Create your own Superhero! - A computer room lesson using PPT for teenagers and younger learners.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="315" caption="Thanks to mhealthwatch.com for the image"][/caption]

I've been teaching functional skills IT this year to my pre-intermediate teenage ESOL learners and the materials we have to use with them are fightningly dull. Here's a lesson I knocked up for them on designing your own superhero using PowerPoint and the superb super hero generator   http://www.ugo.com/games/superhero-generator-heromachine-2-5 . The worksheet asks them to design a PowerPoint show around a superhero that they create or research,and broadly speaking, covers their IT requirements as well. Getting students to work in pairs and to present their show to the rest of the class adds a bit more fun and well-meaning speaking practise.

Here the worksheet: Make your own Superhero http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/make-your-own-superhero.docx

How to run the lesson.
For this pre-intermediate – intermediate lesson you will need.
- Computers that can connect to the internet with PowerPoint installed, preferably one between two students.
- Some way to show the student PowerPoint presentations to the class, such as a projector or and IAWB.

1. Write the name of a superhero you like on the board, like Spiderman or Superman. Ask students to tell you about him. Ask ‘What can he do?’ Generate discussion on what powers the person has, where they live, who they fight and so on. You might also like to show students something from youtube.com

2. Now explain that students are going to make a PowerPoint presentation about a superhero they create, they are then going to show this to the rest of the class and answer any questions asked.

3. Pass students a copy of the worksheet and ask them to read through before they start. Make sure students understand what you want them to do before they start.

4. Now ask students to work in pairs to create a superhero. Set a time limit of 20 minutes and make this the deadline for students to email you the presentation. Monitor students constantly to make sure they are on task and to discuss any superhero problems they might have.
***Some students might not have the creative spirit to do this, in this case you can ask them to make the same presentation about an existing Superhero from this list: Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, Wolverine, Iron Man or any other superhero they like!***

5. After the time is up or everyone has finished, ask each pair to come to the front of the class and explain/show their presentations to everyone. If time, encourage questions and ask a few yourself.

*This lesson will only work if students are familiar with the concept of a superhero as a western ‘hero’. Many cultures across the world do enjoy American films and students who are familiar with the genre will find this task easy to understand. Students not familiar with the genre will be confused and this won’t be a good task for them.

*If you think that creating a super hero will be too much of a difficult task them you could ask students to research an existing superhero that they already know.

Here's the worksheet again http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/make-your-own-superhero.docx

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

The Google Translate Challenge

Language students routinely turn to the web to do their translating and there's not much better than Google Translate. It effortlessly handless data and will translate into different scripts like Arabic and Russian, it can even translate some idiomatic phrases. It's still a long way from being perfect, however and it gets a lot wrong.

I wanted to see if my human students could do better that the automated, super fast machine that is Google Translate. Here's what I did.

1. I found a simple story, wrote it out in English and then pasted it into Google translate. I then translated it into the languages that my ESOL students can speak, Swahili, Arabic, Polish, Russian, Latvian, Hungarian and French.

2. In class, I handed students a copy of the story in their language and asked them to try and translate it into English. If there were two students, I asked them to team up and try to translate the story together. I told them where I got the translations and that there might be some mistakes in, but they should try to translate it the best they can. Also, before they started I pre-taught the word 'worth' and gave them some example sentences, this word is the key to the whole story.

3. As a group, I now asked them to shout out their translations, sentence by sentence before I showed them a copy of the real story in English.

Here's the story I used and a link at the bottom to the translations from Google Translate.

Joe and the rich man

Joe was in a bar when a rich man came up to him.The rich man looked very healthy and sun tanned. He wore an expensive black suit and a silk tie.  He looked at Joe with a frown.

“How much do think I’m worth?” said the richman.

“I don’t know,” said Joe.

“Come on, guess how much I’m worth.”

“Okay,” said Joe, “I think you’re worth $100”The rich man laughed.

“Ha, that’s just the priceof my suit.”

“I included that in my answer,” said Joe.

Here's the link to the translated versions:  http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/the-google-translate-challenge.doc

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

Simple powerpoint lesson - present simple/continuous - low level grammar

Don't have the time/need/desire to read the blog? Get the lesson here:

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/presentsimplecontinuous.ppt

Here's a really simple PowerPoint lesson helping students to understand the difference between the present simple (I play the guitar) and the present continuous (I am playing the guitar).



How to use it.
I used this as part of a wider lesson comparing these tenses.
1. Ask students to explain the difference between these questions? 'What are you doing?' and 'What do you do?'. Hopefully they will explain that the first question is present continuous and is asking about an action happenign right now and the second asks about what you do every day - in other words, your job.

2. Show students the ppt and get them to write (or just shout out) two sentences. One in the present continuous for now and one in the present simple for always.

3. There are many possible answers that are correct and I added the most obvious ones on the last slide of the poweroint presentation.

Going further

Making your own powerpoint lesson with pictures is stupidly easy. Head to www.google.com/images and type in the name of the image you want, for example 'man driving a car'. You'll get a huge variety of images. Choose the one you would like to import into your presentation, click it, then, when it opens in its own window right click on it and choose 'copy'. Now, back in you powerpoint presentation right click and choose 'paste'.

If you've got a computer room, asking students to make their own powerpoint presentations either as part of a group or alone is a lot of fun. Especially when they have to present it to the rest of the class.

If you liked this lesson then get on down to www.englishlanguagespacestation.com for more of the same.

London 2012 - Olympic English - Low level Sports Worksheets

If you can't be bothered to read the blog, click here for the simple worksheet on olympic sports.

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/london-2012-the-sports.doc

The Olympics are set to be held in London 2012 will be here sooner than you think. Here's a really simple low level worksheet for English language students to practise the names of olympic and commonwealth sports.

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/london-2012-the-sports.doc 

For other really good materials about London 2012 visit the British Council's English for the Games website

Making movies with the PSP in the English Language classroom

As part of a Molenet UK project I was asked to use some PSPs including add on cameras with a group of ESOL learners - lucky for me. With a tiny camera that screws into the USB connector port at the top of the PSP, you can start to shoot video straight away. The wide screen makes it easy to see and playback what you have recorded and, when connected to a PC you can watch what you have made straight away.

In fact the PSP camera is so easy to use, I decided to make a small spelling video that I could show my students if I had to pop out of the classroom for a few minutes - click here to watch it.

So, students have got a video camera? What now?

Making videos might seem like a fun and interesting activity with the chance for learners to use their creative talents to produce something tangible. However, without strict instructions and guidelines, it can quickly become de-motivating and students will lose interest as they don’t know what to shoot. It’s worth remembering that this is not a media studies class and most students are not as creative as Steven Spielberg.

I put students into groups of three where the main language had to be English and gave each group a PSP with a camera attachment. In two minutes, students had figured out how to shoot and record video footage, I helped some groups and techie students helped less techie students. I then gave the tiny worksheet below to each group and had us all read it together.

**********************************************************************************************************

Make a movie to promote [where you teach]

Make a short film about [where you teach]. This will be an advert of what is there and why it is good.

In your film you should include

-          the library

-          the computers in the library

-          something else that is interesting

You should also interview at least one member of your group on the camera. Here are some of the questions you could ask:

1. What’s your name? Where do you come from? How old are you?


2. When did you come to [Where you teach]?


3. Tell me about your first day.


4. What are the good things about where you learn English?


5. Have you had any problems here?


6. Have you got any advice for anyone learning English? Is there anything they should do or shouldn’t do?

You can also ask any other questions you like!

*****************************************************************************************************

Students then had half an hour to shoot a film following the instructions above, which they did with varying degrees of success. 

When the students came back I plugged each PSP into our interactive whiteboard, and by selecting each media file by number, was able to show the student’s complete films, unedited and in the order they shot them.

Impact on teaching and learning

-         We’ve only just scratched the surface with this and the possibilities are really endless in terms of practising speaking and listening by working together as well as editing which would involve team work and literacy skills.

Learners’ reactions

-         Some learners really liked this and really got into the spirit of making a film. But other students found it more difficult to come up with idea – chatty and creative students need to be mixed with those who are less so.

-         Students loved watching their own and each other’s videos and were genuinely motivated by watching and laughing at each others work.

Teachers’ reactions

-         I was proud of what some students had achieved, others hadn’t tried very hard however. Mix the groups up so that stronger students are with weak students.

Lessons learned

-         mix ability and creativity in groups

-         Some people do not want to be filmed – this is fine, give them the opportunity to be the camera person. In this task, those shy students often asked the questions to the person they were interviewing. Some even found out that they were not shy at all and ended up on the video.

World Cup Football Lessons for ESOL / ESL and IELTS

It's World Cup again and students learning English often like to discuss the beautiful game in their lessons. Here's a worksheet containing lots of footballing verbs that students might need.

download the lesson on basic football words here

Students might also enjoy watching the new 'Nike' football advert below, featuring some of the world's most famous players. I love Rooney living in a caravan with a huge beard!

For more football lessons visit

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

YouTube Presentation Lesson for ESOL / ESL and IELTS

This is a really simple lesson using youtube.com to get students to give an interesting and persuasive presentation.

Set up

I used this lesson with a group of pre-intermediate learners but the idea could easily be extended to higher levels and might tie in nicely for students preparing for speaking exams such as IELTS or Cambridge ESOL.

You will need an IAWB (Interactive White Board) or a projector with sounds linked to the internet so that students can show a movie on youtube. Students will also need computers to search for a youtube video they like although this could be done as homework in prepartion for the lesson.

Method

1. Ask students of they watch youtube and what kind of things they watch.

2. Now ask students to find something on youtube in English that they really like. It could be something that makes them laugh, a trailer for a film, an advert, a speech, a part of a film or an interview. Explain that they are not allowed to choose a music video (as there isn't always a lot to talk about and they don't always have a lot of English.)

3. Tell students that they now have three minutes to make a short presentation. They will explain why the film they have found on youtube is interesting and try to persuade the rest of their class to watch it. After everyone has finished presenting the class will vote and the youtube video that gets the most votes will be shown on the big screen.

Extra Tips

- make sure students have a time limit for their presentations as some talkative students will talk for a long time and some will not want to talk for very long, by having a time limit you will encourage shy ones to speak for longer and comfident once to condense what they have to say.

- make notes as you watch each presentation so you have some feedback to give them when they've finished. Make sure at two out of three comments are positive.  You can comment of their pronunciation, sentences you liked, their body language, their content - what they did or didn't explain and of course how persuasive they were.

Complete Lessons Using PowerPoint for ESOL /ESL/

      

 

Years ago, I made some simple PowerPoint lessons that cover a range of different vocabulary sets.

They're currently housed on a very old and rusty website but they're free - so please use, change or copy them.

To get the audio working, you have to make the document a 'trusted document' or 'enable macros'.

The only material students need are paper, a pen or a pencil and their voices.

1. Technology PowerPoint Lesson

2. Relationship PowerPoint Lesson

3. Crime PowerPoint Lesson

4. Food and Drink PowrPoint Lesson

5. Giving Advice PowerPoint Lesson

6. Chatting with Friends PowerPoint Lesson

7. Health and Illness PowerPoint Lesson

8. House and Home PowerPoint Lesson

9. Money and Banks PowerPoint Lesson

10. Sport and Keeping Fit PowerPoint Lesson

Flash Games for ESOL / ESL / IELTS part 2 - The Gorillaz Website

Cartoon Band The Gorillaz were a breath of fresh air when they landed on the music scene a few years ago. With Blur front man Damon Albarn handling the music and legendary 2000AD artist and writer Jamie Hewlett , they created four distinct members of the band, Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russell.   Their first album, Clint Eastwood was released as an enhanced CD featuring a short flash movie and access to Murdoc's Winnebago which fans can explore, you can visit this today by visiting Kong Studios. Not afraid to use the internet to promote themselves, flash technology provided Hewlett with the perfect place to let fans explore the fictional lives of the band and the studio they worked in, Kong Studios is entertaining, informative and well designed and therefore perfect for students learning English.

The Lesson Plan.

I've never used this lesson as I felt that my students and institution might not be ready

Download the lesson here Gorillaz Reading Lesson

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.

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

Flash Games for EFL/ESOL/ IELTS students #1 - Hapland - Reading Instructions

Hapland - Reading Instructions

This is a very frustrating flash game.  I used it with my Level 1+/B1+ students to help them read for meaning.

Basically the idea of the game is to get the little man to safety byclicking on different parts of the picture in the right order.

hapland.swf

 How I ran the lesson.

1. All students had a computer. I directed them to the 'Hapland' website. Click here http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rallen/hapland.swf I asked the students to play it for two minutes. Then I elicited their opinions, did they think it was a good game? Would they play it?

2. Now I handed out the instructions (below) . They had to read carefully following these to complete the game. I encouraged them to help each other.

Instructions

a)    Open all the windows and turn the red arrow around.

b)    Open the hatch on the right, click the yellow arrow to get a man out.

c)     Click on the man to fire one round in the low position to drop the bridge down.

d)    Click the cannon to move it up. Fire the second round up at the bell and click the spear thing so it goes the other way JUST after the round hits the bell

e)    Fire the next two rounds at the bridge, but click the bridge to as they hit it to knock them in the air and explode without causing damage.

f)      Click the light bulb a few times next to the man at the bottom to get him to smash it.

g)    Fire the last round in the low position, and the bottom man will pick it up and open the door with it.

h)    Now click the man by the machine so he gets in it, and click the yellow arrow to get another guy out, get him to fire the other man up at the bell.

i)      The man by the bell will move the tower over if you click him. Then click the spear thing. Now keep clicking the bell till it falls. No more land mine.

j)        Click the door in the bottom left so the man comes out and JUST as he goes in the door on the right, click the man at the bottom. A dog tries to chase him, but the falling concrete stops it.

k)      You did it!

How was it successful?

- students generated a lot of natural language when trying to help each other. 'What do I do?' 'You don't do it like that' 'How do you do that again? etc. This kind of helping language is really useful, asking for clarification or explaining is also vital in speaking English is a real context. Maybe I should have made that more the focus of this lesson.

- They really had to read the instructions to be able to complete the game. It was a good test of their comprehension skills. 

What went wrong?

- some people don't like video games and without my help and explanation might have confused this task with- 'having a bit of a laugh'.

- it was just too hard for some of the students although they were encouraged to ask for help from other students.

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