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"Putting a bit of tech into teach!"
Browsing All posts tagged under »Speaking«
Poor President
The first time I saw the video below the speakers on my computer weren’t working, which was quite fortuitous really ‘cos it gave me an idea! The following is not really a full lesson (it should stretch to about an hour), but it should fit in nicely if you’re doing something related to money, wealth, […]
Sounds Awful
November 5, 2012
Here’s a few activities which might fit in with lessons on sounds, noise pollution, the senses or mobile phone etiquette. It includes conversation practice and an out-of-class activity which involves students making recordings with their mobile phones. Idea One : Video a) Show your students the still image from the beginning of the video below […]
Gadget-proof
October 23, 2012
I was just going to tweet the video below and leave it at that, but I had a few ideas while on the train to work so have decided to turn it into a post. The lesson deals with the topics of gadgets, advertising and sales, and provides opportunities to present and practice a variety […]
Add voice recording to your blog
March 22, 2012
Have you ever embedded a video in a blog and asked your students to leave a written comment? Ever thought, “it’d be great if they could leave recorded audio comments too”? If the answer to both these questions is yes, Speakpipe may be just what you’re looking for. By simply pasting a snippet of code […]
The 5 Ws of Photos
November 4, 2011
Describing + Interpreting Photos In this lesson students watch a video on how to interpret photographs, then go on to describe and identify a series of famous photos using the 5 Ws strategy outlined by the presenter. There is an optional conversation activity at the end. The lesson is best suited to upper-intermediate and advanced […]
I Can’t Take It Any More!
September 18, 2011
I can’t take it any more! This video lesson is based around a clip from a 1993 film called Falling Down. The movie stars Michael Douglas in the role of a stressed-out unemployed engineer who embarks on a violent Odyssey across Los Angeles after finally cracking when stuck in rush hour traffic. The film begins […]
Very Funny Ads
July 8, 2011
Retelling Very Funny Ads I love using adverts in my teaching. If you ignore the fact that they’re trying to flog you something and focus on their narrative structure, they can provide you with an endless supply of mini-stories for “retelling” activities. The best ads are those with unexpected or amusing twists at the end. […]
The Balance of PowerPoint
May 31, 2011
The Balance of PowerPoint This post suggests using an application called Present.me to make video recordings of students giving PowerPoint presentations (Step Three), see an example here. The lead-in conversation activity in Step One and the video in Step Two are designed to get students in the mood and encourage discussion as to what makes […]
Kids and Bin Laden
May 11, 2011
American kids reacting to Bin Laden’s death This activity features a Fine Brothers Kids React video of American children answering questions on the death of Osama Bin Laden. The idea is simple: get your students to ask each other the same questions before watching and taking notes on the video. Suitable for upper-intermediate and advanced […]
Life is a Beach
March 31, 2011
Life is a beach Well, looks like the sun has got its hat on at last! Why not get your students in a summer mood with this beach lesson (includes compound nouns and vocabulary related to the seaside, conversation questions + writing a review of a beach)? Step One : Seaside compound nouns Go through […]
Our House
January 19, 2011
Our house, in the middle of our street This lesson is about homes and streets: Take your students for a walk down your street and get them speaking about where they live. Follow up with a little Madness, then suggest they make a video and upload it to the world. In other words, a bit […]
Look Like Landscapes
December 14, 2010
Look Like Landscapes This lesson makes use of a random Google Street View creator called Mapcrunch. Clicking on Go! will teleport you to randomly selected images of different places all over the world. The application allows you to hide the name of the location selected, so offers a good opportunity to focus on the language […]
First Class Idea
September 6, 2010
First Class Idea Getting your students talking about pedagogy! Over the last couple of weeks there have been some great posts on first lesson activities doing the rounds of the TEFL blogosphere, so I thought it only fair to chip in with one of my own. First classes typically include opportunities for students to get […]
Leaving Home
March 5, 2010
Video 03 : Leaving Home Working at a university language service, this is one of the topics which never fails to provoke strong reactions from my students, most of whom still live at home with their parents. That difficult once-in-a-lifetime decision of when and how to fly the nest is a topic of universal interest. […]
Talking photographs
March 1, 2010
Talking Photos : Fotobabble and Wallwisher This task involves students adding a recorded commentary to a photo using a web service called Fotobabble. Fotobabble is not the only application which allows you to add sound to a photo, but it’s probably the quickest and most user-friendly that I have seen so far. Of course, if […]
November 19, 2012
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