Describing Places with Audioboo and QR Codes

Learning Objectives

To provide students with the vocabulary and language structures necessary to be able to describe a place they know and to recognize places described by peers in written descriptions.

21st Century Skills 

  • To foster the students ability to work through a set of exercises independently and to collaborate with fellow learners when they encounter difficulties.
  • To encourage research skills and develop the students’ ability to know where to look for background information when necessary e.g. Students can use Google Maps and Wikipedia information to help them guess places their friends had written about.
  • To provide an opportunity for students to self-evaluate and decide when they have learned something well enough to be able to complete a task.
  • To encourage student organizational skills. Students need to get into pairs and groups and follow sets of written and spoken instructions. Students need to remember these instructions over a number of steps.
  • Mobile Learning Skills
  • To recognize the name of several WEB 2.0 tools and apps and be able to navigate between them, using appropriate passwords and reading iPad semiotics correctly.
  • To use a QR reader efficiently in order to gain access to an answer key and the digital donations of fellow students. 

Lesson plan

  1. Teacher gives an overview of the one hour lesson, setting learning targets in terms of communicative skills and how they add value to the students. This overview (boarded prior to the lesson) provides students with a choice of routes through the vocabulary stage of the lesson. It is advantageous to keep the workflow on a semi-permanent surface and not on the projected screen, so that everyone can refer to the overview throughout the lesson.
  2. Student choices are provided via Quizlet ( working at the word level) and Spelling City( working with words at the sentence level) this allows fast finishers to challenge themselves, and allows students to work on what they think is important for them. Links are provided via LMS such as Edmodo or emailed to students. Students can also sign into the app.(see the link below)
  3. Teacher to foster independence by asking students  to look at the title on the board and  find the appropriate app or exercise on their iPad, rather than opening up apps for students.
  4. Students have 20 minutes to work on vocabulary acquisition and sentence syntax. The Big Sign app facilitates time management.

20 minute vocab

5. The class is divided into 2 groups for the Dubai/ Abu Dhabi listening and language input stage. Podcasts were made using Audioboo.(see the link below

for the links and worksheets) Print out the worksheets so that students do not need to alternate between iPad panes which really hinders control of the audio recording.

6. Teacher breaks up the instructions for the listening phase of the lesson into steps. For example, she explains a step and gets students to locate the correct listening. An Explain Everything Screencast is used to illustrate the instructions.

checking answers with qr codes

7. Students listen to an audio description of a city and fill in the gaps. Podcasts are shared via an LMS or email.  Students are able to listen to the podcast as many times as necessary. The gap filled words are from the vocabulary exercises. Answer keys are provided by QR Codes. Students need  a QR code reader to be able to access the information.  Students need to understand the information and be able to retell it in a pair work jigsaw listening and speaking exercise.

ab dubai speaking pairs

8. After getting new information from a jigsaw partner, students return to their original group and share the information they have gained. This provides them with a second chance to describe a place.

9. Teacher monitors and records recurring errors.  Errors are to be boarded using different coloured pens to aid noticing and self-correction. Error correction work can be captured on Explain Everything or another screencasting tool and made available to students for future reinforcement.

10. In a previous lesson, students write descriptions of a secret place and email it to their teacher. They do not share the location of the place with anyone, creating a genuine information gap. The teacher saves the secret description into a URL generating site such as a public Google Drive folder or Files Everywhere.  One URL is needed per description.  The URL is used to create a QR Code for each location using a QR code generator such as QR stuff (http://www.qrstuff.com/ ) or Zxing ( http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/ ).  QR codes are saved to Pictures on a laptop and printed out. Each QR code is named e.g. Place 1, Place 2 etc.  It is important that the teacher writes down which student described which place for the place confirmation feedback slot. The labeled QRcodes are stuck around the classroom. Students armed with their iPads or mobile phones use a QR Code Reader to unlock the text and write the name of each place against its number on a list. Students are encouraged to use other mobile resources such as Google Maps to help them identify individual locations.

great qr reading ipad

11. Teacher projects a list of which student wrote which description e.g. Ahmed =Place 1. The whole class share their location guesses and the author of the description confirms or corrects the guesses.

qr collaboration

Overall Lesson Evaluation

  The learning aims of the lesson were met as students were able to use the vocabulary from the review phase to complete the listening gap fill and in many cases they spelt the words correctly or were able to self-correct.

There was evidence of self and peer correction during the monologue phase.  In reality, there was not a genuine information gap as students already know about the two cities described, and so the pair-work retelling and the group work recap were actually only at the classroom display level of communication. However, students were prepared to engage in this classroom specific behaviour in order to learn, and speaking about familiar places, for which they had substantial background knowledge, seemed to increase their confidence. The 21st century skills of collaborative learning and independent learning were definitely fostered in this lesson, and have been developed in previous lessons as most students were able to navigate between apps and between screens. Students moved between Google Maps, and some checked up which islands were next to Spain. The signs of students working independently at their own pace were that when some learners were reading the answer key, others were still working on Audioboo podcast. One fast finishers returned to the descriptions of the teacher’s secret place for the previous day to revise language structures, whilst another reviewed vocabulary on Quizlet. Students are learning to judge how much time they have during the hiatus between their finishing their work and beginning a whole class activity, and using the time slot to challenge themselves accordingly. This is major way on which m-learning adds value to the classroom. However, even though  learners have been using Quizlet for 11 weeks, some students still cannot get into Spelling City without assistance because they do not type in the class name correctly. Two students opened up the first thing they saw in Edmodo. They did not read key words such as vocabulary or listening. I need to focus on these students at the beginning of activities and ask them guiding questions to help them be successful and internalize the digital sequences.

 

The QR Code Secret Place activity obviously got students interested and engaged. Students did not know who had written a description of which place and so did not try to short cut the reading by asking each other for names. Instead they read an average of 8 out of 12 texts each, with faster students reading all 12 texts. The weakest student read 6 texts. Two students were not present that day and we were not able to ascertain the correct location of their descriptions. The next day in class, as soon as these two students entered the room, others asked about their secret places. I saw this as proof that the students were genuinely motivated by the activity which challenged more than their language knowledge.

 A key 21st century skill is to know who is an expert in what area and to know where to find information. I try to develop student interdependence by making them aware that others in the group are a source of knowledge and support by asking questions such as  “Can anyone help him spell ……?”. I also help students to feel a valued, contributing member of a team by giving them responsibility for giving out handout worksheets, pencils etc. During the lesson, I made an error handing out worksheets and students immediately picked this up and informed me. This shows they are aware of what is happening and feel responsible for making things work efficiently, and I believe it is good to model a positive attitude to errors. Acknowledging the two mistakes I made, gives students the freedom to make mistakes themselves and to experiment and hypothesis test, an essential ingredient in collaborative group work and learning by doing. This is especially true in m-Learning where things are constantly changing, and during this lesson there were many examples of students helping each other with technology.

 

Resources

Vocabulary links:

Spelling City App, teacher ADMC Level1, Writing about cities. Sentence Unscramble (app only).

Quizlet http://quizlet.com/22602101/describing-cities-towns-and-villages-flash-cards/

Quizlet http://quizlet.com/22642928/describing-dubai-and-abu-dhabi-flash-cards/

 

Audioboo links for the podcasts.

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1031807-describing-abu-dhabi

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1031802-describing-dubai

 

Student 1: Describing Abu Dhabi

TASK ONE:  Go to Edmodo- Describing Abu Dhabi Audioboo. Listen and fill in the gaps on this paper.

The capital of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi means the 1. _____________ of the deer or gazelle. Abu Dhabi is 2. ____________________ in the center of the Emirati coast. Abu Dhabi is 3. __________________­­­­­­­­­­___________ the sea and the desert. Abu Dhabi is an 4. _________________________and the city is situated on the island and on the 5. ______________________.   It is a very big city with a 6. ____________________________ of one million people. Abu Dhabi is famous because it was the 7. ________________ of Sheikh Zayed, the father of the U.A.E. It has a big 8._______________and a long beach called the Corniche.  Abu Dhabi is a 9. __________. Lots  of 10. _____________ stop in Abu Dhabi. In the past, Abu Dhabi was 11.________________ for pearls. Now, it is famous for shopping. There are lots of 12._______________________ malls such as Marina Mall and Al Wadha Mall. Abu Dhabi is a very 13.____________________ city with lots of wonderful buildings. The Emirates Palace is one of the best hotels in the 14._________________________.

TASK TWO:  Read the description again. Underline Key words. You will tell a friend about Abu Dhabi.

 

Student 2: Describing Dubai

TASK ONE:  Go to Edmodo- Describing Dubai Audioboo. Listen and fill in the gaps on this paper.

The second city of the United Arab Emirates is 1.____________. Dubai is situated on the Emirati 2._________________. Dubai is between the sea and the 3.__________________. It is not an island. It is on the 4.____________________. It is a big city with a population of a 5.________________ people. Dubai is famous because it is a 6.__________________ resort. It has many hotels and a long 7._______________ called Jumeriah Beach. Dubai is a 8.__________________. Lots and 9.________________ stop in Dubai.  Now it’s famous for 10._________________. There are 11.__________________ shopping malls such as Mall of the Emirates. Dubai is a 12.__________________ city with many beautiful buildings. Khalifa Tower is the 13.____________________ building in the world.

Answer Key

 

TASK TWO:  Read the description again. Underline Key words. You will tell a friend about Dubai.

 

 

 

Talking Pictures: A Free App That Engage Students in Speaking and Listening Activities

 

Tap on the link to download the app.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/talking-pictures/id602767487?ls=1&mt=8
The Pedagogic Principles behind the Speaking Activities.
In EFL speaking activities students need a message to communicate and a reason to listen to each other. Especially when producing a monologue, a clear purpose, helps them structure their speech. Basing a monologue on a picture provides content and scaffolds its organisation. Viewing a picture which another language learner is talking about, increases listener comprehension and facilitates the listener in asking for clarification and making follow up comments. This in turn shows the speaker that they have been listened to and understood, which increases feelings of success and consequently learner motivation.
Language learners need to gain confidence in speaking spontaneously. However, it is difficult to think of both the content message and language needed to communicate that message in real time communication. Repeating what someone else has said, especially when supported by a visual aid, is a powerful stepping stone towards impromptu explanations.
In order to deliver a monologue fluidly and speak fluently, students need time to prepare and rehearse. Rehearsal is most beneficial when students can listen to and assess their own output, making decisions about what to improve, asking advice about areas they are unsure of etc. Audio recording apps really facilitate this process, encouraging extended rehearsal and a focus on accuracy as well as fluency, especially when learners know that their finished product will be shared publicly.

Lesson Idea One: I have a picture to talk about.

A model is given to students, providing them with a clear idea of their goal. The model can be teacher produced or can be an example of student work from a previous round of this activity.
Students choose a picture to describe. They can use the Skitch App to create a picture dictionary of the vocabulary in the photo.
Students listen to the model again and note down the language structures that they may like to use e.g. In this photograph you can see, in the background there is, in the foreground there are, the building in the middle of the picture is… etc.
Students write out their description, showing it to the teacher and/or peer reviewers for feedback.
Students record their description using the Talking Pictures App. They listen to it in preview mode. They can re-record their description as many times as they wish until they are satisfied with it. Headphones are recommended for this part of the activity.
A filler activity is necessary at this point, as some students will complete the task earlier than others. Students can listen to previously recorded models of Talking Pictures sent to them by email.
Classroom meta-communicative language such as ‘Can I tell you about this picture?’ ‘Yes, go ahead.’, ‘Sorry, someone already showed me that picture.’ ‘Thanks, that was great.’ can be drilled so that as much communication as possible is carried out in English during the ensuing mingle activity.
Students need to have their own iPads clearly identifiable and their auto lock switched off for the mingle part of this activity. Students find a partner and exchange iPads. The partners listen to each other’s recordings whilst standing close to each other. Headphones are recommended for this part of the activity. After listening, students ask each other clarification and follow up questions. They need to prepare themselves to describe their partner’s picture to another student. They can listen to the recording several times and even shadow repeat the message (repeat the message a few seconds after the speaker has spoken.)
Using the meta-communicative language drilled at stage 7, students approach others and describe their friend’s picture. They are not allowed to play their friend’s recording. The purpose of this stage of the lesson is to give them practice in real time communication.
Students exchange iPads once again. So now, Student A’s iPad is with Student C. There is a pause in movement during which students can listen to the original description on Talking Pictures using headphones. Then students find a new partner and describe their third picture to their third partner.
A possible follow up activity as a whole class is for students to comment in which pictures they liked and why.

Lesson Idea Two: Which picture am I talking about?

A model is given to students, giving them a clear idea of their goal. The model can be teacher produced or can be an example of student work from a previous round of this activity. Elicit that descriptions start off with what is common to all four photos, and eventually moves to what differentiates the target photo, so that the listener has to listen carefully and follow a process of elimination.
Students use the Pic Collage App to make a compilation of four pictures on a page. They need to choose pictures that look similar, so that their peers have to listen carefully to distinguish between the images. The collage is saved to Camera roll so that it can be uploaded to the Talking Pictures App.
Students listen to the model again and note down the language structures that they may like to use e.g. There is/ are, in my picture you can see…., adjectives and nouns etc.
Students write out their descriptions, and the teacher provides feedback. Descriptions should be kept secret so that every student in the class is part of the guessing process. If the task is challenging, pairs can co-author one description.
Students record their description using the Talking Pictures App. They listen to it in preview mode. They can re-record their description as many times as they wish until they are satisfied with it. Headphones are recommended for this part of the activity.
A filler activity is necessary at this point as some students will complete the task earlier than others. Students can listen to previously made models of Talking Pictures sent to them by email.
Depending on the class size and time available, individuals can either mirror their iPads on Apple TV and have the whole class guess which picture they are describing, or they can work in groups, using their iPads as a screen. Alternatively, students can upload links to their Talking Picture on a learning management system and learners can listen individually and write down which image each student has described.
NB. We are unable to provide you with an example of the audio recordings at present as there is a glitch in the system when sharing the link via Dropbox, Box or Google Drive. The email link created by these three sharing systems when processed by Safari, fails to open up in the appliance, but rather links with Web Dav or iFiles. Each recording can easily be shared by email, but that has its obvious limitations.

Video Edit For Free App Empowers Speaking and Listening

 

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/video-editor-for-free/id450722848?mt=8

 

Click here to access the video link https://www.dropbox.com/s/x9ki9o59i9wvm5m/Spot%20the%20Lie.mov

Video Edit For Free is a video editing tool which enables users to combine videos from different sources so the they can be played in smooth succession. Videos can be uploaded from the Camera Roll or filmed directly on the app. Up to ten minutes of video can be combined. Unlike iMovies, we were able to email 5 minutes of video footage without a problem from Video Edit For Free.
Speaking Lesson Pan Idea: Spot the Lie
1. Students prepare a monologue about themselves, for example their daily routines. They incorporate an obvious lie in their story. The purpose of fellow students listening to them will be to spot the lie. For example, when students talked about their daily routines, one slipped in that he travelled to work by camel everyday, and another one said he went to the park with his 50 children each evening.
2. Students use an audio recorder such as Sound Note or Audioboo to rehearse telling their story. They can listen to themselves and decide when they are ready to be recorded by the teacher. For time management purposes it is essential to have self study activities available to students so that they are occupied whilst other students are being individually recorder by the teacher or a student designated to be that cameraman for the day.
3. Students are issued with a three columned table: col 1. Student name., col 2. The Lie , col 3. Feedback to the student. As the video is aired, learners write down each student’s lie and a feedback comment. Our feedback comments included: look at the camera more, try not to read from the paper etc.
Comment: The first time students do such an activity, they may feel nervous and prefer to read from their written text, rather than recount the information they have planned. On later occasions, they can be guided to freer speaking, by only allowing them to write down key words on a piece of paper and using these as prompts.

Edmodo: a versatile learning management system on which students can be active agents in their learning

Edmodo is a free LMS with a very user friendly interface which allows both students and teachers to upload a myriad of resources including links, pictures, files and comments. Links can be opened up via hyperlinks. Edmodo uploads material directly from Google Drive, a collaborative co-authoring platform. Each message can be responded to directly in a variety of ways including smiley icons, and written messages. Permission to add a feature does not have to be given by the teacher. Ownership of the LMS is more egalitarian.

Workflow One

Lesson Objective: To get students to explore the way they support their own learning and that of others by encouraging them to experiment with the ‘learning objects’ they upload onto Edmodo.

Steps to be taken:

  1. Students use Popplet or Note to brainstorm the things that help them learn. Examples might include You Tube videos of mini lessons, Keynote or Prezi presentations of mini lessons, online exercises, photographs of board work, good student models of an activity they have done, and videos of Total Physical Response activities done by classmates.
  2. Teachers add a meta cognitive slot after key periods of learning and ask students what would help them remember these ideas or these learner outcomes. Learners record/save any learning aides still available and share them via Edmodo.
  3.  Once students get into the habit of articulating what can make them recall and understand material, teachers move these discussions to a prediction/ pre-activity stage i.e. before the learning takes place. This primes students to be ready to use digital resources to save moments of learning and learning objects that stimulate learning. For example, one student may decide to record a discussion of why answers are correct using Audioboo. The recording could then be added to Edmodo as a link. It would not matter if this discussion was in L2 or L1, as it is not the target language, but meta cognitive work which can rarely be done in L2 at an early stage of development. Another student may get positive feedback on a draft writing assignment, improve it according to feedback and add it to Edmodo as a good example of x genre. This would be available to all students when studying for writing exams. Another student may simply photograph the board work and upload it. Yet another may ask a teacher to be recorded explaining a language point on a screencasting App such as Explain Everything, ShowMe or Screen Chomp and share the link on Edmodo. The main thing is that students decide what adds value to their store of reference materials, they capture them and they add them to a shared learning management system.
  4. Students look back at a period of learning and identify what their peers have added to Edmodo. A teacher created poll will list the types of student curated material added and students will vote for the one they find most useful. This does not mean to say that any material is not useful. The voting will only be a way of showing student perceptions. The same poll could be taken on Socrative to show what has been used, as in the Socrative App multiple answers can be given.
  5. Motivational badges can be awarded to students who have contributed a lot to the whole group learning.

Workflow Two.

Lesson Objective: Students will explore different Apps to develop their English language skills from a list of suggested Apps/links on Edmodo and share their favourite Apps/links on Edmodo discussion board with an explanation.

Steps to be taken:

  1. Each week, a bank of links and Apps that can help  improve English language skills is shared with students on the class Edmodo. The skills to be looked at are reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as grammar and vocabulary.
  2. Throughout the week, students are responsible for visiting these links/downloading these Apps and deciding which one/s is/are their favourite.
  3. At the end of the week, students write their choices on the discussion board and justify their decisions. Each student who makes a suggestion ‘in time’ on the Edmodo discussion board, with a good explanation of ‘why’ they chose the App/link and how the class can use them, gets a digital badge.
  4. The class also votes for a class favourite, using the polling function on Edmodo. If a student’s suggestion is chosen as the class favourite, that student gets a special digital badge.

QR Codes and Expressing Opinions About Images

The activity we suggested in our previous post QR Codes prior to an art exhibition, reminded us of  another paper based activity about arts called ‘The Art Gallery’ , which could also be adapted to iPads.

Expressing Opinions

Paintings, photos of places or controversial images are placed on the classroom wall.An iPad is placed under each image, open in the Pages app. The title of each Page is the name of the painting or photo. This activity does mean that for once the iPad is stationary and students have to write on each other’s iPads. Students circulate, look at the paintings and write a comment about each one on the iPad associated with it.

Creating the QR Code

The iPad owner saves the Pages document onto a class website such as fileseverywhere.com or blog such as Posterous. Each painting commentary would be uploaded onto a different blog page (otherwise students would see all of the shared information and there would be no information gap.) They use the blog page URL to create a QR code. QR codes are sent to the teacher who creates a master document in which each QR code is coupled with its painting or image. This document can be given to students as a hard or soft copy. The benefit of QR codes is that they are very ergonomic and a lot of information can be stored within the small square box. Hence, ten photos and ten long lists of opinions can be easily stored on a single sheet of paper.

Discussing Opinions

In a later lesson, working with a soft copy document, students, in pairs, look at the paintings on paper or on one student’s iPad and use the other student’s iPad QR code reader to read different students’ comments. Learners can work individually if the document is a hard copy hand out. Students note down the follow up questions they want to ask each other about their opinions of the paintings. A mingle question and answer activity follows.

Rationale for the use of QR Codes

The pedagogic question is ‘why bother with the QR codes?’ Students could omit this stage and simply read other people’s comments as they walk around the classroom. The linguistic rationale for collating comments and pictures is that the more you work with similar language in slightly different ways, they more is becomes fluid and fluent. Would there be a valid reason to do this activity in other disciplines?

Lesson Plan: QR (Quick Response) codes prior to an art exhibition visit

Scan this QR code to ‘listen’

Before going to an art exhibition, the teacher chooses 5 painting by 5 different artists and produces QR codes for the paintings using QRStuff or ZXing Project.

As homework, each group is assigned one artist. They are responsible to search on Safari about the artist and produce a QR code with brief information about the artist using QRvoice,, which will allow others to ‘listen’ to the information scanned. These QR codes are printed prior to the following day’s lesson.

The following day, the teacher posts the QR codes she produced with the painting’s image around the classroom on the walls, turning the classroom into a QR code museum. The class is divided into 5 teams and each team is asked to go scan one QR code using a QR reader, such as Barcode Scanner, in order to see the painting. The groups are not allowed to show the painting or share any details with the other groups. The groups go back to their tables and write or record a description of the painting using ‘there is’ and ‘there are’ (eg. There is a vase on the wooden table. There are 2 pink flowers in the vase). Once all groups finish writing or recording the descriptions, they exchange of with another group. By reading or listening to the description of the painting, the groups use the crayons and paint or draw the picture. Once the time is up, the groups present their painting to the whole class. Then the students scan the QR code to see the original and compare. Through voting, the drawing/ painting that are closest to the original is chosen and that group’s members are presented with a small gift, such as a postcard/ poster of the original painting.

At the end of the lesson, the students pretend they are in a museum, go around the class scanning QR codes to see the original paintings and get information about their artists (The teacher also posts a QR codes produced by the groups next to the painting’s QR code, with information about the artist.). The students can then share their favorites with their classmates. This activity would increase students’ interest in the painting when they visit the museum. Through this integrated-skills, thematic lesson, the students would not only be familiar with the five paintings and their artists but also have a chance to practice their language skills.

Lesson Plan: My Best Friend

Here is an integrated skills, step by step lesson plan/workflow created using Comic Life about ‘my best friend’:

1. Practice vocabulary on describing people (appearance and personality adjectives) on Spelling City

2. Read about my friend Antonia (Headway Beginner, Unit 4) and answer the questions on Edmodo (teacher created quiz on Edmodo)

3. Follow the link on Edmodo and listen to the teacher-created podcast on ‘my good friend Claire’ on Audioboo.

4. Log on to Socrative teacher App and answer the questions about podcast on ‘my good friend Claire’.

5. Plan to write about your best friend. Brainstorm on Popplet.

6. Embed your Popplet mindmap in Pages and write about your best friend. Save your paragraph in eBackpack.

7. Read your paragraph out loud and record your voice in iFiles. Copy the recording to eBackpack for your  teacher and classmates to listen.

Students’ Presentations: Getting Ready for Speaking Exams

This semester, we have been teaching groups of level 1 students. A while ago, we shared some lesson ideas on getting ready for speaking exams and today we would like to share some short clips of our students getting ready for speaking exams by presenting to their classmates. Please note that the entry and exit CEFR levels for Level 1 students are A2 and A2+ and that they have only had 10 weeks of instruction prior to these videos being taken.  Therefore, we feel they have done an amazing job preparing for these presentations and presenting in front of their classmates and teachers.  The students prepared their presentations on Keynote App and connected to the Apple TV in our classrooms with ease. A big thanks to all our lovely students for agreeing their videos to be shared with you on our blog:)

Abdulla’s Presentation

Humaid’s Presentation

Ebrahem’s Presentation

Jassim and Mohamed’s Presentation

Working With Graded Readers and iPads

There is a lot of evidence to prove that sustained silent reading is exceedingly beneficial both inside and outside the classroom and a key advantage of  mobile devices is the  ease with which students can have access to rich reading resources. Additionally, it is also possible to follow the written word on the page, whilst listening to an oral rendition of the text. This is particularly important to students whose mother tongue is written in a script that is not the Roman Alphabet and as in the case of Arabic, does follow the same spelling rules. Vowels are often not represented in written Arabic,: and thus students forget to incorporate them into their written English.

Our institution subscribes to the Oxford Bookworms Series of Graded Readers for EFL students. I would like to share some of the activities I have done with my students using this online reading resource and other digital programmes.

Conventional Pre and Post Reading Activities

I listed and used the conventional pre and post reading activities frequently employed to test comprehension, enrich vocabulary acquisition and foster prediction skills when a class set of readers is used. These included:

. Saving pictures from the book onto the Camera Roll and using the slideshow function to present them to students.  During the slide show students predicted the genre,possible plot, and the role certain characters would play. I also elicited target vocabulary.

. Playing snippets of conversation of the story to the students and asking them to predict the next few scenes. I did the by playing the audio on one iPad and recording the excerpts with another iPad using Sound Note.

. Creating vocabulary reinforcement exercises in Spelling City, Quizlet and Socrative.

. Creating follow up comprehension questions in Socrative.

. Playing You Tube videos connected to a key theme or event in the book. For example, after listening to a description of the skies darkening before a volcanic explosion in ‘Last Chance’, we stopped the audio and quickly switched to a volcanic eruption on You Tube which caught the students imagination and enhanced their understanding of the dangers the protagonist was facing.

. Saving several pictures from the online book into the Camera Roll and then inserting them into a Pages document as visual prompts  which scaffolded the students  recapping of  the story.

These were all effective activities, but I wanted to utilize the social networking possibilities of m-learning and engage students in tasks they normally do outside of the classroom in their real lives. So I turned to iFaketext.com.

This site allows you to make realistic counterfeits of documents such as SMS texts and Facebook accounts.

The Facebook Account of Police Woman Sue Parker from Police TV ( OUP) .

I created a Facebook Account which situated Sue Parker in central London. It was easy to add photos saved and cropped from Camera Roll and to enter the key events in the story as events in her calendar. I then wrote an open comment saying that she was worried about the number of thefts that had recently occurred in North Street and asking her Facebook friends for suggestions on how to catch the thief.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students logged into Sue’s page as User Name: SueParker, Password:english because I felt this was a safe way to proceed. I did not want students to use their own authentic Facebook accounts and disclose personal information. However, several students decided to do so and others who had not previously owned an account, felt motivated to open one. The task was simply to read several pages of comments, photo albums and event recordings and to feedback to the class the information they had gathered about the police officer. Each group took it in turn to reveal more information and not to repeat the information provided by other groups. This gave students a reason to listen carefully to their peers. Afterwards, students chose the comments or pictures they wished to reply to. Whilst moving around the class, I was able to post answers to student comments, encouraging further reading and writing.

There was a strange blurring of fiction and reality. Although I had created the account using iFaketext.com and the character was obviously from the storybook, the verisimilitude of the Facebook text and the authenticity of the tasks set,  led to some students questioning whether or not  they were corresponding with a real person.

Warning: A good activity goes wrong. 

I used a fake document website, rather than the actual Facebook site so that the information posted was not in the public domain and to substantiate the point that this was a classroom based simulation type activity. I used my own email address to create the document, but had to add a fictitious gmail address for the protagonist.  I did not need to create an authentic gmail account before creating the Facebook account. However, during the activity someone must have changed the class shared password for Sue Parker and once I had exited the account, I could no longer log back in. I tried to rectify the situation by creating the make believe email address, but a genuine Sueparker@gmail.com exists and so I have not been able to get the security code to change the password and now need to create the bogus account again. It would therefore be prudent to register an email account under the book character’s name before developing their webpage. This really does blur reality and educational exercises!

SMS Texts

IFaketext.com also helps you produce text messages. I created one from the police officer to the class. I could not get this sent properly and so I took a photo shot of it and emailed it to students, who opened it in Skitch and typed in their responses. Sue Parker asked them a personal response question about how things were going in Abu Dhabi first, and then asked them questions referring to the plot of the book, asking them to infer who the thief was. This started students asking how they could contact an English speaker abroad with whom they could genuinely text.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Puppet Pals Interview Between the Police Officer and a Suspect

As the target language at present includes simple past question forms, students worked in pairs to write, rehearse and then record a dialogue in the form of a police interview that took place between Sue Parker and a character from the book who many students believed was the thief. An advantage of Puppet Pals is that photos saved from an online book can be turned into the background and characters of the puppet show. Hats off to technology, photos can be manipulated in such a way that a character who is looking left in the original photo, can be made to look right on stage and during a three person dialogue characters can actually change the way they are facing to look at the speaker!

 

 

 

 

 

Students uploaded their dialogues onto eBackpack from where they were viewed via Apple TV. The whole class discussed the merits of a dialogue, awarding points for the variety of questions asked, the usefulness of questions asked to the police investigation and the accuracy of the grammar and vocabulary. eBackpack has a review function into which grades and comments are entered, and saved by the teacher(as a representative of the class) and viewed by the material’s creators.

In conclusion, students interacted with the content of the short stories in creative,mobile, social, visual, gaming and story telling ways, meeting all five educational materials criteria recommended by Dr Ruben Puentedura,Founder and President of Hippasus, and designer of the SAMR model of change and innovative implementation.

 

Their language use, especially in the Facebook activity was meaning focused and not simply for display purposes. In the last three  e-learning activities outlined here, students not only used language communicatively,  but also developed many digital literacies.

 

 

Something old, something new – marrying the two.

Some lesson material works again and again regardless of its age and for me, one of my golden oldies for practicing the simple past and simple past question forms is Willie the Kid from Streamline Departures by Bernard Hartley &Peter Vinney, OUP ( WWW.Vinney.uk.com/streamline/index.html).

 

 

 

 

 

The wild west theme works well with male students and also matches a character set and background from the Puppet Pal App.  Thus, we have language input in the form of a story and output in the form of an interview between a journalist from The Dodge City News and the sheriff delivered via a puppet show.

 

This is a brief summary of how we worked through the lesson.

This comic strip was projected on the board and used to elicit the setting and possible scenarios. Students then worked on vocabulary in Spelling City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As students had newly been introduced to the simple past, their work mainly concentrated on learning the endings of regular past verbs.  Students then listened to the story and filled in a gapped text which again focused on regular past verb forms. This can be done with a pencil and paper or if a digital copy is preferred,  words can be blanked out using the white pen  in Skitch by the teacher, and the worksheet sent to the students as an image . Students then use an annotation app such as Neu Annotate to fill in the words, then listen to check their answers. An alternative is to send students the original text and get them to highlight all simple past verbs using an annotation tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an old fashioned form focused,  consciousness raising activity which students enjoy because  it helps them manipulate the target language at an early stage of learning it and it is achievable.  Whilst doing this kind of activity essentially constitutes substituting the iPad for the book, I think it still has a place in iPadagogy because it is a scaffolding step on the way to potentially public, student generated digital product centering on the use of language they are acquiring.

Students next asked and answered questions about the story orally. All prompts came from the online teacher’s book found at the  WWW.Vinney.uk.com/streamline/index.html.  

 

These questions help students automatize simple past question and answer forms, so that when they come to analyze the language, they have a visual and audio memory of form. Simple past question formation was then elicited onto the board using ‘Write and Slide’ sheets.

 

 

 

This language structure work was left on the board for peripheral learning and as a resource whilst students produced their own questions during the communicative language activity.

 

 

 

Students worked in groups of three to produce their interview puppet shows. so that they had three screens were available to them at once: one student had the original text, another wrote up the interview dialogue and a third prepared the characters and background for the show. Each student contributed to every production stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once students had written and practiced their interviews, they found a quiet spot outside the classroom to record them. Finally, we had a class screening of different productions.

The puppet show interviews varied both in the questions they asked and in the way they began and ended their dialogues. Some groups even had the sheriff’s horse or Willie the Kid’s horse speaking. All groups used simple past question forms and answers, although they did not all use them correctly.  The results were much the same as when I first used this activity in 1985. However, I feel that students had a more personalized, sustainable experience of my Willie the Kid lesson now that it is delivered with the  iPad.  This springs from our using the Spelling City App which enables students to work on vocabulary at their own pace and to be able to repeat an activity as they see fit. Each time students open an exercise they have a clean slate. A variety of games focus on different features of the target lexis including pronunciation, spelling, meaning and the sentence grammar of the word. The competitive gaming element encourages students to concentrate and they appear to learn words more deeply, than if they were doing paper based vocabulary exercises. Secondly, students take their recorded interview away with them. It is no longer transient as it was in 1985. In the past, students took away a written version of the dialogue, but now they have both the written and spoken versions and they are accessible where ever they are. They can share them with pride, revise from them and use them to evaluate their own performance. The Puppet Pal interviews can also be stored in an e-portfolio as evidence of  progress.  Thirdly, the prefabricated characters and background scenery encouraged student creativity. I have done this activity many times, but have never had a talking horse giving his opinion before.

 

 

 

 

 

Listening Lesson Using Audioboo. Describing People, Elementary Level. STUDENT COPY

Listening activities: Describing People One        OPEN IN PAGES.       Level One                                    

TASK ONE: VOCABULARY  STUDENT COPY

Write down the opposite adjective. Use the underlined words  There are three extra words:

Straight           short    short               beautiful          unfriendly        dark     blonde             small   noisy    ugly            talkative          nice     funny              single

e.g.      tall      short

big

light

handsome

curly

long

friendly

shy

quiet

horrible

serious

TASK TWO: Go to Spelling City and practice these words

Route 1: http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=10089443

Route 2: Spelling City App, Level1, ADMC Level 1, Describing a Person: Appearance and Personality. password is ‘English’

 

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE

 

 

 

TASK THREE: Read one of the descriptions below. (Your teacher might tell you which one to read)

John, a college student:

 

Okay, I am short and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

 

 

James, a doctor http://audioboo.fm/boos/987589-james-the-doctor

 

I am short, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

 

TASK THREE: Listen to James or John talking about themselves.  Listen and find the differences between what they say and what you read.

  1. 1.       Listen and highlight the word

John, a college student: http://audioboo.fm/boos/987570-john-a-college-student

 

Okay, I am short and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

  1. 2.       Listen again and  change the word

Okay, I am tall and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

TASK THREE: Listen to James or John talking about themselves.  Listen and find the differences between what they say and what you read.

  1. 1.      Listen and highlight the word

James, a doctor

 

I am short, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

  1. 2.       Listen again and  change the word

 

I am small, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

TASK FOUR: Find a partner who listened to the other person. E.g. You listened to John, find someone who listened to James.

Tell your partner about your person. Use he/his e.g. His name is J…… He is a ……… He has……… He is…….

TASK FIVE:  You will record yourself describing a friend.

 Plan what you will say. Talk about his appearance and personality.

TASK SIX: Download the App Audioboo. (free version) 

Record yourself speaking about your friend.

Send the recording to sectionCANAD@yahoo.com or to sectionCAD@yahoo.com

 

            

Listening Lesson Using Audioboo. Describing People, Elementary Level. TEACHER COPY

Listening activities about describing people One ( Their physical appearance and their personality)  TEACHER COPY

APPS NEEDED SPELLING CITY   AUDIOBOO  PAGES    HEADPHONES

Listening activities: Describing people One  OPEN IN PAGES                                Level One

TASK ONE: VOCABULARY 

Write down the opposite adjective. Use the underlined words  There are three extra words:

Straight           short    short               beautiful          unfriendly        dark     blonde             small   noisy    ugly            talkative          nice     funny              single

e.g.      tall      short

big

light

handsome

curly

long

friendly

shy

quiet

horrible

serious

TASK TWO: Go to Spelling City and practice these words

Route 1: http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=10089443

Route 2: Spelling City App, Level1, ADMC Level 1, Describing a Person: Appearance and Personality. password is ‘English’

 

TASK THREE: Read one of the descriptions below. (Your teacher might tell you which one to read)

John, a college student:

 

Okay, I am short and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

 

 

James, a doctor http://audioboo.fm/boos/987589-james-the-doctor

 

I am short, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

(Descriptions adapted from -Lesson Plans for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers, created by Catherine Schell )

TASK THREE: Listen to James or John talking about themselves.  Listen and find the differences between what they say and what you read.

  1. 1.       Listen and highlight the word

John, a college student: http://audioboo.fm/boos/987570-john-a-college-student

 

Okay, I am short and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

Answer Key, actual version

John, a college student:

Okay, I am tall and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as basketball, football, and tennis. I have brown hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very talkative. I talk a lot. I love discussing interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

 

  1. 2.       Listen again and  change the word

Okay, I am tall and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

TASK THREE: Listen to James or John talking about themselves.  Listen and find the differences between what they say and what you read.

  1. 1.      Listen and highlight the word

James, a doctor

 

I am short, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

2.       Listen again and  change the word

 

I am small, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

 Answer Key, actual version

James, a doctor

I am small, but I am strong! I am sometimes shy around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and talkative. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my curly, blonde hair. My favorite colour is blue and I like reading books and going to the cinema.

 

TASK FOUR: Find a partner who listened to the other person. E.g. You listened to John, find someone who listened to James.

Tell your partner about your person. Use he/his e.g. His name is J…… He is a ……… He has……… He is…….

TASK FIVE:  You will record yourself describing a friend.

 Plan what you will say. Talk about his appearance and personality.

TASK SIX: Download the App Audioboo. (free version) 

Record yourself speaking about your friend.

Send the recording to sectionCANAD@yahoo.com

ALSO SEE

My good friend Podcast Audioboo Answer Key TEACHER COPY

Listening questions on Socrative  SOC-454733

Claire Rose
Oxford, England
49 years old
Married
One son : Alex
Aston Martin, car company
Marketing manager
Tall and slim
Short, blonde hair
Big, blue eyes
A very small nose and small ears
beautiful
Likes wearing sports clothes at the weekend
She has to wear business suits during the week
She likes diving and playing squash
We met at university in 1981

 

Capturing Student Sentences After An Oral Pair Work Activity With Explain Everything

Workflow Plan: Using the Explain Everything App to Capture Samples of Student Language in a Semi-free Oral Activity

Description: Students challenge each other to make sentences using language randomly selected from a grid. Sentences are then recorded in spoken and written form. App:Explain Everythinghttp://www.explaineverything.com/1/post/2012/1/explain-a-website.html

Class email address

Camera

 

 

Materials Needed:Battleships grid (downloaded from busyteacher.com)

 

 

 

 

Lettered squares contain the names of people & subject pronouns, numbered squares contain adjectives.

 

 

 

Plan APP Outcome/Rationale
Students retrieve their allotted worksheet from the class email inbox e.g. ClassD@hotmail.com and open it up in Explain Everything. Class email addressExplain Everything 
Oral Pair Work Stage:Students work in pairs.  They sit back to back so they need to listen to each other carefully.Each partner has a grid with different words on it.

St. A says ‘Choose a letter and a number’

St B says ‘ I’ll have ….. and …..

St A reads the words in the chosen squares

St B incorporates the words into a sentence adding because and supplying a reason e.g. Policemen are happy because they help people.

 

Explain Everything

Students produce language at the sentence level.Students revise subject and verb agreement.They work on simple cause/effect relationships.
Language Capture Stage:Students minimize the Battleship Grid providing room to write down some of the sentences they have just produced orally.The teacher circulates, giving feedback and using the highlight and writing function to draw student attention to learner errors.

Students record several additional sentences.

 

Explain Everything Writing and recording sentences produced during the pair work activity helps students internalize the target language and provides a record for later recycling work.
Sharing Student Work:Students tap the save icon and name the document.Students tap the share icon and email the document as a PDF to the class email address.

The teacher either opens up emails or asks students to mirror their work onto the board.

Whole class error correction work and remedial teaching can take place and be captured on the board.

Students photograph the board, return to Explain Everything and insert the image next to their sentences and Battleship Grid.

Explain EverythingCamera Sharing work motivates students to produce good quality work and students can learn from both the errors their peers have made and the good language examples their peers produce.Sharing work exposes students to more comprehensible input of the language in focus.

An example of the student page including a photograph of a boarded remedial slot from another part of the lesson.

 

Workflow Plan: An Integrated Skills Lesson

Workflow Plan:  An Integrated Skills Lesson    Level: Elementary and above

Description:

Students read a short text in order to acquire information to be shared with classmates during an oral recount activity. Using information gained from each other, they answer comprehension questions and co-author a written summary.

Apps:

Socrative Teacher & Socrative Student

Platform for sharing materials: IFiles/Dropbox/Email/E-Backpack/Evernote etc.

Sound note

Pages/Note

Camera

 

 
Materials Needed:

Reading text divided into four equal parts

Pre-lesson prepared Socrative Quiz

   

 

Plan APP Outcome/Rationale
Jigsaw Reading  Step One: Information Gathering

 

Divide class into four groups. Each group retrieves their allotted reading text e.g. Group A gets Text A, Group B gets Text B etc. from the teacher’s platform of choice.

 

All members of a group read the same text and help each other identify key information and comprehend the vocabulary.

 

Students make notes, writing down key vocabulary and information. Full sentences are not allowed. These notes will provide scaffolding during the retelling stage.

 

Students can rehearse retelling their information, recording themselves for self-evaluation and feedback. They amend their oral recount after listening to the recording of themselves and other group members.

Platform for sharing materials:

IFiles/Dropbox/Email/E-Backpack/Evernote etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sound note or Note

 

 

 

 

Sound note/ iPad built in video

Students acquire the language and lexis to be able to share the information specific to their group.
Jigsaw Reading  Step Two:  Sharing Information

 

Students are re-grouped so that each member of the new jigsawed group has read a different text ( St. A, St. B, St. C, St. D)

 

Students take turns at recounting the information from their texts from memory, using their scaffolding notes.

 

Students teach each other vocabulary from their text and note down new words below their scaffolding work. They can take a picture of other students’ notes.

 

 

 

 

 

Sound note or Note

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camera

Students acquire language, lexis and new information in this information gap activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jigsaw Reading  Step Three:  Consolidating  and checking information

 

Students return to their original groups and share the information they have gained.

 

Testing information:

The Teacher projects this lessons Socrative Teacher Quiz’s home page onto the board. Students sign into Socrative Students and enters the Room Number, signs their name and submits.

 

The Teacher decides whether the quiz should progress in lockstep or at a groups own pace.

Students answer questions about the four texts. Questions can focus on content information, language structures and vocabulary.

Group answers are shared with the class. Remedial teaching can be carried out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Socrative Teacher

Socrative Student

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learners see how much information students from other provided them with. The test increases the need for students to listen to each other well at the information stage.

 

 

 

Writing Stage:

In threes, students co- author a summary of all the information from the four texts. Students can take turns to write. The other two students help decide what to say, re-read notes, check for spelling etc.

Students first go to Settings, General, Accessibility, Large Text, 40, so that the emerging text is easily read by all three members of the group.

The teacher and fast finishers circulate and offer editing advice.

 

Each group adds two pieces of misinformation to their summary, giving other groups a reason to read their work.

Finished texts were then emailed directly from Pages or Note to all members of the authoring group and to the teacher.

 

 

Pages or Notes

 

Students write about content they are now familiar with. Thus, they are able to concentrate on organizing the information in a coherent, grammatically accurate manner.

Reading Student Texts Stage:

Students form new groups and read each other’s summaries to find the misinformation.

 

Pages or Notes

Students have a purpose to read the work of other groups in that they need to identify the misinformation.

They see how other students express the same ideas in different ways.