Gracia Castillo's Blog

Using Magazines in the EFL Classroom Using magazines in the EFL classroom is a good way to expose our pupils to a real context through a wide variety of texts and content. We might sometimes think this kind of resource is only useful when students have reached an advanced level of English; however, we can use them with all kinds of levels, from a PreA1 to a C1, it will all depend on the activity you design. Magazines, and newspapers, provide a simple method for incorporating brief informational readings into classroom lessons🕮.   This time, I will share what I did with my B1+ students. I had always seen the bunch of magazines in one of the bookcases we have in our teacher's lounge and I had always had the idea to do something with them. You may understand that our hectic life plays tricks on us and makes us forget what we think on doing. Nonetheless, this morning while toasting my bread, I said to myself 😏, "I will definitely twist my lesson plan today and carry out the proj...

  The Benefits of a Student-centered Approach Whenever I have to deliver a TEFL course or any training addressed to the faculty, I always ask my audience the following questions: Which is the best class you have attended so far? Did you feel safe and confident in this class? Did you feel you had actually learned in this class? Do you remember that teacher/professor/facilitator's name? What was this class like? What was the atmosphere like? I know I will bring back great memories among my audience, and that is because I am pretty sure the class they remember was one in which a student-centered approach was implemented. In my blog today, I will go over the main features and benefits of this approach. I will try to make it simple and appealing so you feel encouraged to start applying it in your English, or any other foreign language, lessons. Why is student-centered learning approach effective? Giving students authority over both the content of the lesson and the teaching strategy is ...

 Simple Present: 3rd Person Singular Whenever you refer to a third person singular (He/She/It) in simple present, you must add -s to the verb following the spelling rules. Is it an option? No, it isn't. It is part of the grammatical structure of simple present. Therefore, it is your duty to manage the spelling rules to convey an accurate message. AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS:  Subject + Verb (base form) + s/es/ies (Depending on spelling rules) + complement + . Spelling rules to add -s to 3rd person singular verbs in simple present 1. To most verbs add -s: Cook - Cook s Skate - Skate s Play - Play s 2. When the verb finishes in consonant + y , change the -y to an -i and add -es : C ry - Cr ies Stu dy - Stud ies F ly - Fl ies 3. When the verb finishes in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z , add -es : Cros s - Cross es Wa sh - Wash es Cat ch - Catch es Fi x - Fix es Buz z - Buzz es 4. There are only 3 irregular spelling forms: Do - Does Go - Goes Have - Has 🖉Let's do a short practice...

 CONNECTED SPEECH Listening exercises make me go crazy! I don't understand! They speak fast! There are words I don't get! I know the struggle😁: Been there, felt that way! Yes, English speakers' accent vary. Yes, they do speak fast. Yes, if your vocabulary is short, you will have a hard time trying to understand. But there is a set of pronunciation rules you should manage to feel less stressed when listening to any kind of input. In this post we will go over CONNECTED SPEECH and its main features. There are about six of them but we will cover just the basic ones. When we speak, we do not say the words I N D I V I D U A L L Y or S E P A R A T E L Y; we say them continuously. There is a difference between the way we pronounce the words in isolation and the way we pronounce them in full sentences. In connected speech words are clipped and words are stressed differently than they would be in writing. Linking: When a word finishes in consonant sound and the next word begins wit...

 FEELING ADJECTIVES Feelings are emotions we can easily see or experience. You can tell when someone is sad, mad, ecstatic, etc. by looking at their facial expressions. Here is a list of the common feelings we experience on a daily-basis. The only point to consider when making a sentence using feeling adjectives is not to forget we use the verb be: I am hungry. ( I have hungry .) I'm not cold. ( I don't have cold. ) Are you hot? ( Do you have hot? ) As usual here are the links for you to do some online practice on your own: https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/feelings-emotions-exercises.html https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=6096

ADJECTIVES Let's start this post by describing the picture above! 👀 A language is made up of different words. Each of these words have a special function and we call them PARTS OF THE SPEECH. They are verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, nouns, articles, prepositions and pronouns.  In this post we will focus on ADJECTIVES . Do not forget their main function which is to describe the noun. Adjectives can work two different ways: as attributive and predicative. ATTRIBUTIVE:  They go BEFORE a noun and describe it. An ugly hostel A funny clown Long hair Busy cities Let's see them in complete sentences: We went to a beautiful village in Ishuatán but we stayed in an ugly hostel . My friend's daughter's birthday party was fantastic, she hired a funny clown . The woman in the picture has long hair. I don't like to travel to busy cities. They are too noisy! PREDICATIVE: We call them predicative adjectives when they are separated from the noun they describe by a v...

COLORS IN ENGLISH You may use color related vocabulary in any kind of conversations; when talking about food, clothing items, make-up, paint, fruit, vegetables, furniture, and so on. In this post we will go over the most basic colors and a few important points to consider when using them in a sentence. Learning tips! The difference between "color" and "colour" is their language. The first one is in American English and the second one in British. Colors do not take a plural form like in Spanish. My shoes are black. ( My shoes are blacks. ) Since they are adjectives they are used before the noun. Orange dress. ( Dress orange ) The best way to learn them is by practicing. As usual, here are some links which you could explore and do their exercises if you want😉. https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/colours-exercises-colors.html https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=558 https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/vocabulary/beginner-vocabulary/colours

A BRIEF GUIDE TO NOUNS Let's start this post with a quick exercise, describe the pictures above💬 Everything that we can see or talk about is represented by a word that names it and that word is A NOUN. Nouns are the basic building blocks of sentences and using them properly is essential to send clear messages. The more nouns you know in English the better you will communicate your ideas. Let's, first, start with a simple diagram that will help you distinguish them: We will go over them in a brief way. Uncountable nouns These nouns do not take any singular or plural form, you cannot use any numbers with them since you cannot count them. The easiest way to learn them is by categorizing them. For us, Salvadorans, this point is tricky because we tend to count everything (Una lechuga, dos panes, una leche, una margarina) but you must keep in mind the items above are UNCOUNTABLE as well as the following:  Cabbage, bread, cauliflower, broccoli, magarine, among others. Here is a wide ...

Opinion Writing Opinion writing is when the writer/author shares and states their opinion by expressing their ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. Throughout the body of the paragraph, reasons need to be included as well as examples that support their opinion and these need to provide a rationale for it. At the end of their paragraph, their opinion needs to be restated so the reader remembers the author's feelings towards the topic. Here is the structure of an opinion paragraph which could help you write more easily. As said in the previous post, you will never reach your writing goals if you do not try and start making mistakes. Remember, you can edit a page as many times as you wish! Here are some writing prompts you could use to practice writing an opinion paragraph: Should students get to choose their teachers? What is one of your favorite books/movies/songs/ TV series? What is your opinion about mandatory military service? Which is the best café in town? Quarantine should be mandat...

Writing a Paragraph Before sharing with you the main types of writing styles, let's review the writing process. Writing, believe it or not, is not an easy process and it takes lots of practice to do it properly.  First of all, let's find out what the parts of a paragraph are by checking the following image: ·          PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH 1. Topic sentence:   This sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph and summarizes the main idea of the paragraph. All of the following sentences will add information that expands upon or supports the idea stated here. 2. Supporting sentences:   The second sentence identifies the first major supporting detail. The third sentence brings up a second supporting detail. Similarly, the fourth sentence mentions a third supporting detail. Additional sentences can be added here for additional supporting details or to divide one lengthy s...

Different Ways of Expressing Ourselves in English Conversation Take a look at some other connectors we can use while having conversations in English. Remember the best way to learn them is by actually using them!😉 Good luck on your next conversation!✌

Classroom Supplies Look at the picture above 🠉, how many classroom objects can you name? In this lesson, we will go over classroom supply related vocabulary which may not be familiar to you. Learning tip: To avoid translating each word to your native language, make your own version of a picture dictionary. Notebook Notepad Mechanical Pencil Highlighter (Pencil) Sharpener Sticky notes Markers Scissors Bulletin board Thumbtacks Masking tape Clear tape Rubber bands Clipboard Flip chart Pencil case Here is a website where you can find a variety of exercises related to school supplies https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/school_objects-exercises.html