Programa British Conciul Formador de Facilitadores PNIEB Sesión 3

1. Session 3: Factors for practical,
competency-based English
activities
British Council 2014

2. Creating practical activities for
competence-based lessons

3. Creating practical activities for
competence-based lessons
Learning outcomes
By the end of Session 1, Formadores will be better able to:
• Understand, explain and exemplify the main categories of the
NEPBE syllabus contents and situations in which they may be
applied
• Recall the major learning outcomes for each NEPBE Cycle
• Identify the components of a Unit Plan, following the NEPBE
curricular foundations

4. Review of Principles underpinning
the NEPBE
Work in groups.
1. What is a competence?
2. What kinds of competences are included in
the NEPBE?
Show your ideas on the whiteboard.

5. Review: The Cycles of NEPBE
Cycle 1
300 hrs
3rd
A1
Cycle 2
200 hrs
3rd & 4th
A1
Cycle 2
200 hrs
3rd & 4th
A2
Cycle 3
200 hrs
5th & 6th
B1
Cycle 4
360 hrs
1st,2nd,3rd
B1
Cycle 4
360 hrs
1st,2nd,3rd
Pre-school Elementary School Secondary School

6. 1. Concrete
experience
2. Reflective
observation
4. Active
Experimentation
3. Abstract
conceptualization
apprehension
transformation
comprehension
Kolb, 1984 in Kohonen 1992:16
ACTIVATE

7. NEPBE METHODOLOGY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHING
ACTIVATE
Previous
knowledge
and language
recycling to
help users
better
understand the
following steps
EXPERIENCE
Concrete
Experience
Experiencing
language:
Text presentation
text work
to check and/or
reinforce overall
comprehension
THINK
Reflective
Observation
Discovering language
challenge:
isolating language
feature – use,
grammar, spelling,
vocabulary, phonology
– and reflecting upon
it with the aid of hints
+
Abstract
Conceptualisation
Hypotheses
construction
CREATE
Active
Experimentation
Using language:
Written or oral
production
through guided to
free activities

8. Review: Competences Cycle 1
1. Acknowledge the existence of other cultures and
languages
2. Acquire motivation and a positive attitude towards the
English language.
3. Begin developing basic communication skills, especially
the receptive ones.
4. Reflect on how the writing system works.
5. Get acquainted with different types of texts.
6. Start exploring children’s literature.
7. Use some linguistic and non-linguistic resources to give
information about themselves and their surroundings.

9. Review: Competences Cycle 2
1. Express simple opinions and requests in familiar contexts.
2. Recognize basic instructions, information, and advertisements.
3. Identify basic aspects of pronunciation and vocabulary used in
everyday life contexts.
4. Use expressions to refer to personal aspects and needs.
5. Respond to spoken and written language in different linguistic and
non-linguistic ways.
6. Use different strategies to solve everyday problems, as well as to
look for information about concrete topics.
7. Identify similarities and differences between their own cultural
expressions and those of the English language.
8. Establish basic social contact by means of their linguistic repertoire.

10. Review: Competences Cycle 3
1. Understand and produce everyday or routine information and its
general meaning.
2. Begin or participate in some conversations or transactions using 11.
verbal and nonverbal strategies.
3. Recognize similarities and differences in the form and social use
between their mother tongue and English.
4. Use strategies to present information, understand academic texts,
and solve simple problems.

11. Review: Competences Cycle 3
5. Express opinions and provide short descriptions.
6. Produce comprehensible messages, adapting their linguistic forms
and pronunciation.
7. Use strategies to recognize form and understand content in a variety
of simple literary texts.
8. Interact with oral and written texts for specific purposes, and use
them as a basis for further interaction.
9. Socialize by means of common expressions.

12. Review: Competences Cycle 4
1. Identify the main idea and some details from a variety of short oral
and written texts, using their knowledge of the world.
2. Understand and use information from different textual sources.
3. Identify the main idea and some details from a variety of short oral
and written texts, using their knowledge of the world.
4. Produce short, conventional texts that respond to personal,
creative, social and academic, purposes.
5. Adapt their language to unexpected communicative needs.
6. Recognize and respect differences between their own culture and
the cultures of English-speaking countries.

13. Review: Competences Cycle 4
7. Express some judgments and opinions about issues that are
interesting to them or resemble their everyday reality.
8. Use appropriate registers in a variety of communicative situations
9. Master linguistic resources to understand the relationship between
the parts of a statement or text.
10. Edit their own or their classmates’ writings.
11. Use grammar, spelling, and punctuation conventions.
12. Participate in formal communicative situations.
13. Keep communication flowing, identify breakdowns and use strategic
resources to repair it when necessary.

14. Experiential learning at different levels
1. Concrete
experience
2. Reflective
observation
4. Active
Experimentation
3. Abstract
conceptualization
apprehension
transformation
comprehension
Kolb, 1984 in Kohonen 1992:16
ACTIVATE

15. Cycle 1
Kindergarten children
Kindergarten children learn with their whole bodies, their
minds, and their hearts. They learn best when:
 Activities are play-based, involving exploration and inquiry, with
hands-on activities that engage all their senses
 Activities are developmentally and culturally appropriate
 Environments provide for their social-emotional, intellectual,
aesthetic, artistic, and physical development, and growth in social
responsibility
 The adults in their world — teachers, families, school and
community members — work together to support them.

16. Cycle 1: Example
On a walk in the playground, the children notice birds building a nest in
a nearby tree. This observation begins a conversation about where
animals live. The class then engages in a project on investigating
neighbourhood animals and their habitats. Project activities might
include:
 Sorting and classifying pictures of neighbourhood animals
 Reading stories and singing songs about the animals
 Exploring traditional stories about local animals
 Taking walks or field trips to observe animals with an emphasis
on their habitats
 Conducting library research on animals in the wild
 Having students create, and share with their peers, a
representation of the animal of their choice
 Working with the students to create a habitat display.

17. NEPBE METHODOLOGY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHING
ACTIVATE
Previous
knowledge
and language
Show pictures of
PETS
Elicit names
Model “ I have
two cats. How
about you?”
Elicit which pets
children have
EXPERIENCE
Experiencing
language
Project an email
from a friend which
includes photos and
talks about a
special pet and has
several examples of
“have” and “has”.
Comprehension
check questions (to
include “have” and
“has”)
THINK
Reflective
Observation
Ask why sometimes we
use “have” and
sometimes “has”
Hypotheses
construction
Elicit ideas
Abstract
Conceptualisation
Help children to see the
rule
CREATE
Active
Experimentation
Children draw their
pets, or the pets
they would like to
have and write short
phrases or
sentences about it.
Children mingle and
share information
about their pets.
Plan a pet show!

18. 15 Tips for working with Primary
school children
Start working with oral skills:
1. Use songs to practise and learn vocabulary and grammar patterns.
2. Use Storytelling.
3. Use pictures, gestures and body to explain meanings.
4. Use English as much as you can, especially at the lowest levels.
5. Introduce L1 only in difficult learning activities, for example, when
children have to think about grammar or about the way language
works.

19. 15 Tips for working with primary
school children
After having introduced oral skills, start with written skills
Write and draw lists of vocabulary
6. Check previous knowledge before introducing new contents.
7. Integrate vocabulary into the related grammar patterns.
8. Use English to communicate –even if it is a simple and
very basic idea.
9. Take advantage of the festivals during the school year
10. Ask your students to do projects: specific final tasks in which
students use all their language knowledge to achieve a goal
-although it is a little goal.

20. 15 Tips for working with primary
school children… continued
11. Ask your students to pay attention to the Art part of their final
assignment/project/task.
12. Engage your students in doing their own Language Portfolio
-electronic or not.
13. Use ICT to support your constructivist methodology
14. Work on children's attitude towards language learning and other
important concepts: autonomous language learner, lifelong language
learning, self-assessment.
15. Be a blogger. Create a blog for your subject. Look at this example:
http://teachingenglishtoprimarychildren.blogspot.com/2008/11/teaching-engl
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org Get more ideas!

21. Cycle 4: Example
Rogers (1957) outlined 3 attitudinal qualities that a teacher, or in his
words, a facilitator, should have to assist the learning process.
 empathy (seeing things from the students' viewpoint)
 authenticity (being yourself)
 acceptance (of students' ideas and opinions).
These factors will strengthen trust with learners of any age, and
especially, perhaps, with adolescents.

22. ACTIVATE
Previous
knowledge
and language
T shows pictures
of when he/she
was younger
Elicit general
questions
Model “ I used to
have short hair.”
“I used to wear
jeans.”
EXPERIENCE
Experiencing
language
Project a video of a
friend of T, talking
about things they
used to do when
they were younger.
Comprehension
check questions (to
include “used to”
and “didn’t use to”)
THINK
Reflective
Observation
Ask what is the
difference between “I
wore jeans to the party
on Saturday.” and “I
used to wear jeans all
the time.”
Hypotheses
construction
Elicit ideas
Abstract
Conceptualisation
Help students to revise
and construct rules
CREATE
Active
Experimentation
Sts work in small
groups and show
photos o f when
they were younger,
and talk about the
things they used to
do.
In their journals,
they reflect on what
they used to do in
primary school and
what they do now
and how life is
better.

23. Creating practical activities for
competence-based lessons
Homework project
Find teachers who are responsible for the same age-group
as yourself. (Cycles 1, 2, 3 or 4)
Get into small groups of three or four.
Design a simple class outline, following the model given.
Hand your work in to your trainer tomorrow.
Thank you!