Worksheets

1. Worksheets An introduction to worksheet design. Developing awareness of pedagogical issues behind worksheet design

2. Potential Uses of Worksheets • Surveys or questionnaires for doing interviews or whole class ‘mingle’ activities. • Graphic organisers, flow charts or tables for organising information (for example, during a reading or listening activity). • Vocabulary or grammar exercises to help students consolidate a grammar structure or vocabulary following spoken practice. • Storyboards for prompting productive spoken or written practice. • Vocabulary activity (for example, a matching activity) for pre-teaching vocabulary. • Information gap activities for speaking practice of vocabulary or grammar.

3. Instructions hard to understand Not clear what activity instructions refer to No sentence context for words - how can they work out meaning? Font hard to read No example given Vague Task Not enough space for student’s writing Poor quality image

4. Designing Good Worksheets - some tips • The page shouldn’t have too much text, too many graphics, or too many images. There should be a good balance of language and “white space” (blank areas on the page). • If the students have to write answers on the worksheet, then the writing area should be large enough, with lots of “white space” around it. • Images should be high quality, high-resolution images. • Instructions for tasks should be clear and specific (including example answers). • Fonts should be readable and consistent.

5. Task 3: Evaluating Worksheets

6. Task 3: Evaluating Worksheets • In groups you will be looking at different worksheets. In each case, decide.... • What is the target language? • What are the strengths of the worksheet? • What are the weaknesses of the worksheet? • How would you teach using this worksheet in class?

7. Worksheet 1 Target grammar pattern: “How many ... has the monster got?”, “He’s/She’s got...”; numbers; parts of the body Strengths: Clear picture for description. Provides enough space for the student to make notes about there partner’s picture. Students have to draw partner’s picture - thus provides a visual way of checking students comprehension of the language. Weaknesses: Needs to provide language support - for example a speech bubble with question each student needs to ask: “How many eyes has Monster May got?

8. Worksheet 1 How would you teach it: (1) Introduce idea of monsters by drawing a monster on the board, and elicit language. (2) Introduce question ‘How many legs/arms/eyes has he got?’ and drill. (3) Put students into pairs and give each partner a letter - Child A and Child B. (4) Tell children not to look at their partner’s worksheet. They must keep it a secret. Each child fills in details of their own monster in preparation for speaking activity. (5) Each child asks about their partner’s monster and completes the second part of the worksheet. (6) Each child now draws a picture of their partners monster in the space provided.

9. Worksheet 2 Target vocabulary: verbs that can be changed into adjectives by adding ~ing or ~ed. Strengths: Activity 1 is a fairly good warm up for Activity 2 because it targets the vocabulary by an controlled activity that show clearly the difference between ~ing and ~ed adjectives. Activity 2 is an extension because students must decide on both which word and form (~ing or ~ed) is appropriate given the context. Weaknesses: There is no information about the difference between ~ing or ~ed forms of adjectives. Activity overlaps onto two pages, and the vocabulary box is on the second page, meaning that students have to look from page to page to do the question. The blanks are not long enough to allow students to write in their answers.

10. Worksheet 2 How would you teach it: (1) Have students complete Activity 1 and formulate their own rule for when to use ~ing and ~ed adjectives. (2) Confirm the rule as a class. (3) Do Activity #2.

11. Worksheet 3 Target language: adjectives that describe snakes and crocodiles Strengths: The instructions are clear. The “differences” part of the Venn diagram is large enough for students to write in answers. The colour adds a nice aesthetic touch. Weaknesses: The images don’t match well: the snake is a photograph, while the crocodile is an illustration. The “alike” part of the Venn diagram is too small for students to write in their answers. There is no language support: no grammar patterns and no sample vocabulary.

12. Worksheet 3 How would you teach it: (1) Ask students to describe alligators and snakes, writing their ideas in a word bank on the board. Also provide some sample grammar patterns: “Unlike snakes, crocodiles…” and “Like snakes, crocodiles…” (2) Put students in pairs to fill the Venn diagram. (3) Make new pairs of students and have them compare answers. (4) Have a class discussion about the similarities and differences between crocodiles and snakes.

13. Worksheet 4 Target language: arrogant, attractive, bighead, charming, complex, conceited, confidence, deeply, get served, perfect, positive, proportion, respected, self-esteem, sensitive; comparatives (more intelligent, better, etc.) Strengths: The design is clean and organized and has a clear progression. Weaknesses: Student may give minimal answers - a language bank could be provided to help them expand on their opinions. There is no instruction about what to do after completing the questionnaire.

14. Worksheet 4 How would you teach it: (1) Put students and pairs and have them answer the questionnaire. (2) Put students into groups and tell them to make a list of adjectives that are often associated with famous people (e.g. ambitious, wealthy, determined, etc.), and then write their ideas on the board. (3) Put students into groups. Tell them to think of a famous person who they think is bigheaded with reasons. (4) Each group tells the class which famous person they chose and why.

15. Worksheet 5 Target language: collocations with sports (e.g. play football, go rollerblading, do karate); questions including ‘How often do you..?’ Strengths: Clear development - children first complete collocations, then example dialogue provided, before children then actually carry out questionnaire. Language help provided in the form of an example dialogue and ‘useful language’. Weaknesses: The design is fairly plain. This could be improved by adding some images of the vocabulary.

16. Worksheet 5 How would you teach it: (1) Children complete collocations. Clarify that ball games normally take the verb ‘play’. Activity verbs ending in ‘ing’ take ‘go’. (2) Work with children in formulating questions, using dialogue, and practising other examples as a class. (3) Children interview each other.

17. Worksheet 6 • Target language: sneak, disturb, check, watch, ride, rush, pick up, sweat, race, classroom, make an excuse, surprised, look at, bump, basket, check, traffic, unimpressed, shy, grab, quickly, tiptoe, quietly … and other vocabulary that students might come up with • Strengths: The pictures are clear and consistent. Vocabulary is neatly organized below the pictures. Instructions are clear. • Weaknesses: There is no grammar or vocabulary support. Small lettering on pictures.

18. Worksheet 6 How would you teach it: (1) Students work in pairs to think of vocabulary on their own. At the same time, the teacher writes suggested vocabulary on the board (create a word bank). (2) Put students into groups of four and have them match their vocabulary or the vocabulary in the word bank to the pictures. (3) Students create a story with the vocabulary by reordering the pictures. The storytelling can be done only orally or written down. (4) Jigsaw the students so that they are in new groups, in which they retell the story they made in their previous group.

19. A few more tips • Make sure the aim of the worksheet is clear. • Don't try to do too much in one worksheet. Keep It Simple. • Get a colleague to proofread your worksheet for errors. Use your computer's spellchecker too! • Get a colleague to comment on the design of your worksheet. • Test the worksheet with one of your classes or students (if you have one): this will help you to decide if it needs to be changed in any way.

20. Homework In class next week, we will use computers to develop our worksheet ideas for Assignment 2. Think of ideas for two worksheets from this list. The worksheets must have different language points (if they are grammar/vocab related) and content areas. Make and bring one finished worksheet for next week. You will show this to classmates. The second handout you will start and complete in class. • Information Gap worksheet • Grammar or Vocabulary worksheet • Venn diagram worksheet • Survey worksheet • Questionnaire worksheet • Cartoon strips worksheet

21. Worksheets Workshop - Assignment 2

22. Assignment 2 Due next week: Two different kinds of worksheet (e.g. a survey and a Venn Diagram) with two different language points. Complete assignment two rationale (available from my website - click on link ‘Documents’) Put handouts (as pdf)and rationale in zip file and send to: prosserandrew@yahoo.co.uk by next Tuesday morning. If you cannot create a pdf please print and hand directly to me in class.

23. Analysing your Partner’s Completed Worksheet • A clear language or skills aim to the worksheet. • Clear instructions, example answers, language support (e.g. through language banks). • Opportunities for language production. • A clear sense of progression to the worksheet (for example, moving from presentation to practice). • Clear, consistent and readable fonts; good quality images. • Good balance between text, image and white space. • Sufficient space for students to write. • Spelling and grammar correct.

24. Assignment 2 Due next week: Two different kinds of worksheet (e.g. a survey and a Venn Diagram) with two different language points. Complete assignment two rationale (available from my website - click on link ‘Documents’) Put handouts (as pdf)and rationale in zip file and send to: prosserandrew@yahoo.co.uk by next Tuesday morning. If you cannot create a pdf please print and hand directly to me in class.