FINAL CONCLUSSION.

Our lessons have finished and also this subject, which has been very usefull to me to improve my knowledge about the language and also about how to teach very young learners through all the contets that teachers have tought to us. I want to underline that with the contents and activities that teachers have proposed to us we have improved other skills. For example, the digital competence because we have already known how to use some resources but with the last unit we could know some apps and tips about how to use them to prepare and organize activities and resources for our lessons.

The methodology that tachers have used to teach this subject, in my opinion, is very beneficial to us because in any moment we have feel an exceed of work. With this kind of activity (the class diary) we can look some ideas up to prepare future task or activities through the information that we have written here about some contents that we have learnt and the different activities that we have done during the course. Also with the presentation in groups, the participation of the rest of the classmates will benefit all of us because, directly or indirectly, all of us we have "worked" the different topic. It is true, that it is not the same search information about the topic and prepare the activities than only participate in these activities, but I'm sure that all of us could take some knowledge about the different topics. Other advantage that I can find in the presentation in groups task is that thanks to act such as very young learners, people who was a bit shy could overcome a bit this feeling, at least for me.

After finishing this subject I can confirm that start teaching a second language with very youg learners could have a lot of advantages for the students and also for us, the teachers because we have to show our creativity and also we have to innovate in the activities' design using different resources.

I hope that all the contents that teachers have tought to us during the course could help us in our future such as teachers of very young learners, but I'm sure this will happen.

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OCTOBER, 28th.

Today has been the last day of class before starting our practicum. We have finished the presentations in groups. The first group has been talking about routines and we have been practicing some routines which teachers usually do in their lessons.

Then have been our turn. We have done our presentation about festivals. With this topic we can teach the culture of a country or a city while we have a good time practicing different activities. In our case, we have chosen three festivals: Saint Patrick's day, Easter and Bonfire Night and we have planned one activity for each festival.  

First of all, we have chosen a song about the Leprechaun and to do this activity we have tought first the lyrics and then we have introduced the music and the dance. 

For Easter's we have done the search of the Easter's eggs where the student had to help the Easter's Bunny to find his eggs which were hidden around the University. 

And to finish, we have told a story about Bonfire Night to introduce the last activity which consisted in drawing their own bonfire night with special crayons.

What I have learnt today? Today I have learnt some activities that we can use to or not to carry on the routines in our future lessons.

For me, this lesson has been very funny because I was really happy looking how my classmates were enjoying the different activities that we have prepared for them. It is really nice and satisfaying when your work  and dedication are valued by your classmates, teachers, friends, family...

Right there you can see some photos that I have taken while my classmates where doing the last activity and also about some materials we have prepared for the presentation:

This is the link of our presentation.

OCTOBER, 27th

 The presentation in groups today was about exploring the world with stories and storytelling and thinking-based activities. With the first group we have been practicing different activities. First of all they have told a story in which the main character was Botty Bottle. Then we have done other two activities which topic was the recycling. And finally, we have planted chickpeas in a glass which we have decorated with some stickers.

With the other group we have been working thinking-based activities. First of all we have been talking about animals an their habitats. Then, we have done a puzzle and also we have to finish and complete the drawing of an animal where there were some parts missing. To finish, our classmates have prepared a Kahoot which consisted in knowing the animal who was the next (i.e. fish, lion, octopus, fish, lion and ¿?)

What I have learnt today?  Today, I have learnt different activities designs about the two topics that my classmates have worked about. Sometimes we can use materials that we can find around us and occasionally, we can also take advantage of the new technologies to create new activities which are related with the contents that we have to teach during our lessons.

I have enjoyed a lot today's lesson. The different activities that our classmates have proposed were very interesting and also, there were activities which were very usefull to practice with very young learners because they have to use their creativity to complete them and also the different activities were entertaining.

OCTOBER, 25th

 Today we have received a special visit. Inma is a teacher of a school which is called "La Candelaria" and is located in Azucaica. She has been talking about how start the teaching of a second language with very young learners while she was showing videos related with the information she was giving to us. In these videos appeared students showing different skills like: saying and recognising the numbers, doing descriptions...It is incredible that students of 3-4 years old can pronounce and identify what the teacher is saying to them without any problem.

What I have learnt today? Today, I have learnt two phases in the teaching of a second language: the first one is related with the exposition of the language to the students and the other one, with the expression. First of all, the students will use their body to answer the question of the teacher and little by little they will use the verbal communication.

It has been a very interesting class because we have had the opportunity of check through the videos how can we apply the tips and methods of teaching that the teachers have tought to us. I like that teachers use alternatives to show us what they have to teach insted of teaching theoric contents only. I thought that it was impossible that very young learners could speak and understand the language almost better than an adult.

In this picture you can see a present that Inma has given to all the class.

OCTOBER, 21st.

 We have continued with the presentations. Today, we have practiced activities about the following topics:

1.      All about me.

2.  Number, colour and shape. 

Whith the first group we have done three interesting activities like: doing a brief presentation about us and throw a ball of wool to one of our partners and say something about the person yo pass the ball; write our names in a clothespin and then we have had to put it on the feeling we though we had at this moment and finally, we have participated in a gymkana around the university. 

Then, with the second group, we have done funny activities also. To start, we have done a review of the shapes, colours and numbers; then we have done different shapes with plasticine of different colours and to finish we have done a pizza with plasticine, using different shapes and colours to prepare the ingredients. (You can see a photo of it at the end of this writing)

What I have learnt today? First of all I have learnt more about my partners, because we are together since the first year of this degree but maybe we don't know something about some of us. Also, I have learnt some tips to teach number, colour and shapes to very young learners.

Today's class has been very funny. We have spent a good time doing the different activities. The activity that I liked the most was the gymkana, we have worked well in little groups to find the different clues to find the partner these clues talked about. But in general, I think that all my partners have worked a lot to give the best of them in their presentation and proposals.

OCTOBER, 20th

Today, one of the groups has done its presentation about the other work in groups. They have talked about the creative classroom. First, they have explained some characteristics about the topic of their presentation and then, they have proposed some activities in which our participation was necessary. First they have told a story which included some characters (like ghosts, a whitch, monsters...); then we have donde a craft with pencils, thread and an elastic band. Also, we have had to invent a story with different characters they have given to us and then we have had to record those stories with Stop Motion. To finish, we have read again the story doing gestures and mime.

What I have learnt today? First of all, I have learnt some characteristics of a creative classroom. Also, thanks to the activities that the partners have done, I have learnt how to tell a story to very young learners, using gestures and mime.

It has been an interesting class where we have spent a good time doing the differents activities. We have laughted a lot while we were doing the stories with stop motion. In my opinion, this group has done an excellent work, searching information, planning the different activities and preparing the different materials and resources.

OCTOBER, 19th

Today we have continued with the presentations. Also, people have wroked a lot and their proyects were very originals. Our presentation was about the audiolingual method and in it we have included a little presentation of the method and some of its advantages (i.e. the vocabulary is richer thanks to the visual aids, correct pronunciations are learnt easily by the students, grammatical structures are gradually presentated…) and disadvantages (i.e it’s a mechanical method, the vocabulary which students learnt is quite limited, the students act as passive learners…) and we have planned three activities. But if you prefer see our work, you can do it following the next link.: AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD

Some activities we have done today were: dancing songs, we have been looking for a treasure, we have seen some pictures to learnt their name, and also we have been practicing a dialogue which could occurs in a real situation. The methods which we have been talking about today were the Audio-Lingual and the TPR methods. It has been a coincidence.

What I have learnt today? Today, I have learnt new options of activities  we can practice in a class with very young learners following differents methods. It is not necessary use only one of these methods, we can combined them.

As I said yesterday, with this kind of works we put in practice these theoric contents that we have learnt before and it helps us to understand better the theory and check what kind of activities we can organize, if the activities are well planned, some advantages or disadvantages of work with each method…it is a good way to start practicing our future work.