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  Sound Match - Games and exercises based on matching sounds and texts
 
 
This is the front page that the student sees, each image linking to a different game or exercise.
You create your own file by browsing for audio files and adding the matching text.
 
Sound Match Front Page
Sound Match Edit Screen
Sound Match is one of the 8 exercise groups included in the TaskMagic package. Sound Match creates a wide range of exercises based on matching sounds with text items. You can use sounds from anywhere on your PC or network. You can also record your own sound files using Windows Sound Recorder or other sound recording software.
- The Sound Match edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows you to input matching pairs of sounds and texts. The number of matching pairs depends on you - you can make exercises with just a few matching pairs, or with hundreds of matching pairs.
- Import feature allows you to quickly import data from existing Sound Match and Pic-Sound files.
- 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 20 separate games and exercises in Sound Match
.
- The Sound Match front page and the Flashcards activity allow the students to record their own voice so that they can compare it with the original sound.
- Scroll down or click here for more information about using Sound Match files, or click on any of the game screens below to find out more.
Sound Match Games & Exercises
Flashcards allows the teacher to present the matching information as a slide show. It also allows students to test their memory working alone at a PC. Items can be viewed either in their original order or in random order. Click here to find out more.
Students drag the text data from the right into the centre to match with the sound. Click here to find out more.
A game for 2 players or teams. Students choose correct matches to put a O or X on the board. Each line of 3 squares in a row earns 1 point. Click here to find out more.
Flashcards
Drag & Match
3 in a row
Students match the sounds and text items against the clock. Click here to find out more.
A pairs memory game for 1 player. Students click an item from the top and try to locate the matching item at the bottom. Click here to find out more.
A pairs memory game for 2 players or teams. Students click an item from the top and try to locate the matching item at the bottom. Click here to find out more.
Against the Clock
Pelmanism 1 Player
Pelmanism 2 Players
Students have to recognize correct matches as the program randomly selects text items and changes them every few seconds. Click here to find out more.
A multiple choice matching activity. Students choose the correct match each time from 3 options. Click here to find out more.
Answer questions correctly to add a storey to the tower. You can get help from the program, but if you get a question wrong, the tower falls to the ground. Click here to find out more.
True or False?
Multi-Match
Tower Block
Students choose the correct match and then have a short amount of time to pot the red ball in the correct pocket. Click here to find out more.
A football game for 2 players or teams. Each correct answer gives a player the chance to pass the ball or shoot. Click here to find out more.
Students steer around the maze avoiding the monster and collecting the keys and money bags. They have to answer a question correctly to open a door. Click here to find out more.
Pool
Football
Doors
Students are required to type in the matching text item. Click here to find out more.
Hangman... Click here to find out more.
An alternative to Hangman.
Type
Hangman
Flower
Students steer around the maze, rebuilding the missing text letter by letter, and avoiding the monsters. Click here to find out more.
Students shoot down the blocks by clicking on the letters in the correct order. The game is over once the blocks reach the top. Click here to find out more.
Students find the missing text hidden in snake form in the grid. Click here to find out more.
Maze II
Invaders II
Snake
Students listen and put the words into the correct order. Click here to find out more.
Jumbled Words 
Jump!
Trainer
NB. Flower is an optional alternative to Hangman, which is the default game. The user can specify Flower instead of Hangman by changing their configuration settings.
Making Use of Sound Match Files
The order in which exercise types are displayed on the Sound Match 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. For example, many teachers tell their class to start with Multi-Match and not to move on to the next exercise until they have a 100% score. 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 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.
This section looks at all of the exercise types available in Sound Match 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 match activities)
- the type of activity (eg. matching, reordering, text input)
- time pressures
- penalties for incorrect answers
- whether items are displayed in a particular order or randomly
- whether the L2 sound is being matched with L1 text or L2 text
The following list is just a suggestion / a guideline / a starting point. Some of the activities, such as Flashcards and Jumbled Words, are appropriate for different stages of the learning process.
NB. The number of games made available in Sound Match depends on whether or not a check box is clicked by the teacher when creating the exercise. Type, Jumbled Words, Hangman, Maze II, Invaders II, Snake and Trainer are only made available when the check box is clicked, as these games are only really appropriate when the text is L2 (ie. the target language).
When the sound is to be matched with L1 text (ie. the student's first language), Sound Match tests the student's ability to recognise the word and understand its meaning. Because the text is in L1 (ie. not the target language), you are advised not to make available exercises requiring the spelling of the text item by leaving the check box unselected.
When the sound is to be matched with L2 text (ie. the target language), Sound Match tests the student's ability to recognise the sound and associate it with the written form of the word or phrase. Because the text is in L2 (the target language), you are advised to make the spelling games available by clicking the check box when you create the exercise. This way students are being tested on the recognition and spelling of the words or phrases.
 
Multi-Match

- This is probably the easiest of the exercises.
- 1 in 3 multiple choice activity.
- If a student answers incorrectly, they can keep trying until they get the correct answer.
- There is no time pressure.
- Items appear in their original sequence.

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
- students write answer on mini-whiteboards or in books before checking answer and moving to next question

 
Tower Block

- 1 in 4 multiple choice activity, where the aim is to answer 15 questions in a row and build a 15 storey tower block.
- No time pressure.
- 1 incorrect answer results in the Tower crumbling and the student has to begin again.
- There is support in the form of four ‘play safes’, where clicking on an incorrect answer incurs no penalty.
- This exercise requires a minimum of 8 inputs.
- Items appear in random order.

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

- students write answer on mini-whiteboards or in books before checking answer and moving to next question
- 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"

 
Jump!

- 1 in 4 multiple choice activity.
- Steer the man around the room jumping from platform to platform, avoiding monsters and other hazards.
- Multiple levels with different hazards.
- Time pressure - oxygen levels run out if you don't get a correct answer..
- Incorrect answers result in oxygen levels dropping drastically.
- Items appear in random order.

Suitable for use on individual PCs, not for interactive whiteboard.

In terms of linguistic demands, this game is one of the least challenging, and for this reason it appears early on in this list. Students are likely to spend a lot of time on this because of the game element.

 
Pool
- 1 in 6 multiple choice.
- No time pressure to answer the questions, but a time limit to pot the ball.
- 1 incorrect answer incurs a 15 second time penalty. A second incorrect answer results in the loss of that ball (ie. the student doesn’t get to play) and the student is shown the correct answer.
- The ball has to be potted in the pocket over which the correct answer was located. Potting the ball in the wrong pocket or potting the white incurs a 100 point penalty.
- Items appear in random order.

Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard, although it may be a bit time consuming in a whole-class environment.

IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers
- invite/select students to come to the board
 
Football
- Multiple choice, with up to 12 answers to choose from.
- A football game for 2 players or teams.
- There is a time pressure to answer the questions, as failing to answer in the time provided results in play passing to the other team. The speed for answering questions can be changed using the difficulty setting before starting the game.
- Players can opt for a timed game or a ‘first to…’ game.
- During play, the ball doesn’t always go to the intended player when you pass or shoot. Shorter passes or shots have a higher chance of being successful, so students are encouraged to make short passes and therefore answer more questions.
- Items appear in random order.

Can be used on individual PCs, with students working in pairs, or on an interactive whiteboard, where the class is split into 2 teams.

IWB options:
- for each pass or shot, invite an answer from a member of the relevant team. The teacher clicks the text as suggested by the student. If they are wrong, they lose the ball to the other team. Quickly invite an answer from a member of this team. etc
- for each pass or shot, invite/select a student from each team to come to the board. The student with control of the ball has the first go at the question. etc.

 
Drag & Match
- Up to 16 items are on display, so the level of difficulty depends on the total number of matching items. If more than 16 matching items are included, 16 are selected randomly from the list.
- No time pressure.
- No penalty for incorrect answers, as incorrect answers are removed when ‘Check’ is clicked, leaving only the correct ones in place.

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

- students write answers on mini-whiteboards or in exercise books. Once they have finished the written exercise the teacher can go through the answers in class, either by inviting answers or calling students up to the board
- option to hide answers to use with whole class as prompt for written work or class activity

 
3 in a Row
- For 2 players or teams - like Os and Xs, but the game continues until the grid is finished.
- All of the items are on display.
- No time pressure.
- An incorrect answer means that player doesn’t put his O or X in the grid.
- This exercise requires at least 9 inputs.

Can be used on individual PCs, with students working in pairs, or on an interactive whiteboard, where the class is split into 2 teams.

IWB options:
- invite/select students from each team to give answers
- invite/select students from each team to come to the board

- option to hide answers to use with whole class as prompt for written work or class activity

 
Against the Clock
- Up to 16 items are on display.
- Time pressure - the aim is to make all of the matches before the time runs out. The time available depends on the number of matching items.
- No penalty for an incorrect answer.

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 fastest times 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 - this will involve a lot of moving around the room quickly in order to get the matches before the time runs out

 
Pelmanism - 1 Player
- Memory game - finding the matching pairs.
- No time pressure.
- Keeps a record of the number of attempts, so the aim is to find all of the matches in the lowest number of attempts.

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 students who manage to find all the pairs without any incorrect guesses, to introduce an element of competition.

IWB options:
- invite/select students to give answers
- invite/select students to come to the board

 
Pelmanism - 2 Players
- Memory game for 2 players or teams.
- No time pressure.
- Players / teams take alternate turns irrespective of whether or not they find a pair.
- The winning player / team is the one with the most correct matches.

Can be used on individual PCs, with students working in pairs, or on an interactive whiteboard, where the class is split into 2 teams.

IWB options:
- invite/select students from each team to give answers
- invite/select students from each team to come to the board

 
Hangman / Flower

- Hangman game - guessing the word or phrase based only on its shape.
- No time pressure.
- Overall score based on the number of correct guesses.
- A record of how many men have been saved and how many hanged is kept at the top of the screen.
- Items appear in random order.

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

- you can ask students to play their own Hangman game in the back of their exercise books or on mini-whiteboards, using appropriate vocabulary from the current exercise (eg. by displaying the Drag & Match screen)

NB. Hangman is the default game in the English version of TaskMagic. This can be changed to flower by changing the configuration file.

 
True or False?
- A bit like a game of ‘Snap’ - you click when you recognize a correct match.
- Time pressure - you have three seconds to recognise a correct match. If you don’t click in this time, the game moves on to another pair.
- A record of correct and incorrect clicks is kept, and these are combined to give a total score.
- Items appear in random order.
- The speed of the activity can be increased or decreased.

Can be used on individual PCs or on interactive whiteboard.

IWB options:
- invite choral “sí” / “oui” / “vrai” etc from class, each time the items change, if there is a correct match (a bit like “repeat if it’s true”)
- invite/select students to come to the board in turns until they have found a True match

 
Invaders II
- The target word or phrase is blanked out, but the shape of the word or phrase is shown. (If the word or phrase is longer than 10 letters, then a group of 10 letters is blanked out.)
- 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.
- Items appear in random order.

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

 
Snake
- The target word or phrase is blanked out, but the shape of the word or phrase is shown.
- The missing letters are to be found in the grid in snake form. The grid is made up mainly of letters which appear in the answer, which helps the student to think of the answer, but not in the same way as with Invaders II.
- The aim is to click and drag through the missing letters in the correct order.
- 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.
- Items appear in random order.

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 come to the board - best to have the next student ready to ensure a swift changeover

 
Maze II
- The target word or phrase is blanked out, but the shape of the word or phrase is shown. (If the word or phrase is longer than 10 letters, then a group of 10 letters is blanked out.)
- The missing letters are to be found in the game grid. The grid is made up mainly of letters which appear in the answer, which helps the student to think of the answer.
- Time pressure - running out of time results in the loss of one of the three lives, as does being caught by the monster(s).
- An incorrect letter click results in the player getting stuck for 2 seconds, increasing the risk of their being caught.
- Items appear in random order.
- Requires the use of the keyboard.

Suitable for use on individual PCs, not interctive whiteboard.

Because of the time pressure students will find this a difficult exercise to complete. It is a good idea for you to keep a record on the board of the highest score for a particular file, to introduce an element of competition.
 
Type
- All of the items are on display (up to 16).
- The shape of the target word or phrase is shown, but no other support is given.
- A score is kept, which is the percentage of correct letter attempts.
- No time pressure.
- An incorrect letter causes the text to go red and stops the typing. Incorrect letters are shown in the letter grid on the screen. The student cannot proceed until they find the correct letter.

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 come to the board
- students can write answers to specific questions (as suggested by the teacher) on mini-whiteboards; students can then be invited to the board to check their answer

- students can write answers to all questions as a written activity in their exercise books, before going through the exercise to check answers using the IWB

 
Doors

- The student answers questions in order to open doors, in order to collect the 6 items required to move on to the next level. A plan of all of the rooms is shown at the top of the screen. The higher the level, the fewer the doors available, so it becomes more of a maze.
- Doors uses a variety of question forms / linguistic demands, depending on the level:
Level one is a 1 in 10 multi choice.
Level two takes letters from the word or phrase, which must then be clicked in the correct order (eg. as with Invaders II)
Level three shows the shape of the word or phrase but requires the student to type in the missing information.
Higher levels combine elements of all of the above.
- If the exercise file has been saved without spelling activities available (by leaving the check box in TaskMagic Create unchecked), Doors operates as a 1 in 10 multi-choice at all levels.

- Time pressure - you are being chased around the maze of rooms by a death figure. At first he moves very slowly, but he gets progressively quicker.
- Penalty for incorrect attempt: the door doesn’t open.

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

 
Jumbled Words
Jumbled Words is only available if the teacher makes it available when they create their exercise. It is intended for situations where the left and right text items, as well as matching with eachother, are also a continuation of eachother. eg. where the left text item is the first part of a sentence and the right text item is the second part:
1) Je vais à la /// piscine
2) Tu vas à /// la plage
3) Je vais /// au cinéma
etc.
NB. It is important here that the matches are exclusive. i.e. that there can only be one correct match for each left text item.
Jumbled words takes all of the text in each row above and jumbles it up:
1) à la vais piscine Je
2) plage à vas la Tu
3) au vais Je cinéma

Jumbled words is excellent for practising sentence structure.

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

- students can write answers to specific questions (as suggested by the teacher) on mini-whiteboards; students can then be invited to the board to check their answer
- students can write answers to all questions as a written activity in their exercise books, before going through the exercise to check answers using the IWB

 
Flashcards

- Flashcards simply runs through the matching items, showing them either in the original sequence or in random order.
- It can be used to present new language to the class using a whiteboard or projector, or for individual work at a PC.
- When used on a PC, it allows the student to test themselves (by saying or thinking what the correct match will be) to see if they know the answers.
- First look at the information in sequence, then again in random order. You can do the same thing with an interactive whiteboard.
- No penalty for getting it wrong, as there is no input to be assessed.
- When working alone with a PC, the student can click the "correct answer" button if they knew the correct answer, or click the "wrong answer" button if they didn't know it or were unsure. Wrong answers are then repeated later

The student can choose to hear the sound before seeing the text or vice versa. By default, if the text is in L1 (ie. if the spelling activities are not available), the sound is played before the text, so that the student can listen to the sound and say the meaning. If the text is in L2 (ie. if the spelling activities have been made available), the text appears first, so that the student can read the text and attempt to pronounce it correctly before listening to the sound.

If used to test understanding (ie. when sound is matched to L1) this is possibly the most difficult exercise in terms of its linguistic demands, as no support is provided at all, although there is no requirement to spell the words, and no evidence of a 100% score is shown. It could be seen as the end objective of your TaskMagic session. If used to test pronunciation, however, it could be used much earlier on in the process.

IWB options:
- present the language in sequence
- at the end of a session (as a plenary) or to revise previously taught language as a lesson starter: run through the information in random order and invite/select students to provide an answer

- to check pronunciation during the learning process: show the text and invite students to pronounce correctly before listening to the sound
- students could write the answer for each question in exercise books or on mini-whiteboards, before checking the answer and moving on to the next question

 
Trainer

Trainer can be used in 2 ways: as a practice session or as a test.

Practice session:
- Runs through the items in random order.
- Provides feedback for incorrect answers - guidance intended to help the student arrive at a correct answer.
- Hint and Skip buttons available.
- If an answer is incorrect the first time, or the Hint or Skip buttons are pressed, that question is repeated again later (and then again, as necessary for the student to answer the question without errors, hints etc.)
- Scores are given for the first answer typed in each round.
- Students can view their scores / progress at any time.
- Students can print a record of their practice session (name input required). Print-outs give details of answers given, scores, time taken etc.

- The practice session is designed to focus on accuracy and spelling, and ensuring that the new vocabulary is truly learned.

Test:
- Runs through the items in random order.
- No feedback is provided during the test.
- One answer is recorded per question.
- Choice of scoring formats, e.g. case-sensitivity, 100% score for whole answer, only correct words, only 100% correct answers.
- Choice of the number of items to include in a test (the maximum being the number of items in a particular file).
- Feedback is given at the end of the test: total score, time taken, score per question etc.
- Students can print out their test result (name input required). Print-outs give details of answers given, scores, time taken etc.


Trainer is the most difficult activity in terms of linguistic demands, as the student has to answer each question without support in order to score full marks. Trainer is excellent for focusing on spelling and accuracy, and ensuring that the new vocabulary is truly learned.

IWB options:
- invite students to the board to type in answers
- at the end of a session (as a plenary) or to revise previously taught language as a lesson starter: run through the information in random order and invite/select students to provide an answer

- students could write the answer for each question in exercise books or on mini-whiteboards, before checking the answer and moving on to the next question

 
 
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