Vie des sections
Anglophone, littérature
Websites recommended for online grammar practice
by Vicki Salmon
There will be an attainment test for the 5èmes ( 6èmes and 4èmes, also) towards the end of May. It will consist of a comprehension, a short essay and some Use of English exercises. There is no specific revision to do, but the pupils would benefit from doing a few exercises over the holiday, and preferably on a more regular basis, from time to time, particularly if they have an average of 13 or less.
To take the pain out of studying, I suggest that the pupils work online on the sites below. I have checked these sites out and they are clear and easy to use. The advantage is that the pupils will get instant feedback and can then keep practising the particular skills where they have difficulty.
One area that they could all work on this vacation is verb tenses. If they can get into the habit of practising a little and often, they will improve their performance and gain confidence.
- englishpage.com is useful for practising grammar.
- iTests.com is a relatively new website, where pupils can do practice papers for the Cambridge language exams, such as FCE and CAE.
There should be practice papers for PET ( not an exam our pupils sit, but the level is roughly equivalent to what we do in 6ème and 5ème) coming soon, so keep a look-out for these. There is no reason, however, why the pupils shouldn’t try some FCE papers, and get a head start for 4ème, where they will be encountering some of the work for FCE( which is taken at the end of 3ème).
On this site, they can practise reading comprehensions, gap-fill exercises, sentence transformations and even, at some later date, when this facility is ready, submit essays and have them corrected. The initial tests are free ; thereafter there is a charge. I think this site could prove very useful for all our collège pupils needing extra practice.
Obviously, we do not wish to over-burden them with work, but an hour a week in short bursts should be profitable ( especially if this becomes a long- term habit).
Vicki Salmon ( Collège Co-Ordinator : English Dept)
Dernière modification le 28-01-09 par
