Friday 30 April 2010

How to draw a face - face grid worksheet

In the presentation Proportions of the Human Form, at the end, there is a face grid worksheet. This is for students to practise drawing a face, using the lines to guide them. For easier download, I've uploaded a pdf version in both Scribd and Slideshare. Credit for this worksheet goes to José Alberto of IES Tarahales.

Please note that the presentation has been updated today, so if you have downloaded it, I'd advise you to redownload it.

Incidentally, Scribd is featuring the Proportions PowerPoint presentation today.

Face Grid

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Lexiophiles: Top 100 Language Blogs 2010 starts today

I'm pleased to say that acLiLtocLiMB has been nominated in this year's competition under the LANGUAGE TEACHING category, but only 100 blogs per category will proceed to the voting stage. Nominations will be accepted until 11th May.

To know how the competition works, read the article here.

If you like this blog, I'd appreciate your nominations to help it get into the voting stage. Nominate acLiLtocLiMB here!

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Art: Proportions of the Human Form: How to Draw a Face

Last updated: 2 Nov 2010
This presentation can now be better seen here:
http://aclil2climb.blogspot.com/2010/11/proportions-of-human-form-now-in.html


This presentation attempts to summarise the basic points of proportions of our body parts, especially with regards to the head. It also includes a tutorial on how to draw a face. My gratitude goes to José Alberto of IES Tarahales for sharing his expertise on the tutorial, without which  the presentation would have been lacking a vital part. The presentation may be downloaded from either Scribd or SlideShare.

The worksheet at the end of the presentation can be seen/downloaded here.

Since the presentation refers to several parts of the face, it will be useful if the students first familiarise themselves with the names. I've created a labelling game for this.

To test if they have understood the theories of proportion, I've also created a quiz, which is gradable. The results will be automatically sent to the email address the quiz taker provides.

As usual, don't forget to give some feedback in the comments section below!

Please note that to fully appreciate the contents in this presentation, especially the tutorial, it has to be downloaded and viewed as such. Proportions of the human form


Click image to begin the labelling game.












Click on image to begin Proportions Quiz.








Sources of images: Wikipedia Commons & Flickr

Sunday 25 April 2010

Free Online Task Management

Regular readers might have read my post back in December 2009 about an online To Do list. Well, in the end, TeuxDeux's simplicity killed it for me. I found I needed more space for descriptions, I craved for a calendar and the ability to post an item further into the future quicker than TeuxDeux's painful option, etc, etc.

So, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a far more powerful tool, also free, of course: HiTask.

HiTask allows for more options than I care for, but what's important is that it gives me more space than I need for descriptions, I can jump ahead easily, I can set reminders and even schedule it to remind me by email, I can categorise my items, and a whole load more, which I won't go into here. If you don't believe it, check it out for yourself!

Wednesday 21 April 2010

IV Premio Espiral Edublogs 2010


The finalists of this year's Premio Espiral Edublogs 2010 has been announced, and I'm mighty pleased to say that a cLiL to cLiMB is on the list!

Just to get to be on the list is very encouraging indeed, especially taking into account the blog isn't quite a year old, and it's been quite an upcLiL struggle to convince teachers that there really is stuff here both they and their students can use. It is rather frustrating to find that there are still a lot of them who are stuck in their old tried and tested methodology and are reluctant to tear away from their paper-bound mentality. Incidentally, tomorrow is Earth Day, and I've signed a pledge not to use or receive paper on that day - not that I do during other days! You can do the same on TeachPaperless.

What is important for me is not so much the amount of awards I can win, but rather that the stuff I create gets to be used by both teachers and students alike, and that it could help them improve their knowledge and skills, and more importantly, perhaps, to help them enjoy language rather than, as so many of them do, dread their English lessons. If winning awards helps increase readership, which, in turn, increases the number of people using the activities and suggestions here, then they will indeed be most welcomed and will surely give me infinite encouragement to carry on creating.

You can see the list of finalists here, and if you would like to say something about the blog, you can do it here, or by clicking on the image above. Oh, it is also very encouraging to note that the blog became a finalist in spite of the pitiful number of comments written!

Thank you for your valued support, and much gratitude goes especially to all those who have commented here and elsewhere on cyberland.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

It's worth keeping an eye on this blog

It's worth keeping an eye on this blog
I guess it can be called chain blogging...but that sounds rather negative, doesn't it? Looking at it more positively, it's a means to publicise blogs that are either new or not as known as they should be.

Basically, I provide links to ten blogs I consider worthy of a read or two, and I tell them about this 'project'. They, in turn (hopefully), copy this image, and linked in another ten blogs, which shouldn't be any of these below. I was linked into this project by Saro Rosales.

 Here is my list (in no particular order):

The Spelling Blog
Ask Auntie Web
ESL Bloggers
English with Jennifer
Janet's Abruzzo Edublog
Movie Segments To Assess Grammar Goals
My English Printable Worksheets
Nick Cachet Photography
El Blog CLIL de CEP1
ELT & CLIL Links 

Sunday 18 April 2010

Present Continuous Exercises 2

Chiew's CLIL EFL ESL Blog: Present Continuous Exercises, Quiz, Activities, Games

More practice on the present continuous tense. Click on the image to begin the quiz. Some may find these easier than the previous one:  

Teachers, please take note: some of my quizzes, like this one, for example, ask for an email. If an email is provided, the results will be sent automatically to it. This allows you to grade/check your students' progress. If you haven't got an email for this purpose, I'd suggest creating one for this purpose, and ask the students to provide that email in the quiz.

Saturday 17 April 2010

Featured on Scribd...

I was chuffed to see Scribd featuring two of my shared documents: ICT Word Search (clocking 441 reads) and Jumbled Sentences (Daily Routines) {clocking 1,383 reads}. The most popular so far are still my first Jumbled Sentences activity (3,060 reads) and Debate - example of how a debate should be conducted (3,018 reads).

You can see the original posts of these by browsing through the categories section on the left column. If you want to see my uploads in Scribd, just search for 'acliltoclimb', no spaces. Comments, ratings, etc are most appreciated.

Thanks for all the support... the blog is fast approaching its first anniversary!

Mace Class Debate Report

This is a report from one of our students in IES LA Minilla on the last class debate. It is short and straight to the point, but I felt it deserved to be read by more people, so here it is. For those unfamiliar with the concept of debating, read these:

http://aclil2climb.blogspot.com/2009/07/debate-in-classroom-all-you-need-to.html  and

http://aclil2climb.blogspot.com/2009/11/class-debate-tasks-for-everyone.html

THE CRITICAL SIGHT

The motion for the debate was "Downloading films and music from the Internet is not immoral".

The debate took place in La Minilla High School on 26th February 2010.

The proposition team was formed by Manuel Masseratti, the first speaker, Fernando Acosta, the second speaker and Sandro Artiles, the third speaker.

The opposition team was represented by Stefania Valle, speaker number one, Ana Isabel Márquez, speaker number two and Nayara Magro.

The debate was chaired by Himar Quesada, and the judges were Nichel Quesada, Héctor Aguiar and Dong Hui Kim.

The proposition team’s main arguments were that singers actually earn little from the sales of CDs, CDs are overpriced, and that what people wanted was not spending money. They also said downloading is legal if the downloaded files are not shared.

The opposition team, on the other hand, argued that singers and record companies willl not earn any money if they cannot sell their CDs. They also compare downloading files with stealing and that we are putting the future of the artistes in danger.

Comments from the audience were invited before the summaries (given by the third speakers), and after the two teams had finished giving their summaries, while the judges were making their decisions outside the classroom. There were people for and against the motion. Most of the audience's comments were similar to the arguments presented by the two teams.

My personal opinion is that downloading films and music from the Internet is moral and good because you are exposed to more culture and you are not really hurting anyone. Besides, if you only want to have one song, why must you pay for the whole CD? I also believe that a singer makes more money from concerts than from the sale of CDs.

In my opinion this debate was better than the previous one because it was more organized. Unfortunately, however, I must say that almost everyone merely read from their notes, and the main purpose of having debates is to encourage people to SPEAK, not to READ.

The speakers also committed some mistakes. For instance, I could not understand anything of what Manuel or Sandro said. Furthermore, there were quite a few badly constructed sentences, and some did not look at the audience, but looked down at their notes instead. Stefania spoke very fast, but  Ana Isabel's speech was understandable. Nayara did a great job especially since she does not know much English; she did not read, and she had good arguments.

Finally, all the speakers, except Fernando, did not make full use of their allocated time of five minutes, but instead, most spoke for far less than four minutes.

The judges declared the proposition team as the winners.

José Carlos Castillo Acosta
4º ESO A

Monday 12 April 2010

The Living Kingdoms: Basic Explanation, Quiz and Jigsaw



Living organisms are divided into five kingdoms:
  •  Monera - the most simple living things.
  •  Protista - eukaryotes with only one cell.
  •  Fungi - mushrooms, mould and yeast.
  •  Plantae - all plants, such as trees and grass.
  •  Animalia - all animals, including people.
Sometimes, you will see a 6-kingdom classification, where monera is sub-divided into archaebacteria and eubacteria. For the purpose of this post, we will maintain the 5-kingdom classification.

How are living organisms classified?

They are classified according to:
  •  cell type
  •  number of cells and
  •  type of nutrition
Monera (or prokaryotes) are the simplest living beings. They have only one cell, but which hasn't got a nucleus. Cells with a nucleus are called eukaryotes. Some monera are autotrophic meaning they are capable of manufacturing complex organic nutritive compounds from simple inorganic sources such as carbon dioxide, water, and nitrates, using light or chemical energy; and some are heterotrophic meaning they cannot synthesize their own food and are dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.

Monera include all kinds of bacteria.

Protista are also very small. Most have only one cell, but some have a few. Unlike monera, they are eukaryotes. They can be autotrophic or heterotrophic.

Examples of protista are single-celled algae and amoebae (singular: amoeba).

Most fungi (singular: fungus) are multicellular, although yeast is unicellular. Their cells have nuclei (singular: nucleus), which means they are eukaryotes. Unlike plants, fungi do not have tissues, and they cannot make their own food, i.e. they are heterotrophic.

Mushrooms, mould and yeast are fungi.

The plantae kingdom is the second largest kingdom, with over 250,000 species. They are autotrophic eukaryotes, which means they have complex cells, and can make their own food.

Plants range from tiny mosses to enormous trees. There are flowering plants called angiosperms and non-flowering plants called gymnosperms. Without plants, there will probably be no life here on Earth! Almost all heterotrophs feed on plants.

The largest kingdom is animalia, consisting of over 1 million species. All animals are heterotrophic eukaryotes with many complex cells. The higher animals are vertebrates, such as birds and mammals;  and the lower animals are invertebrates. The simplest (least highly evolved) include the protozoa (singular: protozoan), sponges, jellyfish, and worms. Other invertebrates include arthropods, molluscs, and echinoderms.

Try this quiz to test/reinforce your knowledge. If you provide a valid email, you will receive your results (with the correct answers) automatically.

The Living Kingdom: monera, protoctista, fungi, plantae, animalia
Click here to begin the quiz

Images sourced from Wiki Commons






Teachers, please take note: some of my quizzes, like this one, for example, ask for an email. If an email is provided, the results will be sent automatically to it. This allows you to grade/check your students' progress. If you haven't got an email for this purpose, I'd suggest creating one for this purpose, and ask the students to provide that email in the quiz.

JIGSAW PUZZLES

The Living Kingdom: monera, protoctista, fungi, plantae, animalia

Click here for the 49-piece jigsaw puzzle.

If you think you're good, try this 150-piece!







Please provide feedback in the comments section below. It's what keep this blog going. :-)

Friday 9 April 2010

Your Opinion Counts!

Please spare a few seconds of your time and complete this voting form. The action I take depends on the opinions of my readers.


 












Thursday 8 April 2010

Culture Studies for 9-11 yr old kids

I wish I was a kid with all this technology creeping into the classroom...
A commendable project for 9-11 year-old kids has been started by Mrs Kim Sivick where her students are interested in hearing from people from all over the world.

So, if you're reading this, whether you're a student, a teacher, or neither, I'm sure they would appreciate hearing some comments from you.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Rugby Union: Quiz on rules and the World Cup

Click here to start this online crossword puzzle on the basic rules of rugby. Don't forget to come back here when you've finished to report your score in the comments section.


Thanks goes to Nestor, Nico, Pablo y Alejandra for their contribution.

Image by: Michel Béga

Click here for a 36-piece jigsaw puzzle

Click here for a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle

Monday 5 April 2010

Adjectives of Emotions and Feelings: -ed vs -ing endings, quiz, crossword, jigsaw



Here are a few activities to help you learn adjectives which describe emotions and feelings. If you still get confused with the -ed and the -ing endings, remember that you are interested in something, but it's the thing itself that is interesting.

Examples:

The students were confused by his confusing explanation.
I'm excited about my new job. I think it will be exciting!

Click here to start the quiz. Provide a valid email and the results (along with the correct answers) will be automatically mailed to you.



Click here to start this online crossword puzzle. Don't forget to come back here when you've finished to report your score in the comments section.











Click here to play the 32-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Click here for the 64-piece jigsaw puzzle.