Area of Interest: New technologies and social media and Diverse communication settings
Skills: Listening and Reading
Competences: Discourse competence
Age Bracket: 6 – 10
Time Commitment: 30 – 60 minutes
Affordability: €€€
Materials:
Penpal
Books
Expert recommendations:
Available Languages:
Lezen Oefenen met PenpalIn this activity, the pupils will read and listen to texts, using Penpal. This is an electronic didactic device, a combined MP3-player and text scanner, with which one can “read” books/text aloud page by page, and upload sound files that are activated by hotspots/barcode stickers (https://uk.mantralingua.com/products/penpal .
The aim of the activity is for the pupils to focus on reading training and listening comprehension, by:
- listen to, explore and work creatively with texts
- read and comment on the content of texts
Step 1. Preparation
In order to carry out this activity, it is assumed that the school has purchased Penpal for teaching. In addition, some preparation by the teacher is required. The teacher must read the relevant texts into Penpal on beforehand, so that the pupils can listen to the written texts. Also, the teacher has to put corresponding stickers on the books that the pupils are supposed to read.
The teacher informs the pupils about what they are supposed to do, and how Penpal works. The pupils are each given their own Penpal with the book or text that they will read, so that they learn how it works. The pupils can sit one by one or two by two.
It may not be convenient for all the pupils to sit together in the classroom, as it can be noisy. Separate rooms (inside or outside) are recommended.
This activity can be adapted to different skill levels. Pupils who do not have good reading skills, can listen to read/entered texts, while pupils who have good reading skills, can listen to difficult books or read texts themselves on Penpal, to practice syllable stress, pronunciation and intonation.
Step 2. Practicing reading
Elementary level:
The pupils work alone or together with a fellow pupil and share a Penpal and associated book. The pupil(s) should sit in a place where they can work undisturbed. When the pupil presses Penpal against the sticker in the book, Penpal reads. When Penpal “reads”, the pupils can join the reading.
The teacher may prepare and enter the assignment either after each page(s) or after the first chapter. This depends on the pupils’ skills and competence goals.
When the pupils have listened to the text/book, they can read the same pages themselves, either aloud or silently.
Then, for example, the teacher may give some tasks or questions either after each page or after each chapter.
This may be grammar questions or tasks such as:
- “Find all nouns, adjectives and/or verbs in the text”
It can also be questions connected to the content of the book, such as:
- “What is the book about?”. Or: “Who is the book about”, etc.
Advanced level:
Pupils at a higher age level or pupils with better language skills can be given the task of reading a book or text into Penpal. The aim of this is for the pupils to practice pronunciation and reading, by working with tasks such as:
- Pronunciation of phonological phenomena that are relevant to the language in question: for example, short and long vowels, diphthongs and other sounds of the language,
- Prosody, such as intonation and syllable stress.
This should be done in a practical setting, such as the intonation of an interrogative sentence, an imperative sentence and a negation sentence.
An advantage of using Penpal for this is that the pupils may work thoroughly with these tasks, and then they may delete the sound file from Penpal if they want to enter a new sound file.
The teacher can add tasks and questions either to each page or chapter:
- Grammar tasks, such as “Find infinitive, verb in singular, two or three numbers, object, adjective (all declensions)”, and
- Questions related to the contents of the text.
If the pupils sit in pairs, this assignment can be taken both orally and in writing.