Hi once again! =)

For this entry I have created a short story using the tool Storybird, a very useful resource to create stories and poems using images and small boxes of text which can be used in a second language class for children.

Stories are very useful resources to work with children, as they contain pictures and some elements that can be very attractive for children. This is an enjoyable manner to make them be more concentrated and have fun while learning.

My story can be read by clicking on this link. It tells the story of a kid called Dorayaki who wants to become a karate master but has some problems with his teacher’s method. My short story is addressed to 6-years-old children with a very low level of English, as they would be at the first steps of the learning of this language.

With this activity, I would like to develop listening, speaking and reading skills, as I will ask some of them to read some pages for their classmates. Moreover, while we are reading, I will answer the questions they might have about vocabulary or other issues. When we finish reading the story, I will ask them if they do some sport and what they would like to become when they grow up. This way they will learn some vocabulary about professions and sports.

Thanks for reading! =)

Hi again!

In this entry I would like to propose an activity to improve pronunciation skills. For this task you will need headphones and microphone and to download the program Audacity, which is very useful to record yourself, edit audios, etc.

For this activity the students would have to listen to an audio and to imitate what they hear, i.e. sounds, words, phrases, sentences, etc, in order to work on the English pronunciation. They will use the headphones to listen to the English audio, and then they will use the microphone and Audacity to record themselves, so that they can listen to their creations when they finish and contrast their repetitions with the original audio to correct their mistakes and improve their pronunciation.

To start with the activity, the students will have to download Audacity and open it. This is what they will see when it is run:

Now they will play the audio so that they listen to it through their headphones. Then, in Audacity they must click on the red circle to start recording themselves pronouncing the sounds, words and sentences that they listen to in the audio. The screen will have this aspect while they are recording:

When they want to stop recording, they will have to click on "stop", which is the yellow square, or on the pause buttom if they want to stop for a moment before continuing.

It is also possible to go on recording after stopping by clicking again on the recording buttom. The screen will show two different recordings:

Once they have finished recording themselves, they can listen to it by clicking on the play buttom or save it by clicking on "file" and then "export", so that they can keep it in their computers and listen to it when they want.

At the end of the activity, the students must compare their recordings with the original English audios in order to find out the mistakes and differences to correct them and improve their pronunciation skills, as they will be more objective if they listen to their pronunciation after recording themselves than if they only speak without subsequent self-assessment.

I hope you have liked this task.

See you soon!

Hi everyone!

Now I offer to you another activity I have created. This time I have used the text processor Microsoft Word, although I have converted it into PDF in order to upload it to my blog.

For this task, the students would have to do some exercises of filling the gaps with the past tense of some verbs, complete a table with comparative adjectives and antonyms, use comparative structures, pronounce some tongue twisters and do some writing continuing the beginning of a given text.

Here you can see the file with the activities.

I hope you liked it.
See you soon!

Welcome once again!

Now I would like to introduce an activity regarding British culture that I have prepared using Power Point, although I have converted my presentation into PDF. This resource would allow me to explain to the students some issues such as the divisions of The United Kingdom, their capitals, their different flags, dialects, famous songs, etc.

While you are learning this information, you will be able to see some images, as well as to play several audios and one interesting video about the different dialects of the country. However, as in my blog I offer my presentation in PDF, it is not possible to enjoy all these options, so, if you want, you can download my Power Point presentation clicking here.

I hope this resource was helpful for you.

See you soon!

Hi again!

In this entry I would like to share with you two activities that I have created through a very useful tool for teachers. This program is Hot Potatoes, which offers the option to create many enjoyable activities based on alphabet soups, crosswords, puzzles, quizes, etc.

For the first exercise, I have used the “JQuiz” to prepare a quiz about healthy food. This task is aimed for 12-years-old students in their first academic year at high school and with a low level of English. I would use the activity to explain to them what healthy food is, the type of diets which are healthier for them, which restaurant chains offer unhealthy food, which are the components of food, etc.

Here you can see the exercise:




For my second activity, which will also deal with healthy food, I have used JMatch. For this task I will have the same 12-years-old students at first year of high school, and with a low level of English as well. In this exercise, they will have to put two words or two parts of a word together in order to form a noun phrase related to the field of healthy food. This way, I would know that they have learnt the more important vocabulary.

This is my activity:


I hope you enjoyed my activities.

Keep on reading! =)

Welcome to my blog! =)

I am Isabel Cifrián and I have created this website to collect all the materials that I have used and developeded for the Information and Communication Technologies Module of the Master in Second Language Learning and Teaching. These resources have been created using the different technological tools and programs which we have learnt to use in class. These resources have been proved to be very useful to create and implement materials for a second language class, as nowadays young students are digital natives and always thank to work with new technologies, since this way the learning process is more enjoyable and even more effective for them.

For all these reasons, in my following entries I will share the materials I have created during the ICT Module, which can be very enriching for a second language class.

Keep on reading! ;)