practical

1. Mara Barbieri – Mariel Matta
Resources for teachers in National Geographic learning website
The National GeographicLearningwebsite offersdifferentmaterials forEnglishteacherstouse
them in theirlessons.Afterbrowsingthe page,we couldfindsome advantagesand
disadvantagesof the available resourcesasregardshow motivatingtheymightbe forYLE.
Advantages
We believe thatthe mostattractive toolsare the images.Byusingphotostakenall aroundthe
world,childrencangetintouch withotherrealitiesother thantheirown.The beautyand
colorsof the pictureswill certainlystimulate kids’curiosity.Besides,the factthattheyare real
picturesof people andnature,andnotjust cartoons, makesitevenmore interestingsince they
reflectthe worldasit is.
Moreover,we considerthatthe perspectivesfromwhichthe activitiesare proposedcanbe
reallyuseful forteachingEnglishsince theyhelptotransmitvalueswhile studyingthe
language.Activitiesthattake intoaccountissuesregardingenvironmental care,global
citizenship andmulticulturalism, forexample, helptodevelopunderstandingandrespect
towardsour peersandnature.
Disadvantages
In the firstplace,we dislikedthe website designaswe hadsome trouble tofindwhat we were
lookingfor.Besides,itmostlyadvertisesbooksratherthatofferingfree activitiesforteachers
to use.Infact, most of the activitieswe couldsee were meanttobe usedassupportfor the
books. Ontop of that,some of the activitieswerenotreallyengaging,suchusthe songs,all of
whichhad prettymuchthe same melody.
To sum up,we believethatwhile the imagescanbe of greataid to usteachers,we wouldlike
to create our ownactivitiestoaccompanythemas thiswouldbe more motivating and
productive forstudents.