Proyecto de Innovación Educativa

Desarrollo de la expresión escrita a través de la Integración de las TICS

 

Studying on the Internet

Objectives:
bulletAppreciate the importance of internet as a means of communication and a source of information
bulletRevise vocabulary related to computers, internet and the environment.
bulletRevise the use of the future tense, should, mustn't and the passive voice.
bulletWriting for a purpose, giving advice.
bulletGenerate ideas on a topic and organize them.
bulletWork in groups effectively.
bulletDevelop good behaviours towards our environment
bulletDevelop a positive attitude towards writing.

Procedures:

bulletRead about the history of Internet.
bulletUse the internet to search for information about recycling.
bulletRead a text searching for specific information.
bulletUse vocabulary related to recycling and the environment.
bulletWork in groups to discuss and a reach a consensus.
bulletWriting for fun creating a story in groups.

 

 

  A short history of the internet

The ability of the computer to send and receive information across powerful networks is becoming very useful particularly in education. But, no matter how large the Internet has become,  it still offers us only a few of the services that will be possible in the future with broadband networks. The Internet is the largest store of information on this planet. The Internet is commonly named as 'the Net'.There are almost three million servers on the Net, accounting for a number of users estimated to reach at least 125 million in two years.


The Internet owes its existence to a very unlikely source: the United States' Department of Defense at the Pentagon. The internet was born for military reasons thinking about a future nuclear war. We can find the real origin of present internet in five super-computers which began working in the 1980 for the American National Science.

 

         Internet is similar to an infinite library. You can find any kind of information related to languages, science, music, technology, medicine, travels, entertainments. Students can take advantage of the internet for their studies. But internet is so big that we need to know how to find what we are looking for. It is very easy to look for information in the internet, especiall using the search engines. Email is another great way of communicating with people anywhere in the world and we can't forget online conferencing, chats, etc. which facilitate communication among many people.

 

Pre-writing:

 

bullet

 What do you know about internet?

bullet

Have you ever used internet? What for?

bullet

Do you have internet at home?

bullet

Do you think it is useful?

bullet

What can you do on the internet?

bullet

Discuss your answers with your partner.

 

bullet

 Let's learn some vocabulary related to computers and the internet:

Remember to use the online dictionary if you don't know the meaning of a word

search engine

browser

home page

 to save

download/upload a document

to chat

update

links

to load a page

screen

mouse

monitor

keyboard

floppy disk

network

server

web page

web site

inbox

compose an email

to surf the net

to log in

to log out

keypal

  broadband    modem
bullet

 Vocabulary practice: "Computers and Internet"

 

bullet

 The future and Internet: Put the words in the correct order to form a sentence.

 

Writing:  WRITING AN EMAIL

 

bullet

 Email: Let's write an email to a keypal!
bullet

Step 1: Enter this page and look for a key pal

bullet

Step 2: Learn about how to write an email

bullet

Step 3: Write your email

bullet

Revise your text using revision tips

bullet

Step 4: Send it!

E-mailing allows people to communicate around the world very quickly. You can make friends, practise writing and get to know other countries and cultures.

You can exchange letters emails, participate in projects  or an online quest...one day you may even arrange to meet the people you've been writing to or visit the country you've been learning about...

 

 Step 1: If you have an email account already continue to step 2.

If you don´t have an email account get one on the internet. There are many sites which provide email services. Some of the most famous are hotmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.  Let's try with Yahoo as an example:

 

 Step 2: How to write an email

 

 Step ·3: Your first message. Your first message should be an introduction to yourself. Follow the guidelines to write it.

 

bulletSelf Introduction

You can use expressions like "Let me introduce myself", "Here is some information about me."

I am glad to write a little bit about myself.

bullet

 Name

You can introduce your name writing "My name is ........,"  "I am .........,"

My first name is Hanako, which means "flower child."

 

bullet

Place of birth, of present residence

It is always interesting to tell the other person where you were born and where you live: "I am from .......," "I was born in ..........," " I am from ....... but now I live in .........," "My hometown is ........".

 

bullet

What you do/study

"I am a student at .......... High School in .........," " I am studying at ..........." "I am in the ......... grade or ..(first, second, third, fourth) year of ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education)

 

bullet

Your hobbies, favorite classes, music artists,etc

"My favorite class is ................, because .......," "I like ......, " "I love .........."

"My hobby is/are .........

 

bullet

How you spend your free time

"I often watch TV/play ..........in the evenings/ in the afternoons," "My favorite pastime is ......."

 

bullet

Your family

"My family has ...members," "There are four members in my family," "My brother's name is........ he is......years old..."

" My fathers is a ......(job)," "My mother works in ........"

 

bullet

Ask for information about the other person:

"Please tell me what you do  ........." "Could you tell me about your ........?," What do you do in your free time? "

 

bullet

Describe your ideal penpal:

"I am looking for anyone interested in ............," "I am interested in ...... and I am looking for a keypal who are interested in corresponding with a Japanese"

 

bullet

Expressions to use at the end of your messge

"Best regards (Saludos)," "Thank you for reading my message," "I hope to hear from you soon" (Espero tener noticias tuyas pronto," "I look forward to your email" (Estoy deseoso de recibir tu mensaje", "Please send me an email"

"Write to me soon!," "Let me know how you are doing these days" "Take care" (Cuidate), "Cheers"

  

Example

Hello!

My name is Arturo. I am in my last year of secondary education (ESO). My favourite class is Geography because I love to know about different places in the world. I study English hard to travel abroad in the future. I live in Huelva with my family. My family consists of my father, my mother, my two brothers and myself. My father is an accountant, and his primary job is keeping the books at a local library. My mother teaches French at ---- Senior High School. My brothers go to junior high school. My hobbies are reading, writing, and traveling. I have traveled a lot in Spain, and I have visited the United States. I often watch travel programs on TV. I am interested in foreign cultures. I am looking for a keypal who would like to exchange information about our cultures and chat about what we do and think in our daily life. I am looking forward to hearing from someone who has the similar interests.

 Best regards,

 Arturo ______

 

 Find a Keypal here

 

Writing - rewriting:

 Now you are ready to write your first email message:

bullet

Write your email below

bullet

Proofread your message taking into account the suggestions above

bullet

Copy your message, open your email account, paste your message and send it. If you need help go here

Write your email here

 

     Send to teacher     

 

bullet

Surfing the web to improve our writing

In this activity we are going to visit a web pages especially created to help us improve our writing. You will see that writing can be exciting!

"Paragraph Punch": Follow the instructions to write a composition step by step. You will be surprised how easy writing is! Keep your online dictionary open to look up words that you don't know.

 

bullet

 Writing skills: Using conjunctions

 

bullet

Revision of past simple of Irregular verb

 

bullet

 A final exciting activity:  "Chain Story!!!"

In this activity you work in groups of 4. Each student writes a sentence to continue the story. It will be funny!

 

Rewriting:

 

bullet

 Remember to revise and rewrite your text

 

bullet

 Doing research on the internet:

Many people are worried about the world, peace and our natural environment. Each of us can contribute to a better world. An simple example for that is recycling our waste.

bullet

Enter this interesting webquest: Save the earth!

   

        

                    Parque Nacional de Doñana (Huelva)                   Paraje Natural Marismas del Odiel (Huelva)

The future of our world is in our hands.  Thousands of trees were cut down in tropical forests last yearBut, are your ecologically aware?

 

bullet

 Discuss with your partner the things we can do to save the earth. Think about pollution, saving energy, using recycled materials, saving water, etc.

 

bullet

 Read the following text how our environment can be saved.

 

SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT

It is important to save water. Most of the earth's water is salt water, In fact, only three per cent pf the earth's water is fresh. Many things can be done to save water. For example, you can have shower instead of baths.  Did you know that every time a tap is left running whle you brush your teeth, about 6o litres of water is wasted?

Noise pollution is another important way of polluting our environment. Life in our cities is becoming more noisy because of the increasing number of cars. Noise makes people become very nervous. When people in Spain were asked which type of pollution was most serious for them, more than 80 per cent mentioned noise pollution in first place. Car's exhaust fumes also collaborate in increasing the greenhouse effect which is making the ozone layer bigger and bigger every year.

Besides, thousands of trees are cut down every year in the Amazon rain forests and endangered species are displaced of their living places.  In many places of our planet many trees and forests are being destroyed by fires causing a terrible damage to animals.

 

 

bullet

  Did you know all these words? Check your memory and look up for the words you don't know.

 

aerosol         carbon monoxide         climate       endangered species     nuclear energy          solar energy        exhaust fumes        fertilizers          forest    fires         global warming     greenhouse effect      ozone layer        pesticide pollution        rain forest        waste        wildlife     cut down    destroy      protect             pollute            recycle                      save                    throw away

 

bullet  Practice the use of these words:  
bullet  Grammar revision: Passive voice:

 

bullet  Think about the things we should or mustn't do to save our environment. Write a list of ten sentences. Then join the sentences to create a composition. Think about these topics. Worksheet "earth"  
bulletWater
bulletRecycling
bulletPlastic or paper bags?
bulletFire
bulletaerosol cans
bulletcar

Remember to complete the brainstorming before writing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bullet

 Final activity: Webquest on Recycling