Agenda web is a website where you can find links to several other websites dealing with English in different aspects. You can choose from topics such as vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening and songs. It is possible to find exercises suitable for elementary or lower intermediate level up to advanced level for most subjects.
One can also find listening comprehension exercises that can be used in different ways. Some of them could be appropriate for whole class listening, and some could be of more use for single pupils. Whether one likes to use them in whole class, or not, often depends on what level the pupils are, as well as the purpose of the exercise. Follow the first link for an example of an exercise where you should find out what zoo animal they are talking about. This could be appropriate for beginners. The second link takes you to an exercise where you should answer some multiple choice questions after listing to a story. This one is suitable for more advanced pupils.
Listening comprehension - elementary level
Listening comprehension - advanced level
There are also lots of vocabulary exercises. If one has an interactive board in the classroom these exercises could be used as with the whole class. The pupils can take turns going to the board, or telling their classmates what to do to practice their speaking. The first link leads to an example of an exercise where the pupils should drag the right word to a picture of a pet. The second link goes to a classic memory card game where one should find matching pairs. When these cards are turned they can also listen to what the word sounds like.
How pupils can use this resource
When there is only one computer in the classroom there will be a restricted use of this website for the pupils. If the teacher finds a suitable exercise pupils can take turns at the computer while the rest of the class do other exercises. If the pupils have access to the Internet at home they can listen to songs and rhymes to get more practice. They can also practice grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension for homework.
Considerations before using this resource
However, there are a few things to consider before using this web site. There is a lot of advertising which can be annoying, or even inappropriate, in a classroom. When you chose from nursery rhymes or songs you will be linked to YouTube most of the time. I recommend listening to the songs yourself before letting the pupils listen since the pronunciation is not correct at all times. The country of origin for this website is Spain. Hence it follows that a lot of the links are to Spanish sites, where the instructions are in Spanish. This might not be very helpful when teaching English in a Swedish classroom. One other backdrop is that it is hard to remember where one found a good exercise, so it might be a good idea to mark the best sites as your favorites.
Having all this in mind, I still think it is a very useful source for my English classes.
Lena Rosvall
What you need to use this resource
You need a computer with access to the Internet in your classroom to be able to use this site. If you have a projector that will enhance the value when listening to nursery rhymes and songs, since most of them are linked to YouTube. The pupils enjoy looking at the movies as they sing along. An interactive board is not necessary, but makes it possible to do exercises with the whole class. Some exercises are more suitable for whole class teaching than others though. Otherwise you do not need anything but time to get familiar with the site, and how to find what you are looking for.
How teachers can use this resource
Teachers can easily find songs and nursery rhymes they want their pupils to practice. Singing a song is a suitable exercise for whole classes, and a good way to start a lesson. My experience is that pupils love nursery rhymes. One classic is: Humpty Dumpty
How teachers can use this resource
Teachers can easily find songs and nursery rhymes they want their pupils to practice. Singing a song is a suitable exercise for whole classes, and a good way to start a lesson. My experience is that pupils love nursery rhymes. One classic is: Humpty Dumpty
One can also find listening comprehension exercises that can be used in different ways. Some of them could be appropriate for whole class listening, and some could be of more use for single pupils. Whether one likes to use them in whole class, or not, often depends on what level the pupils are, as well as the purpose of the exercise. Follow the first link for an example of an exercise where you should find out what zoo animal they are talking about. This could be appropriate for beginners. The second link takes you to an exercise where you should answer some multiple choice questions after listing to a story. This one is suitable for more advanced pupils.
Listening comprehension - elementary level
Listening comprehension - advanced level
There are also lots of vocabulary exercises. If one has an interactive board in the classroom these exercises could be used as with the whole class. The pupils can take turns going to the board, or telling their classmates what to do to practice their speaking. The first link leads to an example of an exercise where the pupils should drag the right word to a picture of a pet. The second link goes to a classic memory card game where one should find matching pairs. When these cards are turned they can also listen to what the word sounds like.
How pupils can use this resource
When there is only one computer in the classroom there will be a restricted use of this website for the pupils. If the teacher finds a suitable exercise pupils can take turns at the computer while the rest of the class do other exercises. If the pupils have access to the Internet at home they can listen to songs and rhymes to get more practice. They can also practice grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension for homework.
Considerations before using this resource
However, there are a few things to consider before using this web site. There is a lot of advertising which can be annoying, or even inappropriate, in a classroom. When you chose from nursery rhymes or songs you will be linked to YouTube most of the time. I recommend listening to the songs yourself before letting the pupils listen since the pronunciation is not correct at all times. The country of origin for this website is Spain. Hence it follows that a lot of the links are to Spanish sites, where the instructions are in Spanish. This might not be very helpful when teaching English in a Swedish classroom. One other backdrop is that it is hard to remember where one found a good exercise, so it might be a good idea to mark the best sites as your favorites.
Having all this in mind, I still think it is a very useful source for my English classes.
Lena Rosvall
Comments to the blog post.
ReplyDeleteI found the Agenda Web to be a very interesting web page for English exercises. I enjoyed the fact that it could be used for so many levels; it had many different functions and had a variety of subjects. It was not all grammar and no play!
I tried a few functions and have the following comments.
The Agenda Web is rather easy to use once you as teacher have worked out the different levels and how they work. There were a few things though which I did not really like about the Agenda Web.
I did the Daily Routines on the lower levels and the verb forms used were inconsistent. Some were in the –ing form and others in the infinite form. This could be rather tricky for young learners as they can’t distinguish the difference grammatically. As I did not go through all the levels and exercises I cannot say for certain that all levels have the same format.
I also tried some nursery rhymes. They were really good but for one thing – no print out possibility. For example the rhyme Five Frogs was really good but would have been even better if the pictures and the lyrics could have been printed. This would have allowed the pupils to get the pictures and lyrics separate and then putting together the rhyme in their booklet in the right order. By doing this they will soon have their own book with nursery rhymes to work with. They could then practice at home, singing for their parents. I do not like giving home work which includes using the computer and internet as not all pupils have access or are allowed to use computers at home.
The reading section had a large number of titles. I tried the classics Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin. I was however, not too impressed. The format was not very reader friendly and needed to be changed before it could be used in class. Pupils with reading difficulties would really struggle as it was run-a-long texts in small print and not broken into sections. I love reading to my pupils and have great faith in the written word.
When I use a web page in class I prefer one that does not need too much explaining or setting up as lessons are short. I would probably use the web page’s exercises more than the reading section as this would need work prior to using it. For the stories in the reading section, I would probably copy to publisher or word and give print outs to all pupils so they could follow the story and underline any words they did not understand or had questions about. The selection of stories was excellent so if time was available I would probably build up a library of stories to be used rather than using them straight from the Agenda Web.
All in all, the Agenda Web is a rather useful web page but in some instances needs to be worked at before used in class.
Susanne Guildford