The Vampire Lesson

Here's another lesson for your ESOL, ESL or EFL students tapping the now mainstream interest in Vampires. Get the worksheet straight away by clicking here - http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/the-vampire-lesson.doc

Whether your students enjoyed the seminal video game Vampire: The Masquerade - bloodlines a few years ago or they enjoy The Twilight series of films or the TV shows True Blood or The Vampire Diaries, this lesson might be up their street.

Not everyone likes vampires, so I'd suggest you be careful with this one. Don't use it with kids or those that are easily offended. Culturally, these kind of vampires are very 'western' and so if your students are not familiar with modern, American mythology then this probably won't work. The Chinese have their own versions of vampires and so do a lot of other cultures...

There's no special way to run the lesson, just follow the activities on the worksheet. There are broken lines around the worksheet so you can cut the sections up with a pair of scissors if you don't want students to do it all at once.

Here's the worksheet again - http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/the-vampire-lesson.doc

Online reading tasks - How e-learning can save paper - no kidding

My English language students need to read a lot - fact, and I often want them to read something quickly which they can discard when they finish. What I don't want to do however is photocopy the same thing for each student only to have them read it once and then file it away neatly never to be seen again.(or more likely, thrown it in the bin.)

Here's where technology can help.

Armed with their smartphones that can access the internet students can read a wide range of material quickly and without wasting resources. (except maybe their monthly bandwith allowance)

Online Reading Tasks
I put my students into pairs and gave them the urls below. I then told them to go away and use their smartphones or any device that could access the internet to read the three stories and come up with three endings ...each ending being a single sentence or even just a word.

Story 1 - Joe and the tigers

http://chrisspeck.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/joe-and-the-tigers-read-the-story-and-write-the-last-line/

Write your ending to the story in one sentence here:

------------------------------------------------------------------

Story 2 - Joe and the hairdresser

http://chrisspeck.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/joe-and-the-hairdresser-read-the-story-and-write-the-last-line/

Write your ending to the story in one sentence here:

------------------------------------------------------------------

Story 3 - The workman and the beggar

http://chrisspeck.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/quick-stories-2-the-workman-and-the-beggar/

Write your ending to the story in one sentence here:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suggested answers

A good ending for story one - 'I know, it works really well."

A good ending for story two - 'I'm the one who has to look at it all day.'

A good ending for story three - 'No'.

Further thoughts

When are we going to see 'electronic paper'? By this I mean a cheap, simple device that can use either a wi-fi or USB connection to show written content to students. I don't mean a set of expenisve laptops (or even a computer) or a trendy handheld device,I mean a cheap bit of plastic that will show words and pictures, that can be thrown around and used over and over and over again to show documents. Think of the amount of money that could be saved on paper. You'd never need to print exams, worksheets or home made books, or stories, or timetables

...actually, if students already have a smartphone then they've got this already.

Joe and the Hairdresser - read the story and write the last line.

Joe’s wife was an ugly woman. She had horrible eyes a big nose and fat lips. One day she decided that if she had a nice haircut it would make her more beautiful. So Joe took her to the hairdresser.

When the hairdresser had finished he held up a mirror so that Joe’s wife could look at herself. She looked in the mirror and saw her ugly face. She saw her big nose and horrible eyes. She started to cry. Joe started crying as well. The hairdresser tried to calm them both down. He said he would give them a refund for the hair cut, but Joe would not stop crying.
Then Joe’s wife became angry.
“Will you shut up?” she said. “I’m the one with an ugly face”
“I know,” said Joe, “ _______________________________ .”

Joe and the tigers - read the story and write the last line

One day one of Joe’s neighbours visited him.
Joe was standing outside his house with a bag of salt. He was throwing the salt over the front of his garden.

“What are you doing Joe?” asked the neighbour.

“I’m trying to keep the tigers away.”

The neighbour looked shocked.
“But there are no tigers near here?”

“_________________________.”

The zombie lesson - reading and discussion lesson for Halloween

 

Can't be bothered to read the blog?  I wouldn't bother either, here's the worksheet:  http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/the-zombie-lesson.doc

I quite like zombie films and most of my pre-intermediate and intermediate students do as well. Here is a three part Zombie lesson to get them talking and reading about the most popular undead monster in modern culture.

Pre- reading. - You can dictate these questions or cut them up and ask students to read them together

Reading - You could dictate a few comprehension questions about this or blank out a few of the words to make it a gap fill exercise.

Discussion - ask students in pairs to make their own zombie apocalypse plan outlining what they and their partner would do to survive the zombies. I put a few sentences students could finish but they could write anything. Help them out by giving them some ideas. What would they do if there really was a zombie threat? Would they go to the supermarket to get food, the DIY store to get weapons? Where would they go long term? How would they really survive?

****WARNING**** I wouldn't do this lesson with students who aren't familiar with the Zombie genre, younger students or students who wouldn't like this kind of thing.

Here's the worksheet again http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/the-zombie-lesson.doc

Let me know if this lesson worked or not.

More of the same from: www.englishlanguagespacestation.com

Learning English with Britain's Got Talent

Can't be bothered to read the blog? Get the worksheet here.

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/britains-got-talent-lesson-plan.doc

Get more lessons like this at the English Language Space Station.com

Like so many, I have a love/hate relationship with The X-factor and Britain's Got Talent. I like watching it... but I hate watching it. I'll leave any descriptions as to how bad it is and how it is destroying the music business to those with more fire in their belly. I'm only concerned with how we can use it to teach English.

Here's the lesson.

1. Talk about the x -factor / Britain's Got Talent / Pop Idol. It's all over the world and in every country. Dictate these  questions.

- Do you have the X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent or something similar, in your country?

- Do you like it? Why?

- Would you appear on a show like this? What would you do? Sing? Dance?

- Do you think it's good or bad for young people to appear on talent shows like this?

2. Students read about the show and them fill in the worksheet about giving feedback. Get the worksheet here http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/britains-got-talent-lesson-plan.doc

3.Play some songs from youtube - students watch them and then comment on them very much like the judges in the show. You might also like to give students a card or a book which they can hold up when they are sick of watching the presentation.

Using mobile phone / smartphones to teach English - Part 2 - Kindle books

If you're lucky enough to have a smartphone and have cleverly downloaded the Amazon 'Kindle Ap' then you'll already know that there are loads and loads of top class, albeit, old books avaliable to download for free onto your posh phone. You could even download them on your Kindle. Also, if you're keen on a bit of philosophy, you get all the classics here as well.

How can we use these for language teaching?

If your students have the technology to download these books then here are a list of good ones that they can download for free. These titles are upper intermediate and above and I've tried not to add any that are so old that they contain words like 'thou' in the text.

Short stories old and new

Jack London - White Fang

Jack London's short stories

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The legends of King Arthur and his knights

Dracula

What do you do when students have read a text?

This is the conundrum faced by English - English teachers who want their students to think about the life of Hamlet and the same techniques apply.

Check out the advice from yourdictionary.com here

There is also some really good advice on using literature in your classroom  from www.onestopenglish.com click here to read the article

for more stories to read with your class visit

http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com/reading_lessons.htm

Internet Research for ESOL / ESL / IELTS Part 2- Clothes Shopping

Despite the dot com boom and bust and the fear of criminals using ones credit card number, internet shopping continues to be big business reducing shopping streets across the world to ghost towns.  Next, www.marksandspencer.com , Topman and even Ebay have bright, engaging websites to sell their clothes. As always, there is opportunity to exploit these well designed resources with your English language students.

 

Download the lesson here. Clothes Shopping on the Net: http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/clothes-shopping-on-the-net1.doc

Materials Needed: 1 copy of the worksheet per student /One computer with the internet for each pair of students/ Interactive Whiteboard (optional)

Level: Entry 3+ / B1 + / Pre Intermediate +

What it's good for: Scanning, pair work, discussion, clothes, shopping

How long will it take: 40 minutes including introduction and feedback

Lesson Notes

**Note** The key to this lesson is making the introduction and the feedback after the worksheet meaningful. The task in itself is very straight forward scan reading from the internet but to make it more communicative you can use the front and back end of the lesson. It could also be intergrated into a section of your course on shopping and clothes.

1. Introduction. You might like to start by showing some pictures of clothes on the interactive whiteboard. The Leo Network has some nice images here here: http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/clothes.htm

2.  Ask students where they buy their clothes. Do they ever use the internet to buy clothes? What websites do they use? Show a glossy website like M and S and ask students what they'd like to buy. Search for the item using the search box and choose the item together.

2. Have students complete the worksheet  by searching on the internet for the items they want. It might be better to put girls together Circulate round the room loking at what students are doing offering comments, suggestions or help. Don't just leave them to it.

3. Feedback. Ask pairs to tell you how much they spent, also ask them to say what they liked and why. This might also lead onto a discussion on fashion or men and women's clothing, download my powerpoint for this here: Shopping Discussion for Interactive Whiteboard: http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/clothes-discussion.ppt

Internet Research for ESOL / EFL / ESL Part #1 - Shopping At Argos

Using computers and the internet to find information is a modern life skill, and very useful to boot; it's also a great way to get your students reading and writing meaningful English. This 'Argos' shopping lesson gets students scanning and reading English as well as dioscussing the merits of what to buy.

Lesson Plan

I did this lesson in a computer room with one computer per student BUT I asked students to work together in pairs on one computer so they could discuss the answers. I also had a IW (interactive whiteboard) where I could show results. You can download this lesson here Argos Shopping

Level - Pre-intermediate, E2-E3, A2-B1

Time: 1 hour

1. Ask students where they go shopping. Do they go shopping online? Which website to they use? Ebay? A local one?

2. Show students www.argos.co.uk  . It isn't an online shop but it you can search for items in the handy box at the top. Each item also has a reference number which can be used to find it really quickly. Asks students for an item they would like to buy and write this in the search box, then used the drop down boxes to select how you would like the results displayed - explain to students how to do this.

3. Now give students the worksheet, explain that they have to use www.argos.co.uk  to find the items needed on the sheet to furnish their new flat which they will share with their partner. They must write down the name, the price and the reference number - which you can use to check what they've bought later. Importantly they both have to agree on the item that they buy and they must keep to the tight budget of 500 pounds.

4. Now students work through the sheet. Walk round and check what they students are shopping for, commenting on them being too expensive or cheap. Encourage students to discuss what they are buying together.

5. When students have finished, ask them to add up what they've spent and make sure it's in budget. Then have them feedback their answers, quoting the reference number which you can then type into the www.argos.co.uk website to find out what they bought.

You can download this lesson here Argos Shopping

you can find more lessons like this at

www.englishlanguagespacestation.com

Using Google Maps for ESOL / ESL / IELTS

If you're ever in need of directions or need to know where the nearest pizza shop is, then you don't need to look further than Google Maps. It's a map of the entire world which can be viewed either as a traditional road map, a satellite snapshot or a hybrid of the two. There is also the new streetview which lets you zoom right into the street for a close up view of what it looks like at ground level.  Not only that but it's a great resource for ESOL / ESL/ IELTS students at whatever level.



 

I used this with a group of Pre- Intermediate learners (B1 / Entry 3) in a room where students had access to a computer each. There was also an Interactive Whiteboard that I used to display examples and Google Maps.

1. Ask students these questions and spark up genuine conversation with them about where they live and the area they live in. There might be some really bad (or good) areas around where you live which you could discuss as a group : 'Where do you live?' 'Where's that near? 'Is it a good area?' ' 'Do you like living there?

2.   Show google maps and the functionality on the whiteboard. Explain how students can use the search box to find streets, the zoom features, the buttons at the top to switch between satelitte and map. Ask someone to offer their street and then find it using the search box. Zoom in on where they live if they are happy with this.

3. Pass out the work sheet and have students search through google maps to find the answers - some of the answers they might need to look on the map for. My worksheet is only a suggestion, you might like to change it with places of interest in your country and area.

Street Name	Town	Postcode	Extra Question:
Tiger Lane.			What’s the name of the big park near here?
Gawber Road.			What’s opposite this road?
Jack Straw’s Lane			Which streets come off this?
Downing Street	London		Who lives in this street?
Daisy Street	Glasgow

Click here for the full worksheet

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/maps-on-the-internet-e3.doc

4. Encourage students to help each other and discuss anything of interest they have found. Don't leave them alone to do - this might allow them chance to catch up on their email - worse, it might make them think you don't care what they're doing. Circulate round the room look at what they are doing, offering advise or help.

5. When students have finished, make sure they turn off their computer screens so they listen to you and each other, before running through the answers together.

For more on this and other lessons visit http://s132633050.websitehome.co.uk/Computer%20lessons.htm