Conversation Hour 25/07

Object, Place, or Person?

Today we played a game that Milena suggested this morning! She said that Amber and Michol, (Last year's ETA's) taught it to her and she really liked it.

How it works:
One students chooses an object, place or person and they write it down so no one can see it. Then the rest of the class asks questions until they discover what, where or who their classmate is.

Things that the students chose to be:
The Christ Redeemer statue
The Royal Baby
A Sea
Gretchen
A Kitchen

Vocabulary that came out of class today included:



Students playing the game:

Basic English 25/07

The Simple Present
Interviews!

Today students helped compile a list of questions that they could ask in an interview. Here is a picture of the questions they came up with.

Then students interviewed each other in pairs using the sheets that they had filled out about their daily schedules and facts about them as a reference tool (scaffolding) in responding.

Then students got up in the front of the class, pretended to be famous people, and interviewed each other.

Pictured here we have Arthur as Oprah, interviewing Milena as Beyonce.

Pictured here is Milena interviewing Carla (but I can't remember who they were because they were Brazilians I haven't heard of!)

Community Care Conversation Hour 24/07

We made a plan for next Sunday - for our visit to Casa Ana Caroline!

The activities that we decided we will do with the kids on Sunday are as follows:

• Jump rope (Siro is going to bring one)
• Color in coloring books (Siro is going to get copies)
• 1,2,3 Corta with a soft ball (they have a soft ball at the orphanage)
• Hokey Pokey (many of the students already know it and can help teach!)
• Board games (Arthur is going to lend them to Milena to bring)
• 
  
  After that we had a discussion about thoughts and feelings we had so far during and after our visits. We can all agree that it brings us great sadness to see these kids without families - it doesn't feel right. So much of it doesn't feel right. But it is inspiring to see that these students are committed to visiting and believe that their presence makes some difference. I believe that it does indeed make a difference to show these children and young adults that they are important and loved. And it never hurts to have someone to hang out with on a Sunday afternoon to laugh and play with. Thank you to everyone who came this week to help plan! It means so much to get to do this with you all :).

Conversation Hour 23/07

3 Things

Students worked in pairs and in one group of three to discover three things that they had in common with their group members. It couldn't be things that they could see so they had to ask a variety of questions to discover similarities.

After compiling a list of 3 or more similarities, all of the groups shared with each other what they had discovered.

I gave the students the directions and let them work on their own while I helped a student edit a statement that she had written in English about the importance of the Fulbright program at UFT.

Even though I was involved in the class very little because I was helping the other student to complete this urgent task, the rest of the class had a lot of fun and said it went great!

Bible Study 22/07

Bible Study was centered on the song "Your Heart (David)" by Chris Tomlin from the album Music Inspired by the Story.

At the beginning of class, I asked students what they already know about David and asked them to formulate phrases about him in English. In this process some new vocabulary came up.

Next we listened to the song a few times and students listened to fill in the blanks. Later we read over the song and compared what they had filled in.

We went through the song and picked out words they didn't know and made a new vocabulary list.

We also had a discussion about what the students thought of the song, how it made them feel, etc. The expressed that they liked it a lot and was moving!

Here is a link to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O-m6GxEX2o

Conversation Hour 22/07

Today in conversation hour we played "Meaningful Musical Chairs"

The students walked around the classroom as I played music. When the music stopped they found a seat across from another student and had a conversation in English about one of 5 topics. The following are the 5 topics students discussed.

Before beginning the activity, students helped come up with questions that they could ask as well as potential responses for each topic. This was to help them feel more comfortable in the activity. The following are pictures of this preparation
.

Students conversing in English

Words that the students asked how to say:

Sunday Visit to Casa Ana Caroline - 21/07

They have our hearts! 

Conversation Hour (19/07)

Today in Conversation hour we began class by quickly reviewing when to use the Present Perfect.

Then we played the game "Something I have done"
1. Students wrote down something they have done on a piece of scrap paper.
2. I walked around and corrected errors as necessary.
3. I collected their papers, mixed them up and passed them back out (making sure that no student received their own paper).
4. Students walked around the classroom asking each other if they had done what was on their paper, trying to discover who had done it!
5. Once they all found their partners, they returned to their seats and told me what they had discovered about their partner (using the 3rd person singular form - has)

New Vocabulary:

                                          


At the end of class, the students requested that we do the Hokey Pokey! We had A LOT of laughs. They also asked me to print off the words for them for next class. Who knew the hokey pokey could even be fun for university students!

Basic English (18/07)

Review of the Simple Present continued

Today students review the two scenarios in which we use the simple present.

To review, students took turns creating their own sentences and learned new vocabulary in the process. 

After that, they did the activity that last week's class did (only one student from last week came back so we were able to repeat much of last week's lesson).  Carla, Milena and Arthur wrote down 3 facts about themselves as well as their daily routine (when they wake up, go to school, got to sleep, etc.).

Before we knew it class was over and we still weren't able to do the interview activity! Next week we will do a much quicker review and get right to the interview activity.

Conversation Hour (16/07)

Today I was pleasantly surprised when 5 students showed up for conversation hour! Considering they are currently on July vacation, I think they get extra points for that :).

Today we played "1 truth and 1 lie."
First I gave an example of one truth and one lie about myself. Then I had students ask me questions about my two statements to help them discover which one was true and which one was a lie. I also had them translate my responses which showed me that most of them were getting a good grasp on what I was saying. After asking me a series of questions, they guessed which one was true. I fooled all but one student!

Next, each of them took a few minutes to write their own truth and lie and I walked around to correct any errors. Then, I put them in pairs and had them share their statements, ask each other questions to find out more, and guess which statement was the truth.

After that, they presented their partners statements and shared what questions they asked to help them discover what was true. Most of the students fooled each other which led to a lot of laughter :).

With the extra time we had at the end of class, we played "What's different." In this game students stand in two lines facing each other, so each person has a partner/person right across from them. They take 30 seconds to observe their partner's appearance very closely. Then everyone turns around so that their backs are facing their partners. Everyone has 30 seconds to change something about their appearance (take off glasses, move their ring to a different finger, put their hair down, etc.). Students are also allowed to pass items to others in their line (a watch, a ring, sunglasses, etc.) Then everyone turns around and guesses what is different about their partner. I like this activity because they learn how to say simple phrases that they can use every day.

Some NEW VOCABULARY that came out of class today included:
Are you allowed to dance? - Voce esta permitido dancar?
I was wrong - Eu estava errado.
I made a mistake. - Eu fiz um erro/eu errei.
To raise children - criar criancas
Siblings - irmaos (em ingles nao pode falar "brothers" para significar irmaos e irmas, tem que falar siblings, porque "brothers" quer dizer irmao homem).
He put on glasses - Ele colocou oculos.
She took off her necklace. - Ela tirou o seu colar.
She took off her hair clip - Ela tirou o seu prendador de cabelo.
He tucked his shirt into his pockets - Ele colocou a camisa dele nas bolsas.

Thanks for a great class everyone!

Pictures from Casa Ana Caroline

Casa Ana Caroline Visit (14/07)

Yesterday we had our second visit to Casa Ana Caroline. Since most of the UFT students were traveling to a conference yesterday we had a very small turnout - only one student.

However, it was still a great afternoon with the kids. We brought colored pencils, water color paints and pencils, which the kids enjoyed a lot. The kids also adored the mango that we brought, so we will definitely need to bring some more of those in the future! There was a lot of playing and laughing with the younger ones and chatting with the teenagers. I think that every week they get a little bit more comfortable with us.

I adore spending my Sunday afternoons with them, but it's always bittersweet. Though our visits surely brighten their Sundays, I can only imagine how they must feel during the rest of the week. If a lot of UFT students end up wanting to visit them, it would be neat to divide the group up so that they can visit at different times during the week and care for the children more.

I was asking a 17 year-old who lives at the orphanage if there was a limit to how many people could come to visit and she said, "Não porque as crianças precisam de carinho. Mais pessoas visitando é melhor porque eles podem cuidar de mais crianças." I think she's right! The more of us there the better. :)

Conversation Hour 11/7

In thursday's Conversation Hour we reviewed minimal pairs through a game where students stood in two lines at the front of the class as I wrote four words on the white board. The student on each team closest to the wall had to say each word and figure out which did not have the same sound as the others. The first person to say which one was the 'odd' word out would win a point for their team. Here is an example of a set:

cut (cortar)         nut (castanha)        put (por)         but (mas)

The odd one out in this set is "put."

Next, the class worked together to complete a pyramid puzzle using minimal pairs.

Finally, we learned about homophones, which phonetically sound the same, but are actually completely different words and are often spelled differently. Here is a video that will help you identify homophones and build your vocabulary:

American Culture Workshop (10/7)

Hi all,

This week in American culture class we learned about a few famous American painters and art movements. Here are some of the artists and the movement/genre they represent:

Edward Hopper - realism

Georgeia O'Keefe - modernism

Jackson Pollock -abstract expressionism

Andy Warhol - pop art

Jean-Michel Basquiat - primitivism, neo-expressionism

Cindy Sherman - photography

Richard Serra - sculpture

To finish up class, we played a game where students were given a postcard sized reproduction of a piece of art we had seen in my presentation. Another student in the class had the same reproduction. Students went around the room asking each other about the images of other students in order to figure out who had the same image as them.

See you after vacation! Have fun!