A collection of 45 Webtools which can be used to practise the 4 skills in language learning.

1. Developing the 4
SKILLS using
Webtools
Speaking – Listening
Reading – Writing
Activities for Language Learners
Ana Maria Menezes
April - 2011

2. CONTENTS
About my Internet venture
Chapter 1
Why webtools?
Chapter 2
SPEAKING
Chapter 3
Voki * Recordr * Showbeyond * Audioboo *
Fotobabble * Sketchcast * Intervue * English
Central * Voicethread
LISTENING
Chapter 4
Lyrics Training * Movie Sounds * English Attack
* Smories * Listen a minute * Fairy Tale
dictations * Listen and Write * 10 questions
TIME * Listening Dictations * Manythings.org *
60 Second Recap * Movie trailer dictations *
One-minute World News
WRITING
Chapter 5
Typewithme * Fodey * Livetyping * Letterpop *
Bitstrips * Maxmydream * Writerhymes * Video
Writing prompts * Magnetic Poetry * Text in
Shapes * Wish Tree * Future me * Write for ten
* Folding Story * Penzu
READING
Chapter 6
Learn with Newspapers * Teleprompter *
American Stories * Short Stories for ESL learners
* Chuck Graphic Novels * Aesop’s Fables *
Reading Ring * Interactive Stories
About the author
Chapter 7

3. CHAPTER 1
About my internet venture.
Ana Maria Menezes
In 2006, I had the pleasure to learn about Web 2.0 during a workshop given by Carla Arena
and Erika Cruvinel, two amazing Brazilian educators.
What fascinated me the most about these new tools was the possibility to bring our
classroom walls down and integrate our students with the world, making the experience
of learning English more meaningful and real. Furthermore, exploring the internet
potential for education has proven to be tremendously rich to me as a person and an
educator.
Via internet, I have learned a lot by exchanging ideas with peers all over the world,
building wonderful connections with professionals I wouldn't have met otherwise. I have
also learned that we all have something to teach one another.
My blogging experience started with very tiny steps, posting about sites I came across and
moved on to share the outcomes of classroom activities using internet tools. LIFE FEAST
(my blog) has helped me reflect about my teaching practice, learn about myself and has
enabled me to reach out for the world.

4. CHAPTER 2
Why Webtools?
If you have a child at home, you might have noticed the differences between this
generation and the generations before the internet.
How do students learn nowadays?
• They google everything they want to know about.
• They watch videos and tutorials to learn how to do things.
• They use social network sites to interact, share information and ask for help.
• They prefer to learn by doing, experimenting, creating.
In order to understand our students better, let's consider the differences between old
learners and new learners, according to a presentation created by Kiran Budhrani
(slideshare presentation)
http://www.slideshare.net/kiranb/elearning-21st-century-perspectives-on-teaching-learning-and-technology
Our students, as all digital natives, don’t regard teachers as their main source of
knowledge, actually, they can naturally have access to any piece of information with one
single click any time they want.
So, what is our new role as Teachers?

5. A new reality has evolved. If our students today are more goal-oriented, multi-taskers,
tech-savvy, consider learning as a social activity and prefer hands-on activities, we need to
rethink the way we prepare our lessons. Our classes should involve less transmission of
knowledge and more opportunities for our students to analyze, discuss, collaborate and
create new content based on the knowledge they have learned about.
Bearing the new learners in mind and their need for hands-on activities to personalize
knowledge, how can webtools help our students internalize language more
meaningfully?
This book brings a selection of 45 webtools which can be used to practise the 4 Skills in
language learning:
READING – WRITING – LISTENING - SPEAKING

6. CHAPTER 3
SPEAKING
When you ask students why they are learning English, most of them say they want to learn
how to SPEAK the language. Contradictorily, the speaking practice is concentrated to the
moments IN the classroom only. Until now, it was unthinkable to assign speaking
homework to language students, however, now with webtools students can easily record
themselves from any computer with internet access and send the file or link to their
teacher.
Suggested Tools
With Voki students can create
speaking avatars in order to add
their own voice recordings or to
use the text-to-speech feature.
Example:
http://technology4kids.pbworks.com/w/page/24
535850/Voki-Talking-Avatars#StudentExamples
ACTIVITIES
• Students can record themselves reading a text from their course book for
pronunciation evaluation.
• Students can record themselves talking about themselves, their homes, best
friends, what they have learned that week and so on.
• The teacher can record himself making questions, send the speaking avatar to
students who then have to record a reply answering the questions.

7. RECORDR
http://recordr.tv/
Recordr allows students to record their video or audio only. The recording can then be
sent via e-mail or embedded in a webpage.
ACTIVITIES
• Students can record an interview, send it to a classmate who has to record a reply
answering the questions.
• Students can make weekly recordings talking about what they have learned that
week.
• Students can record book reports or film recommendations.
• Pairs of students can record themselves roleplaying a dialogue.
Example: http://culturainglesaudi.wikispaces.com/A%20Happy%20day%20in%20my%20Life

8. SHOWBEYOND
http://showbeyond.com
With Showbeyond students can tell
stories adding images and audio.
http://www.showbeyond.com/
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students to write down sentences describing their daily routine. Then students
prepare a Showbeyond adding images which represent their sentences and include their
own voices reading the sentences.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsZ8ZDV4cMg
- Ask students to write a story starting with a prompt and then record themselves. They
select images which could represent the sentences being narrated.
Example: http://www.showbeyond.com/show/view?
sid=f7fb685b069ea7735525c558d34a310d
- After teaching sequence connectors (Ex: first, then, after that) ask students to write a
story and then create a slideshow with images and narration.

9. - Use it to create book or film summaries.
AUDIOBOO
http://audioboo.fm
A tool for recording audio from
your desktop or using iphone /
android. Great podcasting tool with
no need to download any program.
*If you synchronize your audioboo account with your posterous account (blogging
platform) you can use your cell phone as a recording + publishing device.
ACTIVITIES
- ask students to create mini-dialogues using language they have learned recently. Then
record them roleplaying their dialogues. Publish the recording in a class blog and then use
the different dialogues for listening comprehension.
- throughout the semester, invite different students to record themselves reading
sentences they have created using new vocabulary. The same recordings can be used for
listening comprehension practice.
- ask students to record an interview someone in their families who can speak English.

10. Example: http://anamariacult.posterous.com/podcast-in-posterous
FOTOBABBLE
http://fotobabble.com
Upload a picture and add your own
narration. Share the link or embed
it in a blog.
ACTIVITIES
- Students can make a research about famous people and then choose one to record a
fotobabble. As a follow-up, teacher could prepare some questions for students to answer
while listening to the recordings.
- Use the site for picture description (my city, my house, my best friend, my pet, my
neighbourhood).
- Research about Great inventions. Each student is responsible for adding an image of the
invention and talking about how and when it was created.
- Add a childhood photo and talk about the past using USED TO and verbs in the past.

11. SKETCHCAST
http://sketchcast.com/
It's incredibly simple, you register freely, and click to create your recording. Choose the
option of the audio, give it a title and start recording. You can listen to a preview before
publishing. As soon as it's published you're offered an embed code for publishing. During
the sketchcast you can record yourself while you draw and type.
ACTIVITIES
- Students record themselves while drawing their family members and talking about them.
Ex: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2010/10/practise-speaking-with-sketchcast.html
- Students record themselves describing their own houses.
- Teacher gives prompts to students: name, age, school, hobbies, likes and dislikes OR
expressions such as I'm good at, I'm interested in, I'm afraid of, I'm worried about . Then,
students record themselves drawing while speaking.

12. INTERVUE
http://intervue.me/
Post a question and invite people
to leave video responses.
ACTIVITIES
- Perfect tool for asking students' opinion about a controversial issue. As a follow-up, they
could watch the videos and check if more people are for or against the statement.
- The teacher creates a general question such as: tell me about your family, tell me about
a frightening experience, tell me about your wishes and dreams. The topic could be
selected according to the kind of language the teacher wishes to assess. First, the teacher
can present the topic to the whole class so that they can talk about it in pairs. Then, for
homework, students record their video responses.
- The teacher chooses 10 words from the lesson and in class, asks students to write a
poem or a mini-saga trying to use as many words as they can. Intervue is then used to
create a video showcase of students' production.
ENGLISH CENTRAL
http://englishcentral.com

13. Watch a video, learn vocabulary,
record yourself reading the
transcript and the site not only
evaluates your pronunciation but
also points out where you should
improve.
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students to create a free account and practise pronunciation on a regular basis. You
can ask the whole class to practise a given video or let students choose the video
according to the level of difficulty.
VOICETHREAD
http://voicethread.com
A presentation tool where students can add photos and a narration. Anyone who watches
the presentation can leave audio, video or written comments.
ACTIVITIES

14. - The teacher can build a voicethread for the whole classroom where each student is
responsible for recording the narration to one page.
Example: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2010/06/project-describing-pictures-making.html
- The teacher creates a voicethread for the whole class to participate together talking
about the same topic. Ex: How do you celebrate Easter in your family?
Example: http://voicethread.com/share/1016867/
- Joint project: different groups of students can collaborate on the same voicethread.
Example: http://voicethread.com/share/80778/
- Teacher can create a voicethread inviting students to practise language for homework.
Example: Great examples by David Deubelbeiss
http://voicethread.com/#q.b9458.i66065
- Scan pictures made by your students, then record each student describing their picture.
Example: http://voicethread.com/share/1476987/
- PROJECT: each student builds an individual voicethread throughout the semester. Each
recording should include language learned recently.
Example: http://culturainglesaudi.wikispaces.com/Voicethread+Inter+A
CHAPTER 4
LISTENING
Years ago, the only tools we had available for listening practice were CDs from course
books and videos. With the internet, a wide variety of material is available to teachers and
students.

15. Suggested Tools
LYRICS TRAINING
http://lyricstraining.com
How to make your own listening activity:
http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2011/01/creating-your-own-song-activity.html
Listen to video clips and complete the gaps in the lyrics. You can use the song bank or
create your own song activity providing a Youtube URL and the lyrics.
ACTIVITIES
- In class, ask different students to come to the keyboard and try to type the missing word.

16. - At the lab, students can all work on the same song. As a follow-up, the teacher can
dictate some sentences from the song as a dictation.
-PROJECT: Use several song activities from the same film (or the same band) throughout
the semester and then watch the film with the students.
Example: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-songs-by-beatles-across.html
MOVIESOUNDS
http://michel.barbot.pagesperso-orange.fr/hotpot/movies.htm
Audio snippets from various famous films.
ACTIVITIES
- In class, do the listening activities as a group.
- Encourage students to use the site at home and work at their own pace.
ENGLISH ATTACK
http://www.english-attack.com

17. Practise listening with Movie snippets. First, they provide you with a vocabulary list to
study, then you watch the video, finally you answer comprehension questions and
practice the target vocabulary. Perfect for IWB.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (on the IWB), go through a video activity with the whole group.
- At the lab or at home, have students work on the same video. As a follow-up, as
students if they can remember the target words and then make sentences using
them.
SMORIES
http://www.smories.com/
Bank of vídeos of children reading stories. Many of the videos are subtitled.

18. ACTIVITIES
- Choose one specific story, pre-teach vocabulary, play the story once, ask students
in pairs to tell each other what they understood, play the story again and ask
comprehension questions.
- Ask students to watch one specific story at home and send them comprehension
questions via e-mail as a homework task.
- PROJECT: Help students learn how to write a story. Students write their stories and
record themselves as the videos in Smories. The videos can be published on a class
blog and used for listening practice.
LISTEN A MINUTE
http://www.listenaminute.com/
Choose a topic and grab various activities for the same listening: gap-fill, correct the
spelling, unjumble the words, a discussion, a survey and suggestions for homework. Print
the ones you prefer.
Appropriate for beginner and pre-intermediate levels.
ACTIVITIES
- Select a topic which is relevant to the lesson you’re teaching. Select different types
of activities so that you can work with the same listening in different ways.
- Use one of two of the listening activities and then develop the discussion proposed
at the bottom.

19. - Work with the listening and then propose the writing task.
- Explore the Homework suggestions for extension work.
FAIRY TALE DICTATIONS
http://eolf.univ-fcomte.fr/index.php?page=fairy-stories-listening-exercises
Listen to famous fairy tales and type in the words.
ACTIVITIES

20. - Tell students they are going to hear a fairy tale (Ex: Little Red Riding Hood). Ask
them to talk in pairs about what they know about that story. Before playing the
story for the first time, ask students to predict what words are part of the story
and type them in to check. Play the listening a first time only for general
understanding. Ask different students to come to the keyboard, listen to a line,
pause and then type. Once the story is complete, play the story one more time to
let students read the whole story.
LISTEN AND WRITE
https://www.listen-and-write.com
Listening dictations in 3 modes: type all the words, type the first letter only or complete
the gaps. Use the dictation bank or customize your own listening dictation adding an mp3
recording and a transcript.
How to make your own listening dictation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmUveXAg5e4&tracker=False

21. ACTIVITIES
- In class (IWB), do a listening dictation with the whole class, having different
students come to the keyboard and type the missing words.
- At home, ask students to create their free account and let them select a dictation
of their choice.
- After teaching a grammar topic, ask students to create sentences using the
grammar structure and then record students reading their sentences. Use the mp3
recording to create a listening dictation with the students’ voice. Do the dictation
in class with the whole group.
10 QUESTIONS TIME
http://www.youtube.com/show/10questions
Time interview videos in Youtube. Time asks 10 questions to a celebrity.
ACTIVITIES
- Students predict the 10 questions which will be asked to a celebrity. Then, they can
watch and confirm the prediction.
- The teacher gives students the 10 questions beforehand and pairs of students try
to predict the answer. Students then listen and check.
- Students imagine they are going to interview the same celebrity. The teacher
records videos of students asking questions. Students watch the real interview to
compare.

22. - ROLEPLAY: Pairs create an imaginary interview. Record the video: one student is
the interviewer and the other is the celebrity. Publish all interviews to the same
class blog and share with parents.
LISTENING DICTATIONS
The following sites can also be used to create listening activities:
VOKI RECORDR
AUDIOBOO BLABBERIZE
All the sites above have been described in the SPEAKING chapter, except for Blabberize.
With Blabberize you upload any image from your computer, draw the lines for a mouth,
add a recording and you have a talking image.

23. ACTIVITIES
- Select a text which is related to the content you’re teaching. Record yourself
reading the text and send it to students via e-mail or post it at their class blog.
Students then, at home, have to listen to the recording , transcribe it and send it to
the teacher via e-mail.
- Instead of recording yourself for the listening dictation, select a student to make
the recording.
Example: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2011/02/task-challenge-1.html
MANYTHINGS.org
http://www.manythings.org/listen/
Great site for practising two skills: LISTENING and READING.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (on the IWB) let students listen and read a text. Ask individual students to
read the target sentence after each recording. Prepare some post-reading
activities or discussion questions after the reading/listening.
- Ask students to read/listen to a specific text at home and answer questions.

24. - Teach students about the “Murmuring” technique (students listen to a recording
and try to read along at the same speed with very low voice). At the lab or at
home, ask students to practice murmuring a listening text to practice listening and
pronunciation.
60SECOND RECAP
http://www.60secondrecap.com/
Watch video summaries of many famous novels in English. The videos are short, visually
appealing and quickly summarizes, the story, the plot, the cast and so on.
ACTIVITIES
- Show students two video recaps, from different books. Ask students to compare
the books and discuss which book they would find more interesting. Students can
then choose the book they would like to read for a book report.
- Prepare comprehension activities for one of the videos. Students watch it and do
the activities before reading the book or a comic book based on famous classics.
http://www.classicalcomics.com/

25. MOVIE TRAILER DICTATIONS
http://eolf.univ-fcomte.fr/index.php?page=movie-trailers-dictation-exercises
Listen to and watch the movie trailer, then type in the missing letters.
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students if they have seen the film. If so, ask the students who have seen the
film to quickly tell the other students a little bit about it. In class, play the listening
once for general understanding. Ask different students to come to the keyboard to
type the letters missing in a sentence. When they have completed everything, ask
students to listen and murmur (read along in a low voice).
- Another variation is to copy and paste the text on a piece of paper and give it to
students. Play the listening once for general understanding. Play the listening again
without pauses and this time students try to complete as many gaps as they can on
their slips of paper. Different students come to the board to type while everyone
corrects the dictation.
- For less famous films, do the listening dictation in class and then ask students to
talk in pairs about what they think the film is going to be about.
ONE-MINUTE WORLD NEWS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=One-minute%20World%20News

26. Watch the latest headlines from BBC One-minute World News.
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students to predict what headline they are going to watch. If they get it right,
ask them what they already know about the news. Play the video once and then
ask students to discuss what they understand in pairs. Play the video again and this
time ask some questions to see how much they have understood.
- Encourage students to watch the one-minute world news on a regular basis at
home and ask them at the beginning of class, the news they have watched
recently.
CHAPTER 5
WRITING
Suggested Tools
TYPEWITHME

27. http://typewith.me/
A student starts a document and then shares the link so that other people can collaborate.
Different writers are identified by different colours.
ACTIVITIES
- Students can build a joint story or a dialogue with other students synchronously or
asynchronously.
- Different groups of students can collaborate on the same text, adding extra words,
adjectives or even making corrections.
- Students can draft a text and share it with the teacher for suggestions and
corrections.
FODEY
http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

28. Type any short text and the site
generates a newspaper image with it.
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students to create short texts using specific vocabulary or structure. Publish
them in a class blog.
- In class, students build a joint story using narrative tenses (S. Past, Past Cont., Past
Perf). Each student can type a sentence, when all students have contributed click
GENERATE and publish it.
- Students write amazing stories. Publish in a class blog along with a poll where
students vote for the best story. http://pt.surveymonkey.com/
LIVETYPING
http://livetyping.com/

29. Everything you type and all the alterations you make are recorded. Then, click ENLIVEN,
embed the text in a blog or webpage.
ACTIVITIES
- In class, students build a story together using new vocabulary. Click Enliven and let
students see how the story was built.
- At home, students write their opinions to one specific topic. The comments are
then posted together in a class blog to build a thread. The teacher can use this
material to observe how students created their comments, what mistakes they
made, what they have changed and corrected.
- In class, the teacher types a sentence stem in livetyping. Then, different students
have to complete the sentence using different ideas but keeping the same
beginning. Click enliven, and let students watch their sentences.
- Type a short sentence, then ask students to change the sentence adding / changing
one or two words only.
- At home, students write a short story using new grammar structure and
vocabulary. The stories are then published together in a class blog.
Example: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2010/05/students-create-min-story-with-
live.html
LETTERPOP

30. http://letterpop.com
An easy way to publish newsletters. Choose a template, upload images, add the
text, share the link or print it. A beautiful way of publishing longer texts.
ACTIVITIES
- Students write short stories, add illustrations, choose a template and share the link
with the class. Students choose the short stories they liked the most.
- Students use letterpop to write down their compositions, adding a nice template
and including photos or images.
- Great way of creating book reports, film reviews, biographies.
BITSTRIPS
http://www.bitstrips.com
A comic strip creator.

31. First of all, you create your own avatar, which can be included in your comic
strips. Then, you can start creating your comic strip. There's a variety of characters,
scenes, furniture, props and effects you can choose from.
After creating your comic strip, publish it and click SHARE to get the embed code. You can
publish the strip viewer or grab the image for the comic strip .
ACTIVITIES
- Students create dialogues using new vocabulary.
- Students create interviews.
- Book reports or book summaries.
- Create a comic strip as a result of a research project
- Students make a comic strip introducing themselves to the group.
- The teacher can create comic strips to present content.
- Students turn song lyrics into a comic strip.
MAXMYDREAM
http://www.maxmydream.com/

32. You can write your dream in a 140 characters and then see it animated. After typing in
your dream, you can share it via Twitter, facebook or even embed it in a blog.
ACTIVITIES
- In class, have students talk in pairs about their dreams for the world or for
themselves, then ask them to write about their dream in a maximum of 140
characters. At home, they use the site and share the link or embed their dream in a
class blog below the original dream they wrote.
- You can also have students write their dreams show the video to sts in class, and
have sts guess from the images what the original words were.
- In class, students talk about a dream they’ve had recently or a crazy dream they
usually have, then ask volunteers to type their dream, and the whole class can see
it animated.
- In class, the whole class can create a crazy dream, type it in and watch the
animation.
WRITE RHYMES

33. http://www.writerhymes.com/
Type in the text box, then whenever you want a rhyme just hold the Alt Key and click on
the word. You can save, copy or print it when you’re done.
ACTIVITIES
- Select some funny rhymes from http://www.funnyjunksite.com/funny/funny-
rhymes/ and ask students to highlight the rhymes. Check understanding. Then, ask
students to use the site Write Rhymes to create their own funny rhyme.
- Show to students the well known “Roses are red, violets are blue” poem and ask
them to create funny versions with the same beginning using the site.
- In class, ask each student to type a sentence which rhymes with the previous one.
Then, save the text for sharing.
VIDEO WRITING PROMPTS
http://www.teachhub.com/video-writing-prompts/cat/24

34. The site brings several videos which can inspire writing. The writing suggestions are
divided by grade.
ACTIVITIES
- Show the video to students in class, have them talk about it in pairs and then use
the writing suggestions to prompt writing in class or for homework.
MAGNETIC POETRY
http://www.magneticpoetry.com/poetgame/create.swf?k=4
Drag words from the right sidebar and drop them into the blue board to form a poem.
When your text is ready, click SUBMIT POEM.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (on the IWB), use the site to build a poem with the whole class.
- In class (on the IWB) build the first two lines of a poem with the whole class with
magnetic poetry, then for homework ask students to finish the poem using their
imagination. Let students read each other poems the following class.

35. - Select 5 words from the sidebar and drag them to the blue box. Ask students to
write a short paragraph using the 5 words. Then, students exchange their texts so
that they can read what each person has produced.
TEXT IN SHAPES
http://www.festisite.com/text-layout/#2,0
Type or paste a text and the site will turn your text into several shapes.
ACTIVITIES
- For Homework, ask students to write messages to each other using a shape they
choose. They print it and give the texts the following class.
- Ask students to write a text introducing themselves to the group. They print it and
stick everyone’s introduction on the walls so that students can read them.
- Have students prepare messages for Mother’s day and use the site to print their
texts.
- Revision Game: Divide the class into two groups. Write words you wish to revise on
slips of paper. Build a story with the whole class. Students from each group take a
word and have to type a sentence using the target word. The whole group can help
giving suggestions. Print the complete text and ask students to identify the target
words used.

36. WISH TREE
http://www.wishtree.org/
Add a wish to the wish tree under different topics: life, love, travel, work. Wishes can
be private or public. You need a free account in order to add a wish.
ACTIVITIES
- Explore one of the trees to show students how to write wishes for the present,
past and future. Select one of the trees for students to add their wishes. Ask
students to check each other wishes and then click on the heart icon below the
wishes they like. Ask the whole class what wishes were the most common.
FUTURE ME
http://futureme.org/

37. Write a letter to your future self. Your letter can be private or public (but anonymous).
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students to talk in pairs about what they would like to say to their future self.
Let students explore some of the public letters. Ask students to write a letter to
their future self and make it public. Students read each other letters and click LIKE
if they find the letter interesting.
WRITE FOR TEN
http://www.writeforten.com/

38. ACTIVITIES
- Take students to the lab. Individually, students have 10 minutes to write about
anything they like. A timer controls the 10 minutes a person is allowed to write.
When time is over, they click POST.
- Students can write about their day, wishes for the future, how they are feeling that
day.
- Students read each other writings, click LIKE if they find it interesting and can even
share them in orkut, twitter or facebook.
FOLDING STORY
http://foldingstory.com/

39. A web version of the traditional Write, Fold and Pass activity for the group storytelling
game. Create your free account and you can start a story or contribute to a folding story .
You have 4 minutes to write and use a maximum of 180 characters.
ACTIVITIES
- Start a story for your students to contribute to it at home. Then, at the beginning
of the following class, click on the complete story to see what has come up.
- At the lab, let students choose which story they want to add to.
PENZU
http://penzu.com/
A place where you can write your personal journal privately or make it public sharing it via
e-mail or creating a public link to share with others.

40. ACTIVITIES
- PROJECT: ask students to write a learning journal throughout the semester,
describing what they’ve learned that week, how they felt about the class , content
and example sentences of language they would like to consolidate. Students create
a public link so that they can share their journal with the whole class or share it
only via e-mail with the teacher. The entries could be daily, weekly or quarterly.
- PROJECT: show them the Freedom Writers Movie Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H7QMy54Keg&feature=related . Ask students to
write about their daily activities in English as in a personal diary. Students can then
choose to share it only with the teacher , share it with the whole class or keep it
private. Students can use this randomizer for inspiration http://uab-
idiomes.com/ian/randomizer.html
CHAPTER 6
READING
Suggested tools
LEARN WITH NEWSPAPERS
http://www.thewclc.ca/edge/

41. Newspaper articles in a simplified version. Click on an article, choose the level , listen to
the article and do the comprehension and vocabulary activities.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (IWB), explore one of the newspapers with students, listen to the article,
help students understand it, do the vocabulary activities with the whole class.
- For homework, ask students to read one of the newspapers (specify the level) and
do the activities. Then, in class, ask students to talk in pairs about what they
remember about the articles. With the whole group ask students what new words
they can remember from the articles.
TELEPROMPTER
http://www.cueprompter.com/
Type or paste a text in the text Box,
choose a speed and the text rolls
up over a black screen.
ACTIVITIES
- Use the site to help students read faster. Paste a text in the box, choose a slower
speed at first and ask a student to read it aloud. Increase the speed and ask a
different student to read the same text. Ask comprehension questions to see if
students were able to understand the text.

42. - Grab a mini saga from http://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/minisagas1.html or from
http://www.slideshare.net/georgiana.meleandra/mini-sagas-presentation , paste
it in Cueprompter, have students read it silently and then pairs of students talk
about what they can remember.
- Paste a mini saga or a short text into Cueprompter, let students read it at a slower
speed first. Ask students to take notes of what they can remember. Show them the
text in Cueprompter again but this time they have to read it at a faster pace.
Students take notes again. Now, in pairs, students try to reconstruct the text.
(Dictogloss variation)
AMERICAN STORIES
http://www.manythings.org/voa/stories/
Read and listen to American stories. Whenever you don’t know a word, just double-click
and a definition box pops up with definition and sound.
ACTIVITIES
- Choose one of the stories to work with. In class (with IWB), let students listen and
read the story . Explore the text paragraph by paragraph asking concept questions.
- At home, ask students to read, listen and explore one story. In class, students talk
in pairs about what they liked / didn’t like about the story. Prepare some questions
about the story for students to ask each other.

43. - READING PROJECT: Throughout the semester / year, develop a reading project
with students. Every two weeks, students choose one of the stories from this site
to read, listen and explore. In the following class, students talk to each other about
the story explaining what they liked or didn’t like about it and if they recommend
it. By the end of the semester/ year, students will have read and discussed about
most of the stories.
SHORT STORIES FOR ESL LEARNERS
http://www.eslfast.com
A great collection of short stories you can read and listen to. Post-reading activities:
Vocabulary, Yes/No questions, Cloze, Crossword, Dictation.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (with IWB), let students read and listen to a story. Use the Yes/No
questions to check comprehension. The listening dictation can be done with the
whole class asking each student to type one of the sentences.

44. CHUCK GRAPHIC NOVELS
http://www.nbc.com/chuck/exclusives/novel/
A different way of reading comics. Choose the Interactive Novel to read the comic book as
an e-book which you can zoom in and out and flip the pages or watch the Animated Novel,
a video which focuses on different parts of the story.
The Interactive Novel
The Animated Novel

45. ACTIVITIES
- Use the animated novel to show stories to your students in class. The second time
you show the story, stop to explore new words or informal language you wish to
focus on.
- At the lab, let students read the interactive novel at their own pace. Give students
some questions they have to answer as they read the novel.
Other interesting sites for comics:
Children comic books - http://www.kelvi.net/books/comics/
Classical comics - http://www.classicalcomics.com/titles.html
Marvel comics -
http://marvelkids.marvel.com/comics/Marvel_Super_Hero_Squad.137

46. AESOP’S FABLES
http://aesopfables.com
Great collection of famous fables. You can read and listen to some of them. By double-
clicking on unknown words you can read their definition.
ACTIVITIES
- Ask students if they know any famous fable. Show one of the videos of fables from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXYW0blGk4w and ask them if they’ve
already read that fable in their native language. Ask them what the moral is. Then,
show them the fables in http://aesopfables.com , select a fable you would like
them to read/ listen at the lab, then in class discuss about it.
- At home, students can choose a fable to read and discuss the following class.

47. READING RING
http://professorgarfield.org/pgf_ReadingRing.html
A competition where you have to put the panels of a comic strip in order. Then you have
to answer questions about it to win the game.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (with IWB), play the game with the class as a whole team. Explore the
comic strip for new structure and vocabulary.
- At the lab, let students play the game individually.

48. INTERACTIVE STORIES
http://www.zapdramatic.com/mod1.htm
http://www.3xplus.com/pasnet01/scrpasnet01US.htm
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/games/game2/game2.html
Interactive stories which you can read, watch and interfere with the way the story will
unravel.
ACTIVITIES
- In class (with IWB), play the story for the whole class, have students decide what
will happen next.

49. Chapter 7
About the author
Ana Maria Menezes is an EFL teacher and trains teachers to integrate technology with education.
She was a pedagogical coordinator for 9 years and today is head of the edutech department of a
Language Institute in Brazil (Cultura Inglesa Uberlândia).
She´s been researching new Technologies in education and publishes her “discoveries” and “trials”
in her blog LIFE FEAST .
In 2009, she designed an online course, to help teachers worldwide explore the new webtools
available : the CULTURA EDTECH online course. Answering to requests an extension course was
created in 2010 to help tech-savvy teachers to keep on learning, MOVING BEYOND.
The Cultura EDtech and the Moving Beyond are 3-month courses offered to teachers three
times a year.
BOOK: Webtools Applied to Teaching
Blog: LIFE FEAST
Her blog: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com
Her twitter: http://twitter.com/anamariacult
Her book: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/webtools-applied-to-teaching/15104257
Her online course: http://culturaedtech.wikispaces.com/ABOUT+THE+COURSE