Presented by English Language Fellow Katie Bain in Barranquilla, Colombia.

1. Teaching
Through
Emotions
Presented by Katie Bain
ktbain53@gmail.com
www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com

2. Objectives
Today‟s webinar will demonstrate
direct and practical ways to use
constructivist and socio-affective
teaching principles to help
students connect with the
teacher, others, and themselves to
achieve high learning goals.

4. Constructivist Teaching
Principles
Constructivism is a theory of learning which
posits that students learn by actively
constructing their own knowledge
(von Glasersfeld 1996; Fosnot 1996; Duffy and Cunningham 1996).
According to von Glasersfeld
(1995, 5), “Concepts cannot simply be
transferred from teachers to students––they
have to be conceived.”

5. Emotional Intelligence
Goleman defines emotional
intelligence as "knowing
what one‟s feelings are and
using that knowledge
to make good decisions."

6. What hinders your students from
making good learning decisions?
• Insecurity
• Family
• Socio-economic-status
• Lack of guidance
• Peer pressure
• Feel unsuccessful as learners

7. Activities to Promote Emotional
Intelligence Using the Constructivist
Theory
• Art
• Music
• Games
• Drama and Role Play

8. Why Use Art in the TEFL
Classroom?
Students respond to visual images

9. Art generates discussion.

10. Allows students to use language in context
Students can use their language skills to
describe an actual piece of art or conduct
internet research using target vocabulary.

11. Using art can take the emphasis off of accuracy
and encourage students to focus on fluency to
clearly express their thoughts and ideas.

12. This is beneficial for students who are held
back by fear of making mistakes.

13. Helps develop students’ creative and
critical thinking skills.

14. How can you make it
more successful?
Choose art that is relevant to the students. Art
that reflects their interests, background, or
culture.

15. Use sentence starters to help students.
• Describe a picture
I see a ____________.
• Give opinions
I think __________.
• Agree and disagree
I disagree because ___________.
I agree because ___________.

16. Use a piece of art to generate questions.
• What are they doing?
• What colors do you see?
• How many people are there?

17. 3 Ways to Use Art in the
Classroom
#1 Look at Art

18. Ask students to choose a character from a
painting or sculpture and a write a mini-
biography or story about the character.

19. Compare two pieces of art with similar
subjects, practicing comparative langauge and
adjectives.

20. Sharing Art
• Ask students to to bring in a photograph they have
taken.
• Ask other students to write a paragraph about
events leading up to a photograph.

21. Ask students to bring in a piece of art that
represents their childhood and ask the class to
form sentences about what they used to do.

22. Create illustrations of vocabulary words
that depict their meaning.

23. What vocabulary words about emotion
could you teach using this painting?

24. Increase their ability to connect
emotionally with a piece of art
Introduce vocabulary that describes emotion such
as
melancholy, lonely, apprehensive, ecstatic, anxious

25. Let’s Hear from You!
• How do you think art can be beneficial to
your classroom
• What ideas did you learn today that will
work in your classroom
• Why do you think it is important to
incorporate visual elements into your
lessons?

26. Music
“Developments in brain-based
research note that central features of
music and language are housed near
one another in the human
brain, suggesting they may share
features of a „grammar‟ that orders
musical elements and language
elements similarly” (Lems, 2005, p. 14).

27. Lesson Idea - Grammar
• Listen to a song several times. Give students copies
of the lyrics and discuss their meaning and the
students‟ enjoyment of the song.
• Next, give students copies of the song lyrics with
blank lines for inserting their own lyrics into the song.
Students use the grammar construct being studied
in class but use their own creativity to express
personal ideas.
• Allow students to share their writings with the class.
• If possible, create a “songbook” of students‟
writings.

28. If I Were A Bird
If I were a bird
Even just for a minute
I’d wake up in the morning and sing and fly and feel the freedom
I’d fly long distances
And I’d never get tired
Cause I’d know that I had freedom
If I were a bird
I think I could go all over the world
How would it feel to be completely free?
I swear I’d not worry about simple things
I’d have a shelter wherever I’d go
Cause I know there were plenty of trees
When you would keep me as a prisoner, I’d always fly away from you
Cause I could fly away
If I were a bird

29. Lyrics for “The Tiger Rock”
I can run very fast.
I can live in the jungle.
I can use my sharp claws.
I can roar very strong.
You can see my black stripes.
Who am I?

30. GAMES
1. Games are FUN!  They help to lower the
affective filter.
2. Games are MOTIVATING! They intrinsically pique
interest as students learn through play.
3. Games are CHALLENGING! They can challenge
students to be responsible for their learning and
knowledge in a new way.
4. Games are INTERACTIVE! They inherently create
situations in which students interact with each
other.
5. Games are REPETITIVE!

31. Game:
Grammar Board Race
• Board Race Video
• Questions
1. What is the objective of the lesson?
2. Did the students meet the objective?
3. Would you use this game in your
classroom?
4. How could you change this game to make
it more appropriate for your context?

32. Drama Research
• Teaching through drama “makes
students aware that English is not
just words, structures, and
idioms, but it is a lively, dramatic
and versatile means of
communication.”
(Zalta, 2006)

33. Reader’s Theater
• Select a text
• Practice – Explore – Practice (cycle)
o Spoken Vocabulary (pronunciation)
o Places to pause
o Repeated text
o Opportunities to express contrast
• Perform
o For a live audience
o For a virtual audience

34. Reader’s Theater
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - by Eric Carle
A: In the light of the moon
B: a little egg
A: lay on a leaf
B: One Sunday morning,
A: the warm sun came up, and
BOTH: ―Pop!‖
B: Out of the egg came a tiny
A: And very hungry
B: Caterpillar.
BOTH: He started to look for some food.

35. THANK YOU!
Katie Bain
ktbain53@gmail.com
elfellowkbain.wordpress.com