“1st Foreign Languages Week” at INS Manuel de Montsuar

Hi there!

I guess it was about time we started to tell you about the latest news so far! We’ve been really busy at INS Manuel de Montsuar these last weeks… In fact, we’ve just made our debut with our “1st Foreign Languages Week” with loads of activities and workshops going on. It’s been a hectic week though very enriching and fun too and we’d love to let you know about it!

Prior to this hectic week, our Foreign Languages Department organised a logo contest so that our students showed their artistic and creative skills to helps us find the best logo that would introduce our “1st Foreign Languages Week”. This logo should highlight in its design the 3 foreign languages at our school: French, English and German as well as display any reference to the world of drama. We had one winner and also a runner-up. This is the poster we designed to invite the students to participate:

The 25th of October marked the launch of the “1st Foreign Languages Week” with 3 performances in English for all the students which took place in our “Saul Craviotto Pavillion”. The plays in English were organised by the English Theatre Company (ETC) and the plays were: “Monkey Business” for 1st and 2nd cycle students and “Stand Up 2” for the Batxillerat ones.

Then, from Tuesday 26th of October until the 2nd of November all our “ESO” students attended “Step On Stage” woskhops, which were theatre-related activities in English guided by instructors form “Aula de Teatre de Lleida”. All the students had the chance to actually “step on stage” and rehearse and perform small sketches and scenes using English. Finally, on Tuesday the 26th there was a closing showcase for each course introducing the best performances from each class. The students assessed the workshop positively and we are convinced they improved their English a little bit more.

There were also entertaining activities in the French and German classes also connected to the world of drama. The foreign languages teachers organised active learning activities that fostered the students’ communicative skills in English and also broadened their knowledge on the world of drama and theatre.

We consider that it’s been a really successful week for the students. We could organise all these workshops thanks to a funding received by the European Community. We do hope our students have the chance of experiencing different ways of learning foreign languages like these the next course!

1 BATXILLERAT & 4 ESO BOOKTUBERS

You can upload your youtube book reviews here. Remember that you will have to answer the following questions in detail.

Thanks for your hard work an cooperation!

Marta

You can get ideas here:

HOW TO BOOKTUBE

FANTASY BOOKS

RECOMMENDATIONS

READERS GUIDELINE

Answer all the following questions in English. Write between a minimum of 50 words for each question:

  1. Summarise the PLOT of the book:
  2. Describe your favourite CHARACTER (physical and psychological description):
  1. What’s the CLIMAX (the most important moment in the book)? Describe it:
  1. How does the story end? Explain:
  2. What GENRE is it? Give arguments to support your answer:
  1. Did you like it? Why or why not? Explain:
  2. Do you feel identified with any of the characters or with the story itself? How can you relate the content on the book with your life? What similarities can you find? Explain:
  1. Write a different ending to the one in the book:

Speaking Games in “Àgora”

Today our 4th of ESO students have had a great time talking in English through different games:

  • B1 speaking practice: in pairs and for approximateley 15 minutes they had to ask each other questions regarding common pictures and talk about their views and opinions on topics related to the pictures. That exercise is very similar to what they will find in the real B1 test.
  • Story Telling Memory Game: players sit in a circle (in groups of 5 or 6) and one student begins a story with a single word they wish. The players take turns repeating the sentences and adding a new one. If someone misses a word, they are out. The student who is able to tell the story without a mistake is the winner.
  • 2 Truths and 1 Lie: a student tells two personal and true anecdotes and an invented one which is by all means a lie. The other players will have to guess which one is the lie!

It was great to see them engaged and motivated! Thank you!

Learning English with board games: does it work?

Of course it works! It’s an excellent resource for both teachers and students. The 3rd and 4th of ESO as well as the 1st of batxillerat students have devoted one session to play these board games in the English class.

How can you do it in your English class?

1- Organise the classroom in different corners, 1 corner per game (I tend to have 7 corners)

2- Make groups of maximum 3 students.

3- Use just 5 minutes to tell them the instructions to play every game.

4- Tell them they will have just 7 minutes to play every game.

5- Make heterogeneous and multi-level groups.

6- Walk around the classroom while they are playing and check their English (correct them when necessary).

7- Time their participation in the board games and tell them to move to a different corner once the 7 minutes are over. ONLINE TIMER

WHAT I HAVE LEARNT FROM MY STUDENTS

  • Students wish to play board games for a longer time. So: more time and less board games, maybe 15 minutes and 3 board games instead of 7.
  • Monitoring them does not necessarily mean correcting them all the time. Us teachers should do it just when they make a huge mistake because correcting them systematically may weaken their self-esteem and their confidence. It’s important to let them speak and flow at their own pace because what really matters is that they somehow communicate in English!
  • Using gamification in class is fun and practical but doing that once a month is more than enough.

Let’s see the mutliple benefits board games have when learning a language…

Benefits of playing board games
My Board Games in English Box
BOARD GAMES (click on the board games to get more info)PROS AND CONS
The Art of Conversation (TAOC)


It is a conversation game based on questions
related to a wide range of topics.
It is suitable for all ages. It’s not a quiz
and never about who knows most.
Rather it provides the ideal blend of fun,
interesting, thought-provoking ways to enjoy
relationships as you get to know others, and yourself, better.
– Lots of varied questions on different topics (300)
– For all ages
– Excellent ice-breaker or warm-up before starting an English session
– An opportunity to get to know their classmates better


– Some questions are for adults
– Students find it boring
– Not very dynamic


Story Cubes (Rory’s) and Story Teller Dice (Tiger)

Both are used to tell stories
(either fantastic or more realistic ones) and
use one’s imagination. The game is simple:
use images to create cooperative and inspiring stories.		– They foster creativity and imagination
– They can be played both to improve speaking and writing competences
– Many variations: fantasy, action, voyages… which can be combines
– They can be played in any language
– The stories are original and funny most of
the times
– Students like it
– Easy to play
– Cooperative

– Better for advanced English students
(they have more vocabulary and a better
command of grammar)
Sussed (Games to Get)

From your scenario card one player reads
aloud a question and its answers (A,B,C).
Choose which answer is closest to the truth for you.
The other players will have to guess which
answer you may have chosen.
The one who gets more matches wins!
A great game to prove how well you know the other player.		– Students talk about themselves
– Students get to know their clasmates better
– Students love it!
– It may lead to spontaneous conversations among advanced students

– For all ages
– Better to improve pronunciation and oral comprehension
Guess What (Tiger) NO LINK AVAILABLE

It’s a very easy and fun description game.
Players take turns describing an image on a
drawn card to their partner.
The describing team gets a point for each card
they guess successfully and the opposing team
gets a point for each card they pass on or
make gestures on. An excellent party game!		– Surprisingly it is one of the students’ favourite board games
– Can be played in teams
– For all ages (even for primary education students)
– Easy images to describe
– Everyone participates

– Sometimes they lack vocabulary to describe the image and they end up using gestures
– Not many cards

True or False (Lagoon)

One player reads out a statement and
the others must decide if it is the truth or
a lie, fact or fiction, true or false.		– Students learn about curious facts and false myths
– They learn new vocabulary and expressions
– Good for improving their pronunciation and oral comprehension

-Some questions are very difficult for teenagers
– A little bit boring
– It’s not their piece of cake!
Brain Box English (Lagoon)

It’s a visual memory game.
The object of these fun little boxes is to
study the card for 10 seconds and then
answer the question on the roll of a die.
If the question is answered correctly the card
is kept and the person with the most cards
at the end is the winner. 		– Fun and fast-paced
– Improves visual recall
– For all ages
– Small portable pack
– The students’ favourite!

– Not very communicative
– For intermediate or advanced English learners

– IDEA: Questions should be organised in levels of difficulty!
TeReo English (Tereo)

Great family game to practise and improve English. There are different cards with a wide range of selected activities like: reading, speaking, pronunciation, drawing, mimics, performing and guessing. It’s really complete! 		– Family board game
– 7 minutes are not enough to play this board game, you’ll need a whole session!
– Varied and dynamic
– Different teams can play the game
– Different competences to work out
– Adapted to all levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced
– Creative and varied
– Students think it’s cool because they can play it in big teams!

– Some activities may be too easy or difficult if the groups are homogeneous

Related articles:

The Impact of Board Games on EFL Grammar Retention

Playful Learning in the EFL Class

The Effect Of Using Board Games In Reducing Language Anxiet And Improving Oral Performance

SMARTies: Using a board game in the English classroom for edutainment and assessment

Effects of Board Game on Speaking Ability of Low-proficiency ESL Learners

BOOKTUBERS 4th of ESO and 1st of BATXILLERAT

Post your videos answering the questions related to the book you’ve read:

READERS GUIDELINE

Answer all the following questions in English. Write between a minimum of 50 words for each question:

  1. Summarise the PLOT of the book:
  2. Describe your favourite CHARACTER (physical and psychological description):
  1. What’s the CLIMAX (the most important moment in the book)? Describe it:
  1. How does the story end? Explain:
  2. What GENRE is it? Give arguments to support your answer:
  1. Did you like it? Why or why not? Explain:
  2. Do you feel identified with any of the characters or with the story itself? How can you relate the content on the book with your life? What similarities can you find? Explain:
  1. Write a different ending to the one in the book: