|
 |
|
| |
|
| |
Mix
and Gap - Games and exercises based on a text of up to 500 words |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Mix
and Gap Front Page |
Mix
and Gap Edit Screen |
Mix
and Gap Worksheets |
Mix
& Gap is one of the 8 exercise groups included
in the TaskMagic package. Mix & Gap creates a
wide range of exercises based on a single text of
up to 500 words. Exercises are variations on re-ordering,
gap-filling and text re-building formats.
A sound file can be included to support your exercise.
See this video
tutorial on adding a sound file to Mix & Gap. |
-
The Mix and Gap edit screen in TaskMagic Create
allows you to input (type / paste) a text of up
to 500 words. This can be a single block of text,
separate paragraphs, a poem, a song, a rhyme etc.
- 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
23 separate games and exercises in Mix and Gap.
- 13 worksheets can now be printed in Mix and Gap.
Click here for more information
about Mix and Gap worksheets.
- Scroll down or click here
for more information about using Mix and Gap files,
or click on any of the game screens below to find
out more.
NEW:
MIX
& GAP VIDEO TUTORIALS - How to make your
own exercises in Mix and Gap
NEW:
Exploiting texts to
maximum effect in TaskMagic3
NEW:
http://taskmagic.posterous.com
- Ideas and suggestions for getting the most out
of TaskMagic
|
| Mix
and Gap Games & Exercises |
|
|
|
Tile
3 x 3 |
Tile
4 x 4 |
Tile
5 x 5 |
|
|
|
1
in 3 |
Gapfill |
Mix
Single |
|
|
|
Text
Mix |
Next
Letter 1 |
Next
Letter 2 |
|
|
|
Tower
Block |
Space |
Next
Word |
|
|
|
Word
Guess |
Anagrams |
Click
+ Fill |
|
|
|
Invaders
II |
Snake |
Find
it! |
 |
|
|
| Multi
Gaps |
Write
Gaps |
Prompt
gaps |
 |
|
|
| Long
Gaps |
Comprehension |
|
| Mix
and Gap Worksheets |
 |
|
|
| Tile
3 x 3 |
Tile
4 x 4 |
Tile
5 x 5 |
 |
|
|
| 1
in 3 |
Gapfill |
Space |
|
|
|
Anagrams |
Find
it! |
Multi
Gaps |
 |
|
|
| Write
Gaps |
Prompt
Gaps |
Long
Gaps |
 |
|
|
| Comprehension |
|
|
|
Making
Use of Mix and Gap Files |
|
The
order in which exercise types are displayed on the Mix &
Gap 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.). A useful strategy is to
reserve many of the more game-based activities (such as Snake,
Invaders II) until the end of the session, then allow students
5 or 10 minutes to choose freely from the activities available.
It is also 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. See this video tutorial on enabling
and disabling specific exercises, and this one on creating
individual exercise files. |
This
section looks at all of the exercise types available in Mix
& Gap and attempts to put them into some sort of order
of difficulty. This is very difficult to do, however, as various
elements need to be weighed up in deciding just how difficult
a particular exercise is:
- the level of support (e.g. number of options in multi-choice
activities)
- the type of activity (eg. multiple choice, reordering, text
input)
- time pressures
- penalties for incorrect answers
We must also consider elements which are not instrinsic to
the exercise format itself such as:
- the length of the text; some exercises can be pretty simple
with shorter texts but much harder, and certainly more time-consuming,
with longer ones
- whether or not sound support is available; a very difficult
exercise can be made considerably easier if a sound file is
attached
- whether or not gapped words are available (in Gap-Fill)
- whether or not prompts are shown in their original sequence
(in Find it!)
The following list is just a suggestion / a guideline / a
starting point... |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- 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
- provided the whole text fits into the text box (and
doesn't scroll), 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) |
| |
|
| |
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The original text is split (automatically) into at
least 10 chunks (the number of chunks of text depends
on the length of text).
- 3 pieces of text are displayed at a time, and the
student has to choose the correct piece in order to
rebuild the original text.
- If the student clicks on the correct piece of text,
the text is added to the main text below, and the exercise
moves on to the next part (ie. the next 3 pieces of
text to choose from).
- 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 clicks.
- 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.
- 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 the appropriate piece of text or simply the correct
letter: a, b or c
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
on the correct answer
- 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
- discuss why particular chunks of text cannot be correct
given the context / grammar etc.
- a 1 in 3 worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This displays the whole text as a series
of multiple choice questions, requiring the student
to choose the correct part: a, b or c |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The original text is split (automatically) into 16
roughly equal chunks, with the first chunk of text displayed
in the text box at the top.
- 4 pieces of text are displayed at a time, and the
student has to choose the next correct piece in order
to rebuild the original text.
- If the student clicks on the correct piece of text,
the text is added to the main text above, and the exercise
moves on to the next part. A storey is added to the
tower block for each correct answer. The aim is to build
a 15 storey tower block.
- If a student answers incorrectly, the tower collapses
and the game is over.
- 4 "play safes" are available, which allow
the student to make an incorrect guess without being
penalised.
- 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.
- There is no time pressure.
- Sound is never available in a Tower Block exercise.
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 or simply the correct
letter: a, b, c or d
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
on the correct answer
- 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
- play the game as if it were "Who wants to be
a millionaire?", with the teacher offering a "50/50",
students showing hands or using mini-whiteboards for
"ask the audience", or choosing a class mate
for "phone a friend"
- discuss why particular chunks cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc. |
| |
|
|
-
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.
See this video tutorial
on creating Find it! exercises.
- 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 |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- All of the text is displayed as 8 separate tiles in
a 3x3 grid. (The text is divided automatically into 8
roughly equal chunks).
- The student has to put the text back into the correct
order by dragging tiles into the correct position. (Any
tile can be dragged into the empty space.)
- When a student clicks the "Check" button,
correct tiles are highlighted in yellow.
- 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.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer. Incorrect answers do
not affect the score.
- 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 the appropriate piece of text for a particular square
- invite/select students to come to the board and drag
tiles into the correct place
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise on mini-whiteboards or in exercise books, with
students writing the numbers of the tiles representing
the correct sequence.
- with mini-whiteboards, the above can also be done one
tile at a time, with the student writing the number of
the next tile of text to fit in the next blank space
- discuss why particular tiles cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc.
- a Tile 3x3 worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This contains the whole text separated into
8 roughly equal chunks and requires the student to number
the chunks of text in the correct order |
| |
|
|
-
The words to be gapped are selected by the teacher when
they create the exercise.
- The teacher must also specify the multiple choice options
for each gap (ie. wrong answers or additional correct
answers).
- See this video tutorial
on creating Multi Gaps exercises.
- Students click on the correct answer for each gap.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they must keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Incorrect answers affect the score. 2 scores are given:
(1) the percentage of correct clicks; (2) the number of
questions answered correctly at the first attempt.
- Can be used to test students' lexical and grammatical
knowledge.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link. Where a sound
file is attached to the file, the teacher can decide whether
or not the audio is made available for this exercise.
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 or the letter of the
correct answer
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
the correct answer
- for each gap in the text, students can be asked to write
the correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before checking
the answer and moving on to the next gap
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
correct answer for each gap
- a Multi Gaps worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic. This displays the whole text with the
multiple choice gaps listed below the text
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc. |
| |
|
|
-
Now available for all texts of up to 500 words.
- The words to be gapped are selected by the teacher when
they create the exercise.
- See this video tutorial
on creating a Gap-Fill exercise.
- The teacher also decides whether or not gapped words
are included along with the exercise. It can be a good
idea to omit the word list when there is a sound file
attached to the exercise, in order to make it more challenging.
- Students type (or drag, if the word list is available)
the missing words into the gaps.
- 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 the text and their
ability to put items of text into the correct sequence
using context, vocabulary and grammatical indicators.
- 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 the appropriate piece of text
- invite/select students to come to the board and type
/ drag in the correct answer
- for each gap in the text, students can be asked to write
the correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before checking
the answer and moving on to the next gap
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
missing words in the correct order
- a Gap-Fill worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This displays the whole text with gaps of equal
length, with or without the word list (depending on how
the on-screen exercise was saved)
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc. |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The whole text is displayed but with each vowel replaced
by a square.
- Students type the missing letters of the text starting
from the beginning. Accented characters, spaces and punctuation
are already in the text.
- 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.
- Tests word recognition and spellng.
- 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 saying
the next letter
- invite/select students to come to the board and complete
the next word or two
- students can be asked to write the next correct word
on mini-whiteboards, before checking the answer and moving
on to the next word
- 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. |
| |
|
|
-
The questions and multiple choice answers are chosen by
the teacher when they create the exercise. Each question
can have 2, 3 or 4 multiple choice answers, so it can
also be used for True or False questions.
- See this video tutorial
on how to make a Comprehension exercise.
- Students click on the correct answer for each question.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they must keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Incorrect answers affect the score. 2 scores are given:
(1) the percentage of correct clicks; (2) the number of
questions answered correctly at the first attempt.
- Can be used to test students' understanding of the text.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link. Where a sound
file is attached to the file, the teacher can decide whether
or not the audio is made available for this exercise.
(Or cover up the text and use it as a multiple choice
listening exercise).
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
the correct answer
- for each question, students can be asked to write the
correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before checking the
answer and moving on to the next question
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
correct answer for each question
- a Comprehension worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic. This displays the whole text with the
multiple choice questions listed below the text |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- All of the text is displayed as 8 separate tiles in
a 4x4 grid. (The text is divided automatically into 15
roughly equal chunks).
- The student has to put the text back into the correct
order by dragging tiles into the correct position. (Any
tile can be dragged into the empty space.)
- When a student clicks the "Check" button,
correct tiles are highlighted in yellow.
- 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.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer. Incorrect answers do
not affect the score.
- 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 the appropriate piece of text for a particular square
- invite/select students to come to the board and drag
tiles into the correct place
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise on mini-whiteboards or in exercise books, with
students writing the numbers of the tiles representing
the correct sequence.
- with mini-whiteboards, the above can also be done one
tile at a time, with the student writing the number of
the next tile of text to fit in the next blank space
- discuss why particular tiles cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc.
- a Tile 4x4 worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This contains the whole text separated into
15 roughly equal chunks and requires the student to number
the chunks of text in the correct order |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- 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. |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- All of the text is displayed as 8 separate tiles in
a 5x5 grid. (The text is divided automatically into 24
roughly equal chunks).
- The student has to put the text back into the correct
order by dragging tiles into the correct position. (Any
tile can be dragged into the empty space.)
- When a student clicks the "Check" button,
correct tiles are highlighted in yellow.
- 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.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying
until they get the correct answer. Incorrect answers do
not affect the score.
- 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 the appropriate piece of text for a particular square
- invite/select students to come to the board and drag
tiles into the correct place
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise on mini-whiteboards or in exercise books, with
students writing the numbers of the tiles representing
the correct sequence.
- with mini-whiteboards, the above can also be done one
tile at a time, with the student writing the number of
the next tile of text to fit in the next blank space
- discuss why particular tiles cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc.
- a Tile 5x5 worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This contains the whole text separated into
24 roughly equal chunks and requires the student to number
the chunks of text in the correct order |
| |
|
|
-
The words or phrases to be gapped are selected by the
teacher when they create the exercise.
- See this video tutorial
on how to create a Long Gaps exercise.
- Students click on the correct answer for each gap.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they must keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Incorrect answers affect the score. 2 scores are given:
(1) the percentage of correct clicks; (2) the number of
questions answered correctly at the first attempt.
- Can be used to test students' lexical and grammatical
knowledge.
- This exercise is similar in a way to other sequencing
exercises available in Mix and Gap (e.g. Tower Block,
1 in 3, Tiles), but the big difference is that the teacher
specifies where the text is broken up - it isn't done
automatically. This means that entire sentences can be
used as gaps, and the focus is much more on meaning than
on the mechanical sequencing of items based on sentence
level grammar.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link. Where a sound
file is attached to the file, the teacher can decide whether
or not the audio is made available for this exercise.
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 or the letter of the
correct answer
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
the correct answer
- for each gap in the text, students can be asked to write
the correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before checking
the answer and moving on to the next gap
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
correct answer for each gap
- a Long Gaps worksheet can also be printed out from within
TaskMagic. This displays the whole text with the gaps
listed below the text
- discuss why particular answers cannot be correct given
the context etc. |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The aim is to rebuild the original text word by word,
choosing each time from a list of 10 possible words.
- The correct word and 9 randomly selected wrong words
appear at the bottom of the screen.
- Students click the correct next word to add it to the
text box above.
- 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 clicks.
- 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.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link. It also makes
it into a kind of multi-choice dictation.
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 or the number of the next word
- invite/select students to come to the board and click
the next correct word
- 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
- where a sound file is used, this can be used as an extra
help if students are unable to agree on the next correct
word
- ask students to try to predict the next sentence or
group of words
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc. |
| |
|
|
-
Available for texts of up to 80 words.
- This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The whole text is displayed jumbled up at the bottom
of the screen.
- Students drag the words from the bottom of the screen
into the correct position in the box at the top of the
screen.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they must keep trying
until they get the correct answer.
- Incorrect answers do not affect the score, which represents
the number of words correctly placed.
- 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.
- 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 the next word
- invite/select students to come to the board and drag
the next word into position
- 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
- 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
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc. |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- 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. |
| |
|
|
-
The words to be gapped are selected by the teacher when
they create the exercise.
- The teacher specifies a prompt for each gap. (e.g. a
verb in the infinitive requiring a conjugated answer;
a translation; a verb requiring a noun based on it, etc.)
- The teacher can also specify up to 3 additional correct
answers for each gap
- See this video tutorial
on creating a Prompt Gaps exercise.
- Students type in the correct answer for each gap.
- Students have 3 attempts at each gap. After the 3rd
attempt, the answer is given.
- Incorrect answers affect the score. 2 scores are given:
(1) the percentage of correct clicks; (2) the number of
questions answered correctly at the first attempt.
- Can be used to test students' lexical and grammatical
knowledge.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier but
helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link. Where a sound
file is attached to the file, the teacher can decide whether
or not the audio is made available for this exercise.
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 for each agp
- invite/select students to come to the board and write
in the correct answer (using the IWB keyboard)
- for each gap in the text, students can be asked to write
the correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before checking
the answer and moving on to the next gap
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
correct answer for each gap
- a Prompt Gaps worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic. This displays the whole text a numbered
list below the text for students to write their answers.
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc, and what type of word is required
for each gap. |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- 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. Unlike Next Letter, accented characters
are not already in the text.
- 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 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.
- 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 |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The whole text is displayed jumbled up at the bottom
of the screen.
- Students type the words of the text into the box at
the top of the screen, in the correct order. (They can
also drag the words from the bottom of the screen).
- When the "Check" button is pressed, any words
which are correct are kept in place (and the corresponding
words are removed from the box below). If a word is incorrectly
placed, that word, and any word which follows it, will
be removed from the text box.
- Incorrect answers do not affect the score, which represents
the number of words correctly placed.
- 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.
- 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 the next word
- invite/select students to come to the board and type
or drag the next word into position
- 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
- provided the text fits onto the text box at the bottom
of the screen (without scrolling), 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
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc. |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- The whole text is displayed but with each letter replaced
by a square.
- Students type the words of the text starting from the
beginning. Accented characters, spaces and punctuation
are already in the text.
- 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.
- 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.
- There is no time pressure.
- 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
- 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 |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated for texts with
30 or more words. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- A randomly selected part of the text is displayed but
with 10 letters replaced by squares.
- The missing letters are displayed underneath the game
box in random order, and students have to click them in
the correct order.
- Time pressure - the student must click all of the letters
before the blocks fall to the bottom.
- 5 incorrect letter attempts results in all the blocks
falling.
- As more correct answers are given, the blocks begin
to fall faster and faster. When blocks reach the bottom,
they begin to mount up. The game is over when the pile
of blocks reaches the top.
- The score represents the number of correct clicks.
- 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.
- A sound file is not available for Invaders II in Mix
& Gap.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
When used in an IT room, it is a good idea for you to
keep a record on the board of the the highest scores for
a particular file, to introduce an element of competition.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers
- invite/select students to come to the board - best to
have the next student ready to ensure a swift changeover
- use the game as a random gap generator and ask students
to write the missing information in exercise books or
on mini-whiteboards. After checking the answer, press
Restart to generate the next gap |
| |
|
|
-
This exercise is automatically generated for texts with
30 or more words. See this video
tutorial on the 16 automatically generated exercises
in Mix & Gap.
- A randomly selected part of the text is displayed but
with 15 letters replaced by squares.
- The missing letters are hidden in snake form in the
letter grid.
- The student clicks on the first missing letter and drags
across the remaining missing letters in the correct order
to reveal the snake.
- Time pressure - 40 seconds are available. After 10 seconds
the first letter is displayed. After 20 seconds the shape
of the word snake is shown. After 40 seconds the answer
is given. The score depends on how quickly the correct
answer is found.
- No penalty for incorrect answers.
- The whole game is timed and lasts for a maximum of 3
minutes.
- 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.
- A sound file is not available for Snake in Mix &
Gap.
Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.
When used in an IT room, it is a good idea for you to
keep a record on the board of the the highest scores for
a particular file, to introduce an element of competition.
IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers / read out the
sentence with the missing letters included
- invite/select students to come to the board - best to
have the next student ready to ensure a swift changeover
- use the game as a random gap generator and ask students
to write the missing information in exercise books or
on mini-whiteboards. After checking the answer, press
Restart to generate the next gap |
| |
|
|
-
The words to be gapped are selected by the teacher when
they create the exercise.
- The teacher can also specify up to 3 additional correct
answers for each gap
- See this video tutorial
on how to create a Write Gaps exercise.
- Students type in the correct answer for each gap.
- Students have 3 attempts at each gap. After the 3rd
attempt, the answer is given.
- Incorrect answers affect the score. 2 scores are given:
(1) the percentage of correct clicks; (2) the number
of questions answered correctly at the first attempt.
- Can be used to test students' lexical and grammatical
knowledge. More challenging than other gap-fill types
because no clues or prompts are provided, and there
is no word list to choose from.
- There is no time pressure.
- The use of a sound file makes the exercise easier
but helps to reinforce the sound-spelling link. Where
a sound file is attached to the file, the teacher can
decide whether or not the audio is made available for
this exercise.
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 for each agp
- invite/select students to come to the board and write
in the correct answer (using the IWB keyboard)
- for each gap in the text, students can be asked to
write the correct answer on mini-whiteboards, before
checking the answer and moving on to the next gap
- the IWB screen can be used as the basis for a written
exercise in exercise books, with students writing the
correct answer for each gap
- a Write Gaps worksheet can also be printed out from
within TaskMagic. This displays the whole text a numbered
list below the text for students to write their answers.
- discuss why particular words cannot be correct given
the context / grammar etc, and what type of word is
required for each gap.
|
| |
NEW:
MIX
& GAP VIDEO TUTORIALS - How to make your own exercises
in Mix and Gap
NEW: Exploiting
texts to maximum effect in TaskMagic3 |
|
|
|
