ELT course books that will never get published

Here's my list of  EFL courseboks that will never get published.

1. GunPoint - A new pre-intermediate course book dealing with all aspects of international criminal English. 10 hard hitting chapters cover vital criminal skills such as extortion, weapon vocabulary, hacking, robbery and how to deal with police interrogation. The free DVD contains twenty of cinema's finest criminal moments from movies like The Godfather and Pulp Fiction.

2. Hat Trick - International football player English, includes comprehensive swearing index. Specialist chapters deal with telling lies to your partner, having a diva strop like a man and advanced press conference skills.

3. Spirit Level - Builder's English including a pull-out section on dirty jokes and chapters on how to avoid paying tax.

4. Pick Up - how to attract and pick up member of the opposite sex in English. Includes a section on body language and social etiquette. Also including a large selection of chat-up lines.

5. Boiling Point- all aspects of cookery, equipment and brutal swearing included in this intermediate course for English learners with an interest in the kitchen

6. Darling! I love it! - An intermediate course book for English learners who need to know everything about the fashion industry with sections on substance abuse, catfights, bitchy gossip and frocks.

7. International Geek English - for those learners who need to be able to discuss physics, comics and the combat system for the 4th edition of dungeons and dragons. This course book includes how to use the Socratic method of discussion, witty put-downs and search engine techniques containing Boolean logic.

8. Cheers! - Drinking English. From the earthy, base language of the backstreet public house to the refined, gentile prose of the English country pub, this three-part course book covers what to say in almost every type of drinking establishment in the world, with chapters on anecdotes, pretending to be interested and how to deal with hangovers.
 

Any more ideas?

The Royal Wedding ppt - a quick ten minute chat for your intermediate English class.

Can be bothered to read the short post?  - download the Royal Wedding PPT here.   (can you find the puctuation error?)



It's the most important wedding since the last important wedding but, like it or loathe it Prince William's marriage to Kate is big news and it might be a good subject to get your students chatting.

Here's my own royal wedding powerpoint that I've been using with my students. Click here to download the powerpoint.

Royal wedding lessons on the net

Breaking News English has a good Royal Wedding lesson here http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1102/110218-royal_wedding.html

The TES has a few Royal Wedding lessons but you have to be a member http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Royal-Wedding-Procession-Route-6073740/

Some great material for the Royal Wedding here at Michelle Henry http://www.michellehenry.fr/williamkate.htm

Really good lesson plans and a PowerPoint show from Guardian Teaching Resources, discussing, among many things constitutional changes. You must be a member to view these. http://teachers.guardian.co.uk/resources.aspx?q=The%20Royal%20Wedding

Teaching English/ESOL/ESL with SmartPhones - ten things I'd like to do.

In the UK you can get a smartphone for £100 and they are only going to get cheaper as more people want them. A device with a camera and video camera, access to the internet, with thousands of apps and the ability to share and recieve information will have a profound effect on education if we work with it. Here are some lessons I'd do if all my students had Android  powered Smartphones with access to the internet and cameras:

1. Mess about with googlemaps. I'd spend ten to fifteen minutes making a virtual tour of the town where we live and then ask students to log on and follow it in teams of two on their phones answering the questions I set them as they went. I actually did do this, but my students didn't have the technology to access it. I'd go even further than this and get students to make their own tours on googlemaps with commentary, get other students to follow them and decide if they were good or bad.

2. Get students to take photos of things in pairs or teams, I blogged about this a long time ago here (click here to read it), I asked students to follow instructions to take snaps of various easy things like 'a chair' or 'a book' and then made it much harder by asking them to capture 'sadness' or 'happiness' to stretch their imagination. It worked really well and if we could do this with smartphones on the internet then we could instantly share the pictures on facebook or googledocs. I'd also get students to make films - something which I'm experimenting with at the moment. This is huge area for development.

3. I'd do loads more things with text messages - except that I wouldn't use text messages because they cost money, I'd use the email feature of Facebook. I've already blogged about using text messages on here and use them to give students 'thinking homework' click here to read that one, and sending students out on a treasure hunt using messages they recieve digitally to tell them what to do - click here to read that one. With smartphones linked to the internet, this would be quick and more importantly, free

4. I'd get students out of the classroom with a text to read from either Amazon's Kindle store via their ap or through googledocs, or even their email. When they've read it they can come back. And... I'd get students to read comics on their phones as homework.

5. I'd have students download the 'my tracks' app which would track their every move via satelitte. I'd ask them to record their movements for one full day and then upload the 'track' to googlemaps so they could share it with the rest of the students. In class I'd get them to explain what they did and where they went using the map as a presentation tool.

6. I'd make students play games together, I mean multiplayer games where they play at the same time. Stratergy games, platform games, farmville type games - anything as long as they play together and it makes them interact with each other in the target language either to tell  each other how to do it, or how to cheat.

7. I'd ask students to interview someone in English, record it, edit it with something like audacity and then present it to the rest of the group.

8. I'd get students to use the radio and  listen to the news/a radio play/ in English at a certain time, write down some information from it and then share what they learned with the class in the next lesson.

9. I'd get students to listen  to music, any type of music as long as it's in English. They could share it with each other, talk about it, learn lyrics from songs and find out about the singers or the group. I've also blogged about using youtube in lessons and those ideas would work perfectly well on smartphones.

10. Finally...I'd call them. Sometimes during the lesson, sometimes for homework. I'd phone for a chat or to ask them their opinion or to tell me something they found out. I'd also ask them to phone each  other - as long as they spoke in English.

My prediction is this: a decent,cheap smartphone that is compatible with the internet and has all the features needed to work with a PC will be able to dominate the educational landscape of the future. Students buy and maintain the device but the books  and the materials that might be needed be them audio, video or text, are transmitted to this device by the educational institution. We would need paper of course but there wouldn't be the need for nearly as much. The technology is here now.

Is there anyone out there who agrees...?

Is there anyone out there who wants to lend me a bunch of smartphones to teach my students with?  Please get in touch of you've got a project on this!

Low Level Grammar PowerPoints - The Present Perfect

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="286" caption="Ah the old favourite! He has lost his key."][/caption]

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/present-perfect-make-some-sentences.ppt

Here's a really quick powerpoint that gets students to make sentences in the present perfect. It could be used as a written task, but I think it's best as a spoken activity where students just shout out the answers. It's not a lesson in itself but more of a supplement to a lesson on the present perfect.

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/present-perfect-make-some-sentences.ppt

For more of the same, get yourself down to
http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com

Thinking homework

What is thinking homework?

Thinking homework is a task you set your students that only requires them to think - nothing else. No writing, no reading, just thinking. Sitting in the bath, driving the car, walking in the rain or laying in bed. All students have to do is think.

There is some work in preparing learners for this, firstly, explaining that this is something useful to do and secondly, how they should go about thinking.

How do students do it?

Students are only allowed to think in English. They can talk to themselves if they like or say words in their head, but it won't be any good unless the think in the target language. Secondly, they have to remember to do it, I use text messages with my students to remind them.  Thirdly, there has to be some evidence that students have actually done the task and some sort of assessment of how they well they did it, this is done by getting students to report back to you or the class about their ideas and what they've been thinking.

Where does it come from?

The idea for setting students homework where all they have to do is 'think about it' probably isn't anything new, I started setting this kind of task after thinking about Brian Tomlinson's ideas on students developing their internal voiceby talking to themselves, among his many books (click here for a list) you can find reference on how to develop this in second language learners. Brian also explains this theory very clearly in the The Journal of Imagination in Language Learning and Teaching which you can read online. I also had two students in my class who were taxi drivers, so, I used to send them their 'think homework' via text message to their mobile phone so they would not only remember to do it, but would be able to get on with thinking about whatever it was while they were driving. Here are some 'thinking homework' that I've set in the past:

Story thinking homework

1. Which famous person's life would you like to live? What kind of things would you do?

2. If you could live your life again, what would you do differently? ***we were talking about regrets ***

Some problem thinking homework

1. Your home is on fire. You can only save three things from the flames. What things would you save and why?

2. If could invite anyone to a dinner party, alive or dead, famous or not famous, who would you invite?

3.  What invention do you think the world needs? A teleport machine, a free power generator, a language learning chip that fits in your brain? or something else? Please tell the class your idea next week.

More complete lessons using PowerPoint - Health and Doctors

I love PowerPoint. It's easy to make and use and yet still powerful. If you can' t be bothered to read the blog post (which to be honest, is pathetically short) then click below for the lesson.

http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com/Health%20and%20illness.ppt

Here's yet another lesson from my endless back catalogue of complete PowerPoint sessions. This time focusing on health and visiting the doctor. You don't need any photocopies, only a projector that can play the show. http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com/Health%20and%20illness.ppt

See, told you it was short.

If you liked this lesson then you can download loads more from the English Language Space Station.com or you could leave some feedback. http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com/complete_PowerPoint_Lessons.htm

Hallowe'en worksheets for your ESOL/ ESL class

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This blog post isn't very long but, if you still can't be bothered to read it, then get the hallowe'en ESL worksheets here http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/halloween.doc

If you live in the UK or the USA, the end of October means more little kids dressed as skeletons knocking on your door and screaming 'trick or treat' before you dish out the sweets.

Here's an old favourite that I've used on Hallowe'en for many years. If you don't want to make the first worksheet too easy, then cut off the bottom section so they don't have the names of the halloween creatures to help them. It's worth remembering that these monsters play a very big part in UK and US culture, so this might be a really good lesson for higher level students, especially when they have to discuss what the various monsters do.

Chatting about superstitions in the second worksheets is also very interesting and whilst some are the same the world over, others are very strange.

Here's the lesson http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/halloween.doc

For much much more of the same, visit my main storage space www.englishlanguagespacestation.com

Instant Lessons - The (Pub) Quiz lesson

Here's another class that needs no preparation or materials to run, just a bit of showmanship and some paper.

1. Explain the idea of the quiz in your country (in my case, the pub quiz in the UK). You might like to borrow my annecdote about my dad, which is half true. 'Every Tuesday night my dad, who's seventy two, goes down to the local pub/cafe to do the quiz with his friends. There are three of them, all over seventy and they'll all very serious about winning. My dad goes into the pub/cafe and pays his one pound/dollar to get a quiz sheet and then joins his pals to listen the questions. The quizmaster stands up and taps his microphone, 'right then,' he says, 'Question 1: which is the longest river in the world?' 'Question 2: How many people live in the African country Sudan?' At this point my dad politely explains that he has to go to the toilet [now walk across the class room and very slowly take your mobile phone/hand in the shape of a phone out of your pocket] 'Hiya [your name] I'm in the quiz and we've got a question, would you mind getting on the computer and finding out a few answers for me?' He does that to m every Tuesday night.

2. Now pass out some slips of paper and tell students they are going to have a pub quiz and that they are going to write two questions each. The number of questions very much depends on how many students you have and how good they are. In a class of ten who are pre-intermediate, I'd ask them  to write three each. Ask students to write the numbers 1-30 on their paper. Tell student 1 he/she is writing questions 1-3, the next students 4-6, the next 7-9 and so on. This would give you 30 questions to ask and answer.

3. While students are writing their questions you must help them or the game will not work. Explain that students must not ask a question that is too difficult like 'briefly explain relativity' or 'What colour are my grandfather's eyes?'. Similarly they shouldn't ask questions which are too subjective like ' Which is the best football team in the world?'. Students should also know the answer to the question.

4. Now get students to ask their questions to the class. Students answer by writing the answers on their paper. Hopefully there will be some banter around the questions - asking for repetiton. You might need to paraphrase but let the question teller do most of the work.

5. When all the questions are done - elicit the answers and find out the winner. Stuident get free points for the questions that they wrote.

The really nice part about this lesson is the genuine communication that it produces, especially when there is cheating and uncertainty among the answers and questions. There may be petty squabbles about the longest river in the world, and you might need google to help you, but this is all part an parcel of this lesson. I usually put a tea bag into a sealed envelope and write the word 'winner' on it in big letters, this is the prize for the winner and I continually refer to it throughout the lesson to built up student expectation.

More Complete Lessons Using PowerPoint - Money and Banks

If you can't be bothered to read the post then download the lesson here. http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/money-and-banks.ppt

Here's another Complete Lesson Using PowerPoint following on from what the two I've done already, Complete PowerPoint Lesson - Relationships, Complete PowerPoint Lesson - Technology

This time I've gone for Money and Banks. The lesson is aimed at Pre-intermediate to intermediate students and is pretty straightforward to run with the answers already embedded in the files.

You will need a projector or an interactive whiteboard to show the presentation but your students don't need any text books and you don't need any photocopied handouts - watch and follow the instructions for a great lesson. Download the lesson here http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/money-and-banks.ppt

You can find more lessons like this and indeed more worksheets and ideas for teaching ESOL/ESL/IELTS and English at my trusty old website http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com/complete_PowerPoint_Lessons.htm

English Language Spelling Mistakes - We are not alone - Spelling help for ESOL / IELTS and EFL

Quick spelling lesson for ESOL / IELTS /EFL

If you haven't got time or can't be bothered to read the post the spelling lesson is here:

The twenty five most common spelling mistakes in English. http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/the-25-most-common-spelling-mistakes-in-english.doc

The most pleasing things about making spelling mistakes when typing into Google is not that it offers you a handy correction,  but the fact that there are hundreds  of people who have also made the same mistakes, and have also gone the extra mile by putting these mistakes live on the web.

Websites that help with your spelling

There are some great webistes that can help your students with their spelling. The BBC have a really good Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check game as well as lots of others on their skillswise site. www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise

There are also some good flash spelling games at www.manything.org

Spelling Miatakes by Native English Speakers

There are lots of funny places to look at real life spelling mistakes in English, one great example from the north of England is by Prof. Vivian Cook who took photos of genuine spelling errors made by British people.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SpellingMistakes/MistakesStreetHand.htm

You can also find hundreds of honest spelling errors by visiting www.google.com and seraching for 'spelling mistakes' under images

Other Mistakes !

If you're looking for something a little bit more hardcore then there are a whole range of websites that make fun of Chinese spelling mistakes. These are in vogue at the moment but some are a bit rude so I wouldn't advocate showing these to your class.

http://www.squidoo.com/funnychinesesigns

Here's a good one from www.engrish.com



Help for your students

Here's a spelling video I made with the PSP camera, play it for your students while you go for a cup of tea.

Students taking Snaps - Ideas for Using Digital Photos in your ESOL / ESL / IELTS class.

 

If you haven't got time to read - here's the lesson

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/taking-digital-photos-photograph-these-objects-chris-speck.doc

Students and teachers alike enjoying having their mobile phones switched on in class so they can look at text messages recieved, share photos of new editions to their family or tweets from people they have never met. Sadly, convention causes us to have our ringtones on silent and to gently chuckle along to ourselves as we read, look at a picture or digest the philosophical tweet. What, as someone in teaching recently has probably said over and over again, we turned the tables on this and used the phones as a teaching tool?  I'll be looking at this in more detail in other blog posts but here, we'll deal with photos.

Most mobile phones have decent cameras in them these days and with that much power, students have the ability to snap away at anything they like, for free. Of course, none of us are the very talented and famous photographer, David Bailey so we don't really care what the photos really look like, what's more important is the language that will be produced by talking about then before, during and after the process.

Before we start - some possible issues.

- Not everyone will have a camera phone. This might make some activities difficult, especially homework tasks. Your institution or school might have some digital cameras you could lend students, or they might want to consider investing in some.

- How do you share or show the photos? The best way to share photos is if you have an Interactive Whiteboard or a projector, but even just a standard computer monitor will do. Students can gather round to look at the photos together.  Annoyingly, lots of mobile phones don't have standard USB connection ports and this might make it difficult to quickly upload photos from the phones as students will need their special connectors. One way might be to ask students to upload their photos to a repositiory, you might have moodle at your institution or something similar, but you could also use the fabulous www.flickr.com and ask students to store their photos there or even facebook. If you do have an interactive whiteboard or will use a central computer you could ask students to store their photos on memory stick which they could plug in. 

Using Photos in Classroom Time.

1. In pairs students go away and take photos of  a series of increasing ly difficult objects to find. This is the only idea I've had enough time to develop into an actual lesson -  I've made a worksheet for this here.

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/taking-digital-photos-photograph-these-objects-chris-speck.doc 

2. Signs. In pairs students take photos of signs.  They then come back and discuss these in class.

3. Where is it? Students take photos of familiar places that are not obvious, other students have to guess where it is.

4. Recreate these photos. Student have to try to reproduce famous photos or pictures. (not sure about this one!)

Outside class time - photo lessons that need some preparation.

1. Tell me about your favourite photo. Students bring in their own photo and talk about why it's important to them or why they like it.

2. A day in your life - in photos. Students take a sequence of photos showing a day in their life which they can them show and explain to the rest of the class.

3. What happened at the weekend? The same as the task about but this time about the weekend. This could also be extended to include a celebration or other party.

4. My favourite place/ food/ person.

Feedback- How did it go?

Will let you know. Please let us know of any other digital photgraphy lessons you've done.

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

Loving PowerPoint - Using presentation software in your ESOL / EFL classroom

Apart from having a capital letter in the middle of it, PowerPoint is easy, quick and looks great. Here are some quick ideas on how to use this presentation software with your EFL or ESOL students.

Get your students chatting with PowerPoint.

Getting students to ask each other questions and chat with each other is the cornerstone of modern language teaching. Using PowerPoint, you can easily display questions or points for students to discuss, or reveal them one by one.

Click here for some great shows from English Language Space Station

Picture shows for lower level students

Find a picture you want in  http://images.google.co.uk/. Copy and paste the image into PowerPoint and make your own slide show. If pictures aren't clear enough, use the advanced Image search to look for only large images (http://images.google.co.uk/advanced_image_search?hl=en) You can make slide shows about any vocab area, things in the kitchen, places in town, jobs, vehicles... any vocab set.

Check out these examples  Parts of a car and Things in the Kitchen and Things in a house

Get your students using PowerPoint as well

If your students have access to computers then why not let them have a go at making a show. They could research a famous person, their hometown, a capital city they like, a country etc and then give a presentation on using their own PowerPoint show. Student confidentiality prevents us showing some student example, but they are great!

This isn't new...

We know. But sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees

Other people using PowerPoint in quirky ways...

Tim Key's PowerPoint Poetry

How I fell in love with PowerPoint - David Gaffney

Great PowerPoint Lessons

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

How to make a song/poem cloze test for ESOL ESL or ESL students

1. find a song on youtube.com that your students might like


2. to get the lyrics, write the name of the song lyrics into google.com


3. Now you have the lyrics, copy and paste them into word. Make the font bigger and change it so it’s easy to read.


4. Now delete some words that are easy to hear and easy to spell, replace them with a line ______


5. Now delete some more difficult words that are still easy to hear. You should aim for about 15 depending on the song.


6. Now you have them all, add numbers to the lines ___1___ ____2____ etc.

Example #1 - Amazing Grace - Traditional Song (answers at bottom) - This isn't a great video



Amazing Grace, how sweet the ___1___
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am ___2___,
Was blind, but now I see.

It was Grace that ___3___my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first ____4___.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have ___5____ come;
It is Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me ___6___.

The Lord has ____7____ good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as ____8___endures.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a __ 9_____like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was___10___, but now I see.

Example #2 - Stop all the Clocks - W.H. Auden (answers at bottom)



Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy ___1___,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners ___2___.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is ___3___,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton ___4___.

He was my North, my South, my East and ___5___,
My working week and my Sunday ___6___,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my ___7___;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was ___8____.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every ___9____;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the __10__;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the __11__.
For nothing now can ever come to any __12__.

Amazing Grace

1. sound 2. found 3. taught 4. believed 5. already 6. home 7. promised 8. life  9. wretch 10. blind

 Stop all the clocks

1.  bone 2. come 3. dead 4. gloves 5. west 6. rest 7. song 8. wrong 9. one 10. son 11. would 12. good

 

Homework on the Internet for ESOL EFL and ESL students - Part 1 - Watching Films

Provided students have their own computer and the internet or access to one (via a library, internet cafe or study centre), homework set online can be great fun. Watching short films gives them access to language that they can use for loads of diferent activities.

What to watch? Where to watch it?

Youtube.com has endless things to watch and depending what topic or grammar you have covered there is always something you can direct students to.  I've made a quick list of some topics and films below, but a quick search will usually uncover something interesting for your students.

Topic or Grammar Area	Video and link
Restaurants	Mr Bean in the restaurant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jquWO-0VkII
Health	http://www.videojug.com/tag/health-and-wellbeing learn how to be healthy
Prepositions	Weird explanation http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e9n5_english-grammar-prepositions-time
Cooking	Learn to cook something - http://www.videojug.com/tag/food-and-drink
History	www.history.com loads of films here

 Mr Bean is great for lower level students.

Monty Python is better for high level students L1/L2 or B1+

 Activities to do whilst/after watching

 1. Watch for general meaning. - ask students simply to watch the video so they can talk about it in the next class. This works best with something that will generate discussion. If its a comedy, ask students why it was or wasn't funny.

2. Watch for detail. Make a comprehension students can answer while they watch. It doesn't have to be too detailed.

3. Watch and learn. This works well with www.videojug.com . Ask students to learn how to cook something and explain it to other class members.

4. Watch and review. Ask students to point out things they liked or didn't like about a short film or sketch. You could even make a checklist to organise their ideas. e.g. What did you think of the actors? etc.

5. Watch and compare. Students watch two clips and decide which one is best and why.

6. Watching music videos.  See my other blog about this.

Great Video Websites

www.google.com - click on the 'video' link at the top to search through loads of vids.

www.youtube.com

www.videojug.com - Great educational site

http://www.dailymotion.com/us - funny stuff

www.history.com - history television shows and clips (short ads play first)

English Language Space Station.com - Great Resources for ESOL /ESL

The materials and resources are good but the website is bad.

'You don't look at the cup when you are drinking the coffee'

Here's my old, crumbling website where I house lots of ESOL and EFL resources that I've made over the years.  It is my first website I ever made and you can tell. Dead links, youtube videos that don't exist, hot potatoes activities that are wrong and have insulting feedback. It was made using FrontPage and so doesn't work too well.

In the future I hope to redo the whole thing using something that works better like Dreamweaver.

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http://www.englishlanguagespacestation.com