Creating An Interactive Cloze Text

This is the instant business office inward a serial of tutorials based precisely about using discussion processors to practise interactive as well as multimedia materials.

This tutorial looks at how you lot tin exercise a discussion processor to practise a closed text - also known equally a 'gap fill'- that users tin interact amongst on their computer.

This is quite a mutual type of activity that nosotros exercise inward the classroom. The students commonly practise it inward a majority as well as thus the instructor tells them the answers. But nosotros tin practise these materials to live on used on the computer.

Here is an illustration text that I created based precisely about a Shakespeare sonnet. Click on the gaps as well as thus hitting F1 at the elevation of your keyboard. You should larn a clue to assistance you lot fill upwardly inward your gaps.

• Example: Sonnet 130

At the goal you lot tin scroll downwards as well as banking concern check the answers.

Here is a brusk tutorial film showing how the interactive 'gaps' were created (Using MS Word 97)

• Tutorial movie: Adding assistance text

How to exercise this amongst students
This characteristic could live on used inward a lay out of dissimilar ways. You could exercise the text to give the students:

• The right answer
• The offset alphabetic lineament of the missing word
• A synonym
• Some instructions telling them to add together to the text
• A textual clue or prompt

The payoff of getting students to practise these activities on the computer, is that past times adding prompts or clues at that topographic point is some nub reason for evolution betwixt getting the respond right as well as getting it wrong, thus this isn't but a test.

Close activities similar these tin live on used for a lay out of purposes:

• Students tin brain to an well file as well as fill upwardly inward the missing word
• Students tin scout a video as well as consummate a description of the action
• You tin delete all the prepositions as well as larn students to add together them
• Delete all the verbs as well as students supervene upon them
• Take out all the vocabulary words of a lexical group
• Delete words at random ( every 5th, tenth discussion etc.)

Making the right gaps
Generally I retrieve it's best to accept out words where at that topographic point is some direct chances that the students volition live on able to operate out the important of the missing discussion from the context that surrounds it.

• Example 1: "He went to the store as well as bought a ____ " doesn't give you lot much clue to the important of the missing word, but
• Example 2:"He reached into his pocket, took out a _________ as well as lit a cigarette" gives you lot a much improve direct chances at guessing the important of the missing discussion ( Probably check or lighter)
  

The same tin live on truthful of grammatical words.

• Example 1: " He had an functioning on his __ final year" Not much direct chances of guessing this, though you lot would know it was in all likelihood a business office of the body.
• Example 2: " He had an functioning __ his leg final year" Good direct chances of guessing this. If your students know their prepositions they'll know that the missing discussion is 'on' (operate on).

Hope you lot honour this useful. The tutorial film higher upwardly was done on MS Word 97, I'm guessing that other versions of Word operate inward a similar way, but if anyone knows how you lot tin practise the same affair on other costless software similar Open Office, thus delight practise exit a comment.

For anyone interested inward using the Sonnet worksheet above, at that topographic point is also a recording of Alan Rickman reading it here on Youtube (Thanks to Jo Bertrand for the link)

Best

Nik