Transcript How it Works - Cloudfront.net

What is it?
A hugely powerful and flexible
wordsearch generator, which
can be used either as a
starter activity, or as a tool to
generate worksheets , or in
an ICT suite for individual
student work.
It can be used in any subject
at any level, offers inbuilt
facilities for differentiation
and extension work, and it is
virtually self-marking...
… and most kids love
wordsearches... and of course
it's free.
You need...
A teacher's PC which connects to a
projector.
A fairly standard set of PC software
which includes a Flash player in its
Web browser.
This software will work in most UK
secondary schools, but ask your
technical support team BEFORE you
spend too much time on it...
To produce worksheets, you need to
know how to take a screenshot,
how to copy-and-paste, and how to
crop an image in Paint.
How it Works
This software offers a general
purpose vocabulary builder
and literacy tool ideal for for
5-minute starters. Students
spot the words in the grid,
then come to the front, and
click the words they have
spotted. You can have
elements of competition (boys
v girls, or right-half vs lefthalf) and vary the level of
difficulty in the grid.
The game works best if you
have 16 or more words to
include.
Downloading: 10 Minutes
You need to download four files from the TM4T website, here (copy
and paste this into your web browsers address bar):
https://sites.google.com/site/timemanagement4teachers/timemanagement-for-NQTs/tm4t-nqt---starters/tm4t-nqt---land-of-a-100starters/tm4t-nqt-software-downloads
Put all four files in the same folder; name the folder
something crazy like Wordsearch.
It's best to keep your Wordsearch folders on a memory stick
(flash drive) so you can carry it round.
Setting Up: 2 Minutes
You should have downloaded three files in addition to this one: one
called Example-Words, the other two both called Wordsearch.
The first thing you should do is to copy and paste the Example-Words
file and create another file - rename this fifth file Words.
This is important because you must have a file called Words.
The Example-Words file is pre-loaded with some sample
words, and is in exactly the correct format so the game
works; so: if you ever mess up the format of the Words file,
you can just do the copy-rename trick again to make a new
Words file.
For the game to work, you must have a file called Words, it
must be in the same folder as the Wordsearch files, and it
must be in the correct format.
Preparation 1: 2 minutes
Try the game out by double-clicking on one of the Wordsearch
icons, and compare the results with the contents of the Words file
(the contents of the Example-Words file are shown below)
Mr Bigrush , Topic-Name
AQUATICS,aquatics
BASKETBALL,basketball
GYMNASTICS, gymnastics
SHOOTING,shooting
TRIATHLON,triathlon
This
Goes
Here
These go
These go
in the
in the
Wordsearch
Clues
Preparation 2: 3-10 minutes
You should edit the Words file, replacing Mr Bigrush with your
name, Topic-Name with err.. the topic name, and each word pair
with a set from your vocabulary list.
The game does work with less than 16 words, but it looks a little
odd.
You should get a student to time-test your wordsearch at Level 1 this should take around 5 minutes.
Playing the Game: 5-10 minutes (Level 2)
Double-click on Wordsearch, then click
Start Game. Choose a Level to match the
class ability (One = Easy, Two = Medium,
Three = Hard).
The Wordsearch is displayed, together
with a list-of-words. When you find a
word, click on the first and last letters to
mark it. The corresponding word is then
highlighted in the list-of-words.
Other buttons (Show Words, Hide Words,
New Game) do exactly what you'd expect
them to do.
If you restart the game with the same
Words file, you will get a different
Wordsearch, so you can re-use each
game repeatedly.
How it Works Part 2
You can of course easily transform
your wordsearch into a Worksheet
or homework sheet.
Just display a Wordsearch on your
PC screen, nice and big, then press
the screenshot button on your
keyboard (usually PrtSc or ScrPt
near the top right hand corner).
Ask your technical support team if
you don't know how to do this.
Paste your screen shot into MSPaint or a similar program, then
use Select to copy-and-paste an
image of your Wordsearch into an
MS-Word document and add text.
How it Works Part 3
You can of course often create a quiz as well as a
wordsearch, simply by editing your Words file. For example,
instead of making the clues the same as the answers like
this:
Mr Bigrush , Capitals
Topic-Name
PARIS, Paris
paris
ROME, Rome
rome
MADRID, Madrid
madrid
LJUBLJANA, Ljubljana
ljubljana
… just make the clues different like this:
Mr Bigrush , Capitals
Topic-Name
PARIS, France
paris
ROME, Italy
rome
MADRID, Spain
madrid
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia
ljubljana
Efficient Working
Preparing each Wordsearch can take 5-10 minutes, which
means it isn't an efficient activity to develop and prepare
during Term-time.
The best way to use this tool is to identify before term starts
which sets of vocabulary are likely to be valuable. Wherever
possible, share this planning with colleagues in your
department, and develop different Words-files for each topic for example: Words-sealife, Words-algebra, Words-literature.
When you want to use a particular set of words, just rename
your files so the correct one has the magic name: Words.
STOP PRESS: Actually, no, I lie. The best and easiest way to
use this tool is to get some naughty students to key in all the
words for you - creating several Words files - as a sanction....
In emergencies...
You can download the software again from
https://sites.google.com/site/timemanagement4teachers/tim
e-management-for-NQTs/tm4t-nqt---starters/tm4t-nqt--land-of-a-100-starters/tm4t-nqt-software-downloads