Web Based Teaching Resources: A few good finds!

Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future | Joe Ruhl | TEDxLafayette

In this TED Talk, Joe Ruhl states that students are wired for choice. The classroom needs to be based on the 5 C’s: student choice, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity. The teacher needs to be a guide, not a lecturer. Learning and the classroom needs to be about the students. Then he talks about the 6^th C, caring. It motivates and inspires the students. The teacher is the most important part of school and the most important part of a student’s academic life. 

Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners Through Brain-Based Teaching Strategies by Setenay Çelik

Setenay Celik is an English teacher in Turkey. She explains how a teacher must understand how the brain works for a child to remember what he or she has learned. The brain needs to feel enjoyment in the process and make connections. Without it, the neurons in the brain will not react and the lesson will not be remembered.  

The Jigsaw Classroom

The Jigsaw Classroom is a cooperative learning technique that enhances student learning. Break up the students into groups. Then break up the assignment into sections. Each person in the group takes charge of one section of the assignment. Once they understand the material of their section of the assignment, “expert” groups are formed. Tge student assigned section A of the assignment in each group form the “expert” group and so on with section B, C,… The experts discuss that section so that they truly understand it. Next, the expert groups disband, and the students go back to their original groups. Each student then presents his or her part of the assignment to the group. The students learn from each other. The last part is to give a quick quiz to the student to check on their comprehension. 

List Group Label

This Reading Rocket video explains the vocabulary strategy List, Group, Label. This strategy helps students understand words by classifying them. The first step has the students list words based on a theme or a passage. Then the students group the words in any way they wish; they simply need to be able to explain why they grouped them that way. The last step in to label each group of words. The students get a better understanding of the words and remember them. 

Reading Rocket has quite a large number of resources. If you are looking for something, check it out. You might find just what you need. 

Play the Bag Game to Learn the Parts of Speech.

Education.com has a variety of activities, worksheets, lesson plans, and more. It is a wonderful resource for all teachers. Simply click on the grade level and the type of activity you are looking for and soon a long list will pop up.

One activity I found and plan to use in the Bag Game used to learn parts of speech. It is simple and fun. First the teacher takes 8 paper bags and writes a part of speech on the front: noun, verb, adverb, conjunction, pronoun, adjective, preposition, and interjection. Review those parts of speech briefly with the students. Then ask the student to write on cards a variety of words, one word per card. As a class, we look at the words and put them in the appropriate bag. Then the students take out one word from each bag and make a sentence. They receive one point for each word they use correctly. The students are bound to make some creative and possibly funny sentences. They will have a great time while learning parts of speech.