Students in a 6th grade, where I use to teach, showed me a web-site where they practice their vocabulary. The web-site is called glosboken. This is a fun way to practice vocabulary, better then the old fashioned way with pencil and paper. This is one way for the pupils to use ICT in their English learning. I think this is a useful and creative way to learn new words, that is why I want to tell you about this web-sit. I hope you will like it too.
Here is the address:
http://www.glosboken.se/pages/go.php?&language=en
You just have to create a user and the logon to this web-site, you can logon as a pupil or as a teacher or as a parent. Glosboken is useful in many ways, you can create exercises and make vocabulary lists. You do not have to make your own exercises, you can fetch pre-made exercises if you want to. You can learn your vocabulary by using this friendly exercise system, where the computer asks you questions based on the Flashcard theroy. You can print the vocabulary list as Flashcards, if you want to. You may even print the vocabulary list if you want to practice them in the old fashioned way.
This is not a complicated web-site, just follow the instructions and do as you are told, then everything will work out just fine. The teacher, parents or students writes the word that the student will practice. This is a fun way to learn new words and the pupils may use ICT and their computers in their learning. I hope you will find this website useful and fun.
Monday 17 May 2010
Monday 10 May 2010
Starfall.com
When searching for an ICT resource to share with you in my blog post, my mind fell on Starfall (http://www.starfall.com/ ). It is a free phonic based “learn to read” website. With the remission of the English syllabus and its modifications, such as the introduction of English in the 1st grade, Starfall could be an excellent early exposure to the language in a fun and interactive manner, without any emphasis on the learning aspects. In the early years children are enthusiastic and keen on new experiences. English from an early age creates a significant opportunity to stimulate learning in an informal and playful manner. Starfall presents such a method using a motivational approach. It induces laughter and gives a stress-free acquaintance to the language.
What you need in order to use Starfall:
(The minimum system requirements)
o Windows 95, Macintosh OS8, or Linux
o Internet connection
o 64 MB Ram
o 200 MHz processor
o Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape 4
o Flash Player 4
o Speakers
o Adobe reader
How Starfall is constructed
The Starfall website opened 2002 and is primarily designed for those who are in the beginning stages of reading. It has both an educator´s and parental guide. It is highly interactive using both sound and pictures, while requiring the user to participate actively with the mouse or keyboard.
The website is divided into various stages with reading activities. The ABCs Let´s get ready to read section has activities and games where users view and manipulate pictures to distinguish the letters of the alphabet. E.g. a train would appear with the lower and upper case letter t/T while the sound of the letter is heard. This exposes users to the letter- sound relationship in a fun and relaxing environment. Sign language is also presented in this section.
The second stage, Learn to read, takes the learner beyond the sound-letter relationship where they get the opportunity to enunciate and blend words as they read along, or write a letter to grandparents by clicking on their choice of word etc.
Thirdly, the category It is fun to read presents texts in different contexts and genres such as poetry, music, riddles, tongue twisters, and also has a section called “It is all about me” which gives the pupil a chance to construct a character to look like themselves. This stage even uses a TPR approach in some activities.
Finally, the I´m reading stage is more advanced and present learners with a variation of frequently used words. It focuses on fluent reading, intonation and expression etc.
In addition to the above mentioned categories there are thirteen links to different topics. For example Earth day, an interactive game where users work to clean the planet.
How teachers can use Starfall
Starfall presents a nonthreatening and supportive environment for students new to the English language. With anxiety and feelings of embarrassment removed from the process, the user can learn without inhibitions.
The website is extremely content rich so guidance in the beginning might be necessary. No official lesson plans are offered but there are many possibilities for a creative teacher, almost limitless. Usually there are some pupils in first grade that already can read. Others are on their way and some have not yet realized the purpose of reading. This is a flexible tool for the teacher despite their different stages. Additionally, the site is equally practical for use in collective learning, with the whole class or groups. Practice pages can be downloaded, and teachers can create portfolios for each student.
How pupils can use Starfall
Children in the first grade are of course at different stages of reading development. Starfall gives a useful tool for pupils despite their level.
Beginning readers with no prior knowledge of the English language can independently explore activities and games; they can let their curiosity lead the way. All the words in the activities are clickable and read out aloud. The website’s various categories can also be used with pupils who are already fluent readers in Swedish. A child with pronunciation difficulties could turn to the section of the website that aids in the improvement of pronunciation and students with difficulty repeating the alphabet will find immediate practical help etc. Starfall’s approach is extremely user friendly for beginners.
Their work can be printed out, saved or emailed which makes it possible to have their own electronic portfolio or to email tasks to parents.
Other conciderations
Starfall’s ease of navigation along with its read aloud features and slow moving graphics, presents an effective environment for young children wanting to learn or improve their English skills. There are no distractive links to other website, minimizing the risk of children being accidentally lured away to other websites.
As earlier mentioned, my reason for selecting Starfall was its appropriateness for exposing young learners to the English language in a fun and interactive setting. Older students starting to learn English according to the previous curriculum might find the site more juvenile.
My son learned the English alphabet before Swedish because he loved navigating the activities of Starfall. Through browsing the various activities, listening to the sounds and viewing the pictures, it never occurred to him that he was literally acquiring the language.
I hope you will find this useful.
Helené
Learn English Kids
Learn English Kids.
I searched on the internet for several hours. I wrote many different words but I did not found anything that I liked. Finally I wrote learnenglishkids and when I did that I found a website that I liked. I found something called learnenglishkids from British council. The address to learnenglishkids is:
http/www.leaenenglishkids.britishcouncil.org.
Introduction.
This website is for kids learning English as a second or a foreign language and it contains a lot of things to do. It contains songs, games, stories and many other things to do to when you are learning English. The site has also pages for teachers and parents that shows how the website works and there are also links to other websites by British council, for example one about stories. The site is most built up in nice orange and yellow colors and therefore I think it will be attractive for the pupils. There are also links to topics like rainforest, sports, bugs, dinosaurs and others so I believe that there is something for everyone to like.
How it works.
This page can be used in many different ways. For younger learners there are games to play and for the older ones there are writing tasks and something called word of the week. There are also some tongue twisters to use. The pupils can easy find their way to the tasks and there are several levels to choose so that they are on the right level when they are learning. This site can be used in school or at home as homework. It can also be used independently or by working in pairs or a group. If the pupils are using it as a site for homework and the parents wants help with pronunciation they can register and download tools to get help for that.
In this website you can find a lot of stuff to do. You can create your own cool character and you can click and find out which are the most popular songs, games and stories at the time. You can click on “did you know” and learn more about teeth’s, animals, a writer or about something else. There are also three boxes in the page, containing possibilities to click on for the parents, the teacher or little kids. In the little kids box there are some exercises for the pupil’s younger brothers or sisters so they also can be involved in the learning.
On this website you can also find.
Games: several on line games and activities about different topics.
Listen&watch: animated songs and stories for children, some of them have worksheets to download and use.
Read and write: contains worksheets to download to help children develop their language skills in reading and writing.
Make: Online activities where the children are able to create something.
Explore: contains a list of links to other websites and here they also get help in how to use this particular website.
When you click on one of these headlines you get several opportunities of things to do.
How to be used by teachers.
I believe that this is a good website for teachers. There are lots of tasks to use in the classroom and also as extra homework when necessary. Another good thing is that there are links to other websites as you might need in your teaching. I am going to teach English next autumn and I am certain of that will use this website and several others in my classroom. This site can be used both as a test but also just to let the pupils have fun while they are learning. By letting them work in pairs or to have an on line homework I believe that they will learn in different ways which is good for their development.
How to be used by pupils.
The pupils and even other children can use this website in many different ways. They can use it for learning or just for fun. I believe that if they think that they are using it only for fun they might learn a bit more because almost everything they do involves some kind of learning and if they enjoy their tasks it is even better. Younger learners probably will need some help when they are starting up an activity and they also might needing some help to choose one in the right level. Older users probably can work it out by themselves or with a friend if they are working in pairs.
This is a good site for children, teachers and parents to use in learning a second or foreign language. I think I sometimes I would use this site as a carrot for the children, something they can work with if other tasks have been done. Maybe I also will use it as homework, just to make them more fun for the pupils. The box with topics can be used as extra exercises and the children can choose something from the box that they want to learn more about. However, I miss opportunity for the children to save their work they have been done but as a hole I think that this website contributes to pupil getting lots of learning opportunities.
Camilla Ljungberg Hultsfred
I searched on the internet for several hours. I wrote many different words but I did not found anything that I liked. Finally I wrote learnenglishkids and when I did that I found a website that I liked. I found something called learnenglishkids from British council. The address to learnenglishkids is:
http/www.leaenenglishkids.britishcouncil.org.
Introduction.
This website is for kids learning English as a second or a foreign language and it contains a lot of things to do. It contains songs, games, stories and many other things to do to when you are learning English. The site has also pages for teachers and parents that shows how the website works and there are also links to other websites by British council, for example one about stories. The site is most built up in nice orange and yellow colors and therefore I think it will be attractive for the pupils. There are also links to topics like rainforest, sports, bugs, dinosaurs and others so I believe that there is something for everyone to like.
How it works.
This page can be used in many different ways. For younger learners there are games to play and for the older ones there are writing tasks and something called word of the week. There are also some tongue twisters to use. The pupils can easy find their way to the tasks and there are several levels to choose so that they are on the right level when they are learning. This site can be used in school or at home as homework. It can also be used independently or by working in pairs or a group. If the pupils are using it as a site for homework and the parents wants help with pronunciation they can register and download tools to get help for that.
In this website you can find a lot of stuff to do. You can create your own cool character and you can click and find out which are the most popular songs, games and stories at the time. You can click on “did you know” and learn more about teeth’s, animals, a writer or about something else. There are also three boxes in the page, containing possibilities to click on for the parents, the teacher or little kids. In the little kids box there are some exercises for the pupil’s younger brothers or sisters so they also can be involved in the learning.
On this website you can also find.
Games: several on line games and activities about different topics.
Listen&watch: animated songs and stories for children, some of them have worksheets to download and use.
Read and write: contains worksheets to download to help children develop their language skills in reading and writing.
Make: Online activities where the children are able to create something.
Explore: contains a list of links to other websites and here they also get help in how to use this particular website.
When you click on one of these headlines you get several opportunities of things to do.
How to be used by teachers.
I believe that this is a good website for teachers. There are lots of tasks to use in the classroom and also as extra homework when necessary. Another good thing is that there are links to other websites as you might need in your teaching. I am going to teach English next autumn and I am certain of that will use this website and several others in my classroom. This site can be used both as a test but also just to let the pupils have fun while they are learning. By letting them work in pairs or to have an on line homework I believe that they will learn in different ways which is good for their development.
How to be used by pupils.
The pupils and even other children can use this website in many different ways. They can use it for learning or just for fun. I believe that if they think that they are using it only for fun they might learn a bit more because almost everything they do involves some kind of learning and if they enjoy their tasks it is even better. Younger learners probably will need some help when they are starting up an activity and they also might needing some help to choose one in the right level. Older users probably can work it out by themselves or with a friend if they are working in pairs.
This is a good site for children, teachers and parents to use in learning a second or foreign language. I think I sometimes I would use this site as a carrot for the children, something they can work with if other tasks have been done. Maybe I also will use it as homework, just to make them more fun for the pupils. The box with topics can be used as extra exercises and the children can choose something from the box that they want to learn more about. However, I miss opportunity for the children to save their work they have been done but as a hole I think that this website contributes to pupil getting lots of learning opportunities.
Camilla Ljungberg Hultsfred
Friday 7 May 2010
Audacity
I would like to recommend the program Audacity to you. It is a free program in which you can record or play different music files. It is also a so called wiki program with an open source, which means that anyone can make changes if they want to and know how. Most often it is users of the program who makes the changes which means that the program improves constantly.
With this program you can do a lot of things. For example you can edit sound files, turn your cassettes and vinyl into digital music files and record several tracks which will overlap each other. For instance I did a recording when I sang Brother Jacob in canon with myself :-).
The program is easy to use. Just start the program put your headset on, press the record button and that is it. You can easily edit your sound files or other sound files. There is also a possibility to put effects on your sound, for instance make the recording go backwards, tune in or out, noise cancelling, change speed and many more effects.
You download the program from this website:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/?lang=sv
You can export your sound files to Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF files. To export to MP3 you need a decoder which you can download here:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3
Read the instructions and then click on “LAME download page”. When you get to the new page click on the link: “Lame v3.98.2 for Audacity on Windows.exe” and you are on your way.
The program has many functions and there are several tutorials on the Internet to get you going. Here you can find Audacity’s own tutorial:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Category:Tutorial
To use Audacity for both teacher and pupils
This program is useful when working with the children’s ‘Personal Development Plan’-PDP (IUP in Swedish). You can let the children read and save the recording in a digital PDP-portfolio. In this way it is easy for the children, their parents and you to hear the improvement in the children’s reading. This is an excellent alternative for children’s self assessment. They can do the recording in their own time and pace. And they can re-record until they are satisfied.
It is also easy for you as a teacher to record audio home works for your children. A possible way of helping those children who have difficulties in learning to read, they can look at the text and listen to your voice at the same time. When doing a recording with Audacity it is very easy to make as many copies of the files as you need.
The children can do interviews with each other instead of a regular test. Since they record the interview you can listen to it later and see how they managed.
The children can do presentations as if it was a radio program.
One of the possibilities with this program is to record several audio tracks to play parallel to each other, as I mentioned earlier, I sang Brother Jacob in canon with myself ;-). For instance, if you or the children are doing a digital story in Photo Story or PowerPoint and want more than one sound to every picture. You can make them ready in Audacity and then import them to your story in Photo Story or PowerPoint.
I am sure that you can find other use of this program once you started using it.
With this program you can do a lot of things. For example you can edit sound files, turn your cassettes and vinyl into digital music files and record several tracks which will overlap each other. For instance I did a recording when I sang Brother Jacob in canon with myself :-).
The program is easy to use. Just start the program put your headset on, press the record button and that is it. You can easily edit your sound files or other sound files. There is also a possibility to put effects on your sound, for instance make the recording go backwards, tune in or out, noise cancelling, change speed and many more effects.
You download the program from this website:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/?lang=sv
You can export your sound files to Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF files. To export to MP3 you need a decoder which you can download here:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3
Read the instructions and then click on “LAME download page”. When you get to the new page click on the link: “Lame v3.98.2 for Audacity on Windows.exe” and you are on your way.
The program has many functions and there are several tutorials on the Internet to get you going. Here you can find Audacity’s own tutorial:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Category:Tutorial
To use Audacity for both teacher and pupils
This program is useful when working with the children’s ‘Personal Development Plan’-PDP (IUP in Swedish). You can let the children read and save the recording in a digital PDP-portfolio. In this way it is easy for the children, their parents and you to hear the improvement in the children’s reading. This is an excellent alternative for children’s self assessment. They can do the recording in their own time and pace. And they can re-record until they are satisfied.
It is also easy for you as a teacher to record audio home works for your children. A possible way of helping those children who have difficulties in learning to read, they can look at the text and listen to your voice at the same time. When doing a recording with Audacity it is very easy to make as many copies of the files as you need.
The children can do interviews with each other instead of a regular test. Since they record the interview you can listen to it later and see how they managed.
The children can do presentations as if it was a radio program.
One of the possibilities with this program is to record several audio tracks to play parallel to each other, as I mentioned earlier, I sang Brother Jacob in canon with myself ;-). For instance, if you or the children are doing a digital story in Photo Story or PowerPoint and want more than one sound to every picture. You can make them ready in Audacity and then import them to your story in Photo Story or PowerPoint.
I am sure that you can find other use of this program once you started using it.
What you need to make it work
- To use this program you need a computer with 512 mb RAM (work memory) and 1 Ghz processor speed if you run Windows XP, or 2 Gb RAM and 1 Ghz processor speed if you run Vista. Since this is below what an average computer has you can go right ahead and install it.
- To download you need a connection to Internet but after that you work directly from the computer’s hard drive.
You need a microphone and speakers, even though I recommend you to use a headset because it gives a better recording sound with less disturbing surrounding sounds. - The rest is up to you and your pupil’s creativity :-D
/Kicki :-)
Babelnet Theme Park
I found this site called Babelnet Theme Park. At this web site you can find four various themes that are called Nature Reserve, Castle, Services and Attractions. In the different themes you can play games, practise grammar and words and find tasks that are listening comprehensions, oral or spelling tasks. All the tasks are in different difficulty levels so you can always find something that suits your pupils.
You can find the web site here:
http://babelnet.sbg.ac.at/themepark/index.htm
How the Babelnet Theme park site can be used by teachers
This site has different themes that could interest most pupils in school. When you click on the Site Map you will find a list of all the games and tasks that are on the site. They are divided in the different themes so it is easy to find what you are looking for. The exercises on the site are a great complement to the teaching in class. They deal with the words and grammar in various ways in the exercises and I think that the pupils will find it fun to work with them. As a teacher I need to have chosen the exercises on the site that the pupils are supposed to work with before the lesson. Otherwise I believe that the pupils will try to do tasks that are too difficult for them.
As a teacher I can see that there are many tasks and exercises that I can use as ideas in the classroom. E.g. in the theme Services the pupils are going to write about when they have been pick-pocketed. This is something you can use in drama class and let the pupils write a play about the episode and give a performance.
There is a link bank where you can find other sites with tasks in English within the themes that are on the Babelnet site. I think that these links are very useful to give you more ideas about what you can do with your class.
How the Babelnet Theme Park site can be used by pupils
When the pupils are doing the exercises they will get response right away. They will be able to see if they are right or wrong in their answers. Doing the exercises I think the pupils will have fun and will be learning spelling, grammar and talking at the same time. With a few clicks the pupils have done one exercise and can continue to do it again or move on to the next one.
It is not necessary that the pupils work individual. The exercises and games can be done in pairs and a lot of discussions will be done while they sit together trying to solve the tasks.
What you may need to think about when you use this site
As the teacher you need to have been looking through the site so you know what you will be able to use with your pupils or not. There are a lot of exercises, games and links in different levels so it will take some time to go through them but I think it is worth the time. I am sure that you and your pupils will have a lot of fun with this site.
Many of the tasks are trial and error exercises. I therefore believe that it is necessary that the pupils are a little bit familiar with the words before they start to work with them on the computer. If not I think that some pupils only will click on the different alternatives and never consider why.
You only need a computer that is connected with the Internet. Start having fun!
Thursday 6 May 2010
My ICT resource; “Digger and the gang”
I have found a website that I believe could be very useful and fun for both teachers and pupils. It is called “Digger and the gang” and it is BBC which is the creator of the site. In the website there are many different things that you can use when teaching/learning English, within different projects or not. There are also many ways for you as a teacher to work with other subjects and at the same time having the children learning English.
The website aims at English speaking pupils at the age of 5-7, 7-9 or 9-11. I have concentrated on what the pages has to offer pupils at the age of 5-7 English native speakers, which would probably be a couple of years older with English learning pupils. All you need for this website to make it work is first of all a computer with access to the internet. When clicking on a picture there is either a photostory shown or a photo with parts of it moving around. For some there are sound, but not many. I tried to see if there was anything specific that you need to install to make it work (something that I already have installed) by I could not see that there was.
Three pages from the website
These aim at my chosen age group. The first one is called “Welcome to Adventures”, the second one is “Welcome to fun and games” and the third is called “Science clips".(I had a picture from each of the sites which showed the different clickable pictures, but it did not work when I were to put it in the blog).
"Welcome to adventures"
English
To grandma’s party
• An invitation
• Presents
• At the party
Maths
Sports day
• Get up and go
• Up and jump
• Cool down
Science
To the animals
• Into the boat
• Float and sink
• Animal park
"Welcome to fun and games"
• Send an e-card
• Create your own picture
• Create your own story
• I’d like to be...
• Create an animation
• Create a turtle tune
"Science clips"
Ages 5-6
• Our selves
• Growing plants
• Sorting and using materials
• Light and dark
• Pushes and pulls
• Sound and hearing
Ages 6-7
• Health and growth
• Plants and animals in the local environment
• Variation
• Grouping and changing materials
• Forces and movement
• Using electricity
How does it work?
First we look at “Welcome to Adventures”. The pupils click on one of the pictures above. There are three different subjects with each three different stories. Each picture opens a whole new window that contains a photostory. Within the photostory there are tasks to be solved. Ones the pupil has solved one task the next one becomes available. Within each picture there are “print to do” available. That is a task within the subject chosen, that the pupil or teacher can print out and do.
When it comes to “Welcome to fun and games” there are many different things to do, all on a very basic level. You can for instance create your own photostory (from a selection of alternative), learn how an animation is done by creating a small one yourself or way not create a turtle singing song etc.
The “Science clips” page is divided into the ages 5-6 and 6-7 (and older but I have focused on the tasks for younger children). There are six pictures to click on for every age group. Inside a picture there are various kinds of tasks, that all have to do with science. E.g. One in the 5-6 year old group, you are to water a plant with enough water to make it grow big and there is one that wants you to decide what is living and non-living things. For 6-7 year old children, there is e.g. one called “Variation” were the children are to sort living things into the groups of insects, mammals, birds and plants. When it comes to both of these age group’s tasks, there are almost always a quiz about the theme. If there is not a quiz there is a task called “Labels”, where the children can practice new words e.g. stem, leaf, root and flower.
How can the webpage be used.
This site contains a lot of English on a level that is easy enough for the pupils to manage and understand with some support. It is also created in a way that will able the pupils to handle the technical parts by themselves, with just a bit of experience with computers. I believe that teachers can use parts of the site as a complement to other materials and teaching resources.
When working with a site like this I believe that it is very important to get the pupils to talk as much English as possible with each other while solving the tasks. The site contains tasks that practice the alphabetic order, logic thinking, problem solving and vocabulary etc.
Even though I believe that this site brings up many good things that children need to practice, I think it is of great importance that teachers don’t leave the pupils alone to solve the tasks. For the site to be useful and not just something to “click and be done with”, there has to be some kind of follow up tasks. E.g. write a list of the new words you learnt from the site and write your own story with the new words in it. There is one story about the children buying some ice cream, where the pupils need to know how much to pay etc. This task could in different ways be redone in the classroom. The pupils could answer similar questions where they are to know how much they need to pay. They could also create tasks for their friend to solve or even using drama when solving the task. I see the tasks on the site as idea breakers or a fun way for the pupils to get into a new theme or area within a theme, or practice the new theme in a different way. I guess it is only the imagination that stands in the way of how to use it successfully.
Another thing that is good with using a site like this on the internet, is that if the pupils find it fun they might even return to the site on their spare time. If they do, this will give them even more time learning and experiencing the English language.
Things to think about
When using an English site like this where the ages of the tasks are younger than the pupils are in the English learning classroom, it is important to talk about this so that the pupils do not get a lack of confidence.
I do not know if the characters on the site are well known from e.g. tv, but the site is created by BBC. If that is the case there might lay some advertising thoughts behind the site, which is not particularly good.
Work of reference
BBC. Digger and the gang. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger/index.shtml Accessed: 2010-05-02
“Welcome to Adventures” and “Welcome to fun and games” are available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger/5_7entry/5_7.shtml
“Science clips” is available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/index_flash.shtml
By Susanne Åberg 1EN30L VT-2010 Module 1, part B. ICT
The website aims at English speaking pupils at the age of 5-7, 7-9 or 9-11. I have concentrated on what the pages has to offer pupils at the age of 5-7 English native speakers, which would probably be a couple of years older with English learning pupils. All you need for this website to make it work is first of all a computer with access to the internet. When clicking on a picture there is either a photostory shown or a photo with parts of it moving around. For some there are sound, but not many. I tried to see if there was anything specific that you need to install to make it work (something that I already have installed) by I could not see that there was.
Three pages from the website
These aim at my chosen age group. The first one is called “Welcome to Adventures”, the second one is “Welcome to fun and games” and the third is called “Science clips".(I had a picture from each of the sites which showed the different clickable pictures, but it did not work when I were to put it in the blog).
"Welcome to adventures"
English
To grandma’s party
• An invitation
• Presents
• At the party
Maths
Sports day
• Get up and go
• Up and jump
• Cool down
Science
To the animals
• Into the boat
• Float and sink
• Animal park
"Welcome to fun and games"
• Send an e-card
• Create your own picture
• Create your own story
• I’d like to be...
• Create an animation
• Create a turtle tune
"Science clips"
Ages 5-6
• Our selves
• Growing plants
• Sorting and using materials
• Light and dark
• Pushes and pulls
• Sound and hearing
Ages 6-7
• Health and growth
• Plants and animals in the local environment
• Variation
• Grouping and changing materials
• Forces and movement
• Using electricity
How does it work?
First we look at “Welcome to Adventures”. The pupils click on one of the pictures above. There are three different subjects with each three different stories. Each picture opens a whole new window that contains a photostory. Within the photostory there are tasks to be solved. Ones the pupil has solved one task the next one becomes available. Within each picture there are “print to do” available. That is a task within the subject chosen, that the pupil or teacher can print out and do.
When it comes to “Welcome to fun and games” there are many different things to do, all on a very basic level. You can for instance create your own photostory (from a selection of alternative), learn how an animation is done by creating a small one yourself or way not create a turtle singing song etc.
The “Science clips” page is divided into the ages 5-6 and 6-7 (and older but I have focused on the tasks for younger children). There are six pictures to click on for every age group. Inside a picture there are various kinds of tasks, that all have to do with science. E.g. One in the 5-6 year old group, you are to water a plant with enough water to make it grow big and there is one that wants you to decide what is living and non-living things. For 6-7 year old children, there is e.g. one called “Variation” were the children are to sort living things into the groups of insects, mammals, birds and plants. When it comes to both of these age group’s tasks, there are almost always a quiz about the theme. If there is not a quiz there is a task called “Labels”, where the children can practice new words e.g. stem, leaf, root and flower.
How can the webpage be used.
This site contains a lot of English on a level that is easy enough for the pupils to manage and understand with some support. It is also created in a way that will able the pupils to handle the technical parts by themselves, with just a bit of experience with computers. I believe that teachers can use parts of the site as a complement to other materials and teaching resources.
When working with a site like this I believe that it is very important to get the pupils to talk as much English as possible with each other while solving the tasks. The site contains tasks that practice the alphabetic order, logic thinking, problem solving and vocabulary etc.
Even though I believe that this site brings up many good things that children need to practice, I think it is of great importance that teachers don’t leave the pupils alone to solve the tasks. For the site to be useful and not just something to “click and be done with”, there has to be some kind of follow up tasks. E.g. write a list of the new words you learnt from the site and write your own story with the new words in it. There is one story about the children buying some ice cream, where the pupils need to know how much to pay etc. This task could in different ways be redone in the classroom. The pupils could answer similar questions where they are to know how much they need to pay. They could also create tasks for their friend to solve or even using drama when solving the task. I see the tasks on the site as idea breakers or a fun way for the pupils to get into a new theme or area within a theme, or practice the new theme in a different way. I guess it is only the imagination that stands in the way of how to use it successfully.
Another thing that is good with using a site like this on the internet, is that if the pupils find it fun they might even return to the site on their spare time. If they do, this will give them even more time learning and experiencing the English language.
Things to think about
When using an English site like this where the ages of the tasks are younger than the pupils are in the English learning classroom, it is important to talk about this so that the pupils do not get a lack of confidence.
I do not know if the characters on the site are well known from e.g. tv, but the site is created by BBC. If that is the case there might lay some advertising thoughts behind the site, which is not particularly good.
Work of reference
BBC. Digger and the gang. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger/index.shtml Accessed: 2010-05-02
“Welcome to Adventures” and “Welcome to fun and games” are available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger/5_7entry/5_7.shtml
“Science clips” is available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/index_flash.shtml
By Susanne Åberg 1EN30L VT-2010 Module 1, part B. ICT
Barnaby Bear
This is a website aimed at children 5-7 years who has English language as their mother tongue. However, I find it useful for language learners at the age of about eleven. The website is based on Barnaby Bear and his travels to Australia and Paris. There are also games where the children can practice their English skills and take instructions in English.
The address to the Barnaby Bear website is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/barnabybear/
How it works
To make this website work the user needs internet connection, the features can not be downloaded and saved to the computers hard drive, but only streamed online. Speakers are also required.
I find two features on the website to be useful for language learners in the Swedish elementary school, that is ‘the stories’ and ‘the games’ sections. ‘The stories’ page has two stories where Barnaby Bear, a cartooned bear from England, travels to Australia and to Paris. The stories are, more or less, travelling guides told in an easy language and are supported by pictures and text, which makes the story fairly easy for language learners to follow. The games are a fun way for the children to learn about everyday life activities at the same time as their English vocabulary grows.
How the website can be used
When using the Barnaby Bear website English class can be integrated with Geography class. The travel guides gives a good introduction to the countries, but the teacher needs to introduce the videos because of new words that can be hard to understand. Before showing the story, the teacher can briefly tell the story, using words that are important for the context, and explain the meaning of them and write them on the board or hand out a glossary list. The children will now have an idea of what the story is about and will have it easier to follow.
The stories give the teacher many opportunities to do follow up tasks. For example the children can get a task of finding more information of a place or something else in the story that they found interesting. They can present their new information by doing a play or telling about it with help of pictures, perhaps making a photo story.
Another task can be to formulate new sentences with key words from the stories that the teacher gives the children. By this, it gives the language learner a greater chance to learn the words.
There is also a section on the website where the children can e-mail Barnaby Bear. The children can formulate a few questions and send an e-mail to him.
The game section gives the children a chance to learn new English words at a fun way. They also learn to take instructions in English. ‘The recycling game’ can be a part of environmental projects and might be a fun way to test their knowledge on how to recycle.
Other contributions
On the ‘Teacher & Parents’ section there are more information about the website and some useful links.
I found The Barnaby Bear website on the Norwegian Schoolnet (www.skolnettet.no), where it was linked. There you can find many links to different websites and to different subjects.
Note! The videos in the ‘videos section’ are only available to users within the UK.
The address to the Barnaby Bear website is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/barnabybear/
How it works
To make this website work the user needs internet connection, the features can not be downloaded and saved to the computers hard drive, but only streamed online. Speakers are also required.
I find two features on the website to be useful for language learners in the Swedish elementary school, that is ‘the stories’ and ‘the games’ sections. ‘The stories’ page has two stories where Barnaby Bear, a cartooned bear from England, travels to Australia and to Paris. The stories are, more or less, travelling guides told in an easy language and are supported by pictures and text, which makes the story fairly easy for language learners to follow. The games are a fun way for the children to learn about everyday life activities at the same time as their English vocabulary grows.
How the website can be used
When using the Barnaby Bear website English class can be integrated with Geography class. The travel guides gives a good introduction to the countries, but the teacher needs to introduce the videos because of new words that can be hard to understand. Before showing the story, the teacher can briefly tell the story, using words that are important for the context, and explain the meaning of them and write them on the board or hand out a glossary list. The children will now have an idea of what the story is about and will have it easier to follow.
The stories give the teacher many opportunities to do follow up tasks. For example the children can get a task of finding more information of a place or something else in the story that they found interesting. They can present their new information by doing a play or telling about it with help of pictures, perhaps making a photo story.
Another task can be to formulate new sentences with key words from the stories that the teacher gives the children. By this, it gives the language learner a greater chance to learn the words.
There is also a section on the website where the children can e-mail Barnaby Bear. The children can formulate a few questions and send an e-mail to him.
The game section gives the children a chance to learn new English words at a fun way. They also learn to take instructions in English. ‘The recycling game’ can be a part of environmental projects and might be a fun way to test their knowledge on how to recycle.
Other contributions
On the ‘Teacher & Parents’ section there are more information about the website and some useful links.
I found The Barnaby Bear website on the Norwegian Schoolnet (www.skolnettet.no), where it was linked. There you can find many links to different websites and to different subjects.
Note! The videos in the ‘videos section’ are only available to users within the UK.
Tuesday 4 May 2010
My ICT Resource
Introduction, the ICT resource I have chosen is http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/. This is a website for kids between 4 and 13 years old learning English, as a second or foreign language, which contains texts, songs, games and much more. The site has pages with information for parents and teachers about how to use this site and how to navigate on the website. This site also has links to other sites by the British council for learning and teaching English.
How it works, this site has many activities for many different ages, games and painting pictures for younger children and writing activities and word of the week for older children. Overall the page is easy to navigate on, but it is good with the navigating page for parents and teachers anyway.
On this site the children can create an account and do their own character. They will need an e-mail address when signing up and maybe some help to fill in the form. Because this site is only for children between 4 and 13 years, you as a teacher cannot sign in. When you have got started it is not hard at all to use this site, the children can choose what they want to do, and there are a lot of pictures to make understanding easier for them who cannot read yet.
On this site you can find:
· Games, jokes
· Songs, listen to texts, tongue twisters
· Read and write activities, word of the week
· Make your own…, downloads
· Themes with different activities
and much more.
The activities creates good learning situations for the children, when for example playing memory, make pairs of the word and the picture of animals, the game provides a bit more information about the animal, it can be for how long a guinea pig lives or where a turtle lives.
What you need to make it work, on this website you do not need anything to do the most activities, for a few of them you will need a printer and if you are a group of children working with the site at the same time, a headset would be great so they do not disturb each other.
How to be used by teachers, for the teachers this site is good, you can get some inspiration from the activities and you can also use these activities as they are on the website. This website also has links to other pages for language teachers. I would use this site both for inspiration and use the activities as training exercises, tests and learning while having fun, a perfect site to visit when you have some time left, or as a closing activity on a Friday afternoon.
How to be used by pupils, for the children this site can be used in many ways, for fun, for practicing or for testing their knowledge. When working with this site with younger children an adult can be used for some help to start an activity, but for older learners it is easy for them to use this site on their own. This website is also good in consideration of the two-click principle; it does not take long to get to the activities you are looking for.
I think this site is very useful for teachers, pupils and parents. It is fun and easy, and provides a lot of learning opportunities. A good function that does not exist is saving the activities and results on them you have done, to compare and see your own development in the language learning.
/ Ronja Rydberg
How it works, this site has many activities for many different ages, games and painting pictures for younger children and writing activities and word of the week for older children. Overall the page is easy to navigate on, but it is good with the navigating page for parents and teachers anyway.
On this site the children can create an account and do their own character. They will need an e-mail address when signing up and maybe some help to fill in the form. Because this site is only for children between 4 and 13 years, you as a teacher cannot sign in. When you have got started it is not hard at all to use this site, the children can choose what they want to do, and there are a lot of pictures to make understanding easier for them who cannot read yet.
On this site you can find:
· Games, jokes
· Songs, listen to texts, tongue twisters
· Read and write activities, word of the week
· Make your own…, downloads
· Themes with different activities
and much more.
The activities creates good learning situations for the children, when for example playing memory, make pairs of the word and the picture of animals, the game provides a bit more information about the animal, it can be for how long a guinea pig lives or where a turtle lives.
What you need to make it work, on this website you do not need anything to do the most activities, for a few of them you will need a printer and if you are a group of children working with the site at the same time, a headset would be great so they do not disturb each other.
How to be used by teachers, for the teachers this site is good, you can get some inspiration from the activities and you can also use these activities as they are on the website. This website also has links to other pages for language teachers. I would use this site both for inspiration and use the activities as training exercises, tests and learning while having fun, a perfect site to visit when you have some time left, or as a closing activity on a Friday afternoon.
How to be used by pupils, for the children this site can be used in many ways, for fun, for practicing or for testing their knowledge. When working with this site with younger children an adult can be used for some help to start an activity, but for older learners it is easy for them to use this site on their own. This website is also good in consideration of the two-click principle; it does not take long to get to the activities you are looking for.
I think this site is very useful for teachers, pupils and parents. It is fun and easy, and provides a lot of learning opportunities. A good function that does not exist is saving the activities and results on them you have done, to compare and see your own development in the language learning.
/ Ronja Rydberg
ESL.Galaxy.com
I have found a useful and creative web-site that I want to share with you all. This web-site is called ESL.Galaxy.com. ESL means English as a Second Language. This resource portal is for educators and students.
Here is the address:
http://www.esl-galaxy.com/forum/index.html
ESL-galaxy is a resource portal filled with lesson plans, fun games and grammar & vocabulary exersices online. ESL-galaxy is a web-site so you need internet connection on your computer. There are e-books that you have to download for to get access to, and they cost money, but most of the material on this site is printable and free to use. This web-site was established in 2005 and has now expanded into a portal site with subsites. ESL-galaxy includes six-in-one website: ESLtower.com, English-4kids.com, EnglishMediaLab.com, DownloadESL.com, Chinesefortravel.com, ESLKIDLAB.com and ESLgamesworld.com.
How teachers can use this web-site
ESL-galaxy offers lesson plans for teachers to print out and use in the classroom. Teachers can even print out free grammar, reading and spelling worksheets. There are phonics and phonetics worksheets available on this site as well as coloring worksheets and video and music worksheets. The web-site provides teachers with beautiful coloured flaschcards that are printable. The site has free printable boad and card games and lots of game ideas useful for teachers in classroom teaching. This site provides teachers with ideas that will increas pupils foreign language learning.
How pupils can use this web-site
There are meaningful pronunciation exercises which can be downloaded on mp3 to ensure that pupils can listen over and over again. There are fun games, vocabulary quizzes, crosswords and listening exersices available on the site for students to use on there own. There are English beginner video slide lessons that will increase pupils vocabulary. The video allows pupils to practice listening and prononciation.
Other considerations
ESL-galaxy is a resource portal filled with ideas and activites for both students and teachers. It is a useful site but it takes a while to figger out how everyting works. This is a site that is useful for me as a teacher, it provides me with ideas, and it is useful for pupils when they are working on there own. The games and activities on this site are divided into skill levels so it is only to choose the most suitable.
This is a web-site that I am going to use in my teaching, I hope you will find this site as useful as I do.
Here is the address:
http://www.esl-galaxy.com/forum/index.html
ESL-galaxy is a resource portal filled with lesson plans, fun games and grammar & vocabulary exersices online. ESL-galaxy is a web-site so you need internet connection on your computer. There are e-books that you have to download for to get access to, and they cost money, but most of the material on this site is printable and free to use. This web-site was established in 2005 and has now expanded into a portal site with subsites. ESL-galaxy includes six-in-one website: ESLtower.com, English-4kids.com, EnglishMediaLab.com, DownloadESL.com, Chinesefortravel.com, ESLKIDLAB.com and ESLgamesworld.com.
How teachers can use this web-site
ESL-galaxy offers lesson plans for teachers to print out and use in the classroom. Teachers can even print out free grammar, reading and spelling worksheets. There are phonics and phonetics worksheets available on this site as well as coloring worksheets and video and music worksheets. The web-site provides teachers with beautiful coloured flaschcards that are printable. The site has free printable boad and card games and lots of game ideas useful for teachers in classroom teaching. This site provides teachers with ideas that will increas pupils foreign language learning.
How pupils can use this web-site
There are meaningful pronunciation exercises which can be downloaded on mp3 to ensure that pupils can listen over and over again. There are fun games, vocabulary quizzes, crosswords and listening exersices available on the site for students to use on there own. There are English beginner video slide lessons that will increase pupils vocabulary. The video allows pupils to practice listening and prononciation.
Other considerations
ESL-galaxy is a resource portal filled with ideas and activites for both students and teachers. It is a useful site but it takes a while to figger out how everyting works. This is a site that is useful for me as a teacher, it provides me with ideas, and it is useful for pupils when they are working on there own. The games and activities on this site are divided into skill levels so it is only to choose the most suitable.
This is a web-site that I am going to use in my teaching, I hope you will find this site as useful as I do.
Monday 3 May 2010
A Sample Blog Post
Ustream and Ustream Producer
The resource I want to tell you about is Ustream and Ustream Producer. Ustream is a free service which allows you to show live video from any computer that's connected up to the Internet - or even from an iPhone! In other words, you can make your own TV shows about anything you like and broadcast them live to anyone who's interested! Your viewers just need your Ustream URL (web address) and they'll be able to see your show directly.
You can also choose to have your Ustream programme saved on the server, which means that anyone can see the recording of your programme too.
There are thousands of Ustream programmes which other people have made available. Some of them are about outer space, others are about animals, sports programmes, lectures … you name it!
Ustream is an on-line live broadcasting service, which you can find here:
http://www.ustream.tv
Ustream Producer is a free programme you can download from this address:
http://www.ustream.tv/producer
Ustream Producer allows you to prepare the programmes you want to broadcast in advance. One of the options is to include pre-recorded videos with the live show. Let's say that your pupils want to broadcast a show about their favourite beach to their partner schools in the UK. They could have taken a video camera (an ordinary home video camera will do fine) down to the beach and taken some footage of what it looks like and what facilities it's got (… so make sure that they know what 'ruschkana' 'gungor', etc are called in English) … or perhaps they want to make up a play about something that happened there. They can then insert this pre-recorded material directly into their live broadcast.
How teachers can use Ustream
For teachers Ustream can be an invaluable source of live, authentic material. However, since you can also watch recordings, it gives you a chance to prepare study materials around the Ustream broadcast. At present, for example, there's a camera out at the International Space Station, which is broadcasting footage of what's going on their continuously live. There are other cameras watching nests and dens for birds and animals all over the world.
Teachers will need to prepare viewings of the recorded Ustream sessions in the same way that they'd prepare viewings of any recorded videos. A good start is to prepare a list of words which come up in the commentary which you think the pupils might need help with. One standard procedure then is to prepare a worksheet where the pupils tick a box as they hear each word (you could start with the words in order and progress to not having them in the order they appear). You'll also need to prepare some check questions to make sure they've understood what they saw and some exploitation questions which provide the reason for using the resource in the first place.
How pupils can use Ustream and Ustream Producer
This could be a very quick and easy way for your pupils to become producers and directors of movies (stars too). If you have a partner school in another country, this is an excellent way for your pupils to publish work to their tandem class - and to have that class produce programmes for them.
What you need in order to use Ustream:
The resource I want to tell you about is Ustream and Ustream Producer. Ustream is a free service which allows you to show live video from any computer that's connected up to the Internet - or even from an iPhone! In other words, you can make your own TV shows about anything you like and broadcast them live to anyone who's interested! Your viewers just need your Ustream URL (web address) and they'll be able to see your show directly.
You can also choose to have your Ustream programme saved on the server, which means that anyone can see the recording of your programme too.
There are thousands of Ustream programmes which other people have made available. Some of them are about outer space, others are about animals, sports programmes, lectures … you name it!
Ustream is an on-line live broadcasting service, which you can find here:
http://www.ustream.tv
Ustream Producer is a free programme you can download from this address:
http://www.ustream.tv/producer
Ustream Producer allows you to prepare the programmes you want to broadcast in advance. One of the options is to include pre-recorded videos with the live show. Let's say that your pupils want to broadcast a show about their favourite beach to their partner schools in the UK. They could have taken a video camera (an ordinary home video camera will do fine) down to the beach and taken some footage of what it looks like and what facilities it's got (… so make sure that they know what 'ruschkana' 'gungor', etc are called in English) … or perhaps they want to make up a play about something that happened there. They can then insert this pre-recorded material directly into their live broadcast.
How teachers can use Ustream
For teachers Ustream can be an invaluable source of live, authentic material. However, since you can also watch recordings, it gives you a chance to prepare study materials around the Ustream broadcast. At present, for example, there's a camera out at the International Space Station, which is broadcasting footage of what's going on their continuously live. There are other cameras watching nests and dens for birds and animals all over the world.
Teachers will need to prepare viewings of the recorded Ustream sessions in the same way that they'd prepare viewings of any recorded videos. A good start is to prepare a list of words which come up in the commentary which you think the pupils might need help with. One standard procedure then is to prepare a worksheet where the pupils tick a box as they hear each word (you could start with the words in order and progress to not having them in the order they appear). You'll also need to prepare some check questions to make sure they've understood what they saw and some exploitation questions which provide the reason for using the resource in the first place.
How pupils can use Ustream and Ustream Producer
This could be a very quick and easy way for your pupils to become producers and directors of movies (stars too). If you have a partner school in another country, this is an excellent way for your pupils to publish work to their tandem class - and to have that class produce programmes for them.
What you need in order to use Ustream:
- A computer connected to the Internet
- A webcam (and/or a DV camera)
- A class of pupils with plenty of imagination who want to appear on TV!
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