How To Learn Vocabulary & Boost Students’ Confidence in Language Lessons
Help Students To Learn Vocabulary in Language Lessons Without Them Knowing! When I get a new French or German GCSE tutee or a group of GCSE language students, we do a quick diagnostic. I ask the students to select two areas that they feel they need help with and why. This includes: vocabulary in language lessons, speaking, reading, writing, listening, grammar and translation. Although it varies, generally, the two main areas for concern for my language students are: VocabularyFeeling overwhelmed at the level of vocabulary they are required to know. Especially for communication, understanding and exams, as well as lack of exposure and practice. ConfidenceConfidence issues when speaking, listening and…
Teaching Activity Of The Week – Edition 5
TEACHING IDEA OF THE WEEK – EDITION 5 – SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS CHALLENGE This week, I used a really good starter in my English lessons (adaptable to French, German and Spanish etc). The teaching activity got my students thinking as soon as they came in to the classroom. If you are looking for a low prep teaching activity, which can be adapted and used in all of your classes this week, then try this synonyms and antonyms vocab challenge out! Teaching Tip Of The Week – Edition 5 Title: Synonym and Antonym Vocab Challenge Aim: Re-call previously learnt vocabulary and develop it further Level: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Resources: , paper, pen and…
10 Fun Ideas To Teach Vocabulary In Your Classroom
Learn Vocabulary Using Fun Activities Both from personal and professional experience, learning and being able to use vocabulary is a vital component to having confidence and being successful in communicating in any foreign language. Therefore it is important to teach vocabulary well to help students acquire and use the language, as well as develop that confidence. I recently travelled to Spain and managed to communicate with hand gestures and the words I remembered from doing my GCSE in one year, in 2003. I didn’t need grammar, because I could communicate with the words I knew and recognised. However, I certainly would have felt more confident if I had had more vocabulary…
Emojis Vocabulary Builder – Condensed Version
The Emoji Mindmap Trend Last year, I saw Dannielle Warren using the Emoji Mindmap that she had put together from a Google image, which included a massive number of emojis to annotate on to recap and improve vocabulary, the idea for which she got from Miss Meyrick. As soon as I saw this imaginative teaching resource, I felt my students would absolutely love to try it to revise vocabulary. It was an ‘on trend’ vocabulary builder idea which could also be combined with spontaneous writing/speaking skills. As with many other creative teaching ideas found online, I put the Emoji Mindmap on my to-do-list to help student improve vocabulary and kept…
Retrieval Practice Grids in MFL
The Practice of Retrieval ‘When we think about learning, we typically focus on getting information into students’ heads. What if, instead, we focus on getting information out of students’ heads?’ (Agarwal, 2017) Whilst I feel the quotation is useful in introducing retrieval practice, which the Oxford Dictionary defines as: ‘the process of getting something back from somewhere’, it’s a process teachers do automatically on a daily basis. This could be in the form of recaps at the beginning of lessons, through questioning or activities during the lessonas well as in a mini-plenary or a final plenary. It is also the idea of summative assessments at the end of a unit or in KS4, for GCSE…
