teaching – Hello from Kosovo

Three Classroom Activities You Can Do Using Only Index Cards and Crayons

As the title of this post states, here are three classroom activities you can do using only index cards and crayons.

First up is Jeopardy! What I love about this is that it is endlessly adaptable to all different subjects and grade levels. You can swap out categories or add to them to re-use the game while keeping it fresh. (Also, my students LOVE it!)

classroom jeapordy 1

For younger kids, I’ve focused on simple topics like colors, animals, and shapes. For older kids, I’ve used topics like actions, professions, past tense, telling time, and U.S. trivia. (I’m always interested to see if students know who America’s first president was or when our Independence day is.)

classroom jeapordy 2

The only difficulty with this game is that the cards are small, so I end up circling the classroom for all the students to see the clues. This problem would be eliminated if I had an overhead projector (but I don’t).

To play Jeopardy in the classroom, I divide students into groups and then tape the cards to the chalkboard. The groups go back and forth, choosing clues until they are all gone. Then, we tally the points to see who won.

Jeopardy classroom game — Rhyme, Missing Letter, Food and Places make good topics, too!

Next up is this easy-to-make ABC challenge. I cut index cards in half and wrote out sets of the alphabet in different colors. Students formed groups and had to put the letters in order.

ABC classroom activity

For a further challenge, my teaching counterpart asked the students to see how many words they could make. Our students were clever enough to build on the words, crossword-puzzle style. (I wish I’d gotten a picture, but my phone died.)

Finally, here is an idea for a numbers challenge. Use index cards to write out the numbers 1-10. Divide students into different groups. Give one number to each student. Then, time each group to see who can line up in numerical order the fastest. (I let them do a practice run and then I time them.) 🙂

Here are some other activities, materials, and lesson plans I have used in my classroom:

Classroom Activity: Circle of Friendship Hands

This is an easy classroom activity I found on Pinterest (where else?). Students trace, color, and cut out their hands, and then write their name and an adjective that describes what makes them a good friend.

friendship circle of hands

Then, you gather all the hands and tape a “friendship circle” to a wall or door in the classroom.

Friendship circle of hands classroom activity

Here are some other activities, materials, and lesson plans I have used in my classroom:

Gobble Gobble (Thanksgiving Classroom Activity)

Last year, I bought a bunch of Popsicle sticks, thinking I would use them in my classroom. Then I had zero ideas for what to do. Recently, I was googling Thanksgiving classroom activities, and I came across this Pictionary-type game. Students choose a stick and have to draw the word on it while their teammates guess what it is. Yes! Finally, a way to use all those Popsicle sticks!

thanksgiving game classroom

I’ll also be playing Thanksgiving Bingo with my students and asking them to complete a “thankfulness” turkey worksheet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some other activities, materials, and lesson plans I have used in my classroom:

The Easiest Secondary Project Ever

Today Kosovo goes back to school! Since this is the newest cohort’s first day teaching in Kosovo, I thought I would write about a very easy secondary project I have undertaken at my school. (My aunt called me out — she said she knows I am struggling for blog ideas when I post about teaching. Haha. That’s partly true.)

Anyway … another English teacher at my school approached me and asked if I would compile a binder of different games and activities that we could all use. (There are three English teachers at my school + me.) It was such a brilliant and simple idea, I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of it myself.

activities book

I bought a binder and some plastic sheets for under 5 Euro total. I bought them at the bookstore in Peja, but they’re probably widely available.

Whenever I bring in a worksheet or a game for my class, I make sure to bring an extra copy to throw in the book. We keep it on a shelf in the teacher’s lounge, so that everyone has access to it.

informational sheet — Informational sheet (found on Pinterest)

wordfind — Wordfinds for different sets of vocabulary

coloring page — Coloring pages for younger students

fake money — Teaching materials (yay for fake, Dollar Store money)

madlibs — Copied from workbooks my mom sends me from the U.S.

party worksheet — Worksheet I “created” by combining two similar workbook activities

What I like about this book is that other teachers can contribute to it, and it is sustainable. My school can continue to add to and use it after I am gone.

Also, I was at one of my schools last week and snapped some pictures, so you can see the inside. 🙂

teachers lounge kosovo — Teachers’ Lounge

Happy First Day of School, everyone! 🙂

The Last Few Weeks Before Summer Vacation

I fully expected that the last few weeks of school would drag by. I thought I’d be eager for the school year to be over, so I could visit home and then enjoy my summer vacation. But surprisingly, the last few weeks went by quickly.

Above: One of my fourth graders wrote me a sweet letter, and drew some pictures for me.

It is a tradition in Kosovo for the 9th grade to have a prom. I’ll admit, I didn’t want to attend (I don’t even teach the 9th grade). In my experience, celebrations in Kosovo can go one of two ways: they’re either fun, or they drag on forever. I tried to get out of going to prom by saying I didn’t have any money (because everyone had to pay their own way). Well, then my host father insisted on paying for me. So I kind of had to go.

The prom turned out to be pretty fun. My experience was in no way the night-long marathon my friend Chester experienced and wrote about here.

FullSizeRender (19) — My counterpart, another teacher, and me

circle dancing — Circle dancing (of course!)

The only “bad” thing that happened is that I was unexpectedly pulled in front of a microphone and asked to give a speech. Not only do I hate being put on the spot (who doesn’t?), I also don’t possess the language skills to spout off an impromptu speech in Shqip (Albanian). I managed to say, “Urime!” (congratulations), and then I ran away.

And last, my host family threw me a little birthday party before I left for the States. (I spent my actual birthday at home.) My host mother made all of my favorite foods: mish pule me patate (literally translated: meat chicken with potatoes), sallat shope (a salad with cucumber, tomatoes, and cheese), homemade cheese, and (not pictured), petulla (pronounced “pate-la”), which is fried bread with sugar on top. They also got me a chocolate cake.

chocolate cake

My host family invited my two site mates (Peace Corps speak for “other volunteers who live near you”) for dinner. Rachel brought Hello Kitty party hats.

happy birthday to me — Happy Birthday to me

Lesson Plan: Teaching Adjectives

I recently created this lesson plan to teach adjectives to my English Club (about 15 students, ranging from grades 6-9). It required very little in the way of materials, and my students enjoyed it, so I thought I would share it.

(You can download this lesson plan here: Lesson Plan Teaching Adjectives)

The Lesson

Begin with a reminder/explanation of what adjectives are. Write an example on the board.
Adjective Race: Give students a minute or two, and have them write all the adjectives they can think of on a piece of paper. Ask students to read from their lists, and write their words on the board.
Expanding Sentences: Write simple sentences on the board. Have students copy the sentences into their notebooks, and “expand” them by adding adjectives.
Example: The lamp is on the table. –> The metal lamp is on the small table.
Have students read their sentences aloud.
Explain Adjective Order: When using more than one adjective, list adjectives in the following order:
1. Opinion
2. Size
3. Age
4. Shape
5. Color
6. Origin
7. Material
8. (Noun)
Activity: Create a list of adjectives and write each word on a set of index cards. (I made two sets of cards in anticipation of dividing my students into two groups. Make as many sets of cards as you think you’ll need.) Divide students into groups. Each group will receive an identical packet of cards and will race to put them in the correct adjective order. (You can do this several times, with several different sets of adjectives. Here is one of the sets I used):
1. Beautiful
2. Big
3. Square
4. Old
5. Blue
6. Turkish
7. Metal
8. Lamp (noun)
Final Activity: Have students draw a card from a stack of cards with an adjective written on each one. Instruct them to find something in the classroom or school that the adjective could be used to describe.

The only materials I used for this entire lesson plan were index cards, a pen, a blackboard, and chalk.

Here are some other activities, materials, and lesson plans I have used in my classroom:

Teaching Activity: Telling Time

The other week, my counterpart asked me to think of ideas for ways to teach telling time. I did a Google search and found this fun activity using paper watches.

classroom activity telling time

Materials Needed:

Markers and paper
A copier (if you don’t have access to a copier, you could have students draw their own watches)
Tape

Draw a watch (without a time) on a piece of paper and copy it.
Give a watch to each student.
Have students cut out their watch and draw a minute and hour hand for whatever time they choose.
Tape the watch to the students’ wrists.
Have the students take their notebook and walk around the room, asking their classmates, “What time is it?” In their notebook, they should record each person’s name and what time he/she says it is.
(Optional) Ask for student volunteers to read their list of names and times aloud.

classroom game activity paper watches telling time — My counterpart took this photo.

Our students had a blast with this activity! It was easy to prep and a lot of fun. 🙂

You can see my other classroom ideas here:

A Quick and Belated Post About Easter

I’ve mentioned before that I live in a minority, Catholic community in Kosovo (the majority of Kosovars are Muslim). I was interested to learn two things regarding Easter in Kosovo:

They dye eggs here. (I was gifted pretty eggs by students and teachers alike.)
They do not have the Easter Bunny. Most of my students had never heard of him (her?). When they asked me if he is real, I said he is as real as Santa Claus. 🙂

Processed with MOLDIV

Another fun fact: Dyed eggs may or may not be hard boiled. I found this out the hard way as I was hiding eggs for my 3rd graders. I dropped one and it splattered on the floor. Oops.

Teaching: 15 Objects

The following is a simple exercise I created for my classes. I have named it “15 Objects” because it uses … 15 objects.

My teaching counterpart really liked this exercise. (I’m always proud when I come up with an idea she especially likes.) What I like about it is that it incorporates kinesthetic learning into the classroom, something I struggle to do. As a primarily visual learner myself, I tend to favor visual exercises.

I also like this exercise because it was easy to create, and free! I just used 15 things I found around the house and yard.

15-objects-classroom-game-kinesthetic-learning

You could use anything for this exercise. I used:

A piece of yarn
A tissue
A bottle cap
A post-it note
A candy wrapper
A Popsicle stick
A paper clip
A leaf
A stick
A rock
A plastic toothpick
A cotton ball
A craft googly eye
A button
A coin

I asked students to come up to the room 5 at a time and take one object from the bag I was holding. Then I asked the student to describe the object. Students answered questions like, What color is it? What shape is it? Is it big or small? Hard or soft? Thick or thin?

The kids had fun. 🙂

TEFL/ESL Activities Using Little or No Resources, V3

I typed the following into a PDF that you can download here: tefl-esl-activities-using-little-to-no-resources-v3

First/Last
Have students write instructions on how to do something, using “first, then, later, next, last …” etc. Examples: How to tie your shoe, how to bake a cake

Introductions
Pass around a roll of toilet paper. Tell students to take as many squares as they want, without telling them why. Once all students have at least one piece, go around the room and have each student tell something about themselves (one fact per each square).

Just a Minute
Write a list of topics, spread across the blackboard. Have students take turns throwing a paper ball at the board. Have them talk for 30 seconds – 1 minute on whatever topic they choose.

Simon Says
Classic. Either the teacher or a student leads, saying “Simon says …” followed by a command (example: touch your head). Students are “out” if they perform a task that wasn’t precluded by “Simon says.”

Take Off/Touchdown
Either the teacher or a student can lead this. Begin with students seated. Give a statement and have students stand if that statement applies to them. Example: “Stand up if you have a sister.” Have students sit back down between each statement.

Number Jump
Write the words and numbers for 1-10 separately on pieces of 8×10 paper. Also include a piece of paper with “start” written on it. Line the papers upon the floor. Have a “jumping contest” to see which student can jump to the highest number. Have students repeat the number each classmate jumps to.

number-jump-tefl-esl-gross-motor-classroom-activity-kids — Number Jump

Rainstorm
(Note: This doesn’t use language, but is a good way to “warm up” the classroom, so I am including it here.)
Have students stand up.
Silently, have them follow along to create a “rainstorm,” using the following actions.
(To begin: Getting louder)
-Rub hands together
-Snap fingers
-Clap hands
-Slap thighs
-Stomp feet
(Now, getting softer)
-Slap thighs
-Clap hands
-Snap fingers
-Rub hands together

You can see TEFL/ESL Activities Using Little to No Resources version 1 and version 2 by clicking on the links.