TEFL-Nology Scavenger Hunt Activity Dr. H.S. Carpenter

TEFL-Nology Scavenger Hunt Activity Dr. H.S. Carpenter

TEFL-nology Scavenger Hunt ActivityDr. H.S. Carpenter

Friday, May 6, 2016

Background

When you want to get your students to pay attention to the different components of a website, it can be useful to send them on an internet scavenger hunt. Simply identify the key elements that you want the students to notice, and then develop questions that will lead the students to those elements.

Objectives

  • SWABT identify useful teacher websites and describe some of the information and resources they find.
  • SWABT consider their own ideas for scavenger hunt activities for EFL students.

Instructions

For this activity, you will use this set of links at USlinguistics.com, which were posted especially for us to use on TEFL-nology Day. The websites at these links are “general” resources which provide a range of information for ESL/EFL teachers.

Task #1.American English.

The US Government publishes a website for EFL teachers called American English. Let’s see what we can find on this site.

  1. Click on the American Englishwebsite.
  2. Skim the home page.
  3. What MOOC is being offered? ______
  4. Have you ever thought about being an entrepreneur using your English skills? Circle one: yes no
  5. Do you want to participate in this MOOC? Circle one: yes no

Look at the white board.

  1. To participate in a MOOC, I should contact ______.
  1. Search the term “Jazz Chants” using the website’s search box.
  2. What kind of resource did you find? (Circle one).
  3. A lesson plan
  4. A webinar
  5. A worksheet
  6. Click on the PDF. Skim through it briefly.
  7. Click on the recording. Listen to it for a little bit to see what it is like.
  8. As a class, let’s practice a Jazz Chant. You can find a “Grammarchant” here: uslinguistics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/PresentPerfectGrammarChants.pdf
  1. DISCUSSION. What are some other webinars you want to watch?Discuss these with your neighbor. List them below.

Example: Lesson Planning 101:

Task #2. Busy Teacher

The Busy Teacher website has a ton of information. Sometimes, the website publishers won’t let you access their materials unless you perform some action, like providing your email address or responding to a quiz. I have not experienced any problems with the site. That said, always be cautious about downloading materials to your computer from websites like this one.

  1. Click on the Busy Teacher website.
  2. Skim the home page.
  3. Write the name of an article on classroom management.
  1. Write the name of a poster on how to make extra money as a teacher.
  1. What is the name of the “most viewed” writing worksheet on this website?

Task #3.Teaching Channel

The Teaching Channel website shows videos on teaching techniques. You can focus on any topic, but the ones labeled “ELL” (English Language Learner) target the ESL/EFL audience.

  1. Click on the Teaching Channel website.
  2. Skim the home page.
  3. Find this video on respect ( Watch the video. Below, summarize what the teacher says about the “RESPECT” image he has on his wall.
  1. DISCUSSION. Before we move on to the next activity, look at the selection of videos that were displayed below the one we watched. Do any look like something you would want to watch later? Discuss with your neighbor.

Task #4.Teach Hub

You can find numerous interesting and useful articles on Teach Hub. The site provides writing prompts, lesson plans, and tips on topics like classroom management. Much of the content is free.

  1. Click on the Teach Hub website.
  2. Skim the home page.
  3. There are many articles on classroom management. Write the name of one that looks interesting to you:
  1. DISCUSSION. Click on the link for the video writing prompt about new technologies to explore the brain: Notice that underneath the video, there are different suggestions for what students can write about after watching the video. How can an ESL teacher use this video? Discuss ideas with your neighbor.

Task #5.TESOL Resource Center

TESOL International provides a lot of resources for ESL/EFL at the TESOL Resource Center. Some of the content is free, while some can only be accessed by TESOL members.

  1. Click on the TESOL Resource Center website.
  2. Skim the home page.
  3. DISCUSSION. Look for an article on a “participation rubric:” Read through the rubric. After you are sure you have a basic understanding of the rubric, discuss the following questions with your neighbor.
  4. What is a participation rubric?
  5. Would you use this rubric in your class? Why or why not?
  6. What are the strengths of this rubric?
  7. What are its weaknesses?
  1. BONUS activity: Look at this website on jobs:
  2. What would it be like to teach English in a foreign country?

Task #6. The Internet TESL Journal

Although The Internet TESL Journal no longer publishes new materials, the ones that have amassed at this website over the years are very useful. There are lessons, articles, and conversation questions.

  1. Click on The Internet TESL Journalwebsite.
  2. Skim the home page.
  3. Imagine that you are beginning a new semester, with new students. You are planning to teach conversation skills during the first week. You need a set of questions. Go to the questions website: Look over the different topics, and choose one for your first lesson on conversation. Then, evaluate the questions.
  4. Are some too difficult for your students? What should you do about those?
  5. Are some inappropriate for your students?
  6. Can you add your own questions?
  7. What should you do about misspellings or grammatical errors in the questions?
  8. Look at the different menu/page options listed on the top navigation bar.
  9. Look at the page containing games. What game looks like fun? Write its name here:

______

  1. DISCUSSION.Look at the page containing jokes. Do you think any of the jokes are funny?Discuss the jokes with your neighbor.

Task #7. Scavenger Hunts for EFL students.

Sometimes students need to pay attention to certain kinds of information on a particular website in order to complete a task or to learn important information. Thus, this task can be characterized as a type of reading comprehension task. Consider the following examples, and then try to think of an internet scavenger hunt idea to use with EFL students.You can think of content areas that students might want to learn about or about English grammar or vocabulary, or anything else that comes to mind.

  • Example 1. Students need to know how to use a travel agency website to book airplane flights, such as
  • Example 2. Students need to be familiar with the range of English language learning resources provided by a school’s English language program website, such as

Write your idea(s) below.

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