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Dialogues
- Games and exercises based on a short dialogue |
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Dialogues
Front Page |
Dialogues
Edit Screen |
Dialogues
Worksheets |
Dialogues
creates a wide range of exercises based on a short
dialogue. Exercises are variations on re-ordering,
gap-filling and text re-building formats. A sound
file can be included to support your exercise. |
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The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher
to type in a dialogue with up to 14 lines of text.
For shorter dialogues the exercises resize to fit
the screen.
- Quick Input feature allows you to paste a dialogue
into a single text box before inputting into TaskMagic
- You decide which exercises will be available when
the student opens your file. If you make all exercises
available, the students will have access to up to
9 separate games and exercises in Dialogues.
- 10 worksheets can be printed in Dialogues. Click
here for more information about Dialogues worksheets.
- Scroll down or click here
for more information about using Dialogues files,
or click on any of the game screens below to find
out more. |
| Dialogues
Games & Exercises |
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Line
Jumble |
Half
Lines |
Word
Jumble |
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Space |
Click
+ Fill |
Anagrams |
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Word
Guess |
Gap
Dialogue |
Find
it! |
| Dialogues
Worksheets |
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| Line
Jumble |
Half
Lines |
Word
Jumble |
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| Gap
Dialogue 0/3 |
Gap
Dialogue 1/3 |
Gap
Dialogue 2/3 |
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Gap
Dialogue 3/3 |
Space |
Anagrams |
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| Find
it! |
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Making
Use of Dialogues Files |
The
order in which exercise types are displayed on the Dialogues
front page does not represent a particular sequence. It was
never intended that students should attempt all of the exercises
for a particular file in a particular sequence. In fact, nor
was it intended that students should attempt to complete all
of the available exercise types for a particular file. |
Users
of TaskMagic (teachers & students) should select the most
appropriate exercise types available depending on: the context;
whether they are using a whiteboard or individual PCs in a
computer room (or at home); the level of text input; the type
of information being presented; the point they are at in the
learning sequence; whether it’s for a starter, a plenary,
a presentation or the main element of a lesson; the time available
etc. |
When
working with an interactive whiteboard, the teacher has total
control over the exercises and activities selected. When working
in an IT room, however, it is important for teachers to maintain
control over the exercises and activities that the students
attempt. It was never intended that students should be told
to open a particular file and then attempt the available games
in any order they like. Teachers should make it clear to students
which activities they are to attempt and in which order, or
alternatively they should make it clear which activities they
don't want them to attempt. The activities you choose will
depend on your own professional appreciation of the value
of each activity bearing in mind all of the factors mentioned
above (time, context, stage etc.). It is possible to limit
the exercises available by making direct hyperlinks to individual
game files - these can be created in TaskMagicCreate
- or by limiting the list of activities available when you
create your TaskMagic file. |
This
section looks in more detail at all of the exercise types
available in Dialogues and discusses the kinds of things that
the teacher can do with each one; levels of difficulty; options
for whole class use, etc. |
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All of the text is displayed with the lines jumbled
up.
- The lines of text have to be dragged into the correct
order.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Tests the students' understanding of the text and
their ability to put items of text into the correct
sequence using context, vocabulary and grammatical indicators.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier
but helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the next correct line
- invite/select students to come to the board and move
the lines of text into position
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
lines in the correct order (or numbering them)
- a Line Jumble worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic. This can be completed by numbering
the lines of text. Alternatively, students can cut out
the lines of text and rearrange them into the correct
order. |
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All of the text is displayed but each line is divided
into 2 halves.
- The aim is to drag the 2nd half of each line into
position next to the 1st half.
- Tests the students' understanding of the text and
their ability to put items of text into the correct
sequence using context, vocabulary and grammatical indicators.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier
but helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the next line of dialogue
- invite/select students to come to the board and drag
the items into position
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students rewriting
the dialogue correctly.
- a Half Lines worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic, requiring the student to number the
dialogue halves in the correct order. |
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All of the text is displayed but the words of each line
are in the wrong order.
- The aim is to drag the words into the correct order.
- Tests the students' understanding of the text and
their ability to put items of text into the correct
sequence using context, vocabulary and grammatical indicators.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Correct answers are highlighted. (Also partially correct
answers)
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier
but helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the next word / words / line of dialogue
- invite/select students to come to the board and drag
the words into position
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students rewriting
the dialogue (or part of the dialogue) correctly
- a Word Jumble worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic, requiring the student to write the
words of each line of dialogue in the correct order |
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All of the text is displayed with all spaces and punctuation
removed.
- When a student clicks at the dividing point between
words, the missing space and or punctuation is automatically
inserted.
- Tests the student's ability to recognise where words
begin and end.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- An incorrect answer affects the score, which represents
the percentage of correct clicks.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier
but helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out a sentence or group of words
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
to separate the words
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students rewriting
the text with spaces and punctuation included.
- a Space worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This contains the whole text run together
without gaps or punctuation, with alternate lines left
blank for students to write in the correct version.
(Alternatively students can draw lines separating the
words in the continuous text) |
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The whole text is displayed but with each letter replaced
by a square.
- Students can click anywhere in the text and type in
the missing words.
- If a student types (or clicks on) the correct letter,
that letter will appear in the text. If an incorrect letter
is pressed, the student must keep trying until they choose
the next correct letter.
- Incorrect answers affect the score, which represents
the percentage of correct attempts.
- There is the option to buy a letter, to reveal all instances
of a particular letter. This affects the score.
- A 50:50 button allows you to reveal 50% of the remaining
letters in the text.
- A "Next Letter" button allows the student
to reveal the next letter after the cursor. This affects
the overall score.
- Tests the students' understanding of the text and their
ability to put items of text into the correct sequence
using context, vocabulary and grammatical indicators.
Also tests spellng and memory.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link, and makes
the exercise into a dictation exercise.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the next word
- invite/select students to come to the board and type
the next word (which tests their spelling, unlike the
first suggestion above)
- for each word in the text, students can be asked to
write the next correct word on mini-whiteboards, before
checking the answer and moving on to the next word
- use the 50:50 function to make it easier for students
to decipher words in the text (and then repeat some of
the above)
- use the 50:50 function as a prompt for students to attempt
to read out the text. You can provide a few key words,
if you like, to make it easier
- depending on the length of the text, the IWB screen
can be used as the basis for a written exercise in exercise
books, with students writing the words of the text in
the correct order. This is a very challenging exercise,
but it is made easier to achieve if a sound file is included,
making it into a kind of dictation exercise. You can also
make it easier by completing part of the text beforehand,
or by using the 50:50 function |
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The whole text is displayed but with each letter replaced
by a square. Words of 2 letters or less are already displayed.
- Students click on any of the word shapes to reveal an
anagram of the chosen word at the bottom of the screen.
They then click on the letters of the word in the correct
order.
- If a student reorders the letters of the word correctly,
the word will appear in the text.
- Incorrect clicks affect the score, which represents
the percentage of correct clicks.
- Tests the student's understanding of the text, grammatical
understanding, word recognition, spelling and memory.
- There is no time pressure to complete the exercise.
- A sound file can make the exercise easier.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- click on a word shape to reveal an anagram, then invite/select
students to give answers, eg. by reading out the word
or spelling it out correctly
- invite/select students to come to the board and choose
their own word, reveal the anagram and reorder the letters
- reveal a word and give students a short time to write
the unscrambled word on mini-whiteboards
- once you have completed more than half of the text,
and provided that the text fits into the text box without
scrolling, the IWB screen can be used as the basis for
a written exercise in exercise books, with students writing
the text out with missing owrds included. You can tell
them that you are prepared to show them x number of anagrams
or allow x number of students to come to the board to
reveal the anagram of a word (without putting the letters
into the correct order). Use the IWB to check the exercise
after a given time.
- an Anagrams worksheet is also available from within
TaskMagic. It shows the whole text as a series of anagrams,
with alternate lines left blank for students to write
the correct version. |
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The whole text is displayed but with each letter replaced
by a square.
- Students guess / predict the words which appear in the
text, by typing a word and pressing Enter or clicking
on the OK button.
- If a student types a correct word, all instances of
that word will appear in the text.
- Incorrect answers affect the score, which represents
the percentage of correct attempts.
- There is the option to buy a letter, to reveal all instances
of a particular letter. This affects the score.
- A 50:50 button allows you to reveal 50% of the remaining
letters in the text.
- By pressing one of the three clock buttons, the student
can reveal the whole text for 15 seconds.
- Tests the student's understanding of the text and their
ability to put items of text into the correct sequence
using context, vocabulary and grammatical indicators.
Also tests spellng and memory.
- There is no time pressure to complete the exercise.
- A sound file is never available for the Word Guess exercise.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- without showing the text previously, tell the class
what the text is about in general, and ask them to predict
10 words that they think will appear in the text. They
can make notes in exercise books or on mini-whiteboards
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the next word, or any word that they think will be
in the text
- invite/select students to come to the board and type
the next word, or any word that they think will be in
the text (which tests their spelling, unlike the first
suggestion above)
- use the 50:50 function to make it easier for students
to decipher words in the text (and then repeat some of
the above)
- use the timer button to show the text for 15 seconds,
telling students not to write anything down. Once the
timer is finished they can write down as many words as
they can that have yet to be guessed
- use the 50:50 function as a prompt for students to attempt
to read out the text. You can provide a few key words,
if you like, to make it easier
- depending on the length of the text, use the 50:50 function
and use the IWB screen as the basis for a written exercise
in exercise books, with students writing the words of
the text in the correct order. |
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A gap fill activity with 3 levels of difficulty. Level
1: 1 in 3 words is gapped. Level 2: 2 in 3 words are
gapped. Level 3: all words are gapped.
- The first letter of each gapped word is shown.
- Correctly typed words are added to the text when the
students click the Check button. Incorrect words are
removed.
- Tests the student's understanding of the text, grammatical
understanding, word recognition, spelling and memory.
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The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard,
although on an interactive whiteboard you will need
the facility to insert text either by using the generic
floating keyboard or handwriting recognition tools provided
along with the whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the next gapped word
- invite/select students to come to the board and type
in a gapped word
- for each part of the text, students can be asked to
write the correct letter of the next part on mini-whiteboards,
before checking the answer and moving on to the next
part
- use the IWB as a prompt for a written exercise in
exercise books
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc.
- various Gap Dialogue worksheets can be printed out
from the Dialogues worksheets screen in TaskMagic
- use the different levels of the activity (starting
from 0, with no words gapped) as the basis for a choral
diminishing dialogue activity, where students first
repeat, then read along with you, then on their own,
repeating the dialogue over and over as the level of
difficulty is increased |
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The whole text is displayed in a scrollable text box
at the top of the screen.
- The Find it! exercise is not generated automatically
but is created by the teacher when they create the exercise
file. To make the Find it! exercise available, the teacher
selects (highlights) a word or group of words from the
text and writes a prompt for each word or group of words.
- To complete the exercise, students click on one of
the prompts, then highlight the piece of text in the
text box which relates to this prompt. eg. if the prompt
is "I go to school" the piece of text to be
highlighted could be "Je vais au collège".
- If a student answers incorrectly, they must keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Incorrect answers affect the score, which represents
the percentage of correct attempts.
- Tests the student's understanding of specific parts
of the text, its meaning etc.
- When creating the exercise the teacher decides whether
prompts are to appear in random order or in their original
sequence. An easy way to create a discovery exercise
which teaches students the meaning of the whole text
is to include prompts for all of the text, and include
the prompts in their original sequence.
- There is no time pressure.
- Sound is not used in Find it!.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers, eg. by reading
out the appropriate piece of text
- invite/select students to come to the board and select
the correct answer from the text
- for each prompt, students can be asked to write the
correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before checking
the answer and moving on to the next prompt
- a Find it! worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic. This displays the whole text at the
top with the prompts listed below, either randomly or
in the original sequence (depending on how the on-screen
exercise was saved)
- Find it! can be a good way of teaching vocabulary
in context, by including prompts with a mixture of known
and new vocabulary |
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