Here’s my final assignment for MOOC!
I created a course entitled “From Ideas to Adventures: Writing Stories That Shine”. This is created for a 3ESO class in Madrid, Spain. The subject area is English.
There are three reasons why this subject can be helpful for students in 3ESO.
1. It improves English proficiency.
Storywriting provides a practical, enjoyable way for students to practice grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure while thinking in English. It strengthens their language skills in a meaningful context, improving their overall English communication skills.
2. It prepares students for Cambridge Speaking Exams.
Developing and narrating stories helps students structure their thoughts and express themselves fluently, aligning with their speaking exam requirements that occur in May. This course offers a fun and effective way to build the skills they’ll need to ace the exam.
3. It enhances creativity and self-expression.
Adolescents benefit from creative outlets to explore their ideas and emotions. Storytelling empowers them to express themselves authentically. This builds their confidence which later helps them grow as individuals.
My assignment’s teaching materials and practices foster learning by actively engaging students through creative, personalized, and structured activities that build critical thinking, collaboration, and language skills.
Tools like story mountains and character worksheets provide flexible guidance, making complex tasks accessible and adaptable for different learning levels. Peer feedback encourages communication and critical analysis, while activities like brainstorming and drafting integrate multiple skills. These methods are flexible and can be adapted to younger learners by simplifying tasks.
Objectives of this course:
- To enhance creative thinking. Students will brainstorm and develop unique story ideas by combining imagination with structured techniques like mind mapping or “what if” scenarios.
- To strengthen skills in organizing a narrative. Students will learn to craft a compelling narrative arc, including a beginning, middle, and end, with well-developed characters and engaging conflicts.
- To improve English fluency and accuracy. Students will practice writing and revising their stories focusing on using diverse vocabulary, correct grammar, and clear sentence structures.
Materials and timing
The course will be taught to the students within three to four weeks. They will use pens, colored pens (if they want to get even more creative by drawing their characters and settings), and digital equipment such as tablets and laptops.
The teacher and the language assistant
The teacher will oversee the language assistant while the lesson is ongoing and include the grades of this lesson in the final grade of the students in their English class. He or she will also actively monitor if all students are engaged and participating.
The language assistant will introduce this course to the class, assist the students as they start writing their stories, give them outlines or structure, guide them through the whole process, and take part in assessing the final output of the students.
The teacher and the Language Assistant will both provide guidance to the students with what they need – instructions, ideas, and encouragement.
If the students have questions during the entire course, the teacher and language assistant will be available to provide assistance. However, since the teacher spends more time with the class during the week, students may approach the teacher for additional questions outside our class.
Activities for the class
1. Brainstorming ideas for a story by pairs or group work
Mind maps – Students will create a mind map starting with a keyword (e.g., “adventure” or “friendship”) and branch out with related ideas for characters, settings, and conflicts.
2. Creating characters and a story arc
Story mountain – Students sketch a “story mountain” to outline their narrative: setting, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Character development exercise – Students are encouraged to draw or create the characters’ images on their notebook or laptops, then answer the following questions:
- What are their qualities?
- What are their goals?
- What are their challenges?
- What do they look like?
3. Writing and refining their work
Quick drafting challenge – For 15 minutes, the students will write the first draft of their story. The focus will be on creating an interesting, engaging introduction.
Sharing within a group – The students will be divided into small groups to read their drafts out loud and show their illustrations of the characters they thought of.
Power words hunt – The students will look at common words in their story (e.g., “said,” “happy,” “run”), and challenge them to replace basic words in their story drafts with more visually descriptive options.
Tools to use
This course will make use of digital presentations and slideshows using PowerPoint or Canva, class presentations where the students will be required to stand in front of a class and present, games (online and offline), and mindmaps.
Different learning styles
This final assignment responds to different learning styles by incorporating visual aids like story mountains, auditory activities like discussions and storytelling, hands-on tasks for kinesthetic learners, and plenty of writing exercises for reading/writing-focused students.
It accommodates varying levels of achievement through differentiated instruction, offering advanced challenges for high achievers and extra scaffolding, such as sentence starters and simplified frameworks, for developing writers.
Personalized feedback and collaborative tasks ensure that all students feel supported and motivated, creating an inclusive and engaging learning environment.
My participation as a language assistant in IES Jose Saramago
As language assistants, we are encouraged to join and contribute to school activities.
At the end of October, I participated in our Halloween activity. First, I helped out with creating tombstones for our Halloween setup. I also played the fortune teller where I wore a black coat and sat in a small booth where students lined up to receive their fortunes. I read their fortunes out loud. It was a fun activity for me and the students.
In November, I took part in our Thanksgiving activity where I, together with my fellow language assistants, wrote a list of things I am thankful for on a dried leaf and watched the students perform and say the things they are grateful for onstage. I wrote, “I am grateful for the teachers and students of IES Jose Saramago. I learn a lot from them!”
During the annual Christmas concert in the school gym, I joined one of my 2ESO classes in their performance of “Last Christmas”, a song originally done by the band Wham! This is a very popular song in Spain, and all over the world. I played the guitar while the rest of the class sang and played various instruments like keyboards, xylophones, and pianos.
Moving to Spain and being a language assistant in a secondary school in Madrid, Spain, is one of the most transformative experiences of my life! It’s giving me a deeper perspective of the Spanish culture, education system, and ways of life.