Juan and Raul: Actions

Hello everybody!!! 

Topic: Actions
Vocabulary: Swim, jump, fly, climb, eat, drink, drive
Grammar: I can/can't, She can/can't, He can/can't, it can/can't
Review: Animals, Family members, alphabet.


This class was so interesting seeing our classmates teaching one more time! They were so enthusiastic and driven to get everything done and not just that, but with great performance in their teaching! Congrats to Juan and Raul! 

Let's first disscuss what they did in their teaching this Friday 8th!

Raul and Juan sang the "Hello" song and after that I was told that he began the warmup activity using a similar version of my name tags, it had the same principle of the name in one sheet of colour paper and inside they found an image, the ones that you see in the picture below: 

They reviwed family members, individual letters, and other vocabulary that they were already familiar. 

The children were here standing and listening to Raul's explanation of today's class. In fact, I think that they are now  able to do many things and remember lots more. Their thinking is very active and are much more attentive in each class. This one was not the exception. Raul had flashcards with the action in a coloured paper. He grabbed one action from the list they had, and showed it to the children. He said the action and perform how that action verb was like. I think this demonstrated that he had thought on that before. Since these verbs are about "doing", they must perform to the children so that they were able to get the meaning. They distinguished the verbs and one thing that called my attention was that he called out the previous verb for the children to remember. As we know, they are very vivacious and perceive how that verb is different from the last one and so on. Raul also made clearer pronunciation, because this was also part of the learning process.

He was using the portfolio technique to show the kids these verbs. The only thing that I could perceive is that while he was teaching them the verbs, some kids were out of the circle in front of him. Some were not paying enough attention to him and I would prefered them to be sit so they all can see much better the portfolio. That was all I can point. Then, Raul only showed them the picture from the portfolio and he wanted them to say out loud the verb. I like that they said it even when they did not master the pronunciation. This gives me the exemplary thought that children like to participate even when they are unsure about how they are doing it. 

 I was pretty happy that they are learning the actions verbs. This activity was designed, I guess to measure how much they have clarified vocabulary from other classess with the new vocabulary as well. They stressed more vocabulary from last classes. They made a line in front of teacher Raul. He showed the first two children a picture of a vocabulary previously learned and with two boxes  behind him with the prizes. He gave the first one to answer a piece of ribbon to praise them. I was surprised and happy because many of them are remembering many of the vocabulay that was taught and that is something to be proud of. Minor surprises, great expectations! 









The next activity Gloria and I were discussing the following:

1. They were in two lines, girls versus boys. They were standing in front of Raul while he gave directions about the game. The game itself was great to see because children were so happy to participate and eager to win! However, I think that they were not set in the way they could be more comfortable in this game. Gloria and I discussed that Raul would have set the girls and boys sitting on the floor in other way, becuse boys were near the cons and they were winning more points. Maybe the two lines in front of the cons and kids sitting on the floor. So, Raul call one verb and the pair could stand quickly and grab the hoob and lastly select the correct con.
2. I would have set the cons far from each other, so that they run a bit more and think more about what plastic con to select.
3. The hoob was too big to grab quickly from the floor, but that was what they had and at the end it worked nicely.
The activity captured their attention and it was always high throughout the activity!! Since their attention span is short this kinds of activities where they used the body and cognitive mind let them spand more their attention on activities.

Juan's activities were active and he incorporated many kinestetic activities because he was aware that they like and enjoy more by moving around. He spend many of his lesson to spelling, action verbs, colours. They practiced again the verbs so they can have the opportunity to internalize them through the practice. I think that they had unconsiously thought about the ECRIF approach in mind. To me they were capable of demonstrating this. With the practices that Juan gave children review some animals, colors, the verbs and they also count the letters of the verbs. They recycle much of the vocabulary. This was an essential part. 
I liked very much and I see how Juan has grown in his performance. His voice was not soft and was audible. He also control the indiscipline; something that he did was that he called the name o the kid making noise or something. 
He also did modeling when remembering the actions with children. They all did what he did and repeat constantly the verbs and at the same time they perform the verbs. 
They all know that the verb "fly" means volar because they raised up their hand in the air and pretended to fly like birds. In fact, a kid mentioned the word "bird" when they all were raising their hands!!!

 They also moved around making a circle doing what Juan said and do. This also had them recycling the verbs. In the picture below, you are seeing that Juan showed them the proper names of the actions. This is also very very helpful for them to integrate in the learning of actions verbs. Eventhough they do not know how to pronounced them, they were able to remember them. The next activity also had the name of the verbs below the image and they pasted on the chart of CAN/CAN'T. 

Juan made them spell the word and you can see that they were very focused. 

They also practice the can/can't and Juan made the comparison. He said: "I can jump", and mimic the verb by jumping. Then, he said: "I can't jump" and he made like not being able to jump very well. Kids followed him. 

The spinning wheel that Juan used was not similar to Monica's. This was used for selecting them to get one verb from the ones that were next to Juan and then they had to say color, spelling and the verb. Then, the person selected by the arrow had to take one picture and say what was. Some pictures were verbs, one of a turtle and so on. I think that they were reusing the energy they had with nice activities. They were not bored nor playing around. If they were not paying attention, Juan called out his or her names. Kids love messing around whenever they had the chance. The next activity gave them the perfect moment for that. However, I could see that they were not interrumpting Juan or something bad occurred. 

Teacher Juan used a song as a background so they passed a hat and made a movement that he first did,  so that at the end one can pass and select one picture and answer some questions that Juan prepared. They moved funny and they all at the end answered the questions about the picture. They were all laughing and participating. 

 Finally, what I loved to see is that they participated until the end of the class. Juan song for them using the CAN/CAN'T. I do not recall about the lyric, but he sang slowly at the beginning and then he speed up when saying the verbs. They also move their arms pretending to do the verbs. 


Teachers Juan and Raul have learned a lot this time, I bet. We all are because we are witnessess of their achievements and we are sure that they are having fun and learning at the same time. They created great practices, which were helpful for the next classes!! Congrats and we all are proud of you guys!


See you next time!!!