Student's Book 2: A and B

Units 1 - 3 | Units 4 - 6 | Units 7 - 9 | Units 10 - 12

Unit 1 – Activate your English
http://iteslj.org/quizzes/fb-bd-occupations.html
Clicking on the link will take you to the main site. You will find the link again in Unit 4. A nice online quiz where students read a short description of a job before trying to guess what it is. This could be a lead-in activity to do before asking your students to work together in small groups and write their own quiz.

http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz53bds.htm
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/js/ck/fb2-nationalities.html
http://iteslj.org/quizzes/9801/cg-nationalities.html
Clicking on the links will take you to the main site. You will find the links again in Unit 1. Here are some online nationalities quizzes brought to you through a4esl. The selection of quizzes starts with a simple ‘What’s the nationality?’ quiz with multiple choice answers. After that the quizzes increase in difficulty, adding languages to the choices and varying the task to include guessing the letters to basic question and answer format.

Unit 2 – Your environment
http://stats.bls.gov/k12/html/edu_over.htm
This site takes a look at which jobs are suitable from the starting point of school interests. Ask your students what subjects they enjoy most (and possibly the ones they enjoy least). Then ask them what job they would like, or what job they have (you could brainstorm different kinds of jobs and what people do in those jobs). Finally get them to click on the relevant icons to bring up jobs that are linked to favorite subjects and see if they agree. The site also includes very detailed texts that might be manageable with the help of some dictionary work.

New York! New York!
http://www.nyctourist.com/java/quiz/arcade_quiz.htm
This site would make a good extension activity to the quiz on page 16 with 10 more questions on New York.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/game/index2.html
Take a virtual tour through the city of New York, naming the sites that you see.

Unit 3 – People in your life
http://www.weddings.co.uk/info/tradsupe.htm
Lesson 3 briefly touches on the topic of Wedding customs. This can be a very interesting topic since there are many customs from around the world. This site contains a brief summary of many customs and traditions, although all are very western. Give each group of students a list of 3 "headings" and ask them to write down what they think the custom is, e.g. something old, something blue. Then get them to check on this site to see if they were correct. Finally, conduct a class discussion to share the information.

http://www.perfectwed.com/guides/customs/choices.htm
http://weddingstressrelief.com/wedding_planning/chapters/worldwide_customs/
Alternatively give the topic a more international and multicultural flavor by using this site. Using the material here would really lend itself to a reading race. Prepare a number of questions based on the information, put your students into small groups and give them the first question. As soon as they have found the answer on the website they run back and tell you, you then give them the next question, etc.

http://www.webwedding.co.uk/articles/colourschemes/cololurpsychology.htm
Link the topics from Lessons 3 & 4 by looking into the psychology of color. This site provides an interesting insight into the supposed personality traits represented by each color. Extend the activity on page 30 by using the material on this website. There is also an intriguing "Wedding poem" that fits in nicely with previous materials.

Or, take the online color quiz at http://www.colorquiz.com/. Follow the easy instructions to find out more about your personality. The answers may prove quite complex so encourage your students to use their dictionaries if necessary.

Unit 4 – Work & Play
http://www.cstone.net/~bry-back/holidayfun/index.html
A perfect site for Lesson 3 in this unit, it contains pages on both Bastille Day and the 4^th of July that are both featured on page 36. The level of language is appropriate and yet the site is aimed at adults. The site contains pages on a number of holidays. Why not try a jigsaw reading? Split your class into groups and give each group the task of reading about a particular holiday. Afterward put one person from each group into a new group and get them to talk about the holiday they read about.

http://www.stressdynamics.com/StressTest.htm
A fuller version of the "Stress test" from page 39. Why not get your students to try the full online version and see how they do? You will probably need to spend some time on pre-teaching the vocabulary, or giving it as out dictionary homework, but it will be well worth it since students will learn "real" everyday English vocabulary.

http://stress.about.com/library/quiz/bl2q1.htm
A shorter stress quiz with a slightly different angle. It starts off by looking at friends as opposed to working conditions. This website is slightly more difficult to negotiate your way around, but is well worth the effort.

Unit 5 – Time Out
http://www.esl-lab.com/dir1/dir1.htm
A set of online listening activities that need a "real player" and speakers – simply follow the online instructions. If you have the necessary hardware and software these activities are well worth trying out. There are also plenty of other listening activities graded according to language level on http://www.esl-lab.com/ Why not try out activities such as "Getting around Tokyo" or "Taxi ride."

http://www.nytoday.com/
Start off by creating a list on the board – brainstorm the kind of things people might do if they were in a new city for the weekend. Your list should include things such as Places to eat, Discos, Museums, Movies to see, etc. Then ask the students to use this site to complete each category with up-to-the-minute information on New York City. You could also ask your students to imagine that they were in New York for the weekend, what would they do and where would they go?

Two other useful sites are: http://www.timeoutny.com/ and http://newyork.citysearch.com/

Unit 6 – In the past
http://www.thewildwest.org/
Unit 6 includes a look at the Wild West in the guise of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - these were just two of old America’s notorious outlaws and cowboys. Here is a site dedicated to the Wild West. Get your students to look through the features and then try out their new found knowledge with the online quiz. The site also includes a "What happened on this day" feature as well as lots of facts and legends.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/
A lifeline to history – a lifeline to resources. This site from the BBC contains all the information your students could want, although the focus is very "British."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/modern/
Or, if you’d like to keep it modern, try out this BBC site that focuses on the twentieth century.

http://www.hyperhistory.com/chart/history3.html
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
And, for a more global view try out this site, and the links, which has a very nice time line.
Use any of these sites and get your students to design their own history quiz.

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Unit 7 – Learning for Life!
http://www.linguarama.com/ps/392-3.htm
http://www.linguarama.com/ps/295-3.htm
Here are two web pages that will help your students practice being polite in English. This links in nicely with the material on page 65.

http://stats.bls.gov/k12/html/edu_over.htm
This site takes a look at which jobs are suitable from the starting point of school interests. This site was also suggested for Unit 1 so you will need to decide if it is appropriate to use again. It might well be that it is good for review but needs to be planned carefully.

http://www.collegegrad.com/jobsearch/16-15.shtml
Pair up your students and ask them to choose eight questions from the list. Then get them to roleplay a job interview with one of them being the interviewer and the other the interviewee. If you have time, switch roles and do another interview. Also, if you have the chance, record the interviews and then play them back and look at the mistakes, etc.

http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/advice/vintvw.htm
Why not practice what you’ve learnt on this virtual interview? Look at the questions and choose from a selection of answers. Will you get the job? Good luck!

http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/
A portal to hundreds of pages connected to explorers. Lesson 4 brings us back to the topic of exploration, this time adding both underwater and space exploration. The last task on page 75 asks the students to choose an explorer and to write a short paragraph about them so that the other students can guess who it is. Use this page to help locate information on almost every explorer to have set out on a voyage of discovery. Alternatively try one of the two sites listed below http://library.thinkquest.org/C001692/english/index.php3?subject=home

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/

Unit 9 – Healthy living
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/fitness/
After you have discussed the aspects of fitness mentioned in Lesson 1, click on this site to have a look at some key features of fitness and health. Use the picture icons as a basis and ask your students to write one or two tips for each area. This could be a good way of eliciting/teaching should and shouldn’t.

http://www.janatrains.com/fitquiz.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/
An incredibly detailed site with lots of information about the human body. If your students enjoyed Lesson 4 in this unit then it might well be worth guiding them to this site.

http://www.prongo.com/human/
You could also ask your students to try out this ‘human body’ quiz. Designed for kids it’s still incredibly challenging and interesting for all ages. As with the fitness quizzes mentioned earlier, pair your students up and get them to discuss each question.

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Unit 10 – The story so far!
http://www.yahooligans.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Actors_and_Actresses/Actor_and_Actress
http://www.stararchive.com/
Use one of these two sites to find out all you could want to know about thousands of the world’s most famous people. Draw up a set of questions that could be the basis for a "star profile" and then ask your students to choose someone they admire and compile a profile for them. You could also turn the information into a quiz getting your students to write the questions as well as actually doing the quiz!

http://www.colorquiz.com/
A fantastic online color test that is supposed to reveal your personality. After your students have tried the test why not discuss colors since they can be a very interesting topic to talk about.

http://www.davideck.com/
The interactive tests featured at this collection include IQ tests, personality tests, and quizzes to help determine career and love paths.

Unit 11 – Ways of life
Start off by asking your students if they have ever been to a carnival. If anyone answers "yes" then ask them to tell the class about it. If nobody has, then ask them what they would expect and what they know about carnivals. On page 96 there are 3 pictures, one of which includes bullfighting. See if your students have heard of either Las Fallas or Pamplona.

http://www.cyberspain.com/life/fallas.htm
Information in English on Las Fallas. Give your students some reading comprehension questions and then direct them to this site. Then ask them to go to http://www.cyberspain.com/life/sanfer.htm and have a look at the information about the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, another very famous festival. Finally, they could write some questions of their own and design a quiz for the other students.

If you would like to extend the topic of festivals and celebrations try looking at this portal http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Holidays_and_Observances/ which links you to hundreds of sites devoted to festivals, celebrations and holidays from around the world.

Unit 12 – What’s next?
http://www.glaramara.co.uk/activ.htm
http://www.holidaywizard.co.uk/companies/Cinnamon-Adventures/Active-Breaks-in-the-UK-and-France/0003.htm
If your class are adventurous why not get them to select their ideal "weekend adventure break" from the list of activities listed here. What would they choose? Why? What would they need to take? etc.

http://www.time.com/time/reports/v21/home.html
What will the world be like in the 21^st century? That is the question we are asked in this unit.

Ask your students to write down a prediction under 4 of the following headings: How we will live, Science, Technology, Health & the environment and America (you may wish to give them prompts by focusing on one or two interesting questions posted under each site). Pair the students up and get them to compare their predictions. Next, ask them to read the brief articles that relate to their predictions (you don’t need to click on the in-depth articles, especially since they may be a little too challenging) and finally lead a class discussion on whether they agree with what they have read.

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