Stations

Roald Dahl's short story.

MRS BIXBY AND THE COLONEL’S COAT

  “LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER” 

The 3 stations presented here will focus on different techniches of mere discussion about two short strouies written by the famous writer, Roald Dhal. The tasks consist in labelling the different activities as pre-teacning, actual-teaching and post-teaching, depending on the process it presents. 

Station 1

 Comparing.

In this section we deal with comparing activities about the two main characters in both stories. The student will be required to log in the group-closed network Edmodo and give their own opinions on the matter.

Depending on the theme in which we urge them to do the activity, this taks will be characterized as a pre, actual or post-teaching assessment. so, in this case,using edmodo will be included in the post-teaching tasks since they are requiered to have undergone a process of familiarizing and then retrieving each female's personality in order to complete the activity.

Ironic symbols.

The teacher's task of presentin two pics about ironic symbols will be used as a further in-depth analysis  for students. They would go beyond the simple plot of the story. This might be used as an actual teaching activiy since it is about adding up information.

A delicious murdering weapon.

A furry and greedy neckpiece. 

Voice recorder. 

To record your own voice and simulate a post event, beyond the story itself, like an interview of Mrs. Malony's murder, may be used as a post teaching activity. Why? because I consider this activity to be a sum up activity, out of the storyline. So, this would suit into a post-teaching activity viewed as modelling up of the whole information acquired. It all depends on the content of the voice message, if the students are urged to record or perform a dialogue about a part of the story would be included in the actual-teaching teaching activities.

                                             Station 2

Major enviromental disaster end of human race. 

Here we have a very compelling and critical activity for our students. You give them a dreadfull situation of a world's end coming soon and gift them to be the ones to choose 7 people among 11 that you list in a document. This chart will present 11 persons, using some characters of our stories and others unknown, but all of them provided with full personal descriptions of actoins and personality. They need to give reasons about their choices, supporting them with some details about their descriptions.  Once they choose the elected ones, then you as a teacher will elaborate a glogter presentation in oder to show them an idea of what the would life of these 7 people be like in the paradise island.

The teacher's glogster will be used as a pre-teaching activity because you are giving them warming-up samples of what they are going to be required to do afterwards. This glogster activity would be usefull if you are dealing with conditonals uses since it is all about hypothetical situations, they might work out their constructions talking about possible and hypothetical situations.

Smart card

The smart card can help them to improve their vocabulary knowledge and also stimulating their imagination.

World's hunger.

Students will use this simulatoin activity to focus in the prejudices they found, levaving the human rights left apart. When students start arguing who they save and who stays behind, they will show some previous ideas which are influenced by their prejudices, no matter if they are religious, sexual or race prejudices. This activity will also teach the students how important the personal values and principals. 

                                                     Station 3    

PRE-TEACHING

Here are the answers the group made for the topic on the Station 3: Let's think as teachers

d) Discussion:

This is a warming-up activity because we want our students to activate their previous knowledge of the topic, the author, etc.

f) Think pair-share:

Students have to predict the plot of a story taking into account headlines/titles. They also have to make comments on their reflections with the rest of the class.

ACTUAL TEACHING

c) Analysis:

It is a reading comprehension activity. Students have to find out and justify if the information in the statements is true or false.

POST-TEACHING

a) Writing:

After reading the short story, students have to carry on writing a different ending for the story: in the end, Mrs. Bixby's coat is still in the pawnshop and she is planning a strategy to get it back.

b) Discussion:

Students discuss the real ending of the story and what will happen next.

e) Role play:

Students work in pairs and they have to perform Mr and Mrs Bixby's conversation by the end of the story.

             

    Comic

    The representation of a scene of the story could be a useful tool to foster writing among                             

          students write and also to stimulate their imagination.

     
            http://goanimate.com/videos/0I5g-Pp7MF8U?utm_source=linkshare


           Word cloud
           Another possible task for them to foster writing would be to elaborate a suitable ending of the story
           using words that you provide them witht the program word-cloud.

          Here is a example of a possible word-coud for the students to start writing the story ending.
                        

EXPERIENCE OF THE TASKS. 

I really believe this type of station activity gives us the chance to see things from a teacher's point of view.It is easy to be a student, receiving orders and tryin to fulfull the task in time and do it well is the only one worry they have, but, being a teacher is not as easy as it may be seen from a student's point of view. Our task is not just to teach student stuff in order to get the learning goals pre-determined and then that's it, no, I think is better to widen the teaching beyond the limits of a simple activity, giving extra topics on the matter to make them think and also stimulating their imagination capacity by doing recreational activities, using technology, for example.