Lesson 3
Topic: Your London ABC
Level: Pre-intermediate to intermediate
Time: 2 lessons/90 minutes
Language: Language of travel, history, geography, culture
Sites: http://wikihost.org, other useful sites found by students
Author: Alicja Wujec-Kaczmarek
Warmer
The teacher initiates a short discussion or brainstorming activity during which the students talk about all the associations they have with London; they talk about their trips to London, if any or their friends' experiences. Together they brainstorm the most interesting places they would like to see or revisit. Then the teacher reminds them or introduces them to the technique of creating a wiki.
The web
The students are divided into pairs and asked to find interesting information, photos, maps of the place, etc. one place per pair. Doing on-line research can be done freely or the links proposed by the teacher can be used. The students are also reminded to document all the sources they use. While the students are busy searching, the teacher sets up the base page writing a couple of lines and setting links connected to students' future pages. The important thing is to convince the students not just copy the texts they find but alter and adjust them to their needs making them comprehensible, brief and informative. When they finish, they edit their pages with or without the teacher's help.
What next?
The students read pages they have edited and enjoy.
The pages that have been edited recently or are still under construction can temporarily be viewed at:
http://wikihost.org/wikis/london/wiki/start
http://wikihost.org/wikis/artisticyouth/wiki/start
References
Dudeney, G. & Hockly, N. (2007). How to teach English with technology. Pearson Education Limited.
Dudeney, G. (2000). The Internet and the Language Classroom. A practical guide for teachers. Cambridge University Press.
Windeatt, S., Hardisty, D. & Eastment, D. (2000). The Internet. Oxford University Press.
Woodward, T. (1994). Splitting the Atom – A Way of Avoiding Consumerism in Language Teacher Training. The Teacher Trainer, vol.8, no.2.
The What’s New in Language Teaching course can be viewed here.
The Secondary Teaching course can be viewed here.
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