FINAL TASK- TIMETOAST

 

I've taken the idea from the two timelines about the Stuarts and the Tudors to suggest a task in which students will learn some basic facts about the origins of Ireland and subsequent confrontation with England. 

The starting point to create the timeline is a comic I´ve found in an old textbook which also provides some extra information.  This is a collaborative task in which students will develop all the four skills plus their ability to cooperate, share and discuss ideas and organize and distribute work among the members of the group. 

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2707969

Using Genially to create presentations

Last year during the second term and after we had been dealing with a module on Travel and Tourism, I asked my group of ESO 3 students to create a travel brochure of a city of their choice. They could select the format (paper brochure, cardboard poster or a digital presentation). They were given two weeks to complete the project and afterwards they had to present it to the class in 7 to 10 minutes. They had to do the task in groups of 3 and were free to choose their partners in the group. They were sent via classroom the instructions and the items that would be assessed.

 Information they had to include in their project: 

- Name of city, location and map. 

- Some facts about the place (important historical facts (not too many) ,population, currency, language, useful tips. 

- Three landmarks or "must see" sites including a brief description and images. 

- Places to eat and accommodation. 

 The items that were evaluated were: 

- Grammar and spelling 

- Organization of information 

- Accuracy of information 

- Attractive layout 

As for the oral presentantion:

- Pronunciation, fluency

- Grammar and vocabulary

- The task was well- rehearsed

- The presentation was attractive to the audience

What follows is a presentation of the city of Budapest using Genially. It is not finished and it's just an example of how Genially could be used to carry out this task. 

The advantages of this app in comparison to more traditional presentation software such as Power Point is the possibility to add interactive elements and animations. This is the most simple type of presentation the app offers so with time and patience it will be intersting to look into other formats and explore its features and possibilities. 

This particuar group of students like taking part in this sort of tasks; they like to be able to choose the content of their projects and to form their groups. They are quite good at distributing the workload among the members of the group and when they present their product to the class, they help and encourage each other. We did some interesting projects which were engaging and motivating for the  students and for me. 

Creating a story using Pixton

 

This is a creative writing activity in which students use Pixton, a tool to create digital stories and comics.

The aims of this task are:

1. To boost creativity.

2. To assess students reading and writing skills.

3. To practise different language functions (suggesting, refusing, acepting an invitation, apologizing) and the grammatical structures necessary to convey those functions.

4. To learn how to use Pixton.

First, students are presented with an incomplete short story which will be the starting point for their digital story. They are asked to read it carefully and in pairs or small groups try to invent an ending for the story. Then, students have to prepare the dialogues focusing on the expression of the different functions and grammar they have been working on beforehad.

In the next step, students will learn how to use Pixton, either the teacher shows them in class or sends them some tutorials for them to practice. Either in class, if there is possibility of using the computer room, or at home, students will have to create their story. 

The story goes...

Jon's story

One evening, Jon was sitting at home watching TV when the phone rang. It was his girlfriend Kate. She asked him if he would like to go out that evening. Jon had had a hard day at work and was feeling tired, so he declined Kate's offer and told her he was going to watch TV. Kate wished him sweet dreams and hung up the phone.

Half an hour later Jon's ex-girlfriend, Anna, called him. Anna was in town on business  and would be leaving the next day. She asked Jon if he could meet that evening. Jon and Anna hadn't seen each other since they split up two years before. They agreed to meet at a local restaurant for dinner to catch up. Anna and Jon met at the restaurant and they sat down for a meal together. They were half-way through their meal when in walked Kate with her friends. Kate was shocked and furious to see her boyfriend having dinner with another woman. She walked over to Jon's table ...

The activity was devised for a group of students in the  4th year of ESO who prepare to obtain the ISE I Trinity certificate. Students have to know a series of language functions and be able to use them in different situations. A variation of this activity is to act out the story. Students have to think about the ending and dialogues and act it out in front of the class. I´ve tried it out and it was really fun. The topic is not interesting or deep but I assure you students enjoyed doing the task.