What is Shoebox?
Shoebox, at its heart, is a visual, hands-on grammar learning system that makes English relevant, simple and fun for students. Rather than give them long lists of grammatical rules and exceptions, it teaches principles. Rather than use stories in coursebooks, it draws out students’ stories. Rather than teach students how to answer questions in a book, it teaches them how to think.
Rather than students being passive responders to questions in books, Shoebox teaches them how to make their own authentic, relevant language.
How does it work?
Very simply. Students are their own living, breathing, talking resource centres. They have a wealth of built-in past stories, current experiences and future dreams (in their mother tongues), and these stories cover active, passive, conditionals, modals, articles, gerunds, infinitives and every other kind of grammatical form imaginable. Shoebox simply shows the student how to transform and express these stories, experiences and dreams into English using colour-coded, highly visual and interactive Shoebox cards.
In doing so, students use the highest form of Bloom’s Taxonomy: using principles and structures to create new expressions.
What does it include?
It shows teachers what to teach and how to teach it. Firstly, through six weekly 90 minute sessions, teachers learn the basic principles of how English is constructed. This knowledge is not a set of obscure, academic rules and exceptions, but overarching principles that show how grammar reflects life. It then shows them how to teach students to use these principles in creating their own authentic, relevant language.
Secondly, when teachers complete the workshop and graduate, they receive their access codes and license to use the online Members Library, where all the Shoebox materials (teaching cards, Quick Reference Cards, lesson notes and resource cards) are stored. They then have one year of unlimited access to download, print, laminate and use all materials (some conditions apply) as often as necessary in their classes within that year.
We are currently planning to add training videos so that teachers can refresh their Shoebox knowledge and skills during the period of their licenses.
Does it replace existing coursebooks?
No. It simply provides a grammatical foundation for them. If you are locked into a particular text, Shoebox simply supplements it. Shoebox materials can be used as stand-alone teaching tools, as support materials for existing coursebooks, or as diagnostic or error checking devices.
Is it for all levels?
Yes. I have used it from low Elementary students up to High Intermediate and Cambridge students. While the confidence and competence increases in lower level students are understandable (and very exciting!), I’m often surprised at the gaps in the knowledge of more advanced students. Shoebox fills those gaps nicely.
Is it only on paper?
At the moment, yes.
However, we are currently working with a local developer who is keen to create an app for use on tablets, desktop computers or interactive whiteboards. The first app will just cover the Past Group of cards (the four past tenses and other related grammatical points), but the future family of Shoebox apps will expand to include all tenses, conditionals, modals, phrasal verbs, passive and causative and much more.
Shoebox, at its heart, is a visual, hands-on grammar learning system that makes English relevant, simple and fun for students. Rather than give them long lists of grammatical rules and exceptions, it teaches principles. Rather than use stories in coursebooks, it draws out students’ stories. Rather than teach students how to answer questions in a book, it teaches them how to think.
Rather than students being passive responders to questions in books, Shoebox teaches them how to make their own authentic, relevant language.
How does it work?
Very simply. Students are their own living, breathing, talking resource centres. They have a wealth of built-in past stories, current experiences and future dreams (in their mother tongues), and these stories cover active, passive, conditionals, modals, articles, gerunds, infinitives and every other kind of grammatical form imaginable. Shoebox simply shows the student how to transform and express these stories, experiences and dreams into English using colour-coded, highly visual and interactive Shoebox cards.
In doing so, students use the highest form of Bloom’s Taxonomy: using principles and structures to create new expressions.
What does it include?
It shows teachers what to teach and how to teach it. Firstly, through six weekly 90 minute sessions, teachers learn the basic principles of how English is constructed. This knowledge is not a set of obscure, academic rules and exceptions, but overarching principles that show how grammar reflects life. It then shows them how to teach students to use these principles in creating their own authentic, relevant language.
Secondly, when teachers complete the workshop and graduate, they receive their access codes and license to use the online Members Library, where all the Shoebox materials (teaching cards, Quick Reference Cards, lesson notes and resource cards) are stored. They then have one year of unlimited access to download, print, laminate and use all materials (some conditions apply) as often as necessary in their classes within that year.
We are currently planning to add training videos so that teachers can refresh their Shoebox knowledge and skills during the period of their licenses.
Does it replace existing coursebooks?
No. It simply provides a grammatical foundation for them. If you are locked into a particular text, Shoebox simply supplements it. Shoebox materials can be used as stand-alone teaching tools, as support materials for existing coursebooks, or as diagnostic or error checking devices.
Is it for all levels?
Yes. I have used it from low Elementary students up to High Intermediate and Cambridge students. While the confidence and competence increases in lower level students are understandable (and very exciting!), I’m often surprised at the gaps in the knowledge of more advanced students. Shoebox fills those gaps nicely.
Is it only on paper?
At the moment, yes.
However, we are currently working with a local developer who is keen to create an app for use on tablets, desktop computers or interactive whiteboards. The first app will just cover the Past Group of cards (the four past tenses and other related grammatical points), but the future family of Shoebox apps will expand to include all tenses, conditionals, modals, phrasal verbs, passive and causative and much more.
