Story dice and story cubes
The idea behind story dice is simple: students throw the dice and take inspiration from the icons to create a story. One of the great…
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An Italian lesson I’ll never forget
Here’s a story from Kate Cartwright, a participant on the LessonStream Story Course. Kate is a teacher, an artist and a participant on the LessonStream…
Why we should be careful with “inspirational” materials
The following text has been taken from a lesson plan in the LessonStream Membership. It explores standard depictions of people with disabilities in the media.…
The story of Mr O’s circle
Are you the sort of teacher who likes to tell stories in the classroom? This is the fascinating story of Alexander Overwijk – a mathematics…
LessonStream Story Course
Free for LessonStream members! Story and language are inseparable. And in language teaching, story is always there. It’s in the materials – images, adverts, art, short films, viral videos and…
Recreating Dalí Atomicus – an impossible image
Dalí Atomicus (see below) is an impossible image by photographer Philippe Halsman. As a teacher, trainer and storyteller, I have used it on many occasions.…
Critical thinking: is it time to abandon the term?
Recently, I have started to notice the term ‘critical thinking’ appear in some unexpected and problematic contexts. In this post, I am going to refer…
Myanmar: What can a teacher learn from a tour guide?
This time last year, I had just got back from an incredible trip to Myanmar. It was an unforgettable experience that was made particularly special…
“Drone disaster” (a Videotelling activity)
Here is a story from my book Videotelling: YouTube Stories for the Classroom. It works well with face-to-face and live online video classes. Part one:…
The problem with stories in course books
I tend to judge course books on the stories that they offer. But even when they contain good stories, the course book format doesn’t lend…
“This is not the Jamie show”
For a while now, I have considered that there is a problem with the English language teaching profession. And in this post, I would like…
An anti-smoking teaching idea
Here is an anti-smoking teaching idea – an image-based lesson plan based around the story of a controversial cartoon character from last century. A smooth character? Read…
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