ENGLISH IS FUN!

Hola niños:

Os presento una web que es la caña. Como véis podéis:

• Jugar.
• Tenéis actividades tipo "scrabble", "cómo ser millonario" o "pictionary".
• Divertidas hojas de trabajo.
• Concursos.
• Un apartado con chistes, trabalenguas, sinónimos, "termina la frase"...
• Y un área con topics donde podéis encontrar: gramática, vocabulario, ejercicios en inglés.

La web no tiene desperdicio. ¡Di le a tus padres que te la pongan ya pinchando aquí! WEB

Hey there!

This is a very funny web. You can find:

• Games.
• Activities like pictionary, scrabble and millionaire.
• Funny worksheets.
• Quizzes.
• Fun stuff with tongue twister, funny English words, funny idioms, funny anagrams.
• A topic area with English grammar, vocabulary and exercises.

Tell your Dad or Mum to click on it. Have fun WEB

HAVE FUN WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE!! GREAT WEB!!

Hey there:

I present you a special web. You can find:

• Funny worksheets about all areas.
• Colouring pages.
• Flash cards.
• Activities.
• Songs.
• Videos.

Click on it if you want to start WEB

Hola a todos:

La web que os presento a contiuación es espeical porque podéis encontrar:

• Hojas de trabajo divertidas de todas las áreas.
• Páginas para colorear.
• Tarjetas visuales.
• Actividades.
• Canciones.
• Vídeos.

¿A qué esperas? Pincha aquí para empezar :) WEB

DO YOU WANT TO STUDY MORE THAN 100 000 WORDS? :)

No tiene una apariencia atractiva la web, lo sé. Pero podéis buscar más de 100 000 palabras, ¡que se dice pronto! Poquito a poco, iremos incorporando nuevas palabras a nuestro vocabulario.

Aquí os dejo la web VOCABULARIO

SPEAK AND SPELL

Help your learners improve their pronunciation and spelling with the songs, stories, games and spelling tests in the Speak and Spell section on LearnEnglish Kids. This section is based on the Letters and Sounds UK phonics literacy programme. Here are some ideas for using Speak and Spell in class. But first a bit about phonics.

What are phonemes and phonics?
Phonemes are the individual sounds in words. Phonics is a way of teaching which helps children understand language by introducing letters by their sound rather than name.

When we spell letters we usually use the names of individual letters. So we say the first three letters of the alphabet like this: ‘ay, bee, cee’. But it can be easier for children to start by learning the sounds letters make, for example the word ‘cat' is sounded ‘c-a-t' not ‘cee-ay-tee'.

There are 26 letters in the alphabet but phonics uses about 44 sounds that combine or ‘blend’ to make words in English. Students are also taught to recognise sounds made by combinations of letters such as `ch' and `sh'. You can find lots of examples of how to pronounce phonemes on the Internet. Here’s one good example video: You tube video.

The idea is that children can see letters or simple combinations of letters and they are able to say the sound the letters make. Then they can then put these sounds together to make words.

How can I use Speak and Spell in class?
There are four different parts in Speak and Spell. In each one Sam and Pam, the super space spies, help learners with pronunciation and spelling.

Sounds

•    This section is based on discovering sounds through action songs and is perfect for very young learners. Each song encourages children to make sounds using their bodies such as clapping their hands or stamping their feet. They are encouraged to play with sounds and even to make silly sounds.

•    Before listening to the song, click on the icons (an eye, an ear and a book) to see the image of the word, hear the word and then read the word. All of the words are taken from the songs.

•    Play the song (if you don’t want to see the words you can click ‘text off’). You could ask children to do the actions with Sam and Pam the first time they listen then play the song again and encourage them to join in.

•    After singing, children who can read can click on the game under the song to play a vocabulary matching game based on vocabulary from the song.

•    Click on ‘words’ to see the words for the whole song or print them from the downloadable pdf.

Speak

•    The stories in the speak section follow the adventures of Sam and Pam and introduce English phonemes to children. Each story focuses on a different set of phonemes, for example the first adventure, ‘The dog’, introduces the sounds s,a,t,p,i,n,m and d.

•    First practise some words from the story before you listen by clicking on the ‘eye’, ‘ear’ and ‘book’ icons.

•    Play the story. Students can listen and watch or listen, watch and read (click on the ‘read’ icon to see the story words). You could play the story again and encourage learners to join in to practise pronunciation. Pause the story and ask students to listen and repeat sections after you.

•    Finish with a game to practise spelling. Click on ‘game’ under the story and encourage students to burst the balloons in the correct order to spell the word.

•    Click on ‘words’ to see the whole story or download the words to the story to give to your pupils.

Spell

•    Each story in this section contains a spelling rule. For example, The birthday party, focuses on the spelling rules for plurals in English.

•    You can practise some vocabulary from the story before you listen by clicking on the ‘eye’, ‘ear’ and ‘book’ icons.

•    Play the story. You could ask your students to put up their hand each time they hear a plural. Tell the students to look at the picture before you click ‘next’ to continue the story – what plural objects can they see in the picture?

•    There are spelling rules worksheets under the stories. Print these before the lesson either to do in class or as homework. You need to log in to access the worksheets. Follow this link to become a member of LearnEnglish Kids and get your login details:http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/user/register/teachers

•    Finish with the word search game under each story.

•    Click on ‘words’ to see the whole story or download the words to the story.

Tricky words

•    This section deals with high frequency words that are difficult to spell because they can’t be read by combining sounds like ‘c-a-t' to make ‘cat’. Imagine trying to read the word ‘said’ or ‘does’ by blending each letter! Each part of tricky words practises a different tricky spelling aspect, such as words with a soft ‘c’ in Central city cinema!

•    Choose which spelling rule you want to practise and you’ll see that each tricky spelling contains up to 4 games following a natural learning progression from discovery through to practice:

Learn: First students practise matching words and pictures to familiarise themselves with the words.

Find: This is a sorting game where learners have to put words into the same category depending on the sounds or spelling. In this game you can listen and read the words.

Play: Here children can try a multiple-choice quiz to check that they can spell the words.

Spell: This variation on hangman asks children to listen to the word, look at the image and then produce the correct spelling.

•    You’ll find printable spelling tests on the right of the page. Each spelling test has pronunciation help for teachers/parents and a link to a phonemic chart with audio. You could dictate the 10 words to your students then show the correct spelling to the class. Try a different test each week. How many can your learners get right? Remember to praise good results to keep students motivated. Repeat the same test later in the course to show the students how they have improved!

•    Encourage children to send a comment to the Tricky words page to practise their newly learned words. Maybe they can spot spelling mistakes in other comments?

Phonics app

• LearnEnglish Kids: Phonics is based on the Speak and Spell section of the LearnEnglish Kids website.  Parents can collect all the Sam and Pam stories and join a closed family network to share and monitor their child's progress. Great for recommending to parents for extra help at home or for during school holidays.

More materials

• The Speak and spell section is growing! Keep checking the site for more games and printable activities in this section. We’ll let everyone know when new materials are added in theLearnEnglish Kids newsletter.

The UK phonics literacy programme recommends lots of practice. Little and often is a good way to keep your learners happy. Perhaps you could fit a 10-minute Speak and Spell session into each lesson this term to help your learners improve their pronunciation and become super spellers like Sam and Pam!

UN POCO DE HUMOR!

TOUCH OF HUMOR!

TIPS FOR USING STORIES

On the British Council’s site for young learners - LearnEnglish Kids - there are lots of stories which you can use to motivate your students. These stories have been specially written for children learning English. They range from quite simple to quite demanding in terms of the level of difficulty so choose carefully. The stories are currently divided into four sections:

• Short stories: Animated Flash movies for learners aged approx 8-12. These are suitable for lower level learners and above.
• Longer stories: Texts over a number of pages with soundfiles that users can download and listen to. These are for learners aged approx 8-12 and are more suitable for learners with higher levels of English.
• Stories for little kids: Animated Flash movies for learners aged approx 7 and under. Language levels vary but the subject matter is more suitable for younger children. Younger children will need support to use these stories.
• Fairy Tales: Animated Flash movies of traditional stories. These are suitable for all ages, and are appropriate for lower levels and above.
• You can find all the story materials at http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories.htm.  As a teacher using a story in the classroom, there are many ways of using and exploiting the stories to help children understand and add to their enjoyment. On these pages you will find tips for using and exploiting the stories in the classroom.

A. Activities to prepare children for reading

1. Using illustrations

It is always a good idea to exploit pictures to help the child understand and visualise the story. The stories have

illustrations which can be used to introduce the story, elicit vocabulary they know, introduce difficult words in that story, and generally excite the interest of the child for the story. This illustration is from the story ‘Carnival Crime'. Ask learners to look at the picture before reading, and ask questions such as ‘who are the people?'; ‘what are they wearing?' (and why?); ‘what is the cat holding?'; ‘what has happened?'; ‘how is the woman feeling?' etc. Learners will be introduced to vocabulary, will be more able to understand the text, and will be more engaged in the reading task (was I right? Is it a necklace or a watch?) http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-carnival-crime-1.htm

2. Pre-teaching vocabulary

Many of the stories on LearnEnglish Kids are related to a topic. These topics can have ‘specialist' vocabulary which may cause problems in comprehension. You will usually find links to other related exercises on thematic vocabulary which can be taught first. For example, you will find lots of related activities to practise the names

of the animals in the story ‘ABC Zoo' as well as flashcards that you can download to introduce the animals.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-abc-zoo.htm

3. Introduce the theme

Many of the stories are related to a topic. It can be a good idea to familiarise learners with the topic before reading, by trying activities related to the topic on the site, by setting a task to find out about the topic (this could even be for homework), or by discussion (in your own language with lower level learners if you like). For example the story ‘Football Crazy' is about a girl playing in a boys football team, breaking down barriers, adults

treating boys and girls differently. This is an important issue for children. Before reading the story you could ask your learners to name famous footballers, and once you have a list you could see how many famous

players are women. Then you can ask more questions such as ‘why are there so few famous female football players?', ‘what about other sports?' etc. http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-football-crazy.htm 

4. Input cultural background

Many stories assume a knowledge of cultural norms in the UK, for example, the daily school routine. Children are usually interested in finding out the differences between their own culture and the lives of children in the UK. Some stories have more overt cultural background. In the story ‘Hairy Henry's Holiday', typical sights of London are mentioned, such as ‘Big Ben', ‘The London Eye' and ‘Madame Tussauds'. You could use a map or guidebook to London to find out what these are before children read or listen to the story.http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-henry-holiday.htm

B. Activities during reading

1. Use a variety of ways to read

There are many different ways to approach the story. It is quite likely that younger learners will want to read/hear/or listen to the story several times, particularly the shorter, flash-animated ones. This should not be discouraged as it helps learners to equate oral and written forms which is important for the development of reading skills. In the classroom it is important to vary the kind of reading.

 The teacher could use a data projector for a class to listen to/read a story as a whole-class activity

• The teacher could read the whole or parts of the story to a class with the text
• The learners can read by themselves silently, either on-screen whether at school or even as homework
• Some stories can be read as texts with illustrations and then children can watch the flash movie version, or this order could be reversed.

2. Sustaining reading

If the story is very long then it is important to keep the class motivated to read. The teacher could stop at convenient ‘cliff-hanger' points and ask the class ‘what happens next?' This use of prediction skills makes the learners want to read on to the end of the story to find out if their own idea is correct. In a classroom this could be done as a ‘guessing game' if the teacher is controlling the pace of reading. A few of the stories on LearnEnglish Kids have built-in puzzles to keep the learners interested - for example in the story ‘Spycat', students have to type in the destinations from anagrams, and finally solve the coded message. http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-spycat.htm

3. Total physical response

With very young or active learners the story can be mimed while the teacher reads or the children listen. A story like ‘The Snowman' could be used for this. The actions of waking up, running into the garden, building the snowman and the ‘melting' are all easy to mime.http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-snowman.htm

4. Characters and voices

In stories which have a lot of characters you could ask students to read the dialogue of the characters. The teacher could read the dialogue of characters in different voices first. For example the story ‘Alan and the Alien' is fairly long, but could be livened up with acting out the alien funny voices and nonsense words! You could even

create a class project which involves rewriting this (or another) story as a play which could be performed - perhaps with costumes. http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-alien-1.htm

You can download a version of Goldilocks to act out with younger children: http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-goldilocks.htm

5. Vocabulary help

If a child is reading individually at school or at home they could also use Cambridge Dictionaries Online to check on the meanings of unknown words, if the learner is at a high enough level to use this independently. This is available at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

For younger learners there are many accompanying worksheets and online interactive games to practise vocabulary from the stories. In particular the Fairy Stories section contains material accessible and motivating to all levels. You can find a wealth of vocabulary materials on Goldilocks, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood: http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-fairy-tales.htm

C. Post-reading activities

1. Quick comprehension check

It is always a good idea to do a quick comprehension check when your learners have finished reading the story, or at the end of each page of text. This may take the form of a few ‘gist' questions about the text in oral form, asking children for a response e.g. why is this person sad, which character did the children like etc. This could be done in written form. Many stories have worksheets for follow-up work, for example ‘Eric the Engine' has a follow-up worksheet with a sequencing activity to check comprehension. http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-eric-engine.htm

2. Make a poster/illustrate the story

You can use any story as an opportunity for some creative drawing and illustration, perhaps with vocabulary labels in English. For example, in the story ‘Carnival Crime', you could ask a learner to draw the carnival costumes in the story and label them. As a follow-up they could design their own carnival costume or a costume for a festival in their country.

3. Stimulus for writing

Many stories lend themselves to acting as a stimulus for creative writing, depending on the level of your learners. Younger learners or learners who have a lower level of English could use one of the simpler stories as a model for a story of their own. Examples are ‘My Dad' (learners write about a member of their own family) or ‘Magic Spell' (learners choose their own ingredients and outcomes). Learners with a higher level of English could write more complex stories, for example, their own story based in a haunted house (where did they go? What did they see? What happened?)

Other ideas for follow-up writing are writing a letter to a character in a story, writing diary entries for a character in a story, or writing extra dialogues between the characters. http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-my-dad.htm

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-magic-spell.htm

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-haunted-house.htm

4. Role-play/acting out

Interpreting stories as role-play can be as simple or complicated as you like. It could start with miming basic actions, then speaking or improvising dialogue. In the classroom the teacher will need to be organised in advance with moving furniture, providing simple props etc. You could even use facepaints.

Stories like ‘The Monster Shopping trip' are simple to act out. You could draw the presents on card: http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-monster-shoppingtrip.htm.  

For the really ambitious class project you could make masks for the characters. There are downloadable masks available for the characters in the Goldilocks story available at britishcouncil.org/kids-print-mask-goldilocks.pdf and for the story of Little Red Riding Hood you can download a set of finger puppets of the characters to help you act out the story in class. These are available at britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-red-riding-hood-puppets.pdf

INSTANT PUZZLE MAKER!

If you want to make a puzzle while you learn English, click on this elink PUZZLE

PODCASTS: THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS?

VOCABULARY FOR KIDS AND BEGINNERS!

MORE IDIOMS TO STUDY! :)

SPOT THE DRAGON

Hola a todos:

¿Os justan los dragones? ¿Sabrías distinguir de qué dragón está hablando? :)

Pincha aquí a ver si aciertas, ¡suerte! :) ¿QUÉ DRAGÓN ES?

Hey Kids!

Can you discover which dragon are they talking about? :)

Click on it, good luck! WEB

PÁGINA COMPLETÍSIMA PARA PRINCIPIANTES Y EXPERTOS

EXCELLENT WEB FOR BEGINNERS AND EXPERTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

This is an excellent web to practice English for everybody: beginners and experts :)

You can find:

• Vocabulary.
• Dialogues.
• You can speak online with people of your English Language level.
• Exams.

It´s a complete web! Don´t waste time, start now! ;) LESSONS

La web que os presento a continuación ofrece lecciones de inglés para todo tipo de usuarios: desde A1 hasta B2, de una manera lúdica y efectiva.

Ofrece:

• Vocabulario.

• Diálogos con scripts para continuar la conversación si se quiere.

• Puedes hablar online con gente de tu nivel para practicar speaking.

• Tienes exámenes para evaluar lo aprendido.

¡¡Merece mucho la pena!! Pincha en la web y comienza tus lecciones LECCIONES

MORE VOCABULARY! :)

Study as much as you can or want :) Enjoy! Click on it to start WEB

VÍDEO EN ESPAÑOL SOBRE LOS EXÁMENES DE CAMBRIDGE

Pincha en el enlace para ver el vídeo de RTVE VÍDEO

CANSAD@ DEL TÍPICO DICCIONARIO DE INGLÉS?

DO YOU WANT TO SEE A NEW VISUAL DICTIONARY?

El diccionario que os presento a continuación es fantástico. Es un diccionario interactivo visual que te ayuda a encontrar las palabras y sus conexiones de una manera muy atractiva. Introduce la palabra en el box y te aparece conectada como ves en el dibujo.

Aquí te dejo la web DICCIONARIO VISUAL

It´s an online interactive English dictionary and thesaurus that helps you find the meanings of words and draw connections to associated wordsl You can easily see the meaning of each by simply placing the mouse cursor over it. Have a look the example :) VISUAL DICTIONARY

¿TIENES PROBLEMAS CON LA PRONUNCIACIÓN?

Os dejo una web que os permite escuchar como se pronuncian "un sin fin de palabras" e incluso, si queréis, podéis incorporar las vuestras :)

¡Y si ya de paso queréis aprender cómo se dice en otro idioma, también podéis! :)

Pincha aquí si quieres comenzar PRONUNCIAR

Hey there!

I have just found a Universal web where you can listen how you must pronounce English words and even words from all around the World! You can add your own words! :)

Click on it if you want to start now PRONUNCIATION

¿QUIERES PRACTICAR EL PRESENT PERFECT CANTANDO RAP? :)

Hola chicos:

Os presento una canción rapera para que practiquéis el present perfect. ¡¡Disfrutad!!

Pincha aquí y...¡¡a cantar!! CANCIÓN

Hey there!
Do you want to sing a rap song and practice the present perfect at the same time? Come on!
Click on it and let´s sing! RAP SONG

ASSESSMENT

Watch the next video where a couple is discussing about testing and assessment. Listen their ideas and opinions about how best to assess learners of English.

What do you think about it ASSESSMENT

¡MEJOREMOS NUESTRO OÍDO! :)

IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS :)

Os presento un set de audios de un grupo de jóvenes que charlan sobre sus vidas tomando un café.

Un excusa perfecta para que afinemos nuestro oído :)

Pincha aquí si quieres empezar ya (tiene el texto de la charla) :) AUDIO CON SCRIPTS

Hey there!

In this audio soap set in London a group of young people from around the world share their lives over a cup of coffee.

Improve your listening skills ;) AUDIO WITH SCRIPTS

In this audio soap set in London a group of young people from around the World share their lives over a cup of coffee :)

BIBLIOMANÍA

In this web you can find:

• Free online Literature with more than 2000 Classic Texts.
• Literature Book Notes, Author Biographies, Book Summaries and Reference Books.
• Read Classic Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Short Stories and Contemporary Articles and Interviews.
• Study Guides to the most read books and Help for Teachers.
• Research reference books, Dictionaries, Quotations, Classics non-fiction, Biographies and Religious texts.

Click on it to start visiting it BIBLIOMANIA

Esta web es impresionante, te veras. Pincha ahí para verla si quieres. BIBLIOMANIA

LEARN BOOST

LearnBoost is the best gradebook software on the web and IT´S FREE! Its beautiful design and intuitive user experience make you wonder why you´ve been using other grade books. Its newfound productivity means you can spend more time doing what you do best: TEACHING!

I will show you some pictures you can imaging how it works

Click on it to install the application LEARNBOOST

                                 

                                 

WORD ON THE STREET!

Word on the street is an exciting new English Language teaching programme co-produced by the BBC and the British Council. It looks at how English works in everyday life and presents lively aspects of young British culture. Each half hour episode is filmed in a different place in the UK and features drama, interviews and reports to help you improve your English language skills.

Click on it to start :) WORD ON THE STREET

One of the most remarkable aspects of modern education is the great diversity of today’s classroom. Thanks to mainstreaming and inclusion policies, students of all abilities study in all classrooms from kindergarten through college, even when they have physical, psychological, or cognitive disabilities that seem too challenging to integrate or excluded them from traditional classrooms in the past. This has been a benefit not just for disabled students, who gain  educational opportunities, but also for their non-disabled colleagues, who learn that a student with a disability is in most ways just the same as they are, and no one to fear.

However, this integration creates challenges for educators. For example, the cost of teaching disabled students has more and more often fell on the already-stretched budgets of public schools. As one American school official told Huffington Post, this “raises an ethical responsibility question. We welcome our students with special needs, but the most expensive programming is on public districts.” This means that many schools may not be able to afford the kinds of special tools and equipment that may be needed.

In some instances, online college programs are also inaccessible to many students. A study by Wichita State University showed that “as many as 80% of all online instructors do not consider the needs of students with disabilities when designing or instructing their courses despite the high percentage of post-secondary students with disabilities.” This situation has resulted in a lowsuit against the University of Montana, brought by the school’s Alliance for Disability and Students at the University of Montana on behalf of students who could not enroll in important courses for their major that are only available online. 

Thankfully, educators today can implement many new technologies to make their courses more accessible at little to no cost, to aid students with disabilities, whether those students are in a traditional or online classroom. While most people may be familiar with alternative keyboards and touch screens that replace traditional touch-type keyboards for people with mobility challenges, other new technologies are constantly in development, and each is a great boon to the learning process, opening doors, expanding learning experiences and even broadening the parameters of what can be learned for millions of students.

Check out some of the many tools that students can use to access your course materials and participate in online courses:

1. Screen readers are described by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) as “software programs that allow blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer.” The AFB suggests them for those with low vision, because “learning to listen to speech output will prove more productive for such individuals than struggling to read text while leaning close to the computer screen.” 
2. Word talk is a free add-in for Microsoft Word, this program can read aloud any document written in Word and create audio files that can be saved. In addition, assistive technology expert Paul Hamilton writes that “WordTalk functions can be accessed by customizable keyboard shortcuts–for individuals with vision challenges, or those who cannot use a mouse effectively, or to speed the work of anyone who relies extensively on WordTalk.” In addition, students with reading disabilities can also use screen readers to help them understand course materials.   
3. Word prediction programs include a number of different applications, some of which can be downloaded from the Internet, are available to help students with writing challenges. Word predictors “can help a user during word processing by ‘predicting’ a word the user intends to type. Predictions are based on spelling, syntax, and frequent/recent use. This prompts kids who struggle with writing to use proper spelling, grammar, and word choices, with fewer keystrokes.” Students who struggle with memory difficulties might find this program useful, too. 
4. Supernova access suite is “a complete screen reader with natural sounding speech and integrated screen magnifier with Braille display support.” This product can be downloaded from YourDolphin.com, which also offers a free trial so that students can make sure it will work for them. This company offers many varieties of this technology, making it easy for students to select the right program for their needs. 
5. Video magnifiers are also sometimes described as a form of closed-circuit television (CCTV) that “uses a video camera to display a magnified image on a monitor or television screen.” Students with low vision can use them to read their course materials with greater ease. A company named Ulva offers a variety of styles for students to choose from to suit their academic requirements. 
6. Close captioning and subtituling: Services such as those provided by the CPC company can be used on both Mac and Windows formats, and enable deaf students to watch the same online video material as their colleagues. This makes it easier for them to participate in online courses that offer video lectures of their professors. They can also use the program to create their own videos with subtitles or close-captioning, which may come in handy for students with speech disorders. 
7. Facemode: For students with limited mobility, Claro’s FaceMouse turns a standard webcam into a mouse operator, allowing students to use their head and facial gestures to perform a number of tasks, including pointing the cursor, clicking on sites, or typing on the keyboard. For example, “Claro FaceMouse effectively turns the user’s head into a remote ‘joystick’ controller. Claro FaceMouse has a variable setting for sensitivity, making the mouse pointer easier to control. Specific head or facial actions can be linked to keyboard presses. ‘Head Down’ can be assigned as the ‘Down Cursor’, and ‘Mouth Open’ could be ‘Enter Key’. All the various face actions can be assigned to a keystroke.” 
8. Sip-and-puff system: A truly innovative tool that makes computer use easier for students with mobility challenges, including paralysis and fine motor skill difficulties, sip-and-puff systems allow users to control a mouthstick, similar to a joystick, using their breath. Students can direct the mouthstick to click on web pages, type, and perform other functions. 

These technologies can make an enormous difference to students by increasing accessibility and academic performance. No matter what programs you decide to implement or suggest to students, it is important to remember that students using these technologies may require more time to complete assignments and participate in online forums. Also, make sure that the materials you use in your courses are clearly written, scanned properly, and in other ways easy for assistive technologies to access.

One way to do this is to learn more about Universal Design for Learning, a method of preparing course materials, classroom activities, and lectures in such a way that students of all abilities can access and understand them. The National Center on Universal Design for Learning in the United States is a good place to start because it is dedicated to “creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.” 

Finally, if you would like to learn more about the different kinds of technologies that are appropriate for your classes, you can use Dell´s assistive tecnology configuration tools , which will help you determine the software and hardware best suited to your students’ needs.  You might also consider joining one of the many  several associations and groups that work to provide students with access to assistive technologies, such as the Alliance for Technology Access. 

Remember that no matter what you do, it will help expand opportunities for a great variety of students to become more intellectually fulfilled and succeed in their academic goals. 

BRITAIN IS GREAT!

This web contains series of twelve videos shows different aspects of the best of Britain. They´re not just about the country, though. There are lots of exercises to help you improve your English. 

The videos are lively and fast-moving (best if you´re already confident with your English).

You don´t have time to kill, click on it BRITAIN IS GREAT

¿ESTÁS UN POCO PEGADO EN INGLÉS? 

EMPIEZA CON ESTO!

Hola a todos:

Alguno de vosotros me ha pedido que suba material para practicar listenings que al parecer estáis un poco pegados. ¡Ninguno nace sabiendo! :)

Aquí os dejo una web en la que podéis encontrar un montón de listenings with scripts que ayuda un montón a entender completamente el audio.

¡Cuanto más practiquéis, antes veréis las mejoras! Pincha aquí A2/B1 LISTENINGS WITH SCRIPTS

Is listening skills not your strong point? I present you a web where you can find lots of elementary podcasts with scripts so you can improve your listening skill. 

Click on it to start A2/B1 ELEMENTARY PODCASTS

¿ESTÁS PEGADO EN GRAMÁTICA? ¡ÉSTA ES TU WEB!

IS NOT GRAMMAR YOUR STRONG POINT?

Click on it, don´t doubt it! GRAMMAR

Pincha aquí y empieza a practicar si quieres :) GRAMÁTICA

SKYPE IN CLASSROOM

Hola a todos:

Muchos de vosotros usáis Skype para comunicaros con personas que están en otros países. Esta aplicación también te da la posibilidad de poner en contacto a profesores de unos países con otros, de modo que dos clases que se encuentran en países distintos estén en contacto.

Pulsa aquí para probarla SKYPE

Hey there!

Most of you use Skype to call people abroad. You can also use this application to keep in touch with foreing students. You can make free group video calls. I invite teachers to apply for free group video calling to help you get the most out of Skype in the classroom.

Click on it to start to login in SKYPE

MULTIPLES INTELLIGENCES: GARDNER

¡NO puedo evitarlo: me encanta!

It´s a theory that was developed to document the fact that human beings have very different kinds of intellectual strengths and that these strengths are very, very important in how kids learn and how people represent things in their minds, and then how people use them in order to show what it is that they´ve understood.

Do you want to know more? Just watch the video. MULTIPLES INTELLIGENCES

VOCABULARY ABOUT MOBILE PHONE

MAY/MIGHT

WHY DON´T WE EXCHANGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCES?

This website helps English Language teachers to exchange resources:

• worksheets.
• lesson plans.
• activities...

Its collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. If you want to download, you have to send your own contributions.

You can select different levels, ages and even resources as you can see in the picture.

Click on this elink to visit it.ESL printables

ABOUT TIME!

Watch the following video and practice TIME

!

BET YOU DIDN´T KNOW: ST. PATRICK´S DAY! :)

Click on it and tell me the truth :) St. Patrick´s day

!

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN SPECIALISM VOCABULARY?

Click on it and start :) VIDEO

¿QUIERES PRACTICAR FCE EXAMS (B2)?

Navegando por internet esta tarde, me he encontrado esta web que es muy práctica como podéis imaginar para preparar el examen del First Certificate. Pincha aquí y suerte :) VIDEO

5 TIPS TO HELP YOU LEARN ENGLISH ...FAST! :)

Wacht this video and find the answers! :) VIDEO