May is a month when many of us may feel exhausted and in need of some support with our work. As the school year draws to a close, we are often faced with a growing to-do list that can feel overwhelming. This is where the use of AI technology can come in handy, providing us, teachers, with the tools we need to simplify our workload and reduce stress. With an AI you can generate personalized listening exercises that can save time and energy and that will allow us to focus on other important tasks that require our attention.
So, here we go!!! I want to share with you this listening activity. Honestly, all I did was search for a video on YouTube and Twee.com did the rest.
Click here to see the PDF where I copied/pasted the activities generated by Twee.com. It also contains the answers; also provided by the app. Yay!!!
Step 1. Before watching the video: Working on vocabulary
I just love creating visual content so much that I couldn’t resist making some exercises a tad more engaging. I decided to get creative and combined traditional paper exercises with WordWall to bring the material to life. It was a bit of extra work, but totally worth it!
Step 2. Students Watch the Video.
It only lasts 1:25
Step 3. The exercise: While Listening.
Are the following statements true or false?
1. Parliament only debates issues of the day.
2. The House of Commons is made up of MPs.
3. The House of Lords is made up of elected members.
4. The monarch’s role in Parliament is mainly political.
5. The Prime Minister is questioned in the House of Lords.
6. Committees in Parliament scrutinize the work of government departments.
7. Parliament doesn’t ask for input from the public.
8. Parliament only represents the views of people in London.
9. Parliament makes laws.
10. The opposition sits with the government in the House of Commons.
Step 4. After listening.
Give students the transcript with some gaps and play it again. You might have to play it twice. I am afraid I deleted too many words.
Remember, you have the PDF with all the exercises in a link above.
I am certain I am not the only one who is fed up with politicians. Should you ask my friends, they’ll tell you that I never talk about politics. I never criticize or praise politicians. I talk about life, about life issues, but always being respectful of other people’s attitudes. I don’t like radical people. I don’t want them around me. I know that some of you might think knowing about politics is a necessity. I don’t disagree. However, getting into heated arguments with people who have a different point of view is, in my opinion, a waste of time and frustrating. So, I don’t do it. And, in this frame of mind, I will approach this lesson about Politics.
What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the word POLITICIAN?
What is the minimum voting age in your country? Should it be higher or lower? See: Voting age around the world
What are the main political parties in your country? Who is the most controversial politician? useful vocabulary here.
Working on Vocabulary: Adjectives
On the board, write three headings: positive, negative and neutral and ask students to do the same in their notebooks. Tell them you are going to dictate a list of adjectives and qualities that can be applied to politicians.
Start calling out adjectives and ask them to place them under one of the columns. You might need to spell some of them, or alternatively write them down on the board. It is a good opportunity to drill pronunciation and clarify/teach meanings.
Do the exercise on the board. There might be slight disagreements and that is just fine.
Focusing on Listening: How the US and the UK election works
This listening exercise has different parts
Individual work:
Students are divided into pairs. Student A listens to How the US election works and Student B to How the UK election works. In my case, I have set it as homework but you can do it in class, asking students to bring some earbuds.
As students listen, ask them to write down any words/expressions related to the topic. Ask them to look them up and practise their pronunciation as they might be asked to explain some terms to the class.
In class:
Using Mentimeter, ask them to write the words they jotted down from the video. Once the cloud is formed, point to one word and ask them to explain it.
Pair up A and B and ask them to report their findings.
Student A. How the US election works
Student B: The voting system in the Uk
Follow up: Cloze with a twist.
Give students the transcript for both videos. Tell them you have deleted some words from the transcript. They will have to listen very attentively as there are no empty spaces showing there is a missing word. Ask them to compare in pairs before correcting the exercise. You will find the exercise in the PDF.
Working on Vocabulary
Have a look at how these verbs collocate
Boost the economy
Harm/benefit someone or an organization
Put a strain on the finances of a country/area
Exacerbate a problem
Undermine the morale of citizens
Create divisions
Lead to tensions
Cut taxes
Extend working hours
Increase public spending
Abolish unemployment benefits
Allow a vote on independence
Increase penalties for…
Damage the economy
Resolve existing social problems
Rise of income inequality
Reform the education system
Solve social problems
Ensure prosperity
Hold an election
Rig the election
Stand for election
Other words you might want to know: floating voters. popularity ratings, a right-winger, a left-winger, a polling station, a running mate, a high turnout, voting booth, ballot card
Speaking
Before each section, ask students to call out 6 words or expressions they have learned in this unit. Divide the class into As and Bs and assign As three words and Bs three words. Display the first section and ask them to take in turns to answer the questions trying to use the vocabulary on the board
Speaking and writing using Flipgrid
I have been dying to use Flipgris’s new update. “And what is it that has you so excited?” -you might be wondering. Well, it is the possibility of responding to a video in a written form. Imagine the possibilities, imagine the potential it has for language teaching.
So, here’s the first activity for my students using the brand new Text Comments. I know it is a dangerous activity, but I teach adults and am relying on their self-restraint.
On November 8, Americans will cast their ballots and decide who is going to be their new president. I don’t know about your country but, in Spain, the “war” between H. Clinton and D. Trump is every day in the news and the “poisonous” debates are thoroughly discussed ad nauseam on TV current affairs programmes.
Being this an issue of so much interest, I thought my students would welcome a brief explanation of what the presidential election in the US entails.
Level: suitable for upper intermediate (B2) and advanced (C1) level English students.
In this lesson students will get listening practice, learn new vocabulary, improve their communicative skills by discussing some interesting quotes and also, their writing skills by choosing one of the quotes to write an opinion essay.
The lesson starts off with some questions about politics which will be discussed in pairs or small groups, followed by some vocabulary exercises extracted from the video in preparation for the listening task that follows. The video for the listening activity is from “The Telegraph” and lasts 2.16. It will be followed by group discussion of two controversial quotes.
