I sometimes forget how long it takes to actually produce materials for teaching English.
So about a year ago I decided to get down to business & actually put together an idea that I had the year before. This got me excited as I worked on the project, so excited that I started to think about another older idea I had had.
The outcome – I have managaed to produce 2 new titles at about the same time.
I never ever want to do it that way again. Boy was this a struggle at times – but I’ve got there!
So Hero or Villain & Silly Season (Odds & Ends) are now about to be tested for the next 6-12 months being being released on the public.
I think the concept behind both is a sound ELT idea – but as the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
The content:
Hero or Villain is actually a very old idea I’ve had for sometime. It is a set of 10 lesson plans based on student research into the past lives of people. Some famous & well known – others probably unheard off to a majority of the learners.
The premise for this work is restricted writing & discussion with a strong research emphasis.
Odds & Ends is the first in a series that will be looking at people in a more general context – this first publication is a collection of news stories that I wrote when I worked as a journalist in southern Spain.
I wrote 2 columns for a local paper that centered on the more abstract & bizarre stories from around the world. I’ve used the collection to compile a set of 60 short reading & discussion exercises. Now this will be a little controversial in that I am encouraging learners to use their mother tongue to translate any new vocabulary.
I’m a strong believer in using language 1 as an agent in adult learning.
I just hope the tests prove me right!!
