A VIRTUAL EXCHANGE

A virtual exchange is always a good idea because students make a real use of English and they enjoy themselves very much getting in contact with students from other parts of the world.

Objectives of the project:

• To get in touch with a foreign student that your teacher provides you.
• To learn about him/her and his/her daily life and culture. 
• To use English in a real, meaningful context. 

TASK 1

The student has to make a video introducing himself/herself using MailVU and send it to his/her epal. 

TASK 2

In pairs, they have to make a poster about their school using Postermywall and share it with their epals.

TASK 3

In groups of 4, they have to create a set of "speaking images" using Fotobabble. Each of them has to focus on a different part of the village. Then they have to 

TASK 4 

Individually, the students have to write a blog post in Blogger explaining their experience, how they felt and what they learned with the virtual exchange. 

SOUNDCLOUD

SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform that enables users to upload, record, promote and share their originally-created sounds.

We can use it in the classroom in many different ways:

• Students can use it for language practice. Students record their speaking and teachers provide comments on their performances.
• Students can use it to enhance their speaking abilities by recording speeches addressed to their peers or to other classes. 
• Students can record audio clips and add them as explanatory materials to the class projects they are working on. 
• Teachers can use it to add audio feedback to students assignments. 
• Teachers can create a SoundCloud group for their classes and encourage students to upload, record and share audio there. The group can be set to private so that only students can view and use it. 
• We can encourage students to leave comments on the sound tracks uploaded by other students in the SoundCloud group of the class. 
• SoundCloud can be used for digital storytelling. 
• Students can use it for book reports. They can record audio book reports outlining their thought. about the books they read and invite others to interact with the audio by leaving comments. 
• We can use SoundCloud to document and distribute lessons and lectures with students. 
• We can use it for podcasting in class.

Here you have an example of an audio track that I uploaded to my SoundCloud account:

QR CODES

QR codes can also be used in class. Students love them because the activities with QR codes allow them to use their mobile phones. 

Generador QR-Code is a good website that we can use to create QR codes such as this one:

We can use them in many different ways, such as:

• Lead students to information.
• Answer questions (for example, reading comprehension).
• Treasure hunts (for example, hidden clues for special holidays). 
• Hidden words or sentences for students (for example, lyrics of a song). 
• Abstracts for the readers' library. 
• Giving worksheets and classroom handouts so that the students who prefer a digital version can have it. 
• Notes at the end of the class with the new vocabulary or expressions learned. 

Nik Peachey talks about it in more detail in his blog.

Here we have a very interesting activity that we can do with QR codes:

EDPUZZLE, EDUCREATIONS AND VOKI

EDPUZZLE

EDpuzzle is an innovative video site that lets you take any video you like off the web and edit it so that you can use it for educational purposes. You can cut it down into different parts and add audio notes and questions for the students to answer. Moreover, you can create virtual classrooms where teachers can monitor individual student work. 

We can use it in class to practise the listening and check the students' comprehension. 

EDUCREATIONS

Educreations is an interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool that allows teachers to create short instructional videos and share them vith the students. 

We can use it in class to teach a specific topic and also to ask students to show what they know about something or to ask them prepare a presentation to help their classmates learn something new. 

VOKI

Voki is a free service that lets you create a talking avatar to help students share their learning. You can later embed it onto a blog or website.

We can use it in class for different things like getting students to share their learning, getting feedback from students, getting students to add a more human feel to their blog or wiki, expressing views and opinions easier in foreing languages, engaging and hooking students into a subject or topic, practising and listening to presentations, etc. 

YOUTUBE

The students also love making videos and uploading them on Youtube. We can use that activity to make them practice something we taught in class. For example, when talking about phone conversations, we can teach them some useful sentences and expressions they can use when phoning someone, then ask them to prepare a conversation and then ask them to make a video of themselves acting out the dialogue.

When the videos are ready, can also ask the students to upload them on Youtube and share them with the class, so that we can watch them all together and comment on them.

Here you have an example:

VIDEO ACTIVITIES - Movie Segments for Warm-ups and Follow-ups

Another resource that we can use to find video activities is a blog called Movie Segments for Warm-ups and Follow-ups. Here you have the link to the site:

Movie Segments for Warm-ups and Follow-ups

Here you have a very simple activity that we can do with our students:

1. Go to the post This is 40: Technology and Family Relations.
2. Ask the students to discuss the questions they are given in small groups.
3. Watch the first movie segment and ask them to answer the questions orally. 
4. Watch the video clip called I forgot my phone. 
5. Ask the students to write a summary of the negative and positive uses of cell phones.

VIDEO ACTIVITES - ESLvideo.com

Students really like watching videos. We can find plenty of video activites on the Internet that we can use in our classroom. An interesting website to find them is ESLvideo.com. Here you have an example:

ESL video quiz: Romeo & Juliet

 

Students can watch the video and then do the quiz. It is, therefore, a comprehension activity which also allows us to teach our students some English literature.

ISSUU

Issuu is a free electronic publishing platform for magazines, catalogs, newspapers and more. Teachers can also use it to share documents, activities and materials. Very useful!

Here you have an example of an activity that you can find there:

SLIDESHARE

SlideShare is a website where users can upload files privately or publicly in different file formats.  They can then be viewed on the site itself, on hand held devices or embedded on other sites. It's a very good tool that allows teachers to share materials. Here you have an example:

The lottery story_reported_questions de abg3

QUIZLET

Quizlet is an online learning tool that allows registered users to create sets of terms customized for their own needs. There are flash cards, spellers, games, etc. It is a very useful tool to learn and revise vocabulary that students love. Here you have an example:

Quizlet - Parts of the house

GOOGLE FORMS

NO LANGUAGE FOR ETERNITY 

About one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners. It has become the new international language. There are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak English as a first language. Why is this? 

There are many reasons why English has become so popular. One of them is that English has become the language of business, science and technology. Another important reason is that popular American culture (like movies, music, and McDonald’s) has quickly spread throughout the world. It has brought its language with it. Besides, today it is important to have one language that the people of the world have in common. Our world has become very global and we need to communicate with one another. 

Scientists have already tried to create an artificial language that is not too difficult and does not include any one group’s culture: It is called Esperanto. But it hasn’t become popular. 

But maybe the popularity of English will not last that long either, who knows? China has strong aspirations to be the number one economic power and at the moment there are more people in the world who speak Chinese as their first language than any other language. Maybe some day Chinese will be the new international language. 

Reading comprehension

PADLET

Padlet is a free, online virtual wall where users can express their thoughts and write about any topics they wish. It's a very useful tool that teachers can use in the English class to make students write book reviews, topic summaries, answers to a question, opinions, etc. Here you have an example:

Created with Padlet

INTERESTING LINKS FOR GRAMMAR PRACTICE

Here you have two interesting links that you can use to practise your grammar:

Agenda web

The English Learning Website

WELCOME!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to Núria's English Teaching Resources blog, a space that I'm going to use to share some useful resources that I use for my English classes. Feel free to try them and, please, share them and comment them!