Working with native speakers in class at 3rd 1st

Graduate from the University of Michigan. Currently completing a Fulbright U.S. Student Award with the English Teaching Assistant program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from March until November 2016. Was a dual concentrator in Spanish and International Studies, with a focus in International Norms, Security and Cooperation. Held a Community Action and Social Change minor in the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Interests include international relations, politics, government, Latin American cultures, NGOs, non-profits, romance languages, human rights, social justice, community action/social change, community organizing. Experience includes study and volunteer work in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Cusco

ENS No 1 - Proyecto Intercultural, 4/10/16-8/11/16

Docente: Malena Gomez Sierra

Asistente: Brinley Bruton

"El proyecto consiste en proyectar distintas escenas de películas, audios o canciones en los cuales los alumnos vean el uso de vocabulario específico o expresiones idiomáticas relacionadas con temas tales como: Miedo - Felicidad - Tiempo - Animales - Partes del cuerpo, etc.”

            In each class, we will watch clips of American TV shows that provide scenes of the idioms used in context from Idioms in Action DVDs.  The idioms will be separated by their themes, and we will cover one or two themes each class.  After watching the clips, the students will be asked to identify the common idiom among them.  We will then define the idiom together.  At the end of each class (except the fifth class), we will complete a review activity to solidify the idioms.  The third class will include a review game of all of the idioms learned up until that point.  In the fifth class, I would like every student bring to class one idiom from each of the themes that we discussed or from another theme (like sports, money, numbers, weather, emotions, etc.) — themes will be assigned to students.  The sixth class will included a review game off all idioms learned, including the ones brought to class by the students.

•   Class 1, 4/10/16: Body Part Idioms

•   Body part Idioms

•   A shoulder to cry on (DVD 2)

•   Bend somebody’s ear (DVD 2)

•   Head over heels (DVD 2)

•   At face value (DVD 1)

•   Blink of an eye (DVD 1)

•   Get under someone’s skin (DVD 1)

•   Pick someone’s brain (DVD 1)

•   Rack one’s brain (DVD 1)

•   Activity: Assign students to small groups, and assign each group two idioms from the list that they just learned.  Students will write scenarios to be acted out by the group using these idioms in context.  They should be creative!

•   Class 2, 11/10/16: Animal Idioms, Time Idioms

•   Time idioms

•   In the nick of time (DVD 1)

•   Days are numbered (DVD 1)

•   Time of one’s life (DVD 1)

•   Crack of dawn (DVD 1)

•   Animal Idioms

•   Bee’s knees (DVD 2)

•   Kill two birds with one stone (DVD 1)

•   Cry wolf (DVD 2)

•   A little bird told me (DVD 1)

•   Activity: Students complete worksheet that includes sentences and phrases with fill-in-the-blank spaces and a word bank.  The students must fill in the blanks with the words from the word bank and identify whether or not the sentence or phrase is an idiom.

•   Class 3: 18/10/16: Color Idioms; Review game of all idioms learned so far

•   Color idioms

•   Out of the blue (DVD 2)

•   Get/have the blues (DVD 2)

•   Pot of gold (DVD 2)

•   Once in a blue moon (DVD 2)

•   Review Game: Words from all of the idioms learned so far will be cut out and mixed up.  Students separated into two teams will compete to form all idioms correctly before the other team.

•   Class 4, 25/10/16: Food Idioms, Nature Idioms

•   Nature idioms

•   Beat around the bush (DVD 2)

•   Cry someone a river (DVD 2)

•   Over the moon (DVD 1)

•   Happy camper (DVD 1)

•   Food idioms

•   Peas in a pod (DVD 1)

•   Bread-winner (DVD 2)

•   Bad egg (DVD 2)

•   Bad apple (DVD 1)

•   Activity: Students will choose from strips of paper that included questions or situations.  The student must respond to the question or situation using an idiom in their answer — requires creativity!

•   Class 5, 1/11/16: Music Idioms; Student Presentations of Idioms

•   Music idioms

•   Face the music (DVD 1)

•   Not to miss a beat (DVD 2)

•   Music to someone’s ears (DVD 1)

•   March to the beat of one’s own drum Student presentations of new idioms

•   Class 6, 8/11/16: Review game of all idioms

•   Review Game: Students are split up into two teams.  Taking turns, two students from each team will be in the “hot seat.”  One student explains to the other student the meaning of an idiom without using any of the same words that appear in the idiom, and the other student has to guess.  The team with the most correctly guessed idioms wins.