Teach English workshops

A pedagogic approach to Cloze tests

• raises awareness of limitations and key issues with cloze
• suggests strategies and broader approaches learners can use to improve performance in cloze tests 
• gives participants a platform for suggesting and sharing their own strategies 

Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Children’s Literature

• links our key concerns for the 21st century with the importance of developing children’s critical thinking skills 
• demonstrates how illustrated books can provide a trigger for discussion of values with young children 
• facilitates the sharing of ideas on exploiting works of children’s literature for classroom use 

Exam Skills - Comprehension

• helps participants reflect on the difference between exam preparation and exam practice 
• looks at the challenge for students of tackling comprehension sections of school exams 
• demonstrates techniques to help students analyse comprehension tasks and use efficient reading strategies in exams 

Poetry for Critical Thinking

• examines the poem’s specificities in contrast to other text types 
• maps the attributes of the poem, such as imagery, metaphor and ambiguity, to the development of key critical thinking skills in students 
• lets participants engage in a variety of activities that leverage poetry to encourage critical thinking in their students 

Teaching Summary Strategies

• examines why summarizing is an essential tool for learning 
• explores how to explicitly teach this highly sophisticated skill 
• helps participants come up with easy and fun strategies to include summarizing as a routine part of their teaching practice 

Reading Strategies that Work

• explores the reasons why many students struggle with reading for meaning 
• provides practical, hands-on instructional strategies for reading comprehension that participants could use to help their students achieve independent reading success and improved responses to comprehension prompts 
• demonstrates the effectiveness of these strategies to support reading for meaning, as well as writing with clarity and purpose, and more productive participation in classroom discussions 

Using Illustrated Children’s books in the Classroom

• shows how effective reading aloud of picture books can be a powerful vehicle for language development 
• raises awareness of the potential of illustrated books for interaction and creativity 
• allows participants to practise reading stories effectively to engage and delight their students 

Understanding Text Types 

• examines how explicit teaching of text types supports reading, writing, listening and speaking skills 
• covers the features of the text types on the MOE syllabus 
• demonstrates an effective reading and writing lesson using text types 

Building Student’s Presentation Skills

• explores the differences and similarities between debate, discussion, oral presentation and impromptu speeches 
• constructs an understanding of engaging an audience through body language, voice control and choice of words 
• analyses different strategies for giving feedback to speakers 

Exam Skills Oral

• helps participants reflect on the difference between preparation and practice for oral exams 
• analyses the skills and language that students need for oral exams 
• looks at some innovative ideas for preparing learners for the components of current oral exams 

Students Thinking Together: Enabling Deeper Conversations in the Classroom

• examines how conversation and accountable talk in the classroom contributes to the development of content, academic language and key interpersonal skills 
• lets participants reflect on how to cultivate a culture of conversation and accountable talk in the classroom across subject areas 
• examines four core conversational skills and discusses how to explicitly develop these skills in various disciplines 

Using Drama in the Classroom

• presents an overview of drama techniques and the rationale for using them in the classroom 
• demonstrates how drama techniques could be used for presenting and practising language in stimulating and creative ways 
• lets participants try out a variety of drama games and activities 

PSLE: Continuous Writing 

• gives participants a platform to share their concerns about the demands of the PSLE exam 
• looks at choosing visual prompts for personal response and appropriate text-type production 
• lets participants devise their own writing tasks from given visual prompts 

Exam Skills Writing

• helps participants reflect on the difference between exam preparation and exam practice 
• discusses the demands made on students in exams that test writing 
• equips participants with strategies for improving student performance 

Inspire to Write

• helps participants motivate and encourage students to improve their writing skills 
• equips participants with a variety of creative prompts, ideas and stimuli that help free students from writers’ block 
• allows participants to try out and evaluate a range of these activities 

Effective Questioning Techniques

• discusses the reasons why participants ask questions and what makes a question effective 
• explores how to use different questioning techniques in the classroom 
• gives participants practice in creative effective questions and dealing with student responses 

Making Thinking Visible

• develop a greater understanding of the pedagogy and practices of Visible Thinking in the classroom
• be introduced to some of the Visible Thinking Routines and consider how they can be adapted and adopted into participants’ classroom practices
• explore how Visible Thinking strategies could be used to assess students’ language learning and 21st century competencies 

Fun Activities for Teaching and Learning Grammar

• suggests interesting tasks for presenting and practising grammar in ways that appeal to learners 
• covers specific grammar points and whole text work 
• offers a selection of activities for participants to try out and evaluate 

Fun Activities for Teaching and Learning Vocabulary

• uses games and activities as an effective means of presenting and practising new vocabulary 
• looks at learning efficient ways of recording vocabulary 
• offers a selection of activities for participants to try out and evaluate 

Fun Activities for Teaching and Learning Pronunciation

• explores the different aspects of phonology involved in pronunciation 
• helps participants identify the main areas of difficulty for their students 
• allows participants to try out and evaluate a selection of fun activities for integrating pronunciation into regular English teaching

Happiness for Schools

• explores the link between happiness, school culture and academic success and examines how schools can promote the well-being of both staff and students 
• enables participants to explore simple but effective happiness practices 
• discusses the mental facets of happiness: the power of belonging and social connection, compassion, kindness and gratitude 

Mindfulness for Schools 

• discusses how a focus on mindfulness and enhanced social and emotional competencies allows for more connected, successful, and purposeful personal, academic, and professional lives 
• engages participants in activities to help recognise emotions and enhance emotional literacy to support routine mindfulness practice 
• explores a range of mindfulness practices to support the development of 21st century social-emotional competencies such as self-management, social awareness, relationships management and responsible decision making 

Resilience and Grit in the Classroom

• explores activities that help participants support young people in building resilience by learning how to navigate emotions and making responsible choices 
• examines how to support students in uncovering difficult emotions that may hinder the process of recovering from failure and adversity 
• discusses the importance of recognising fixed mindset behaviours and of developing a growth mindset in a classroom through appropriate use of praise

Task Based Learning: An Introduction

• compares Task-Based Learning (TBL), with more traditional approaches- their challenges and advantages 
• familiarises participants with the components and staging of task-based lessons
• gives participants an opportunity to evaluate and plan for the own TBL lessons 

Inquiry Based Learning

• provides opportunities for participants to understand the philosophy and principles of inquiry-based learning, and how this differs from traditional teaching 
• explores strategies to support participants in co-constructing inquiries with students, and in making students’ thinking and learning visible 
• demonstrates how to use pedagogical documentation as an evaluation tool 

Technology-Enabled Project Based Learning

• explores the components of Project-Based Learning (PBL), from the driving question to the opening and closing events, and examines their pedagogical rationale
• takes a close look at the intersection of technology and PBL, and critically examines a variety of technology-enabled projects 
• helps participants begin to elaborate their own projects, in the context of the needs and abilities of their own students 

Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom

• helps participants evaluate and adapt materials effectively to fulfil specific lesson objectives
• gives practice in analysing texts and passages, and using these for productive and receptive skill tasks that students are required to do 
• considers ways of giving students support to ensure success with materials chosen for them 

Formative Assessment: Quality Feedback and Reports for Student Learning

• explores the value of formative feedback 
• builds teacher vocabulary to observe and describe student behaviours and skills 
• explores a range of strategies for giving quality formative feedback 

Teaching English in a 1-to-1

• explores useful tools, frameworks and resources for 1-1 teaching and provides opportunities to practise these
• examines different approaches to needs analysis
• helps teachers with course planning