Countdown to Christmas

With only 11 days to Christmas, it's never too much (or too late) to remind you that books make perfect gifts: for yourself or to offer a relative / friend, there's always a good book to suit every taste and pocket.
I too am worried about budget cuts and the impending (though delightful) costs of Christmas and that's exactly why this year I'm choosing even more books: books are really great gifts any time of the year but now they are superb austerity gifts once they are good value and are not that expensive taking into account the fun they can provide and the fact that we can take advantage of book fairs, book sales, discounts... I believe that the very act of choosing a book shows you care and your affection, don't you agree?
Anyway, even if you are still stuck for inspiration (or lack the time) to choose a fitting book, there's always a bookstore gift certificate - a nice way of saying "you choose".
Sooooooo, why not peeping for some suggestions for some great Christmassy reads to get into the spirit of Christmas, starting tomorrow???

The importance of Reading

Open publication - Free publishing - More l1

Summer Reading

Woman Reading, Jean-Baptiste
Camille Corot

Is there anything better than sitting in the sun and reading a good book???
But how to choose it and spend the last days of our summer holidays engrossed in a great book?
Well, fear not!
Let's help each other find new books based on the ones we already enjoy. Adult, young adult, whatever you like!
Help yourselves at http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/myreadings and share your readings as well.
Is there anything better than sharing? :))))

Students Like You - Part 2

Some months ago I published here about my experience with a superb adult class. From April to July I had another great experience but this time with graduates from Montemor-o-Velho's Town Hall. What was true back in January, is again 100 % valid and with an even larger group. Have a look at some pictures:

This time though there was a challenge that surely boosted the group's commitment and that was a free summer course sponsored by International House Coimbra. Believe me it was a difficult decision to make because all worked hard in class and at home, many always did their homework and extra worksheets and besides all that, all READ at least 1 book! Stella even brought her own (and thick) book in English - no doubt; Raquel, Cátia, Paulo and Catarina read more than one book... the lucky one was Catarina Flórido, who not only read several books but also summarised them. Ah: she didn't miss a single class either!!! So, congrats, Catarina :) and many, many thanks to IH Coimbra for the generous offer.

Hope you can all make good use of what you've just learned and remember: it's never too late to learn or simply refresh your knowledge. Now, an inspirational video / song by EMINEM, one of my favorite rappers. As usual, his lyrics aren't language friendly but, as ddeubel puts it, the chorus ROCKS!!!!

All the best and...don't be afraid! Be daring!

Find more videos like this on EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

13th September - Roald Dahl Day

Image Credit: scholastic.co.uk

Who doesn't know Roald Dahl, one of the world's best selling authors???

Born on the 13th September 1916 in Wales to Norwegian parents, Roald Dahl rose to prominence in the 1940s with his works for both adults and children. Indeed, named after the polar explorer Roald Amundsen (a national hero in Norway at that time), Dahl wrote the world famous

Image Credit: telegraph.co.uk

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (do not miss the film!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Danny the Champion of the World

James and the Giant Peach

Matilda (just don't miss this film either!!!!)

to name some of the many great books he had written by the time of his death on 23rd November 1990 at the age of 74.

If you wish to know more on the world's No.1 Storyteller, try wikipedia, visit the official website (ROALD DAHL / ROALD DAHL BIOGRAPHY) or read this news article; for a listing of his books click here.

On their own (as homework or research) learners can answer a simple quiz on the author (MEET ROALD DAHL with questions / answers / scoring as well as the possibility of filling in personal data and having everything printed in the end).
As for teachers, if you are looking for resources, click here:
(ROALD DAHL and then TIPS FOR TEACHERS). Once there you'll see this:

If you browse a bit, you'll have lesson ideas, resources and activities with PDF files we can download and or print. Furthermore, for those interested in READING, there's a competition going on and nice resources and suggestions are presented here including a chart to register one's progress in the Roald Dahl Reading Relay Diary. Ah... there is a certificate and all in the end!
Here you'll also find nice activities ranging from quizzes, multiple choice exercises, matching or bingo to childish arts and crafts to celebrate this day either at home or at school.
Nice readings!!! Enjoy Roald Dahl ;)

READING MISSION - reading for pleasure

After years buying books for the school library and some teacher training sessions with Verissimo Toste (THANK YOU!), I made up my mind it was time to do something to enhance reading habits among my adult classes and, at the same time, improve their English language proficiency.
As one of my most motivated classes started at 7 p.m., I launched the challenge: why not start reading a few lines / pages to calm down and relax while waiting for latecomers? Well, they accepted my suggestion right away and our deal was that I wouldn't test their readings in any way... I just wanted them to tell me what their story was all about! Not much, I guess...

Classroom Door sign

The following week I took some of my own books and some from the school library - basically Oxford Bookworms, stages 1 and 2, ranging from true stories to fiction, from literature classics to modern, so that they could have plenty of choice. Each student picked up one and I printed a classroom door sign (right)to remind sts of what we were doing and to let others know we didn't wish to be disturbed ;).
This reading mission went on for several weeks with me setting the example and never forgetting my own book; I obviously kept my promise and never asked them a single question (though they can't say the same...) - after all, that's what it was about: reading for pleasure to get an overall understanding of the text and ignoring (?) unknown words.
When the school year was about to finish, only two sts had managed to read their books till the very end. As requested beforehand, I asked for a very short summary/opinion/review of their books. In the meantime, I built a wallwisher so that they could publish what they were going to write. Again, I set the example and wrote two posts on my readings. That still wasn't enough for me though. To reward those two assiduous and punctual sts, I registered and created my first two glogs published here and here which will also be used by our school librarian.
No certificates (as I used to do with my teenager classes) but an environmentally friendly way of publicising what adult learners can also achieve (I did these two posters but we can also ask sts to do them themselves!); this way, there has been a much wider recognition and it surely boosted my adult sts' self-esteem. And how!

Here are a couple of related resources that might interest you.
Besides glogster, another suggestion to promote books is using book trailers / video as described here. A lighter way to find a new book to read is trying this literary web project.

Well, thanks for your time and patience. You know I do appreciate sharing and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Thanks again :)