(NU ni) em ee rtear colleague, This month The Teacher's Magazine presents a follow- 4 up of the series of flashcards for young learners and new month cards to build up the calendar which was introduced in our previous issue. Pronouns and the colour orange become the protagonists of our asters. Also useful are three articles which you eannot miss: the second art of Let drama enter your classroom, a cross-curricular project to help teachers deal with character issues and an article on the use of portfolios as alternative assessment. We hope you like it and find it useful! ‘The Teacher’s Magazine team. "ape 37 an Raed a gn ae 9 on hoe bl i a Goa Rp casa pecmciones tien ancasorn soee nator ied eer eto asl PonE Sacer SRE AMER tens tai ap i ania ee Resa ncaa a a a names poe nd hero nS ae © ran wm EGER dhe 95 grensg 207 nD Kr ant nn meen TT GRUPO ae ‘Ge to wr. com to contact us gac8 pe Riera ree nh cach ee i = I x a Poland — zamowienia@ediba.com / www.ediba.com ‘Tol: +22 566 77 87 Czech Republic Contact: wwwsend.cz Spain a {All information in our website: www.ediba.com By e-mail: suscripciones@ovejer.com By Phone: 91 352 09 18 By Fax: 91 715 68 75eid vi n the previous article I described the benefits of using ‘drama in the classroom. Such benefits are even greater with young leasners. Children are always ready to \ suspend belief and using drama in the English classroom helps them make sense of the situation. It has usually happened to me that my young students do not understand why 1 speak English all the time. They find it difficult to understand why ‘we ate supposed to use a much more dificult language to ‘communicate when we all share the same mother tongue, Ihave found the solution to this problem through drama. With young learners on the first day of class, provide the setting for the whole course. | explain to them that whenever I enter the classroom we are ‘Soing to go together on a trip to a place where people only speak English. bring a world map and we trace the route from our country to England, As part of the routine we always decide what means of transport we are going to use to get there, what clothes we are going rama LATE —Par{ 2=- to pack depending on the season, and so on, This game provides ‘them with a real context for the use ofthe foreign language they are learning and it motivates them to use and learn it ‘On some occasions, | also introduce students to some friends who hhave travelled from different parts of the world (US.A., Australia, tc, to visit them. All of them only speak English, so we will have to ‘make an effort to communicate. To personify these friends I use puppets. I consider puppets tobe of great help with young learners for several reasons: * Children react to them as if they were real and interact using, the language in a meaningful context, * Children become really interested and their curiosity is = ce they ae eager to know the puppet’ name ge, ‘0 on Inihis way, a genuine information gp vee = Jey now that kis eam by niating. Puppets inodce another proficient English speaker nto the classroom 35a model Furthermore, the teacher ean perform ral dialogues and interactions. For example: ‘TEACHER: Can 1 borrow your pencil, please? PUPPET: Yes, of course. Here you are ‘TEACHER: Thanks, + Deeper learning is achieved through the implementation of Gardner's Mulple nteligence. “Children lean experleally through geting visually, aurally and kinaesthetically ina subject. Puppets are bright and colourful, tactile 8 moving.”: + Apart from that, ifthe children create their own puppets and speak through them, they may feel more confident. They 7 lose ther reticence and hide bend them, participa ‘way they would not if they were Seater ere ‘be more willing to take risks with the use of the language since they are not going tobe seen as making mistakes because the puppets are the ones who are speaking.‘There are many easy ways in which we can create inexpensive puppets. The process of making a puppet is a rewarding craft activity in itself, plus having the advantage of engaging the students in ‘meaningful interaction using the foreign language they are learning, If students make the puppets themselves, they will establish a relationship of ownership that cannot be achieved with ready-made ‘ones, Some examples are: * Finger puppets: Students draw faces on their fingers and make hats and clothes for them. Very quick and easy to make, * Tube puppets: Using tubes of paper that fit over thei fingers students create their puppets. They can draw a face and ‘costumes on them, These have the advantage of being a bit more long-lasting. * Origami puppets: Puppets can also be created by just folding pieces of paper. The teacher can give the instructions and each student follows them. In this website you will find the instructions to make origami puppets: bhttpu/Aeww.origami-instructions.com/ origami-fox-puppethtml * Sock puppets: The children make a puppet out of a _ sock, Here you can find some ideas on how to create them: http:/wwwwikihow.cory Make-a-Sock-Puppet, Although they take longer to make, they are stronger and longer lasting than the ones described above. * Stick puppets: These are the simplest ones. They are just outlines of the character of your choice attached to a stick. They can also be used for shadow theatre, ee SS(OOTN Puppets can be used with songs, chants, dialogues, improvisations, and plays. Songs and rhymes are really useful in classes of younger children as rhythm and melody makes language easier to learn and remember. If we add movement and gesture, meaning becomes, clearer and much more memorable. In songs and chants, students are already provided with the words, so they are free to concentrate on expressing feelings through body language and gestures. You may find some excellent ideas on this blog that I strongly recommend: http/esidramagames.cony Apart from that, puppets can be used ‘with stories you tell the children or the ones they themselves make up. They can even act out the stories in their textbook. Sabrina De Vita Reterences + Philips, Sarah (1999) Dramawith Children. Oxford University ress. «Wilson, Ken (2008) rama and Improvisation. Oxford Universy Press + Gardner, (1985) The dicpined mind. New York Simon & Schuster, “ htpe/wwwhlemagco.kimaro/sa7. hem *hutp/esdramagamescom’ * heepu/wwuihtmag.couk/marOi sar? htm= @ section of the syllabus; its main goal is to teach __several school programmes focused on values which also generosity, *courage, *freedom, sjustice, “equality ‘excellence, *responsibility, «cooperation, students reflect on moral issues, civic matters, good manners, a ¢kindnes healthy lifestyle, and non-violent policy integrity, participation, scare, “fairness, community, «self confidence, +loyalt work, *collaboration, scitizensh Character education involves more than the here-and-now-book lesson; itis about social and emotional learning, moral trustworthiness, etcSubject Character education isa must in every single classroom, especially nowadays when children and adolescents throughout | the world are exposed to a violent world or belong to families yeq7g which, in many cases, do not have the time or initiative to deal with core values in an active way. Therefore, itis relevant and urgent to give the students time to reflect, express themselves freely and get the tools to cope with a difficult social environment. There are tons of ideas that can be put into (Information and Communication Technologies) Ideas/ activities | Sa oTy: www youtube.com/watch?v=JDTXW6JKVE ‘www youtube.com/watch?v=NZTckg MEY www.wordle.net/ to reflect brainstorming ® Create sites, facebook pages related to the class project. practice. Teachers have the chance to work with teachers of other subjects in cross-curricular projects. Working in groups is always refreshing for both students and teachers and gives the character education issue a more important framework. School-wide projects are possible since each class can choose one core value and work on it; then share all the different activities at the end of the year. Here we present you with ideas for a cross-curricular project: Literature * Working with fables: | ~The Ant And The Grasshopper ~ The Boy Who Cried Wolf ~ The Tortoise And The Hare | The Wolfin Sheep's Clothing ete. = Team games + Rules Ge * Cooperation + Faiepy. wh + Creating collages with various materials. Civic Studies * Going on an outing to the city hall, parliament, congress, NGOs (non- governmental organisations). | Science/Biology * Healthy estes | $ Ecosystem balance, Geography * How more economically developed countries work with less economically developed countries * Sustainable farming, development, etc. * Making surveys and showing results, * Studying and reflecting on historical facts like: - Apartheid ~The Holocaust ~The Ku Klux Klan - Slavery. on graphs “= Working with sets and intersection areas. “Working with songs: - Weare the world | + Man in the mirror ~ Heal the world ~ You've gota friend in me - That's what fiends are for * Creating a song. How to say peace or greet people in different languages.E Y K N F Zz H s ‘Age: Children/Adolescents In the street ajul—-julelojalz o|z|e|xjulululz | > Ow NN wie < T R u s T R T u At school CORE VALUES ‘A) Look at these values. How can you put them into practice? Write your ideas in the boxes. ‘At home B) Word search. Can you find ten words related to values? Commi Vii Level: Intermediate Po = a= ET es LadinCORE VALUES ©) Complete the crossword. your 2) When you care and defend your country and everything related to it, you have p E 3) When you have patience, you cant other people. 4) When you are responsible, people can t you. '5) When you don't tell les or cheat, you are f. 6) Polite behaviour towards others: k. | CLUES D) Recipe for a peaceful neighbourhood. Create a list of core values that a peaceful neighbourhood should have and write the instructions for the recipe. Ae Cilden/Adolescents 1) When someone makes a mistake, and you don't feel angry about it; when you forget about bad things, -€ 5S ~ 25% B — 6 F Vee Key:6) Across: respons justice kindness fred, honesty Down: helping caring lyatytrusthonow.C) 1) forgive, 2) patois, 3) tolerate 4 tse Ss} honest.) Kindness. PDto introduce or review the topic. The first set af i 5% pin this edition we start a series of picture flashcards we 9) ff ehict represent pronouns and you may find useful % \ corresponds to Subject Pronouns and it is presented in poster 1 Ifyou need a reference, the information in the table below may suit you. ————e EE EEE For more advanced students, on pages Il and 12 we include a language study page on the general topic pronouns which you can detach and use as an independent file. Next month you will find the flashcards introducing Object Pronouns, to complete the Personal Pronouns set. Persenal Preneuns - We use pronouns to talk about the speaker or the person we are speaking to. We also use them instead of noun phrase. * We use I/me for the speaker. * You for the person spoken to. * He/him to refer to a male person or animal. © She/her to refer to a female person or animal. It for a thing or animal. © We/us for the speaker and another person or people. © They/them for people or things. ‘We use the subject pronoun form when the pronoun represents the subject of the sentence. ‘We use the object pronoun form: when the pronoun is the direct or indirect object; * after a preposition; * when the pronoun is the complement of the verb be. 10 Subject Object pronoun | pronoun i me you you Singular he him she her « | * | we us Plural you you they themRECOGNISING PRONOUNS A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Example: Mother Chewsa war a missionary, dhe war arwarded the Nobel Race Prige in. 1979, The pronoun she takes the place of the antecedent Mother Theresa (noun) The word for which a pronoun stands is called antecedent. Here are some kinds of pronouns: Personal pronouns refer to: «the speakers: |, we. Tove studying English! «the person spoken to, Did you have a good time at the party? + the person spoken about: he, she, it, they. He is a very successful writer. Interrogative pronouns are used to aska question. + what, who, whom, which, whose. Which is your room? Demonstrative pronouns point out the person or the thing referred to + this, that, these, those. That must be very expensive! Indefinite pronouns point out unspecified persons or things and do not usually have antecedents. + each, either, neither, one, anybody, some, more all, everyone. Everyone signed his name in the book. Compounds pronouns are pronouns combined with: + self or ~selves. They are called reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ‘ourselves, themselves. Talways talk to myself. each other, one another. They are called reciprocal pronouns and are used when the subject (plural) and the object ofa sentence refer to the same people and these people have a two-way relationship. The classmates sent text messages to one another during the holidays, Relative pronouns are used to introduce dependent or relative clauses. + who, whom which, that, whose. She is the student who speaks fluent English. Possesive pronouns show ownership. + after verbs: mine, yours his, ers, ours, theirs. These books are mine.RECOGNISING PRONOUNS Levelt Pre-intermediate and Intermediate ‘A) Write the correct pronoun in each sentence and say what type of pronoun itis. Example: Pat's mobile needs 1 be repaired, but . WME... is working. (Pornenrive) Havea try! 1) Bob is Anna's new friend, . Isliving in New York. 2) penis it? found it on the floor. 3)Is his new car? 4) Football is the most popular sport because ..e-sseeenees CAN feally get into it 5) [don't like my car very much. Actually, love 6) This is the book .. | read this summer, T)DOIit soeeeeseesese! am not going to do it for you. 8) Mary and Tim like Levelt Upper intermediate B) Choose the correct pronoun in each sentence and say what type of pronoun itis. 1) Nick locked hisself/himsetf out of his apartment. 2) The big dog is near /me. 3) Did you see whomy/wiho was at the cinema? 4) We/Us adult people add an important dimension to society. 5) Seat yourself near whoever/whomever you wish. 66) The person l actually trusts him/he. 7) The responsibility to protect the citizens is their/thetrs. Key: A) 1) HoPersonat 2) Whose rterogative3)thattdemonstratve:4) one /indefirt:5) yours possessive: 6) thet /ratve:7 yoursfeixve 8) achotherrecrocl B) 1)himsef 2} me:3) Who:4) We;5) whoever.6) him; 7) thes.CONTAINERS ‘A) What would you expect to find in these containers? Make sentences like the example. Example: “packet 4, expect, ton ind, 4) an envelope 5) a flask 6) awardrobe Takertle 8) a wallet B) Where can you buy them? Which would you buy at these shops? ‘Ata beauty salon: . ‘Ata furniture shop: ‘Ata leather goods shop: Ata stationery: . Ata supermarket:ee s jolours is one of the most important topics that ‘always appeals to students because they are ‘useful as a communication tool; they help to identify, differentiate or label objects and their immediate surroundings. In this article, we are going to engage our students in different activities that will focus on orange. Such activities (see photocopiables on pages 15 to 17) will be aimed at different ‘age and level groups, but we are sure you will be able to adapt them to your needs and make them profitable for your students The meanings of orange ‘We can say that orange is a vibrant and happy colour which has specific effects on the body such as increasing immunity, stimulating appetite and improving the digestive system Present it to your students and ask where they can find it, They may come up with answers such as fire, sunset, fish, vegetables, leaves in autumn, etc. The following list will help you guide your students into new ideas and new vocabulary, ‘which may trigger a project, some research and presentation of their findings. Orange. + evokes the taste of healthy fruits, vitality, energy, excitement, cheer, adventure. associated with vitamin C and good health. symbolic of autumn, isthe color of life rafts, traffic cones, stanchions, barrels and high visibility police vests. associated with Leo in Astrology. * points dangerous machine parts or equipment (Orange coding). Orange in different cultures ‘In the Netherlands, it represents royalty and refers to the Royal Family as the House of Orange. In Hinduism, itis a sacred and auspicious colour. Buddhist monks wear saffron yellow-orange robes. + In Eastern philosophy, it represents a chakra in the abdomen which is the creative center. + In the UK, it stands for the Norther Irish Protestants and has very strong religious and political significance, To Native Americans, it represents aa uf learning or kinship. + In the United States and Canada, it represents Halloween and Thanksgiving. + In the United States, itis the colour of prisoners’ uniforms. + In Europe, itis used by football tams such as Barcelona and Dutch National Team. + In the United States it means bargain pricing. Orange through history + New York was once named New Orange. It was in 1673 ‘when the city was taken by the Dutch. + Agent Orange was a very powerful herbicide used in the Vietnam War by the United States military in order to destroy forests so that their enemies had no place to hide. + Orange Crush is the name of both a soft drink and an REM song. “The black box flight recorders on aircraft are actually bright orange so that they can be found more easily. They were originally called “black boxes” because early electronic prototypes were stored in black metal boxes. * Alexander the Great washed his hair in saffron to keep it a lovely shiny orange colour. During his time saffron was as rare as diamonds and more expensive than gold Canaries were originally a greenish-brown, but after many ‘years of crossbreeding by humans yellow coloured canaries hhave been produced. A diet of red peppers turns them orange. Monica PérezLevel: Elementary + What do you know about orange? 1) Orange and this colour are the colours representing Halloween. Which + White + Black += Purple Red | 2)What two colours are mixed together to get orange? : * Blue and red : + Red and yellow : -* Yellow and green l + White and blue 3) Which pigment gives carrots their orange colour? = Carotene “= Lycopene = Chlorophyll = Anthocyanin 4) Between which 2 colours does orange come in the spectrum? = Green and blue = Red and yellow * Violet and blue = Blue and green 5) What colour Is Orange blossom? * Yellow * Orange * White = Cream Orange in Nature A) Find out where we can find orange. 9) A small orange fish that people keep asa pet. 10) Along thin vegetable. B) Nature dresses in orange. 1) The part of the year between summer and winter. 2) The heat and the bright light that comes from burning things. 3) The time in the evening when the sun goes down. 44) The time in the morning when the sun comes up. 7) Around fruit with a colour between red and yellow and a thick skin. .. Age: All ORANGE 6) Orange is associated with vitamin . eA “c +E “8 7) Orange colours symbolise " Royalty and luxury = Calmness = Courage and strength 8) They are often dressed in orange clothing to make them easier to see if they try to escape. Who are they? * Slaves «= Prisoners = Murderers 9) Orange is the national colour of... = France India «= The Netherlands 10) Orange represents the sin of... * Gluttony * Adultery + Envy 5) A fruit that s orange or red on the outside and orange on the inside. It grows in hot countries. 66) A soft round fruit with a yellow and red skin and a large stone in the centre. 8) A very large round vegetable with a thick orange skin. Itis a symbol of Halloween, Look for photographs of sunsets, birds, flowers rut, fish, vegetables, fire or anything that represents orange in nature. Make a poster or Power Point Presentation and speak about each image. Key: what do you know about orange? 1) lac) Rec and yellow; 3 Carotene) ed and yellow) Whit; 6) C7) courage and suength8) Prisoners) The Netherlands: 10) Gator. Orange in nature. A) 1) auturr 2} re3) sunset) suns) mango:6) peach: 7) orange8) pumpkin; 9} gosh 10) cat. > imLevel: Elementary + ORANGE HUNT In small groups, research on the following topics and answer the questions. 1) Orange in flags Which countries have orange in their flags? What does orange represent? Place the countries you mention on a map. 2) Orange in sports T-shirts a Look for some sports T-shirts that have orange on them. Where are these teams from? 3) Orange in celebrations Which celebrations are represented by ‘olour? 4) Orange in brands and logos In the Feng Shui, orange is the colour of purpose and organisation, and it is supposed to help focus attention and. concentration. For this reason, itis the colour used by many companies and brands. Look for some logos or brands that have this colour. Which are they? 5) Orange and what it symbolises Orange symbolises energy, enthusiasm, courage, vitality friendship, joy, self confidence, pride. Look for these words and write their corresponding adjectives. T[s [i folryrye END SHI FGHJK VITALITY J | NOUN | PDTDQWETU energy D uP fulwz|x]c[v|B| ensiasm | ENESSBNMMNERDFGK fet es = courage AEDCVFJOYIKLMNZXCDR G A WN > FROM FIRST TO TWEL | Put the names of the months in the correct order. Then complete the {sentences using ordinal numbers. NOVEMBER FEBRUARY marcH JANUARY “uty APRIL OCTOBER DECEMBER JUNE SEPTEMBER SS= Bee BS — 6 =a 22 pz]Level: intermediate & Age: Adolescents/Adults PHRASAL VERBS IN CONTEXT A love story (Part 2) A) Discuss. You have already met Mark and Lara in the first part of this story. What adjectives can you think of to describe them? Give reasons for your choice. | think. Mark is... Lara is... B) Read the second part of the story. ‘After work Mark was worried and miserable so he went toa pub ‘and tried to relax. As usual, his money had run out before pay day. He couldn’ stop thinking about his wedding. He had to come up with a solution and he hoped it wouldn't be long before he might get the insurance money for his stolen car. He had given up hope that the police would ever find it. So Mark sat drinking a strong cup of coffee and tying to listen to is portable radia. It didn't work well ‘enough because the batteres had run down. He was looking through the local newspaper instead when his mobile phone started toring. twas from the insurance company. They had decided to pay him thefve thousand pounds his car was worth. He umped up and ‘headed forthe door when his bes friend Adam arsved. “Hello, Mark Fancy seeing you here! How have you been?” ‘tm going to cally boss and ask for some time off” “Why? “Tim getting the insurance money for my car. realy need a holiday and now can afford one” “Yes. You have been looking a bit run down. Where will ou go?” “I think il go to Brighton, whispered Mark. “But promise me you wonttellLara™ _ 1 i Two dys late, Mark was in Brighton. He spent his fst day ying ‘on the beach sunbathing. Now he stood at the window of hs hotel room watching the girs goby. Suddenly he caught sight oftwo girls who were sitting outside the caféjust across the road. One ofthem was very pretty. “Twonderifcould ask her out tothe cinema. Shel probably turn me down, | suppose! he thought sadly. But he tured the idea ‘over few times and decided to try. He quickly combed his hair, checked his breath and lf the room. -Mark offered to buy the girls drink. They were ery friendly and introduced themselves. The prety anes name was Lucy and her ‘friend was called Sarah, Mark suggested that they all should goto the cinema. Sarah tumed to Lucy and said, "Yougo, Lucy.™m going totum inearly tonight. 'm very tired” So Lucy and Mark arranged tomeetat eight otlock They said goodbye and Mork tured round toga Suddenly the smile roze on his lips. There rightin front of him wos Lara! “How did she manage to turn up here?" He was definitely in trouble.nee Levek intermediate ‘Age: Adolescens/Aduls_ | C) Say whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) 1.Markhas no money. 2.The police found Mark's stolen car. 3. Mark thinks that going away on holiday might be a solution to his problems. 44. Adam tres to stop him. 5. In Brighton, Markis staying with his cousin. 6..Mark meets Lucy and asks her out. D) Find twelve phrasal verbs in the text and match them to the following definitions. : bring forth, discover or produce. :tred. ..: ose power, stop functioning, examine. make an appearance, appear. steject or not to accept a proposal. admit defeat. move towards the direction of another person e.g. to talk to or look at him/her. become used up; be exhausted. 10. think about something carefully. un. 90 to bed in order to sleep, 12, move yourself or your body in order to leave a place. E) Role play Work in pairs. Role play a dialogue between Mark and Lara, Mark has escaped from her by going to Brighton. Lara has just seen and heard him talk to another woman. She is standing right there in front of him. What do they say to each other? F) Writing Imagine you are Mark and you are in the hotel in Brighton that night after seeing Lara. Write an e-mail to your best fiend ‘Adam and tell him what happened with Lucy and Lara, how you are feeling at this point and what you are planning to do. Write about 100 words. From: mark_smith2009@yahoo.com.uk To: adamrichmond@yahoo.com.uk Subject: Dear Adam, G) Whole-class discussion. Making predictions ; How do you think the story will end? What will happen to Mark and Lara? ‘Key: After reading: C)1)7:2)F:3)1:4)F:5)F:6) 7D) 1) come up with:2) un dow: 3) rundown) lok throughs) tum up:6) tn down-7) 9) un out 10) tum theides) over 11) um 12):um round.De Jost of the times assessment is reduced to just cone piece of information, that is to say, to one ? test or one project and many other aspects are ‘ forgotten or disregarded. So, to get a more complete picture of the students’ progress it would be convenient to use an assessment portfolio What is an assessment portfolio? Itis the systematic collection and evaluation of the students’ ‘work measured against predetermined scoring criteria such as rubrics or rating scales (O'Malley & Valdez Pierce, 1996). It can provide continuous record of the students’ progress and it includes the performance assessment of each one of them. Even if portfolios are not widely used, we can agree on the fact that having multiple methods to evaluate our students is good and that we cannot base our decisions on only one piece of information since many aspects of the second language need to be assessed in varied contexts. The main aim of a eset ina classroom portfolio is to show the students development along the year, point out the stage where they started, how. they moved on and where they artived at the end of the course or the school year. This is particularly useful for ‘making the students aware of their progress, which will give them a sense of accomplishment. Now, let's focus on how to plan, organise and use portfolios. Planning Before beginning, you should decide the purpose of the portfolio. Is it going to show progress to students and parents? Is it going to be used the following year by the teacher in, charge of the group? Is it going to be aimed at evaluation purposes only? Once you have made the decision, prepare boxes of different colours with the names of the students. You may ask them to decorate and label their own box to make this task lighter.Organising ‘What kind of work are you going to include? Tests and pieces of writing only, or a piece of Science or History work that will show the student has acquired the necessary structures and vocabulary to accomplish the activity? Are grammar, pronunciation, reading, listening, writing, and speaking going tobe included? Before starting to collect pieces, think about what kinds of products to include, how often you will add the students’ work, its quality and purpose, if you are only going to add the best pieces or not, drafts, homework, etc. What to include + Reading, Texts the students like or have enjoyed: filin the gap exercises that focus on grammar and vocabulary; CDs with the recording of the students reading or retelling a story This is particularly interesting when students are able to compare their oral productions at the beginning and end of, the year, Sure they will be surprised at how much they have improved! * Listening and speaking. After an oral input from the teacher or a recording, the students draw or retell the story. Then they can retell the story while the teacher records them in a podcast which will be burned in a CD later on. * Writing, According to the level of the students, any: piece of writing from drawings to essays can be part of the portfolio. They can include drafts of their work ‘which show improvement and their grades along the year. They may also add self-made dictionaries with new words, words that are difficult to spell, lists of collocations or idiomatic expressions, etc. How often to include items ‘The advice is not to include too many or too few pieces of work. You can decide together with your students. However, it would be right to place items in the portfolio monthly. Whose the choice is You can help the students make the decision about what to include but it will be valuable if they themselves choose their pieces to show that they have just learned a new word or structure. Remember that almost no student will be happy about including their worst production. Self-assessment role Itis very important that the students include their own opinions and reflections as a tool of self-assessment. They can explain why they have chosen a particular piece of work; they can compare it with a previous one and point out the differences or the way in which they have improved, and they can also evaluate how much they have progressed. This will encourage them to take the responsibility for their own learning process. Conclusion Portfolios are an interesting and useful way to document students’ improvement along the school year. They can be adapted to ages and levels. They show what the students know and what they can do and include the students’ as well as the teacher’s reflections, which will represent a more comprehensive picture of their achievement than do the written tests on their own, Ana M. Martino Reference (Maley, LM. 8 Valdez Perce, L (1996) Authentic ‘essesment fr English language leaner: Practical ‘approaches fr teachers, NewYork: Azon. Wesley.‘Teacher: use these phrases to give out to students to remind, them of appropriate attitudes which are expected from them iY) in the classroom. You can propose your students to decorate the classroom, reproducing the phrases in big coloured ol icy r dries whieh they can eu ut of eardboard or Eva foam [odVi &7. £9 2S Ok@ Bem one o os OB “wor : p a=@