About the Teacher's Pet
The Teacher's Pet is a word processor add-on which uses 'macros' to transform text into stimulating teaching resources.
Created by a teacher, the toolbar can create crosswords, word search puzzles, bingo cards, jumbles, flashcards, pair-matching puzzles and much more.
All the macros are free of charge except the Crossword maker, Flashcards maker, Word Search maker and Bingo Cards maker. These four 'premium macros' can each be used three times on a trial basis.
Click on a links on the right to find out more about each macro.
 Crossword Puzzle |
Select a vertical list of words with your cursor (with or without clues) and this macro will create a classic crossword puzzle.
Available to use three times on a trial basis.
| Word Search Puzzle |
Select a vertical list of words with your cursor (with or without clues) and this macro will create a word search puzzle.
Available to use three times on a trial basis.
| Flashcards |
Single-sided flashcards
Put a vertical list of words, sentences and/or images in a blank Word document and this macro will turn them into a sheet of large or small flashcards for classroom use or for students who want to learn words or phrases.
Double-sided flashcards
In a blank Word document, create a two-column table populated with words, sentences and/or images and this macro will create a sheet of large or small double-sided flashcards. Excellent for teaching vocabulary in the classroom or for students to learn words alone!
Available to use three times on a trial basis.
| Bingo Cards |
Select a vertical list of words or sentences with your cursor and this macro will create up to 50 unique bingo cards, each randomly populated. View demo video
Available to use three times on a trial basis.
| Simple Crossword |
Select a vertical list of words with your cursor (with or without clues) and this macro will create a simple crossword puzzle, using the first word in the list as the vertical keyword in the puzzle. View demo video
| Verb Tense Test |
Select an English verb conjugation with your cursor and this macro will search the Microsoft Word Dictionary for its root form and then create a test with the results. For example:
BEFORE
I have been learning English since 2004.AFTER
I .......... (learn) English since 2004.
| Pair-matching Puzzle |
Place a plus sign (+) in the middle of each sentence in a list and this macro will break the sentences in half, shuffling the order of the second half of the sentences. The students must put the sentences back together. For Example:
Match the text on the left with the text on the right:| 1. dressed up like a 2. It's a dog's 3. There's life in the 4. go to see a 5. You can't teach an 6. a shaggy dog 7. be as sick as a |
a. man about a dog b. story c. dog's dinner d. dog e. old dog yet. f. old dog new tricks. g. life. |
| Jumbled Paragraph |
Place plus signs (+) where you want to break a block of text and this macro will shuffle the order of the lines. For Example:
Number the following lines in the correct order:| ( ) so many friends is that he wags ( ) The reason a dog has ( ) his tail instead of his tongue. |
| Multiple-choice Question |
Select a word or a phrase with your mouse, type in 4 definitions for the word/phrase, only one of which should be correct, and this macro will create a multiple choice question at the bottom of the document. For example:
The word 'macro' means:
(a) A jacket that a person wears in a boat.
(b) Macbeth's half brother in the Shakespearian play.
(c) A feature of Microsoft Word which is useful for teachers.
(d) A new caviar being served in MacDonald's
| Remove Letters |
Select some text with your mouse and then chose which letters you want to remove and this macro will replace them with a space. View demo video
For example:
What are the following pet related words?
R __ b b __ t
H __ m s t __ r
B __ r k
P __ r r
B __ n __
V __ t
| Replace words with choice |
Type in 2, 3 or 4 words and this macro will replace all instances of the words with a multiple choice. Ideal for testing students' understanding of Articles (a, an, the), Pronouns (he, she, they, etc), Relative Pronouns (Which, What, That, etc), Prepositions (of, to, by for, in, on, etc), and much much more! For example:
Choose the most appropriate word in bold:
The/an/a Owl and the/an/a Pussy-Cat went to sea
In the/an/a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in the/an/a five pound-note.
| Replace words with gaps |
Slightly different from the ’Multi Choice Maker’, type in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 words and this macro will replace all instances of the words with gaps. For example:
Fill in the gaps with one of the following words: would, could, might, should
"If dogs ....................... talk, it ......................... take a lot of the fun out of owning one"
Andrew A. Rooney
| Underline Letters |
Type in a letter combination that your students have difficulty pronouncing and this macro will highlight them, making a useful reading exercise. For example:
Read the following aloud, paying careful attention to the underlined areas:
"I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves." August Strindberg
| Jumbles |
Word Jumbles
Place the cursor anywhere within a word and this Macro will shuffle the order of the letters. For example:
Put the following letters in the correct order to make a well known idiom:
'iiyouCtsr leidkl het tca'
Sentence Jumbles
Select a sentence and this macro will shuffle the order of the words. For example:
Put the following sayings in the correct order:
'an You old can't new dog teach tricks'
'like and Fight cat dog'
'the While mice the will cat's play away'
List Jumbles
Select several paragraphs with your mouse and this macro will shuffle them, which the students must then number in the correct order. View demo video
| Move selected words to end |
Select several words in a text and this macro will put them at the bottom of the document in an alphabetically order list, leaving blank spaces in their place, making a gap filling exercise. For example:
Fill in the gaps with the words listed below:
"If toast always lands ............-side down, and cats always land on their ........, what happen if you .......... toast on the back of a cat and ........ it?" Steven Wright
1. butter
2. drop
3. feet
4. strap
| Copy selected words to end |
Similar to the macro above, hold down the Ctrl button and double click on several words that you want to move from a text and this macro will copy all the selected words to an alphabetically ordered list at the bottom of the document.
| Remove Punctuation |
Select some text with your mouse and this macro removes all the punctuation from the text, which your students must replace! For Example:
Put the punctuation marks back into the following text:
"Basically a dog person I certainly though wouldn't want to offend my constituents who are cat people and I should say that being I hope a sensitive person that I have nothing against cats and had cats when I was a boy and if we didn't have the two dogs might very well be interested in having a cat now" Incoming Missouri Congressman James Talent, responding to the question "Are you a dog or a cat person?"
| Remove Spaces |
Select some text with your mouse and this macro will remove all the spaces, making it a tricky exercise for the students to read. For example:
Put the space back into the following quote:
"Ifadogjumpsinyourlap,itisbecauseheisfondofyou;
butifacatdoesthesamething,itisbecauseyourlapiswarmer."
Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947)
| Learner's Dictionary Search |
Select a word and (if you are connected to the internet) this macro will instantly search for the word in a Learner's Dictionary.
| Children's Dictionary Search |
Select a word and (if you are connected to the internet) this macro will instantly search for the word in a Children's Dictionary.
| Synonym Question |
Select a word and this macro will place words with a similar meaning at the bottom of the document in the form of a question.
| Antonym Question |
Similar to the Synonym Question macro except this macro will place one word with an opposite meaning at the bottom of the document in the form of a question.
| Save Word List |
Hold down the Ctrl button and double click on each of the words that you want to keep a record of and this macro will move the words to a separate file for storage. Great for keeping track of the words your students have learnt!
| Resource search |
| Check it out |
| Joe Dale's Blog Joe Dale offers practical tips and advice on Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom. |
| Music Town Kids' Music Town presents a large selection of children's songs, along with their lyrics. |
| Free 3D Photo Maker Create amazing 3D photos with any digital camera - no software needed. |
| More sites for teachers... |
| Online tools |
| Crossword Maker |
| Word Search Maker |
| Flashcard Maker |
| Bingo Card Maker |
| Word Jumble Maker |
| Matching Puzzle Maker |
| Special thanks |
| Visi.es |