Mind Mapping Air Travel

Hello, students!

This week we tried something new: mind maps. I was amazed when, after only watching this short introduction to mind maps, I woke up the next morning still able to see the two sample mind maps when I closed my eyes. I could therefore remember all the French phrases on that sample mind map--and I wasn't even trying to remember them!

I think three very important keys are: use colour and weird images (the weirder, the better), use curved lines, not straight ones; put only one word or language chunk (e.g., phrasal verb) on a branch. Keep the mind map flexible as you would a pattern drill. Do not load up a branch with an entire phrase or sentence. That defeats the purpose of the mind map.

Who What (What) Where When Why

Hello, class!

Here are some pictures from last week's lesson about sentence structure, which was a response to a special request from Langza that we study some rules for putting words in the correct order in a sentence.

First we learned the chant: "who what (what) where when why." Next we looked at some sample sentences on the board. Remember: this trick only works for action verbs, not for linking verbs. The second WHAT is in parentheses because sometimes you don't have an object of the verb. Some verbs don't take objects (intransitive).

Then we got into three teams and made our own sentences on strips of chart paper using coloured markers. Langza's team wrote: "We study English in the morning at the YMCA because we want jobs." Hana's team wrote that Hana went to a birthday party at a hotel last night. So their sentence only had one WHAT.









Next we learned how to "explode" different parts of the sentences to add more detail. For example, "Ali" can be exploded to "my good friend Ali." We had a contest to see which team could write the longest sentence without any grammatical mistakes.

This sentence became "All the students in the seniors class are studying English at the downtown YMCA on Victoria Avenue at 9:00 every morning because we want really good jobs."

The winners got first choice from the prize table. Their sentence had over 40 words!

The second place team got to choose their prizes next.

Nobody went home empty handed. Great job, everyone!