I have already built up a considerable stock of ESL/EFL flashcards that teachers might like to use in presenting and/or supplementing the CleverKey downloads. You can find the entire menu by clicking here. Three sets that will be particularly useful for lessons using CleverKey map materials are the Our Community , Transportation and Occupations flashcards. My Conversation Cards are also based on typical locations one will find in a city, with special emphasis on facilitating a range of communicative language to apply to them. Back to Main Menu |
While a city-scape will give students plenty of opportunities and variety in their learning, this is only one aspect of the world that exists around them. The roads leading out of CleverKey have been deliberately designed to create fresh ideas for areas the students might like to build and/or explore, and they have much more of a nature-based/outdoors theme. While I haven't built up these "peripheral" areas yet, I intend to as my own "CleverKey Campaign" develops. Once the ideas are solid and backed up with downloadable supplements, I will post them here. In the meantime, feel free to develop ideas on how to approach these areas on your own. I'd be interested to hear how it goes! Back to Main Menu |
Probably the most useful function of the wall mural will be as a reference point for other lessons and language the students will encounter. The CleverKey city-scape works well with lessons orientated around shopping, occupations, transportation, directions, prepositions, describing physical objects as well as linking all these kinds of language into longer, more detailed communicative acts. At higher or older levels, it also serves to illustrate community buildings, civic structures - even governmental influences in a standard city! However simply or grandly a teacher chooses to draw on CleverKey, it makes for a nice and certainly more visual backdrop to various kinds of language in ways that a textbook cannot match. Given that they played a substantial role in actually building the city, students are more likely to feel they play an active rather than passive part in the learning process. The wall-mural can be applied in more personal ways as well. Building CleverKey could comprise an ongoing filler/reward segment at the end of lessons. Students keep their map and cutouts in a file, and as they finish each section of their city, they take it home and add it to their own wall mural (they should do this at home as there is unlikely to be enough wall space in the classroom for all the students to make complete murals for themselves!). They then have opportunities to engage in direct or peripheral learning at home, and to share their learning experience with friends or family. Back to Main Menu |
Back to Main Page |
Back to Main Page |
4) As a listening exercise, give all the students the same map and same range of cutouts. After they have cut out all the buildings, the teacher refers to a master sheet that has been pre-made with all of the cutouts placed in specific places. The teacher orally describes the map piece by piece, and as they listen, students find the buildings amongst their cutouts and glue them onto their page. At the end of the exercise, students compare their maps to the teacher's to see how well they listened and applied the information. A variation of this could be to have the students quickly illustrate the buildings as the teacher describes them and their locations - they then refer to the teacher's master sheet and self-correct before applying the cutouts. If you have additional thoughts on how the CleverKey materials could be used to facilitate learning through interactive activities, let me know! Back to Main Menu |
There are 12 A4-sized maps that make up CleverKey, divided into three vertical strips (labeled A, B and C) of four (numbered 1-4). The streets and roads in the city are named on the map, and also include terms such as "Lane" and "Avenue". They are simple names that students can try to break down and understand. Each part of the map has a corresponding cutouts download. The cutouts feature various shops, buildings and houses that the students can cut out and glue on to their map pages. Each has a small label stating what kind of shop or building it is. Three of these cutouts (at the bottom of the page) feature larger, more prominent buildings that usually fulfill some sort of community or administrative role in the city. Spread across the 12 maps are buildings such as City Hall, a police station, a fire station, bus stations, a train station, a hospital, a dentist clinic, a swimming pool, three schools, parks, a museum, a library, a university, a department store, a sports stadium, a TV station, an amusement park, a hotel, a motel, and more. There are also some "special" places such as the awful Fumealot Factory and the scary Haunted House. There is also a two-by-two cutout for the students to draw their own houses (so that they have somewhere to "live" in the city). All of the roads leading out of CleverKey have important names giving hints to the teacher and students as to what kinds of adventures could possibly happen outside of the city. For example: Mountain Road, Swamp Road, River Road, Farmer's Road, Forest Road, Garden Road, Beach Road. Later these roads can lead the students to more adventures of a more outdoor or nature-based character. See Extensions/Variations. Back to Main Menu |
From here you can download all of the city maps and accompanying cut outs - everything required to build individual city maps for up to 12 students, or to build the entire city of CleverKey. You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to download the files and save/print them. Note that the "cutouts" downloads contain a considerable amount of clipart, thus they are sizeable files and may need some time to download. City maps/cutouts A1-4 are free downloads, while city maps/cutouts B1-4 and C1-4 are available only to English Raven members (click here to go the members download page). Back to Main Menu |
CLEVERKEY MENU: (City maps, cut outs, characters) Return to Raven's Nest |
Back to Main Page |
Back to Main Page |
Back to Main Page |
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
Comprehensive Listings of Teacher Resource Sites |
">
">
">
">
The City of |
">
">
">
">
Welcome to englishraven's CleverKey! CleverKey is a special series of supplements designed to enrich young learners' study and use of the English language. Using the downloadable CleverKey supplements, teachers can introduce a colorful, fun and game-like "world" which the students help to build and shape themselves. The supplements can be used in any of three ways: 1) As simple supplements for focusing on buildings, cities, occupations and prepositions of location; 2) As an ongoing wall-mural project which then acts as a reference point for various kinds of targeted language; 3) As the beginning stage of a simple extended semi role-playing game for children, through which they explore parts of the maps and meet and get to know various cartoon-like characters. |
Click on the map to see a full-size version |
Click to see some of the colorful characters living in CleverKey |
Back to Main Page |
Back to Main Page |
Back to Main Page |
CLEVERKEY |
CLEVERKEY |
CLEVERKEY MENU: (City maps, cut outs, characters) Return to Raven's Nest |
Downloads |
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
B1 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
C1 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
B2 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
C2 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
B3 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
C3 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
B4 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
C4 Citymap Download Cutouts Download |
From here you can download all of the city maps and accompanying cut outs - everything required to build individual city maps for up to 12 students, or to build the entire city of CleverKey. You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to download the files and save/print them. Note that the "cutouts" downloads contain a considerable amount of clipart, thus they are sizeable files and may need some time to download. City maps/cutouts A1-4 are free downloads, while city maps/cutouts B1-4 and C1-4 are available only to English Raven members (click here to go the members download page). Back to Main Menu |
City Map Overview |
There are 12 A4-sized maps that make up CleverKey, divided into three vertical strips (labeled A, B and C) of four (numbered 1-4). The streets and roads in the city are named on the map, and also include terms such as "Lane" and "Avenue". They are simple names that students can try to break down and understand. Each part of the map has a corresponding cutouts download. The cutouts feature various shops, buildings and houses that the students can cut out and glue on to their map pages. Each has a small label stating what kind of shop or building it is. Three of these cutouts (at the bottom of the page) feature larger, more prominent buildings that usually fulfill some sort of community or administrative role in the city. Spread across the 12 maps are buildings such as City Hall, a police station, a fire station, bus stations, a train station, a hospital, a dentist clinic, a swimming pool, three schools, parks, a museum, a library, a university, a department store, a sports stadium, a TV station, an amusement park, a hotel, a motel, and more. There are also some "special" places such as the awful Fumealot Factory and the scary Haunted House. There is also a two-by-two cutout for the students to draw their own houses (so that they have somewhere to "live" in the city). All of the roads leading out of CleverKey have important names giving hints to the teacher and students as to what kinds of adventures could possibly happen outside of the city. For example: Mountain Road, Swamp Road, River Road, Farmer's Road, Forest Road, Garden Road, Beach Road. Later these roads can lead the students to more adventures of a more outdoor or nature-based character. See Extensions/Variations. Back to Main Menu |
For Use as Simple Supplements |
Each or all of the maps and cutouts can be downloaded for the purpose of one or two lessons only, focusing on building and shop names and prepositions of location. There are no real age limits here. Have the students cut out the buildings and glue them onto their map grids. Depending on the focus of the lesson, here are a couple of suggestions on how the maps could then be applied to targeted language practice: 1) As a simple activity to give the students practice with vocabulary orientated around shops and buildings, give them blank maps (double sided with the same map on both sides) on which they draw various buildings. Based on these illustrations, the teacher provides the students with the English vocabulary to name each of the buildings. They write these words on the map on the other side of the paper, creating a kind of flip-over picture dictionary that the students have constructed for themselves. 2) As a follow up to a lesson targeting prepositions of location, give students a gap-fill worksheet that features sentences such as "The ______________ is next to the ____________" or "The ______________ is ________________ the ________________". Students then refer to the maps they made and fill in the blanks. 3) Place the students in teams of two, with each student sitting opposite their partner on the other side of the classroom. Give each student a blank map grid that is identical to the one their partner was given. The idea here is that the two students will refer to the maps they made and describe them to each other (also providing spelling if necessary) so that the blank versions can be filled in. This activity is more communicative in that the students will have to use a variety of language items to "get the message across" to their partners. At younger levels, the maps can be enlarged to B4 or A3 size so that students have room to actually draw the buildings in. |
4) As a listening exercise, give all the students the same map and same range of cutouts. After they have cut out all the buildings, the teacher refers to a master sheet that has been pre-made with all of the cutouts placed in specific places. The teacher orally describes the map piece by piece, and as they listen, students find the buildings amongst their cutouts and glue them onto their page. At the end of the exercise, students compare their maps to the teacher's to see how well they listened and applied the information. A variation of this could be to have the students quickly illustrate the buildings as the teacher describes them and their locations - they then refer to the teacher's master sheet and self-correct before applying the cutouts. If you have additional thoughts on how the CleverKey materials could be used to facilitate learning through interactive activities, let me know! Back to Main Menu |
Back to Main Page |
Back to Main Page |
Click on the map to see a full-size version |
Wall-Mural Project |
The 12 downloadable maps link together to form a large-ish city grid three A4 pages wide and four A4 pages high. Approximately 1.5 meters square of wall-space is required if the maps are to be applied and presented in this way, though other combinations are possible (for example two separate maps 3 pages wide and two high, or a "running" map that runs around the classroom). For classes of more than 12 students, two or even three complete CleverKey murals could be completed and joined together to make a very impressive city indeed! Creating a mural is a fabulous way to both show the students the result of their independent work as well as illustrate the "broader picture" that can be achieved through collaberative team work - once the maps are cut out around the borders and joined up it is very hard to tell where one piece ends and the next piece starts. The total map also gives students plenty to look at, and teachers could use the map at the most basic level of providing peripheral references for learning. However the map is presented, it is important to make sure that it is at eye-level for the students. Simply laminating the completed pages before joining them together can help protect them from bumps or marauders in the form of other students that use the classroom at other times of the day. Laminating the map also allows for a teacher to mark circles or lines on it with an eraseable marker, for instance during an activity in which directions are being given or a particular part of the map is receiving attention. |
Probably the most useful function of the wall mural will be as a reference point for other lessons and language the students will encounter. The CleverKey city-scape works well with lessons orientated around shopping, occupations, transportation, directions, prepositions, describing physical objects as well as linking all these kinds of language into longer, more detailed communicative acts. At higher or older levels, it also serves to illustrate community buildings, civic structures - even governmental influences in a standard city! However simply or grandly a teacher chooses to draw on CleverKey, it makes for a nice and certainly more visual backdrop to various kinds of language in ways that a textbook cannot match. Given that they played a substantial role in actually building the city, students are more likely to feel they play an active rather than passive part in the learning process. The wall-mural can be applied in more personal ways as well. Building CleverKey could comprise an ongoing filler/reward segment at the end of lessons. Students keep their map and cutouts in a file, and as they finish each section of their city, they take it home and add it to their own wall mural (they should do this at home as there is unlikely to be enough wall space in the classroom for all the students to make complete murals for themselves!). They then have opportunities to engage in direct or peripheral learning at home, and to share their learning experience with friends or family. Back to Main Menu |
Extensions/Variations |
While a city-scape will give students plenty of opportunities and variety in their learning, this is only one aspect of the world that exists around them. The roads leading out of CleverKey have been deliberately designed to create fresh ideas for areas the students might like to build and/or explore, and they have much more of a nature-based/outdoors theme. While I haven't built up these "peripheral" areas yet, I intend to as my own "CleverKey Campaign" develops. Once the ideas are solid and backed up with downloadable supplements, I will post them here. In the meantime, feel free to develop ideas on how to approach these areas on your own. I'd be interested to hear how it goes! Back to Main Menu |
Supplementary Flashcards |
I have already built up a considerable stock of ESL/EFL flashcards that teachers might like to use in presenting and/or supplementing the CleverKey downloads. You can find the entire menu by clicking here. Three sets that will be particularly useful for lessons using CleverKey map materials are the Our Community , Transportation and Occupations flashcards. My Conversation Cards are also based on typical locations one will find in a city, with special emphasis on facilitating a range of communicative language to apply to them. Back to Main Menu |
Mayor Smartmouth Mayor - City of CleverKey |
Judge Goodlaw Judge - CleverKey Court House |
Chief Booker Chief - CleverKey Police Force |
Mr. Fumealot President - Fume Incorporated |
Mr. Stayawhile Manager - The Classic Hotel |
Father Praise Priest - CleverKey Church |
Mr. Wordsmith Principal - CleverKey Middle School |
Harry Hardsell Manager - Dreamdrive Motors |
Brian Bigboots Captain - CleverKey Cavaliers |
Eric Airball Captain - CleverKey Crosscourts |
Perfumepuff Ghost - The Haunted House |
Moonbeard CleverKey Master Wizard |
