Realia

=Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) =

==Realia- Realia is a term for real things—concrete objects—that are used in the classroom to build background knowledge and vocabulary (Boyd-Batstone, 2012) ==

//**What is Realia?**//
 * The word ‘realia’ means using real items found in the world around us to help teach English.
 * Realia is used to provide experiences on which to build and to provide students with opportunities to use all the senses in learning (Boyd-, 2012).
 * Realia allows students to see, touch, smell and taste if possible the object being explored. Using Realia in the classroom helps to make English lessons memorable, creating a link between the objects, and the word or phrase they show (Cook, 1981).


 * Why use realia? **
 * Using Realia stimulates the mind, and makes the vocabulary more memorable than a picture would. Students can, touch, smell, and with a food item, taste.
 * Realia saves time, as recognition of an object is often immediate; elicitation of vocabulary becomes much easier as simply holding up the object with a raised eyebrow, will usually result in the desired word being spoken (Cook, 1981)
 * Realia connects language acquisition to the real world. Students are more likely to remember new words when incorporating Realia. For Example, the word pineapple: the probability of remembering the word becomes much higher after experiencing the taste, touch and smell of the pineapple. Realia does not have to be limited to food or drink. Timetables, newspapers, receipts, artifacts and clothes may all be used to bring lessons to life, as well as provide interest.

// It can be used in **ANY** content area. //
 * What else can I use Realia for? **
 * Language arts; Realia can be used to demonstrate grammatical structures like prepositional phrases and also to introduce new vocabulary.
 * Mathematics; Realia can be brought in as manipulative to count or make a word problem more realistic.
 * Science; In science lessons Realia enhances the scientific experiences of learning through hands on exploration of an object.
 * Social Studies, bringing in historical artifacts can enhance a time period students may be learning about.
 * Art; actually being able to manipulate mediums to create something.


 * Impact of Technology**

Technology has begun to impact the use of Realia by adding the virtual Realia option. Whereby three-dimensional models can be displayed through projection or on computer screens, allowing the learner to see detail otherwise difficult to acquire and to manipulate the object within the medium on which it is displayed. The option of zooming and looking within objects makes virtual Realia an important learning tool in technical environments where it may be difficult or impractical to examine an object in as much detail manually, such as the workings of living organs or machinery containing hazardous parts, such as combustion engines (Smith, 1987).

Realia can be used to assess students' receptive vocabulary and understanding of verbal directions (Boyd-Batstone, 2012)
 * Assessment**



media type="youtube" key="QzEJNFw-G3s" width="420" height="315"


 * References**

Boyd-Batstone. (2012). English language learner and diversity manual. (3 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.

Cook, V. (1981, 14 09). Using authentic material in the classroom. Retrieved from []

Smith, B. (1987). Virtual realia. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. lll(No. 7), Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Smith-Realia.html