as as a teaching consultant at the
Since 1991, he has worked as a bio- Technical Teaching Consultant at Institut per a la Convivència i l’Èxit
logy and geology teacher at diffe- the Institut per a la Convivència i Escolar (Institute for Cooperation
rent secondary schools in the l’Èxit Escolar (Institute for and Student Success) in the
Balearic Islands. For the last six Cooperation and Student Success) Balearic Islands’ Conselleria
years, Gabriel has been Head of the in the Balearic Islands’ Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura i Universitats.
Son Ferrer secondary school. d’Educació, Cultura i Universitats.
Currently, Gabriel is Director of the Pere Quetglas Márquez has a tea-
Institut per a la Convivència i l’Èxit Gaël A. Thyus Vieville has degrees ching degree in Physical Education
Escolar (Institute for Cooperation in Psychology (1991) and from the University of the Balearic
and Student Success) in the Educational Psychology (1998) Islands. Since 2001, he has worked
Balearic Islands’ Conselleria from the University of Balearic as a teacher in different primary
d’Educació, Cultura i Universitats. Islands. She began her career in schools in Mallorca. Currently, Pere
child psychology in private practi- is working as a teaching consultant
Maria Antonia Santandreu Lladó ce. Since 1993, Gäel has worked as at the Institut per a la Convivència i
has a degree in Primary Sciences a guidance counsellor in different l’Èxit Escolar (Institute for
Teaching (1991) from the primary and secondary schools. Cooperation and Student Success)
University of Balearic Islands. Since She has also worked as a French in the Balearic Islands’ Conselleria
1992, Maria has worked as a pres- teacher at different secondary d’Educació, Cultura i Universitats.
chool and primary teacher at diffe- schools from 1998 to 2005. She has
rent primary schools. For the last been Head of the Counselling

Mary was coming home from school about criminal justice; it emphasizes
one day. She found some money on the different ways in which crime
the path near her home. She imagined affects relations between people liv-
what she could buy. She did not tell ing in community. In this type of
her mum about the money. Instead, justice, the offense is not only consid-
she hid the money in the desk in her ered as an action taken against the
room. The next day she spent some of victim, but also against the commu-
the money. She also looked at a toy nity – it’s not simply an illegal act and a
catalogue to decide how to spend the Things have been dealt with and peo- violation of state standards. Restora-
rest of HER money. Later she heard ple feel better, so what exactly tive justice increases the victims’ role;
her neighbour tell her mum that he happened?What did Mary learn from it requires offenders to take responsi-
had lost the money for his family’s this experience?What helped this story bility for their actions and the damage
holiday. Mary was feeling very have a positive ending? If Mary had caused. It also reflects the community
uncomfortable but still said nothing just been punished and nothing else through a series of preventive and
to her mum.The next day when happened, what sort of ending would response programs to reduce the dis-
Mary’s mum asked to borrow a pencil the story have? (IIRP 2006).
, tance between people, creating a
she saw the money in Mary’s desk. sense of security and strengthening
Mary admitted that she had found the Sometimes students commit offenses the community bonds (Zehr, 1995).
money and had spent some of it. or are victims of misdemeanors. Usu-
Mary’s mum sent Mary to her room. ally a penalty is considered the most The values of restorative justice are
How does this help Mary understand appropriate response to wrongdoing based on respect for the dignity of all
who she has hurt?What does Mary at school or at home. However, it is people affected by crime. Priority is
need to do to make things right? essential to seek alternatives to pun- given to treatment of human needs
Mary’s parents asked Mary what she ishment, as in some situations it may and participant training, so that they
should do to make things right. Mary be counterproductive. Restorative can communicate their thoughts and
said that she should give the money approaches are considered effective feelings openly and honestly.The aim
back and say that she was sorry. Her methods to address the problems of is to create understanding, promote
dad and mum said they would school life. Moreover, it has been accountability and provide the ability
arrange a meeting so she can do that. observed that restorative circles are to ‘heal the wounds’ .The restorative
Mary’s dad told the neighbour what also a good way to increase school justice process encourages the
happened and set up a meeting achievement results. offender to take responsibility for
between their two families. Mary their harmful behavior in a positive
returned the money and said she was Restorative justice in its original form way; to understand the causes and
sorry. is considered a new way of thinking effects of that behavior on others; and


change it in order to be accepted back into the community. they spent the past weekend. Restorative circles are an
The process offers the victim a platform for discussion in excellent tool for community-building.
which to ask questions and get answers; to be able to
understand and explain the personal impact of crime; and The circles involve students in conflict and tension man-
to contribute to the outcome of the process. In this sense, agement. A restorative circle helps repair damage and
the result may be that the victim receives an apology, resti- restore relations in response to a moderately serious inci-
tution, services or other relief. These processes have the dent or a behavior pattern that affects a group of students
potential to offer the community an opportunity to or an entire class. Restorative circles can be useful not only
articulate their values and expectations, to understand the with individuals but also with opposing groups. When two
underlying causes of crime and to determine what can be groups are involved in conflict, the circle facilitator
done to repair the damage. With restorative practices, you requires that the participants focus on the question of how
can contribute to the welfare of the community and reduce they will coexist on the school premises. Students have to
future crime (Zehr and Mika, 1998). believe that this latter variable is not negotiable and that
staff will stand firm in this attitude. In managing group
Using restorative practices, students learn to deal with conflict, it is essential to build relationships with the
their unacceptable behavior, to repair the damage they groups’ natural leaders and to make them realize that they
have done and build a community (Mirsky, 2011). can achieve positive goals with their leadership skills
instead of misusing them.
Restorative practices are an effective alternative to puni-
tive forms of discipline; research shows that the latter not Even more interesting, circles can also be used by teachers
only fails to reduce negative behaviors but actually exacer- to help students with academic goals, to lay down project
bates them (Task Force on Zero Tolerance of the American implementation and activity rules, and to generate or
Psychological Association, 2008). With restorative prac- assess understanding of curriculum contents.This
tices, students face their unacceptable behavior: they take involves students in the learning process more effectively
responsibility for the same processes that provide support than with traditional classes. The circles can be powerful
rather than undergoing humiliating procedures.This is not because students who usually do not talk in class (about
a permissive practice: bad behavior is not tolerated. Com- their shyness, indifference, hostility, or insecurity) have the
munities that use restorative practices reach solutions opportunity to get involved in classroom life. The result?
collaboratively, generating credibility for those involved Dramatically positive changes are observed in the stu-
and those who have been affected by the unacceptable dents’ attitude towards participating in classroom
behavior. activities.

Restorative practices go far beyond the restorative justice There are different ways to introduce restorative practices
as they are both reactive and proactive. The fundamental in schools, as each school has its own needs. Although
hypothesis of restorative practices is that human beings restorative practices are not a panacea or magic solution to
are happier, more cooperative and productive (and more all kinds of conflict, it is undeniable that this approach can
likely to make positive behavioral changes) when they are transform the way many schools are presently organized.
in collaborative positions to effect change, rather than Restorative practices promote safer and more pleasant
when they are being punished or forced to do something. environments, leading to more successful schools.

There are different types of restorative practices, but we Bibliographical References
wish to highlight the circles. Restorative circles provide
opportunities for students to share their feelings, ideas and “Mary finds some money”. International Institute for
experiences, to build confidence and mutual understand- Restorative Practices (IIRP). Hull. Great Britain
ing. In a circle, everyone has the opportunity to talk and to Mirsky, L. 2011. Promoviendo Escuelas más Respetuosas;
be heard. Only one person talks at a time. Teachers can use Construyendo Escuelas más Sanas y Seguras. Instituto
the circle to get feedback on issues, e.g., do students feel Latino Americano de Prácticas Restaurativas Setiembre
ready to take the next exam; or simply to ask students how 2011, Volumen 69, Número 1.
Zehr, H. (1995). Changing lenses: A new focus for crime and
justice (2ª ed.). Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.

Zehr, Howard and Mika, Harry (1998). Fundamental Con-
cepts of Restorative Justice Contemporary Justice Review. 1:
47-55. Reprinted in Restorative Justice. Declan Roche
(2003), ed. Pp. 73-81. The International Library of Essays in
Law & Legal Theory, Second Series. Aldershot, Hants,
England: Dartmouth/Ashgate.

ENERGIZE
YOUR
LANGUAGE
PAIRINGS:
LOVE AT
FIRST SIGHT!

by Magdalena Balle Garcia

Magdalena Balle Garcia has a BA in English Language and Literature. She has taught
English and German in primary, secondary and adult education. At present, she is part of
the CEPA (Centre d’Educació de Persones Adultes) Son Canals school board in Palma,
Mallorca. She has taken part in several magazine and book articles on TEFL. She has also
coordinated different European educational projects. Magdalena has experience as a
training material developer and curriculum designer. She is part of the ofﬁcial exam
commission for the “proves lliures de graduat en secundària” for the Conselleria
d’Educació del Govern Balear. She is co-author of the book Del conte al portafoli
multicultural: un exemple de tasca competencial, which was awarded ﬁrst prize for the
best book by the Balearic Islands Education Council in November 2010. She is co-author
and author of other books on didactics: Media & Multicultural Education and Success in
University Access for Over 25s. Currently, Magdalena is coordinating the digital book
Ecolinguae: Approaches on Minority Languages and Minority Target Groups.

The Ins and Outs of this ‘Love Story’ -Dating candidates: who can participate in
the language pairings?
-The aim of the ‘Energize Your Language Pair- Anyone can become a tutor, provided that
ings’ campaign is to provide Catalan-language they are fluent in either Catalan or English.
or English-language learners with the oppor- They just have to feel like speaking in Catalan
tunity to practise in a relaxed atmosphere. or English in a non-formal atmosphere. A ‘di-
Furthermore, it provides Catalan and English dactic’ attitude is not welcome! Down-to-
native speakers with the opportunity to meet earth candidates are required; and they must
people who are genuinely interested in learn- be prepared to talk their partner’s ear off!
ing and improving their oral skills in the rele-
vant language. -A lasting relationship: how long does the
partnership last?
-With this in mind, Cepa Son Canals decided The tutor and the tutee involved are commit-
to organize a volunteer linguistic ‘matchmak- ted to spending 10 hours with each other, in
ing’ exchange between Catalan speakers who order to have sufficient practice time, divided
wanted to learn English and English speakers between Catalan and English.
who wanted to learn Catalan. The way it
works is as follows: the volunteer tutor be- -The ‘love nest’: where do the pairs meet?
comes the ‘tutee’ and vice versa. The volun- The first meeting (tutor-tutee) takes place in
teers can also participate in different activi- the school; then, the partners decide where to
ties, such as cultural outings, plays, visits to hold future meetings (café, library, park, etc.)
exhibitions – all in the target languages, of
course! These activities are included in the -When do the partners meet?
programme, based on the assumption that As the programme is flexible, the partners de-
language is inextricably intertwined with cul- cide when to meet. It is advisable to meet for
ture; language is one of the ways to become one hour per week.
acquainted with the customs, traditions, gas-
tronomy, etc. of a culture. Candidates in the Dating Process
After the participants fill out the enrollment
-There first activity is a festive gathering in form, the activity organizers will match up
which tutors and tutees are introduced to the the candidates according to suitability. The
programme. The tutors are provided with a enrollment form asks about timetable, hob-
training activity that includes material and bies, gender preference re partner, etc.
strategies for monitoring the partnership.
This initial activity has a double aim: improve Anyone can become Your Perfect ‘Other
participants’ communication skills and to Half’
demonstrate the fun use of the studied lan- Anyone can become a tutor, provided that
guages (English and Catalan) outside of for- he/she is fluent in Catalan or English. They
mal contexts. Yes! It is possible to have a good just have to feel like speaking Catalan or Eng-
time while practicing a foreign language! lish. It is important not to behave like a
Basic Information for the ‘Dating’ Candi- ‘teacher’. Candidates should avoid ‘lecturing’
dates and being too bold when it comes to correct-


ing mistakes. Tutors should only correct with this information, the Son Canals teach-
high frequency errors, stigmatizing errors, ers created the ‘Energize Your Language
and errors that block meaning or cause con- Pairings’ programme, based on peer-to-peer
fusion for the listener. methodology.

Why is CEPA Son Canals an ideal place for Peer-to-Peer Tutoring: an Inspiring Teach-
this ‘dating activity’? ing Method
Cepa Son Canals is an Adult Education Peer-to-peer tutoring is when students teach
School in Palma which provides formal and other students. This approach is usually
informal education. It is located in a disad- highly satisfactory, and has many benefits.
vantaged area with many immigrants from Students learn more when they are the ones
South America, North Africa and Eastern to teach the comprehensive aspects of a
European countries. The institution organiz- subject. And there is a beneficial compli-
es informal educational courses with stress- mentary effect: students experiencing diffi-
es on IT teaching; English; and Catalan and culties benefit from the help of someone of
Spanish courses for immigrants. In the past a similar age or status, who (figuratively)
couple of years, the school has also organ- “speaks their language”, and appears less in-
ized a lot of multicultural activities: semi- timidating than the teacher. A peer tutor
nars, workshops and festivals to facilitate uses pertinent vocabulary and examples
the immigrants’ integration into Mallorcan that resonate with the student, creating ef-
society and to teach them Catalan as well as fective bridges to breach the learning gaps.
Spanish. Teaching the local language is a Additionally, the tutor receives valuable re-
way to help them to be linguistically capable inforcement from having to prepare and
of a normal professional and social life. teach a topic. Of course, a teacher trained to
The languages department (Catalan, Span- supervise peer tutoring should monitor the
ish and English) wanted to foster the use of process.
the Catalan language in non-formal con-
texts. The majority of students understand Sowing the Seeds of Love: Spreading the
and try to speak Catalan in class, but they ‘Energize Your Language Pairings’ Cam-
would never attend a play in Catalan or paign
even watch television in Catalan. In fact,
some immigrant students show negative at- The Language Department teachers were in
titudes towards Catalan. With regards to charge of promoting the programme. How
English, most students don’t feel at ease did they do it? They launched a persuasive
when they speak it; in English class, the publicity campaign to advertise the lan-
teachers have to find a balance and practise guage pairings. Snappy slogans were printed
other skills. The result is that teachers lack on modern, colourful posters. The target
time to devote to communication practice. market was young adults ranging from
eighteen to twenty-five years old. The teach-
CEPA Son Canals, with its high percentage ers made a huge effort to advertise the pro-
of immigrants, has had two challenges: to gramme. An appealing logo identified all the
address the students’ lack of Catalan and material: posters, enrollment forms, didactic
English; and to show students that leisure guides, etc.
time does not imply the exclusion of partic-
ular languages. A large number of the The ‘mottos’ to promote these ‘perfect pair-
schools’ foreign students come from coun- ings’ were:
tries where English is frequently the second -‘Learn from each other’s efforts and knowl-
language; consequently, they are quite edge’, i.e. your success benefits me and my
skilled in English. The organization of the success benefits you.
Language Pairings has been aided by the -‘Learn for the sake of learning’, i.e. both
fact that the Catalan and the English teach- members share a common fate — they sink
ers belong to the same department, making or swim together. All the members partici-
communication and coordination easier. pate in the whole task, i.e. we cannot do it
The teachers did some research on language without you.
volunteering e.g. at Palma’s Paraula - ‘All members play a necessary role in the
(‘word’), a not-for-profit cultural centre partnership’.
(promoting the use and dissemination of
Catalan); or the peer-to-peer tutoring in
some Catalonian secondary schools. Armed


‘Love at First Sight’ their intimidation about speaking a
foreign language aloud. Most of our
The campaign worked! Many ‘ volun- students find it very hard to start
teers’ responded with interest and speaking aloud in a foreign language. It
filled out the language pair enrollment would never occur to them to attend a
form. At times, it seemed like the play or even watch TV in Catalan or
teachers involved in the programme English. The programme tries to con-
were like a marriage bureau, reading vince the students that they can spend
enrollment forms and matcheding up enjoyable free time using another lan-
pairs according to age, affinities and guage.
hobbies. After checking all the forms,
the staff organized a first meeting – a Evaluation: Analyzing the Relation-
‘get acquainted’ party, featuring lots to ship’s Pros and Cons
eat and a drama production.
The language partnership is a peer-to-
Beginning a Committed Relationship peer task. Both partners participate in
the conversation, so each is involved in
After being introduced, the language the evaluation process. Co-evaluation
pairs started to meet in the school li- is a process that involves two evalua-
brary. There was a ‘conversation cor- tors simultaneously. The co-evaluation
1
In didactics, a ner’1 (with computers, board games is extremely useful: it presents two per-
‘corner’ is a space and CDs in English and Catalan) where spectives, which contributes to the
used for a specific they could start their conversation ex- overall improvement of the pro-
activity. In infant change. Bilingual conversation guides gramme. The evaluation process in-
education it is were handed out. The topics chosen volves constant dialogue during vari-
very frequent to were related to the students’ immedi- ous stages of the programme. At the
use ‘corners’ to ate context: their house, neighbor- end of each session, each partner
develop different hood, city, etc. The vocabulary and (tutor and tutored person) should
activities, e.g. the conversation prompts included in the complete an evaluation questionnaire
reading corner, guide were related to real-life situa- (written in both languages).
the puppets’ cor- tions. During the first three sessions,
ner, the music there was always a Catalan or English The evaluation sheet should be easy to
corner, etc. teacher competent in both languages answer. Each participant should be
who could help the pairs in case prob- asked exactly the same questions. It is
lems arose. The pairs had to meet at important for the staff involved in the
least nine times. To break the ice and project to analyze the results in order
initiate communication, the pairs re- to improve the programme’s future im-
ceived Catalan/English conversation plementation. It is important to con-
lessons. The pairs were advised that vince the pairs that the self-evaluations
from the fourth session onwards, they are crucial for everybody, to improve
should spend time in an informal set- the overall programme.
ting, e.g. a café, park bench, plaza, li-
brary, etc. They had to demonstrate Conclusion: Language Pairings —
initiative about where to meet. Much More than a Marriage of Con-
venience
Spending Leisure Time Together
The final evaluation helps to assess the
The last sessions were devoted to fun programme in general. As Son Canals’
activities. The language pairs attended language pairings will continue in fu-
a play in Catalan, a cooking lesson in ture school years, the evaluation will
English, exhibitions and a Palma walk- help improve the experience for future
ing tour in English. These outings participants. Fortunately, there have
highlighted two of the important ob- just been two dropouts to date from
jectives of the programme. First, to en- the total of sixty three partners. We be-
hance language use via conversation lieve that the key to forming successful
exchanges. Secondly, to introduce stu- pairs has been the close analysis of the
dents to the socio-cultural aspects of initial self-descriptive information
the language under study. It was very sheets. It is not ‘mission impossible’ to
important for students to overcome find compatible ‘halves’!


CHAR

DIC
AND COMPUTERS

by Cathy Cobb Castrec
and Antònia Vidal

Antònia Vidal Nicolau (Technology) and Catherine Cobb Castrec (English) are both teachers at the IES Son Pacs.
They have been teaching Technology in English for the past eight years; in addition, they have been helping
other teachers start European Sections in their schools, by means of conferences and classes. They have also
taken part in several Comenius Projects and interdisciplinary ventures.

RLES

KENS
Our title might suggest a slight
anachronism, since Charles Dickens
conjures up a world of sepia-tinted
parchment and dusty books. How-
ever, at the IES Son Pacs, he is seen as a
vital and very modern author who has
been providing fun for our third of
ESO students for quite a few years.
To start off, we should explain that we
have been teaching Technology in
the Technology class as well as the
English class. The concept of CLIL
teaching (Content and Language-
integrated Learning) embraces this
method of imparting knowledge; our
students have taken part in a wide
range of projects to enhance their
technological skills. Nevertheless, a
few years ago, we felt that we should
explore another way of giving our
dents and some teachers shudder at
the thought of reading a musty and
boring book with a long and difficult
exam at the end. Unfortunately, some
of the adapted modern ESL books are
so tedious that it is understandable
why students develop an aversion to
reading and literature in general. So a
few years ago, our English Depart-
ment decided that we would only read
English for over eight years at our CLIL classes: using Technology to adapted versions of classics from Eng-
school. During this time, we have teach English literature. lish literature (e.g. Hamlet, The Picture
explained the uses of materials, tools, When you mention literature as part of Dorian Gray, Oliver Twist and The
electricity, bridges and forces, both in of a foreign language class, most stu- Last of the Mohicans, etc.). But a great

author is not enough to instill interest and fervour in most All of a sudden, Oliver Twistbecomes the best lesson of the
students, so we had to find a strategy to make them want to week! Nobody ever forgets their books, everybody wants to
read more, and make it a part of our course. Since Technol- act and students want to improve their photo stories with
ogy was an integral part of the third of ESO curriculum, we each round. Also, because there are so many characters in
decided to combine forces and drag Charles Dickens into the novel, students ask their families to participate;
the twenty-first century by making him the most interest- throughout the years, we have seen parents, brothers, sis-
ing person in the world of computers. ters and grandparents become new stars and enhance the
Using an adapted version of Oliver Twist in English class, productions of these videos.
we read each chapter. Before answering questions, stu- In sum, students develop their creativity, improve their
dents act out the chapter, using clothes and accessories English, as well as honing their ICT skills. Equally, they
brought from home. This enables them to understand learn to be more organized with their time and develop an
what the text is about and provides a fun way to practise acute sense of responsibility (something previously lack-
their speaking skills. They can also summarize the text eas- ing).
ily and visualize what has happened. They are also shown a Both the Technology teacher and the English teacher iron
template of the project, produced by the Technology out any problems each time a new installment is given,
teacher and the English teacher, incorporating other improving the overall experience.
teachers as actors. Last but not least, everybody learns that reading is fun and
At this point, the Technology teacher introduces them to that presentations can be extremely effective when the
video editing in the ICT class. Basically, they use a pro- correct computer knowledge is used. Students learn that it
gramme which enables photos to be transformed onto a is not difficult to get impressive results with computers;
video with speech, microphone recordings, and written and that apart from playing, watching films and listening
text. During one of their joint classes, one of the common to music, technological knowledge is very useful and espe-
teaching projects is introduced: students get into groups cially fun when applied with creativity.
(between two or three) and create a photo story for the first
two chapters of the book. Students are given the compul-
sory requirements for the project (number of frames, the
ratio of oral and written work, and different technological
requisites). Students are also informed of the strict time
limit for handing in their work. In point of fact, they and
their parents have already been notified of this require-
ment at the beginning of the year, reinforced by a
semi-official ceremony where they sign a consent form
stating that failure to hand in the term assessment on time
results in failing the assignment.
So that all students can work comfortably from home, and
to ensure that personal or social backgrounds do not affect
their creativity, students may use the school resources
(microphones, digital cameras, etc). This ensures that they
all have equal opportunity; creativity is the only variable
amongst them.
Students are encouraged to use all the technological aids
available, such as online picture editing, captioning, etc.
They are also encouraged to ask their families or friends for
help or advice, as long as they can explain and/or repeat
what they did by themselves in front of the Technology
teacher. This ensures that nobody else is doing the work for
them.
Once the videos have been given in, a general viewing of all
the videos takes place: students can assess what they have
done well and see the areas where they could improve. This
peer-to-peer learning ensures that students have a better
appreciation of the teaching involved.They are given two
marks for their work: one from the Technology teacher, who
assesses how they have used the different aspects of the
programme; and the English teacher gives a mark for their
oral and written skills, including creativity.
The basic procedure is as follows: students write out sum-
maries of the chapters read in class, illustrating each
section as if it were a still from a film. The production of the
next photo story is always easier. The Technology teacher
teaches them advanced computer skills to improve the
visual impact of their work.



LANGUAGE SHORT STORY

LEARNING
AND
LANGUAGE
TRAINING
IN EUROPE:
EDUCATION POLICIES FOR COLLECTIVE
EMPOWERMENT
By Mª Neus Lorenzo Galés

Neus Lorenzo Galés is an Education Inspector and the current Director of Language Services for the Catalonian
Department of Education. With more than twenty-ﬁve years of experience, Neus has taught all the way from pri-
mary to university levels. She has been very involved with European Union education initiatives. Neus has aut-
hored an ample selection of educational material in Spanish, Catalan and English for McGraw-Hill, Oxford
University Press, Richmond-Santillana, Océano and Graó. Currently, Neus is coordinating the plurilingualism
project related to third languages within the Catalonian Department of Education. She has been especially
involved in promoting CLIL methodology and the Comenius, eTwinning and Grundtvig projects.

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