Resource centre - Ideas and techniques - Projects
Nadia Zehni shows how projects such as class magazines and surveys can provide a welcome break from the norm for both teacher and students!
Class projects are a great way to put into practice skills that have been learnt
during an English course. The following projects that I'll be sharing with you
have worked really well with teenagers who were on short term courses of a few
weeks. It's a fun break from structured lessons and also gives the teacher a
break for two days!
Class Magazine
To lead up to this activity, ask students to brainstorm types of magazines and
what sections they would find within them. Explain that you will be creating a
class magazine over the next couple of days and ask students to pick two topics
from the board in pairs (fashion, agony aunt, technology, food and drink, news,
editorial etc.) Get the students to appoint an editor who will oversee the
article writing and delegate work to the pairs.
Have several different types of magazines at hand for the students to look at.
Initially, ask them to brainstorm with their partners and get ideas about what
they’d like to write about. When they feel ready, they can attempt a first draft
which the teacher will correct. For the final copy they can cut out pictures
from the magazines available and personalise their pages. The editor will then
be in charge of collating the articles and as a group they can choose a title
for their magazine. Students are often quite proud of their magazines so we pass
them round the different classes. This activity, although very fun and relaxed,
is very beneficial as it requires students to discuss with their partners in
English and write an article.
This type of project can also work with a class newspaper, although the format
and reporting styles would be different. A newspaper often works better with
adult and business students as they can write about a topic relevant to their
interests or careers.
Perfect EFL School Brochure
The following project is quite similar to a class magazine as you will need an
editor and a lot of creative input. To start off with, ask students what they
think of their language school and what can be improved. Then let them decide
what could be improved and what their idea of a perfect language school is.
Collectively they should decide what country their school is in, what it should
be called and what its ethos is. In groups students can then proceed to write up
a school and accommodation description, class schedule, extra curricular
schedule, teacher profiles, interview with the Director of studies, menu etc.
being as detailed as they like depending on the size of the class.
Surveys
Survey projects are always a favourite because it means the students can leave
the class to go out and find their data. There are infinite topics for surveys
and questionnaires so put the class into groups and let them decide what they
would like to survey. Give them some examples such as restaurants,
entertainment, local people, and foreigners' perception of the country.
Ensure that your students have discussed and written out their questions
(usually at least 10) relevant to their survey. Once they have been corrected
send them out for an hour to research their topic or to ask people.
When they are happy with the material they have collected, they can then decide
how to present their information, as graphs, paragraphs, pamphlet or poster. At
the end of the activity, all groups will have to present their findings to the
class and discussions can be started according to the topics.
I always like to keep the best examples of previous students' work in my
classroom to show my new groups. It gives them an idea of what level of work is
expected from them and gives them something to try and improve on. These
projects have worked well as a finale for a departing class or as a breather
when there was just no time to prepare a lesson!
ESL resources
Downloadable activities
Grammar teaching ideas
What do you think of this article? Add a comment »
Great ideas and great
article! Thanks Nadia! This will make a difference for many teachers.
Projects really boost learners' language acquisition and make them more
confident about their learning. They also strengthen team spirit and make
learners more aware of their own interests and talents as well as of the ones of
their classmates.
I have got several ideas of my own. What should I do if I decided to put them in
a similar article?
When you include projects
in class students feel more comfortable and learning a language becomes real and
cooperative learning makes students more motivated.
That's a great idea Nadia!
Your suggestion is highly appreciated, specifically to my English class in
College Reading and Writing at the University of the East-Caloocan campus in
Manila, Philippines.
Project Based Learning has
always been productive. The students will not only learn knowledge but also
develop their skills for learning. I have used Project Based Approach in my
business English classes with Thai University students. The majority of the
students seem to appreciate the lessons as they gradually developed their skills
in communication. Some of them also admitted that the process of learning with
this approach has furnished them with the skills necessary for life long
learning. Some of the students have also improved their interpersonal skills.
There are, however, a minority of students complaining about not enjoying this
way of learning as they are not familiar with it. I believe that these students
are still attaching themselves to traditional way of teaching which is spoon
feeding. I only hope that all of the students in Thailand will understand the
meaning of learner center soon so that project based learning approach can be
employed more efficiently.
I certainly believe it's a
great idea... so let's do it.
I find the web page very
useful. I'd like to share the following project with you.
TRAVELLING: AN IDEAL HOLIDAY
*You are going to make plans for travelling to the place you choose. You can use
the internet to search for the information you are going to include in your
report:
DESTINATION:
MEANS OF TRANSPORT (plane, train, bus, car etc.):
TICKETS PRICE (If you travel by plane include class and airline):
KIND OF HOLIDAY (cheap/luxurious/adventurous/exotic/other):
BEST WAY TO GET AROUND THE CITY/TOWN:
HOTEL (name and price):
SEASON:
WEATHER:
CURRENCY:
TYPICAL SOUVENIRS:
TYPICAL SIGHTS:
*TRIP DESCRIPTION (places and activities):
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8:
Day 9:
Day 10:
(add more days if you want)
Project Based Teaching
appears to be very productive for learning process. The learners will eventually
not only obtain the knowledge and skills, but also learn to implement the skills
to real practice. I have employed the project based teaching to teach my Thai
university students whose English skills were rather poor. They, however, appear
to have gradually improved their communicative skills. The majority of them have
also developed their self-confidence in using the language. I definitely support
this approach and would like to encourage those teachers who have not employed
this approach to try it. You will notice that your students with inhibited
personality will start to let their voice of English out.
Another useful project
which I have used successfully is to ask the students to provide a guide to the
school, teachers, course... to help the next intake of students. This gives
opportunities for students of most levels to produce a worthwhile piece of work
which may be really used as intended
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