Retrieval Practice and TaskMagic

I wanted to spend some time talking about the potential of TaskMagic, an old but timeless tool which seems to have disappeared from the MFL classroom.  For me it is a classic! After the introduction stage of Sentence Builders, it is paramount for me to plan retrieval practice in lessons. In fact, my starter activity, which sometimes is not a starter as it can last as much as twenty minutes if needed, is to revise the language introduced/practised in my previous lesson.  For that purpose, TaskMagic is ideal! 

TaskMagic is an IT tool that can be bought as a whole School licence for £350 +VAT.  I think it is value for money!  Once bought it can be installed in all school computers as a standalone purchase. 

There are many activities that can be created with this wonderful piece of software. My favourite is Text Match for retrieval Practice.

In the Create Mode, I insert sentences based on our Sentence Builders in English in one column and their initials in Spanish in the second column.

When the file is open in the Play mode, I have a wide range of activities at my disposal for Retrieval Practice and worksheets! I use the activities as whole class tasks in our IWB. My favourite is Flashcards. 

I use the Flashcards activity in conjunction with mini whiteboards or orally: students translate the different sentences using the initials as support.  This can also be done, very quickly orally once students have memorised our SBs.  Students can also extend the display sentence with something that makes sense using a different tense. The sentences can also be an opportunity to talk about grammar, revise verb endings etc.. (metalanguage). With high ability groups, I display first the initials and then the English (developing thinking skills).

I love TaskMagic and I use this tool all the way to KS5: I display key vocabulary, structures that students need to use in a long sentence on a given topic. I display sentence starters that students need to finish using the subjunctive or any given structure. I use single words that act as a springboard to think about other words within the topic, antonyms, synonyms, word families.  

I love TaskMagic in the classroom because it takes 5 minutes to create tasks and I can squeeze hours of activities!  I also use the Worksheets for homework and self-quizzing, again another way to put retrieval into practice.  TaskMagic works amazingly if planned well and interleaving vocabulary from past topics! 

Grid Match is great for Verbs and whole class games!  

I delivered a TILT workshop a few years ago on innovative uses of TaskMagic and I created this Booklet with all the activities I normally generate with this tool. 

The developer of TaskMagic, Martin Lapworth, has also developed Textivate.  Textivate is similar to TaskMagic but an online/subscription tool. It is also great! and you can use it in the same way as TaskMagic.

Click on this video to see the differences between Flashcards in TaskMagic and Textivate

I find both tools excellent apps for retrieval practice for the classroom.  Textivate would be better for individual practice.  Both tools complement Quizlet, Memrise and Quizziz perfectly!  I will talk more about these other apps and retrieval practice in a different entry.  Many schools have TaskMagic in their shelves and it has been forgotten!  Shake the dust and use it!