Teachers Teach More than English

Instituto Superior “San Bartolomé” Reaching Farther, Reaching Wider II : Instituto Superior “San Bartolomé” Reaching Farther, Reaching Wider II Teachers teach more than English: How to teach them what to say when they don’t know what to say Graciela I. Castelli

Objectives : Objectives What cognitive strategies need to be developed for holding interesting conversations? By tapping on our students’ thinking skills we will give them resources that can be applied in areas outside the English classroom. Our students may discover that learning English can have a positive effect upon their more immediate objectives, let alone interacting with English speakers.

Nine dots : Nine dots

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Problem Solving Examples : Problem Solving Examples Making decisions: Choosing a present for a given person, taking into account a budget. Choosing how to spend a donation to improve school facilities. What five things would you need to take with you if you survived a shipwreck and had to live on a desert island?

Enigmas : Enigmas A man gets into a lift and presses the button showing number 7. Then he gets off and walks up the stairs to floor 15. When he leaves the building he presses the bottom button and gets off. Why is this so?

Dilemmas : Dilemmas 1) Two donkeys are tied to a each other. Each one has a bush near him, but if both want to eat off the bush at the same time the rope that ties them together is too short for each of them to reach the hay. What can they do?

Slide 10 : 2) A boy needs to take a wolf, a lamb and a sack of cabbages across the river. How can he work it out? He only has room for one of the three in his small boat. What are the dangers? Remember: A wolf eats lamb and a lamb eats cabbage when no man is around! http://www.learn4good.com/games/puzzle/sheep_and_wolf.htm

Slide 11 : 3) Choose the most moral person and the least moral. There lived a woman named Abigail who was in love with a man named Gregory. Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail lived on the opposite shore of the same river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with dangerous alligators. Abigail wanted to cross the river to be with Gregory. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed out by a heavy flood the previous week. So she went to ask Sinbad, a riverboat captain, to take her across. He said he would be glad to if she would consent to go to bed with him prior to the voyage. She promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to explain her plight. Ivan did not want to get involved at all in the situation. Abigail felt her only alternative was to accept Sinbad’s terms. Sinbad fulfilled his promise to Abigail and delivered her into the arms of Gregory.

Slide 12 : When Abigail told Gregory about her amorous escapade in order to cross the river, Gregory cast her aside with disdain. Heartsick and rejected, Abigail turned to Slug with her tale of woe. Slug, feeling compassion for Abigail, sought out Gregory and beat him brutally. Abigail was overjoyed at the sight of Gregory getting his due. As the sun set on the horizon, people heard Abigail laughing at Gregory. Abigail? Gregory? Sinbad? Ivan? Slug?

Slide 13 : Evaluate Judge Criticize Give opinions Problem solving Generalize Summarize Synthesize Categorize Cause/effect Classify Estimate/ predict Infer Sequence Match Recall Identify Perceive Observe CRITICAL What do I think about it? INFERENTIAL What can I do with it? LITERAL What is it? METACOGNITION

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Slide 20 : http://www.realinnovation.com/library/graphics/090202a.gif What do we know? How do we feel? What are the positive aspects? What might go wrong? What can we add? Where do we go from here? The Six Hats Approach

The Six Hats Approach : The Six Hats Approach The white hat: Facts The red hat: Feelings The yellow hat: Positive The black hat: Drawbacks The green hat: Creativity The blue hat: Metacognitive

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Slide 23 : Evaluate Judge Criticize Give opinions Problem solving Generalize Summarize Synthesize Categorize Cause/effect Classify Estimate/ predict Infer Sequence Match Recall Identify details Perceive Observe CRITICAL What do I think about it? INFERENTIAL What can I do with it? LITERAL What is it? METACOGNITION

Kinds of thinking : Kinds of thinking Objective Intuitive Critical Constructive Creative Metathinking

Dilemmas : Dilemmas 1) Two donkeys are tied to a each other. Each one has a bush near him, but if both want to eat off the bush at the same time the rope that ties them together is too short for each of them to reach the hay. What can they do?

Question sequencing: : Question sequencing: Factual questions (Knowledge): What happens in the story? Inferential questions (Comprehension): What is the writer trying to tell us? Application: What would you have done? What would have happened if… Opinionating and Criticizing (Analysis): What do you think the character should have done? Personal questions: How does the story relate to you? What would you have done if….? Synthesis: Can you think of a different Related questions: How does this story relate to a previous one? Evaluation: How do you rate the story? ?

Useful words : Useful words White: how much / many, what, describe, determine Red: feel, like, Blue: explain, summarise Yellow: benefits, good Black: difficulties, weaknesses Green: overcome, ideas, possibilities, predict, change, add, take out, rephrase

Back to the story of Abigail : Back to the story of Abigail Factual questions (Knowledge): Inferential questions (Comprehension): Application: Opinionating and Criticizing (Analysis): Personal questions: Synthesis: Related questions: Evaluation:

Conversation : Conversation Debate topic 1: A friend wants to run away from home. You learn about your friend’s plan and decide you have five choices: Tell your friend’s family Go to a counsellor for help Try to talk your friend out of the idea Help your friend run away Do nothing to help or hinder your friend. Sequence: red- yellow and black

Conversation : Conversation Debate topic 2: A tape by a musical group that you enjoy is banned across the country. You want to protest this action. Sequence: red – white – green - blue

Do we just teach English? : Do we just teach English? Some teachers do! Not us! We teach the four skills And we also teach our students to THINK!

Our country needs people who THINK! : Our country needs people who THINK! Never mind what language they think in!

Bon appétit : Bon appétit Thank you!