My journal primary_period_moure_regina

My journal
Practicum period: Primary
Trainee’s name: Regina Moure
Tutor: Cecilia Zemborain
INSTITUTO DE FORMACIÓN DOCENTE CONTÍNUA “LENGUAS VIVAS” – BARILOCHE
PROFESORADO DE INGLÉS A DISTANCIA
2015
Date: August 20th, 2015
1st Observation- 5th grades. Instituto Marcelo Spínola
I met these groups for the first time this morning. Even though I already know many of them (they
were my Ss a few years ago), two years bring about a lot as regards development. That was what
struck me the most today.
There are 28 ss in each group (5th Reina de la Paz - 5th Inmaculada). Almost the 70 % of them
attend English lesson at private Schools, but (contrary to what I expected) they do not make use of
the language to interact with each other.. Nonetheless, they know exactly how to call the teacher’s
attention by saying: Can you come here, please? or Can I talk to you? .
From my point of view, the classroom is rather cramped for these kids, without mentioning the size
of the furniture: they use the same desks and chairs my Ss from 1st to 3rd grade use! There are
no chances of going around the classroom between the rows and groups should be arranged
before Ss enter the room, otherwise it would be not only noisy but also complicated, due to the
lack of space.
To what the Ss’ linguistic level concerns, they are at an elementary level. This implies they are still
learning/acquiring structures, vocabulary and functions to talk about themselves and the world
surrounding them. The lesson I observed today was mainly a revision one: Miss Mónica was
absent last Thursday and lessons were suspended yesterday because teachers had a meeting.
Therefore, today T and Ss talked about the use of There is/there are, countable and uncountable
nouns, the use of a/an, some and any, and things like that. They did it mainly in Spanish and
exercises were written on the board. Ss were asked to copy them on their notebooks. T modelled
the first one for them, orally. The second exercise was carried out as a class, leaving the
remaining four for individual work.
Complete the questions and answer - Use a-an/any/some
1) Is there ____________?
Yes, ______________
2) Are there ___________?
No, _________________
Comentario [1]: Remember to share
this doc with me every time you write a
new entry, :)
Comentario [2]: Well. a new
situation, new challenges then..:)

My journal
2015
3) Is __________________?
This is not exactly the image Miss Mónica drew on the board, but it is quite similar. She wrote
“cake” next to the picture so as to let Ss know she was talking about a cake. The resolution of the
exercise got me thinking because I thought about Is there any cake? but she corrects it as Is
there a cake?. So, this evening when I arrived home I looked for further explanations on the
subject and I found this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv192.shtml
Anyway, I need to have a few more talks with her. According to what Miss Mónica told me last
Tuesday, they are expected to recycle all those structures and functions to talk about our city as a
tourist destination.At least, that is what comes next in their coursebook “Howdy and friends 1”
(Richmond publishing).
By the way, this teacher follows the coursebook material to the letter and, as far as I’ve been told,
she expects me to work with it. So I will have to find a way to help Ss to learn the language using
their coursebook but also introducing materials from different sources other than their books.
2nd Observation- 5th grades. Instituto Marcelo Spínola
On this occasion I could observe Ss working almost independently. Ms Mónica brought a set of
two photocopies for each pupil: one to reinforce vocabulary related to food items; and the other
one mainly focused on grammar points such as the use of There is/are - indefinite article a/an -
some/any.
Comentario [3]: Super, Gina! When
in doubt, better check...
Comentario [4]: Yes!!! =)
Comentario [5]: New Entry available
- 2nd observation

My journal
2015
According to her (Ms. Mónica), this type of practice has the aim of helping Ss revise/reinforce
these concepts before I start delivering my lessons. As a matter of fact, we had a meeting
yesterday to define the topics I’ll have to cover during my six-lesson practicum:
Healthy eating
Revised language
Lexis:
● food items (countable/Uncountable) - Types of food items: vegetables - meat- drinks- fruit
● days of the week.
● numbers from 1 to 100.

My journal
2015
Functions:
● Expressing likes and dislikes.
● Classifying
● Expressing quantities.
● Asking for information about quantities and prices.
Structures:
● Questions and answers in the simple present (affirmative and negative)
❖ Have got
❖ Like
❖ to be : There is/ there are
❖ How much does it cost?
Pronunciation:
This aspect seems to be neglected, or at least, its treatment does not go beyond repeating the
vocabulary. Some words are mispronounced.
With all that information in mind I have to design a series of lessons focused on raising Ss’
awareness of the importance of eating healthy and, at the same time, enabling them to investigate
and share the outcomes of their research with others either by speaking or writing. Skills
integration will be a must and I´ll have the challenge of motivating/encouraging Ss to make use of
the language they already have at hand to achieve the goal of designing a healthy dish
considering all the variables. That is, the ingredients, the quantities needed, their price, the
procedure to be followed.
Maybe (and this is something that has just come to my mind) they may watch an excerpt from
MasterChef Junior (USA or UK) or a video tutorial with the steps for making pizza or something
else and later record their own video….Who knows…
I’ll meet these groups tomorrow morning again, for the last time before I have to teach them.
Creativity powers, please, come to me!!
3rd Observation - 5th grades. Instituto Marcelo Spínola
Last class(es) observed and some additions to my original plan of including cooking videos in my
lessons.
For starters, let me tell you that Ms. Mónica asked me to co-teach the lesson today. Actually, she
suggested that on Tuesday during our short interview. As I already mentioned in my last entry, she
Comentario [6]: Ooops!
Comentario [7]: "Vegetables" was
pronounced (vedʒteɪblz) and "for
example" (fəzæmpl)
(I cannot find the dark l symbol here...)
Comentario [8]: Great ideas!!! You
may take an intercultural perspective as
explored in the NAPs.
Comentario [9]: Ha ha ha... =)
Comentario [10]: Wow! What a
surprise! Anyway, it is a possible way of
getting to know the students, so good
for you!

My journal
2015
is very concerned about Ss’ grasping the concepts of countable-uncountable and all the language
related to ti. That was on of the reasons for her to choose the following exercise from one of the
coursebooks she has.

My journal
2015

My journal
2015
After having looked at it, I asked Ms Mónica her opinion about introducing some changes to the
dialogue so we could exploit it to the full. For instance:
→ Making the exercise more relevant to Ss. Instead of reading how Billy and Daisy discuss about
their party’s arrangement, Why don’t we type the exercise over and put our names? Ss will be
reading about people they know.
→ Ss will be reading, great! But what if we turn the activity into a listening one by acting out the
dialogue ourselves (Mónica and I)? It could be a great opportunity for Ss to listen to real people
speaking the language, and not to a recording from a cd.
→ The original activity asks Ss to read and complete the dialogue based on the information
provided on the checking list on the right. That implies Ss already knowing how and when to
employ the structures mentioned in prior entries. Since these Ss needed extra practice, I thought
that not including the list in the handout would help Ss to focus their attention on the oral
exchanges (and their features) between Ms Mónica and me.
→ So far, Ss would be reading, listening and writing. What about speaking? (full skills-integration!)
Ss might want to role play the dialogue themselves.
After talking about it, Ms Mónica and I modified the exercise, designing the following handout: Comentario [11]: Fantastic ideas!!!
Great to learn that Monica was open to
adjustments. =)

My journal
2015
This morning, Ms Mónica distributed the handouts without saying anything. As she did so, I started
writing the list (the one we deliberately left out of the handout) on the board.
Some Ss started reading the copy and noticed our names there. Then T explained that she and I
were about to read that dialogue for them and that they would have to listen only, at least for the
first time.
On a second reading (it was an acting, actually), Ss were asked to complete the unfinished
sentences. As usual, Ss started complaining, saying that they would not understand anything if we
spoke English. Our reply? “Do not worry! We’re going to read this as many times as you need us
to do it”.
After the first reading, Ss were a little confused, so we asked them to relax and listen again so that
they could fill in the blanks. We also asked them to use the list on the board as a reference, since it
could provide them with some clues.
Monica and I role-played the dialogue a second time. That was enough for some Ss to finish the
task, but others got stuck. On a third instance, we made the exercise more interactive by inviting
Ss to answer the questions using the information on the board.
Comentario [12]: Is it advisable to
explain after giving out the worksheets
or before? Why? How did it work on this
occasion?
Comentario [13]: In this case, Ss
knew they were going to work on a
dialogue, but ignored that Mónica and I
were the characters. There were
surprised to see our names there.
However, it didn't work the same in my
own lesson. I'll try to do it the other way
round next time: explaining the task
first, and distributing the handouts later.
The point is that these Ss (or should I
say I?) are very visual. I feel that if they
do not have the handout at hand, they
won't be able to follow my instructions.
An OHP would be fantastic for this!
Anyway, I'll give it a try. Trial and Error,
all the way!
Comentario [14]: Indeed!!! Try to use
the worksheet to show to the SS or
draw an example on the board...:)
Comentario [15]: Yes!!!
Comentario [16]: Great idea!!!

My journal
2015
I thought that would be the only moment for promoting Ss’ speaking ability, but I was wrong. Ss
themselves suggested that they could role-play the dialogue and so they did. Thus, those Ss who
had got stuck could listen to their mates and finish their task.
I’d like to highlight Ss’ use of intonation. It was fantastic! Remember I had mentioned that
pronunciation seemed to be a neglected area? Well, the little exposure they had to real language
in use today helped them notice that aspect of spoken English. So much so that they even
corrected themselves by saying: Paren, no soné muy sorprendid@. Va de nuevo.
How can this experience help me to design my future lessons? Well, I think I can take up the
situation/context created today: Mónica and I organising a party. But, since we need it to be a
healthy party, all the food groups must be included. And they can help us to achieve that...
Date: September 2nd, 2015
Lesson 1 - 5th grades. Instituto Marcelo Spínola
Topic: Healthy drinks.
I’m not going to tell anything new if I say that I was extremely nervous before this lesson started.
First of all, I wasn’t sure about the Ss’ reaction to my attempt to avoid using our mother tongue
during these first 40 minutes together.
As soon as the Ss entered the room, Ms Mónica and I explained the video-recording procedure to
Ss, and asked them to try not to look at the camera. Having agreed on that, I started delivering my
lesson to 5th Reina de la Paz.
Ss were very receptive and most of them were able to follow me, answering my questions in a
spontaneous way. I really enjoyed that because it was a signal of their engagement. One of the Ss
in 5th Inmaculada (my camera went off after recording the first lesson) made a commentary that I
loved hearing : Esto es inglés o naturales?
From my point of view, the warm-up stage was ok, although a bit better when I taught the second
group (5th Inmaculada).
As regards transitions and timing, something I have to bear in mind my for following plans is that
we never have 40 minutes. I have to consider eventual interruptions from the outside, as it
happened today;one girl from a classroom next door came to borrow our eraser. Since I had taken
mine with me, that wasn’t a problem at all.
The activities I had planned were also ok but, as explained in the previous paragraph, timing is a
crucial aspect, especially if combined with the group’s particular features. While 5th Reina could go
over the whole lesson plan, 5th Inmaculada could barely finish the second activity. This group is
very talkative and they always have to say something to whatever topic is being discussed,
especially if there is the slightest chance to change subject, just because. So, tomorrow morning,
instead of teaching this group the second lesson, I’ll have to close this one first and try to get the
timing better.
Date: September 3rd, 2015
Comentario [17]: Fantastic!!
Comentario [18]: New Entry
available- August 27th
Comentario [19]: A really enriching
lesson, Gina!!!
Comentario [20]: =D
Comentario [21]: They are really
smart!
Comentario [22]: Why?
Comentario [23]: First of all, because
I was more relaxed. Besides, I had tried
my strategies with the previous group
and knew what to use and what to
avoid.
Comentario [24]: =)
Comentario [25]: Forewarned is
forewarned. :)
Comentario [26]: New Entry
availabe. LEsson I
Comentario [27]: I never got this
message by e-mail. :)

My journal
2015
Topic: Healthy drinks/ Food groups
After all these years teaching in primary schools, I should be aware of the fact that we never have
the time expressed in our timetables. When it comes to actual teaching, all the ideas written down
on our plans may or may not come true. The more we know the group, the dynamics within that
group and how the environment influences or affects it (say the time of the day, the physical
space, and the situation going on around it), the chances that our lesson plan succeeds increase.
Why am I telling this? I wasn’t able to deliver today’s lesson as I wanted, as I had planned to do it.
Something similar took place yesterday, with 5Th Inmaculada. We couldn’t start the True-False
activity. So, I turned that activity as our Warm- up stage and things seemed to start to move
smoothly; even though these Ss were a bit over-excited after visiting an exhibition organised by Ss
from Secondary level. It was funny: this group was excited because they had been there, while the
previous one (5th Reina de la Paz) felt the same way because they were going to be there and
couldn’t focus on the after listening task.
All that excitement, somehow normal, predictable in Ss at this developmental stage was magnified
by their having been neglected their P.E. lesson. At that age, unless you feel uncomfortable in your
own body, P.E. is sacrosanct. In consequence, I have to deal with both their excitement about
visiting that fair and their high levels of energy due to their lack of physical activity. Besides, the
teacher started to talk to one or two Ss about some homework they had had a week ago. If I
should have known that this event was about to take place on the very day of one of my practicum
lesson, maybe I would have planned something different, more related to it.
Anyway,the point is : What should I do now? I have a set of activities planned, homework to assign
(that wasn’t assigned today), and more to plan for the four remaining lesson. So far, my idea is to
reduce the amount of activities per class, but making them more challenging at the cognitive level,
especially for early finishers. Cooperative work needs to be included as soon as possible, but I feel
I need to provide Ss with more content before putting them to create something. I’m intending to
have them designing and presenting a balanced menu that covers the four meals of the day
following the guidelines from www.choosemyplate.org.
So Gina, get down to work ASAP..
Date: September 9th, 2015
Topic: Food groups/ Making comparisons.
Comentario [28]: Wise observations!
Comentario [29]: ha ha ha!
Comentario [30]: Experience
provides valuable knowledge and
understanding.
Comentario [31]: New entry available
Lesson 2
Comentario [32]: Very good ideas,
Gina!!! You are well aware of what the
groups need and what their dynamics
are. An essential teacher trait. :)
I will be looking to your next lesson
plans.
A hug!

My journal
2015
Well, third class is over and, even though I wasn’t able to cover the whole plan again, we reached
the “language focus” stage which was one of my biggest concerns.
Before going to school I had set myself to focus on the following features of my teaching since I
strongly believed (and I still do!) they are my weakest points:
Timing
Hypothesis confirmed! Either I’m not good at having an idea about how much time each stage
should last and therefore I assign fewer minutes than those that are actually required OR I expect
to achieve too much with these groups of Ss.
Please, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying these Ss cannot follow my lessons or carry out the
activities I plan. I think , on the one hand, that my plans need more than the forty minutes each
class lasts, and on the other hand, these kids are not used to the teaching approach I chose to use
with them. Their teacher follows a PPP procedure which seems to work perfectly with these mixed-
ability groups but, from my point of view, does not allow much critical thinking.
I talked about this with one of my dearest classmates, María Inés, and we both agreed on that for
both teachers and Ss, PPP is fantastic since the former retain all the control on the teaching-
learning procedure, and the latter (used to being spoon-fed) are comfortable at being told exactly
what they have to do.
All the same...I still prefer making these children think a little more, no matter how reluctant they
may be to do it.
Pace of delivery
Am I going too fast? I feel that if I spend too much time on one stage/task, my Ss may get bored
easily and lose their engagement. Watch the videos yourself and tell me, please. I’m in two minds
about whether to allow all Ss to share their productions (“Your idea” section in my lesson) or to
limit that sharing to three or four only and move onto the following stage.
This has to do with my looking so tense in the first videos you watched last week. I know have
stages to follow in a set time (timing again! you see?) but what if Ss enjoy doing something? I don’t
want to be a witch to them, but I want them to learn.
Before starting this third lesson, Ms. Mónica talked to me about that aspect and, as you do in your
feedback on my first lesson, she asked me to enjoy the ride and allow Ss to be themselves. I tried
to do that this Wednesday.
Transitions
Another aspect related to time that I hope you could assess in the videos I’m sharing with you this
morning. In your first feedback you asked me to try to record my lessons in one go, but for reasons
unknown to me, my camera automatically pauses the recording at minute ten. Consequently, I
asked Mónica to be very attentive to this matter and so she did. There may be a few minutes lost,
but not as many as there was in my first video.
Tasks
I put so much effort on designing my tasks that I end up head over heels with them and I forget
that they should be first of all, appealing to Ss so that they also want to put all their energy into
doing what I ask.
Comentario [33]: Remember it takes
time for them to adapt to a different
teaching style.
Comentario [34]: Indeed, Gina, but
try to be patient. :)
Comentario [35]: Wise observations
from both of you!!
Comentario [36]: =)
Comentario [37]: Did I say so? I
really don't remember.
Comentario [38]: No, hahah!! You
didn't say that! I was questioning myself
and I asked you to watch my classes
and let me know about it.
Comentario [39]: My suggestions
may be based on ideas or ideals I have
in mind. You should develop your
observation skills and decide on what
might be better for your students. You
know them better than I do.
Comentario [40]: As long as learning
is taking place, let them do so. Their
learning is more important than the
lesson plan.
Comentario [41]: Great!

My journal
2015
All in all, I feel they like the activities and get engaged enough, even those Ss who seem to be at a
loss at the very beginning. I focused on them in this lesson: you may watch Máximo and Rubén
(two of the Ss Ms. Mónica told me about) coming to the board to complete the chart.
Low performing Ss
As I stated in the prior section, I paid attention to these Ss and made sure they were paying
attention so as to help them to get (and keep) engaged.
Máximo and Rubén were two of them and, although Máximo didn’t give me his handout for me to
check, Rubén did and I was so glad to see that this time he was able to go a bit further (In the third
video, you may see him approaching me to show me his work <3 )
Language focus
The structure was finally taught!! Great!! but we still need more practice. And that will be part of our
warming up stage today in our 4th lesson.
Topic: Making comparisons.
Comentario [42]: =)
Comentario [43]: Both you and the
learners are doing a great job!!!

My journal
2015
Let’s say this was a sort of practice lesson in which Ss made more sense about the structure used
to make comparisons.
I remember having read that our lesson plans should be flexible enough so as to give room for Ss’
suggestions “on the spot”. Even though my original plan was to have them reading about
carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins and fat, they wanted to try comparing their mates. So I listened
to their requests and asked them to tell me something about the students in their classroom as
regards their height or the length of their hair. Then we moved on to comparing the drinks they had
brought for their break-time. Some of them recalled the information from the poster used in lesson
1 and others simply opened their folders to look at the copy they had pasted there.
During that practice, they asked me why the word “healthy” turned into “healthIER” but “short” into
“shortER” without any “i”. At that moment, I asked if anybody could answer that question, in an
attempt to allow more advanced Ss to share their knowledge with their mates (remember this is a
mixed-ability class where Ss from different levels of linguistic competence follow the same
lesson/syllabus).
Ms. Mónica tries to avoid giving too much participation to this group of Ss who attend private
lessons of English after school. But I think that keeping a balance is the best choice. Anyway,
Bianca and Zoe offered to explain that that “i” only replaced the final “y” in “healthy” and that we
only have to add “ER” to the adjectives. That was quite a simple explanation, and it was enough
for their mates.Even those children who usually struggle at noticing this type of patterns could
carry out the extra exercises given.
Those last exercises were more related to our topic (food - healthy eating) and asked Ss to
compare prices: Which is cheaper? a kg of regular cheese or a kg of low- fat cheese. Now that I
write about it, this comparison may give way to formulating hypotheses about what is the cost of
following a healthy and balanced diet...Ideal for developing a project for the science-fair.
Next week is my last one with these children...let’s see how much we can achieve together.
Lesson 5- 5th grades. Instituto Marcelo Spínola
Topic: Nutrients
Well, today these 5th graders read a whole text in English (it was short and simple, I’m aware of
that) without asking for extra explanations. What was even more satisfactory, motivating ( It made
me feel so proud of them, actually) was that they understood the message of the text.
Comentario [44]: Excellent idea!!!
Comentario [45]: Indeed!!! If more
advanced SS feel neglected or
'un'challenged, they may misbehave or
get demotivated. They may contribute
to their mates' learning instead.
Comentario [46]: Your lesson plan
did not include any activity comparing
prices. Could you explain the changes
you introduced?
Comentario [47]: Sure! Since we
were talking about food items at the
time we practised making comparisons,
I thought they could try using other
adjectives to compare food items so
that they can see the structure in use
in a different situation, not only with
healthy/healthier.
Comentario [48]: Great idea!!

My journal
2015
As it was specified in my lesson plan, I followed a pre, while and after reading approach to the text.
Even though I usually apply this strategy with my own Ss, they work with listening texts only.
Therefore it was my first time guiding a reading session.
During the pre- reading (and after they had laughed at me for considering that either a pilot or a
painter could tell us something about nutrition), they shared their experiences visiting a nutritionist.
Uma (remember the girl shouting “Your idea!” in one of my videos) told us that her nutritionist had
taught her and her mom about what and how to eat to gain weight without getting fat. This was
new information for many Ss since they had the preconception of following a nutritionist’s advice
only to lose extra kilos. “If you’re not fat, you don’t need to go to the nutritionist’s” is the
typical way of thinking here in Caleta, a city with a high percentage of fat people.
The while-reading stage involved two steps: first, the Ss’ reading for themselves (“using the mind,
not the mouth”...a perfect definition provided by Constanza from 5th Inmaculada); and after that,
my reading aloud for them, so that they get used to the pronunciation of the new lexical items.
Although Ss were reluctant to repeat “Carbohydrates” at first, then they got familiarised with it and
feel at ease using it during the last stage of the lesson.
The after-reading activity had us checking our comprehension of the text. They did it very well,
answering my questions. It was also during this stage that Ss were exposed to the use of Should.
If you asked me what I liked the most from this series of lessons, I would tell you that it has to do
with the broad spectrum of lexical items employed. Even though we had a set structure to work
with, we use different tenses to interact in the classroom. My oral interventions in class were not
limited to the language they have at hand, but they managed to get my idea. Oh, dear Krashen!!
you are SO RIGHT!!
As the lesson progressed, Ss were exposed to a second text in which they found the topical items
recently learned and according to which they had to provide examples of their own. They enjoyed
completing the paragraphs with the missing information as well as sharing what they had with their
mates, after the groups were made up. I hadn’t specified the procedure for Ss to do this in my
lesson plan, but Ss did it according to their abilities. While some groups decided to take their time
to dictate their piece of information to their mates, others preferred to tell the other members of the
group what they had to write about in their paragraphs.
At the end of the lesson, they welcomed the idea not only of working cooperatively but also of
doing something with their hands. This kept me thinking about learning styles and how kinaesthetic
learners are the first ones we forget about as soon as they start thinking abstractly. Even adults
like to have a little movement from time to time.
Lesson 6- 5th grades. Instituto Marcelo Spínola
Topic: Nutrition - Choose my plate
Yes!! It was my last lesson today! Ss were introduced to the healthy plate from
www.choosemyplate.org and asked to design a healthy meal for a boy/girl their age.

My journal
2015
They had to do this in groups, agreeing on the food items they should include in each of the five
sections of the meal.
As I had imagined, many of them forgot to bring the images. But I was a step further I took the
images myself, heheh!! Once again, these kids amazed me! Those who had brought the
supermarket booklets preferred to cut and paste the blank pictures I had printed for them. Why?
because they could colour them. So sweet!!
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time for sharing and explaining the choices made. That is
why Moni asked me to stay with them one more lesson, so we could close this work together.
I was thinking to have Ss watching a video made by students of Duke School of Nursing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjwuzOCuM24
Maybe the speed of delivery will be a bit fast for them, but the music is well-known ( Lady Gaga!!)
so are the theme of the song and many of the food items mentioned. Nonetheless, there is one
fragment of it that I’m not able to understand, it is at 2:19. That is the only thing that prevents me
from designing another plan to work with this song...Can you give me hand with it??

My journal primary_period_moure_regina

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