Designing course's material is fundamental for teachers because materials not only help students throughout the course it also help teachers make their job easier. Hence, preparing, making, and evaluating material is a valuable course that all teachers should take in very much consideration. Students will thank teachers, whose materials are attractive, dynamic, and most of all that help them learn with ease. In this project we will see how you prepare yourself for designing a material.
Context
Institution: Xochicalco
Students' characteristics:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->§ <!--[endif]-->Level: beginners
<!--[if !supportLists]-->§ <!--[endif]-->Classroom size: 5 students
<!--[if !supportLists]-->§ <!--[endif]-->Age range: 5-7 years old
Necessities
Students in this group do not use a coursebook, therefore the need of material of all shorts is needed. Such as printouts, worksheets, coloring sheets, and so on. Since the beginning of the course I notices how students got bored really fast when finishing an activity. That's when I realized how they love games, but I wanted the game to have some language content, not just a game for the sake of having fun, but a game that would help learners practice and motivate them to learn some English.
According to Shelagh Rixon (1981: p.3) in the book How to use Games in Language Teaching a game is the act of playing with rules. In language classes this can be very helpful since students can play using the target language with some purpose. In order to accomplish these game purposes says Rixon student's need to entirely manage the languages skills needed in the game. We should take into account the amount of luck that will rule the game. So we as teacher don't want to depend on luck, but on student's knowledge and skills. The game should have a clear beginning and a clear end, this means that student's must understand where and how they begin the game, and when and how to win it. The type of competition is also important; it should be also very clear whether it's a team's game, individual competition game, or a cooperative game. Rixon recommends all kinds of games, he believes that all game can be adjusted to a language classroom I just chose the game that was more suitable for just 5 students and that had simple rules, and this is a board game.
Name of the material: Maraton Board Game
Type of material: Game
Objective of the material: To allow students to practice and reinforce vocabulary already seen in class, such as numbers, classroom commands and some body parts that they find hard to remember such as eyes and mouth.
Material Description: The material consists in a printed tabloid that has been protected with contact paper. A four sides die and 1-20 cards. A token for each player (they will create them)
Instructions: All players should put their tokens at the start point. Each player will throw the die, the player with the higher number will start the game and it will flow to the right. Each player should move its token forward the number of places the die commands to. The player then should do what that slide says or if it's an image he/she should pick up a card and call out the number. If the player is right, he/she can leave its token there if not he/she must move its token backwards the number of places he/she moved before.
Checklist of Evaluation Criteria
What aspects of the language system are taught? To what extend is the material based upon or organized around the teaching of:
Patterns of communicative interaction
Which aspects of language form are taught?
Vocabulary
What kind of English is taught?
American Spoken English
What language skills are taught?
Receptive spoken language
Does the material follow a structural syllabus or a functional syllabus?
Functional syllabus
Is the selection and sequence of the language to be taught base on?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a) <!--[endif]-->And attempt to identify probable student need
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b) <!--[endif]-->The internal structure of the language
Is the grading of the language content:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a) <!--[endif]-->Steep
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b) <!--[endif]-->Average
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c) <!--[endif]-->Shallow?
Is the progression:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a) <!--[endif]-->Linear
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b) <!--[endif]-->Cyclical?
Is there adequate recycling of:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a) <!--[endif]-->Grammar items
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b) <!--[endif]-->Lexis?
Does the material have an attractive appearance?
Yes is has pictures of the student's interest and it is very colorful.
Conclusions and overall evaluation
1 Briefly state the objectives of the material.
Help students to build up their classroom vocabulary and help them remember numbers and not so easy body parts that they keep forgetting.
2 To what extend is it successful in achieving these objectives?
It will only be successful if the students find the game fun and interesting, if they do so it is quite likely that students will recognize commands and learn the body parts and numbers.
3 Note particular strengths.
It motivates students to learn
It motivates students to study language units
It creates a good group dynamics
4 Note particular weaknesses.
It is a short game that can only be played with small groups
It is limited to particular student's needs, so it might night apply to all groups
It may be too competitive
All players must have the same amount of knowledge in order to have fun and learn at the same time.
5 Are there any notable omissions?
It does not have the body parts that the students already manage well.
6 For what type of learning situations is the material suitable?
For TPR classes, communicative classes, and small classes.
7 For what type of learning situations is the material unsuitable?
For grammar based classrooms, tasks based classrooms or large classrooms.
9 General conclusion
This material has been designed to be particular; nonetheless it can be modified to fit all kinds of needs and students.
What were the results when the students and/or you used the material?
The students clearly found this game motivating, they wanted to know; they wanted to have time to study the number to get them right, they wanted to play over and over, they laughed, they had really good time learning. It was impressive how much they learned or memorized in such a short time, they were able to assess themselves, and notice that they needed to study the numbers.
Reflection
I really learned how to evaluate students' needs and teachers' needs to create their own teaching aids, also known as teaching materials. I think that creating your own material is very useful, since you start gathering your material portfolio for further years.
Post Comments