Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Teacher tools - Information gap generator

A simple gapfill program which turns a text into an information gap quiz for pairs of students to ask each other alternating questions.
It can also be used for indirect questions - 'Do you know ...', 'Can you tell me ...'
  • There is an option for students to write in their questions first
  • There is a further option to give students hints, for example the first word
  • It can be printed with both students' parts on one page, or separate pages for each student.
  • Includes a teacher copy with both sets of questions

Finding texts

As well as Wikipedia you can get info at these sites. Mini biographies or profiles make good texts for asking questions.

Credit where credit's due

The example text is adapted from one at Short Biographies.com, available under a GNU Free documentation licence. The article is based on material at Wikipedia. The photo is by Arnold Wells, and is a Wikipedia media file.
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Make gaps - Gap suitable words /phrases with square brackets.
An even number of gaps will give each student the same number of questions. The worksheet will divide the text into two halves and alternate the questions.
Optionally add clues - You can add clues, for example the first word of a question. In the gap add a backslash followed by the hint word
Font: Line height Border
Gap length: Questions:
You can adjust the length of the gap dots. If students fill in the answers below, you only need short gaps. But if they are to fill the gaps themselves, you'll want longer ones.
First the exercise
Then open in a new tab
Opening the exercise in a new tab (or window in IE) makes it easier to print, save or copy and paste into a Word document or similar.
Student A's questions will appear here
Student B's questions will appear here
The Teacher version will appear here

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