INTRODUCTION: Communication Skills

This blog is based on the idea of giving some suggestions about how we as teachers can work every lesson with a different activity that allows students to develop all the communicative skill. In this case All the activities are organized by the name of the Skill, and are focused to students of pre-intermedite level.


Communication Skills

Why you need to get your message across?
Effective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. It's also about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible.

Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the receiver. And it's a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender, or misinterpreted by the recipient. When this isn't detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity.

In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication.

By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally.

In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success.

In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively – whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression.

Being able to communicate effectively is therefore essential if you want to build a successful career. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context.



Taken from: http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicationIntro.htm

LISTENING SKILL: Look at the Video "I don´t want to miss a thing- Aerosmith"

Make a comment about the video, what did you like? what you didn´t?
Then make a comment relating the lyrics with the pictures of the video.

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LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILL: Rhymes for learning English

This video is for you to see other ways in which we can teach children vocabulary.
Reflect about it and then answer the questions.

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Do you think this is a good method to teach vocabulary to children?
Would you as a teacher use it?
Why?
Why not?

LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS: Accents in English

Look at and listen the following video, the reflect about it.
Give your opinon about this topic.
Which way of pronunciation would you choose at the moment of speaking?
After listening practice both accents.

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Give your opinon about this topic.

WRITING AND SPEAKING SKILLS: The Articles

This exercise is to practice the use of articles.
After resolving this points, ask you students some other examples and in this way you will work speaking based on the articles.

Put the corresponding article if it is needed.

Example: Bottle of milk 'a' bottle of milk ('bottle' es contable)
Rain is good for the grass ('rain' es incontable)

1. Bob drinks __ beer.

2. Does Jack like __ meat?

3. I have __ old car.

4. __ bread isn't expensive.

5. Do you want __ cup of tea?

6. My husband never drinks __ alcohol.

7. Australia is __ island.

8. I want to buy __ new car

9. I need __ glass of water

10. Can I have __ bar of chocolate?

READING AND WRITING SKILLS: Curious Facts

Write down some curios fact you know about.
Which one surprised you the most?

Curious Facts that Might Surprise You


ANIMALS

Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
The giraffes can clean their own ears with their tongues
The monkeys and the dolphins, together with the human, are the only animals which can recognize themselves in front of a mirror.
The only animal which fears and don’t fight with the king of the jungle is…the elephant.
The brain of an ostrich is smaller than his own eye.

All the ants are more aggressive in the morning when they wake up.

THE HUMAN BEING

To keep you awake, it is better to eat an apple than to drink coffee.
We sleep better in the night if we laugh in the day.
It´s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
The right-handed live approx. eleven years more than the left-handed.
The nails from the hand grow up 5 times faster than the ones from the feet.
Kissing every day cleans your teeth.

NATURE

In the Oceans there is enough salt to cover all the continents.
The rivers represents 0,0001% of all the water in the earth.
There is no living specimen that doesn´t contains water. A lettuce contains 94% of water, the human 60% to 70%, and the trees 55%.
The Colorado Grand Canyon contains rocks that were formed 2.000 million years ago.
In the rain season, the Victoria falls in central Africa spill 300.000 tons of water in 1 minute.
Only 2.8% of the earth´s water is drinkable, 6% is liquid, and 90% is ice.

OTHERS

The word “mile” comes from the latin “mille passum”, which means 1.000 steps.
The blue toothbrush is the most used in all the world, more than any other color.
The vanilla ice cream is the most sell in all the world.
If you look straight into the eye of the most aggressive dog you can find, he won´t attack you, unless it is ordered.


Read more: http://purpleslinky.com/trivia/random/curious-facts/#ixzz0mSoL8n00

READING AND WRITING SKILLS: Guide to Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse!

Based on the movie Zombieland.
Title: Zombieland
Director:Ruben Fleischer
Gender: Action, comedy
Story: The horror comedy Zombieland is about two men that have found a way to survive in a word taken by the zombies.

"Go on a mental journey with the text in this article which will show you how exactly (in great detail) to survive the zombie apocalypse! Bring friends, no zombies allowed! "No, we don’t have any brains! Shoo!"

Oh boy. The zombie apocalypse has stricken the world, and how convenient: there are FOUR survivors. This could work out just fine in the end for mankind, right? Not unless you plan carefully, move cautiously, and bring a whole lotta ammunition!

Phase One: The Beginning of the End

Step 1 – Group up. Zombies will go for the loner! Don’t get caught without a buddy. Ever.

Step 2 – Got a gun? Good. Grab it, keep it on hand at all times. Zombies can come out of nowhere. They move silently (except when moaning for braiiiiiinnsss…), swiftly, and are stronger than any human. It’s not like they feel pain, either. Don’t go for the knees, don’t shoot em in the gut (not like they have functioning organs anyways!): aim for the damned head!

Step 3 – Now that you know how to use your gun (did you even READ step 2?), it’s time to put it to good use. Gather all of your friends. It’s time to move to a safer area, which, unfortunately, involves going through an incredibly dangerous zone. Stick together, back to back, whatever it takes. Make it to your designated “safe room.”

Phase Two: The Ol’ Grind

Step 1 – Let’s say it’s been a few months. Zombie here, zombie there, zombies f*cking everywhere. Big whoop. Same thing as yesterday, right? Wrong. Don’t underestimate the supposed stupidity of zombies. They may have rotting brains and poor motor skills, but they have something you don’t at this point! Numbers! Numbers means power. Don’t let your guard down, or be beaten down.

Step 2 – Find a mall. Every good zombie apocalypse requires a traumatic journey through a shopping mall. Malls are BREEDING GROUNDS for zombies (Wait, zombies can haz smexy times?). Uhhh yeah. Just uhm, keep going. Don’t let your guard down and whatnot…

Step 3 – Okay, now stand right in the middle of the mall. There, that’s it *motions for zombies to surround survivors* perfect. Well I’m afraid your time is up. Farewell, survivors!

*ALL OF A SUDDEN, FROM OFF THE SCREEN*

“DOCTOR OCTAGONAPUS BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!”

Then the Survivors had steak. Somehow. Oh come on, the whole last part made no sense! Gawd, don’t judge me. You make something better. Oh wait, they had pineapple too. Yuppers. Pineapple. Good stuff."


Which kind of movies do you like?
Why?


Do you believe Zombies really exist?
Which of this steps will you use?
Make your own steps.



Read more: http://purpleslinky.com/jokes/step-by-step-guide-to-surviving-the-zombie-apocalypse/#5min#ixzz0mSpcF6o8