Welcome to the Creative English blog for EFL teachers and learners. Feel free to check out creative project ideas, artwork, poetry, short films and more. Think Outside the Box! Enjoy being creative!
The TAG strategy is a quick and effective way to implement peer feedback in the classroom. It fosters communication skills, positive interaction and critical thinking. TAG stands for:
T - Tell something you like
Learners make a positive comment about their peer's work.
A - Ask a thoughtful question
Learners ask a question related to their peer's work.
G - Give feedback
Learners give feedback to their peers in order for them to improve their work.
The following worksheets can be used for this strategy.
Group edition worksheet
Watch a video about the implementation of this strategy in the classroom by visiting the following link.
The Frayer Model is a strategy that helps learners to define and understand new concepts or words.It encourages vocabulary development, critical thinking and active participation. In the center, learners have to write the concept or word under investigation. Then, they provide a definition in their own words. They also, fill in the key characteristics and traits of the concept. Finally, they give examples and non-examples to illustrate the term or concept. Here is a template to use for the strategy.
To read more about the Frayer Model strategy, visit the link below.
The Raft Model is a strategy that enhances writing skills and encourages students to write from various perspectives. It integrates creativity and critical thinking into writing assignments. The acronym RAFT stands for:
R - Role (Who are you as the writer?)
A - Audience (Who is your audience?)
F - Format (In what format are you writing? A letter, a report, a diary entry etc.)
T - Topic (What are you writing about?)
The following worksheet can be used while implementing the strategy in the classroom.
Read more about this strategy in the following link.
The Classmate Bingo Gameis an ice-breaker activity for back to school. Pupils need to go around the classroom, find a classmate who fits the description in their Bingo worksheet and fill in their classmate's name. They have to fill in a different name for each box. The first person who fills all boxes shouts "Bingo" and is the winner. If there is limited time, the winner could be the first person to fill five in a row. It's a fun and exciting activity to start the school year off with.
A K-W-L chart is a graphical organizer that helps students to connect new information to what they already know. Moreover, it encourages inquiry, it sets a purpose for learning and facilitates reflection on what has been learned. Additionally, it enhances engagement and makes learning interactive and student-centered. The acronym KWL stands for:
K (Know): what students already know about a topic.
W (Want to know): what students want to know about the topic.
L (Learned): What students have learned after the lesson.
To read more about the use of KWL chart in the classroom, you can visit the following link.
The "Think-Pair-Share" strategy is collaborative learning technique. The teacher poses a question or a problem that learners have to think about individually. Then, they pair up with a partner, discuss their thoughts and exchange ideas. Finally, they share their insights with the whole class or a larger group. This strategy fosters independent thinking and communication skills, encourages active participation and enhances understanding through peer discussion. The worksheet below can be used for the implementation of the strategy in the classroom.
To read more about this strategy you can visit the following links.
Exit slips or tickets are tools for implementing formative assessment in the classroom. They are very useful for teachers in order to get immediate feedback from their learners at the end of a lesson or class. They also enhance critical thinking and metacognitive skills as they encourage learners to reflect on their own learning. Here is an example of an exit slip worksheet.
Exit slips can also be used for a whole class feedback activity after the end of a lesson or a unit. The traffic light exit slip is a nice idea to implement. The red light indicates that learners struggle with concepts or topics, the yellow light means that they have understood a topic but still need some clarifications and the green light indicates the topics that learners have understood well. Here is a colored and a black & white version of a traffic light exit slip worksheet. It can be printed in A3 size and learners can stick post-it notes on it.
To read more ideas about exit slips and how to implement them in the classroom, visit the following link.
The "Never Have I Ever" game is an engaging way for practising the Present Perfect tense in the classroom. To extend the activity, learners can write their own questions and play the game with their classmates at the beginning of the next lesson. Here is a link to a presentation of the game, which includes questions to use in the classroom. In this version, students are asked to sit down or stand up based on their answers. After the game, a class discussion can be held to highlight the most interesting responses.
This year we participated in the Student Contest “Make it Heard 2024” entitled "The power of friendship". Our 6th graders created a radio message on the value of friendship.
Their message with the title ''The Ship of Friendship'' is about a ship sailing on the high seas. The passengers are carefree until they hear the captain's warning. The ship is in danger and the passengers have to face a great dilemma. Will they choose to save the ship by giving up their selfish behaviour, or will they choose their selfishness and let the ship of friendship be lost at sea?
You can listen to the radio message at the following link:
This September Oscar Wilde's masterpiece "The Selfish Giant" inspired my colleagues and I to create a collage with the giant and his garden in Greek, English, French, Italian, Russian and German. Kind words make his garden bloom while hate words make flowers and trees to deteriorate.
The "Summer Edition Roll and Tell Game" is a fun and interactive way for learners to share their summer holiday experiences. This activity can be played in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class, encouraging communication. The game can be customized with student-generated questions to keep the conversation lively and engaging. A virtual dice is available for whole class activities, adding an element of surprise and excitement.
The "Would You Rather" game is an engaging activity for the first days of school. It encourages pupils to think critically and share their preferences about various topics. This game can be played in groups or as a whole class, fostering communication and building a fun classroom environment.
A "Would You Rather" presentation to play in the classroom.
A stop motion animation film created by the pupils of the fifth grade. The life journey of a refugee who had to abandon her homeland in Smyrna due to the Catastrophe in 1922. Like many other refugees, she fled to Greece with the hope of a new beginning. The story is based on autobiographical elements of a pupil’s great great grandmother.
What do you think?
Take a look at our pupils feedback regarding their experience while making their film.
A short film documentary created by the pupils of the sixth grade! Ano Poli or Upper Town is a colorful neighbourhood in Thessaloniki, Greece with traditional houses, Byzantine walls and monuments and a breath-taking view to the Thermaikos Gulf and Mount Olympus. That makes it a popular destination for tourists every year! But it's also our pupils' neighbourhood where they enjoy meeting friends and spending time with them!
What do you think?
Take a look at our pupils feedback regarding their experience while making their film.
We created a calendar for endangered species collaboratively with our partners. Each partner country was responsible for three months of the calendar. Pupils found information about endangered animals, wrote slogans and made drawings all of which were included in our calendar.
We collaborated with our partners from the other countries in order to write and illustrate environmental stories about air pollution, sea pollution and deforestation.
We have been awarded the eTwinning National Quality Label for our project!
A short video in Greek with a brief
description of our project
A detailed description of our project
The partner countries
our eTwinning corner
Meeting our partners: We created avatars and uploaded them on a padlet in order to introduce ourselves and meet our partners from the other countries.
Preparing a presentation with
clues about our country
We collaborated with the 53rd primary school of Thessaloniki in order to make a common presentation for Greece with 10 clues. We had an online meeting and played a wordwall activity in order to assign each school with a set of five clues about Greece.
Watch the video below to find out more information about how we worked on our country's presentation
Our common presentation for Greece
Our partnerns' presentations
20 questions game online meeting
Each partner country prepared some recommendations about places worth visiting in their country. Once again we cooperated with the Greek partner school in order to make an interactive presentation about our city Thessaloniki. Each school worked on different sights of our city.
"Touring Thessaloniki" presentation
Padlet with recommendations about places worth visiting in our countries and cities
We worked in groups in order to prepare a set
of multiple choice questions for the Trivial Game regarding our city Thessaloniki and its monuments.
We created an online Trivial Game together with our partners.
We studied our partners presentations carefully in order to get ready for playing the Trivial Game.
We had an online meeting and played the Trivial Game along with our partners. It was a great fun! We won the quiz! But we were all winners after all because we had a fantastic time!!!
We sent handmade bookmarks and postcards to our eTwinning friends by post.
We shared our thoughts and feelings about the project.
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