En elblogdetrinity.com recomendamos una variedad de ejercicios y buenas prácticas para la preparación de los exámenes de Trinity College London. En esta ocasión Richard Bradley (Teacher Trainer - Trinity College London Approved Service provider Spain and Portugal) compartirá una serie de post con recomendaciones y pautas muy interesantes para poner en práctica en clase.

TOPIC 3 - The curiosity box (A2-C2 level). 

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What? The curiosity box (A2-C2 level). 

How?  This is an alternative way to prepare for and present a new topic.  It might be a topic from the coursebook or a topic you wish to explore that does not appear in the coursebook.  Let`s imagine that the topic of transport is coming up in your coursebook in, let`s say, two weeks` time.  Or you are preparing the topics for GESE grade 5 and in two weeks` time you will start studying means of transport.

Place a large colourful box, preferably with a lid, in the classroom and tell the class that over the next two weeks they should bring pictures, newspaper/magazine articles (in any language), photos, or small objects related to transport and place them in the box.  As the students open the box over the following two weeks and place their objects in it, and the box fills up, their interest and curiosity will be aroused.  Maybe they see in the box a fantastic toy spaceship or a photo of a car of the future, and they will definitely start discussing the objects amongst each other. 

At the beginning of the first lesson on the topic of transport, the teacher will not be just launching into a new topic out of the blue but will be talking to a class whose minds are already prepared for the topic.  As the objects are taken out of the box the owner of each object could describe what it is and why they put it into the box.  Or the class could try to guess who the owners of all the objects are.  And a great deal of useful language will be generated by discussing the objects       

Why?  Curiosity is the motor of learning.  Recent studies using MRI machines suggest that the brain`s chemistry actually changes when we are curious, helping us to learn better and retain information.  Moreover realia reinforces language skills, enables students to make connections to their own lives and greatly appeals to both visual and kinaesthetic learners.  Using a box seems like an activity for young learners, doesn’t it?  However I believe that it would be a valuable activity at any level and for any age group.  Let`s take the example of designer goods, a GESE grade 10 topic.  Collecting and sifting through photos and newspaper/magazine articles related to this topic would be extremely interesting.  And this activity helps to activate prior knowledge, which is a key aspect of learning.