Drawing the Teacher’s Home July 31, 2007
Posted by serenden in direction, directions, listening, places, vocabulary.add a comment
Materials: paper and pencils, a floor plan for each student, a large diagram of the teacher’s home to place on the board afterwards, photos of the house?
The students listen to a description of the teacher’s home and draw in the items on their floor plan.
Afterwards, the teacher pins up the large copy of the actual floorplan with items so the students can compare theirs with the actual one. Note any differences in assumptions based on the different cultures?
Shiritori July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary, warm-up, writing.add a comment
This game is popular in Japan for practicing vocabulary. The students form teams and if there’s 3 teams, you write a word at the top of 3 different columns on the board. When you say “go!”, the first student from each team goes up to the board and writes a word that begins with the ending letter of the word on the board. Then the next student from the team comes up and does the same thing with the word the last student wrote on the board.
The game continues for a specified amount of time, likely 2 minutes or so, and the team with the most words on the board at the end wins.
Here are some sites that discuss this game:
People BINGO July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, vocabulary, warm-up.add a comment
From Three Wise Monkeys
Aims: “how are you?” / warm-up
Materials: 2-4 months with dates
This is a great game that I’ve used a number of times to get the students awake and to fill a little extra time at the beginning or end of the class.
Basically, the teacher asks the class a question, and when one student answers, the teacher writes that answer on the board, and no one can use that answer again. Then, another student must answer the same question with a different response, and continue until everyone is sitting, or you decide to play a BINGO game at the end, etc. Go to this activity »
HINT: Adaptable, good for any grade warm-up.
Spelling Bee July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in alphabet, pronunciation, vocabulary, warm-up, writing.add a comment
Aims: Any / Vocabulary
Materials: lots of letter cards
Say the target word, after which it’s the students’ task to select the letters which spell the word, and then align themselves (holding a card or cards) in correct order. When they think they have the spelling right they call out to the teacher,”We’re ready!”
If the word is misspelled, they have the chance to try again. When they have the spelling right, give them an ordinal number (1st team, 2nd team…), and have them sit or crouch down. As well as being a useful teaching device, this makes it easier to see the other teams, and also to score after the turn is complete.
Scoring:
Ex: simply ask, “Who was the 1st team?” etc., and award points to that group. If there are 6 teams, 6 points are awarded to the 1st team, 5 to the 2nd, 4 to the 3rd, etc.. At the end of your time, tally the points on your scoreboard and reward the winning team.
THOUGHTS: This is probably best for beginning of 1st grade junior high, or elementary school students learning the alphabet.
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!
Martian July 26, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary.add a comment
From Internet TESL Journal.
Materials: none
Good for a warm-up or review activity.
Use the pretense of being a Martian to get your students to describe everyday objects to you… Go to this activity
ESL Taboo July 26, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary, warm-up.add a comment
Materials: cards with 1 large-font word with a circle around it and 2-4 related smaller-font words.
Divide the class into 2 groups. Place a desk in the front of the room facing the class so that someone sitting in it has their back to the board and can’t read it. Place another desk in front of it so the teammates are facing each other.
The first team picks a card. One student will talk and the other will guess. The guesser sits with their back to the board. Write the circled word on the board along with its related “taboo” words. The talker has to then try to make their partner guess the circled word without saying it themselves, or any of the other words.
After they guess it, another group / pair comes up. If you have time, have everyone switch roles in a second round.
Vocabulary Hangman July 26, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary.add a comment
From Dave’s ESL Cafe.
Materials: none
Play hangman and include definitions so the students can’t get them out of their heads after class! Go to this activity »
