A focus on materials development: How to write effective learning materials, Rachael Roberts

In our IDIE class, we were asked by our teacher to give a lesson to our class on How to write effective learning materials. To do so we did reserach on this area, focusing on Rachel Roberts since she is an expert in this field, a teacher trainer and author of several works such as IELTS Foundation, the new edition of Total English Intermediate and most recently, Real Life Advanced. 

We had 20 minutes to give the lesson and even though we surpassed a little the time we had estimated, the activities we had prepared for the lesson went very well and everyone seemed to have lots of fun. 

Our aim in this class was to make students learn certain specific English vocabulary through fun activities by using TICs. Firstly, we made a Prezi presentation (http://prezi.com/s-tsve0n7qsl/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share) in order to explain to them what we had discovered in our research. Once we had finished, we asked them to join a Kahoot we had prepared for them so that they could see their level regarding the vocabulary we were going to deal with by means of a game. It was a very positive approach since they were very competitive and wanted to get all the questions in the Kahoot correct. They also loved the fact that we gave the winning team some candy (especially the winners)!

After this, we went on to the main task we had planned. We asked the class to get into 6 different groups. Then, we gave each group a different piece of paper with a different theme and some general and specific vocabulary related to this together with some instructions that they had to follow. The activities were the following:

HAUL

A video in which someone shares what they bought recently and how much it costs.

You are a famous fashion influencer. Simulate that you record a video showing the latest trends for this winter. Here you have some general and specific vocabulary that you must use for your performance.

• General: subscribe, like, thumbs up/down, favourite
• Specific: trendy, crop top, show (v), scarf, high heels, dress, boyfriend jeans, shorts, romper, skirt

MAKE UP TUTORIAL

A video in which someone shows how to do a certain make up style. 

You are a beauty guru. Simulate that you record a video doing your own make up or doing your friend’s make up while you give instructions on the process. Here you have some general and specific vocabulary that you must use for your performance.

• General: subscribe, like, thumbs up/down, favourite
• Specific: contouring, brush, lipstick, concealer, remove (v), mascara, moisturiser, eyeliner, powder, beauty blender, foundation

TRY YOUR OWN HAIRSTYLE

A video in which someone shows how to do a certain hairstyle. 

You are a famous hairdresser. Simulate that you record a video doing your own hairstyle or doing your friend’s hairstyle while you give instructions on the process. Here you have some general and specific vocabulary that you must use for your performance.

• General: subscribe, like, thumbs up/down, favourite
• Specific: braids, pony tail, pig tail, bun, comb, brunette, blonde, hairband, straightener, curly/straight

TRYING CANDY

A video in which someone tries candies and snacks and grades them. 

You have to try the candy in your plastic bag. Simulate that you record a video trying the candy and grade it. Here you have some general and specific vocabulary that you must use for your performance.

• General: subscribe, like, thumbs up/down, favourite
• Specific: sweet/salty, flavour, lollipop, spicy, bitter/sour, grade (1 - 10), popcorn, seeds

WHAT’S IN MY PURSE

A video in which someone shows what’s in his/her purse.

You have to simulate that you record a video showing what you have in your

purse. Here you have some general and specific vocabulary that you must use for

your performance.

• General: subscribe, like, thumbs up/down, favourite
• Specific: tissues, lighter, make up, keys, wallet, hand cream, chewing gum, small mirror, medicine/pills, earphones/headphones, charger, glasses/sunglasses, lip balm.

FIRST DATES

A video in which you give tips on what you must and mustn’t do on a first date.

You have to simulate that you record a video giving tips for a first date: what to do and what not to do. Here you have some general and specific vocabulary that you must use for your performance.

• General: subscribe, like, thumbs up/down, favourite
• Specific: blind date, dress up, bill, manners, hold hand (NO!), advisable/recommend, book (a restaurant)

So, we gave them 5 minutes to record themselves on video and then upload them to a Facebook page that we have created for the purpose of this activity. Our Facebook page was the following:

Once they had all uploaded their videos we watched them and we all had soo much fun, they were great! Without any doubt, the result of this activity was that students were able to learn the vocabulary by means of fun activities since we took advantage of something they love, social networks. They were certainly motivated and this enabled them to have fun while learning at the same time!