Reading Aloud: Dialogues

In the current work unit we are focusing on different ways of writing down spoken words.
In this video the students have used different "speech verbs" to write a very simple narrative which includes some dialogue.
Students volunteer to read aloud the completed text. This is a difficult skill as they have little time to prepare and must think of the intonation required.
In this activity we are not aiming for perfection. We are aiming for building confidence, improving intonation and fluency.

Text for 5ºA:

"How are you?" asked Brendan
"I´m bored" groaned Zaida "We have too much work!"
"Rubbish!" yelled Héctor "I want even more work"
(written by class together)

Reading Aloud 5A from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

Text for 5ºB:

"How are you David?" asked Brendan
"I´m not happy" replied David
"Why not?" asked Brendan, looking at David with interest
"Because it´s the literacy class" groaned David. "All right, hmmm" yelled Brendan "Go and sit down!"
(written by class together)

Reading Aloud 5B (1) from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

Reading Aloud 5B (2) from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

Easter Holiday Homework: Follow-up.

The pupils produced some excellent and interesting "Holiday Diaries".
(Pincha en las fotos para verlas más grandes)

After returning from the Easter break we did a questions and answer session using the whiteboards to take notes. (photos and video 5ªB). After selecting various dates from the holiday period pupils have to find others in the class who did something on that date. They use their own diary for consultation.

La calidad del sonido en el video no es muy buena pero se puede ver que todos los alumnos se involucran en la actividad 

Easter Holiday News from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

Reading: Winter Birds

In this link the students can read about common birds which are easy to see in the UK in wintertime. From the BBC cbbc children´s website (abre en una ventana nueva).
Esto es un recurso que se utilizará en el aula
En este momento hay un problema con el link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/10-birds-you-can-spot-this-winter

Story Time: The Iron Man

On fridays we usually have our "Story Time" when we read poems, section of novels or short stories in a group. In the first term we read the first chapter of this famous story for children, "The Iron man" by Ted Hughes.

Open the video below to see an excellent and atmospheric, animated version of the first chapter. It is from the BBC children´s channel.
(1. Esto es un recurso que se utilizará en el aula)

Below that there is a video of the students in 5ºA doing a follow-up activity.
(2. Alumnos de 5ºA hablan del libro en el segundo video:)


The Iron Man from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

5A The Iron Man Review from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.


Listening Practice: This is an abridged version of the story, we will be doing some comprehension questions based on this listening. Practice reading the text to yourself as it is read by the narrator.

Esto es otro recurso que se utilizará en el aula:

What did you do ...?

The students often tell the class their news at the start of the class. Part of the process is the use of verb tenses in context.  However occasionally we revise and focus directly on some grammar points.

Here the students from 5ºB are doing question and answer chains. They prepared their questions but do not know who they will be speaking to until their turn comes around again. (activity from October 2015)

Some students prefer to watch and listen ... which is fine!

5B Past Tense Chains from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

The Magpie Poem.

We are working on "scientific" and non-fiction texts at the moment. To coincide with the research on different types of birds we had a bit of fun with this traditional poem about the magpie (the urraca or "pega"). Throughout history the magpie has been the subject of superstition and folk stories.

In the first video the pupils of 5ºA have been given the words of the poem as a puzzle. They are deciding the logical order for the words by working out the "value" of each element and which of them rhyme.

5A Magpie Poem Class from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

Here the pupils of 5ºB recite the poem in groups:

5B Magpie Poem 1 from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.
5B Magpie Poem 2 from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.
5B Magpie Poem 3 from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

There are lots of variations on this traditional poem but this is the most commonly known one:

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told!

Teatro de Halloween (octubre 2015)

Para coincidir con la celebración de halloween en el colegio, los alumnos hicieron una adaptación de un cuento que habíamos leído en "story time" (la sesión de cada semana que dedicamos a cuentos, lectura en grupo, dramatizaciones ... ). El cuento original se llama ""Little Rabbit Foo Foo" y la versión en canción se puede ver en este video:

   

El proceso de adaptación del cuento/canción se centró en cambiar los nombres de los personajes, añadir nuevos adjetivos y mantener el numero de sílabas que hay en la canción original. 

Los alumnos decidieron en sus grupos el guión final y por eso la versión de 5ºA  se llama "Evil Demon Boo Boo" y la de 5ºB "Creepy Zombie Zoo Zoo". 

Aquí hay un video del último ensayo en cada clase:

5A Theatre Rehearsal: "Evil Demon Boo Boo" from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.


5B Rehearsal Theatre: "Creepy Zombie Zoo Zoo" from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.

y aquí algunos fotos de los actores ...

Verb Jumping

Practicamos los verbos en pasado simple. Los alumnos cuentan lo que hicieron el fin de semana .., saltando entre verbo y verbo. (video de alumnos de 5ºB)

5B Verb Jumping from Atalía 5 Gijon on Vimeo.