What's the time in Montreal? : an IWB activity

This is an activity shared by a colleague of mine, Stela Morgado.

Language focus: the time

Level: Basic

Device: Interactive White Board

Site: http://24timezones.com/ 

Interaction: student - student

Time frame: 10 mins.

Connection: online

Stela describes the activity:

Project: What time is it in...? 

1. Go to the website http://24timezones.com/  

2. Invite a student to come to the board and choose a place around the world. Click on the place. 

3. The student should then choose a friend and ask "what time is it in London?" (for example).  

4. Elicit alternative ways of asking about the time: What´s the time...have you got the time, etc. 

5. One of my B1 students, Crissiê, invented a follow-up activity. The T can publish the link at Edmodo. Ss take turns choosing places and asking the time around the world to other students through the reply icon. (I´ve attached the photos of Giselle and Geovana during the activity).

* Alternative topic: What´s the weather in...? What´s the temperature in...? 

Ss can use the site http://weather-finder.com/?gclid=CNvq_qHW2L0CFUoV7Aod4B8AEA or upload an app to the mobile(e.g A weather life)- Suggestion from Patrick a Basic 3 student. 

Interwrite Workspace TUTORIALS (em Português)

Some weeks ago I was invited to help some professors from UFU (Universidade Federal de Uberlândia) to start using the interactive whiteboards the department had bought.

The board they had purchased was DUALBOARD which works with the INTERWRITE WORKSPACE software.

Although I had never used this software, as I'm very well acquainted with the usage of another brand of interactive whiteboards (Promethean), I imagined after a few tutorials I would be able to learn how it worked.

I found a few tutorials in English online at http://www.einstruction.com/workspace-video-tutorials but none in Portuguese for the teachers to watch whenever they needed it.

So, here they are: a few video tutorials (in Portuguese) if you have Interwrite Workspace installed where you teach.

PROMETHEAN Activity: Images hidden behind TIC TAC TOE

This week, I trained new teachers how to make lessons for the  Promethean IWBs we have at school.
There are several features you can use and one of them is hiding/showing. A friend of mine , Rita, sent me a message yesterday asking for help because she wants to prepare an activity where she hides images behind numbers.

This is a tutorial I've made to show her how to do it.
http://screencast.com/t/7z7IwU0vPoO

The same software can be used in other IWBs, all you have to do is download the free version of ACTIVINSPIRE from http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-gb/support/

VOCABULARY practice in a flash

I love sites which can make my teaching life easier.

SPELLINGCITY helps your students learn / memorize words by focussing on spelling, pronunciation and contextualisation.
http://www.spellingcity.com/



First, you add the words you wish to memorize. Then, the site generates sentences with those words so that you can learn it. You can then, click the TEST button to hear the words and test your spelling or choose one of the GAMES available.

An example:

1. I created a list of words related to MONEY

 2.Once you click spelling test, you can hear the isolated word and then the word in a sentence for to type the correct spelling. LISTENING AND WRITING practice.

3. Games you can use to practise VOCABULARY, WRITING and SPELLING

HOW TO USE THE SITE IN CLASS

With an IWB

• In the last 15-20 minutes of class, elicit the new words learned that day from students while you insert the word in Spellincity. Sts can dictate the spelling as teacher types in the words. Then, all we have to do is click spelling test and start using the practice exercises the site generates.
  

•  You can also, assign a specific student to keep a record of the new words throughout the class and then use the list close to the end of the class to generate exercises.

• Another alternative is to use the practice exercises at the beginning of the following class for revision.