On 24 September, the British Council held two workshops for teachers of English at primary and secondary level, as part of the BritLit project.
The workshops were held at the National Curriculum Centre in Hamrun, in collaboration with the Malta Ministry for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
BritLit is not about the study of literature. It is about acquiring language and linguistic skills by means of the written and spoken word. It is about using English Language in the form of contemporary short stories and poetry to look through a window into modern day life and cultures.
BritLit develops language learning materials from contemporary British literature sources for school teachers. The materials consist of a highly flexible series of activities and ideas which can be made to fit almost any language classroom situation.
BritLit is a regional British Council project drawing on expertise and experience from British Council offices in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The British Council works closely with Teachers’ Associations and groups of teachers who contribute to the material writing and production of the kits through focus groups, training sessions and by being part of the BritLit ‘family’. Everyone has something to offer, and as a consequence the materials are continually evolving.
BritLit kits are written by teachers for teachers. They consist of activities in the form of worksheets and projects which can be photocopied and adapted to fit the unique needs of your class. You can use as much or as little as you want or need. The kits are not presented as a course and one set of materials is not dependent on another. The kits are designed to tackle the problems of mixed ability English language classes. To provide even greater flexibility the materials are produced exclusively on electronic format – a web page and on CDROM.
Britlit resources
The workshops were held by Ellen Darling, Senior Teacher from the British Council in Naples. Teachers were given handouts and CDs with teaching materials.
Some comments from the teachers who attended the workshop:
“The information was useful in giving me concrete examples of what I could do in class as well as adapt material to the level of the students.”
“The activities were fun and could be employed in a variety of classroom contexts. The material used is attractive and would be beneficial with different ability groups.”
“The story kit and activities were interesting and exciting.”
“Material was very well presented and was applied to a realistic classroom situation.”
“The workshop was very good. I use the British Council site in my class very frequently.”
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