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ESL forum >
Concerning worksheets > Useful worksheets but not for 6 years old....
Useful worksheets but not for 6 years old....
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zailda
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Hi Ohlala_esl!
I have to disagree with you because the colors and the pictures are eyecatching not only for the members here but also for the students. I started adding tons of pictures and colors and now I �m trying to balance them to avoid overdoing it.
Since I started preparing colorful wss my students changed their attitude towards written exercises, even the adult beginners and the advanced classes. I use the pictures just to check if they understand the meaning of nouns and verbs - besides the grammar topics - and for sure they are all related to the ws grammar or vocabulary points. I use the pics as tools to have the students involve with it and also to make it easier to understand the meaning of the words and topics.
I try to fill all the spaces in a ws with grammar guide, examples and exercises to practice the topic presented, all the wss are editable - so you can get rid of anything you don �t need - and from intermediate & advanced levels I add keys on the second page.
When I present a colorful ws with some pictures, my students don �t demonstrate to be bored with the amount of exercises they �ll have to do, on the contrary, they look carefully at it and get to work. They don �t treat the ws as "another paper to do" because (I guess) they calculate the amount of time and effort were necessary to prepare that piece of work especially to help them understand and practice what they have to learn.
Since March (when I signed up here) they always ask for wss and when I don �t provide one (because they have full practice in their homework book) they look frustrated. When they miss a class they send me an email and I send them the ws to be read and filled out at home and they always bring it done next class.
I have 60 ss or so and I assure all of them changed their attitude since I changed my way of presenting the grammar and vocabulary points.
I �m not particularly interested in the points matter, but I feel that the more points I get, the more my work will be useful for students around the world in learning English and it �s rewarding to imagine that not only the 60 mine, but thousands of students from all over can learn from my efforts.
I had lots of students during the 12 years I �ve been an English and Spanish teacher and I assure you that even the male adults love a well-presented and richly designed ws. It �s a good feeling when someone cares about you and prepares something just to help and if it takes hours to prepare it, everyone will engage and want to work hard.
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13 Sep 2009
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douglas
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Worksheets are another way for people to explore and display their creativity. Each person has to find their own style, if they don �t like it , they can move on to another. Some people are Dali types, others are Picasso, Rubens, Van Gogh, etc. That doesn �t mean that Dali had to conform to Van Gogh �s style.
As for properly labeling the level of the worksheet, I fully agree with Anita.
Douglas |
13 Sep 2009
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arkel
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Calm down Manonski. I �ve read the whole post and Ohlala_esl has never been offensive. She �s just voicing an opinion
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13 Sep 2009
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manonski (f)
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Arkel, I am totally calm.
Like Ohlala, I am voicing my opinion. We don �t agree and that �s very alright with me. |
13 Sep 2009
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Samantha.esl
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Hi, I stated I don �t intend to start a problematic thread. I really just feel is not about the points people get to download!... I feel the points thing (which is a wonderful idea of the creator of the page) are some how addictive  in the good sense! And I didn �t mean that people make these sort of worksheets to get more points t o donwload more I �m quite sure they download very little but the feeling of having trillions of points is something else..  if you know what I mean.. BUT... leaving this aside.. My point was the right level for the worksheets and also the way childish cliparts are used. As for Zailda �s point! I must say, your worksheets are fantastic!! And the cliparts are not badly used! On the contrary.. So my point was not to offend the ones who defend these works but to state something esle.-- And let me say that some really missed my point.. As you say Zailda..." I assure you that even the male adults
love a well-presented and richly designed ws. It �s a good feeling when
someone cares about you and prepares something just to help and if it
takes hours to prepare it, everyone will engage and want to work hard."
Of course, and I Do love well presented and well made printables... not childish and poor in content ones... That was my point! you know teddy bears... Sarah kay, kitty.. Do men like this??
Sorry, but I was not saying the contrary to well presented and prepared, designed and thought worksheets! But I was saying something else.
Bye
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13 Sep 2009
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crisholm
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Dear Ohlala,
I must say I completely agree with your opinion, and I think your post was not offensive in any way.
It �s just an honest way of posing a problem maybe some people had not thought about. I agree clipart is eye-catching, but it should be there for a purpose - visual input. Then again simplicity has its own virtues, and cluttering pages with IRRELEVANT clipart (which I agree is discordant with the levels of language or grammatical CONCEPTS taught) does not seem very appropriate.
But if someone feels it �s essential to develop their creativity, go ahead, of course. It �s just that when you share things you should somehow be open to other people �s opinions.
And then again, people should be more careful when defining the level of the worksheets - it �s a common problem. And it �s not that difficult now that we have the Common European Framework - perhaps that could be the solution? Defining them as A1, A2, B1, B2 and adding the age level intended?  |
13 Sep 2009
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manonski (f)
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Crisholm, if you want members to better classify their printables, we need to find a common ground. Where I live, we don �t have A1, A2, etc. It does not mean anything to me. I think the age is the best thing to use. We just have to make sure that we classify properly when we upload but we also have to be aware that some countries give more hours of English than others and what is considered elementary somewhere might be intermediate somewhere else. |
13 Sep 2009
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Samantha.esl
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I agree with you Crisholm however, it is true what Manonski says that to classify worksheets according to what you suggest would not be of much use for the ones who are in other continents.
However, I could only say that I feel some people who defend these works.. don �t see that I was saying some people abuse the use of cliparts for worksheets which are not for 6 years old!
That �s it!
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13 Sep 2009
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renca
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There have been discussions on this topic several times here, but not very fruitful, unfortunately. Obviously, adding pics is everybody�s own business and if people don�t like it, they don�t have to download. (After two years here I and my printer are becoming allergic to loads of pictures).
What should be solved out are the levels of students - personally I think that elementary - intermediate - advanced - classification is not enough. I am aware of the fact that apart from Europe CEF levels from A1-C2 are not used, but I still think that most teachers understand expressions high/low elementary or pre-intermediate. I suppose that Victor should try to do something about it, but he has never joined discussion on this topic.
Renata |
13 Sep 2009
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crisholm
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I do not think the CEF is continent-related. It is a very useful descriptive tool which has been developed with the collaboration of most language examiners. If people know what KET, PET, FCE, CAE or Proficiency are, they can easily relate it to CEF levels. The main idea, precisely, is finding correct descriptors of levels which overcome the problem of �elementary in my country, intermediate in yours �. It �s not a matter of �where I live � - the CEF is precisely meant to avoid these issues. And I do know some Canadian webs and universities that refer precisely to these levels. Please do bother to take a look! |
13 Sep 2009
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