How Parliament Works: a Listening Comprehension Activity Created by Artificial Intelligence

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May is a month when many of us may feel exhausted and in need of some support with our work. As the school year draws to a close, we are often faced with a growing to-do list that can feel overwhelming. This is where the use of AI technology can come in handy, providing us, teachers, with the tools we need to simplify our workload and reduce stress. With an AI you can generate personalized listening exercises that can save time and energy and that will allow us to focus on other important tasks that require our attention.

So, here we go!!! I want to share with you this listening activity. Honestly, all I did was search for a video on YouTube and Twee.com did the rest.

Click here to see the PDF where I copied/pasted the activities generated by Twee.com. It also contains the answers; also provided by the app. Yay!!!

Step 1. Before watching the video: Working on vocabulary

I just love creating visual content so much that I couldn’t resist making some exercises a tad more engaging. I decided to get creative and combined traditional paper exercises with WordWall to bring the material to life. It was a bit of extra work, but totally worth it!

 Step 2. Students Watch the Video.

It only lasts 1:25

Step 3. The exercise: While Listening.

Are the following statements true or false?

1. Parliament only debates issues of the day.
2. The House of Commons is made up of MPs.
3. The House of Lords is made up of elected members.
4. The monarch’s role in Parliament is mainly political.
5. The Prime Minister is questioned in the House of Lords.
6. Committees in Parliament scrutinize the work of government departments.
7. Parliament doesn’t ask for input from the public.
8. Parliament only represents the views of people in London.
9. Parliament makes laws.
10. The opposition sits with the government in the House of Commons.

Step 4. After listening.

Give students the transcript with some gaps and play it again. You might have to play it twice. I am afraid I deleted too many words.

Remember, you have the PDF with all the exercises in a link above.

Creating an Audio Bookflix

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Ahhhhh, May. I love spring, but honestly, what I don’t love is how I am supposed to rush to try to cover all the units in the book as the end of the course is knocking on my door. Less than a month and that’s a wrap for this school year. And I am beginning to panic! Are they ready to take final exams?

But, today, let’s forget about exams. I want to share with how I have changed the way my students do a book review. In the old times, we used to do this compulsory activity in written form, but with the amazing possibilities IA offers my students, I feel asking them to write a book review is pointless, don’t you think so? What is going to prevent them from copy/pasting the review or learning the summary by heart? Tricking me is very tempting, especially when pressed for time! So, I figured it would be a good idea to have them record themselves doing the book review. That way, they would work on their pronunciation skills while completing the assignment.

STEPS TO CREATING AN AUDIO BOOKFLIX

Step 1: Choosing a book

Easy. Students pick a book from the school library section that matches their level. I gave them enough time to read it and set a deadline.

Step 2:  Recording their audios

Students used the free app, Vocaroo, to record themselves. Why did I choose Vocaroo? For these reasons: 

  • It is free and very easy to use.
  • Students don’t to have to register or download anything. 
  • It offers a QR Code for your recording, which was just what I needed.

Step 3: Uploading their reviews

I created a PowerPoint presentation – if you use Google Slides it is just the same. The first slide outlines the instructions and the second slide provides an example of the desired outcome, including the correct positioning of the content. I then replicated this second slide as many times as students in the class (see pictures below).

My students’ ages range from 16 to 70ish; I think it is important for you to know that everybody can do it as long as you give clear instructions and take the time to demonstrate what they need to do. In my case, I recorded a video to guide through the process. You can see it here.

First slide: instructions

Second Slide

Third Slide: sample

 

Step 4 : Showcasing students’ work

It is now time to showcase students’ work. I bought  brown wrapping paper at the post office, printed the letters Book Flix using Typea4, downloaded the book covers and the QR codes, arranged them nicely on the wrapping paper. Finally, I hung the display on one of the walls in our classroom for everyone to enjoy. 

Step 5: The surprise

I told students that when gluing the QR Codes under the book covers, I had made 3 mistakes, i.e., in three cases the QR code does not match the cover. They will need to help me fix the problem. They can try either before or after the class starts. The first student to spot my mistakes will get a prize. I am still thinking about what.

I hope you have liked the activity!

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

Teaching about Animals with the Help of ChatGPT

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There has been a lot of talk recently about the benefits and drawbacks of using ChatGPT in the classroom. To be honest, from the teachers’ perspective and in my opinion, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. In fact, I can only see advantages. It is true that it is not going to help you engage your students; after all, it is only text, but what is undeniable is the fact that it is a great time saver for teachers.  For me, ChatGPT is like Aladdin’s Genie of the Lamp, but granting unlimited wishes. You just wish for something, ask it nicely, and there it is. Ready to be used. You may not always be satisfied with what he initially offers you, but no worries, just ask again and be more specific about what you want.

In this lesson about animals, and in all the activities below, I have used ChatGPT.  As I said, a real time-saver. You just need to add your teacher’s magic!

  • Topic: Animals
  • Level B2 upwards
  • Skills: vocabulary, speaking and mediation.
Activity 1: Introducing Animals. Playing with ChatGPT.

Fun activity. I asked students to pair up and asked them to come up with a list of 10  farm

animals. To make things exciting, I set a timer for one minute only! Once the minute was up, I had them swap their lists with another pair.

And then, I brought in ChatGPT to join the fun and asked it to generate a similar list of farm animals. The students got a point for every animal they had that was also on ChatGPT’s list!

We wrote any new vocabulary on the board and repeated the same activity, but this time with wild animals.

Prompts in ChatGPT:

  • write a list of 10 farm animals  
  • write a list of 10 wild animals 
Activity 2. Guessing the animal.

I decided to play a fun guessing game with the help of ChatGPT. I picked an animal and then asked ChatGPT to give me three clues about the animal, starting with the most difficult clue and ending with the easiest clue. I asked ChatGPT not to use the name of the animal in the clues.

Prompt: Can you provide me with three clues that describe a rhinoceros, in descending order of difficulty, for someone to guess the animal without mentioning the word ‘rhinoceros’?”

I asked students to play in groups of 4, name a spokesperson, and gave each group a hotel bell.I then explained that I was going to read a series of clues for an animal, starting with the most difficult one (worth 3 points). After I read each clue, the groups had a brief moment to confer amongst themselves. If they thought they knew the answer, their spokesperson could press the bell. During the activity, I made sure to emphasize that only the first team to press the bell was allowed to give an answer for each clue. This added an element of competitiveness and encouraged the students to be quick on their feet.  If they guessed correctly, they scored 3 points for their team. However, if their guess was incorrect, they would not be allowed to press their bell for the next clue (worth 2 points), even if they knew the answer. The last clue, which was the easiest one, was worth only 1 point. It was a really fun way to challenge the students’ knowledge and teamwork skills!

Note: you might not agree with the level of difficulty ChatGPT gives for each clue. Feel free to change the order. For example: For the word rhinoceros, this is the order provided by the chatbot. I read it in a different order.

  1. This animal has a thick, tough skin that helps protect it from predators. (2 points)
  2. It is known for its large, pointy horn on its nose. ( 1 point)
  3. This animal is a herbivore and can be found in both Africa and Asia. (3 points)
Activity 3. Speaking : ChatGPT questions in a Speed chatting Activity

I asked ChatGPT to provide me with 10 thought-provoking questions about animals. I then asked my students to discuss these questions with a different partner each time I posed a new one (speedchatting style)

Prompt: provide me with 10 thought-provoking questions about animals.

These are the questions ChatGPT provided. I used only 5 of them.

  1. Do animals have emotions like humans do? How can we tell?
  2. Is it ethical to keep animals in captivity for human entertainment? Why or why not?
  3. How do animals communicate with each other? Can humans learn from their communication methods?
  4. What are the consequences of humans encroaching on animal habitats?
  5. Should we use animals for scientific research? Are there ethical boundaries to be considered?
  6. How has human intervention affected the evolution of certain animal species?
  7. Is it possible for animals to exhibit intelligence or problem-solving skills on par with humans? If so, which animals are capable of this?
  8. How have animals been used in art, literature, and mythology throughout history? What significance do they hold?
  9. Should humans be held accountable for the extinction of certain animal species?
  10. How can we improve animal welfare in farming and agriculture?

Activity 4. Interlinguistics Mediation Task.

Yes. Yay!  It can also help you here. In my region, in mediation tasks,  the input is in Spanish and students use English to do the activity, in most cases either summarizing or explaining the main points in the text.  Given that ChatGPT works in Spanish too, why not give it a go?

Yes. Yay!  It can also help you here! So, in my neck of the woods, when students do mediation tasks, they typically get input in Spanish but have to complete the activity in English. Usually, this involves either summarizing or explaining the main points in the text. Given that ChatGPT works in Spanish too, why not give it a go?

First, I asked ChatGPT to generate the text in Spanish, printed it and ten, gave the task to my students. Then, and again using ChatGPT, I modelled the activity. These are the prompts I have used.

Prompt:Write a text in Spanish of about 200 words about why animals should and should not be used in circuses. Use four paragraphs. In the first paragraph, write an introduction, in the second paragraph write reasons for, in the third paragraph reasons against and in the 4 th paragraph write a conclusion.

Prompt: Summarize the following text in English in about 100 words in an organized way. (copy and paste the  text generated from the previous task)

All this would have normally taken me a long time to write, and this is where ChatGPT can really help you save time. And time is gold, isn’t it? But remember, ChatGPT does not teach, it is your own magic that engages students.