HOT POTATOES

Hot Potatoes es una herramienta de autor que sirve para la elaboración de diversos tipos de ejercicios interactivos multimedia los cuales se podrán publicar en un servidor Web y difundir a través de Internet, y ofrecen la gran ventaja de ser soportados por todos los navegadores modernos.

Hot Potatoes es un magnífico programa gratuito de código abierto que sirve para hacer ejercicios electrónicos interactivos de cualquier materia (lengua castellana, lengua valenciana, conocimeinto del medio, inglés, etc.) en diferentes formatos:

• JQuiz sirve para hacer ejercicios de preguntas/respuesta. 
• JCloze sirve para hacer ejercicios de huecos 
• JMatch sirve para hacer ejercicios emparejamientos. 
• JMix sirve para hacer ejercicios de construcción de frases con palabras desordenadas. 
• JCross sirve para hacer ejercicios en forma de crucigramas 

Hot Potatoes desde el Instituto de Tecnología Educativas del Ministerio de Educación te explica por pasos como utilizar este recurso pero de todas formas y en Integrar Hot potatoes en blogger cómo incrustarlo en blogger. Aquí tienes un buen tutorial de cómo hacer los Tests de aprendizaje con Hot Potatoes:

Hot potatoes: Elaboración de Test de aprendizaje con Hot Potatoes from Julio Alonso Arévalo

Un claro ejemplo de un proyecto elaborado con el Hot potatoes es: Proyecto del nivel básico de inglés (EOI)  ¡seguro que te gusta!

A continuación tienes unos básicos ejemplos realizados por mi misma. ¡Yo pude, tu también!

JCloze:

JMatch

¡Espero que te haya gustado y que lo utilices!

SONGS FOR CHILDREN

A good way to teach primary students new vocabulary is definitely using songs in class. We all know the typical "abc" song to learn the alphabet. In fact, many adults know the English alphabet because of that song and if you ask them the alphabet, they tell it singing!

Thanks to the Internet, we have a lot of different songs that we can use in class. Here you have a selection of some of the most common songs for primary students, but you can find more on YouTube!

VERB TENSES

Exams are just round the corner and students start getting stressed, especially all those teenagers that have to take the PAU exam or the famous Cambridge exams. Don't panic! Here you will find a good table that summarizes all the verb tenses in English. In the table, you will see the form of each verb tense, as well as their uses. Besides, you will also see the most common time expressions related to each one of the verb tenses. Hope you find it interesting and useful!

READINGS FOR KIDS

We all know that reading can be boring because most children do not like it. As teachers, we have to encourage reading both in the native language as in the second, in our case, English. we must encourage reading both in school and at home, teachers and parents.

You can find books and stories on the internet. Here you have a list of webpages full of books:

• Magic keys: Illustrated children's stories for kids of all ages --> http://www.magickeys.com/books/
• Kids learning station --> http://www.kidslearningstation.com/reading/comprehension/
• Martha's Stories and Reading games --> http://pbskids.org/read/
• Kids read now --> http://kidsreadnow.org/
• Online stories --> http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/onlinestory.htm
• Stoyline Online --> http://www.storylineonline.net/
• An example:  
• The book is read by a person

• And its activity guide:

CROSSWORD PUZZLES

How can we review vocabulary? One way is to review it through crossword puzzles. Games are useful for language learning because they provide a fun way to learn. Instead of many hours of worksheets, students can ‘practice and play’, with good results.

This interactive ESL word search puzzle will help children practice spelling words related to the topic you want. Solve this vocabulary word search online using the pictures as clues. Check the pictures and words in right side as hint and find them in this word search puzzle. --> ESLGames+

Printable ESL Word Search Puzzles for Kids:

Printable ESL Crossword Puzzles for Kids:

Printable ESL Word Spiral Puzzles for Kids:

We can also do online crosswords from the following webpages:

Boatload puzzles

ESL crossword puzzles

Hope you like it!

ENGLISH WORKSHEETS

Today's entry is about useful webpages where you can all find worksheets for your English classes. Thanks to the Internet, we have a great vast of resources to use at school. There are a lot of webpages where you can find lots of free worksheets to download for your students. These are some of them:
- English-4kids --> http://www.english-4kids.com/
- British Council --> http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/worksheets
- ESL kids --> http://esl-kids.com/
- ISLCollective -->http://es.islcollective.com/
- ESL Printable -->http://www.eslprintables.com/

You may have to register in some of them, but they are great! You will find a lot of things to download, not only worksheets, but powerpoint presentations and games too.

Hope you find this useful and interesting!

TRIVIAL

¿Juagamos al Trivial?

Como ya habrás visto en nustro blog, te estamos proporcionando una gran variedad de recursos educativos de distintas materias para utilizar en el aula.

Hoy te propongo utilizar el trivial con tus alumnos en el aula de informática ya que el juego es online. Podemos encontrar distintos juegos donde nuestros alumno, por parejas o en grupos de 4 o 5 alumnos, pueden contestar a preguntas de distintas materias, no solo de inglés sino también de lengua, matemáticas, etc.

Estos son algunos ejemplos de webs donde poder jugar al trivial y a otros juegos muy parecidos:

• Trivial grado 56
• La Rueda del Saber
• Juegos Educativos
• Juegos Molones rtve
• Tests desde Primaria hasta Bachillerato
• Mucho TIC

Ejemplo de un Test de 1º de Pmiraria, Inglés:

Ahora te presento un trivial elaborado en PowerPoint, es una idea para poder crear tu propio trivial adaptado a tus alumnos y a tu gusto. Como ya sabes es un recurso educativo en el se incluyen preguntas de las siguientes asignaturas: matemáticas, lengua, conocimiento del medio, música, inglés y religión. 

Trivial 3º de Primaria from Marian Alvarez Rodriguez

¡¡Espero que te haya gustado!!

BOARD GAMES!

We all know that grammar can sometimes be boring for students because they don't like doing worksheets and worksheets of tedious grammar activities. So, as teachers we have to find different resources so as to avoid them getting bored and be tired of learning English.

Apart from using songs, we can also use board games in class. Students can be required to play in groups of 4 or 5, which, at the same time, is a good way to make them work in teams. We can invent our own games or use the ones that you can find on the internet. Here you have a list of webpages full of board games that can be printed:

- ESL Galaxy --> http://www.esl-galaxy.com

- MES English --> http://www.mes-english.com/games/boardgames.php

- Teaching English --> http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/board-games

- Lanternfish --> http://bogglesworldesl.com/esl_games.htm

Here you have two more games, one about Halloween, in which they have to create a monster, and the other is about Christmas:

VERB TENSES THROUGH SONGS

Children, and teenagers too, associate grammar lessons with boring lessons. It doesn't have to be like that any more. As teachers, we should encourage kids to find English interesting and fun. That's why when explaining grammar, we can also include songs to practise, for example, a verb tense. We can play the video in class and give them a worksheet with the gaps for them to complete. Then we should make them think about the lyrics, too, because it can be a good way to learn vocabulary.

Here you have some examples:

- verb to be --> "How does it feel?" by Avril Lavigne

- Present Simple --> "I'm like a bird" by Nelly Furtado

- Present Continuous --> "I'm with you" by Avril Lavigne

- Past simple --> "Paradise" by Coldplay

- Present Perfect --> "I haven't met you yet" by Michael Bubble

Hope you find this useful!

BEST APPS TO LEARN ENGLISH!!

Do you know anybody without a mobile phone? Even young children are used to going back home from school and using their up-to-date mobile. So, we must take advantage of this situation and encourage them to use their mobile phones for useful things like improving their English. That's why today it's all about apps!

The British Council is a cultural British institution that encourage people around the world to learn English. They prepare people to take the official Cambridge University Exams and they have good webpages to practise your skills. Here you have the link of one of the best webpages for children: it's full of games, stories and worksheets. All in English!

http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/es/

Anyway let's talk about apps. Those are the best British Council apps to learn English:

- LearnEnglishKids: videos --> it's full of videos about stories for children 

- Kids phonics --> it has eight stories with funny games about them

- Johnny Grammar's Quiz --> it's full of grammar exercises

- My Word Book --> it's good to practise your vocabulary

Hope you like it!

LEARNING ENGLISH CAN BE FUN!

When we think about learning a new language, we always have the same image in our minds: boring grammar books, with boring activities and boring classes. It doesn’t have to be like that. As we already said some days ago, reading and listening activities can be motivating too if we use the Internet. Today we are going to talk about learning English using TV series.

Some days ago, I saw an article on a webpage www.vertele.com where Andrés Moreno, from Open English Academy, pointed out the six best English-speaking series to learn or improve your English. According to him, these are the best series to master your English skills:

DOWNTON ABBEY

It is about the life of a rich British family and their servants and it begins in the years leading up to the World War I. With it, you will be able to learn the correct British language used by the dukes and other rich people. 

SHERLOCK

It is another British series shown on BBC. It is about the adventures of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr.Watson and with it, you will Be able to learn about the British accent. 

GAME OF THRONES

If what you want is to master the use of different British accents, this series is the one for you. Most of the actors are from Britain, and so they have different accents. The series is quite difficult to understand, because there are a lot of plots happening at the same time, so a good level of English is required.

MAD MEN

It is about Don Draper’s life. He is one of the best publicisers in New York in the 60s. So, if you want to learn more things about the American accent, and therefore, the American culture, this series is excellent for you.

MODERN FAMILY

This is one of the most famous sitcoms in America, and learning English while having lots of fun is worth it. That’s why we recommend you to sit on your sofa and watch it. It is not difficult to understand, specially Gloria, whose mother tongue is Spanish. 

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Although it has already finished, the lives of the five friends Ted, Marshall, Lily, Robin and Barney are so funny. It is just 20 minutes long, and you won’t regret it. 

It’s true that watching them in Spanish is easier, and let’s say, lazier, because you don’t have to concentrate as much as with English. But, don’t you think it’s great watching something that you like while learning another language?

WEBQUEST METHODOLOGY

Have your ever heard about webquest?

The webquest are a resource for learning through internet. tthais is, it is a learning method by which a research is done obtaining the information from internet.

The Webquest model was developed by Bernie Dodge in 1995 who defined it as:

"Una WebQuest es una actividad orientada a la investigación donde toda o casi toda la información que se utiliza procede de recursos de la Web." (Dodge, 1995)

According to Dodge (Star, 2000b) the key idea that distinguishes a WebQuest to other Web-based activities is related to the promotion of higher-level cognitive processes:

"Una WebQuest se construye alrededor de una tarea atractiva que provoca procesos de pensamiento superior. Se trata de hacer algo con la información. El pensamiento puede ser creativo o crítico e implicar la resolución de problemas, enunciación de juicios, análisis o síntesis. La tarea debe consistir en algo más que en contestar a simples preguntas o reproducir lo que hay en la pantalla. Idealmente, se debe corresponder con algo que en la vida normal hacen los adultos fuera de la escuela."

Here we present the most important information on a webquest: what is a webquest, and its parts and contents:

WebQuests for Use in the Classroom PPT from jlov18

We find different websites where you can create a webquest  such as: Webquest creator and a video tutorial to make it easier:

Some examples of Webquest:

• Let's visit London in 4 days
• Isabel Perez webquest 

CAMPAMENTOS DE INGLÉS EN VERANO

¡Hola!

Hoy vamos a mencionar algunas páginas web para ayudar a los padres sobre los campamentos de inglés en verano en España. Hay una gran variedad de campamentos donde poder llevar a los niños, todo depende de su edad y del lugar de residencia con un completo programa de clases de inglés y múltiples actividades, talleres, deportes y fiestas, una forma de aprender inglés diviertiéndose.

Algunas de las webs:

• Web con listado de Campamento de Inglés Comunidad Valenciana
• Campamento de inglés, chino, alemán y español para extranjeros: Campamento de verano  en Cataluña
• niños/as de 5 a 17 años
• English Summer School en Sagunto (Comunidad Valenciana)
• king's College International: campamentos de inglés tanto en España (Madrid/Valencia/Asturias) como en el Extranjero
• niños/as  de 6 a 18 años
• Inmersión Lingüística en España: Enfocamp en Barcelona/Madrid/Marbella/Salamanca/Valenci
•  Jóvenes y niños de 5 a 18 años
• Campamentos urbanos en inglés con Kids & Us, para verano en Zaragoza --> niños/as de 3 a 10 años 
• Campamentos por las mañanas,
• English Summer Fun. Del 1 al 26 de julio. Inmersión completa en el inglés:
• Opción 1: Horario de 9:00 a 17:00
• Opción 2: Horario de 9:00 a 15:00
• Vaughan Camps  en Madrid/ Cantabria/ Cataluña:
• niños de 6 a 15 años 
• a partir de los 16 años --> Intensivo Residencial para Jóvenes

¡Esperamos que esta información les haya servido!

USEFUL LISTENING AND READING WEBSITES

Hello!! Today, we are going to mention some webpages to help teachers and learners find useful listening and reading resources and materials.

Let's begin with some listening webpages. Practising this skill is highly important because it is good that children start listening to native speakers in "daily" conversations so as to help them realise how a word is pronounced. There are a lot of webpages on the Internet where you can find different listening activities for different levels of English, from the basic A1 to the difficult C2. Those are some of the websites:

• Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab, where the levels are divided into "easy", "medium" and "difficult". http://www.esl-lab.com/
• La Mansión del Ingles. http://www.mansioningles.com/listening00.htm
• Listen a Minute. http://www.listenaminute.com/
• Saber Ingles, where apart from listening exercises, you can also do grammar and vocabulary activities. http://saberingles.com.ar/listening/

Reading is also very important when learning a new language. It helps you acquire new vocabulary and be aware of grammar structures too. If you are trying to improve your English language, you had better read a book in English. But if you don't have a bookshop around, why don't you try to find activities on the Internet? Here you will find good reading exercises:

• English Exercises. http://www.englishexercises.org/buscador/buscar.asp?nivel=any&age=0&contents=readings
• Five Minute English. http://www.5minuteenglish.com/reading.htm
• English Zone. http://english-zone.com/?ID=6

Hope you find this interesting and useful. Next time more and better! 

English Pronunciation

English is a language that has adopted a significant international importance in all areas (tourism, internet, social relations, etc..) and because of this, it has created the need to learn English in society with the aim of use it as a means of communication.  
Phonetics is one of the areas less worked in the English classroom. So, in Primary Education should promote more the use of English-speaking especially encouraging speaking in pairs or small groups. 

Some examples: 

• The letters Tree (game)
• Children's Songs

Example:  How is the weather?

• A wide variety of videos depending on the topic and the age of the students:

Example 1:

Example 2: 

Britishbubblestv videos are an educational resource for both parents and teachers, the best way to learn English is through games and children's music.

Describing people!

Yes!! Today we are going to upload some material related to descriptions. This is one of the most important topics explained in primary English classes. It is good that children learn how to describe not only themselves, but also the people around them.

Therefore, we can teach students to use different verbs, such as, the verbs "to be", "have got" and "wear". At the same time, we can introduce students to the Present Continuous tense while describing someone's clothes.

Students can learn how to answer these questions:
- What do you look like? --> to talk about physical description
- What are you like? --> to talk about personality
- What are you wearing? --> to talk about clothes

Here you have a worksheet about descriptions.




If you want your students to practise all these things while speaking, you should make them play "WHO'S WHO?".

Hope you like it!