Activity 14- Making Contextualized Sentences

                                          picture credits: edc.carleton.ca

 Do your students have a hard time using new vocabulary learned? Do they easily forget words just taught in recent lessons? Here is an effective idea that involves writing and at the same time helps them keep the new vocabulary active in their minds. This activity can be frequently used in class. 

Level: all

Skill: writing

Material needed: a notebook

Instructions: 

From time to time ask students to pick 3 words in their books that they haven’t been using frequently and could easily forget the meaning. Have them create sentences in which those words are used. They could write 3 independent sentences or a short paragraph in which the 3 words are used in the same context.  Variation: Students may get their classmates’ notebooks and assign them three different words picked randomly. Also, the teacher can assign specific words that he or she considers important.

Tip: You can take advantage of this activity and work on grammar structures they have been learning. You can ask students to write their sentences in the present, in the past, in the future, using conditional clauses or any other grammar point that can fit this kind of activity.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 13- I Predict, You Predict

                                                   picture credits: dailymail.co.uk

Here is a fun activity to practice predictions with WILL. It requires little preparation and it is definitely going to get your students involved!

 Level: basic and intermediate

Grammar point: future with WILL

Skills: writing, reading and speaking

Materials needed: 1 sheet of paper per student, pencils and adhesive tape

Instructions:

Give each student a blank sheet of paper and ask them to write their names at the top. Tell them to fold the upper side of the sheet in order to hide their names. Make sure nobody can read any names! Then, collect all sheets, scramble them and hang them around the classroom. Explain to students that they are going to stand up and walk around the room. When the teacher claps hands, they are going to stop walking around and stand in front of a sheet. Tell them that they are going to write a predicition for that classmate using WILL based on the topic given by the teacher. Then, have students walk around again and repeat the same procedure until they have written in about 5 or 6 different sheets. Finally, collect all sheets, give them back to their owners and tell them to read the predictions made for them in silence. Ask the students to pair up or form small groups and read what is on their sheets. Allow them some time to discuss the predictions with their classmates. As a follow-up, have them read some of their predictions to the whole group and say which predictions they liked and disliked and why.

Suggestions of topics to be used each time they have to write a prediction: vacations, job, family, school, home, love, friends, money, next year, etc.

* Variation: for more advanced levels, students can write predicitions using the Future Perfect Tense. The topics can be the same and the teacher can even add an adverbial phrase for each (by the end of next year, by 2015, etc)

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 12- Person, Country or Things – You Name It!

                                               picture credits: recuthies.com.uk

 Here`s a creative idea to work with vocabulary!

 Level : Basic

Skills: Reading and Speaking

Materials needed: slips, envelope, eraser

Instructions:

• Write a list of nouns in three categories (or many as you wish to work with) – person, country or things.
• Photocopy the list, so that there is one list for each group of 4 students.
• Cut up the list into small slips, so there is one word on each slips. Then, put each set of slips in an envelope, so that there is an envelope for each group.
• Put an eraser in each envelope.
• In groups, students take turns pulling a slip out of the envelope.
• They read the word and say whether it is a person, country, fruit or thing.
• If they get it right, they keep the slip and the game moves on to the next student.
• If they get it wrong and another student catches them, that student has to grab the eraser from the envelope and make the correction.
• The student who has made the mistake has to put back all his/her slips in the envelope.
• It’s good to establish some time with your students for them to play the game. Then review all the words with the entire class.

* Variation: This game can be used with any set of categories. Examples: rivers, cities, countries; complete sentences, verbs, adjectives, adverbs; clothes, toys, food; you name it!*

This game can be used with any level, and not only reviews whichever category you want to work with, but also motivates students to speak English. 

Source: Adapted from Hess, N. (2001). Teaching Large Multilevel Classes. CUP,  Cambridge.

  

Activity 11- Where is my half?

                                                  picture credits: meghantelpnerblog.com

Here is a nice idea to review vocabulary or a reading passage or even to mingle students in class.

Level: all

Skills: speaking, reading and listening

Material needed: slips of papers with sentences

 Instructions:

• Choose a few sentences from a reading passage you have already worked with your students.
• Write them on slips of paper and cut each sentence into two halves. Make sure you have enough sentences for the entire group.
• Have students stand and mingle.
• They read their half sentences to one another until they find the second half of their sentence. All sentences are read out loud.
• Students form a line in the order of how the sentences appeared in the text.
• Teacher (or a student) reads the original text, and students re-arrange themselves to correct any mistakes in order.

 *Tip: This activity can also be used with beginners and with small texts. It can take from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the number of students one has in the group. It aims the speaking, reading, and listening skills.

Source: adapted from Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational Strategies in the Language  Classroom.    CUP, Cambridge.

Activity 10- Bigger, Better Bingo

                                                            picture credits: millwardbrown.com

How about practicing the comparative form and playing bingo at the same time? This bingo game requires a lot of strategy and creativity!

Grammar Point: The Comparative Form

Level: Basic

Skill: Writing

Materials needed: bingo grid and bingo cards

Instructions:

Each student gets a copy of the board. The teacher draws a card and reads the word. The students look at their boards and choose a square with a word that can be compared to the word that was read. Each student writes a sentence in that square that compares the two objects. For example, the teacher reads, “a diamond ring”. One student might write, “My diamond ring is more expensive than my bicycle.” Another student might write, “My diamond ring is more elegant than my watch.” Any correct and logical sentence can be used to mark the square. When a student has written sentences in 4 squares in a row (horizontally, diagonally or vertically),he or she should call out “BINGO!” The student reads sentences and teacher verifies if they are logical and correct. Students who strategize will get "Bingo" first.

Download the bingo cards:
http://www.4shared.com/file/uGIGl0d7/bigbetterbingocards.html

Download the bingo grid:
 http://www.4shared.com/file/wpXc0BC1/biggerbetterbingogrid.html

Source:  The Great Big Bingo Book. Nina Ito and Anne Berry. Pro Lingua Associates, 2001.

Activity 9- Words in Words

                                                         picture credits: konversasdekafe.blogspot.com


This is a very simple activity that works with general English vocabulary. It`s a great trick under your sleeve when you have some time left before you dismiss your students.

 Level: all
Skill: writing
Material needed: none

Instructions:

Write a large word or phrase on the board. Divide class into teams of 3. Give them 2 minutes to come up with as many words as possible by using the letters on the board. When time is up, one leader from each team says the team's words. Each team gets 1 point for each word they write.Suggestions of words that can be used:  communication, international, strawberry, catastrophic, accidentally, experience, independent, pronunciation.

* Tip: If you want to make the game more challenging, you may not allow them to duplicate letters. And if you want to add a more competitive score to it, give the team 1 point for each letter used in a word.

Source: adapted from http://www.teachenglishinasia.net

Activity 8- Go, Went, Gone Bingo

                                          picture credits: submarino.com.br

 How about playing bingo, but in a different way? In this game students review and work with the past participle form of verbs.


Level: basic and intermediate
Skill: writing
Materials needed: bingo grids and bingo cards (downloadable)

Instructions:

Each student gets a copy of the board. The teacher draws a card and reads the verb in the base form and in the simple past.  The students may write the past participle form in any square that already has the first letter of the answer. When a student has written a participle in five squares in a row (horizontally, diagonally or vertically),he or she should call out “BINGO!” To confirm the win, the student tells the class which five they have in a row and spells the words out loud while the teacher verifies that these are correct and spelled correctly.

To download the bingo grid:

http://www.4shared.com/file/64qpRZtZ/gowentgonebingogrid.html

To download the bingo cards:
 

http://www.4shared.com/file/8mKUvK79/gowentgonebingocards.html

Source:  The Great Big Bingo Book. Nina Ito and Anne Berry. Pro Lingua Associates, 2001.

Activity 7- Continue the Story

                                           picture credits: jenniwren15.blogspot.com

 Level: from Basic to Advanced
Skill: Speaking 
Materials needed: randomly chosen props/objects and a big bag. 

That’s a warmer that can be used with any group, from basic to more advanced ones. It exercises spontaneity, fluency and creativity. Be ready for some laughs!

Instructions: 

The teacher brings different objects to class ( pen, knife, ball, teddy bear, cell phone, etc) and puts them inside a big bag or box. The students have to continue the story the teacher is going to start. The teacher says “One day I had a very strange dream. I was walking down the street when…” Then the teacher shows the first student an object and asks him/her to continue the story and somehow include this object in the story. The student has to continue telling the story until the teacher shows another object to the next student. The class should go on with the story until all students have had a chance to speak.

Tip: Use flashcards or pictures if you don`t have any props available. Another possibility is to use students` own objects.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

 

Activity 6- Hotel Receptionist Game

                                           picture credits: hotellembangpalembang.com  

Level: from Low-Intermediate to Advanced
Skill: speaking
Material needed: slips with sentences


This is a fun game to be played in the beginning or end of a class, specially if the lesson is related to hotels or traveling. Through mimes, students have to communicate a message to their groups.


 Instructions:
 
In class, explain to the students that they have to imagine they are in a hotel at the receptionist’s desk. Unfortunately the hotel receptionist does not understand them when they speak and so they have to mime to him/her. Tell them that they are going to try to mime what is on the piece of paper. All of the sentences on the strips are problems related to staying in a hotel. The class is going to guess what is being mimed and write the sentence on their notebooks. Explain that they can speak but the student who is miming cannot; he or she can only act. Problems:

There isn’t any hot water in my bathroom.

There are mosquitoes in my room.

The toilet is broken.

We asked for a double bed but there is only a single bed in our room.

There’s loud music coming from the disco below.

Our room is very, very cold.

The telephone doesn’t work.

The people in the next room are very noisy.

I need a wake-up call for 6 am.

Can I use the fitness center?

Where is the swimming pool?

My room key does not work.

I cannot turn on the television in my room.

tip: the teacher can be flexible when playing it with the students and accept sentences that are not 100% identical to the ones written on the slips but very close in meaning. The main goal of the activity is to get the messages across.


Source: eslsite.com

Activity 5- Survivor Spelling Game

                                           picture credits: mentedespenteada2.blogs.sapo.pt

This is a fun game for young learners and a creative way to work with spelling! 

Instructions:

Make a list of words covered in previous lessons and ask students to stand up. Call out a word. The first student gives the first letter, the second student gives the second letter, and so on. If a student makes a mistake, he/she should sit down, and the next one should continue spelling the word. Then, you should pick another word and start the game with a student who was waiting for his turn. In the end, the student who is left out standing is the “survivor”and winner of the game.




Source: iteslj.org/games