Oxford Basics: Cross-curricular Activities

Author: Hana Svecova
Components: Book for teachers
Publisher: Oxford University Press (Oxford Basics series)
Summary: Cross-curricular activities uses a wide variety of topics as the basis for lesson plans aimed at elementary to intermediate level classes.

Review:
Cross-curricular activities (CCA) tries to show learners how English and cross-curricular subjects fit together. The students are encouraged to see English as not just a set of rules, but as a means of communication.

This book contains 30 lesson plans which can be used with little preparation from the teacher. The lesson plans are based on a wide variety of topics selected from science, mathematics, music, drama, art, history, geography and biology. Each lesson plan has specific target language and should require about 45 minutes’ class time to complete.

The main difference between this book and other books containing activities for class available today is that CCA consists of designing several cross-curricular lesson plans first, and then choosing a suitable “target language” component. Other activity books, in contrast, generally try to design lessons around a specific language component. The “target language” in CCA usually involves an aspect of grammar (such as the Simple Past Passive), a functional aspect (such as giving instructions) or a specific vocabulary area (such as “animals”).

I really enjoyed teaching the lessons from this book. I felt that by focusing on the topic first, as opposed to a specific aspect of grammar or vocabulary, the language the students produced had a very natural feel to it. The students were more focused on conveying meaning than on accuracy. The lessons were, for the most part, interesting for the students. The fact that they had to complete tasks, solve problems and negotiate meaning also made the lessons highly motivating. From the teacher’s perspective, the majority of the lessons required little to no preparation, aside from familiarizing yourself with the material and small amount of board work. The book also offers suggestions on how to adapt the lessons for students of different levels. The only class I had difficulty using the material with was my false-beginner class. These students did very well with some of the lessons, but found others to be too difficult, despite my adaptations.

As I mentioned above, I was very happy with this activity book. I did have a few concerns though. I found that quite a few of the lessons required a high amount of teacher talk time- the teachers are often asked to recite several short passages while the students take notes. If there had been an accompanying CD, it would have been a little less demanding. It should also be pointed out that several of the lessons were not very communicative. In the first 30 minutes of some of the lessons the students spent the majority of the time listening, note taking, and replying with one word answers.  However, the lessons almost always had a communicative activity at the end, but this means that the teacher needs to manage time well in order to ensure the students have enough time to complete this final activity.

I feel this book would be very useful for a teacher who has a wide range of classes and levels. I would not recommend it as the primary source of materials, but it would be a great way to add variety to a course and a change of pace. Because the lessons are based on topic areas such as biology and geography, I feel it offers an excellent opportunity to review previously taught grammar and vocabulary in a natural and authentic way. The more I use CCA and the more familiar I become with it, the more valuable a resource it will be to me in the future.