The four skills and how to teach them

In this post you will find the summary of how to teach the four skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. 

How to teach reading: 

Pre	·         To tell them the objective of the class. ·         Motivate the students (it is needed in the three steps). ·         Present the keywords (you should not teach more than 10 and you have to use the same in the activities). ·         You can start the class with some activities in order to introduce them to the topic. Such activities are: by observations with visual aids, brainstorming and activate previous knowledge. ·         Skimming and/or scanning.
During	·         The lecture that they will read has to be from the same level that they are and you have to follow the instructions from the contenidos necesarios according to Mineduc. ·         The lexicon and grammar have to be part of the activities (2-3 items for the worksheets). ·          Receive the information, understand, produce and they practice.
Post	·         To ask them if they were interested in the reading. ·         To do a summary of what they learned. ·         To do the feedback. ·         To see if the information was meaningful. ·         Always to ask to our students if they reach the objective of the class. ·         Check understanding, evaluate, the metacognition.

How to teach listening:

Pre	·         To tell them the objective of the class. ·         Motivate the students (it is needed in the three steps). ·         To explain the accent of the audio that they will listen and to talk about the importance of the pronunciation. ·         Use visual aids. ·         To explain about the type of text (for the activity of listening and to skimming it). ·         Understandable instructions.
During	·         Listen once just that they get familiarized with the audio and then listen twice, in order that at the end they can answer the activity (they can listen it a third time, but it is optional and not that recommended). ·         In the second time that they are listening to help them answer the activity by chunking the audio. ·         They have to noticed lexicon and grammar.
Post	·         A ludic activity. ·         To do a summary of what they learned. ·         To do the feedback. ·         To see if the information was meaningful. ·         Always to ask to our students if they reach the objective of the class. ·         Check understanding, evaluate, the metacognition.

How to teach speaking:

Pre	·         To tell them the objective of the class. ·         Motivate the students (it is needed in the three steps). ·         Use visual aids. ·         Understandable instructions. ·         To “push” the students to speak with triggering questions.
During	·         Explain the activity by modeling. ·         Always will be better for them if they work in pairs and/or groups with their classmates, because they could feel more confident. ·         To perform. ·         The stress, rhythm and intonation are also important. ·         Drilling activities. ·         Use repetition carefully and not to overuse it. ·         The speed is also important, but always to be aware that our students may not “reach” this because of their level.
Post	·         A ludic activity. ·         To do a summary of what they learned. ·         To do the feedback. ·         If we listened that they committed some mistakes with the pronunciation of words, to modelate the word(s), so they can listen again. ·         Always to ask to our students if they reach the objective of the class. ·         Check understanding, evaluate, the metacognition.

How to teach writing:

Pre	·         To tell them the objective of the class. ·         Motivate the students (it is needed in the three steps). ·         Use visual aids. ·         To show key words in context. ·         To teach the sound, form and pronunciation (accuracy). ·         To model.
During	·         Sketching, brainstorming, listing, questioning, modeling and pair sharing. ·         Some of the activities that they can do are: writing journals, fill-in-the-blanks activity, worksheets. ·         Also copying things is useful for them.
Post	·         A ludic activity. ·         To do a summary of what they learned. ·         To do the feedback. ·         To explain the words that we noticed they have problems with. ·         To answer some doubts of the use of some words, in case they did not understand how to use it/them. ·         Always to ask to our students if they reach the objective of the class. ·         Check understanding, evaluate, the metacognition.

Second conditional (video tutorial)

The following video is a tutorial where through examples and easy explanations I teach Second Conditional. I try to do it very dynamic and entertaining so the viewers understand it better and they can be able to use it.

Evaluation for each skill

Here you will find four test for each one of the skills:

Writing test: (it has the test for the students, answer key and how it would be graded)

Click here to see the writing test 

Reading test: (it has the test for the students, answer key and how it would be graded)

Click here to see the test

Listening test: (it has the test for the students, answer key and how it would be graded)

Click here to see the listening test

Remember that these tests are designed for students from 5° básica.

How to evaluate the speaking hability

In the following publication, you will find how the criteria to test your students from 5° básica by doing a speaking test:

Click here to see the speaking test

Useful material for your class! / Flashcards

The following flashcards were designed by me (Juan Valverde) and are dedicated to two different topics from the English workbook that the students use in 5° Básica. These flascards are ready to be printed and used during those topics.

Unit 3 – It isn’t sunny today  

Lesson 21 what are you doing? Activity 3 day 1

Unit 4 – I don’t have a bicycle 

Lesson 29 I really love to travel  Activity 3 day 2

Self evaluation for students (according to Mineduc)

These are the questions for self-evaluation that are at the end of each unit from the English workbook from 5° básica:

Unit 1 

Now, I can...

• Listen and undersatnd rhymes, songs and dialogs about colors, numbers and days of the week.
• Read and understand songs and rhymes about colors, numbers, days fo the week and school list.
• Use colors related to colors, days of the week and numbers 1-10.
• Describe objects using colors, and numbers.
• Express the position of an object.
• Play "Simonsays" with my friends using commands.
• Respect and appreciate people from other nationalities. 

Unit 2

Now, I can...

• Listen and understand rhymes, songs and dialogs about food, preferences, parts of the body and a story about Raul.
• Listen and understand rhymes, songs and dialogs about food, preferences, parts of the body, a recipe and a personal presentation.
• Use words related to food, parts of the body, family, actions and parts of the day.
• Express preferences, age and an introduction.
•  Play a guessing game with my friends using objects, and colors.
• Ne responsible for nature and what I eat.

Unit 3

Now, I can...

• Listen and understand rhymes, songs and dialogs about the weather, parts of the body, seasons, needs, and continous actions.
• Read and understand rhymes, songs, and dialogs about the weather, parts of the body, seasons, and continous actions, descriptions and a story about Anita.
• Use words about personal descriptions, the weather, parts of the body, seasons.
• Describe the weather and personal appearance.
• Play the spider game with my friends using categories.
• Help people in need and be resposible for nature.

Unit 4

Now, I can...

• Listen and understand rhymes, songs and dialogs about birthdays, celebrations, landmarks, possesions and means of transportation.
• Read and understand rhymes, songs, and dialogs about birthdays, celebrations, landmarks, possesions and means of transportation, a brochure and a story about Jim.
• Use words related to birthdays, celebrations, landmarks, possessions and means of transportation.
• Describe celebrations and landmarks.
• Express possession, ability and the time.
• Respect and appreciate my own and other cultures.

The best way to start a class! / Warm-up activities

The warming up or warm-up activities have the objective to introduce the topic of the class or/and just to catch the students’ attention, in order to activate their energy and motivation. (All these warm-up activities are perfect for students from 5°básico)

• Warm-up 1:

Topic: Let’s play

Level: A1

Objective: To catch the students’ attention.

Activity: Warm-up: Let’s count!

Procedure: The students will practice the numbers from 1 to 10, because they are still in a basic level and could be difficult for them to use the numbers above ten. First the will have to be in a circle and I will ask to somebody start counting from 1 and the classmate that will be by her/his side will continue with the numerical series. If some of them commit a mistake, we will start since the number one again. This warm-up will serve as the introduction of the topic.

Materials: None.

Interaction pattern: T-S

Time: 5 min.

Skills: Speaking and listening.

• Warm-up 2:

Topic: I don’t understand

Level: A1

Objective: To catch the students’ attention.

Activity: Warm-up: Create the correct sentence.

Procedure: Firstly, I will make two teams, the half and half of the students. Then, I will write two different sentences one in a paper of blue color, it will say: "I love my dog" and the other one written in a red colored paper will say: "I love my rabbit". I will cut the sentences into words and I will hide the words in different parts of the classroom, so they will have to find them first. The two letters missing from each sentence are going to be stuck on the whiteboard, but there are going to be one extra word that will be wrong and the students have to make the correct sentence.

Materials: Paper sheets and adhesive tape.

Interaction pattern: T-S

Time: 5 min.

Skills: Speaking and reading.

• Warm-up 3:

Topic: I’m hungry!

Level: A1

Objective: To catch the students’ attention, with a warm-up that will serve as the intro of the topic from the class.

Activity: Warm-up: Guess the word.

Procedure: I will make small teams with the same number of students each one, because I will read a short description of a fruit that they have to guess, of course, the first team to say the right fruit will have one point. The words that they have to write have to be with food. For example, I will read the next description: “A green fruit with a brown skin and black seeds”, so they should say the name of the fruit which is: Kiwi. (I will read four or five more, depending if I have more time to do it)

Materials: None

Interaction pattern: T-S

Time: 5 min.

Skills: Speaking and listening.

• Warm-up 4:

Topic: Clap your hands

Level: A1

Objective: To catch the students’ attention, with a warm-up that will serve as the intro of the topic of the class.

Activity: Warm-up: Simon says

Procedure: During the class the students would be learning  some parts of the body, so during this warm up I will ask them to jump, clap or move some parts of their body, saying: “Simon says rise your hands”, of course, I will model while I say what they have to do.

Materials: None

Interaction pattern: T-S

Time: 5 min.

Skills: Writing and listening.

• Warm-up 5:

Topic: Let’s remember

Level: A1

Objective: To catch the students’ attention, with a warm-up that will serve as the intro of the topic of the class.

Activity: Warm-up: What is this?

Procedure: I will create a PPT with some pictures of different things that they already saw in the past classes, such as; fruits, parts of the body, numbers, etc. First I will make small teams and then I will start the PPT and the first team who say the correct name of what they saw in the slide will win one point. At the end the team with more point will win candies for each one of the members from it.

Materials: PPT, projector, computer and candies.

Interaction pattern: T-S, S-T, SS-SS

Time: 5 min.

Skills: Speaking, reading and listening.

How to manage a student that has a violent attitude?

Case 3

Carlos came with a history of violence from the preceding year. I was warned by his former teacher that he was the worst in the school: brandishing knives, serious aggression, repeated suspensions, etc. My first belief is that a teacher should never let history set a kid up for failure before you get to know him, so we started with a clean slate.

Proposal of resolution to the problem

I already know that he is a “dangerous” student with a past full of problems because of his decisions to bring different guns to the classroom. However, I want to create a good rapport with him and all my students, so I will not treat him differently, but I will be careful with him though. Nevertheless, if I noticed or if some of his classmates tell me that he is carrying brandishing knives or if he starts fighting with some of his classmates, the first thing that I would like to do is to talk with him at the end of the class, of course, first I would stop the present situation and calling to the consular. I said that I would like to talk with him at the end of the class, because we are talking about one of the most problematic students that has been going with the psychologist and he still being the same, so maybe if I talk to him I could help him to change his mind or to find the reason of why he acts in that way. I think that for that kind of students is good to talk with other people, because I am pretty sure that he has talked so many times with the consular and/or the psychologist that he does not care about what they say anymore. On the other hand, as the teacher in charge, he would be interacting with me daily and I want to have a good relationship with each one of my students, because it is part of the environment for a good learning process.