UNIT 8

[ILIANA VIC]

I thinks the coursebook is just a guide that gives you good ideas, but you also need to use and search for different activities. Some books are designed for a especific country, but also they can show some differences depending in the area you are teaching.

[ILIANA VIC]

The cousebooks I had used... Learning Journeys by Pearson I love these books, at first is a little challenge to undestand but onece you find the way it helps you a lot with your classses. Of course, you must use extra activities, change some of theirs, adjust them to your class. It is not a perfect book as many teachers said about the books they had used, but I enjoy working with this one.
Fun for starters: seems to be an easy but if you follow the teachers guide and change some of their activities you can spend a lot of time working in it, and also, children enjoy working with this book.

[Willy]

I think that course books are useful in a way that when they show main characters, you can have your students focused on the stories they tell. The characters can also give you information about grammar ND other topics that are really difficult to see without visual aids.

[Oksana]

1. I think, that it's really hard to find the book that will really fits different groups even if they are of the same age, I work with Kid's box and Sumer minds, and I like Super minds better, because it has funny songs and chants, children sing with pleasure , it has lot's of different text for them to read and it has some CLIL activities and Grammar book, though I still add some materials to each lessons, some of them are from other books, some of them are created by me, like charts with words and meanings, fill in the gaps, and yes/no questions to each picture.
2. "A good course book should have themes which relate to the children, lots of recycling and lots of pictures." I can agree with this statement, because if the course book is too difficult or not interesting for kids, they will have no motivation to study.
3. "It isn't enough to have a Students' Book, Teacher's Book and Workbook; a teacher needs other things, like flash cards and supplementary components." Yes, that's true, and some games and audio materials and video.
5. "I like course books with central characters and a story." I agree with this statement, children like when they meet the same characters in each story, they wait to know what will happen to them next.
6. "If the workbook has an answer key, the children just copy the answers." for most kids I teach, it's true.
7. "We don't use coursebooks for very young learners at my school. I make all my own materials." We use Super Safari and follow main topics but I add a lot of additional materials, games, songs, crafts.

[Irina]

"I think it is impossible to find the perfect book; each one has good and bad features."
I see what you mean. All coursebooks've got their own approachers. Some of them focused on listening, some focused on speaking more.
"A good coursebook should have themes which relate to the children, lots of recycling and lots of pictures."
I agree because a good coursebook should be attractive and create an interest for kids
"It isn't enough to have a Students' Book, Teacher's Book and Workbook; a teacher needs other things, like flash cards and supplementary components."
Yes, I absolutely agree. There are lots of internet resources and activities that can help ss speak fluently.
"I like coursebooks with central characters and a story." I agree about this statement. Childrem remember the characters and they like guessing the end of story.
"If the workbook has an answer key, the children just copy the answers."
Unfortunately, yeah. SOmetimes ss try to find the keys from the Internet.
"We don't use coursebooks for very young learners at my school. I make all my own materials."
It's really compicated to plan the lesson without any coursebooks.