Mr.T's creative thinking lesson for 12th graders



Teaching this afternoon class of 12th graders is proving to be a challenge for me.  These are students who have not passed the English part of their "O" level exam.  A passing grade on this exam is key to a job in the islands.



Right from the beginning of class, with the  "Starter Activity" I try to stimulate their brain with something different.

Following the "Starter Activity" the next activity was reviewing yesterday's vocabulary from the story "The Magic Pebbles."  Rather than have students write the definitions, I had them illustrate them. 

Writing a definition would have meant that they would have simply re-written what I'd written on the board.

Each student needed to illustrate either nomad or celestial, and then one of the following:  anticipation, saddle bags, menial, or revelation.

Yesterday I'd explained that there are some people in Asia, who live on boats and can be considered nomadic.



Celestial..... I noted to the student that it looked like she was drawing me...... that no one had ever illustrated me as an angel!




Another celestial being..... this one I noted to the student looked like it was showing..... anticipation!



My listening activity.... leading to a writing activity.

There is an island, just below the horizon.
There are three palm trees on the island.
One palm tree has 5 coconuts.
One palm tree has three crows sitting in it.
One palm tree has a bat sleeping in it.
There is one road on the island.
On one side are 8 houses, a mosque and a school.
On the other side, a playground, 2 stores and a restaurant.
On the left is a beautiful blue lagoon.
6 fishing boats and one ferry and in the lagoon.
A white sandy beach is on the left side of the island with a family of 5 having a picnic.



I'd told students that there were two parts to this drawing assignment..... so first I allowed them time to draw the island and all that was on it.



Island drawing completed, I continued my story.  They (the students) were walking along the island when suddenly, they saw a creature!  Was it part animal and part fish?  Part fish and part insect?  8 legs or 4 fins?  Scales or fur?  Was it scary or did they want to go over and touch it?

The creatures the students came up with were, well, unreal!



A bird fish or fish bird? 



A bat fish....

I think this one had something to do with with being a vamphire....

Or maybe this one was the vamphire jelly fish...

A tuna elephant with wings.

Our fine feathered friend..... the bird fish.

Part of the "O" level exam is for the students to write a letter to a friend.

As a final step in this lesson, I gave the students a letter format, and asked them to write me a letter.  I gave them the opening paragraph and the beginning sentences of paragraphs 2 and 3. 

In paragraph two, they were to describe their island.  In paragraph 3 they were to describe their creature.

When the students had finished, I had them count the words in the letter, since one of the guidelines for the exam is that the letter can be no more than 200 words.

Story Book - an instructional strategy students love!

Class began with the "Bell work" or as I call it in the Maldives (since Meynaa School does not use bells when classes change) "Starter Activity." 

Little weird perhaps, but the students got into it!

This was one of those classes, where I'd planned the whole lesson.... then when class started, realized I needed to do something different.

I'd planned on building on a lesson from earlier in the week, to take the brainstorming notes and turn it into an essay.

Wrong plan for today!  Quick shift.... and we did "Story Boards" instead.



The students could choose one of the above topics for their Story Board.  All of them built on topics the students would have background knowledge.



A Story Board involves giving students large sheets of paper and then having them fold the paper three times.

When unfolded, the paper has eight individual sections.  The story begins in the top left hand box, and ends with the bottom right hand box.  The six boxes in between, tell the story...... in words and pictures.

No Internet and No TV was a very hot topic for the student's Story Boards!  You can guess which side of this debate the students were on!

It's always good to check one's notes, and lesson plan.... even if the lesson plan has suddenly been changed!

Moving through the classroom, answering questions and monitoring student work.

In this Story Book, the student told a story of what the Maldives would be like if the islands were connected by bridges.

Story Boards can be used as a type of brainstorming activity which involves the visual with pictures and the written words. 

These short sentences could be used to expand the story, turning the Story Book into a written paragraph or an essay.

100% student engagement!

When the timer went off, I had the students form a double circle.  The students in the inside circle faced the students in the outside circle.  Those inside explained their Story Board to theie outer circle partner.  Then the outer circle was given time to tell the inner circle partner their Story Board. 

Using the timer, each student was given about one minute to explain their Story Board to their circle partner.

Quick wrap up conversation with the students at the end of this lesson to get their thoughts on the activities of the day.

Since I was demonstrating the Story Book lesson to the Indian expat English teachers, we had a short reflective conversation once the students had left the classroom.

These end of the lesson reflections with the teachers, have been a powerful tool for us to think through what happened and what we might do differently.

Listening... it's more than just your ears!





Good listening skills involve more than just your ears!

Mr. T explains to the teachers how their students' listening skills can be developed over time.... using some fun and rather unusual approaches.




Students are to listen only.... they are to do all of the calculation in their brain only.... no paper and pencil!

A young elephant weighs 1500 kilo.  It eats half its weight in grass every day.  How much will it eat in one day?  Five days?

If grass costs 10 rufiyaa per kilo, how much will the elphant owner spend on grass in five days?

 

It's all in your head.... no paper... no pencil! 

The teacher reads this problem to students and they then answer it. 

2+2 - 1 X 2 - 2 divided by 2 + 1 = (     )

The variables here are the speed at which the problem is read and the length of the equation to be solved!

Start easy, with simple, short problems.  Then as the teacher diagnosis their student's abilities, more and more numbers can be added, bigger numbers, more complex calculations.... you might even include the square root at some point!



This is a fun one to do if students have been sitting in their seats for awhile.  It gets them up and moving about, as well as challenging their listening skills.

The first student says.....

"My favorite animal is an elephant."   
Note: the item could be a city, food, book, a famous person, etc.  

Each subsequent student must repeat each aninmal the other students have said before them......

A way to make the same listening skill exercise more challenging is..... notice in the above picture how I am now in the middle rather than at the right end?

After about the third student has said the phrase, "My favorite animal is an elephant, cat and monkey,"  have students one and three change places!  This puts a new twist on the listening exercise!  Student number four will suddenly have a very perplexed look on their face!

Try the above with numbers! Tell students to think of their favorite number, then begin the exercise

"I like the number 9!"  And then it is up to the subsequent students to add to the list of favorite numbers.  See how many numbers can be added before a student can no longer remember them all!

 Try a drawing activity!  The teacher gives the students an auditory description of a picture they want the students to draw...... but only when the teacher finished!  So here goes...

Draw a house in the middle of the paper.
The house has one door and three windows.
One tree is on the left of the house.
Three trees are on the right of the house.
Five mountains are on the horizon behind the house.
Six clouds are in the sky.
A river flows from the first mountain past the house.
Three fish are swimming in the river.

The teacher could stop at this point and allow the students to draw the picture.... or if through past similar activities the teacher has assessed that the students can do more..... the teacher keeps adding more items to be drawn!