Poetry in Class, Leaving Aside the Stereotypes.

Hello everyone, this week I would like to stand out this literary genre avoiding the stereotypes that are behind it. During the last middle group session, we have been working about poetry and how to change the perception of the student towards this genre. Besides, Raquel show as the point of view of some students about poetry and that is in what I would like to focus on.

First of all, we should think about what kinds of clichés are behind the poetry and the people that read it or write it. Usually, most of the people, and including the children, tend to think that it is a genre for women, which is not true because there are several well-known poets that are men and nothing is exclusively for men or women. Another cliché is that poetry has to use an unusual language. Which is also not true, because you do not have to use a specific language for a poem, you just have to transmit something through it. Moreover, related to the rime and the length of the verse, it is not necessary to write with a perfect punctuation or the most imaginative rhyming.

 

Accordingly, poetry is a way to explore your feeling, your concerns, your interests and also a way to show the world around you from your own perspective. Furthermore, if you promote this genre in class, the students will be able to leave aside all the stereotypes and clichés mentioned before, as well as to improve their confident to use the language to express themselves, even if it is in a second language. But, how can we work it in class?.

• A practical application:

As a first approach we can use the Haiku, which is a Japanese poetry. It is a style in which a poem should have 17 syllables maximum divided in 3 verses, and normally it is about nature. I consider it perfect to start to work this genre in class. For instance, before start you can make a brainstorming about the rainy weather, how it sounds, how you feel these days, and so on. After that, you will provide them some modelling, through which you are going to create one Haiku using words that came up with the brainstorming. You will also provide some literacy support, give them structures and key words to use in their Haiku. Then you can divide the class into tree homogeneous parts (A, B and C), the students in the “part A” are going to write one verse, each, with five syllables about the rainy weather. The “part B” is going to write one verse with seven, and the “part C” with five syllables. When they finished, you will create groups of tree with one member of each part in order to create their Haiku, and finally they will read it aloud in class.

Through this simple activity you can introduce the poetry into the class in a funny and easy way, leaving aside any kind of prejudices.

To conclude, just say that, as far as I’m concerned, it is extremely important to work this genre in a primary class because it is a great resource to work many aspects of the language literacy as well as the imagination playing with the words. I would like to finish the post with this poem called "A Poem is a Little Path"(take it from http://www.gigglepoetry.com):

                                      A poem is a little path
                                      That leads you through the trees.
                                      It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
                                      To anywhere you please.
                                      Follow it and trust your way
                                      With mind and heart as one,
                                      And when the journey's over,
                                      You'll find you've just begun.

                              See you in the next post!!

Frozen Frames, The Multi-Task Tool

Hello again readers, as all of you probably know, I’m trying to use this blog to show you, weekly, different tools with which you can work children’s literature and boost the literacy of your students and kids. This week, I would like to present you an activity that my teacher Raquel showed us the last week, which is the “Frozen-Frames”.

The freeze frames, also known as snapshots, are an extremely useful and funny technique. The purpose is to perform a specific moment or an abstract concept in a concrete way. The only things that you need are actors (your students) and a space to do the freeze frame. Besides, you can work with it in many different perspectives and topic. In fact, you can use it to set a scene of a tale, or whichever concept of science, maths, history among others. Moreover, through this tool you can reinforce some key vocabulary, elicit the acquisition of a range of concept, and enhance the communication as well as their imagination of course.

• A practical application:

First of all you can divide your class in small groups in order to perform a scene. Then, depending on what you want to work with, you can give a sheet of paper to each group with a topic that they should perform. In this way, they will work their reading skills, their comprehension of the text and the collaborative work. As well as their speaking skills in order to have an agreement about what the text is about and how they will perform it. After that, each group should set the scene, as clear as they can, and the rest of the groups must to figure out the topic and the concept. It is convenient to provide them with some scaffolding at the beginning of the activity to let them know what is the purpose of the activity. Apart of that, you can give them some language support for a further understanding.

Furthermore, if you want to work with a story, you can read it and let the groups to choose one moment of that story, for instance the worst moment or the funniest one. Then, after the performance, you can ask them why they chose it or encourage the class to talk about the difference between the performances, just in case that there were some groups that make the same scene.

A further example of how to use it in class can be, just to reinforce or introduce some vocabulary. In this case, they can work individually or in pairs in order to set a freeze frame of the meaning of some key words related to a topic. To do that in pairs, you can give them a piece of paper, come with the word and other just with a definition o meaning. Then they will have to mingle and try to find their partner, promoting in this way the socialization between the classmates. After that, they should understand the concept and perform it, and the rest of the class should predict what it is. In the case of that nobody guesses it, the students that have had the frozen frame should explain it to the class.   

As you can see, it is a very complete tool, easy to carry out and with endless possibilities of application in class and at home. I hope you enjoy the post and it would be great if you try to do it in class and tell me the result and your impressions. For further information, do not hesitate to contact me.

See you in the next post!!!

Can Technology Encourage Children’s Literature?

Hello everyone, today I would like to rise a question, can we use technology to promote children’s literature?. I must confess that I support the integration of the technological advances into the classroom, but always following the guidelines of the CLIL approach. In fact, I believe that it can be an extremely useful resource and I will try to show you along this post.

First of all, we need to stand out two words, “use vs. integrate”. Why?, because I think its necessary to know the difference between use the technology and integrate it into the classroom. During my practicums I realized that most of the teachers just use the technology. This means that they only tend to instruct the students through the technology, using the Cd of the book or just writing randomly in the IWB (Interactive White Board). These types of activities usually have a minimum direct interaction of the learner. However, the integration of the technology refers to those activities, which engaged and promote children interaction and cooperative learning, enriching the overall understanding of the topic. This integration involves something new for the student, such as interactive books, web making software, augmented reality and so on.

Furthermore, the integration of these tools in the curriculum, improves exponentially students' learning processes and outcomes, promoting higher-order thinking and problem solving skills. However, you should be selective and choose the most suitable apps according to your aims and the level of your students (or kids).

Secondly, as far as I know, there are a wide range of free tools that you can use in primary school to enhance children’s literature. But, how can we integrate those tools?. The key fact is, involve the students in the process and as a result you will catch their attention. The student has to be able to manipulate them, and become creators and critics instead of just consumers. But always, you should scaffold the process to guide the activation of the schema and the assimilation of the contents that you want to work through it. Consequently, the materials have to be more learner-centre. 

Nevertheless, you have to be careful because there are some apps that can distract children from the real target. For instance, here you have a video about the beautiful and catchy digital book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter. Please, Watch it and then try to answer this simple question: Do you remember what it said on the third page?. I don't think so, but I’m sure that you remember all the things that you can manipulate in it.  That is why you should be selective, because not always the most beautiful is the most appropriate. 

In my opinion, a good example of one app to enhance literature in class is Zoobrust. In fact, I recently discover it and, from my point of view, it is amazing and easy to work with. The special fact of this app, is that you can create stories in AR(Augmented Reality). Here you can see a video about a story that my group and I have created in class and that I have adapted for this platform:

Last but not least, I would like to recommend you this website, where you can find hot news about interesting apps. After all of these facts, are you willing to accept the challenge of the new technologies?, and if you are working with it, do you use or integrate it in the class?.

Thank you for visiting my blog and If you want more information or have any doubt, please do not hesitate to contact me.