Higher Ed Grammar Practice - Infinitive or Gerund?

Description

The goal of the activity was to have students create their own sentences using the target structure. The objective was to give students the chance to personalize language as well as check how well they could use the selected verbs. It’s a great way for students to personalize knowledge by recording themselves using the target language.

Assignment

I took my iPad to class, as I wanted to record students reading their own sentences to a VoiceThread created by a colleague (AureaStela). Stela had the brilliant idea to create a word cloud with verbs which take GERUND and INFINITIVE and then asked her students to record sentences using the given verbs.

1. First, I opened her VoiceThread on the IWB and played the recordings for them.
2. Then, I assigned a different verb to each student and asked them to make a sentence using Gerund or Infinitive. I monitored helping them out with their sentences.
3. I gave them a hand-out with a grammar exercise on the same topic and asked students to complete the exercise in class. Meanwhile, I would use my iPad to move round the class to record each student reading their own sentences (I used the VoiceThread App for recording).
4. After I had saved all recordings, I played their recordings on the IWB for everyone to listen to.

Easy Parts

The easiest part was having students create their own sentences and monitor, giving help when needed.

Challenges

The hardest part was checking all the details, such as iPad app, recording the microphone, internet connection.

Tools

The VoiceThread I used was not created by me but by a colleague. She used Wordle to create the image of the word cloud with the verbs, and I used the iPad VoiceThread app to record my students reading their own sentences.

Tips

Testing everything in advance is nice and have a plan B in case something goes wrong.

Variations

The same activity could be used any grammar structure you wish to practice.