Teaching-frenzy

Santa's daily routine

2009-12-10T17:40:00.004Z

Next week I’ll be giving a test on daily routine to my 6th grade students.
In order to prepare them better for the test I’ve created this worksheet about Santa’s daily routine.
I must admit that this text was a bit complicated for them, but that was my point. I wanted them to feel some difficulties so that they are more alert when they study for the test.
The worksheet has got some questions about the text, one exercise on adverbs of frequency and another one about telling the time.
The last part is a chart with time prepositions which I hope they’ll study. (The chart is not mine; I took it from (http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/preposition_time.htm )

Explore.org

2009-12-05T10:26:00.005Z

Dear readers,

Today I want to tell you about a wonderful website called: “Explore”
It has got many resources which can be used in class to show our students the real world we are living in.
Explore is not only good for language lessons but also for Science, History, Geography, but most of all, this site is about Philanthropy …
“explore is a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the
world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Both educational and
inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing
the selfless acts of others”.

A day before I found “Explore”, I was talking to someone about how rare it is to find people who actually care about helping others, and the environment just for the sake of helping.
The society we’re living in is becoming more and more selfish, more and more “me centered”. Explore has shown me a new bean of hope, there are still people who care, there are still people who want to give regardless what they’ll get. For all this, I want to share it with you:
There are many videos, photos and articles. Check it out by clicking the image bellow.

Ps. Don't forget to tell me what you think!

Wishing a great December... and careful evaluations!

2009-12-01T17:27:00.004Z

Hi everybody,

Today is the first of December. This is usually a month of great emotions and even greater frenzy.
Here in Portugal it's also the last month of the first term of lessons. Which means... evaluations are at the corner.
I already feel a bit uneasy about this.
It's so hard to turn a person into a number.
I believe this is the most difficult part of being a teacher. We all know that it's not only the tests that count. But how do you evaluate the rest. Students are human, some days they are full of energy and optimistic, and other days they wake up like if they want to eat the entire world.
There's no measure to evaluate personalities or reactions, interest or dedication.
No matter how many grids we create we'll always be unfair. It's helpless. We cannot know a student enough to be able to evaluate what he/she knows or what he/she doesn't know.
I'll do my best and hope that I don't miss judge any of my kids... It's all I can do.

Lingua Portuguesa 5º e 6º ano - teste

2008-06-12T20:15:00.001+01:00

Aqui deixo mais uns trabalhos, 2 testes de Lingua Portuguesa para o 5º e 6ºano - Interpretação e Funcionamento da Língua!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/iqummizdw2k/teste LP 6 o teste meu.doc

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mzazuwtigjt/A Família dos Is.doc

Ps. Actualizei este post antigo hoje, 01Dez2009, porque uns dos links que tinha aqui estava errado.Deste modo aqui fica uma ficha de trabalho sobre os tempos verbais. (A família dos Is)

Chat box removal

2009-12-01T08:28:00.002Z

Dear followers,
I’d like to tell you all that Teaching-Frenzy will no longer have a chat box.
I've removed it some days ago and it's not coming back to the blog.

I’d like you all to write me using TF’s e-mail: (teaching.frenzy@gmail.com) or the comment boxes under my posts.

5th grade Test 2 - 2009

2009-12-01T08:09:00.005Z

This was the second test I’ve given to my 5th graders. The topics which are tested here are the verb to be; personal pronouns; This/these; and the numbers from 1 to 20.
It took me a long time to put this all together but I guess the result was pretty pleasant.
The book I’m working with in the 5th grade is “The English Train” by Oxford University Press.

Sheppard Software - educational site

2009-11-27T16:53:00.003Z

I was told about this site during a workshop and I decided to pay a visit. It is really interesting and the resources are very useful! Check it out!

Halloween - Exhibition

2009-11-02T13:54:00.008Z

This is a bit of what we did at our school! The group of English teachers set up a special Halloween corner with spooky creatures, scary music and lots of spider webs.

The students made beautiful arts and crafts which were exhibited on the walls.

New patches for old - Story

2009-05-20T12:17:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone!

I'm here to tell you about a story.
I've used this story with my 3rd graders! They loved it!They were curious all the time, wanting to know what was hidden in the next pages.
It is a great story to tell when we are teaching clothes. The main character is Hasan he bought new trousers for a special celebration but the trousers are too long. He asks his wife, daughter and mum for help. What happened??
You must read the story ;)
It is funny!!

Story books tip

2008-12-10T11:03:00.002Z

Hello Dear English Teachers!
I want to give you a tip on some great story books I'm working with.

This collection from Express Publishing is really great! I've used this story with my kids last week and they really liked it. The lesson was different, and sometimes that is enough to make motivation pop up!

This is a very well thought collection of story books called "Story Time" They are especially for ESL students and there are different levels of stories. They can be used with students who are at the very beginning of the language learning or with more advanced students.

This particular story "Merry Christmas" is full of activities about the words in the story. It has got christmas songs and enven a drama text at the end.

If it is well explored it can provide you one or more lessons full of fun and meaning!

I'm just sorry I don't have the CD yet but I'm thinking I'll buy it!

No, I'm not getting money for this post...ahahaha, it's totally free publicity!

Go and check the site for yourselves:

http://www.expresspublishing.co.uk/eltreaders_results.php?Country=uk&Family=STORYTIME

My Snowman Family

2008-12-10T10:45:00.001Z

Besides being an ESL Teacher, I also work at a tutorials center. I help kids with their homework and when they're finished sometimes we do some arts and crafts as well.

Some weeks ago we've decided to make a winter decoration and this was the result. Kids loved it and so did. I think they were able to relax a bit. Sometimes I really feel sorry for those kids who are at school at 09:00 am and after school they go to the centre and only leave at 20:00... When do they play? When do they relax? When do they have fun anyway??

Maybe I'm talking against myself.. I work there... but at least I try to make them enjoy those hours and not only make them work and work...

Hello ESL teachers!!

2008-11-09T08:44:00.002Z

I've been writing all my posts in Portuguese . But from today on I've decided to be a bit more "global" and I'll start publishing an English version as well. This week I've registered myself on ESLprintables. It is a wonderful site and a very fair place to share our materials.
Since then I thought that all those foreigner teacher also have to right to understand what I write here on "TeachingFrenzy"... (well, even the name is in english...)
I hope that I'm able to help many people around the world!!

Tongue twisters

2009-11-16T07:03:00.003Z

I’ve recently found this wonderful site about Tongue Twisters. It’s worth taking a look at!
Tongue Twisters are a great way to teach new sounds and to practice reading with the students. It is usually great fun for the students and once you give them some Tongue twister to practice, they’ll ask you for more!

Check it out:

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-b/twisters/load.htm?f

Thanksgiving - 26th Nov 2009

2009-11-14T14:34:00.004Z

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God, and is still celebrated as such by many families, but it is now also considered a secular holiday as well.

Most Americans celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast. Though the holiday's origins can be traced to harvest festivals which have been celebrated in many cultures since ancient times, the American holiday is tied to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the harsh winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts and that event has become the pre-eminent foundation story for English North America.

The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter. Although half of the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower had already died, many more would have had it not been for the Native Americans teaching the pilgrims to harvest foods. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three whole days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians. The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Americans may eat these foods on modern day Thanksgiving, but the first feast did not consist of these items. On the first feast turkey was any type of fowl that the pilgrims hunted. Pumpkin pie wasn't on the menu because there were no ovens for baking, but they did have boiled pumpkin. Cranberries weren't introduced at this time. Due to the diminishing supply of flour there was no bread of any kind. The foods included in the first feast included duck, geese, venison, fish, lobster, clams, swan, berries, dried fruit, pumpkin, squash, and many more vegetables.

in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)

English test - 1st unit - 5th grade

2009-10-27T19:53:00.004Z

This was the first test I've made for my 5th graders (this year). It's about the first topics we teach here in Portugal - meeting people, school objects, numbers and colours.

I've used a witch picture to test the colours because Halloween at the corner ;)

Test- 6th grade

2009-11-14T13:53:00.003Z

I’ve given this test to my 6th grade students (11 year olds) last week.

The test is based on one test of the course book “Magic Riddle”. I added some exercises of my own and changed the text a bit.
The vocabulary topics explored were the parts of the body, school facilities and school objects.
As for grammar topics: It focuses on the verb to be, the verb to have got and the article a/an.

Wind is blowing clothes away... - Video

2009-05-27T07:51:00.001+01:00

I hope you'll enjoy this song! I've found it on YouTube and used it already in class! It is very repetitive and although it's a bit long, it doesn't get the kids bored!

Lyrics - worksheet

2009-05-27T09:22:00.001+01:00

On this worksheet, you have the lyrics of the song of the previous video. It is a gap filling exercise. It's not difficult although the song is long. My3rd grade students succeeded on doing this!

Hoola Hoop - New book for primary english! (in Portugal)

2009-05-31T09:21:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I was as the presentation of this new book in Albufeira. It is a new project for primary english. The books were developed according to the "Estudo do Meio" (social studies) program. I thought that was really positive because this way students can consolidate their knowledge and learn new things in english rather than the traditional topics we've been teaching!

The project includes cds, cd-roms, posters, flashcards.. etc.

I thought I should write about it so that more teachers can be aware of what's new...

Now, one question. Do you use books in your classes?

Responsible student award!

2009-06-05T12:32:00.001+01:00

As my penpaling project develops, I felt the need to create a special award to those students who had been very responsible and were able to meet all the deadlines established during the project.

I think that it is very important to motivate good behavior and responsibility! The students who didn't receive the award felt jealous and I liked that reaction! It means that next time they'll probably do better in order to get an award themselves!

It's been a while...

2009-06-14T17:29:00.001+01:00

Hello dear readers,

It's been a while since I've posted new messages or goodies for your lessons. I must apologize for that and meantime explain my reasons.

The year is almost over so we're all in the evaluation frenzy around here. It's been taking some of my time and it's preventing me from developing new materials.

I hope this phase will quickly go away because this is not what teaching is all about...

"English Tea Break"

2009-06-16T22:54:00.001+01:00

Last June 1st was a very special day at school! Besides being the world's children day, I took the chance to develop a special activity with my students. It was called "The english tea break" . With the help of 2 other teachers, I took the students to the canteen and they baked some scones. While the scones were cooking in the oven and the water was warming up for the tea, I talked about the 5 o'clock tea tradition. The students learned some curiosities such as that it was a Portuguese Princess (Catarina de Bragança) who started this tradition in England.

At 5 o'clock, the tea was served! A bit later came the scones right from the oven. We put some jam on them and then it was the most delicious part of the activity!!! EATING!!!

Ps. It was a hell of a job.. but very worth doing!! Specially when I got back to the classroom and read a message the students' had left for me on the board : "Thank you for today's lesson!" I guess that my stress went all way when I read that!

Pilgrims course - Canterbury

2009-08-07T17:53:00.002+01:00

As I've written before, I spent the last two weeks of July in England taking a course called : "Methodologies and Language for primary teachers" well, it couldn't be more apropriated to my needs!

The course was very intense and my trainer was very demanding. She's made those two weeks look like a month of work.. if not more..

In the following days I'll be writing some reports on the things I felt were more interesting such as the approaches to multiple intelligences in language learning, the CLIL Process when teaching; Brain Gym, VAKOG...

It may all sound like chinese right now but I'll try to make a nice and easy summary of some of these very interesting aspects of Language learning/teaching.

I'm glad to be back to "teaching frenzy"!!

New school year 2009-2010

2009-09-04T22:06:00.004+01:00

It's time to put our summer holidays on a very sweet drawer of our memories and get back to the TEACHING-FRENZY!!

It's time to put all our troubles away and concentrate on what really matters for us teachers.

This year I'll be teaching 7 classes at primary school. I'm very curious to see all those faces and hear all that they have to say.

I'm happy with my schedule and also because I´ll be teaching at the same school. It's great when it's possible to continue the work we've done the previous year.

Right now I'm on the planning stage. Any good ideas for projects?

In England I've learnt many great techniques, I wonder when I'll be able to use them.

Well, I wish you all a great new year and... we'll keep in touch

It's Autumn!

2009-09-20T11:36:00.003+01:00

Autumn starts next week. (September 22nd)
I've prepared this worksheet for my first graders. The purpose is for them to glue some real leaves where they find the words "leaf".
It's a simple task that will gather arts and crafts, Science and English.
I hope it's useful.