Activity with TimeToast: FEMALE WRITERS

 

As an English teacher, I consider that culture and literature from English-speaking countries are crucial to understanding the language itself. In this case, I have focused on the English female authors, because the topic of literature can be interesting and appealing for students if we work it in an original format. 

This activity is targeted for students of Compulsory Secondary Education, concretely it can be used both in 3rd or 4th level. The aim of this activity is to learn about one of the most important British female writers. This activity is perfect for the World Book Day, especially if we want to add gender approach (in this case, for making visible female authors and their literary works as well to their contributions to society and literary movements). 

Working with biographies is sometimes boring and if we want to approach this topic to our students, we must do it in interactive and motivating format. Creating timelines is a different way of practising reading skills, as well as working in groups and cooperative work. 

First of all, it is important to show our students different timelines, so they can select in groups the information they should include in this task. In small groups, the students had to work with ICTs too, with a tablet or a laptop in order to include the different events and periods concerning the life of the chosen author. I wrote their parents via iPasen the day  before in order to remind them and the students to bring their electronical devices. At first, they were really confused because they have not heard about TimeToast and, as usual, they thought it was a boring and traditional activity. After convincing them, the work was easier than expected and the teams worked properly. The only thing is that I had two lessons with this activity instead of one, but they could finish it on time. 

I have never heard before about this app, but thanks to this course I have discovered it and I will use it as an amazing resource to practice reading and cultural aspects. This format implies students to work in teams, encourages cooperative learning and they also develop their learning to learn competence. 

The following link shows an example about the life and works of the British author Jane Austen, considered one of the most important novelists in the British Literature: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2937123