Tintin Teaches English Idioms on WeChat
I found a great account on WeChat that shares short Tintin comic strips teaching the meaning of common idioms in English. Hope this link works: Tintin teaches idioms on WeChat 😀
English Language & Literacy Education
Testing the Shroom Coder Uploader
If this update is successful, you should see a Scratch project below and will be able to enjoy a game of Fat Pigeon (use the arrow keys to eat caterpillars and mushrooms and watch yourself grow or shrink). This is an example using Scratch but you can upload other coding projects too. How to do … Read more
Cyberdile the Dalegator
Ok, here it comes – the long awaited back story of Cyberdile the Dalegator (or Dalegator the Cyberdile). First, a full size image of this mixed up thing of beauty: The story starts with a curious Green Gatordile who was born and raised in the fetid swamps of the emerald planet Verdanta. Not all … Read more
Analysis Practice
This is for my current G7 ELL class but welcome anybody else to join in too. We are studying World War I poetry and the link below will take you to a poem by Siegfried Sassoon that is a little too long to study in class. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57220/counter-attack
Discussion: Our Linguistic Identity
Grade 8 ELL are about to embark on an interesting project about how English language is used by people outside the main English speaking countries. It will help them a great deal if you could add your voice to this discussion by answering one or more of the following questions: How does it feel to … Read more
POETRY DISCUSSION
Since three of my classes are studying poetry this unit, I supposed it would be prudent to set up a discussion page where students can share their analyses. First, here is a useful glossary of poetic devices that I put together: Poetic Devices Glossary Below is a list of the poems we are studying (I’ll … Read more
Penny Dreadfuls: Character Creation
Another cohort of my students are preparing to complete the Penny Dreadfuls historical fiction writing project (here are examples from last year’s project). The purpose of this page is to provide a space where students can share their developing characters via the comments section below…
Celebrating Student Authors
We have been lucky enough to have two successful student authors share their work on Mushroom. The two books below were winners in a school book writing competition. Read The Apocalypse here 🙂 Read A Rip in Mythology: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Is Shakespeare relevant to modern audiences?
My grade 6 students are writing a speech drawing on our analysis of some of Shakespeare’s famous speeches. Here is my example: Is Shakespeare relevant in the world today? I might just as well ask if you prick Shylock, doth he not bleed? Doth a bear not poop in the woods? In short, you do … Read more
Appreciating Shakespeare
This page provides space for my current English Language and Literature students (and anybody else who might want to join in) to discuss their studies of Shakespeare. Think of it as an online Student-Led Seminar 🙂 Welcome to this online Shakespeare Discussion Corner! 🎭 Hello, fellow Shakespeare enthusiasts! 🌟 Whether you’re diving into the enchanting world … Read more
Converting the Discussion Skills Assessment Score to an IB Score
This article reports on the addition of two further columns to the Discussion Skills Assessment (DSA) instrument: Columns L and M as shown in the screenshot below. I have been using the DSA to assess my IB MYP English Language and Literature (ELL) students during student-led seminar discussions in class. My previous research (Clark & … Read more
Discussion Skills Assessment (DSA) and the Student-Led Seminars Approach
This page introduces my work on the development of the Discussion Skills Assessment (DSA) instrument and its current status at the time of writing. Historical Development and Rationale The student-led seminar approach I have been pioneering in different educational contexts was first inspired by a student-led seminar activity that formed part of the University of … Read more