miércoles, 28 de marzo de 2018

El Dragón Lector

Buenos días a todos: 

Perdón por el parón y por el continuo cambio de idioma en mi blog. Pero, como ya os comenté, estoy en mi último año de carrera  y, tras terminar mi último curso en inglés, me encuetro de prácticas y con el TFG. En resumen, que no tengo mucho tiempo para poder escribir.

Sin embargo, ayer hice una visita a una de las librerías más populares y de referencia para cualquier maestro de Educación Infantil, y he querido compartir lo que allí aprendí con vosotros. Se trata de El Dragón Lector. 

Yo concretamente fui a la que se encuentra en la Calle Sagunto 20 (Madrdid) puesto que cuenta también con un taller de lectura, lo que se ajustaba más a lo que yo buscaba para mi TFG, pero también existe otra situada en la Calle de Fernández de la Hoz 72, Madrid.

Se trata de librerías Infantiles especialistas en literatura infantil y juvenil, también en lengua inglesa, que buscan promover la lectura entre niños y jóvenes. Para lograrlo, además de su amplia y exquisita seleccion de fondos para todas las edades y gustos, realizan diferentes talleres y actividades que ayudan a lograrlo (cuentacuentos, juegos, canciones, poesías...) 

Por otra parte, lo que a mí me llamó la atención es la organización y ambientación de esta librería. Se trata de un espacio perfectamente organizado (por edades, temas, idiomas) en el que cualquier adulto es capaz de encontrar lo que esta buscando sin apenas ayuda. A su vez, los niños disponen de taburetes para coger libros y mesas para poder disfrutar un rato de ellos. Con esto, lo que se logra es crear este ambiente cálido, mágico y agradable en el que los niños pueden tocar los libros y aprender a disfrutarlos y a quererlos. La única norma es: no ponerlos en el suelo. 

Os dejo algunas fotos de El Dragón Lector de la Calle Sagunto para que os podáis hacer una idea de lo que estoy hablando.






¿Impresionante verdad? Una inmensa variedad de fondos editoriales seleccionados. 

Pues bien, yo  acudí precisamente por esto. Buscaba consejo para seleccionar fondos para la creación de mi biblioteca de aula infantil para el TFG, concretamente para niños de 3-4 años. Cada vez que preguntaba a alguno de mis profesores me enviaban a esta libreria por lo que, aprovechando el puente, fui para ver si era cierto lo que me contaban y ver si podían ayudarme. Allí acudí con una lista de tres páginas de fondos que previamente yo había seleccionado a base de buscar y ver vídeocuentos. 

Nada más entrar, la librera me dió las buenas tardes y muy amablemente me preguntó si necesitaba ayuda. La verdad que de primeras intenté buscar por mí misma, pero era tal la variedad de libros que mis ojos terminaron yéndose a aquellos que yo previamente había seleccionado y me habían gustado. Como me di cuenta de que esto no era nada objetivo, decidí contarle a la librera mi "problema" para que me guiase y me recomendase los que ella mjisma escogería. Lo que sí que le pedí es que tratasen de temas diversos entre sí.

Ya me habían advertido de lo cercanas y amables que eran, pero no me había imaginado que tanto. Nada mas decirle lo que buscaba me ofreció una lista de fondos de infantil que ella misma había elaborado para colegios. Pero no se limitó a eso. Comenzó a mostrarme, recomendarme y hasta contarme cuentos con que, bajo su punto de vista y experiencia, eran los mejores para lo que yo estaba buscando. 

Tras casi una hora en esta librería, salí  muy feliz con mi lista de fondos ampliada y mejorada. Estos son los libros que ella me recomendó para las edades que yo estaba buscando. Me parece interesante compartirlos con vosotros puesto que son libros que, a diferencia de otros como pueden ser El Monstruo de colores o A qué sabe la Luna, que los padres conocen y compran a sus hijos para tenerlos en casa, estos son menos conocidos y abarcan temas imprescindibles para infantil. Por esta razón es tan importante contar con ellos en mi biblioteca de aula. 

Resultado de imagen de monstruo rosa
  • Monstruo Rosa: 

Monstruo rosa es distinto a los demás, viven en un mundo en el que todo es de color blanco y negro y en el que todos se parecen entre sí, pero nadie se parece a él, él es diferente a todos. Lejos de entristecerse, monstruo rosa siempre tiene una sonrisa en la cara y lejos de resignarse a vivir en un mundo al cual siente que no pertenece, decide emprender un viaje en busca de la felicidad. 
Descubre un sitio donde no todo es del mismo color sino que existe el arcoiris y conviven seres muy diferentes entre sí, muy felices y en buena sintonía. 


Resultado de imagen de el gato mateo va de paseo reseña
  • El gato Mateo va de Paseo: 
Descubre las distintas emociones y sentimientos que provoca el gato Mateo cuando va de paseo «El gato Mateo se limpia los bigotes, las orejas, las patitas… y sale de paseo. ¡Por ahí viene! ¡Tilín, tilín! ¿Oyes su campanita?». 
Se trata de la historia de un gato que, al salir a pasear, nos lleva a reflexionar sobre las distintas percepciones que tienen diferentes animales sobre Mateo. El perro le ve como algo birrioso, la mofeta en blanco y negro, la pulga como una bola de pelo... Cada uno tiene un punto de vista que se ve perfectamente reflejado en las cálidas y sencillas ilustraciones.
Imagen relacionada
  • Por cuatro esquinitas de nada
Cuadradito quiere jugar en casa de sus amigos Redonditos, pero no pasa por la puerta porque… ¡La puerta es redonda como sus amigos! «¡Tendremos que recortarte las esquinas!», le dicen los redonditos. «¡Oh, no! –dice Cuadradito– ¡Me dolería mucho!» ¿Qué podemos hacer? Cuadradito es diferente. Nunca será redondo. 
Imagen relacionada
  • Pequeño azul y pequeño amarillo 
Pequeño Azul y Pequeño Amarillo son dos circulos muy amigos. Un día la mamá de pequeño azul tiene que salir de casa y le dice a su hijo que se quede esperando, sin salir. Pero Pequeño Azul sale  a buscar a Pequeño Amarillo. Les hace tanta ilusión el encuentro que, al darse un fuerte abraz, se TRANSFORMAN.
Resultado de imagen de una casa a la medida
  •  Una casa a la medida
 El ratoncito ha encontrado una gran manzana, pero no consigue meterla en su casa diminuta… Sale en busca de una nueva casa, pero todas están ocupadas y sus habitantes no parecen muy dispuestos a compartirlas. ¿Encontrará una casa a la medida para él y su gran manzana?
Resultado de imagen de felipe tiene gripe
  •  Felipe tiene gripe
Felipe tiene gripe y no para de estornudar, pero no quiere la medicina que le puede curar. La abuela insiste con cariño, pero no hay manera de convencer al niño. Los remedios de sus amigos son de lo más loco y eso tampoco parece curarle ni un poco. Pobre Felipe ¡atchús! que no se le quita la gripe ¡atchús!

  •  Grisela
Grisela es una pequeña ratona que se siente tan triste como el gris de su piel. Para remediarlo, decide pintarse de un color alegre, esperando que con ello cambie su estado de ánimo. Prueba con diferentes colores pero siempre consigie el mismo resultado: otros animales se ríen al verla. Esta tán triste que decide  pintarse flores por todo el cuerpo, pero un enjambre de abejas la persigue y le obliga a zambullirse en el agua para esquivarlas. Cuando sale, vuelve a ser gris. Sin embargo, un último encuentro le hará dejar de lado su tristeza para siempre.
Imagen relacionada
  • Un bicho extraño 
Al empezar la historia pidemos ver algo parecido a un huevo: gordo por arriba y por abajo flaco. Pero, conforme leemos sus páginas, en un sentido diferente al habitual, nos damos cuenta de que ese huevo es en realidad algo muy diferente... ¿Queréis una pista ? Tiene orejas, un bigote con seis pelos y un rabo largo y delgado.
Imagen relacionada
  • Corre corre calabaza
Corre corre, calabaza cuenta la historia de una viejecita que, de camino a la boda de su nieta, encuentra a un lobo, un oso y a un león que quieren comérsela. Ella convence a los animales para que la esperen a su regreso del convite y, después de la celebración, la nieta y la viejecita traman un plan muy original para burlar a las tres fieras.  
Imagen relacionada
  • Pete el gato
Pete se compra unos zapatos blancos que le encantan, pero a medida que pasea tropieza con dificultades que van tiñendo de uno y de otro color sus zapatos blancos. ¿Llora Pete? ¡No! Afronta los cambios y sigue cantando su canción (en inglés).
Imagen relacionada

  • Vamos a cazar un oso 
Un padre y sus hijos salen a cazar un oso. Para conseguirlo tendrán que superar muchos obstáculos. ¡Ninguno tiene miedo! Hasta que se asoman a una cueva estrecha y tenebrosa. Ahora, “¿quién le tiene miedo al oso?”
Se trata de una aventura narrada bajo un esquema repetitivo, con un juego sonoro de onomatopeyas y preguntas desafiantes que contribuyen a involucrar al lector en la aventura de la familia. 

Resultado de imagen de cocorico
  • Cocorico
Cocorico es un pollito que vive feliz con su madre. Un día, Mamá Gallina va a hacer un bizcocho y el pollito, para ayudar a prepararlo, sale a buscar leña. Cuando está en plena faena, aparece un gato enorme y malvado que se lo quiere comer; pero Cocorico consigue salvar la vida prometiéndole la mitad del bizcocho. Pasado el peligro, el glotón de Cocorico olvida el trato. 

Resultado de imagen de vaya rabieta
  •  Vaya rabieta 
Roberto no ha tenido un buen día y está de mal humor. Su papá le ha castigado en su habitación. Entonces Roberto siente una Cosa terrible que le sale de dentro y que empieza a romperlo todo. ¡Si no la para a tiempo...!

Cover Image

  • El astronauta 
Sentía fascinación por las estrellas desde que tuvo uso de razón. Su pasión le hará emprender un viaje increíble lleno de sorpresas y descubrimientos, también sobre sí mismo. Esta obra con pictogramas, está destinado a niños con necesidades educativas especiales, principalmente a jóvenes con Trastorno del Espectro Autista.


Espero que os hayan gustado y que haya ampliado vuestro propio fondo. Aún así, si alguno de vosotros está pensando en comprar libros infantiles, no lo dudeís, id a una de estas librerías con vuestros hijos y dejad que disfruten, que toquen y que, con ayuda de las simpaticas y cercanas libreras, salgáis con el mejor libro para vosotros. 

¡Hasta pronto!

sábado, 13 de enero de 2018

Carol Read: The SECRET of working with children

Hi everyone!


Today I am going to do a short summary and a brief reflection on a very interesting video, published on the on the British Council’s site, called: The Secret of working with children. It is a recording of Carol Read's talk at the British Council in Warsaw

Her talk covers a range of primary issues and she give us a number of invaluable tips about teaching primary students. Here I leave the link to the video for those who want to watch it. Although it lasts an hour, I sincerely advise you to watch it because it is very useful and interesting.


In the first part of the video, during the first half hour, Carol Read talks about different types of activities that we can use with our students. In turn, she shows how each of them are carried out. They are very varied activities with songs, flashcards, TPR activities, to draw...  She talks about activities that integrate real content, what children already know, so that language and contents are in harmony. 
She also talks about how important it is for teachers to plan our lessons well. In other words, she says we should not use random activities. We have to choose carefully the sequence, taking into account the characteristics of the children. For that reason, she explains the four phases of the Accelerated Learning Cycle:


                                 


In the second half hour, Carol shows us what is the secret of working with children. To do this, she uses the letters of the word "SECRET".
  • Sensory acuity: We have to use all the multisensorial information we get from the people who are with us, our students, (gestures, voice, eyes, movements...). So, we have to be aware and decipher what the signals mean. 
  • Emotion: Here she refers to emotional intelligences. It means, it's the perception point, the way that we look at the world. She says that there are three positions or perception points, which are: Self-position (I), other people points of view (empathy) and distant position (observe). And she explains that to be good teachers it's best to adopt the third option. 
  • Communication: On the one hand, Carol talks about how important is the body language and the influence that our gestures and our gazes have on the receivers. This is because the message is coming through our body language. She also explains that we have to talk slowly and give children time to respond.
    On the other hand, she says that we have to take into account how bad negative and positive rewards are. The important thing is to explain to children why it is good or bad and not just say "good " or "bad ". We must give them reasons, give them imput and show them what we value.
  • Rapport / Relationship: It is very important that we have a good relationship with our students, but not as friends. In addition, we must do group rapport because we have many children to do it individually. We have to breathe, put ourselves in the third perceptive position (distant position) and act.
  • Evaluation: This refers to our own evaluation as teachers, not only to the evaluation of our students. This reflection cycle must be carried out constantly. We can always get better.
  • Tactical talk: It is very important to offer them the opportunity to choose whenever we can. We have to give them options and let them decide for themselves. For example, ask them if they want to draw or play. Things like that.

To finish her talk, Carol Read makes a brief summary of the most important of the session and ends by saying the following sentence:
THE SECRET LIES IN YOU!
I have to admit that although I was lazy to see this video because it was very long, I loved it. I think the second half of the talk is indispensable for any teacher. Although it is focused on primary, everything it says in the second half hour, the key to the secret of working with children, is good for any teacher. For this reason, I recommend you watch it. I think I have learned a lot thanks to this conference. I'm very grateful.  



miércoles, 10 de enero de 2018

Comment on one article: Kids and stories

A few weeks ago, I posted a post about storytelling activities, in which I explained different activities to do before, while and after a story.  As this year I have been working on the subject of narration this topic, stories, I wanted to improve my knowledge by choosing this article: Kids and stories. It is an article that I found on the British Council’s site for young learners. It is about different types of resources to work on reading (that are quite similar to the listening activities).

For those who are interested in the article, here I leave the link so you can read it. You can also find links with stories and activities that are very useful for young learners. www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/kids-stories

I will not explain all of them because I think they are very well explained in the article. However, I am going to talk about which ones I find more suitable to use in Infant Education and I am going to make a brief reflection on them.


 Activities to prepare children for reading
This kind of activities are done before reading (or storytelling in case of very young children) in order to familiarize students with the text they are about to read. I believe the four activities that are proposed are suitable for carrying out them with young learners.

  • Using illustrations: It is always a good idea to help the child understand and visualise the story. We can use flashcards, pictures, photos or even drawings to help improve reading comprehension.
  • Pre-teaching vocabulary: As teachers, we can teach first some thematic vocabulary. We can pick up a few key words from the text and explain them or maybe do different activities to practise and familiarise students with the new vocabulary. 
  • Introduce the theme: We can also introduce the topic of the book doing different activities. However, I think that this activity can be included in the last activity, in pre-teaching vocabulary.  
  • Input cultural background:  I think this is very interesting. But, more than an activity, I think this is essential when you learn a new language.


 Activities during reading
These are the activities that children will have to do during the reading.


  • Use a variety of ways to read: Reading or listening to a story is an activity in itself.  For that reason, in the classroom it is important to vary the kind of reading. Nowadays infant education teachers have a lot of resources that we can use to read a story for the whole class. Some stories can be read as texts with illustrations. Other ones can be read to imagine. We can also use a projector, a CD... It is essential that, as teachers, we know how to narrate and tell stories, keep the class motivated, stop at convenient pints to make questions, read with different voices, … 
  • Total physical response: From my point of view, TPR is the best way to work with our students, with very young learners. In this activity the story can be mimed while the teacher reads and the children listen.


Post-reading activities:
These are activities that we will do once we have read the story. They provide students a way to summarize, reflect, and question what they have just read.


  • Quick comprehension check: As the article says, “It is always a good idea to do a quick comprehension check when your learners have finished reading the story. This may take the form of a few ‘gist' questions about the text in oral or written form, or asking children for a response.” I totally agree with this since I think it is important to see if the children have understood the story.
  • Make a poster/illustrate the story: It is a good activity in which the child is creative, expresses himself and shows us what he has learned. It's his way of summing up the story.
  • Role-play/acting out: Although I think this is a slightly more complex activity, once the story is over, we can make a small theatre. 


This is the post. I hope you liked it and gave you ideas on how to work the stories in child education.

lunes, 18 de diciembre de 2017

Get on stage!

Hi everyone! 

Today in class, my classmates and I have done a drama activity in group. It has been a short `morality´ play based on traditional story elements, in 7 scenes, called: The wise Woman. 

Before start telling you my experience, I would like to leave you some information about the play.

  • Synopsis: When the king decides to ban old people from the town, this means a lot of pain and sorrow for old and young. But things get worse... and finally even the king understand that if it wasn´t for a young old boy and his mother, the country would be in serious trouble.
  • Roles: chorus 4-6, soldier 1-4, Men 1-2, Women 1-2, old woman, her son, Queen and wise men 1-2. 
  • Runtime : 7-8 minutes, more or less
  • English level:  intermediate-B1

First of all I have to say that i don´t usually like drama activities. For that reason, I was scared when Susana, my teacher, explained us the activity. 

Initially, we were going to divide the class into several groups but we thought it is best to do it all together. So we chose a play with many characters and an adequate level of English. Then, we started to rehearse. It took us a few days to learn it. 

From my point of view, the result was great! We have all gotten into our role. We have disguised ourselves and we have represented the play several times.

After that, Susana showed us a video that taught us how to improve our performance (how to focus our voice, how to place ourselves in the space, the way to act, the way to move around the space...) 

It has been a good way to work in group helping, collaborating and sharing ideas and opinions. 

The truth is that it has been quite fun. 

lunes, 11 de diciembre de 2017

storytelling activities

The other day in class, our teacher, Susana, explained us different activities to do before, while and after a storytelling. 

What I did with my classmates Samanta and Raquel was to invent different activities in relation to some stories. 

In order to give you an idea, below I leave you the activities that we did. Keep in mind that these activities are for children in early childhood education. Nevertheless, I hope you like them and that they help you to carry out your own activities. 


The rainbow fish: 
  • We will show the children the cover of the book so they can make predictions. 
  • We will talk about what they know about fishes (descriptions, experiences...)
  • We will teach them what the scales are and what they are for
  • They will be sticking or taking off the scales of a fish that we have done
  • We will ask them to gesticulate the fish´s feelings
  • Finally we will ask them to draw their own fish

Five little monkeys: 
  • We will make them jump imitating the monkeys 
  • We will teach them parts of the body with the song "head and shoulders" 
  • They will count the monkeys during the song
  • They will touch the aforementioned body parts 
  • Finally we ask them about their feelings and experiences when they falling and hurting themselves 

The hare and the tortoise: 
  • We will ask them to imitate the way of walking of different animals 
  • We will work animals with some flashcard activities 
  • They will run fast when the hace comes out and slowly when the turtle comes out. 
  • Finally we will ask them to draw their favourite part of the story

Frog: 
  • We will teach them different river animals using the "What missing?" flashcard technique
  • We will play a dice play with the flashcards
  • They will have to point the animals that we will mention in the story (without making mistakes)
  • Finally we will ask them some questions about the story 

The mouse and the lion: 
  • We will show them the cover of the book so they guess what the story is about 
  • We will work the terms "big" and "small" with "big and small" song 
  • They will have to make predictions throughout the story 
  • They will imitate the gestures made by the lion and the mouse during the story
  • Finally, we will ask them to represent their favourite part of the story (dramatization)

domingo, 3 de diciembre de 2017

Using storybooks: Reading or telling stories?

Today I am going to answer the following question, than I find very interesting: Reading or telling stories?

Well, as my teachers Irune and Susana have taught me over these years, there are books that are made for read and other ones that are made for tell. Is very important to know which of these strategies is better to use in each case.

What I mean is that there are books we must read, because they have beautiful texts that have been written to be read; that have rhymes, instructions or sentences that can not be change because a variation change all the story. But, there are other books that we can learn by heart. That is, we can read them several times to learn the story and then tell them with our own words.  This allows us to make the necessary variations to adapt the story to our students (vocabulary, sentences, words...)

For all these reasons, my answer is that in infant education we have to use both of them. As teachers, we have to be able to choose properly. If we do not do it well, it can affect in the motivation or in the correct understanding of the story. 

sábado, 2 de diciembre de 2017

Puppets

Puppets are very useful tools to encourage creative play and vocabulary development. They can be also great for us (teachers) to help we feel comfortable. In fact, they’re not only extremely useful as an educational toy that connects play with learning but also in supporting children’s development in several important areas.

When we use puppets, stories come to life so that the telling of the story becomes an enriched, fun learning experience that is even more meaningful for children. The puppets can speak, sing, dance, cry...There is truly no limit to their use because there is no specific way to use them that’s correct.


I believe that the most important thing, as teachers, is be able to motivate our children. In my humble opinion, this is a really useful way to keep our students engaged and enhance the interaction.  What I mean is that, by capturing children’s attention, motivating them, they will learn more.
Personally I think I will use puppets in my future class. Nevertheless, I think they are very expensive and I would like to have several puppets so, instead of buying them, I will do them by myself.  To make them we need imagination and very cheap materials such as socks, felt, glue, cardboards...


To end, I leave you some examples of puppets (sock puppet and finger puppets) that I have made and the video that I recorded with my classmates.  
Butterfly sock puppet 

The ugly duckling finger puppets 



The ugly duckling finger puppets