Activity 81- With or Without It

Here is a simple idea to be used as a warmer!

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Skill: speaking
Material Needed: 5 different objects (realia or pictures)

Instructions: 
Display 5 objects on the table (or 5 pictures) and ask students : " Which object would you live without? Which object wouldn't you live without?" . Then, ask students to pair up and explain their choices. Remind them that only one object should be chosen for each question. To wrap up the activity, have some volunteers share their picks with the whole group. If time allows, the activity can be expanded by having students discuss why they think a certain object was the most picked or why a certain object was not picked by anybody. 

Suggestions of what could be used: a tablet, a credit card, a car, nail polish, a cellphone, a notebook, newspaper, meat, chocolate, tv, a diary, a dog, an iPod, a microwave oven, socks, a remote control, sunglasses, books, , candies, CDs, etc

Source: Vinicius Lemos
Picture credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoppingdiva/181269963/

Activity 80- Unusual Uses

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Skill: writing
Material needed: ordinary objects or pictures of ordinary objects

Instructions:
Divide students into pairs or groups of 3. Show them an ordinary object or a picture of it (ex: chair, pen, ball, ring,etc). Give them 2 minutes to list down as many unusual uses for it as possible. The champion is the group with the largest list.

Source: Marisa Constantinides
Picture credits:http://www.flickr.com/photos/49889874@N05/6282910242/

Activity 79- 3 Differences and 3 Similarities

Here is a simple idea for an engaging and meaningful ice-breaker 

Level: any
Skill: speaking and writing
Material needed: none

Instructions:

Pair up students and tell them to have a conversation and ask each other questions so as to identify 3 ways in which they are different and 3 ways in which they are different (tastes, likes, dislikes, habits, routine, experiences, etc). While they are talking, they should take notes. Later, students should report their findings to the whole class. 

Tip: Tell students that in this activity they should not talk about differences or similarities regarding physical appearance, otherwise they might end up not talking to each other and just listing down obvious traits.

Source: Vinicius Lemos
Picture Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanacreativa/236039273/

Activity 78- Reverse Charade

                 

I learned about this game by attending a workmate's workshop. It gives a little twist to a commonly used activity in the classroom: miming secret words.

Level:Any

Skill: Speaking

Material needed: set of slips with words to be guessed

Instructions: 

Explain that this game is like any other traditional miming game and that the objective is to have the word in the slip guessed correctly. Divide class into 2 or more groups. Set a time limit of one minute and tell the students that, differently from the traditional miming game, the whole team should work together to mime the word to a single person (that is the twist added to it!). If the word is guessed correctly, then the group gets a point. 

Here are some suggestions of words to be used in the game:

drive thru

Oprah Winfrey

funeral

wedding

water park

library

Spiderman

Christmas

airport

vacation

Grease

fashion show

train

zoo

sunset

internet

Source: Davi Rosa (Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasilia, Brazil), with adaptations
picture credits : http://www.flickr.com/photos/svimes/3225119224/ (Creative Commons)

Activity 77- One Minute Talk

                                                       picture credits: Martin Poole (Getty Images)

Here is a great warmer for your class!

Level:Intermediate/Advanced

Skill: Speaking

Material needed:A box or a bag and slips with topics

Instructions: 

Students pick a slip from the bag/box and have one minute to talk freely to the group about that topic. When time is up, encourage classmates to ask one or two follow-up questions.

Here are some suggestions for topics:

last weekend

love

money

family

embarrassing moment

sports

dogs

my dream job

regrets

dream vacation

school

my job

birthday party

my country

children

childhood

best friend

accident

health

fear

free time 

relationships

education

etc

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 76- The Washing Line

                                         picture credits: cottonroots.co.uk

Level: Basic

Aim: vocabulary recognition

Material needed: accessories, different pieces of clothing, a set of clothespins and a washing line

Instructions:

Divide students into 2 teams. Display all the items on the teacher`s table.  Explain that in this game they have to be fast because the winner is the group that can perform the tasks in less time. The teacher should shout a word and the student should pick up that item and use a clothespin to hang it in the washing line. Write down on the board the time each student takes  to perform the task. Add the times to determine the winning group.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 75- What a Story!

                                                        picture credits: thestorieslatells.blogspot.com

Level:Any

Skill: Listening and Speaking

Material needed: set of cards with words.

Instructions:

In this activity, students are going to create a story together. The teacher should start it by picking up a card from the pile. The word in each card should dictate the path of the story and its protagonist. (ex: if someone picks a card with the word "romantic", then the protagonist should do something romantic or something romantic should somehow take place as the story is being told). Students keep telling the story until everyone has had a chance to pick a card and contribute to the narrative. The last student to pick a card should finish the story.

Suggestions of words:

exciting

depressing

sad

expensive

heroic

fantastic

romantic

cheap

dramatic

funny

happy

boring

weird

unbelievable

surprising

Source: Vinicius Lemos, adapted from "Two Dozen Activities to Engage Indifferent Learners- by Ane Cibele Palma and Rossana Cirio Uba.

Activity 74- Compare and Contrast

                                         picture credits: beachbungalow8.blogspot.com

This is a very dynamic activity that is going to test your students` fluency skills and creativity!

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Skill: Speaking

Material needed: set of cards with items to be compared

Instructions:

Divide class into 2 teams. The player should draw a card from the pile and read out loud the 2 items in it. He or she must tell one way the 2 items are similar and one way they are different. Set a time limit of 30 seconds or more (depending on the group).The other students must agree with the explanations in order for the team to get the point. Provide students with some examples before they actually play the game (Ex: apple- banana : The apple and the banana are the same because they are both fruit and they are different because a banana is long and an apple is round. )

Suggestions for the cards:

sister-brother

hat-shoe

cousin- aunt

jacket- vest

yellow- black

carrots- grapes

wine - milk

soccer- video games

cell phone - watch

Superman- mother

paper- apple

water - lettuce

tie - socks

egg - rice

chocolate - ice

ketchup - salt

Source: Vinicius Lemos, adapted from "Everyone is a Winner" (TESOL 2009), by Jennifer Brown and Cathy Yorio

Activity 73- Find Someone WHO... Has the Answer!

                                                        picture credits: coloradoavalanchecares.com

Level: Basic and Intermediate

Skill: Listening and Speaking

Grammar point: WH- Questions

Material needed: Prepare slips of papers with WH- Questions and Answers. The idea is to have more slips than the number of students in class, for whoever matches more questions and answers, wins the game.

Instructions:

-          Prepare a set of WH- questions with their corresponding answers;

-          Hand out two slips for each student (a question and a different answer);

-          Tell students they should walk around the class, trying to find the corresponding question and answer to their slips;

-          When pairs find a match, they come to the teacher, show him/her their match to see if they are correct, and then get more slips with more questions and answers;

-          The game goes on until there are no more slips left.

-          Then ask the students to count how many slips they have and whoever has more slips, wins!

Source: Adapted from “Grammar Practice Activities”

Activity 72- Asking Questions

                                               picture credits: pickthebrain.com

Level: Any

Skill: Listening and Speaking

Grammar point: Yes/No questions

Material needed: Pictures; Flash cards

Instructions:

Display several pictures/ flashcards on the board (or floor). Select one of them and have students ask Yes/No questions in order to find out the picture you are thinking of.

Tip: Even though it can be adapted to any level, beginning levels usually profit more from it, for students can be encouraged to form small groups and take turns thinking of a picture and responding to their classmates’ questions. 

Source: Vânia Rodrigues