The internet and young learners resource books for teachers

Contents The author and series editor F o rew o rd In tro d u c tio n H ow to use th is book Activity 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 F ir s t step s Com puter objects Typing practice T he elevator Click, drag, and drop C ut and paste Finding your way on the web W hat’s in a website? C o m m u n ic a tio n activ ities 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Who am I? Getting to know you E-cards Finding partners 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Describing routines Houses around the world Pocket money How you know it’s summer/winter/autumn/ spring in X/Y/Z? The ‘Elympics’ 2.9 2.10 A look at my fridge 2.11 Cumulative story 23 Level Beginner and above Elementary and above Beginner and above Beginner and above Beginner and above Elementary and above Elementary and above Age and and and and and and and Time ( minutes) above above above above above above above 40 15 30 30 30 40+ 40+ ongoing Page 27 28 28 30 31 32 34 35 36 Elementary and above Elementary and above Elementary and above Pre-intermediate and above Beginner and above Elementary and above Elementary and above Pre-intermediate; elementary and and and and above above above above 45+ 30 40 90 36 37 38 40 and above and above and above 10 and above 90 + 60 3x40 45 + 45 3x45 41 42 43 44 Elementary and above and above 46 Elementary and above Pre-intermediate; elementary and above and above 40 ongoing 60 60 ongoing 47 48 2.12 C onducting an interview 2.13 Riddles 2.14 Word switch Web search activities 3.1 T he day I was bom 3.2 T he town tourist office 3.3 O ur twin 3.4 Calendars around the world 3.5 3.6 Holidays around the world World travel 3.7 Welcome to the C hildren’s World Congress! H ow ’s the weather? 3.8 Elementary and above Elementary and above Pre-interm ediate and above and above and above 60 + 90 60+ 60 49 51 52 54 Pre-interm ediate and above Pre-interm ediate and above Pre-interm ediate and above Interm ediate and above Pre-interm ediate Interm ediate and above Pre-interm ediate and above Elementary and above 10 and above 90+ 54 and above 60 + 90 56 and above 90 57 10 and above 90+ 58 10 and above 10 and above 60+ 90 ongoing 90+ 59 60 62 64 65 10 and above Elem entary and above Pre-intermediate and above Elementary and above Pre-interm ediate and above Elementary and above 10 and above and above 60 ongoing 90 45+ 10 and above 10 and above 90+ 60 66 68 10 and above 60+ 69 10 and above 60 + 60 70 and above and above 40 + 40 90+ 72 73 and above 60+ 74 10 and above 45 + 45 75 10 and above 45 76 3.20 Space facts Pre-interm ediate and above Elementary and above Pre-intermediate and above Pre-interm ediate and above Pre-interm ediate and above Pre-intermediate and above Elementary and above and above 77 3.21 T he view from here 3.22 M e in space Elementary Elem entary and above and above and above 45 ongoing 45 45 3.9 Com m on phrases 3.10 Currency converter 3.11 Distances 3.12 Riding the metro 3.13 W hat’s the time, M r Computer? 3.14 D epartm ent stores 3.15 M y local habitat 3.16 Rivers 3.17 Volcanoes 3.18 M useum quest 3.19 M y favourite picture and above 61 78 79 3.23 Movies 10 and above 60 80 3.24 Premier league Pre-intermediate and above Elementary and above and above 81 3.25 Superstars Elementary and above and above 90 ongoing 40+ Web c re a tio n activ ities 4.1 4.2 4.3 W hat’s it about? ‘Design it’ dictation Our own web directory 4.4 4.5 4.6 Cartoon clip art Dfilm King or Queen of the week 4.7 Local museum 4.8 Make a picture dictionary 4.9 Word search 4.10 Switchzoo 4.11 Online cookbook 4.12 Reviews 4.13 Serial story 83 85 Elementary and above Elementary and above Pre-intermediate and above Elementary and above Elementary and above Elementary and above and above and above and above Intermediate and above Beginner and above 10 and above Beginner and above Beginner and above Pre-intermediate and above Pre-intermediate and above Elementary and above and above 10 and above and above and above and above and above and above and above and above 90+ 60 45 ongoing 45 40+ 30+ ongoing 40 ongoing 90 ongoing 40 + 20 45 + 45 90 + 90 ongoing 60 ongoing 90+ 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 94 95 96 98 99 100 E le c tro n ic p o rtfo lio s 101 T h e I n te rn e t as a te a c h e r’s re so u rc e 105 U seful In te rn e t a d d re sse s 108 W orksheets 119 In d ex 141 T itles in th e R eso u rce B ooks fo r T each ers series 142 The author and series editor G ordon Lewis earned a B.Sc in Languages and Linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington D C and a Masters from the M onterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California While working as a freelance journalist in Vienna, Austria, he taught English and was editor of an English language cultural magazine He founded Lewis Languages children’s programme in 1991 in Berlin In 1998 he moved to M unich to concentrate on curriculum design, materials development, and teacher training He is co-author of Games for Children, also in this series From 2001 to 2003 he was Director of Instructor Training and Development for Berlitz Kids in Princeton, New Jersey He is currently a freelance teacher, trainer, and materials writer, and is also on the committee of the IATEFL Young Learners Special Interest Group where he works as co-coordinator for events In 2002 he organized a large YL Conference in Bonn, Germany A lan M aley worked for the British Council from 1962 to 1988, serving as English Language Officer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, and China, and as Regional Representative in South India (Madras) From 1988 to 1993 he was Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust, Cambridge From 1993 to 1998 he was Senior Fellow in the D epartm ent of English Language and Literature of the National University of Singapore, and from 1999 to 2003 he was Director of the G raduate Programme at Assumption University, Bangkok He is currently a freelance consultant H e has written Literature, in this series, Beyond Words, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Words, Variations on a Theme, and Drama Techniques in Language Learning (all with Alan Duff), The M ind’s Eye (with Frangoise Grellet and Alan Duff), Learning to Listen and Poem into Poem (with Sandra M oulding), The Language Teacher’s Voice, and Short and Sweet Foreword Perhaps the aptest metaphor for the Internet is the jungle The jungle provides an endless source of sustenance and delight to those who know their way in it To those who not, it is a dark and impenetrable maze, full of danger and unpredictable menace In like manner, the Internet offers infinite resources to those who can navigate its limitless pathways For those unfamiliar with it however, it can be a threatening presence, characterized by total lack of structure, full of potential predators In order to make best use of the Internet’s resources, those teachers unfamiliar with it need reassurance This reassurance may be in the form of what to and where to go to find what they are looking for They also need to be reassured that they, and their learners (especially young learners), will be safe from some of the less palatable dangers lurking in the Internet, and to know that they can harness it to their pedagogical purposes in ways appropriate to the age and level of their learners This book offers precisely this kind of reassurance It begins with a series of practical activities to familiarize learners (and teachers too perhaps!) with the way the Internet works It moves on to activities involving communication via email The third section offers activities to with retrieving information from the Internet Finally, there are activities designed to help learners build their own websites The activities are clearly described and user-friendly, and will go a long way towards dispelling the misgivings many teachers feel about computers and the Internet as a resource In addition there is a rich array of useful Internet addresses This is backed up by the book’s own website (accessed via the Resource Books for Teachers site http://www.oup.com/elt/teacher/rbt), which is regularly updated M uch has been made of the power of information technology in language education This has occasionally led to a blind enthusiasm for technology without a corresponding concern for its appropriate use This book will certainly help redress this imbalance It views the Internet as a learning resource, to be used judiciously alongside other resources, rather than as a miracle-working solution to all learning problems This is greatly to be welcomed Alan Maley Introduction Who is this book for? This book is for anyone teaching English to young learners interested in enhancing their courses through the use of the Internet T he book does not assume sophisticated knowledge of computers or programming It is not a technical how-to manual Anybody with a general knowledge of basic word processing and web navigation can use these activities in the classroom For those teachers with strong computer skills, the activities can serve as a creative stimulus to build impressive e-projects and tasks This book is obviously also for children, even if indirectly It is for students of English between the ages of and 15, though it may well be found useful for older learners, too T he activities in this book are not aimed at complete beginners While it would certainly be possible to work with such children, this book sees the Internet as a place where we can apply our existing knowledge of the world—even expand it—but not a place to introduce new language concepts It is not impossible to work with beginners on the Internet, but one m ust question whether the effort will add any value to the course being taught Why use the Internet? The Internet is here to stay Already today, children are learning Internet skills just as they learn basic reading and writing It is common to see children already familiar with computers helping their teachers get started T he language of the Internet (or ‘CyberEnglish’) is an im portant medium in international communication Leaving aside the pros and cons of this form of English, children must be educated to be what many people call ‘electronically literate’ Since being electronically literate means not only acquiring technical skills, but also working with English, the e f l teacher is in a position to kill two birds with one stone The Internet provides children with a window on the outside world It connects people from all comers of the earth through information on websites or shared projects W hen used thoughtfully, Internet activities can promote tolerance and bring children together But using the Internet in the language classroom has many other tangible benefits The multimedia possibilities allow us to introduce content in diverse ways and thus appeal to the learning styles or INTRODUCTION ‘intelligences’ of more children It is also highly motivating Inform ation on the Internet is enormously diverse and not organized in any linear way It can, therefore, be used to encourage independent learning and creative thinking skills, as children can make more decisions about how to approach information Beyond the foreign language classroom, the Internet offers intriguing possibilities for content-based e f l instruction If you are working in a school environment, the Internet can provide Englishlanguage content on any subject taught in primary school, thus tying the language lessons to the m ainstream curriculum Consult with your colleagues teaching other core subjects and plan an integrated curriculum They may be able, for instance, to pre-teach some core vocabulary for you Even if the initial work is done in the m other tongue (see page 8), this will certainly help in framing your task You will find many wonderful ideas for cross-curricular projects on the web Section includes a selection of particularly rich sites, which will be updated regularly on the book’s website— see http://www oup com/elt/teacher/rbt What is the Internet? But what exactly is the Internet? F or most people, the World Wide Web (‘the www’ or just ‘the w eb’) comes to m ind, the home to billions and billions of websites on virtually any subject under the sun and explorable through the use of web browsers T he www is as diverse as hum an experience and with its graphical interface and ability to integrate text, sound, video, and pictures in a comm unications environment, it is a very realistic and accessible place to find authentic information for the language classroom Thanks to hypermedia (otherwise known as ‘links’) it is possible to move from one place on the web to another without having to follow a linear path Rather like a m ind map, the web can be navigated according to how an individual thinks This non-linear design makes the www an anarchic place It mirrors the multiple perspectives and natural complexity of the world D aunting enough for m ature adults, this infinite collection of random and non-sequential bits of information can be scary and confusing for children who are just beginning to organize their ideas and knowledge, and to develop a ‘world view’ Internet activities m ust therefore be firmly anchored in the children’s own experiences and m ust be based on clear, purposeful tasks Defining these tasks in such an open-ended environment is a great challenge to teachers T he www has turned the search for content on its head Today, our concern is with ‘limiting5tasks—finding a beginning and an end to an activity T he infinite avenues to search and explore make it difficult for teachers to create meaningful frameworks for learning If not guided, web searches can turn into INTRODUCTION unfocused, aimless wandering, never really getting to where you want to go This book provides frameworks for exploiting the web in the language-learning classroom by providing teachers with activities that are clearly defined—that have a beginning, an end, and a clear language focus But the Internet is more than the www—or perhaps less Email is an extremely potent tool for the language classroom that can operate totally independently of the web In fact, as we shall see in some of the activities, it is possible to use email without even venturing past classroom communication Chat programs allow children to communicate in real time with people from around the world through text, audio, or visual connections depending on available hardware and software They can send a quick voice message or a colourful e-card When tied to a website, chats and email allow for an optimal integration of information and communication There are two reasons to be wary of chat programs, however First there are the well-publicized risks of chat rooms being used by people with dishonourable intentions Secondly there is the pragmatic issue of time—young learners are not likely to be able to cope with the pressures of having to compose messages in real time The relatively calmer pace of email is likely to be more appropriate What the Internet is not The Internet is not a replacement for classroom teaching N or is the Internet interactive unless the students and teachers choose to make it so Around the world there appears to be a belief that the Internet can ‘do’ things to help the language learning process In fact, the Internet can nothing Only when the Internet is combined with offline activities does it reach its enriching potential M any of the core components of any Internet activity take place offline anyway M ost Internet classroom activities can and have a non-Internet counterpart Instructional tool or motivator? Will you use the Internet as an instructional tool or will it merely provide material to contextualize your offline lesson in an exciting and motivating way? It is im portant to understand this distinction, especially when working with beginners and/or very young learners Will your children be performing language-learning tasks when online? Will they use the target language on the Internet? Or will they simply collect information to use in other activities such as slide shows or poster displays Will they log on to a website about animals, for example, in order to look for specific information such as the animal’s habitat or its size, or merely to find pictures of animals to illustrate their work with? INTRODUCTION Simply mining the Internet for fun content and cool pictures is perfectly legitimate After all, motivation and a positive attitude towards language learning should be an im portant goal of any young learners’ classroom However, this will need to be balanced against the realities of time and the requirem ents of a prescribed syllabus D o you have time in your curriculum for activities not immediately related to the aims of your course? It is im portant not to let the technology drive the course This may seem obvious, but it is very easy to get carried away by the ‘bells and whistles’ of the web with its bright pictures, sound and video F or this reason this book focuses primarily on Internet activities with a clear language learning com ponent which can be integrated into the broader scope of a language learning course The role of the mother tongue One of the strongest argum ents for using the Internet in the e f l classroom is the fact that it exposes the learner to authentic language O n the other hand, this exposure is not graded according to varying levels of language competence—unless, of course, you are working with a website designed specifically for language learning, of which there are not many for our age group Thus, websites aimed at early primary students in terms of content will often still be too hard for e f l learners to follow because of the language demands Clearly, in order to make good use of authentic websites, we may need to use the children’s m other tongue to explain the task and point the children in the right direction Such targeted use of the m other tongue can help children isolate the elements of the website they need to work with and ignore unnecessary material I like to call this ‘framing the task’ T he m other tongue is used to set the stage for the task, b u t is not involved in the task itself A good example of this is activity 3.10, ‘Currency converter’, page 65 M ost currency converter sites are full of complicated financial language and links to business sites O ur currency converter is, however, very simple By explaining the key functions of the converter in the m other tongue (select currency to change, select am ount of currency to be converted, select currency to receive) we prepare the children for a task rich in language practice As m entioned above, the content of many websites is either too difficult or far too complex for children to effectively exploit It is worth considering, therefore, letting the children search m other tongue websites for information that they then report on in the target language using phrases taught in class Is it not, after all, a very natural language situation to explain something from one’s own culture to somebody in a foreign tongue? 128 W O R K S H E E T 3.4 C A L E N D A R S A R O U N D T H E W O R L D CALENDAR DAYS IN A YEAR NAMES OF THE DAYS MONTHS IN A YEAR NAMES OF THE MONTH Christian/ 365 Monday 12 January Gregorian Tuesday February Wednesday March Islamic Chinese Mayan Photocopiable © Oxford University Press BASED ON COUNTRIES THAT SUN MOON EARTH USE THIS CALENDAR WORKSHEET 6WORLDTRAVEL W O R K SH EET 3.6 W ORLD TRAVEL Photocopiable Photocopiable © ©Oxford OxfordUniversity UniversityPress Press 1129 29 130 W O R K S H E E T 3.11 D I S T A N C E S from Photocopiable © Oxford University Press .to ? My guess True distance W O R K SH EET M ETRO Name of metro system C ity _ How many lines does the system have? What colours are the lines? Do the lines connect at a central station? How many stations are there on the shortest line? How many stations are there on the longest line? _ Which station has the most lines going through it? To get from _ t o _ takes _ minutes To get from t o change trains a t Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 131 132 W O R K S H E E T D E P A R T M E N T S T O R E S 3RD FLOOR furniture, toys, sports men s wear 1ST FLOOR GROUND FLOOR women s wear, swimwear, children’s clothes cosmetics, stationery, books, newspapers, china, glass household goods, cooking, electrical goods, computers Name of store Location Opening hours How many departments has the store got? What are they? _ _ In which department can you find the following? a girl’s dress _ _ perfume _ a basketball _ a computer _ a man’s s u i t _ Choose one of these items and write down who makes it and what it costs, made b y I Init/Afcitif Drof'C' c o s t W O R K SH EET RIVERS Continent Where does the river b eg in ? Which countries does it flow through? How long is the river? Do other rivers flow into it? If so, which rivers? Are there cities on the river? If so, which cities? What languages are spoken along the river? Other interesting things about the river Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 133 134 W O R K S H E E T 3.1 V O L C A N O E S Name of volcano What continent is it o n ? Which country is it in? _ How high is it? When did it last erupt? _ Was there any damage? If so, what was the damage? Were any people hurt or killed? Is the volcano still active? Other interesting things about the volcano D K r t t n / 'n r v i 'a K l o I I rm /^ r o i+ v / P r o c c 135 W O R K S H E E T 3.18 M U S E U M Q U E S T ^At the MuseumJ u -✓si / \ TITLE Name of the artist Date of creation Place of creation □ It is a painting Q It is a sculpture □ It is a photograph It portrays _ _ _ _ Q I like it Q I don’t like it Photocopiable © Oxford University Press W O R K S H E E T 19 M Y F A V O U R I T E P I C T U R E 136 Name of the artist Date of creation _ _ It is Q a still life Q a portrait F I an abstract painting Q Q a landscape Colours in the picture Shapes in the picture _ _ In the front of the picture I can s e e _ At the back of the picture I can see I like it because P h n tn r.n n iah lp (S) DvfnrH I IniuAr^itv P r w ? W O R K S H E E T 3.20 P L A N E T F A C T S LEVEL LEVEL How many planets are there? Choose a planet: 137 What are their names? How far is it from the Sun? Is it bigger or smaller than Earth? How far is it from Earth? Which is the smallest planet? How long does it take to orbit the Sun? Which is the biggest planet? How long does it take for Earth to orbit the Sun? Which planet is nearest Earth? How many satellites/moons does it have? Which planet is nearest the Sun? LEVEL How old is our Solar System? What is a light year? How big is the Sun? What are gamma rays? Photocopiable © Oxford University Press What is a black hole? 138 WORKSHEET 3.23 MOVIES W O R K S H E E T 3.23 M O V IE S name of cinema town I NOW SHOWING I Starring , Times of showing _, Short review _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, Film Starri;in~g; Times of showing Short review - - Starring -, _$!:'9 /~"- Times of showing :P Short review _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _,~~ cg)Oxfnrri IIniversitv Press Photoeoniahle < W O R K SH EET PREM IER LEAGUE My favourite team Name of te a m _ S p ort Country Date Colour of kit Name of home ground _ Their best player(s) Have they ever won the league/championship? When did they win the league/championship? _ What place are they in now ? _ Who did they play in their last gam e? _ Who won and what was the score? Who are they playing next? _ Who will win, you think? _ Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 139 140 W O R K SH E E T WEB D IR E C T O R Y cn c C/5 C/5 o == o i â cd > E ô tL !S a r £ c tj a o c cd □ □ □ □ □ □ c/5 c C0 CO cd o o cd o □ □ □ □ □ □ *D cl o cd C/5 c C/5 C/) o tl cd cd o -E o □ □ □ □ □ □ ■O Q O cd o- > o c E u o C/5 _Q o E cd DC D c/5 c/5 "D "D cd o _Q c/5 cd 0 > c/5 sz +-> c/5 ■*-> cd "O o T5 tn ~o C o Oc 4_i I* cd sz "ti 00 C/5 ‘w _D o — ■g cd cd -*-> c/5 Photocopiable © Oxford University Press >s b o*U c c/5 cd cd C/5 o0 o 0 ■o c "c/5 Z5 C/5 cd ■O c 13 cd o o 13 o c O ■g ■g T3 TJ ■4— > cd > cd Index Language Index of vocabulary topics This is not an exhaustive list Most activities can be modified or expanded to include many more language items Again, this is not an exhaustive list Many activities can be adapted to a wide variety of vocabulary topics action verbs 4.10 adjectives 2.6,2.7, ,3 ,4 ,4 ,4 ,4 , 4.10.4.12 alphabet 1.2,3.21 com paratives 2.6,2.7, 2.9 ,2 ,3 , 3.4,3.16, 3.17.3.22.4.10 dotdon’t 2.4 ,2 ,4 future with going to 3.8 how far 3.11 how much 3.10,3.11 if then 3.10,3.13 im peratives 3.18,4.11 muchlmany ,2 ,3 ,3 2 num bers 2.7, 2.9,2.10, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.11, 3.12,3.14,3.22 prepositions 1.4,3.17, 3.20, 21,4.2,4.5 present progressive tense 3.8,3.23,3.24 present sim ple tense 2.1, 2.4, 2.5,2.7, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.7, 3.12, 3.15, 3.16, 3.18, 3.20, 3.22, 3 4 4 question words 2.1, 2.2 ,2 ,2 , 3.2, 3.5,3.7, 1 3 3 2 3 , 4.4.4.10 sim ple past tense 2.9, 3.1, ,3 ,3 , 3.10, 4 superlatives 2.7, 2.9,3.17, 3.22,4.10 there isIthere are 3.2 tim e phrases ,3 13,3.14,3.23 vohylbecause 3.8,4.12 anim als 3.15,3.16,4.10 birthdays 2.3 celebrities 3.25 cinem a 3.23 clothes 3.8 colours 3.19 com puters and technology 1.1,4.1,4.2 dates 3.2, 3.3, 3.4,3 ,3 , 3.8 fam ily 2.4 feelings 3.19 film 3.23,4.5 geography 3.3,3.4, 3.7, 3.8, 3.15,3.16 holidays 2.3, 3.5 houses 2.6 m easurem ents 3.11,4.11 m oney 3.10,3.14 parts o f the body 4.9,4.10 personal details 2.2 seasons 2.8 space 3.20,3.21,3.22 sport 3.24 weather 2.8, 3.8 Titles in the Resource Books for Teachers series Beginners Peter Grundy Classroom Dynamics Jill Hadfield Conversation Rob Nolasco and Lois Arthur Cultural Awareness Barry Tomalin and Susan Stempleski Dictionaries Jonathan Wright Drama Charlyn Wessels Exam Classes Peter May Film Susan Stempleski and Barry Tomalin Global Issues Ricardo Sampedro and Susan Hillyard Grammar Dictation Ruth Wajnryb Homework Lesley Painter The Internet Scott Windeatt, David Hardisty, and David Eastment Learner-based Teaching Colin Campbell and Hanna Kryszewska Letters Nicky Burbidge, Peta Gray, Sheila Levy, and Mario Rinvolucri Listening Goodith White Literature Alan Duff and Alan Maley Music and Song Tim Murphey Newspapers Peter Grundy ProjectWork 2nd edn Diana L Fried-Booth Pronunciation Clement Laroy Role Play Gillian Porter Ladousse Vocabulary 2nd edn John Morgan and Mario Rinvolucri Writing Tricia Hedge Primary Resource Books A rt and Crafts with Children Andrew Wright Assessing Young Learners Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou and Pavlos Pavlou Creating Stories with Children Andrew Wright Drama with Children Sarah Phillips Games for Children Gordon Lewis with Gunther Bedson The Internet and Young Learners Gordon Lewis Projects with Young Learners Diane Phillips, Sarah Burwood, and Helen Dunford Storytelling with Children Andrew Wright VeryYoung Learners Vanessa Reilly and Sheila M Ward Writing with Children Jackie Reilly and Vanessa Reilly Young Learners Sarah Phillips