The previous installment of the Teacher’s Corner shared strategies for introducing students to topics and exploring what they already know about them. This week will present ideas about how to use authentic materials to develop students’ English vocabulary through exposure to and interaction with new words.

One challenge to consider when using authentic materials is that some of the vocabulary may be unfamiliar to your learners. For this reason, it is important to provide opportunities for students to learn new words and interact with them. Sometimes it is helpful for teachers to pre-select new words to teach students, and other times it is more beneficial for students to select the words themselves. Regardless, when special attention is given to unfamiliar words, authentic materials can provide a meaningful context for students to increase vocabulary.

The first activity this week is a great way to teach vocabulary in context. If you don’t have a way to access and display photos, you can still use this strategy to teach words without using photos by creating sentences that relate to the topic of your authentic material.

Photo Vocabulary
Time: 40 minutes

Goals:

• To increase students’ understanding of new vocabulary words before interacting with an authentic text.
• To listen, speak, read, and write in English.

Materials: Student notebooks and pencils, list of 5-10 vocabulary words from the authentic text (can be teacher or student selected), a photo or photo collage that can be displayed for all students to see (this can also come from the authentic material if it contains photos), one sentence that relates to the picture(s) for each vocabulary word

Preparation:

1. Determine whether you or your students will select the vocabulary words from the authentic material you plan to use. You or your students should skim the material and list words that may be difficult or unfamiliar. If students are completing this step, you will need to have them do so at least one day ahead of this activity so that you have time to prepare.

2. Keeping the list of words and the topic presented by the authentic material in mind, find images that can be used to discuss the topic and vocabulary. If the authentic material includes photos, they might work well for this activity. You can use one photograph or a series of related photos arranged in a collage format. A maximum of 5-6 photos is suggested so that students are not overwhelmed. Decide how you will display the photograph(s) so that all students can see them clearly.
3. Write sentences about the photograph(s) using the vocabulary list. Write one sentence for each word and be sure that the sentence conveys what the word means.

Procedure:

1. Tell students that they will be learning new vocabulary words from the selected authentic material by looking at pictures and talking about them. Write this vocabulary chart on the board for students to copy into their notebooks.
2. Display the photograph(s) you selected to teach students the vocabulary. Explain that you will present a word and write it in the chart. Students should also write it down in their vocabulary chart. Then, you will read a sentence related to the photo(s) that contains the word. You will write it on the board and instruct students to copy it in their notebooks.
3. Tell students that after they have copied the example sentence, they will discuss what they think the word means based on the sentence and the photograph(s). They should write any notes, clues, or guesses about the meaning in the My Guess column in their notebooks. This can include the part of speech, native language cognates, clues from the sentence, inferences based on the photo(s), or what group members may already know about the word.
4. Explain that after students have recorded their guesses, a few can share with the class. Then, the teacher will provide the definition or students can look it up themselves and record it in the table.
5. Answer any questions students have. Then, start the process with the first vocabulary word.
6. Repeat the steps with each of the words until all of the words on the list have been taught.

The following activities are a great way to provide students with more practice using new words after the Photo Vocabulary activity. One of these short activities can be used each day or every other day, depending on how long your students are working with the same authentic material. Students can also repeat the activities multiple times with different partners or groups.

Various Activities to Provide Multiple Interactions with New Words

Time: About 15 minutes per activity

Goals:

• To provide students with additional opportunities to practice new vocabulary words.
• To listen, speak, read, and write in English.

Materials: Vocabulary charts in students’ notebooks from the Photo Vocabulary activity or words and definitions from any other method you have used to teach new words, pencils, index cards or small pieces of paper, student notebooks

Activity One: Partner Quiz

Procedure:

1. Have students get into pairs and decide who will be partner 1 and who will be partner 2.
2. To start, partner 1 should have the Vocabulary Chart in front of them and partner 2 should not. Depending on the level of your students, you may want to provide a list of the vocabulary words on the board as a support.
3. Using the chart, partner 1 will give partner 2 clues about one of the words. They could read the example sentence and leave out the vocabulary word, provide a definition, or make up their own clues (part of speech, synonyms, antonyms, etc.). Partner 2 should try to guess which word partner 1 is referring to.
4. Repeat the process until partner 2 has successfully guessed all of the words. Then, partners switch roles and repeat.

Activity Two: Vocabulary Trio

Preparation:

1. Gather index cards or small pieces of paper, enough for every student in your class to have one.
2. Determine how many groups of 3 students can be formed from your class. If you have extra students left, you can also participate in the activity.

Procedure:

1. Divide your class into thirds as evenly as possible. Assign each third one part of the vocabulary chart: word, example sentence, or definition. Be sure that each group knows which part of the chart they have been assigned.
2. Explain to students that they will be responsible for writing either a word, definition, or example sentence for their assigned part of the chart on their index card/paper. Tell students in the example sentence group to replace the vocabulary word with a blank when they write down the sentence.
3. Within each third, have students count off 1-10 (or up to as many vocabulary words as are on the list), repeating as needed. Tell students to use the chart to write down the corresponding word, definition, or sentence for their number. For instance, a student with the number 4 in the example sentence group would write down the example sentence for the 4th word in the chart, a student with the number 8 in the definition group would write down the definition for the 8th word in the chart, etc.
4. Once students have written down their assigned information, collect all the cards and mix them up.
5. Tell students that they will get a new card that will contain a word, sentence, or definition. Once a signal is given, students should move around the room and compare cards with others to try to form a trio that matches the word, example sentence, and definition correctly.

Activity Three: Exchange and Fill in the Blank

Procedure:

1. Have students get into groups of three and work together to write sentences in their notebooks using the vocabulary words. If helpful, you can display the photos from the Photo Vocabulary activity for students to refer to.
2. Have each group copy their sentences on a new sheet of paper, leaving a blank where the vocabulary words go.
3. Then have groups exchange papers. Group members work together to fill in the missing vocabulary words using the chart in their notebooks.
4. When finished, students return their completed sentences to the group that wrote them so they can check for accuracy.

The last Teacher’s Corner for this month will focus on strategies to support students’ comprehension when working with authentic materials. Additionally, suggestions for final activities to help students summarize their learning will be presented.

This session, "Dynamic Ways to Check Answers and Share Responses in the EFL Classroom," reviews ways to check answers and share responses in a variety of ways to keep students focused and engaged in their learning.

Last week’s installment of the Teacher’s Corner discussed questions to consider when selecting authentic materials as well as possible benefits and challenges when using them in instruction. This week will focus on warm-ups and activities to help students connect to authentic materials and create a meaningful context for practicing English.

THINKING MAP

Time: 10 minutes

Goals:

• To encourage students to consider what experience they have with a topic or what they already know about it (their background knowledge).
• To participate in a discussion in English.
• To read and write in English.

Materials: Writing utensils and paper for each group of students, or a chalkboard/whiteboard and chalk/markers if the activity will be completed as a class

Preparation:

1. Consider the authentic materials you plan to use with your students. Use the materials to create a few questions for students to consider when creating their thinking map. Some example questions are shown below. 
   

   Authentic Material	Questions for Students to Consider
   Recipe for bread	What types of bread do you eat? What ingredients are needed to make bread? What are the steps to making bread?
   News clip or article about popular celebrity	Who is this celebrity? What is his or her name? What do you know about him or her? What makes them famous?
   Brochure or website for an international travel agency	If you were going to travel to a different country, what steps would you take to prepare? What would you pack for your trip?

2. Decide if you will have students create thinking maps in small groups or as a whole class.

Procedure:

1. Explain to students that they will soon participate in an activity to examine a recipe (or article, website, etc.). Tell students that first, they will think carefully about what they may already know about the topic.
2. Model how to create the thinking map by writing the topic in a circle on the board. For instance, topics from the examples in the table above would be bread, [celebrity name], and international travel. In the following steps we will use the recipe for bread as an example.
3. Write the questions that you want students to consider on the board.
4. Model your thought process for students: Say “One type of bread that I eat for breakfast is roti canai, so I’m going to add that to the map.” Draw a line out from the circled topic and write the words roti canai at the end of the line.
5. Continue by saying “I know that flour is used to make bread, and that some types of bread require time for the dough to rest.” Add two more lines to the map and write flour and time for dough to rest to continue modeling for students.
6. Answer any questions students have about the process for creating the thinking map. If students will work in small groups, distribute necessary materials and have students form groups. If the whole class will work together on one map, allow students to contribute ideas by coming up to the board to add information.
7. Stop the activity after about 10 minutes or when students have finished adding all of their ideas to the map. If students worked in small groups, display the maps in different areas of the room and allow the class time to move around and read all of the ideas each group wrote down.
8. If you choose, the map(s) can remain on display in the classroom as students continue to work with the materials about the topic.

Variations:

1. Allow beginner-level students to include illustrations or words in their native language on the thinking map if needed. They can discuss what they drew or wrote and the class or a peer can help them label it in English.
2. Students’ background knowledge can also be activated by completing a similar activity to create a word cloud or word splash. Word clouds or word splashes are simply groups of words or phrases about a topic written in a large bunch. The words are often written in different sizes and in different directions. These can be created on paper or online using free generators such as www.wordle.net or www.wordclouds.com. A word splash can be created by using guiding questions as in the activity above or by using a photograph or single word or topic.

ANTICIPATION GUIDE

Time: 10 minutes

Goals:

• To encourage students to consider their existing level of knowledge or their opinions about a topic.
• To read and participate in a discussion in English.

Materials: Notebooks and pencils, a way to display statements for all students to see (e.g., a chalkboard/whiteboard or projector), prepared statements about the topic

Note: An anticipation guide activity works best with topics about which people usually have strong opinions or different levels of experience. News stories, documentaries, or materials that reflect things students might do in their own lives work best.

Preparation:

1. Consider the topic presented by the authentic material your students will be using. Think about the different opinions and levels of familiarity your students might have about this topic.
2. Prepare a set of 5-8 statements inspired by the topic. As an example, let’s assume the authentic material being used is a travel brochure (this was also an example in the table in the Thinking Map activity, above). The table below contains some example statements inspired by a travel brochure.
3. Decide how students should respond to the statements. They can label each statement true or false, indicate if they agree or disagree, rate their level of agreement on a scale of 1-5, etc. (If using a rating scale, the following levels can be helpful: 1 = disagree, 2 = mostly disagree, 3 = unsure/neutral, 4 = mostly agree, 5 = agree).

Procedure:

1. Explain to students that they will soon participate in an activity to examine a brochure (or news clip, article, website, etc.). Tell the class that first, they will respond to a set of statements about the topic.
2. Tell students how you expect them to respond to the statements (true/false, agree/disagree, rating scale, etc.).
3. To provide students with an example, you display the first statement and model your thinking. For example, if you were using a rating scale, you could say, “Well, I think this is false,” or “I agree with this statement, but not all the time, so I’ll rate this a 4.”
4. Answer any questions the class may have.
5. Display the statements you have prepared or write them on the board. Explain to students that they will copy the statements into their notebooks and then indicate how they feel about each one. Tell students they should think carefully and prepare to justify their opinions in a discussion.
6. Give students time to copy the statements, consider how they feel about them, and make notes in their notebooks. This should take about 5 minutes.
7. When students have completed the task, explain that they will share their responses and reasoning with classmates. This can be done in several ways. Students can share with a partner, move around the room and find a new partner for each statement, or share in small groups.
8. To wrap up this activity, have students return to their seats. Ask the class to share any similarities or differences of opinion they encountered as they shared ideas with classmates.

Extensions:

1. Have students keep these statements to refer to later. After completing more activities with the authentic material, students can revisit and reconsider the statements and note whether their feelings have stayed the same or changed and why. Follow the same steps from the procedure above and have students discuss why their feelings stayed the same or changed as a result of the lesson.

The two activities presented this week will help students consider what they know or how they feel about a topic before interacting with authentic materials. Activities like this can help build students’ confidence and motivation before they encounter authentic materials that may contain unfamiliar language structures or vocabulary. A warm-up that activates students’ background knowledge and introduces a topic in an accessible way is beneficial regardless of a student’s English proficiency level.

Next week’s Teacher’s Corner will discuss strategies for using authentic materials to teach and practice vocabulary words.

Beginner to Advanced

Language Focus

Listening (primary focus); reading (secondary focus)                     

Goals

Teachers will learn about:

• Openshot for video editing and producing

Materials

• Teacher: computer, speakers,
• Students: computer for watching content

Preparation

1. Read through all the materials carefully.
2. Download and install Openshot on your computer.
3. Take time to explore the software to understand how it functions.

Screen Recording: Open broadcasting system (OBS)

Openshot is an open-source video editing tool. In last week’s Teacher’s Corner, we learned about OBS software, which can record video. Openshot can be used to improve those videos by editing video, adding music, or creating opening and closing title slides.

Openshot allows teachers to create good quality video content for classroom instruction or for students to access as part of an online class or for self-study. Openshot offers many features and options you can use to create video content for the classroom. This tutorial is designed to help you understand the basics, so for more information check out the Openshot User Guide.

To learn the basics of Openshot, follow the instructions below:

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Figure 1: The main screen of Openshot, where users can add, edit, and preview videos.

Before beginning the tutorial on Openshot, take time to learn the main sections of the display:

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Figure 2: This Openshot tutorial covers the areas highlighted with red arrows.

Before beginning the tutorial below, the following definitions might be helpful:

Project Files: This space will have the video files you add to Openshot. These are your original video files. These can be recordings taken from your phone, webcam, or camera.

Video Preview: This section of the screen shows the video currently being edited. It allows you to check what you are working on to make sure it looks the way you want.

Tracks: The tracks are the parts of a video. For example, you may have a video with music in the background. The video would be one track and the music would be a second track.

1. Begin by downloading the Openshot software from https://www.openshot.org/
   
   1. Note: Pay attention to where the software is downloaded on the computer. You will need the file for the next step.
2. Next, double-click on the Openshot file you downloaded in Step 1 and follow the on-screen instructions to install the software.
3. Open the Openshot software. To begin, click on File in the top left corner of the screen. Then select Import Files.

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Figure 3: Use Import Files to add video you want to edit to Openshot.

4. Import Files allows you to add your video files, music files, or images to Openshot. These are the files you will use to create a new video. When you import them, they will be added to the Project Files window.

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Figure 4: After you import files, they will appear the Project Files window.

5. To begin building your new video, click on the files in the Project Files window and drag these files to the Tracks window at the bottom of Openshot.

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Figure 5: Adding files to the Tracks window allows you to begin editing them into a new video.

6. Once videos are added to the Tracks window, you can press the space bar on your keyboard to play the video file in the Video Preview window in the upper right of Openshot.

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Figure 6: The Video Preview screen is where you can see your new video as you edit it.

7. Videos in the Tracks window can be edited by dragging the slider (the red line with the blue icon at the top) to the section of the video you want to cut and right-clicking on the slider.

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Figure 7: Right-click the slider (the red line) to open the Edit menu.

8. After right-clicking the slider and opening the Edit menu, select Slice. Slice allows you to cut a video into two separate sections. For example, if you want to remove the first minute of a video, you can slice the video where you want the video to start and then select Keep Right Side.
   
   1. Note: Editing video takes practice, like learning any new skill. Be patient, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and remember that practice makes perfect!

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Figure 8: The Slice option allows you to cut a video in two pieces and then choose which part you would like to keep.

9. Along with adding videos, images, or music files to the Tracks window, you can also add transitions to your video. Transitions are movements between edits that can make the change less noticeable. For example, after one scene or section, the video can fade out and the next scene or section can fade in.

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Figure 9: Under the Project Files window are three tabs. Click on these to find the transitions and effects options in Openshot.

10. Both effects and transitions can be clicked on and dragged into the Tracks windows. Transitions can be added between video files in the Tracks, while effects can be placed directly over a video in the Tracks file.
     
11. Once your video is complete, you can click the Files menu in the top left of the screen and select Export Video.

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Figure 10: When you are ready to finish your video, select Export Video.

12. After you select Export Video, a menu will open that allows you to choose where the video will be saved. After selecting Export Video in this menu, the video will be created. Depending on how powerful your computer is, this creation may take several minutes.