CONTENTS

1. Introduction.
2. Coursework Tasks.
2.1. The Ideal English Classroom
2.2 Maths task
2.3 Using Fairy Tales in the English Classroom
3. Microteaching Outline and Lesson Plan
4. Microteaching Follow Up, Group Evaluation
5. The Squiggly Wiggly Worm poem ( 5 lines)
6. Spilled Milk! A simple, 10 line story for primary
7. Course Wrap Up: What I have learned in this course and how it will help me
to be an effective primary English teacher

1. Introduction
Writing this portfolio has been again an outstanding opportunity to make my progress
and improvement in regards of developing and valuating all the acquired knowledge in
this subject obvious, while it reviews and gathers all the elaborated tasks and general
work of this semester.
In the first part of this portfolio, you will find all the mandatory coursework tasks, which I
elaborated both at home and in class. This way, it makes me follow easily the different
topics treated in Didactica de la Llengua Anglesa, as they will be gathered in a
document which I can have handy forever and which I will be able to consult whenever
I want to.
Subsequently, you will also find the Microteaching outline and the Lesson Plan we
created and put into practice with my work group during the course. A group evaluation
is also enclosed in order to recap our experience in creating a lesson with the
resources we were taught in this subject. This is another excellent example on how we
practiced and worked on communicative abilities, which is also a preparation for my
future as an English teacher.
Moreover, I also enclosed two examples of activities we were presented during the
course, which focus on literacy and developing writing skills.
Last but not least, in the conclusion I tried to reflect my whole learning progress
throughout the course. Basically, I commented on my personal estimation, in terms of
the importance of becoming competent in teaching, acquiring teaching strategies, etc.
as this is my last year before becoming a certified English teacher for primary
education.

2.2- Math Task

In terms of a general preparation and organisation of this kind of a maths class,
first of all I would propose my students to make a brainstorming of all the
concepts related to geometrics they know or still do ignore. This way I could be
cable to value the level of my students and their previous knowledge, as well as
the different capacities and if it would be viable that there might be others how
can help those who have problems in understanding.

Afterwards I would ask the children to empty their bags and pencil cases, in
order to move them to observe which element they have nearby that can be
filled with something and so, try to introduce them to the concept of volume.
They should also spent a short time observing the shapes and sizes of different
objects in the classroom. So far, I would tell them to fix their attention in those
objects that they are able to touch, in order to feel the surface area with their
hands. So they would get to a first approach to the size of the object.

Finally, when they have SEEN and FELT the objects, I would explain the
mathematical procedures in order to calculate volume and surface area. At the
end of the class I would ask the children to bring from home boxes from all
different types and sizes. They might be interested in start measuring the
volume on their own, so that they might explain their first results to the rest of
the class, although it would be not until the second lesson that they will start
working on measuring their material.
In the following lessons, I would divide as seen in the movie, the class in
different working groups. They would cut, stick, shape and reshape different the
different boxes, in order to measure on their own the volume and the surface
area. Having this realia in class is useful in order to assure the understanding of
such complex concepts. Moreover, I firmly believe that peer working is the
best way of sharing knowledge among the students, as there might be different
levels of perception and understanding.

Depending on the age, children might have problems in understanding the

concept of volume and size, as they can get confused by a wrong optical
perception. For instance, if you pour the same amount of water in two different
shaped or sized cups, they are sometimes not able to understand that the
capacity of the cups is the same, as it is the amount of water. So, the volume is
the same although the shape is different.

A solution to this problem would be for instance, making themselves fill different
products (rice, liquids, etc.) in different shaped objects, so that they can imaging
these concepts more easily and first-hand. Sometimes children also might also
have problems in understanding the mathematical formula, although you could
try to simplify the explanation by drawing on the board so that they are able to
imagine visually, what they are calculating.

2. Todays session has been very interesting for us teachers in terms of

visualizing the difficulties and eases you might find in a classroom, by teaching
such kinds of concepts.
Not only was the video entertaining, but it also was visual and the message was
clear. The methology of the teacher was interesting as well as I was surprised
by the reaction of the students in the film. They all did a wide progression in
regards of the previous knowledge they had and te one they acquired after
those sessions.
The presented class activities were also interesting, as they all dealt with the
fact of visualizing in first-hand, as well as make learning visible and touchable,
in terms of all the complex situations the children might find while dealing with
geometry.

I also acquired new vocabulary in English regarded mathematical concepts

and procedures. Among my classmates, we were able to discuss those
concepts, look them up all together and so, draw our own conclusions so far.
It was interesting to acquire concepts in regards of Maths in English, as we
might be asked to do a CLIL class in our future, and we should be able to show
enough proficiency in this aspect.

5. The Squiggly, Wiggly Worm-Poem

A squiggly wiggly worm

was looking up at me
and when I looked at him
he jumped on a tree.
- Oh squiggly wiggly worm
be careful on the tree
cause it may come a bird
and pick you with his beak

6. Spilled Milk - A simple 10-line story for Primary School

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Rita.
Her mother told her to drink some milk, as it will make her grow healthily.
So she left a glass of milk on the table.
Rita was playing and did not notice the glass of milk.
Tommy the cat had observed everything with his BIG green eyes.
He came slowly, slowlysilent, silent on its paws.
jumped on the table..but -OH!! How unlucky!
He was surprised by Ritaand off fell the glass
And there it laywhite and bright
the spilled milk.

This story is based on little flashcards the children can create on their own during class
or at home. They should draw four little pictures and write some topic items on them, in
order to create their own picture narrative. Afterwards they should write the story in a
few lines. The topics can be given by the teacher, depending on the aim of the lesson.
This activity is an excellent resource in order to practice literacy development. For
instance, the children will be able to learn how to write their own invented story only
with some key words and little information.
This type of activity is an outstanding example of a wrap up activity of the lesson, in
which you might have dealt with word order or worked on prepositions. So the teacher
can choose the topic of the flashcards in order to work on specific contents. In this
sense, not only will the children work on writing and reading, but they will be able to be
imaginative and creative, as well.

7. Course Wrap Up: What I have learned in this course and how it will
help me to be an effective primary English teacher
First of all I have to soy that I am very proud of having had the possibility of attending
this course. Throughout this couple of months I have acquired a wide point of view of
what is to be English Primary teachers as well as the proper tools that I will need, in
order to achieve the goal of teaching: helping children to acquire knowledge and make
them become active members of the society they live in.
According to this Idea, I have learned the meaning of being an English teacher. Not
only we should have the tools to give meaningful and good lessons, but also we have
to understand the factors that might influence our classroom and our day by day at
school. Motivation, visual teaching, strategies, learning styles, creating rich activities
these are some of the facts that we ought to take into account and never forget to
implement in our classroom.
Thanks to this subject, now I am able to describe my ideal classroom and how I would
organize it to provide an appropriate space to develop rich and meaningful activities, as
well as to make learning fun and to transmit this message to our students. We can not
forget that there are many diverse activities and we have to be aware which one is the
more appropriated one for each situation and stage in the learning process of our
pupils.
I can also assert that the activity I enjoyed the most during this course has been the
micro-teaching. From my personal point of view, I found highly interesting the fact that it
provided us the chance to create our own teaching through the concepts that we
already had acquired in order to put them in practise. Moreover, I strongly believe that
the feedback of our classmates were very motivating and meaningful to us.
In this sense, if I had to choose one of the most interesting and enjoyable activities, I
would probably decide on the microteaching. Never has been a task so meaningful to
me in any sense. Thorough this degree, we had the possibility to work on oral skills, as
we had to show our abilities in many different kinds of oral presentations on any topic.
However, little of them focused on adopting the teachers role.

By developing our mini lessons, we had to research for meaningful and entertaining
activities, in order to motivate the students and assure their comprehension. That is
why I highly believe it was high-time that we were given a space in which we could
practice our teaching skills, as we are potential teachers. These kinds of activities allow
you to be creative and to imagine how your future as a teacher will be, showing its
eases and difficulties.
As future teacher of a foreign language, you need to work hard on expanding your
knowledge and be perfectly skilled, in order to be a brilliant example for your students.
All things considered, I would like to congratulate the teacher for her involvement and
professionalism, as well as making the lessons enjoyable and entertaining. Personally,
I think those values are critical in this job, since in this way you will be able to engage
the students and motivate them to learn. Not only was I taught a lot of values and
strategies such as creating a safe place to learn as well as a fun and motivating
learning environment, be capable to share knowledge, etc. but I also was able to feel it
myself in this classroom.
Therefore, I really enjoyed attending to Didactica de la LLengua Anglesa course and
now I am sure about having made progresses, as well as I have learned to not giving
up and continue learning, not only strategies and methodologies, but also from real life
situations. Now I really feel being a better person. In this sense I also want to thank the
teacher.