Teaching grammar creatively

Marisa Constantinides, Teacher Educator - Director of CELT Athens Teacher Development Centre

Teaching Grammar Creatively

• Bisociative thinking• The creative leap which connects two previously

unconnected frames of reference(Koesltler, 1964)

• Lateral thinking • From A going directly to Z • Not following a linear path

(de Bono, 1962)

Creativity as Collision

@Marisa Constantinides CELT Athens - [email protected]

@Marsa Constantinides CELT Athens - [email protected]

Divergent Production

“Goes off” in different directions

Facilitates problem solving

Leads to a variety of answers

• thrives within constraints• benefits from the paradox• is triggered by what is unusual• dies when things get too normal • is sparked off by humour • is revived by exaggeration

Creativity



X X X


P P P


T B L P P P


T B L

X X X

P P P

Grammar Teaching

Contextualised

paradoxicalMemorable content

Emotional

Beyond sentence level

Praised

Scaffolded



morning explain doing typing reading stupidcame

letters finished.sir three which A minute.

BOSS: Catherine! (loudly)SEC: ……………………BOSS: Catherine!!!!SEC : Oh! Good morning, sir! (headphones off)BOSS: Would you please explain? What have you been doing all morning?SEC : Well, sir, I 've been typing, sir. BOSS: Typing? You haven't been typing! You've been reading that stupid

novel since you came in! None of the letters are finished.SEC: Well, sir, I've typed three sir.BOSS: Oh, really? You have? Which ones?SEC: D, E, and A, sir. I'm going to type R in a minute.

Ask YES/NO Questions only!

Images & Prompts


Convergent Production in FLL


Only one correct answer possible

Uniquely determined by language material

fact

fact

fact

fact

factfact

fact

fact

Correct Answer

Based on processing of facts

Divergent Production

Not totally determined by language provided

Multiple answers possible

Answer

2

Answer 3

Answer 4

Answer 1

Answer 5

Answer 6

Answer

6

Answer 7

StimulusVariety of correct answers possible

Aspects of Creative Thinking


Fluency Flexibility Elaboration Originality

Elements of creative

behaviour

Relationship to Language Production

Fluency Ability to produce large numbers of ideas

Easy & ready flow of talk; production of sustained talk

Flexibility Ability to produce diverse ideas (not the same kind)

Ability to follow & respond to changes in conversation;

Elaboration Ability to add on to and embellish an already existing idea

Ability to avoid simplistic responses; ability to improve set phrases and embellish them; useful for writing

Originality Ability to produce uncommon, 'clever' ideas

Ability to produce novel utterances; avoidance of clichés

Unusual Uses


Brainstorm as many unsual uses of this object with your team

You win if you have more than the other team but the uses must be unusual!

Unusual Uses


Brainstorm as many unsual uses of this object with your team

You win if you have more than the other team but the uses must be unusual!

Make up the facts about

How I met the Queen!

Advice I was given before I met the Queen

Exploiting the Paradoxfilltakeenlarge manicurecutCheckDry cleanpull out washmeasuretestStyleclean permdye

What services can you get at each of the following places? Use the verbs in the box to describe them.

•hairdresser’s•dentist’s•optician’s•photographer’s•dry cleaner’s

Begin like this

You can have your teeth enlarged at the hairdresser’s.

Keep going e.g. a. Keep asking questions (to practise Q forms)b. Keep making statements

orc. Avoid asking questions (reported questions are OK )

Roleplays (with an attitude) BOSS: Catherine! (loudly)SEC: ……………………BOSS: Catherine!!!!SEC : Oh! Good morning, sir! (headphones off)BOSS: Would you please explain? What have you been doing all morning?SEC : Well, sir, I 've been typing, sir. BOSS: Typing? You haven't been typing! You've been reading that stupid

novel since you came in! None of the letters are finished.SEC: Well, sir, I've typed three sir.BOSS: Oh, really? You have? Which ones?SEC: D, E, and A, sir. I'm going to type R in a minute.

Brainstorming:

Improvising:

List as many duties as you can for one of these jobs

• A secretary - A teacher• A teacher - A student

Create a conversation between one of these people and someone who checks their work (e.g. Have you typed the…..? )

You can answer yes or no but give a good reason if not!!!

Take opposing sides to a problem, e.g. ◦ for & against eating ice creams Hold an argument contradicting each other for as

long as you possibly can.

Creating contradictions


You were seen chewing the chewing the corner of a carpet in a furniture shop

You were seen gluing apples to a tree outside your house at midnight

You were seen sticking knives and forks into your front lawn

PredicamentsChoose a predicament for each member of the opposing team

Challenge them with it

Best explanation wins!

Party Lines


…So I said to him, you

gotta be kidding me, I’d

never hire someone

like Kate to do this job!

Yes, it’s all

absolutely true, I

had it from the

horse’s mouth!

Well, aren’t you

such a clever

person! You always

amaze me!

Preoccupations


Hold a conversation with a partner – each one of you has one of these two preoccupations – try to draw the conversation to yours without interrupting in a rude way.

Record your conversation on your mobile phone – use video as well if you have it

Keep talkingCut up cards – distribute – each student must talk for a minute in order to get rid of a card – the winner is the one who finishes first

Improvisation

Choose one of the pairs of sentences. Create a situation – decide who you are, where and what you are talking about – act it out for your friends

DO NOT TELL THEM WHAT YOU HAVE DECIDED - THEY MUST GUESS WHO YOU ARE

Improvisation

1.It's 45 minutes after your appointment and your friend hasn't arrived yet.(Comment angrily on this when she arrive- she does it all the time!s)

2.Your classmate, who always borrows things, asks you for a pen.(Make a strong suggestion) 3. Brad Pitt was on TV last night but you were out with your parents (Express regret or relief!!!! )

Choose one of the ideas and act it out with a friend

QUIZ SHOW

You work for a TV Quiz show in the team that makes the questions! Ask questions about the following:

e.g. The Pyramids When were they built? Why were they built?The Eiffel TowerThe AcropolisThe Mona LisaThe Berlin WallThe InternetThe Blue MosqueHiroshimaThe Nobel PrizeJ.F.KennedyStar Wars

… (add your own ideas)

Ss write/act out their coursebook dialogue BEFORE they hear it

• It’s important to increase % of creative as most class materials (and coursebook materials, notably) focus on Lower Order Thinking Skills – LOTS according to Blooms (revised) taxonomyof educational objectives shown below

Creating

Evaluating

Analyzing

Applying

Understanding

Remembering

• Some online resources which respond well to the different educational objectives in Bloom’s taxonomy

Ted talks, you tube, chats. twitter, emails, ppts, prezis Pecha Kuchas

Facebook, twitter, forums, blog comments

Google search, wikipedia, e-books

Classroom Communication activities, collaborative projects

Reading / listening comprehension/ picking language out of authentic date

Mnemonics, contextualisation, imagery, associations, Bookmarking, Evernote

(summarising, Curating

The Big Picture

Marisa Constantinides

My email [email protected]

My Twitter IDhttp://twitter.com/Marisa_C

My Centre www.celt.edu.gr

My Blogshttp://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/

http://celtathens.com/More about me

http://www.celt.edu.gr/Marisa_Constantinides.htm

mailto:[email protected]

http://twitter.com/Marisa_C

http://www.celt.edu.gr/

http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/

http://celtathens.wordpress.com/



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Education

Teaching grammar creatively