Grammar with Khan Academy

Khan Academy has a grammar course and not only is it free, it's really good!

Just like with ReadTheory, you can create a class and monitor your students' progress. Khan Academy works really well with Google Classroom, letting you import whole classes, allowing the students to log in using their school Google accounts. If a student already has a Khan Academy account, they can enter a class code to join your class.

Unfortunately, it's not suitable for absolute beginners, but seems to work with learners at A2 level and upwards. It provides a challenge even for the most advanced users of English.

The quizzes are short so students get feedback on their attainment and progress really quickly. It's perfect for those with short attention spans.

A difference between Khan Academy Grammar and ReadTheory is that progress is not related to any particular level of English. So as a teacher, one might consider looking at all the grammar exercises and then setting some goals for say, students aiming for "Engelska 5". Then again, the students I encounter have very different strengths and weaknesses in English grammar. So far, it's been interesting to watch them explore and discover those areas where they need to practice.

I would really like to have one system for my students to work independently on their reading and listening comprension, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Technically it must be possible but nobody seems to have created it as of yet. So for now, we're using a combination of ReadTheory and Khan Academy Grammar and regular lessons and assignments in Google Meet and Classroom.

3 new Google Forms quizzes

It's Monday so time for a self-marking quiz. This type of quiz is a really nice way to let students work on their own and see for themselves if they've understood a piece of material, such as a text or film. 

Quizzes always take longer than you think to construct. It's easy to think of the correct answers; it's the incorrect answers that take me ages to think of. So they require extra preparation, but then you can relax and enjoy not having to mark anything.

A good thing about quizzes is that you can mix in different types of questions. As well as your normal comprehension or knowledge questions, I've starting throwing in some opinion questions. These opinions then form the basis of very fruitful class discussions. When sitting at home, doing a quiz on a particular topic, I think students start to think more deeply about that topic, and are more inclined to express an opinion than if I just asked the same question in class. Then, when the class meets together and I show a summary of the aggregated results (which are naturally anonymous), it's fun to see previously quiet students speaking out to defend their views.  

The default settings in Google Forms are good, make sure you collect email addresses - otherwise you won't know who answered. Also, encourage your students to try several times and give them a target score. If you want students to upload files in a quiz, make sure the quiz is located on your own Google Drive and NOT a shared drive (learnt that today!).

Here are some quizzes we've been working with:

Car-T Cells

How McDonald's really makes money

The artists keeping Kenya’s slums safe

Feel free to copy and get in touch if you'd like an editable copy that you can put in your own Google Drive system.

Covid-19 quiz exposes misconceptions

Almost anything we do about covid-19 is going to have a short expiry date. Nevertheless, I'm posting this exercise as it's from one of my favourite YouTube channels, ColdFusion. It's one of the new wave of semi-professional science & technology channels that offer fresh, well-researched and entertaining short videos that are perfect for use in English classes.

Dagogo Altraide is the person behind ColdFusion and his videos are not always perfect. But in a classroom situation, that can be an advantage as we want students to approach media critically. It's not so easy to be critical of well-funded, slick and professional films. Dagogo himself usually ends videos by asking, "What do you think?" and it's this kind of curiosity and openness that makes him a good role model. Furthermore, Dagogo's optimism is infectious.

Here's the video:

Altraide,  Dagogo [ColdFusion]. 29 March 2020. "COVID-19: We’re Fighting a War, But There’s Hope". Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/RFnSmcfKWQo

Here's the quiz: https://forms.gle/Fh3VCjRWpiVbzsTH8
I was a bit surprised to discover how many misconceptions people have about the new coronavirus. So the quiz is worth taking.

Here's a link that allows you to make a copy of the quiz (but you'll need to send an access request):
Quiz - Covid-19: We're fighting a war but there's hope

Multiplayer fun & learning with skribbl.io

To cheer ourselves up, a group of around 15 of us tried out skribbl.io for the first time today. It's a fun way to get together and can also be used to help students learn specific words and phrases.

You can drop into skribbl,io and play a game with random strangers just to get a feel for how it works. Each player gets a chance to choose a word from a selection of 3 words. Then, the clock starts ticking and that player has 80 seconds to draw a picture. During those 80 seconds, everyone tries to guess the word (or phrase) with just the drawing and a hangman style set of dashes to indicate how many letters are needed. Players can try as many times as they like but earn more points for guessing quickly.

As a teacher, you can create a private game, add in target language that will appear in the game and send the link to your students. When planning your game, remember that a round consists of 80 seconds for each player. So if you have 10 players, a round will take 13-14 minutes. You can adjust the length of time and how many rounds you wish to play.

Here are step by step instructions:

1) Write your name and (if you like) adjust your avatar's appearance.

2) Set the language. Note that if you just want to play a random game, English is best.

3) Create your private room for you and your students.

4) A round with 10 students will take 13-14 minutes (if draw time is 80 seconds per student). Adjust the number of rounds and draw time to suit you and your group.

5) If you have a set of words/phrases you want to include, enter them here, separated by commas. Your target words will be mixed with the game's own words unless you choose "Use custom words exclusively". Remember that each player will get a turn per round, so if you have 2 rounds with 15 students, you'll need 30 words to avoid repetition.

6) Copy the link and share it with students. As they sign up (by clicking "play"), they'll appear under "Players".

7) When everyone's assembled, click "Start game" and enjoy! 

ReadTheory - the right way

ReadTheory is a website that presents short texts to students accompanied by multiple choice questions. If the student fails, the system presents an easier text. If the student succeeds, the system presents more difficult texts. Logging in means you can store and track your progress. So far, so good. But ReadTheory really comes into its own as a tool for teachers to monitor students' progress and attainment.

I got into ReadTheory about 3 years ago and sadly, I made mistakes and missed opportunities to really get the most from the system. I was such a fool, doing it the wrong way. Here's how to do it the right way!

Step 1: Create your own account

Go to https://readtheory.org/app/sign-up/role and click "Teacher"

Then, if your institution uses Google, select "Sign in with Google". Otherwise, create a username and password.

Step 2: Create a classroom

Don't skip this stage! Create a class and make sure you check or uncheck the box beside "Some students in this class are under 13". You don't need to determine the grade at this point, but I think it's nice to fill in the name of your school.

Step 3: Add students

There are 2 ways to do this and I strongly recommend the "Send code" method if you have more than 5 or 6 students.

Step 4: Show the students how to create an account and join your class

If your school uses Google, get them to use their school Google accounts. It's very important that the students enter a valid email adress so they can reset their password later on. Also, make sure they choose a username that is recognisable and that they enter the correct class code.

Step 5: Set goals and deadlines for your students

Explain to the students that they'll need 15 minutes at a time to complete tests. When they complete a test, they earn "knowledge points". Set goals for your students such as, "Aim to earn 50 knowledge points today".

Step 6: Monitor your students using the "Progress Reports" tool. 

Using ReadTheory in Sweden

ReadTheory is aimed at students in the USA and the progress reports describe students' progress in relation to what they'd be expected to be reading at any given year in school (grade). The reports also descibe the Lexile level of the material the students have been working with.

Nobody seems to have done this before, so after hours of research, here's a rough comparison between ReadTheory progress report levels, CEFR and the common English language attainment levels in Swedish schools:

Grade (U.S.A.)	Age	Lexile band	CEFR	Swedish schools
0	3-6	0L-425L	A1
1	6–7		A2	Åk 6
2	7–8	450L-725L
3	8–9
4	9–10	645L-845L		Åk 9
5	10-11		B1
6	11–12	860L-1010L		Eng 5
7	12–13
8	13–14		B2	Eng 6
9	14–15	960L-1115L
10	15–16
11	16–17	1070L-1220L		Eng 7

Final thoughts

ReadTheory gets pretty boring after a while, so encourage students to work at it in short bursts rather than for hours on end. Give them goals and deadlines and create a bit of competition to make it more fun. Encourage your students because the effort they put in definitely pays off in terms of improved reading comprehension, vocabulary and production.

Video + Quiz = Nice

Before I die, I should get round to tasting a Subway sandwich. Problem is, I'm too shy, self-conscious and indecisive. If they had a sort of Soviet Russian version with just one type of sandwich, I'd probably go there.

Anyway, for some reason, mysterious algorithms directed me towards watching this video about Subway. As a loyal servant of our machine overlords, I obeyed.

It turns out that Business Insider's YouTube channel is a goldmine, especially if like me, you're interested in what makes businesses tick.

Liking the video a lot, I decided to get my students to watch it and designed a quiz in Google Forms to test their understanding and stimulate interest in what it takes to be successful in the fast food business. Here's a link to the quiz: https://forms.gle/L8dVgEFaM8diJFzA8

Embarrassingly, the quiz contained many errors which my very gifted and attentive students pointed out. So if you like this quiz, you really have my students to thank.

This link lets you make a copy which you can adapt and publish: Quiz: The rise and fall of Subway but you'll need to send an access request as there's no safe way to share a form for copying whilst preventing everyone with the link being able to edit the original.

Google Forms is a fantastic tool when you want to check if students have read a text or watched a video and really understood it. A well designed quiz lets you check if everyone understands core concepts and language before launching into more ambitious group work on a subject.

Here's a guide that helped me get started: Create & grade quizzes with Google Forms

Finally, my students give Subway an average score of 3.35 out of 5 which is pretty positive. I must ask them about other fast food outlets...

Narishkin, Abby. 28 July 2019. "The Rise and Fall of Subway". Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/duQow41bTx0