Here are some ideas for teaching words for food and drink ? or about the topic of food ? using apps and mobile devices. The ideas are aimed at the EFL/ESL young learner classroom but can be adapted to other contexts.
1. Flashcards
There are plenty of flashcard apps on the market including Flashcards for Kids ? First Food Words. This app gives you access to flashcards of food items relating to breakfast, dinner, drinks, fruit and vegetables. Other sets can be bought (candy, desserts, herbs and spices, nuts and seeds), along with other games, so this app is probably best controlled by the teacher ? using an IWB perhaps.? It is possible to customise the cards including: audio on/off; images/words only; editing of fonts etc, and you can also ?favourite? cards to select the ones that you want children to learn. Despite the name of the app, these flashcards are suitable for all ages.
App: Flashcards for Kids ? First Food Words
Platform: iOS
Cost: Free
The items of food and drink included in the app relate to the US, but teachers/learners can upload their own photos and recordings to make their own sets ? older learners would enjoy making their own cards (a set called ?My favourite foods?, or ?healthy foods? for example). A really interesting feature of this app is that you can easily share sets of flashcards that you make via email or Dropbox.
Here is an idea for one activity that you could do using this app. Take some photos of some items of food ? but take close-ups, or unusual views (see examples). Now show the cards (or photos) to your learners. Can they guess what the item of food is?
2. Spell words for food and drink
Word Carrot is a game that will help learners of all ages spell ten words for food and drink. Learners see the word, hear the word, and choose the right letters to spell it. Here is an activity you can print for learners to practise the words further.
Food and drink Worksheet
App: Word Carrot
Platform: iOS
Cost: Free
3. Learn more about food and drink
ABC Food is a more interactive flashcard app, though perhaps better suited to younger learners.? Items of food and drink are presented in alphabetical order, and once an item is touched then you get to see and hear the word.? What is nice about this app is that many of the items link to child-friendly videos related to the item of food or drink ? if you touch ?carrot? for example, you get a video of somebody digging up carrots; ?cucumber? links to a video of somebody making cucumber pickle; touch ?watermelon? and you can listen to a song about fruit ? these videos have great potential for the classroom. In the watermelon song for example, children could listen out for all the names of fruit mentioned in the song.
This is a very full app with great-looking photos and videos, and will help children learn more about food than just the names. One thing to note though ? you need to be online to be able to connect to the videos. The food items and videos are also US-focused.
App: Little Explorers ? ABC Food
Platform: iOS
Cost: ?1.99/$1.99
4. What?s for lunch?
Here is an idea from Kathleen Morris? great blog Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom.
Learners take a food-related photo ? it might be their lunchbox, their dinner or breakfast, or typical local food for example ? and then describe (in English) what is in the photo. Take a look at this example: http://collaboration-corner.blogspot.com/2010/02/australia-brookes-lunch.html
With Fotobabble, learners can take or upload a photo, and record text to make their own ?talking photos?. ?Photos can be shared ? on a school blog perhaps. A great way to compare what everyone eats or likes; or to talk about healthy eating.
App: Fotobabble
Platform: iOS
Cost: Free
5. Cooking apps
There are many cooking apps, some of which are free. Install and try the free ones before you use them to make sure that they are suitable for your learners ? and not full of ads. Here are some paid-for cooking apps that are suitable for younger learners. Get children to suggest ingredients ? and how to cook them (shall we boil this?) ? and prepare meals for different characters. Will they like the food or not? A great way to talk about likes and dislikes too!
App: Toca Kitchen
Platform: iOS
Cost: ?1.49/$1.99
App: Little Cook
Platform: iOS
Cost: ?2.49/$3.99?
Kim Ashmore, Director & Co-Founder, LearnAhead Ltd
That?s five ideas. Share any others that you have here. We?d love to hear about them.
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