English and rural mini chef

As you know, I love languages and rural life.

For several years now, I’ve been working to revitalize my town by sharing what I know about art, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

I’m designing a small workshop to teach English to the children of Aldehuela, and what I’ve come up with is a “mini chef” activity where they’ll learn to write down expressions and then use them while actually cooking several simple dishes that we’ll all enjoy together afterward.

Because there is one important lack in the small village, and It is the lack of access to language knowledge...And those who can help to solve this ploblem need to collaborate to democraticize It. In my case, I have C1 degree in english, and I have lived in Ireland 8 months, so I can manage a small  workshop for kids K-10 or less.

I am very Happy to share here the banner I have prepared thanks to Géminis AI to concrete all the event details.

I’m going to prepare flashcards with terms and actions so that each child can use them according to their level of language proficiency.

I close the workshop in 10 kids to enjoy doing the activity. More kids could be crazy.

Past simple in a reading way of learning

The past tense describes actions or events that have already currently happened and they have finished.

How do we put into practice the past simple in affirmative, negative and questions?

Here you have the explanation:

Examples:

• I ate breakfast this morning-->irregular verbs
• She worked at the hospital last year-->regular verbs

To form the past we need to know some important roules. They are quite easy if you train with interest.

I found a nice book to build strong knowledge about past sentence:

Rule N 1. We add +ED to a regular verbs

Rule N 2. We dont add ED to verbs finished in ED, we just add "D".

Rule N. 3. Verbs which finish in "Y", transform the Y --> i and add ED

Rule Nº 4. Dobble consonant+ED

READING ACTIVITY:

Questions:

1. Where did they go on holiday? _____________________________________________________________________________
2.  What did they do every day? _____________________________________________________________________________
3.  What did uncle Pete throw to the ducks? ____________________________________________________________________________
4.  What did the monster do? _____________________________________________________________________________
5. Did Uncle Pete take a photo of the monster? _____________________________________________________________________________
6. Did Aunt Sue see the monster?

Keep learning in Halloween

 

The start of the term of this course has been a bit odd, so we need to work quite a lot at home on communication and improving our English grammar. Today we’ve been looking at Halloween, so we’re going to revise the present, past and future continuous tenses in the context of Halloween.

Halloween VOCABULARY:

Grammar tenses:

ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN (PAST TENSES)

BBC LEARNING:

A little bit of story...

Many years ago, in a place called Ireland, there was an ancient people known as the Celts. They celebrated a big festival at the end of the month of October called Samhain. For this people, summer was ending and winter was beginning, a cold and dark season. The Celts thought that on this very special night, the door between the world of the living and the world of the dead opened, and spirits could walk on Earth.

To not be afraid and to confuse the ghosts that visited their houses, people wore scary masks and strange costumes. Also, they lit big bonfires on the hills to light the way and protect their homes. With the passage of time, this celebration changed a lot. More than one hundred and fifty years ago, many people from Ireland traveled by boat to the United States and took all their customs and stories there.

There, the festival adopted the name Halloween, which comes from an old English expression (All Hallows´Eve, víspera de todos los Santos). 

Today, children dress up as witches, vampires, or friendly monsters and walk through the streets decorated with illuminated pumpkins. Families put candles inside carved pumpkins with smiling or angry faces, a tradition inspired by the legend of a man named Stingy Jack (Jack el Tacaño). Children knock on the doors of neighboring houses and shout a very famous phrase: "Trick or treat!" The neighbors open the door and give them candies, chocolates, and delicious sweets. It is a very fun night where everyone shares laughs, games, and unforgettable moments with their friends.

Trick-or-Treating mith.

There is much debate around the origins of trick-or-treating, but generally there are three theories. The first theory suggests that during Samhain, Celtic people would leave food out to appease the spirits traveling the Earth at night. Over time, people began to dress as these unearthly beings in exchange for similar offerings of food and drink. 

The second theory speculates that the candy boon stems from the Scottish practice of guising, which is a secular version of “souling.” During the Middle Ages, generally children and poor adults would collect food and money from local homes in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls’ Day. Guisers dropped the prayers in favor of non-religious practices with the inclusion of songs, jokes, and other “tricks.”

A third theory argues that modern American trick-or-treating stems from “belsnickeling,” a German-American Christmas tradition where children would dress in costume and then call on their neighbors to see if the adults could guess the identities of the disguised. In one version of the practice, the children were rewarded with food or other treats if no one could identify them.

OUR TASKS:

We have analysed its origins and drawn up a mind map that will help us: the past-the present-the future of our Halloween

• Read&aloud: 

• The past: the origins of Halloween.
• The present: what we usually do at this time of year. Gotham

• The future: what we are going to create and take to school. We are going to participate into School contest. Let´s see...

Here our plan of working:

At home, we made two Halloween brooms.

Step 1. Gather natural materials to make them.

On top, lavender and yellow broom.

Step 2. Find real, curved sticks. 

We found four very close to home; they were from a very thick, dry, fallen broom branch.

Step 3. Mix the natural elements and tie them together.

Step 4. Decorate... While for Álvar “less is more,” for Martín “more is more.”

What do you think about It?

If You read well in spanish, You can start reading in english

 Many studies confirm how important it is to encourage reading and communication on a daily basis. When you read, you learn new words and expressions and put what you’ve learned into context through a story.

We believe in the value of reading and memory—and together, they go a long way toward helping children develop their creativity.

This week is Martín’s birthday—he’s turning 10 already. And we always give him some clothes, books, and something he really wants…

I’ve bought him four books: two for him and two for his brother. It might seem like a lot, but honestly, in our house, books and LEGO are always the gifts that get the most use.

When a child reads well in Spanish, that’s when they can make the leap to another language.

This time, I’ve only picked out one book in English that they’re going to love.

We Will tell You about these books...

"I would like to"... Starting KidsBox6

Today we had english class in Infil School and we started the new book, KidsBox6.

My kids have told me they did a complete class with reading, listening and speaking program.  In this context of working, they have used a new book KidsBox6. 

These books I really like, these are very different because they are very focus on comminication Skills. Of course there is also grammar in the book but with inside situations to put into practice comprehensión and comunicative Skills.

Today the very amazing thing  was where my kids were speaking with me in English about the class, about the topic they have worked un Infil,  Blog Competition, and they have used "I would like..." structures with fluency explained me:

I would like to create my owm blog  mum, and I would like to do It about Soccer, animals or video games.

I consider it is very important to speak in english with them after english classes and give them the oportunity to explain ( in English) what they did to ensure that their learning is meaningful.

And here the reading in the book:

 We are very Happy with Infil School and with Lucía, Who is very profesional and Álvar and Martín like too much.

BBC Real English, Easy English

We have discovered very interesting ressources from BBC to listen english in a real way.

BBC offers us real conversations in easy English to help students to learn English. BBC Learning English presenters talk about a comming topic each week and explain words to help you learn.

Indeed the TV platform adds in each conversatoon interesting grammar expresión to build students skill of comminication.

Today we have explored...#Cinema

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/real-easy-english/261009

After listening we can download the worksheet in order to  kids do a comprehensión work.

I think It is nice help for families who want to create English moments at home

BUILD YOUR VOCABULARY AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

 

Today we woke up really keen to knuckle down and work hard on our English; we started with two episodes of ‘Lego Adventure: No Limits’ and got stuck into practising our spoken English with this nice exercises Gemini has generated for us with the apropiated propmts.

Thanks gemini for your help!!

Irregular verbs mind map.

We’re already in full swing with our English learning. We’re really pleased this year to have Cris Novoa back as our children’s teacher at school and Lucía at INFIL, school of languages.

We were really looking forward to Lucía being Álvar and Martín’s teacher because we know she’s demanding and does a great job.

Both of them will play a vital role this academic year, as both Álvar (Year 6) and Martín (Year 5) are working on Year 6 syllabus content with the aim of achieving an A2(2) level.

At home, we continue to support their learning by providing greater exposure to spoken English. Miguel and I mainly work with them on listening, reading and speaking.

We’ve discovered the Lego Adventures and  No limits visuals, which they love, and we’re building up our English library mainly with Oxford’s ‘Reading’ and ‘Imagine’ series.

This weekend we’ll be working on verbs, numbers and everyday situations in spoken English.

To make them keen to study English, we’ve designed a really cool mind map that we’ll be adding to with irregular verbs.

We’re sharing it here in case it inspires you.

Aquí comenzamos el trabajo duro:

NUMBERS IN ENGLISH

                                               

Today we’re going to work on numbers – a fairly basic topic for children in Years 5 and 6 of primary school, but one that’s always worth revising.

Numbers are part of our daily lives, and it’s not just a matter of memorising them but of knowing how to communicate in those everyday situations; that’s why the revision we do at home will create specific contexts for applying what we already know about numbers to situations that Alvar and Martín might face whilst in a foreign country.

To this end, following Bloom’s Taxonomy, we’ll start with memorisation activities to refresh their recall of cardinal and ordinal numbers in English and how to spell them.

The second level, as always, involves reading in English and mentally constructing appropriate expressions using numbers.

The third level involves practising reading comprehension using books suitable for them.

The top levels are connected with oral expression; ultimately, we do not want our children to be mere collectors of vocabulary; we want them to demonstrate communicative ability, and that is achieved through communication. As this skill is hardly practised at school, given the diversity of the class and the poor English communication skills of many children, we reinforce it at INFIL – the school Álvar and Martín attend – and at home, because the weekends are dedicated to English, focusing on speaking skills, and we also spend a little time on it every evening.

OUR PLAN OF WORKING THIS WEEKEND:

First level_Memorising numbers and number dictation exercises

Second. Reading activity.  (I have this book in pictures if you are interested on).

Third Task. Control activity. Here an exemple of our plan of working.

DONT REMEMBER, NONE LEARNS A SECOND LANGUAGE JUST WITH TWO HOURS AT SCHOOL, THERE IS SO MUCH EFFORT TO LEARN IT.

BUT...IT WORTHS IT!

PRESENT SIMPLE AND PRESENT CONTINUOS

I already have plenty of resources and ideas for Year 5, but the challenge at home is to adapt them to the needs, interests and communication skills of each of my two children.

Álvar is in Year 6 and has a well-established A2 level. He’s very hard-working and loves English; he also loves public speaking, so he’s making huge progress.

Martín, on the other hand, is different: he loves English and has a much more British accent than Álvar, but we’re struggling with his shyness when it comes to speaking in public. This means he’s progressing at a different pace, but one that’s very, very solid. Martín attends Year 6 communication classes (a family arrangement made possible thanks to his English skills).

And I have addapted this plan of working to Martín needs:

POINT OF GRAMMAR TO START WITH...

                DAILY ROUTINES               WHAT  YOU ARE DOING NOW

We start with the days of the week, and we use, of course Pop_Planet Platform.

MY EVERYDAY TIMETABLE: scholl classes and extra activities.

LINK: https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/writing-practice-school-timetable-worksheet.pdf

OUR PICTURE BOOK TODAY IS...

Weekend work at home almost always includes one common element: reading aloud in English. 

For some time now, we have been buying books that are suitable in terms of subject matter and difficulty for Álvar and Martín’s progress. One of these books is *If I Build a School*. It’s a brilliant book which, as well as building up their school-related vocabulary, encourages and motivates the children to imagine their ideal school… very much in line with the creative work I always try to instil in the children.

Here you have the audio book:

And down here, Martín reading today:

READING COMPREHENSION. A Very Strange Day at Oak Tree School

Welcome to Oak Tree School! On normal days, students usually arrive at eight o'clock and put their backpacks inside their lockers. We always start the morning with Maths, where the teacher writes numbers on the whiteboard and students use their calculators and rulers. During Science class, we usually study plants, and in Art, we paint pictures with brushes at our desks. Today, however, everything is completely different and crazy! Right now, in the classroom, Mr. Green is playing the electric guitar while students are throwing colorful paper airplanes. In the gym, where we usually play basketball in sneakers, the PE teacher is doing yoga on a giant pink flamingo float! Down in the cafeteria, pupils always eat vegetables and drink water at the long wooden tables. But look! At the moment, the chef is serving chocolate ice cream for breakfast, and two cats are sliding across the floor! Outside in the playground, where children normally run and chat during break time, an astronaut is walking and talking to a robot near the swings. It is the most unusual day of the year!

Questions

Responde a las siguientes preguntas con oraciones completas (Full sentences):

1. What do students usually do with their backpacks when they arrive at school?

   Answer: __________________________________________________________________

2. What does the teacher normally use during Maths class, and what are students doing in class today?

   Answer: __________________________________________________________________

3. What do pupils usually do in the gym, and what is the PE teacher doing right now?

   Answer: __________________________________________________________________

4. What usually happens in the cafeteria, and what is the chef doing at the moment?

   Answer: __________________________________________________________________

5. Who is walking in the playground today, and what do children normally do there during break time?

   Answer: __________________________________________________________________

SPEAKING.  THE STORY OF A BOY WITH MILLION OF HOMEWORK.