Module 7: Lesson 1 - Teaching aids Flashcards
What are teaching aids?
Tools used by teachers to help learners improve their skill in the classroom.
They assist the teacher in delivering a language point, skill, or technique.
What do teaching aids consist of and why are they important?
Video
Audio
Hands-on tools
- They create a visual and interactive experience for learners.
- When learners are engaged, they learn better because they understand.
- Improves reading comprehension skills, reinforcing concepts, and relieves boredom.
Why are teaching aids important to the class?
They can:
- help engage and motivate.
- enhance the learning process.
- cater to all learning styles.
- take focus away from the teacher.
- be used as a way to consolidate a language topic or vocabulary.
- keep the lesson interesting.
- illustrate a point to low-level learners who become frustrated if they do not understand everything.
- make the classroom more active.
- help support the teacher in their role.
- supplement a coursebook.
Name 6 common teaching aids.
- Flashcards
- Pictures and realia
- Feely bags
- Story time
- The whiteboard
- The overhead projector
How can you use flashcards in the classroom?
You can use:
- Picture cards
- Word cards
- Sound cards
They work extremely well for all learning styles, especially visual learners.
They can be used for kids and adults - keep in mind the amount of cartoons used for adults.
You can use them in-person as well as online.
Describe 3 activities you can create with flashcards.
- Picture flashcards can be used to elicit information from the learners.
- You can use them in games to practice vocabulary (snap or pairs).
- Hide cards in the class and ask learners to find the apple, car, or door.
- Consolidate info at the end of a lesson and use it as a warmer next time.
- Encourage learners to make their own.
- Give students cards and let them create a story from it.
- Use cards for drilling (individual or group activity).
- Match different cards together (sound, word, picture).
- Use them for memory activities.
- Odd one out - categorizing vocab.
Evaluate flashcards.
They are easy to carry around with you.
They have pictures and words on them, which is good for association for the learners.
They work for games and activites, revision, and gap-fillers.
They can introduce or revise a topic, and encourage active recall.
What is realia?
Real-life objects that we use in the classroom to teach vocabulary.
Realia is extremely useful for teaching learners new language.
How can you use realia in the classroom?
The realia must be relevant to the topic of the lesson.
Realia can be used for kids, teenagers, and adults.
Good for tactile and visual learners, but not ideal for online classes.
- Pictures categorized into lexical sets.
- Pictures categorized into themes.
- Postcards.
- Photos - memories from the past.
- Pictures / photos.
- Memory games.
- Using buzzers.
- Using a microphone for speaking turns.
Share 4 types of realia you can use in the classroom.
Dice: you can get numbers, pictures, and questions, you can elicit a lot of information from learners with them.
Fake notes and coins: print money pictures and use as currency for role-plays and grammar auctions.
Cuisenaire rods: wooden sticks representing numbers, also used for pronunciation to stress words or syllables.
Marbles: can be used as reward system, fill the jar and when full the learners choose a game, video, singing, or dancing.
Evaluate realia.
Realia can reinforce language skills and appeals to both visual and kinesthetic learners of all ages.
It is useful in demonstrating the meaning of new words.
Realia can introduce a new theme, and be invaluable if you do not speak the native language of your learners.
It helps the students recall information more easily, and can be more entertaining and dynamic than written words or flashcards.
Explain picture boards.
A small group of pictures which are related to a specific topic.
They are visual clues to something that will be discussed in a lesson, or to elicit information to find out what learners already know.
They can be used to refresh vocabulary and extend vocabulary.
They can be physical photos or online photos.
How can you use picture boards in the classroom?
Pictures relating to a theme (eg. holidays) can be put on a board and each student gets a word - marathon story.
Picture boards can also be used to help with pronunciation, vocabulary, and spelling.
Evaluate picture boards.
They are a good time-filler.
You can create a writing activity from them, or a role play, learners could also construct sentences from them.
How can you use the board in the classroom?
- To record new vocabulary.
- To show word stress in a word.
- To write the phonemic transcription of a new word.
- To share ideas and brainstorm.
- As a lead-in - the teacher can write a keyword on the board and then elicit ideas from the learners.
- Encourage interaction by asking learners to come up to the board and to write something down.
- To monitor behavior in young learners.
- Scoring points in an interactive game.
- Using the board for a board race - a board race is an interactive game where the class is put into groups.
