I´m a firm believer in the importance of taking English out of the classroom and into the community. I know it isn´t always easy, especially in a formal school setting, but the benefits are just so positive that I do my best to plan outings.
At my language academy, we have a regular once-a-trimester all-English, Saturday outing for our students of all ages. We preteach the language of the event in our classes prior to the outing and I prepare a little work booklet, usually containing a fun quiz, some drawing work, some vocabulary work and some interactive game activity, such as a treasure hunt for items found at the place we are visiting.
Here is a 3 minute video clip of an example of one of our outings to the zoo.
At my language academy, we have a regular once-a-trimester all-English, Saturday outing for our students of all ages. We preteach the language of the event in our classes prior to the outing and I prepare a little work booklet, usually containing a fun quiz, some drawing work, some vocabulary work and some interactive game activity, such as a treasure hunt for items found at the place we are visiting.
Here is a 3 minute video clip of an example of one of our outings to the zoo.
I conduct this entire outing in English. I visit the place prior to the event and look for brochures and any material either in Catalan or Spanish that I can then rework in English so that my students can have the same content in English to work on!
Our students receive this little booklet that I have prepared while we are at the outing. We work on it at various moments during our morning. We have been doing these outings for the past 4 years. Each year they get easier to organize and the language level gets better and better. When we first started visiting places in the city, there was no English material available, and of course no English-speaking guides. But this is slowly changing. More and more we are finding that there are places in Barcelona that can offer us services in English!! This is a lovely surprise for our students!
Over the years, we have visited Caixa Forum, Cosmo Caixa, the Barcelona Zoo and the Aquarium several times. We have also visited the COPE radio station and been interviewed by the radio broadcaster Olga Ruiz and this May, we will take a boat tour of the Barcelona harbour. Students love these outings!
I find these outings meaningful for many reasons. Students are incredibly motivated and participative. Learning happens before, during and after the event. Myself and my group of teachers (the number of teachers depends on how many students we are bringing) bring one or two small digital cameras so that during the outing we can take photos and film short sequences of language use.
After the event I combine these photos and filmed sequences to make a short video clip where I include the language we had been working on during the outing. Often we show them to the students in the classroom after the event as follow-up practice work. The video above is an example of a video we prepared for one of our otings at the Barcelona Zoo. We also hang these videos on our web page for students and parents to review. This helps us connect regularly with our students´families. In addition to this, at the end of the year, we prepare a DVD for each of our families with these video clips and other examples of students´ work on it, so that students and families have a record of what we have done, what we have learned and what we have visited in the community.
These outings are not only for my little learners but also for my older students as well! In my university language classes I have just started to organize a Friday afternoon English movie session at the cinema once a trimester. My students are thrilled with the idea! As we are studying movie reviews and practicing with the simple past and related tenses to retell stories and past events, a movie outing is a perfect classroom-community connection. Our first movie outing is at the end of the month. I will let you know how it goes!
More about the classroom-community connection to come in my next entry!
Happy teaching!
Theresa
Our students receive this little booklet that I have prepared while we are at the outing. We work on it at various moments during our morning. We have been doing these outings for the past 4 years. Each year they get easier to organize and the language level gets better and better. When we first started visiting places in the city, there was no English material available, and of course no English-speaking guides. But this is slowly changing. More and more we are finding that there are places in Barcelona that can offer us services in English!! This is a lovely surprise for our students!
Over the years, we have visited Caixa Forum, Cosmo Caixa, the Barcelona Zoo and the Aquarium several times. We have also visited the COPE radio station and been interviewed by the radio broadcaster Olga Ruiz and this May, we will take a boat tour of the Barcelona harbour. Students love these outings!
I find these outings meaningful for many reasons. Students are incredibly motivated and participative. Learning happens before, during and after the event. Myself and my group of teachers (the number of teachers depends on how many students we are bringing) bring one or two small digital cameras so that during the outing we can take photos and film short sequences of language use.
After the event I combine these photos and filmed sequences to make a short video clip where I include the language we had been working on during the outing. Often we show them to the students in the classroom after the event as follow-up practice work. The video above is an example of a video we prepared for one of our otings at the Barcelona Zoo. We also hang these videos on our web page for students and parents to review. This helps us connect regularly with our students´families. In addition to this, at the end of the year, we prepare a DVD for each of our families with these video clips and other examples of students´ work on it, so that students and families have a record of what we have done, what we have learned and what we have visited in the community.
These outings are not only for my little learners but also for my older students as well! In my university language classes I have just started to organize a Friday afternoon English movie session at the cinema once a trimester. My students are thrilled with the idea! As we are studying movie reviews and practicing with the simple past and related tenses to retell stories and past events, a movie outing is a perfect classroom-community connection. Our first movie outing is at the end of the month. I will let you know how it goes!
More about the classroom-community connection to come in my next entry!
Happy teaching!
Theresa
