Tag: writing

writing

Presentation: Infographic

Astrid van Houwelingen

Occasionally we are presented with a unit in the language coursebook that lends itself very well for further investigation. When that is the case I find myself jumping for joy and seizing the opportunity to make something more out of the unit than the regular reading, writing, listening and grammar activities.

In this instance the unit in our coursebook dealt with the history of the English speaking world. It included five chapters with topics ranging from the Amish community to the early colonisation of Australia. These topics were presented in each of the reading texts for the units. In order to intensify students’ learning of English culture around the globe, I presented them with the task of creating an infographic and presenting their work to the rest of the class for a mark. This task forces students to dig deeper into the culture and history and at the same time invites them to read, write, speak and listen in English while doing their research. It also allows them to master some of those all important 21st century skills. Now who doesn’t love that?

The Basics

Level: B1-C1 (Intermediate, Upper-intermediate, Advanced)
Focus: Reading, speaking, listening, writing, computer skills, co-operating
Time: 3 hours + time to present (depends on how large your group is)
Materials: Laptops/computers

Aim

Students learn about English-speaking cultures, doing research and making an infographic. They prepare a 2.5 minute presentation.

The task

The task of creating an infographic was mainly done in class. Students worked in groups of four and used their laptops to find information online. They worked with an online free programme in order to make a neat looking infographic on the topics listed in their coursebook. The remainder of the work as well as preparing for the presentation was done at home.

I found that students were confronted with a great amount of target language. Some students decided to watch a documentary to learn more about their topic whilst others dug into historical sites. Because students were able to choose their topics within their unit of study many students were motivated to create something satisfying. Some students even came up with their own ideas to include on the infographic. How’s that for ownership? 😉

Additional ideas

This presentation task was designed to expand on a unit of study about historical periods in the English speaking world. However, there are many other units that would be very suitable for creating a task like this. Think of units on student life, culture related units or units on technology. As long as the basis is there and you have some idea of building on it, your options are endless.

Over to you: Do you have coursebook material that would lend itself well to being expanded? Have you made use of this opportunity in the past?

Have fun teaching! ^_^

Love,

Astrid

vocabulary

Vocabulary: Revision Games

Astrid van Houwelingen

When it comes to making things ‘stick’ revision is the key word. Although repeating words until a student remembers them can be an arduous task, it is essential to learning a language. Of course revising by repeating the words with flash cards or using a vocabulary revision app can be useful. But if you want to liven things up a bit there are many activities and games you can play with your students that will have them begging for some more revision please…

And of course we aim to please. That is why I have designed a slideshow with six no-prep games that you can use in your lessons when you want them to repeat those words and still have some fun!

The Basics

Level: A2-C2 (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-intermediate, Advanced)
Focus: Revising vocabulary, writing, speaking
Time: 15-60 minutes depending on the activity you choose
Materials: Vocabulary list, sheets of paper

Aim

Students revise their vocabulary. This can be done either before a test or after you have set some vocabulary revision homework.

The task

In the presentation below you can find six different ways of revising vocabulary. There are instructions on making your own gapfill, writing a short story, making a quiz, playing forbidden word, playing ‘Who is it’ and describing and guessing someone’s character. Because students do more than matching the word and definition or translation it also builds their confidence about writing and speaking in the target language.

Additional ideas

There are many other game forms that lend themselves well to be used in the language class. How about bingo with irregular verbs or playing charades with the words on the vocabulary list? Fun is guaranteed.

Over to you: Do you have fun ideas for revising vocabulary? Let us know in the comment section below.

Have fun teaching! ^_^

Love,

Astrid

Listening

Listening: Bluff the listener

Astrid van Houwelingen

For English teachers there are a myriad of resources to expose our students to real-life English language. It is just a matter of finding suitable material. It can be hazardous and time consuming to find a fragment that is just the right language level, the right length and interesting as well.

Thank the internet for podcasts. These freely available radio shows are a gold mine when it comes to suitable listening material. They cover fun and interesting topics on all aspects of society. There are great shows which are masterpieces of storytelling such as Radiolab, This American Life, The Moth and Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!.

This last podcast (for the ones who are not familiar with it) is a news quiz in which the hosts and three comedians review the week’s news in several quizzes. These fragments are fun, current and best of all: between two and ten minutes per fragment. Perfect for an authentic, real-life listening assignment!

The Basics

Level: B2-C1 (Upper-intermediate, Advanced)
Focus: Listening to a longer piece of text, summarizing, speaking
Time: 20 minutes
Materials: Speakers and internet connection, students need pen and paper

Aim

Students will learn to focus on a longer piece of audio. They will practise taking notes in key words and verbally summarize what they heard. They can pick out the main idea of a fragment.

The Task

In the slideshow you will find a step-by-step lesson plan which can be used with little preparation. All it takes is going through the slides beforehand so you know what to expect. Before you present this to your students, double check if the audio fits their level of English.

Additional ideas

The podcast releases a new episode every week. You could adapt the audio so it is related to the week’s news.

You could easily extend this into a writing activity. Have groups of three students find a remarkable but true news story. Then one student summarizes the real story while the two other students come up with a fabricated story on the same topic that could be true. Students present their quiz to the class. The rest of the class votes on the story they think was the real story.

If you want to add an element of competition to the task you could add a points system where the students who guess correctly get a point whilst the students who chose the wrong story give a point to the story they chose (whilst they themselves receive none of course). The student with the most points in total wins.

Over to you: Do you ever use real-life materials in your lessons? What do you do with those materials? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Have fun teaching! ^_^

Love,

Astrid

vocabulary

Linking words: Who am I?

Astrid van Houwelingen

Students are often asked to study new words from vocabulary lists. If they are lucky, these words have been presented to them in a reading or listening task. More often than not, these words are studied in isolation and are produced only in translation or gap-fill activities. Yet, we want students to be able to reproduce them in their own speaking and writing.

This activity invites students to consider when and how words are used. It also invites them to create new contexts in which they can incorporate these newly learnt vocabulary items.

The Basics

Level: A2-C2 (Elementary – Advanced)
Focus: Learning new linking words, using linking words, speaking, writing
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: Post-its, overview of linking words, white board, several markers

Aim

Adding to student’s knowledge of linking words. Knowing a variety of linking words will allow students to become more proficient readers, writers, speakers and listeners. It will become easier for them to make and follow an argument.

The Task

1. Before starting on the assignment, ask students what they already know about linking words. Let your students complete a mindmap, focussing on what linking words are and why the students should become more familiar with them. This should give both you and your students a chance to reflect on what they know and why the upcoming assignment is important.

When everyone is up to speed on the what and why, it is time to dive a little deeper into the material.

2. Provide students with an overview of the linking words you would like them to become more familiar with. This can be taken from the course book or an online list of words such as this one.

3. Hand out sticky notes and invite students to choose a linking word from the list. They should keep this word secret and stick it on their fellow student’s back or forehead.

4. Now the fun starts. Students walk around and ask their fellow students questions such as: ‘Can you use my linking word when you want to connect ideas?’ or ‘Would you use my linking word if you want to give a reason for your argument?’ The fellow student can only answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Note: Because you would like students to be confronted with as many linking words as possible, you should stimulate your students to ask only one question to one student. This requires them to think about the function of multiple linking words. It also allows them to move around, which energizes them and lets them blow off some steam (if necessary). Feel free to explain the reason for this rule with students who are hesitant to move around.

5. Once a student knows their category, they can start to find out which specific linking word they have on their sticky note. Students should request a gapped sentence from their classmates: ‘Could you create a sencence where my linking word could be used?’ This forces both students to consider the function of the linking word in context. Struggling students could enlist the help of a dictionary to find an example sentence.

6. Once a student knows which linking word they have, invite them to the whiteboard and let them create a sentence with the linking word underlined. Ask them to go back to their seats when finished.

7. When everyone has written down their sentences, review the most remarkable or difficult ones with the class. Does the class feel the linking word has been used correctly? If not, how can the sentence be improved?

Note: With larger classes you could ask students to share their sentences in small groups and give each other feedback on them. The students could provide you with their most remarkable sentence or a sentence they were unsure about. These could be discussed with the whole class.

8. If present, you could ask students to do the assignments from the coursebook to check their understanding. Alternatively, let them write a paragraph including some of the linking words that they have learnt that lesson.

Additional ideas

Who am I? works well with linking words but could also be applied to reviewing vocabulary. Students pick a word from the words they studied previously and go about asking ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions as well as gapped sentences to figure out which word is on their sticky note. Asking them to create their own sentence with the word allows them to consider when and how a word could be used.

Over to you: Do you have fun ways of teaching linking words or other cohesive devices? I’m always up for a great new idea to try out with my students.

Have fun teaching! ^_^

Love,

Astrid