Using the Fakebook to practise language items

We all know how much students like sending instant messages and using Facebook and Whatsapp to interact with friends.

So, why not use free social networking websites to practise language items?

The idea sounds great but protecting our students’ privacy is a priority at school. And that’s absolutely right!

Our aim was to have our 7^th graders at Colégio A. Liessin Botafogo practise the use of linking words and the Present Perfect tense + vocabulary, such as physical appearance and expressions used when shopping for clothes, in a lively and fun way.

We used the site www.classtools.net to download the Fakebook, a page which allows students to create a fake profile for a fictional or historical character.

After choosing their Fakebook characters and creating their pages, students did the following activities:

ACTIVITY 1:

• Your profile. Write a brief description about your Fakebook character. Include the following topics:

1.  nickname
2. hometown
3. nationality
4. birthday
5. physical appearance
6. personality
7. likes and dislikes
8. hobbies
9. favorite books / films / TV shows
10. music
11. dreams

ACTIVITY 2:

• Find a picture of your character when he/she was younger (or not famous) and post it. Write a quick comment on how he/she has changed.
• Use the Present Perfect tense.
• Students comment on five different posts.

ACTIVITY 3:

• You are going to a party, but you don’t know what to wear.

1. explain which party you’re going to (formal, casual, children’s, wedding, luau or any other).
2. choose some outfits and post them on Fakebook. Use the following pages to help you:

• https://www1.macys.com/
• https://www.hm.com/us/
• https://www.rossstores.com/#

1. other students say which outfit looks better on you and explain why.

ACTIVITY 4:

• Write a post about a terrible week your character had. Use 4 of the words below in your description:

1. after
2. before
3. during
4. later
5. suddenly
6. when

• Comment on your friend’s post.

It took us about a month to finish the project, which was developed during our computer lab classes. Students had so much fun that they want to do it again!