Snowbound? Some online lessons for KS2

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Brrrr it's cold. If your school like many across the UK has been closed this week and may be in danger of being closed next week too in these adverse weather conditions, perhaps you might want to consider alternative ways of getting work to your children?

There is an abundance of online sites that any child with Internet access can use and here are some of my favourites - please do add your recommendations in a comment for us all to share as well:

Poisson Rouge - For KS1 & Younger KS2 - French (click the letter a which turns into a rainbow), Spanish (click the letter a which turns into a tree) , Greek (& English) - No instructions needed just let them play.

Digital Dialects - KS2 & KS3 - lots of practice games arranged by topic.


Languages Online - For KS2 in French German Italian Chinese Indonesian (& English) - a mix of resources some for teachers but just as many for children - choose your topic and put up the link on your school website.

Tomlitoo - for older KS2 childre - a site entirely in French with colouring pages, make'n'do activities and all sorts.

Of course if you have a vle and better still you share a joint vle with other schools there may well be activities on there you can access. Hampshire primaries will find plenty on Wizkid if teachers click tools - groups - and join the French German or Spanish groups. Then they can choose which (or all) of the activities to make visible to their classes.

Or feeling really dedicated? Why not have a go at teaching an online lesson yourself? Today I had a go at using Flashmeeting for the first time with my colleagues. We were able to take it in turns to talk (wish classrooms were this easy) as we had to click a button and wait in a queue to talk (unlike skype and video conferencing when you can sometimes talk over each other) and share websites and documents. We recorded the whole meeting as it was our first try but you do not have to do this - but do check with Headteachers first that they are happy with the terms and conditions of the website.

Alternatively voicethread remains a favourite as you can leave the work there and go back to it at a time to suit you. Here is an example my whole KS2 class made a while back with their French partner school. Follow the instructions on site and browse through the examples - it is very easy and my Year 3 loved it - as did their parents!

So what are your top tips for extending language learning beyond the classroom on days like this?

Now altogether - "Oh the weather outside is frightful...."

[Clare Seccombe]

I've put lots of online activities onto MFL Sunderland's sister site, estrellas
Many of the activities are suitable for primary.