By Carlos Gontow*
I am always surprised at how many different resources we can find online. These resources can help enhance our English classes, bringing variety to them and helping students to learn even more.
WordWorld is an American TV program where words come alive. Every time a word is spelled correctly, the letters of the word morph into the object they represent. We have heard many times that a picture is worth a thousand words. Visualizing words can help students remember them better.
Word World is a three-time Emmy Award-winning series and is targeted at children. However, I have showed segments of the show to adult students and they have really enjoyed it. So I guess it’s worth giving it a try.
Here’s what the program says about its philosophy:
“Through its innovative approach of immersing viewers in a word-rich place where things spell out the objects they represent, WordWorld aims to fascinate children with words and to inspire a love of words and reading. Featuring loveable, silly characters called WordFriends who embark on adventures in a world of words, WordWorld encourages preschoolers to see words as their friends, too. Providing constant opportunity for word play, WordWorld empowers children as early readers by making the important connections between letters, sounds, words and meaning that are necessary for reading.”
You can find a lot of material, videos, games and more by visiting their site:
On the site you can even watch whole episodes of the show.
You can also find a great collection of videos on youtube, and these are just some examples:
Bird:
Box:
Ball:
You can find many more if you spend some time on their site and on youtube. It’s really worth it. Even if you just show a one-minute video to illustrate some vocabulary item you are teaching, students will benefit a lot from it. And it is good to do something different in class!
Carlos Gontow* is an English teacher, actor and teacher trainer. He has had about 25 years of experience teaching children, teenagers and adults. He’s involved with teaching English through theater, games and songs. He’s the author of the books “The Classroom is a Stage – 40 Short Plays for English Students” and “101 Dicas Para Você Aprender Inglês Com Sucesso,” both published by DISAL. He’s also the author of the blog “Dicas Para Aprender Inglês”.
