November is Coming!

  

Here we are inching closer to the end of another year, and there is lots to talk about in November! Some tried and true topics you could teach are: Health and Wellness, Flu Season and End of Daylight Savings Time. If you haven’t already seen it, Tracy was kind enough to share some fun material on the tradition of Jack-o-lanterns:

https://youtu.be/StBd35QCq4A?si=rHbzzI4dcpJheMqa

https://youtu.be/JmtXPlHD2V4?si=J-EvAOrcjR9monCl

Remember to check out Danielle’s “Tech Know” session on November 2nd to learn about all things Google Classroom, and keep up with any Avenue updates. 

We hope you enjoy your time “at” the conference this year. Please check out some ready-made rubrics with drop down options shared by Tania from a previous conference. Please remember to share any useful resources with us and we will post it in our next blog! 

Listening Assessment Cover Page DROPDOWN.docx 

Speaking Assessment Cover Page DROPDOWN.docx

 Reading Assessment Cover Page DROPDOWN.docx

Writing Assessment Cover Page DROPDOWN (1).docx

Make sure to download these documents in order for the drop-down menus to work.

With the holiday season approaching, shopping, Black Friday and consumerism are all great topics to go over with your students. Check out a fun listening activity from ISL collective from one of my favourite movies “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” Shopaholic Movie Scene: English ESL video lessons (islcollective.com)

Finally, I know many of us are feeling the heaviness of the world events that are unfolding in front of our eyes. Remembrance Day may be a difficult subject for those directly or indirectly affected by war and genocide. While we might teach about the poppy and the significance of November 11th, it is important we are sensitive to the very raw emotions that many are feeling at this time. Perhaps another way to honour the day could be to do an activity on the Japanese art of origami and making cranes and talking about the dove – both symbols of peace. You can even make this into a listening/speaking assessment or skill using activity for following/giving instructions. Please see the link for instructions to include in your lesson plan:

Make peace cranes and doves - Veterans Affairs Canada

As always, thank you to everyone who continues to share with our team. We appreciate you all!
Hoping for peace now and always,
Haleema and Marina 

Best Month of the Year: October!

Welcome to October and to the best time of the year (in my opinion) - Fall. This year promises to be the warmest start to October in recent memory. Very soon the days will be cooler and I’m sure you’ve noticed that the nights are already a little longer. The leaves have started to change colour from green to brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. Kate shared this video a couple of years ago Why Do Leaves Change Color? What Makes the Leaves Fall? FreeSchool. It offers a great explanation as to why leaves change colour.

Here’s a video I shared earlier that shows some of the incredible fall foliage in Ontario.

Fall in Algonquin Is Canada's Best Kept Secret! Insane Foliage Roadtrip!.  

At this time, you may also be thinking of starting assessments with your classes. Remember to keep it simple for both your students and yourself. Most of you are probably using real world tasks in your classes just remember to make them skill using and include holistic feedback. You can use them as artefacts and include them in your assessment logs. Kate shared an Excel assessment log. Feel free to use whichever assessment log you feel most comfortable with.

You can check out: https://www.realworldtasks.ca/ for ready made assessments and rubrics.

Thank you to all the instructors who shared material and resources. Keep them coming. 

Thanks to Danielle for sharing the ELLII video she created.  Here are the links she shared with us as well: https://www.youtube.com/@ellii/videos,  https://www.youtube.com/@CHCHNews11/videos  https://www.youtube.com/@LearnEnglishwithBobtheCanadian/videos

Thanks to Valerie for sharing a reading assessment on apple picking. Thank you Dawn for those hilarious ‘Canadian Slang’ terms and to Haleema for sharing links for Orange Shirt Day. And, of course, to Kate for sharing ALL of her resources and lesson plans.  

Keep your eyes peeled for a PBLA refresher, an invitation will come out shortly. 

Remember that you can reach out to Danielle for all your Avenue questions. 

Feel free to reach out to Haleema or myself for any of your PBLA questions/concerns.

Have a fantastic month.

Marina and Haleema