Group Hello’s October 1, 2007
Posted by serenden in introductions.add a comment
This has worked well for the really young kids – 1st-2nd graders, to practice “Hello, my name is …, nice to meet you!”
Have the students sit in a large circle on the floor. Each student takes their turn one at a time.
The student stands up, says “Hello!” to the group. The group answers “Hello!!!”.
The student then introduces themselves, saying “My name is … Nice to meet you!”
The group responds “Nice to meet you!”.
Next victim.
With the right class, this is a good, positive way to practice the sentences.
Classroom Baseball July 31, 2007
Posted by serenden in introductions, questions-asking.add a comment
I found this activity in a book I have titled “Practical Handbook for Elementary School English Activities”, published for the JET program.
It goes like this:
Materials: none
Make a baseball diamond in the room and divide the students into 2 teams. The first batter comes to homeplate and the teacher asks them a question like “How old are you?”, etc. If the batter responds correctly, they get to move to first base, and their next teammate comes up to bat. If they don’t answer correctly, they’re out.
After 3 outs for a team, the other team comes up to bat. After the kids get the hang of it, the teacher is replaced with a pitcher who asks the questions. The defense team can listen carefully to the answers from the batter and point out mistakes if they’re made, and help out their own teammates when they’re up to bat.
Jump-roping July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in introductions, songs, vocabulary, vocabulary-any, warm-up.add a comment
Aims: Any / Vocabulary
Materials: jump ropes, examples, music?
Students take turns jump-roping to English phrases. They chant in rhythm, if they don’t, they’re out.
Example:
“My name is [A...] , I come from [a...], and I like [a...] .”
“My name is [B...], I come from [b...], and I like [b...].”
THOUGHTS: Try using music? At the junior high level, this likely needs a pretty motivating and enthusiastic teacher!
Word Order Interview Activity July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in introductions, sentence-making.add a comment
From Dave’s ESL Cafe
Materials: list of scrambled words
Students unscramble questions and then use them to interview each other! Go to this activity »
Telephone Game July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, introductions, questions-asking, warm-ups.add a comment
From Genki English
Materials: 2 fake telephones, music
Use 2 telephones to pass around the room, and kids ask questions or have conversations with them. Go to this activity »
What Do You Like? BINGO? July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, introductions, questions-asking, what.add a comment
Materials: BINGO sheets, music.
Bingo Sheets
Review words they already know, but only things they might like (cats, dogs, curry, orange, TV, play station…). Introduce “what do you like?” and “I like …“.
Use a quick game to practice the phrases.
PART A: Give each student a BINGO sheet. In the middle they write/draw something they like. They must speak English during the game, but they can write in hiragana (NOT katakana) on their sheets.
Then they go ask their friends “Hello, what do you like?” B says “I like …“ with the object in their square. A writes that object in one of their blank squares. If they already have that object, they must pass and find someone else.
Part A is finished when everyone has all their squares filled.
PART B: Everyone sits down. You play the ball and music game, or telephone game, etc. When the music stops, the two students with the balls/phones go through the conversation:
A: “Hello, what do you like?”
B: “I like …. What do you like?”
A: “I like ….”
B: “Thank you, goodbye!”
If anyone in the class has one of the two objects they can cross them out on their BINGO sheet.
For more advanced classes, you can add some small talk before the actual question. Ex: “How’s the weather today?” / “What’s your name?”…
Soldiers & Ninjas July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, introductions, questions-asking.add a comment
From Genki English
Materials: none.
Pick 4 volunteers to be soldiers. Assign each soldier a question to ask. Get the 4 soldiers to stand in a straight line across the room (about 10 feet apart).
You are the Queen or King and you sit in your throne about 10 feet behind the 4th soldier.
The remaining students are ninjas, and they gather at the starting line about 10 feet in front of the 1st soldier.
When you say “go!”, the first ninja runs towards the first soldier. The soldier asks their question. The ninja replies and they janken. If the ninja wins, they get to move to the 2nd soldier. If the soldier wins, the ninja must start again at the end of the ninja line… Go to this great activity »
HINT: Be careful to explain the rules to the students really well and to maintain order – it can get crazy.
Two-Bag Pass July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, introductions, questions-asking, vocabulary-any.add a comment
When the music stops, the student with the question bag asks, and the student with the answer bag answers. Make into funny combinations!
New Name Card Introductions July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, introductions.add a comment
Materials: Pairs of matching name cards – one card for each student.
If there is an odd number of students, keep one for you or the JTE to play. Hand out the cards and make sure each one has a pair somewhere. It can be fun to make cards with Western names like “Billy” or “Suzy”. The students must keep their card secret.
Then they move around the room and ask A=“What’s your name?”. B answers “My name’s …. What’s your name?”. A=”My name’s …“. If they have matching names, they win! Then they must come to you and introduce themselves in chorus.
Janken Introductions July 25, 2007
Posted by serenden in introductions.add a comment
Materials: something to collect.
Demonstrate a few times with the JTE. The students get 5 points/items. They find a partner and janken. The winner says “Hello, how are you?”. The loser answers “I’m fine thanks, and you?”, and gives a point to the winner. They then find new partners. Continue for 5 minutes or so. The student with the most points at the end wins.
