Off-line tools

These are some offline tools I have used in the past. I hope you find them useful.

1. Microsoft Word
2. CD player
3. PowerPoint 
4. Paint
5. Downloaded TV episodes

I'll mention some activities we can do using each of these tools in the language classroom:

1. Guess who: The students will write a description of any famous person, cartoon character or even one about themselves using Microsoft Word. They only are allowed to give clues: physical appearance, personality, relationships with other people, among others without saying who the person /character they are describing really is. Then, they will swap places with their classmates and try to guess who is the character/person described.

2. The students will listen to a soundtrack by using the CD player. While listening, they should get the general idea of it. After that, they will draw the visuals which can accompany the soundtrack. Finally, they can discuss the visuals they have drawn and their differences.

3. The students can create their own stories by using Powerpoint. They can add effects to their slides and pictures offered by Powerpoint. Once they have finished, they can share their story to the whole class. 

4. By using paint and an overhead projector,  the students can play Pictionary: One student is given a sentence and he/ she should draw its representation using paint. The drawing will be exposed to the rest of the class and they have to guess what sentence he/she is trying to represent (e.g. The cat is on the armchair). The student who guesses the right sentence is the one who comes to the front and draws the representation of the next.

5. The students will watch an episode projected by a beamer. They are given a while watching activity in order to make them reflect about the themes of the episode. As a follow up activity, they can be given questions about the episode to discuss in small groups.