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ESL forum >
Make suggestions, report errors > A little tip for the day..
A little tip for the day..
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colibrita
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A little tip for the day..
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Improving worksheets: if your worksheet is 2 pages long, and there �s not much text on the second page, see if you can squeeze it onto one page (by adjusting top and bottom margins, smaller fonts or pictures, etc). It �s a shame to have to print out a sheet when there �s not much on it. Plus so many of us are limited to how many pages we can print so one page docs can be really useful. And if it really doesn �t fit, why don �t you add some more exercises or whatever so that the second page really is worth printing out.
What �s your little tip for the day? can be on any topic....
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4 Nov 2009
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teacher_julia
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I like including detailed instructions on the activity itself, such as for set up, that way teachers don �t have to refer back to the page itself. This may include pictures for setup.
I did it on this activity here: http://www.eslprintables.com/printable.asp?id=317276
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4 Nov 2009
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libertybelle
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And also including a key too!
Great advice!
L
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4 Nov 2009
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s.lefevre
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I don �t think that worksheets should be so squeezed. Sometimes the worksheets aregreatbut the fonts are so small that it becomes impossibletowork with kids. |
4 Nov 2009
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Samantha.esl
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I would also like to suggest to people, who use cliparts, to make sure they are clear. Sometimes, people make activities where students have to match sentences with pictures and when you print them (after having to modify them to grey scale because B&W is not possible) the pictures look blurry and students can �t performe the activity. The �matching � doesn �t work as the pictures are sooo small. But if you enlarge them, they become even more blurry.
I also wanted to mention that I don�t think I agree with making worksheets soo small, some have fonts number 8 and they are really too small to read and present students something clear and neat. And then you have to spend a lot of time modifying them for what I usually just make my own material for students. After all, that´s not the purpose of the site.... to have a huge amount of points but well....
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4 Nov 2009
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FroggyClaudine
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My tip would be to to pay attention to margins. When I print a ws, I always have a (about) 1.3 cm margin and when your wonderful ws don �t have any, part of it is not printed and my pupils miss something. I always make a margin on my ws. And to avoid changes, I always group the images or word arts or text zone so that when I upload, the ws looks the same as on my laptop. Have a nice day all.
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4 Nov 2009
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colibrita
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Oh yes, I absolutely agree about that, "squeeze" but in moderation! I meant to say that in my original post. Text shouldn �t be so tiny that you need to get out your magnifying glass!
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4 Nov 2009
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Anna P
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...and the space for students to fill in should be appropriate. Sometimes they have to write 3 or for words in a space like this ____.
I agree with Libertybelle �s suggestion for KEYS!
And I also agree that the size of the font should not be too small. Like Samantha, sometimes it takes me longer to edit a ws than it would have taken me to start from scratch.
Attention to the margins is also a good idea. |
4 Nov 2009
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Zora
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My suggestion is to always make worksheets editable. We DO NOT need a gazillion images on a worksheet!! I hate downloading an activity and then I can �t edit it because somebody needed to put clipart all over the worksheet so they compressed it in Paint or some other editor.
I like to remove clipart and colour from stuff - also, when a worksheet isn �t editable, you can �t fix mistakes and that �s not good. I have found uneditable activities with tons of mistakes and if it had been editable, I could have fixed them.
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4 Nov 2009
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zailda
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I usually prepare wss with Arial size 9, my students don �t have any problems reading them. Also the margins are 1,2 X 0,8 and any printer can print it properly. Most of my wss are 1 page long with the most use of space on it, but the space provided for students to write is minimal, I ask my ss to write the answers in their notebooks, so they can fill it again as a review before the exams, or more than one ss can use it. Also some of them are to be answered in class and the teacher may want the students to answer orally.
I don �t use the space with unnecessary pictures and think that pictures - if there are some - may have a useful purpose (check if the ss understand the meaning of verbs or vocabulary, clarify examples, etc). Some wss designed for adults or teachers have most space saved for text and don �t have any pictures, since they are not necessary in the context. This practice turns the wss less eyecatching but I don �t matter at all, the most important part of the work is the practice itself and not the colors & pics.
If you add pictures, they have to be related with the exercises, or they �ll be removed after downloading. It �s time-consuming and the number of teachers willing to use it will decrease.
The instructions may be provided in the document because after downloading we normally lose trace of where we found it and it �s annoying if you have to log in and search the original post to remember the wss details or instruction for its use.
Keys are welcomed but aren �t necessary dealing with elementary classes (verb to be, plurals, etc.) and they will be even less necessary if you include some explanation with the exercises.
Exercises are always welcomed among explanations, the more you can add, the more they �ll be useful for students to practice. Most of us have a book with grammar explanation so exercises go well with them.
Different approaches for the same topic are also a good idea. If you have several ideas on how to teach & practice present simple (pictionary, grammar guide + exercises, filling-in, songs, reading comprehension, wordsearch, crossword, boardgame, etc.) why not to create a useful set? At the end you may want to prepare a lesson-plan giving suggestions on how to use the whole set, with links for your and/or other wss on the same topic you judge as proper to go with your work.
Make references on texts, give links for videos or other sites with complementary work, provide a last page on your document for the teacher �s keys, suggestions on the use of the ws, useful links, additional videos, mp3 files, etc. Give directions and provide examples, tell your experiences using the ws or similar wss.
If you find a good idea and want to develop it into a different / complementary activity, ask the author for permission, or give credit for the inspiring ws by providing its link in your document or in the ws direction.
The more you add to your work, the more it will be useful for your colleagues.
Have a nice day!
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4 Nov 2009
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