Week 6: Speaking and Writing Skills

Speaking and Writing are two extremely important aspects of learning and mastering any language. This week the class was introduced to a variety of tools which we can use in the classroom and for future lesson planning. In this blog posting, I highlight five websites that stood out to me and I feel are very applicable for my work with the students.

https://idebate.org/top_100_debates -

I really like the idea of having friendly debates between the students. My students are Israeli, so many would say they are natural born debaters but I would love to add some structure to those natural born gifts. It puts them in a more pressured situation where they need to practice their speaking skills, be able to come up with ideas and concepts on the spot, while also allowing them to prepare with research. They will be learning about a whole new applicable topic as well which is just another added benefit.

The class can be split into two teams. The teams can be determined in various ways. I would make it random because while I would want to allow the students to choose the side they personally believe in, I also think its beneficial for them to learn how to argue for a point of view different then their own. I would give the teams a full class day to do the research they need and give them the outlined main points that are on the provided on the site. The next day the debate will be held in class. Its is also very important to create a set of rules. No speaking out of turn for example.

https://kidsspell.com -

This is a website for kids to practice their spelling skills and goes for all age ranges that I teach. It's also something fun that they could definitely do at home

This is a very basic skill concept to practice but its a very important building block to writing. Kids need to make sure their spelling is accurate. I personally still remember when I played education based computer games and how useful to my long term memory they were. I find this would be useful for times after students have completed a task and this can be seen as a reward even.

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/eBooks/ -

I've been searching for ebooks for a long time that were actually good quality. I love reading and feel nostalgic when it comes to reading books to the students because this was something my parents did a lot with me and I believe really gave me the love and passion for books I have today. It creates a memory and bond in many ways and a persons voice, especially having the American accent that I have is important for the children to hear. I also love that they are interactive with questions and fill ins that can be very applicable in smaller groups or even the larger classroom.

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Printables/PrintablesThumbs.php?category=Autism_Spectrum_Emotions - 

I love this so much because there are templates on so many different subjects and they are all very charming. Its perfect for the kids who want to be creative but don't want to draw. It also saves time because when I do give them a task that involves drawing, I often find that they get caught up in the art part and leave the actual English aspect till the very end and then we run out of time.

Perfect for my sixth graders as they already understand the basic emotions but this can give them the means to further learn to express themselves while also practicing new vocabulary that I can teach them as we go along.

https://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp -

Creating a newspaper piece. I think having a physical object that kids can take home, put up or hang can be so useful. These can be hung in the classroom and looked at. Its also really cool and the kids can even create a whole newspaper out of this with different stories.