Creative MFL ideas

Teaching languages is more exciting when you can share ideas and good practice with other colleagues. You may want to be inspired by the following slide show.

Creative MFL ideas for KS3 and KS4 from Chris Fuller

You will note that lots of examples are in Spanish so this is even better!

Daily routine

1. El arreglo personal                                                        Personal hygiene

2. un despertador                                                             the alarm clock
3. despertarse                                                                  to wake up
4. el jabón                                                                        the soap
5. el champú                                                                     the shampoo
6. lavarse                                                                          to have a wash 
7. una toalla                                                                      the towel
8. una secadora                                                                the dryer
9. secarse                                                                        to dry yourself
10. (el) agua caliente                                                           the hot water
11.  bañarse/ducharse                                                         to bathe / shower 
12. unas tijeras                                                                   the scissors                                                            
13. un cepillo                                                                      a brush
14. un cepillo de dientes                                                      a toothbrush
15. cepillarse                                                                      to brush your hair
16. una maquinilla de afeitar                                                a razor
17. una afeitadora eléctrica                                                 an electric shaver
18. para afeitarse                                                                to shave 
19. unos rulos                                                                     curlers
20. rizarse                                                                          to curl your hair
21. un peine                                                                        a comb
22. peinarse                                                                       to comb your hair
23. el lápiz labial                                                                 a lipstick                                                        
24. maquillarse                                                                   to put some make up on.

There is more vocabulary on this topic on this website. (Click on the word website)

Brain-based learning, a buzz phrase...

Do you wish to find out more about brain-based learning theory? Read on...

Brain based learning theory is guided by the assumption that “research in neuroscience should guide learning and assessment.” (Gulpinar, 2005) Much of brain-based learning (or BBL) theory stresses the importance of environment and learning climate and engaging students by reducing stress and getting them to a state of “relaxed alertness.” Reduce stress, put on some background music, make sure that every student is welcome..

HOW BRAIN-BASED LEARNING IMPACTS EDUCATION
Curriculum -- Teachers must design learning around student interests and make learning contextual. One example, start talking about theme parks during your MFL lesson and you will see that your students'interest increases dramatically.  
Instruction -- Educators let students learn in teams and use peripheral learning. Teachers structure learning around real problems, encouraging students to also learn in settings outside the classroom and the school building.
Assessment -- Since all students are learning, their assessment should allow them to understand their own learning styles and preferences. This way, students monitor and enhance their own learning process.
The three instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning are:
1. Orchestrated immersion -- Creating learning environments that fully immerse students in an educational experience.
2. Relaxed alertness -- Trying to eliminate fear in learners, while maintaining a highly challenging environment.
3. Active processing -- Allowing the learner to consolidate and internalize information by actively processing it.

Here is where you can find an overview of brain-based learning theory.

Kinesthetic activities

As I was browsing the web to find different kinesthetic activities for my students, I found the following one. You write sentences, split them into three, i.e. the sujects, the verbs and the complements. You give the bits of sentences to the pupils who in turn have to build the sentence up. To do this, the students need to get up and go round the classroom and find their match.
Recently, I did a similar activity to consolidate the past tense. They received different cards, subject, auxiliary verb, complement and past participle. However the students were working together on  4 sentences. So a little variation is beneficial. As I was doing a carousel, I could hear some other students desperate to get their hands on the cards. The same eagerness was apparent in another class, I told the students that they could get up and use the interactive whiteboard soon as they'd finish the first tasks. Soon enough, they got up in group of 4 to enjoy a snake and ladder grammar game on hobbies (testing opinions and present tense).