Word-Search Puzzles

          Puzzles! I love them. This week our assignment was choosing one project out of three that was given on edmodo. One of them was creating a puzzle. At first I want to create a comıc actually. But it requires two people, it could be enjoyable but group projects can be difficult sometimes. Because you have to arrenge meetings to do the projects. So I decided to work induvidual in this project. At the beginning I think we should know what actually puzzles are. Puzzles have different definitions. For example, one of them is solvig by studing (taken from: puzzles).
        I will give you an example of word seach puzzles. We all know word-seach puzzles are easier than the other types of puzzles. So they will be more effective for young learners. Because of this, I received a little help from my little sister. She in 7 years old, and they are learning English in a special course. In the last weeks they learnt animals at the course. I asked her that which animals thay had learnt, And I start with my puzzle with these words. It was a real fun to working with her. She couldn't remember some of the animals' names, I made her remember some actings. I acted like a donkey for example, this made her lots of laugh. And at the end of the project I took a copy of my puzzle, then ı gave it to my sis. When she solved it, we, together, checked it.  Eventually, this was developing for both to me and my sister. Here is my puzzle:

           

  made with:create your own puzzle    

         WEBQUEST

         This week our assignment was evaluating a webquest from the sites which our teacher recommend us. I think webquest is a different type of language teaching. WebQuests are activities, which you use Internet resources, and it encourages students to use higher order thinking skills to solve a real messy problem. WebQuests are a sub-set of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Being a teacher of 21. century requires using technology and the internet in an effective way. Online lessons can be created by using webquest. You can also make your students to develop their writing, searching and reading skills. Webquests help them also memorizing vocabularies about different subjects. I chose a webquest from zunal.com. the title is Favorite Holiday . As you understand from the title, the content is about a favorite holiday. While doing the project you have to write about your holiday that the best to you.
         First of all, to begin evaluating, I want to talk about the overall aesthetics. Overall visual appeal isn't adequate enough because graphic elements were used but sometimes not always to contribute the understanding of the concept. But actually the navigation and the flow are very effective. All the pieces are clear to the learner. If we continue with the mechanical aspects, there isn't enough links that related to the content.
         The first part we have the introduction part. Motivational effectiveness of introduction isn't enough. Cognitive effectiveness of the introduction, the introduction builds on learner's prior knowledge and effectively prepares the learner what the lesson is about.
          Then comes the task part. The connection of task to standards are well produced. The cognitive level of the task is doable but is limited in its significance to students' lives.
          Thirdly we have the process part. The clarity of process; every step is clearly stated. The scaffolding of process; the process provides students coming in at different entry level with strategies and organizational tools to access and gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. And the richness of process; different roles are assigned to help students understand different perspectives.
          The resource part aren't included to the webquest. Resources are very important for web-based assignment. Because the learners may get lost without any resource.
          Finally, the evaluation part, criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. The rubric has four criteria (content, punctuation, grammatical use and diction use). So the instructor can score the webquest easily. So at the end of this critics, rate is 31 out of 50 regarding to the rubric given on edmodo.
        See you next week! :)

Wiki Project

This week our assignment is using wiki's in foreing language classrooms. So to do it right, first we have to learn it of course. The subject was recommending a book that we like. In this project the most difficult thing was choosing the book actually. I changed my decision 5 times. Finally I made my decision on this one, Friendship Bread. It's one of my favorite ones. And here is my WİKİ .

Here is a pic of my book, Friendship Bread, cover. Lovely, isn't it? :)

A Podcasting Project

It is a story telling podcasting project. In this project ı worked with Ayşe Karaçam. 

We had some  difficulties in recordings. We made lots of mistakes while recording our voices and we decided in this recording after a lot of testing. Because other recordings were not adequate. It was a really developing experience for speaking. So podcast is an effective way of teaching foreign language.

I think this strategy will be very beneficial for my students too.

Here is the story which we vocalized: 

Audio recording and upload >>

Welcome to my blog! I will share all my projects that ı do in the technology materials design course in this blog. :) See you soon :)