Cómo hacer  un Árbol de Pascuas

httpv://youtu.be/YOcd1M6oXl4

Cómo hacer un Pollito dulcero

httpv://youtu.be/s80TiWuckyU

Aquí está la plantilla para hacer los pollitos.

También se puede hacer una Gallina de Pascua

Cómo hacer un Huevo de Pascua de Chocolate – paso a paso

httpv://youtu.be/xJexlxFw0Fk

Algo un poco diferente – cómo hacer Angry Birds para Pascaus

httpv://youtu.be/0cY2Wb7B7w8

Cómo hacer Huevos de Pascuas

httpv://youtu.be/4f9fzlTZYgc

y después, una canasta para los huevos de Pascua!

httpv://youtu.be/sJtp2JvDmQM

Cómo hacer Conejitos con huevos de Pascua

httpv://youtu.be/tSdaomBU9NE

Y por los ‘más avanzados’, dos maneras de hacer una Corona de Pascua – con la técnica de Patchwork sin agujas o con agujas y costura.

My second presentation at ILILC3 was called Let out for good behaviour.

The blurb said

Let out for good behaviour? refers to leaving the classroom being (often) seen as a treat. There are many ways to ‘break free’ of the walls of your classroom, both physical and virtual, and this session will involve both. Participation is required as we explore activities and games, that will enhance teaching and learning whilst bringing a breath of free air to a stuffy classroom. Technology will be involved but you don’t need anything but your imagination and sense of adventure to enjoy the activities.

Although my presentation was somewhat spoilt by the weather meaning we couldn’t get outside and make a mess with chalk, there was much giggling as we played Punto de contacto, went on a QR quest to solve animal riddles, went Placespotting and tried to win chocolate by solving dominoes. And much more of course! It’s great to know that some of the ideas I shared have already been used in classrooms!

Below are my slides from the session.

[slideshare id=16644981&style=border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width: 1px 1px 0; margin-bottom: 5px;&sc=no]

My first presentation at ICT Links into Languages Conference aka ILILC3 was entitled I want to break free.

The blurb promised –

In I want to break free  we’ll be looking at ways to break away from ‘chalk and talk’ and involve learners, encouraging them to interact with and demonstrate their understanding as they learn using (mobile) technology. We’ll investigate some ways of doing this using tools such as Nearpod, Socrative and Memrise and whilst I’ll be using my iPad and Mac to present, that doesn’t mean you need a fruity device to join in as some tools are web based and others are both Android and iOS. And on top of that, we’re a friendly bunch so I’m sure people will share!

Below are my slides which were more a summary of the session for those who weren’t there, and an aide-memoire for me to make sure I said all I wanted as we were flipping between apps most of the time! We did a Socrative quiz on the MFLTwitterati, learned about Healthy Eating in Spanish using Nearpod, saw how rubbish I really am at German using Memrise, looked very quickly at how to use Book Creator app and explained everything using Explain Everything!

(Apologies for the weird typeface – Slideshare has done something odd as it’s fine when I open in PPT!)

[slideshare id=16645089&style=border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width: 1px 1px 0; margin-bottom: 5px;&sc=no]

Linguamedia is an app that allows you to watch foreign TV stations online. Originally launched earlier this year with French channels,  Linguascope announced today that their Linguamedia app has been updated so you can now watch German, Spanish, Italian and English channels as well as French ones. They’ve also improved video playback, and updated it for the iPhone5 screen.

The app costs 69p and offers 16 French, 6 German, 12 Italian, 12 Spanish and 5 English channels (NB the channels are in that language not necessarily from that country so there is an Austrian and a Swiss channel for German) It is possible to access TV online e.g. by searching “RTVE” you can watch the stream of RTVE1, RTVE2, Telesport and Canal 24H, but for convenience, this app is great. You need a wifi connection to view the stations, and as Linguascope warn

I’ve mentioned Linguatrivia Spanish and Newshound previously but there are many other apps from Linguascope available. Worth a look!

Hurrah! In the last week, the following press release has been issued.  It looks like Primary language learning is going to be made statutory. At least that’s the ‘intention’.

On 6 July 2012 the Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, launched a public consultation on the Government’s proposal to make languages a compulsory subject at Key Stage 2 in maintained schools from September 2014. The consultation closed on 28 September 2012.

The vast majority of respondents agreed with the Government’s intention to introduce foreign languages at Key Stage 2. That consultation provided the Government with an opportunity to reflect on and reconsider its initial views in relation to specifying the choice of language at Key Stage 2.

Having carefully considered the responses to the consultation, as well as a range of relevant factors, the Government has confirmed its intention to make the study of a foreign language compulsory at Key Stage 2 and now seeks views on:

• The draft of the Order necessary to make foreign languages a statutory subject at Key Stage 2 from September 2014.
• A new proposal that requires primary schools teach one or more of French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish or a classical language (Latin or Ancient Greek) to pupils at Key Stage 2. Schools would, of course, be free to teach other languages in addition if they wish to do so.

You can access the REPORT and the DOCUMENT as well as a SUMMARY of the consultation.

The report on the initial consultation makes encouraging reading with a high level of support for languages at KS2, and the responses obviously had the desired effect (as far as i’m concerned anyway!)

It seems that rather than dictating that schools focus on one language solely, the proposal allows for learners to experience more than one language (including languages not on the list of 7 as long as they do one of those too). That’s good, as is that fact that 1/5 of people mentioned the KS2 Framework as important – I still believe that it’s key to the success of PLL as it has a broad view of language learning as being far more than “learning a load of words”. There is still concern over KS2/KS3 transition – a thorny issue that we’ve got to get right! – and also concern over the damage that the ‘hiatus’ of the last few years may have done with loss of funding, loss of expert support and loss of impetus.

I’d encourage anyone with an interest in Primary Language Learning to respond to the two questions posed –

1. Do you have any comments on the draft Order attached at Annex 1? (i.e. that language learning should be made statutory at KS2)

2. Do you agree with the Government’s proposal to require primary schools to teach one or more of French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish or a classical language (Latin or Ancient Greek) at Key Stage 2?  Please explain the reasons for your answer.

You can download the consultation response form from the website, or fill it on online.

You have until 16th December to respond. However, why not do it NOW so you don’t forget? ;o)

In celebration of the new features of Storybird, I’ve been back to the site and had another play around and written a new book!

I’ve written about Storybird before here, here and here. Oh, and here and here too!

New things on Storybird that I think are particularly useful from an educational point of view –

1. No more Flash so you can use and view the Storybirds on any smartphone or devices including iOS such as iPads and iPod Touch devices. This also means that you can write Storybirds in scripts that do not use Latin characters such as Greek, Mandarin and Arabic.

2. More categories, making it easier to search for a story written by someone else, and also filter for age appropriate stories.

3. New ‘create’ page and new covers.

HOWEVER,  you may now be able to write in other scripts but you still can’t publish them to the PUBLIC gallery, nor can you publish in any language other than English. The Community Guidelines state

‘While we celebrate all cultures and languages, we can not at this time moderate and thus approve Storybirds for the public library that are written in languages other than English. We will be expanding internationally soon, and we will add specific language support as we do. In the meantime, the stories can still be published in your private library and shared with your family and friends.’

Whilst I know that this is a small company and moderation in lots of languages costs money, the MFL Twitterati did offer to help, and I’m sure that offer still stands?! And I wonder what their plans are – the site is now 3 years old. I will tweet and ask. Watch this space!

UPDATE

Here is the Twitter conversation with Storybird! (NB read from bottom up!)

So it seems we have a while yet before we can freely share our Storybirds on the site.

HOWEVER, to get around this, you can embed them into a blog (as I have here), or share the URL of your Storybird (I shared with my own email address then opened the book and copied the URL)

And there is also the wonderful MFL Storybird wiki. Whilst the URL way will still work, the fact that you are now given an embed code means that the books can now be embedded on the page and read there and then rather than having to be transferred to Storybird.com to read!

A shame that you have to “know the right people” to be able to access all these stories in other languages but better than nothing!

La vida sana. on Storybird

I’ve received notification of what looks to be a very interesting event to be held at Coventry University London Campus on 24th October. Text messaging and Language Development.

I quote from the email I received –

Researchers from Coventry University, led by Professor Clare Wood, will present the results of their ongoing research into the effects of text messaging on children’s written language development.

In particular they will report on their most recent longitudinal project which has examined the relationships between texting, grammatical understanding and spelling ability in children and young adults.

The event will give delegates the opportunity to discuss and benefit from hearing the implications of these findings for their own areas of interest and activity as well as others and reflect on the broader implications of the work for children’s development.

All interested parties are encouraged and welcome to attend this free event. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

Although you have to register before you receive further details on the Coventry University events page, they have kindly sent me the agenda so I can share it with you. It’s a half day event followed by lunch and an informal discussion with the presenters! And if you go to the Nuffield Foundation site , there is an outline of the research.

Whilst I can’t go, my interest is now piqued and I’ll be reading the research with interest!

Happy European Day of Languages.

Here’s an idea of what you might do if you hadn’t planned anything and want to do something!

This map was published on the Oxford Dictionaries blog last week for World Gratitude Day and features over 20 ways to say thank you from around the world.

Why not try out a few different ways to be grateful today.

And if that’s not enough,this site has more words, and even tells you if it’s formal or informal!

And here’s a video to help too!

httpv://youtu.be/xP_A_9A4NUw

I’ve just received an email about an exciting new venture from Lingua@Hillcrest.  Based at Hillcrest School and Sixth Form centre in Birmingham, Lingua@Hillcrest is already known for its virtual visits to France, Spain and Germany including passport control, currency exchange, shopping and refreshment experience as well as language games.

Now they are offering …

Murder Mystery? 

 in French, German and Spanish

Why not challenge your students to solve the crime at

lingua@hillcrest

Birmingham

Using their language skills students take on a role in a team of detectives in order to solve the crime.

Investigations include

• examining the scene of crime
• forensics   
• scrutinising news bulletins, recorded interviews & CCTV
• analysing suspects’ bank and telephone records
• cross-examining suspects

Recommended for year 9 – 11

Available every Monday

Bookings before 31 December 2012 – £150 per session or £250 for the full day.

After 1^st January 2013 – £180 per session or £330 for the full day.

For further details www.hillcrest.bham.sch.uk/lingua

Contact 0121 464 3172  or email lingua@hillcrest.bham.sch.uk

Sounds fun to me and a great way to learn and practice language that can become very ‘borong’ after a while – personal identification, descriptions and so on!

Details of other activities at Lingua@Hillcrest are below.

Do you want to get your pupils ahead of the game in MFL?

fun, hands-on activities for KS3 in

French, German and Spanish

lingua@hillcrest,  Birmingham

Half day visits include:

• Passport control
  
• Exchanging currency at the bank
• A carousel of interactive language activities
• Simulated shopping in our international shopping village
• Collecting stamps for every transaction completed
• Buying refreshments and souvenirs at the shops

 Available every Monday

Bookings before 31 December 2012 – £150 per session or £250 for the full day.

After 1^st January 2013 – £180 per session or £330 for the full day.

Discover how your pupils could benefit from a visit at

www.hillcrest.bham.sch.uk/lingua

To book a visit call us on 0121 464 3172 and ask for lingua bookings

or email us at lingua@hillcrest.bham.sch.uk 

I had a bit of time today as my youngest was ill so decided to make some simple resources to go with my previous post about Nubeluz and their song Quiero ser…

I used Tools for educators, a great online worksheet/puzzle/resource maker about which I have previously written.

So, here you have –

vocabulary sheet    jobs vocabulary

a labelling worksheet   job labelling

a set of bingo cards (10 different cards in total)  Jobs bingo

a boardgame 

A very versatile site which is really useful to a pretty average drawer like me! And resources such as the board game and the bongo cards can be used for multiple languages so could be used in literacy as well as Spanosh/French/German etc.

My one issue is that there is a distinct lack of women in the library of job images!

You can make wordsearches which are fun but not my favourite activity in the classroom as well as crosswords and mazes. ANd there’s a new ‘guest tool’ which I will be investigating called Comic Strip Maker that allows you to make dialogues between the Anime style people on the pages.