Online Resources
Primary - 3rd Cycle
Choose a category on the left
Animals
Tigers
1. Write the following countries on the board: Africa, Asia, Australia, China, India, Russia, Spain, The USA. Ask the students to guess in which of these countries you can see tigers in the wild.
2. Ask the students to go to the web page and click on 'Where do tigers live?'. The students find out if they were right.
(Answer: You can see tigers in the wild in Asia, China, India and Russia.)
Rainforest animals
1. Ask the chidren to make a list of animals which live in the rainforest or foods which grow there.
2. Tell them to go to the web page to check their lists and see if they can find out any more.
3. Ask your students to make a 'rainforest dictionary' by drawing a picture of each animal or food and writing the English word next to it.
Art & Music
Mix music
Click on the instruments. Read and listen to them. Now go to Mix Music. Drag the buttons to mix your own song.
Art parts
Click on 'Art Parts'. Move the squares to make the picture.
Food
Nutrition Cafe
1. Discuss with your students what nutrients are necessary in a balanced diet. Pre-teach the following vocabulary: vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, folate, iron, water.
2. Ask the students to go to the Nutrition Café website. Tell them to click on 'Nutrition Sleuth' and again on 'Open the Case Book'. They choose a character, read the clue and guess what nutrients are missing in the characters' diets. The game is similar to Hangman.
General Knowledge
Ask Earl
This is a website for students to ask general knowledge questions to a character called Earl. Ask the children to go to the site and find out what today's question is and click on it to find the answer.
In groups ask your students to think of a general knowledge question they would like answered. To send their questions to Earl, they should click on 'Ask Earl', write their question, first name and age in the boxes and then click on 'Send to Earl and Stray Kat'. The students should check the website regularly to see if their question has been answered.
Air Transport
Select 'Air Transport'. Who made the first flight? When was the first practical helicopter built?
Language
Pronunciation
Ask your students to click on 'Pronunciation Guide' and find out how to say the names of their favourite characters in English!
This website also includes some useful discussion questions on the Harry Potter books. To see these, click on 'Discussion Guides' and again on 'Questions'.
Wordblender
Ask your students to click on 'Wordblender' to play a pronunciation game. They click on 'Start', then listen to the word and choose the sounds it starts and ends with. Finally they click on 'Go' to see if they are correct!
Click on the buttons on the left for more pronunciation and spelling games.
Dictionary
1. Write the following words connected with aeroplanes and flying on the board: engine, hot air balloon, landing gear, tail
2. Ask the students to go to the site and find out what the words mean by clicking on the first letter of each word. Please note: airplane is the American spelling of aeroplane
3. Ask the students to use the dictionary to find out four more new words.
Vocabulary
Encourage your students to test their vocabulary! Ask them to find the heading 'Vocabulary Quizzes' and click on 'Easy'. They can choose a subject they are interested in and see how many words they know.
Word game
Use your mouse to move the words to the rectangles. Use the right button on your mouse to check your answers.
Places & People
Global gang
1. Ask your students to go to the Global Gang website. Tell them to click on 'Global gossip' and again on 'Voicebox'. See if they can find out what countries the children come from and what question they are discussing.
2. Ask your students how they would answer the same question. Display their answers as a poster in the classroom.
Continents Game
Type your name. Click on 'Continents Game'. Play the game.
Haunted castle
1. Ask the students to look at the picture of the haunted castle and to invent a name for it in English. They write their name and the name of the castle in the white boxes. Then ask them to click on the drawbridge to explore the castle.
2. The students find the mouse in each picture. When they click on the mouse, it will take them to the next picture. Ask them to find out how many ghosts there are in the castle.
3. Ask them to choose one of the illustrations and imagine who the ghost was. Ask them to to think about his or her job, family and favourite things. (Students should use 'was' and 'were' to complete this task.)
Museum tour
Click on 'Museum Tour'. Select 'Virtual Tour'. Describe the 'Sherlock Holmes Museum'. Name 3 things you see in the pictures.
Geospy
Your students are going to play Geospy. Tell them to click on 'Go!', then on the red button and again on 'Games'. They write their name in the white box and click on the instructions in blue to play the Countries Game. (Students can click on 'Quit' to stop playing.)
Two cities
1. Write the following questions on the board:
What's your school like?
Do you like living in your city?
Where do you like to go?
What's your favourite place?
What do you do out of school?
2. Your students are going to find out how children in Belfast and Mexico City answered these questions. They click on either 'Belfast' or 'Mexico City' and again on 'City Life', select each of the questions and a child to ask.
3. Now ask your students to answer the questions themselves.
School
Australian air school
This is the website for an Australian air school. The students have lessons over the radio. Ask the children to click on 'School Information' and answer the following questions:
1. When do the students have classes?
2. How many classes do the children have every week?
3. How many teachers are there?
(Answers: 1. in the mornings 2. three 3. fourteen)
This website also runs a pen pal service. Ask the children to write a letter describing their school day and asking their penfriend some questions. With their parents' permission, the children could get in touch with a real pen pal through the site, or alternatively, make a display of their letters in class.
Sports
Sports in the news
1. Ask your students to brainstorm a list of all the sports they can think of.
2. The site above is dedicated to the main news stories in the USA. Ask the children to go to the section entitled 'Sports' and click on 'View Slideshow'. They write a list of all the sports which appear in the news that week. Ask them to compare their lists.
3. The students can see pictures of other news stories by clicking on 'More Slideshows'.