Tag Archives: fun

Talking Avatars and Cleft Sentences? Yes, please!!!

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A talking avatar + cleft sentences? Yes and yes!!! It only got better when one of the  available options was a Santa Claus. Lucky chick!

The words “artificial intelligence” have become a constant hum in the background of our teaching world. But let’s get real – AI isn’t a magic wand. It might help you capture the interest of the students the first time you use them, but if they don’t learn anything from it, the interest will quickly fade.

Playing around with AI can be a blast, but the real payoff comes when learning and enjoyment are combined. Talking avatars are not new in the class and I have been using them on and off to spice up my lessons for a long time ( remember Voki or ChatterPix)  but now…, now they have reached a new level. Our options are limitless when it comes to what we can do with them and how they can benefit students.

Let me share with you how I am going to use talking avatars with my students today.

In my C1 class, and in the last two sessions, we have been working with Cleft Sentences. Remember Cleft Sentences? Yes, those we use to emphasize or correct information.  Well, so let’s ask a Santa Claus male and a Santa Claus female to help us with an exercise on Cleft sentences. Are you in? Follow me, then.

What I did and how I did it
  • Think about your previous lesson with the specific class you are going to give the exercise to; think about things you or your students did or said and then, feed the talking avatar with some wrong information. For example:

Information to feed the talking avatar. I have highlighted the inaccurate information so that my students can create cleft sentences.

On Tuesday, Cristina, our English teacher, decided to wrap up Unit 4.  We revised Conditional sentences and then talked a bit about unusual people in our Spanish homes. Cristina invited Aisha to leave the class because he was not feeling very well. The class finished with a listening exercise.

  • Now go to  D-ID and sign up to create your talking avatar.

Note: I have gone the extra mile and used Canva.com ( I am a Canva Addict) to put together a more beautiful exercise, but don’t follow me here if you don’t feel like it. Creating the avatar should be enough.

Revising C1.1B CLEFT SENTENCES by cristina.cabal

  • Done!!!! Use the computer to display the avatar and have the students generate the cleft sentences, correcting the information.
  • Note: Although students might be tempted to correct more than one piece of wrong information at a time, instruct them not to. You want 5 cleft sentences.

For example: It was on Monday that Cristina decided to wrap up the lesson ( not on Tuesday)

More fun? Yes!!!!
  •  I created a QR code with the URL generated in D-ID of the avatar. I use this one
  • I asked students to form groups of three or four and asked one student in the group to scan the code.
  • Groups listened to the talking avatar and generated 5 cleft sentences, correcting the information.
  • The winning group is the first to get them all right. The rest of the groups will have two more minutes to complete the exercise. Add a bell for more fun – and more noise.

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Tic Tac TALK with a Fun Twist

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Today, I am sharing  with you an activity that’s as fun, as it is effective. Drumroll, please… introducing Tic Tac Talk with a Fun Twist!

Picture this: the traditional Tic Tac Toe grid is on the board and each square contains a conversation question related to the lesson or topic at hand; in my case, it was questions related to personal identity. If you pay attention to the picture  of my board, you will see another difference; instead of the traditional 9-square grid, I designed a 12-square grid. More questions. More talk. More fun.

Another difference? They play in teams. Two teams: Xs and Os. And everybody talks here.

 

How to go about it. Let’s pretend Os start.
  • Pair up students; let’s say Student A chooses O and Student B,  X. From now on, they will be called Os and Xs
  • Display the grid with the overhead projector. Less paper, more trees.
  • Ask a representative of Os to choose a square and read the question aloud.
  • Tell Os they have 90 seconds to talk to their buddy X answering the question. Encourage students to use target vocabulary. What do Xs do? They listen. Not for long. Soon, it will be their turn to speak.
  • Monitor the time and signal when the time’s up.
How  Os win the Square

  • The teacher chooses a random O as representative of their team. (a different one each time, of course)
  • To win the square containing the question they have just answered, this representative will have to speak for 45 seconds, trying to deliver a continuous articulate monologue without repeating himself. If they manage to do so, their team, ie, Os, will have their icon written on the square but if they make pauses, repeat information or talk nonsense then the teacher, will a lot of drama and an apologetic face, will not grant them the desired square.
Now, it is Xs’ turn.
Who wins?

The rules for the traditional Tic Tac Toe apply here, too.  Players take turns placing their “X” or “O”. The goal is to be the first to make a row of three of your marks, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. If all the boxes are filled up and no one has three in a row, it’s a tie. Needless to say, players can strategize to prevent the other players from getting three in a row, which adds to the fun.

How did I mark the Xs and the Os?

Remember that the grid is displayed on the board. I played the game with two different classes. In one of them, I had a digital board, so it was fun to draw the Os and Xs in different colours. In the other one, I used different coloured sticky notes. It was a colourful display and brightened up the whole board.

Here’s the grid with the questions I displayed in class

Tic Tac Talk by cristina.cabal

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Threeish in a Row with a Twist for Learning

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Super fun activity loaded with learning, a nice tad of competitiveness, and team work for the last post of this school year? Yes, please!

Preparation

What do we need for this activity?

  • Different coloured whiteboard markers or post-it notes. How many colours? As many as teams in the class.
  • Task cards with content to revise. In my case, a combination of sentences to translate and rewriting exercises. Ideally, the cards will be digital so that you can easily show the exercise to the whole class. (I have used one of the digital flip cards templates on Genial.ly and made it reusable. See it in the last section of this post)
In Class
  • On the board, draw a 5×6 grid
  • Divide the class into teams of 3/4 students and assign each team a different coloured white board marker or, in my case, a different coloured post-it note. It will be used to claim their square on the grid.
The rules
  • In this game, all teams participate simultaneously in completing the task. However, establishing an order for the teams becomes important, especially when they need to claim a square to achieve a three-in-a-row formation. In each exercise, the order of teams claiming a square rotates. Team 1 goes first for one task, followed by Team 2 for the next task, and then Team 3 for the subsequent task. This ensures fairness and equal opportunities for all teams to claim a square.
  • Explain how three-in- a row is going to work in this game:

The goal of each team is to form a straight line of three of their assigned colours, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, i.e., a winning line can be formed horizontally, vertically, or diagonally by having three of the same colours in a row. As long as the assigned task is successfully completed, any team has the opportunity to claim a square on the grid.

Let’s start playing
  • Each team names a secretary who will be responsible for writing the answer to the exercise on the digital task card.
  • The teacher displays a task card and all the teams complete the exercise in written form. The secretary will write the answer on a piece of paper. The time allotted for each task card will vary depending on the difficulty of the exercise.
  • The teacher asks each team to provide their answer and verifies if it is correct or incorrect. This can be done in different ways, but the simplest one is for the teacher to quickly approach each team and check their answer.
  • The teams that have a correct answer stand up and claim a square on the grid that is displayed on the board. They can choose any square they want, as long as it has not already been taken by another team.
  • Repeat steps two to four until all the task cards have been used. The game does not end when a team gets three in a row. Instead, the game continues until there are no more task cards left.
  • Teams can block other teams from getting three in a row by marking a square that interrupts their line. The winner is the team that has the most three in a row at the end of the game.

Ready to play?

 

I hope you have liked the game!!!

Game: Team Crossword Challenge

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My favourite way to start a lesson is by involving all my students in an activity that helps them revise previous content.

I usually like to engage my students in a fun activity, most of the time teacher-guided, and that will require their attention and active participation. It can be quite challenging, though, because my classes start at 3 pm, right after lunch, and most of them are feeling pretty full and sluggish. (Side note: I live in Spain.)

For this activity, we will complete a crossword using clues related to work vocabulary, but this game can be easily tailored to any vocabulary or level of difficulty. So, if you are looking for a fun and engaging way to test your students’ vocabulary and teamwork skills, you’ll love this game.

As expected, being a technology enthusiast, I have used a digital tool to design a crossword that is completely adapted to the vocabulary I have taught my students.

  • Crossword game
  • Teacher-paced
  • Topic: Work
  • Level: B2+
How to play

The rules of the game are:

  • Divide the class into two groups, with each group choosing a representative.
  • A coin flip will determine which team starts the game.
  • The active team will select a number, and the corresponding definition will be read out loud.
  • The active team has 10 seconds to provide an answer, which will be given by their representative. If the answer is correct, the team can keep playing. Yes, they keep on playing.
  • If the team cannot provide an answer or makes a mistake within the time limit, the other team will take their turn.
  • The game is won by the team that correctly answers the final question.

Note:Click on the red arrows in the top right corner to enlarge the crossword.

Tool used: Learningapps

Would Rather: Introducing, Revising and Reinforcing

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This is not the first time I’ve shared a lesson on using Would Rather to express a preference, but this lesson is also an excuse to share some of the tricks (also called activities 😊) I keep up my sleeve to engage my students and make them enjoy learning; because they/ we deserve to have fancy, engaging, dynamic lessons even if what needs to be explained is as dull as ditch water.

I strongly support the use of visuals in the class to create stimulating lessons. I know creating your own content takes time. But it pays off. Trust me on this one!

FIRST SESSION
INTRODUCING THE TARGET LANGUAGE. PRESENTATION.

I have introduced Would Rather presenting students with some slides and some visual prompts and asking them to provide the questions based on the images.

Some help might be needed, at least, for the first two slides. Encourage students to describe their preferences in pairs, even if it’s a guided assignment.

Target grammar:

  • Question: Would you rather read a book or watch TV?
  • Answer: I’d rather read a book than watch TV because…

Would Rather Introduction de cristina.cabal

GRAMMAR AND EXERCISES
SECOND SESSION

The two activities that follow are meant to be done the following day in order to revise and reinforce this content.

REVISING AND REINFORCING: VIDEO, INTERACTIVE GRAMMAR, FLIP CARDS GAME

(NOTE FOR TECH ENTHUSIASTS)  This beautiful activity has been created with @Genial.ly.  First I created the video, published it on YouTube, and then embedded it on Genial.ly. Then, I used the Template to create the Flipcards.

  • Revise with the video (1st slide)
  • Revise with the matching grammar (2nd slides)
  • Flip Cards Game (following slides). To be used in the game that follows.
FLIPCARDS GAME. Rewriting with Would Rather.  Using Dry-Erase Boards

1. Pair learners and give each pair a dry-erase board and a whiteboard marker.
2. Show the first sentence and ask students to rewrite it using Would Rather
3. Depending on the length or difficulty of the sentence, set a different time limit.
4. Once the pair have their sentence, ask them to write it on the board, big enough for you to see from a distance.
5. When the time is up, ask the pairs to hold it up and quickly go through all the sentences, awarding 1 point to the pair who has the correct grammar.
6. The winner is the pair that get the most points.

Note: Be strict with spelling mistakes or any other tiny mistakes. Students love it when you are strict and don’t give away points easily.

Follow-up: Revise all the sentences again, but this time orally.

SPEAKING: BOARD GAME

This board game has all the ingredients of a good game:

  • Reinforces grammar
  • Boosts communicative skills
  • Improves writing skills
  • Builds rapport
  • + Combines technology with traditional props: in this case, a huge die  (there is a built-in die on the board, so don’t worry if you don’t have this beautiful red die; it is just that I love mixing both worlds.

And here’s the board. As you can see,

  • There are 3 draggable counters.
  • To see the prompts, you need to click on the number.
  • As you can read in the Instructions, if they land on a square with the question GIF, students will need to write a “would you rather” question for the teacher. Yes, you need to answer, it is only fair!!!

 

Hope you have enjoyed this lesson plan. My students have! 🙂