Activity 47- Fly Swatters

                                                    picture credits: getridofitall.com

Here is a nice strategy that can be adapted to any lesson, group or level! It is a dynamic warmer to review vocabulary!

Level: any

Skill: Listening

Material needed : two fly swatters and vocabulary slips (words can be written on the board!)

Instructions:

Divide class into two different groups and give each group a flyswatter. Display all vocabulary slips on the board (or write them).Call out a definition (explaining the word or giving out synonyms) and the first student to "swat" the correct word gets a point for the group. in the end, the group with more points is the winner!

Source: adapted from David Malatesta- Activities for the ESL Classroom

Activity 46- Tiny Bubbles in the Air

                                          picture credits: sodahead.com

Great outdoors activity aqnd specially designed for young kids! Fun garanteed!

 Level: Basic

Skill: Speaking

Materials needed: a wand and a jar with bubble solution

Instructions: 

Individual students or members of each team are given a jar with bubble solution and a wand. The teacher calls out a category of nouns, adjectives, or verbs as a student begins to blow bubbles. That sudent, or another member of the team, tries to say as many words as s/he can that pertain to that category before all the bubbles disappear. If this is played as a competition between teams, the team that is able to say the most words receives a point.

Source: "Activities for the ESL Classroom Brasil 2010"- David Malatesta

Activity 45- Absurd Interruptions

                                            picture credits: mbrewergroup.com

Here is a fun activity to exercise fluency skills!

Level: intermediate and upper

Skill: speaking

Material needed: slips with short instructions for each pair of students

Instructions:

On slips of paper write short instructions (ex: SING A SONG/SEE A GHOST/LAUGH/APOLOGIZE/SAY I LOVE YOU/ANSWER THE PHONE/SAY YOU ARE ANGRY/START CRYING/SAY I HATE YOU/ASK FOR ADVICE/ETC). Divide students into pairs and give them a situation (ex: STANDING IN LINE AT A SUPERMARKET/STANDING IN LINE AT A BANK/AT A COORPORATE PICNIC/AT A WEDDING/ON AN AIRPLANE/ETC). They should begin a normal conversation, but periodically each student should pick up one of the slips of paper and immediately follow the instruction. The other student must react appropriately to the interruption and then continue with the conversation.

Source: adapted from "Activities for the ESL Classroom Brasil 2010"- David Malatesta

Activity 44- Describing a Mysterious Object

                                          picture credits: i-spirit.ca

 Here is a nice way to start a class. It can be used as a speaking or writing activity!

Level: intermediate or upper

Skill: speaking or writing

Material needed: bag with different objects

Instructions:

Students grab an object out of a bag. Ask them to pretend that this object is one of the most important things in the world to them. They should mention the history behind it and what it means to them. Students can either talk about the object or write a short paragraph explaining it.

Source: Unknown

Activity 43- The Adverb Game

                                                       Picture credits: bloggerg1santillan.blogspot.com

 Get your students moving, acting, laughing and practicing grammar with this simple idea!

Level: basic 

Grammar topics: present continuous and adverbs of manner

Skill: speaking

Material needed: slips with verbs and adverbs

Instructions:

Prepare two sets of flashcards, half with verbs and half with adverbs. Call a student to come to the front and select one card from each set.The student mimes the phrase and the class has to guess the verb and adverb by saying a complete sentence e.g “ She is cooking slowly” “He is dancing angrily”.

This can be turned into a game or competition if you divide the class into different groups!

Some verbs that can be used: COOK/RUN/SPEAK/SING/WALK/DANCE/SLEEP/WRITE/SWIM/CRY

Some adverbs that can be used: SLOWLY/FAST/HAPPILY/SADLY/ANGRILY/CAREFULLY/FUNILLY/QUIETLY/SERIOUSLY/BEAUTIFULLY

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 42- The Optimistic and The Pessimistic

 

picture credits: liferecipesforsucces.typepad.com

How about practicing the first conditional in a different and fun way? Here is an activity to practice it dealing with optimistic and pessimistic views.

Level: basic or intermediate

Grammar point: first conditional

Skills: listening/reading and speaking

Material needed: situations provided by the teacher

Instructions: 

Pair up students and assign each one a role: the optimistic and the pessimistic. Explain that the teacher is going to give them a situation (paper slips, board or orally) and that each one should come up with a sentence in the first conditional that would reflect the role assigned to them. As a wrap-up, elicit from the whole class some of their sentences, so that the other classmates can listen to them too.

Suggestions:

a) You don`t know if you should go to a concert tonight.

b) You have saved some money and you are thinking about buying a car.

c) Someone offered you a ride to go to school/work.

d) You were offered a great opportunity to live/work/study abroad for a while.

e) To become or not to become a vegetarian? That`s the question!

f) You`ve lived all your life in a flat. Now, you are considering moving to a house.

g) You`ve been in the same job for more than 10 years and you have a prestigious positon in the company. A friend offered you a new job in a recently opened business for a much better salary. You are considering taking the offer.

h) You and your friends are discussing the pros and cons of becoming a  famous celebrity.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 41- What`s the Story?

                                                    picture credits: bobfoote.com

Do you have some English language magazines and you don`t know what to do with them? Here is a great tip for you!

Level: upper intermediate or advanced

Skills: reading,speaking, listening and writing

Materials needed: a magazine and writing paper

Instructions:

Bring a magazine to class and show the students the picture of an article. Tell them that the objective of the activity is to guess the content of the article. Split the students into small groups. Display on the board some key questions to trigger their creativity (the teacher needs to prepare some interesting questions beforehand to help students give some direction to their stories). Give them some minutes to brainstorm all the ideas. Later, have groups report their ideas to the whole class. Provide students with a copy of the article and have them read it. As a follow-up, the class can briefly discuss the similarities and differences between their versions of the story and the actual one.

* If time allows, students can write their version of the story before they actually get to read the original story.

* Variation: instead of using a magazine, visit a news website and print a recent article or story.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 40- Slave of Fashion

                                           picture credits: fashionclothingguides.blogspot.com

 Are you teaching vocabulary related to clothes? He is a very meaningful way to practice it!

Level: Beginners

Skills: Speaking + writing

Materials: Clothes of all styles such as dresses, bellbottoms, jackets, shorts, coats, skirts of all patterns and colors. It would also be good to bring some personal accessories such as rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, hats and caps. 

HOW TO PLAY:

1. The teacher places the clothes on the wall or table. He/she asks students to choose clothes which would fit the following styles:

a)    Hippie

b)    Gypsy

c)    Skater

d)    Surfer

e)    Conservative

f)     Fancy

And so on.

2. The teacher should have cards with family members and verbs such as like, wear, hate, dislike, go, and put on.  
3. Then, the teacher places the cards on the board and asks students to come up with conversations, using the Simple Present tense.

E.g.:  Do you always wear baggy pants?

         Yes, I do. I like to wear… every time I… or No, I don’t I sometimes wear…

Does your mother wear jeans and a jacket?

Yes, she does. // No, she doesn’t.

Source: Vânia Rodrigues- Adapted from “Virando a Página” – SBS.

Activity 39- M&M`s Make Students Talk

                                               picture credits: wellsphere.com

Here is a very fun strategy that is very effective with kids and teenagers. The best thing about it: it can be adapted to several different grammar points!

Level: Any Level

Skills: Speaking

Materials: A bowl of small candies

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Pass a bowl of candies around.
2. Ask students to get as many pieces of candy as they would like, but don’t let students eat them yet.
3. Ask students to say something about themselves in English for every piece of candy that they have taken.

Variation: The teacher should also say something about herself/himself for every piece of candy left.

Source: Vânia Rodrigues

Activity 38- Site Words

                                          picture credits: tripletdiaries.com

Level: Intermediate-Advanced

Skills: Speaking and Writing

Materials: Laminated folders with double grids, vis-à-vis markers or a copy of two identical grids for each player.

OBJECT OF THE GAME: To be the first player to identify all three of the opponent’s words.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Using the markers or pens to be used on the photocopied grids, each player writes one 3-letter word, one 4-letter word and one 5-letter word (they are the secret words) on top grid folder (horizontally and vertically only – not reversed or diagonally).
2. First player names a letter-number combination to specify a square on the grid.
3. The opponent repeats that letter and number (to clarify location) and must tell what letter is in that square or reply with a negative response. The first player then fills in the letter or, if no letter is in the location, draws a small dot to indicate that the space has been called out.
4. The players continue to alternate guessing locations until one player is able to identify all three of the opponent’s words.

TO MAKE SITE WORDS:

1. Two identical grids are glued inside of a file folder. Numbers and letters are written across the top and side of the grid so that locations can be pinpointed.
2. The folders are laminated so that students can write on them and erase after the game (optional if you are using a photocopied sheet of paper with the grids).

TIPS FOR SITE WORDS:

1. Use any letter-number combinations that you want for the pairs of folders.
2. Players must choose words that the opponents will know. This is a good activity to review the target vocabulary of a Unit (a glossary of a picture dictionary can also be used to help students locate the words). The teacher should also check spelling before the game begins.
3. The teacher should advise students that proper nouns should not be used.

Source: Vânia Rodrigues