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:
Jigsaw Conversations July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in sentence-making, warm-up, writing.add a comment
Aims: comprehension / conversation, review, warm-up
Materials: a conversation prepared, jumbled script copies
Write five topics of conversation on the board accompanied by pictures. 1st Year could be about playing sports, 2nd Year about what you did at the weekend and 3rd Year describing something or someone. With your JTE, act out a conversation that corresponds to each in turn of the five pictures. It’s probably best done twice.
When you’ve finished all five, distribute scripts of the conversations to the students cut up line by line and jumbled up, all 5 mixed together. Have the students in groups and give each group a set.
Groups then put the dialogue back together from what they remember you saying, being prompted by the picture, and, importantly, asking you. First group to complete the dialogues wins.
Example: (for 2nd year):
What did you do on Sunday? / I played tennis. / Who did you play tennis with? / I went with Ken. / Did you enjoy it? / Yes, very much.
Madlibs! July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in listening, vocabulary-any, writing.add a comment
One way to practice vocabulary, as well as listening (at the end) is to use Mad Libs as a warm-up or wrap-up activity!
Here are some ideas on how to use Mad Libs in the classroom:
Dave’s ESL Cafe: Mad Libs – Extremely Funny Stories!!!
Dave’s ESL Cafe: Mad Libs for Advanced Learners (includes an example)
Suite 101: Vocabulary Word Game (ideas on different ways to use Mad Libs)
Here are some links I found:
Jerem Taylor: Writer – Teacher – Juggler
Six downloadable Mad Lib Stories by level
John’s ESL Community: Weblibs
Web-based stories
Education Place – Wacky Web Tales
Aimed at kids grade 3 and above, and based on web use, but good ideas.
Lychee Boba – ESL Worksheets (contains a link to PDF Mad Libs worksheets on the site)
Who’s Who? July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in pronunciation, reviews, sentence-making, writing.add a comment
From Three Wise Monkeys
Aims: comparatives (-er, more)
Materials: worksheets / sentence cards / prizes
THOUGHTS: Worked fantastically. Can get really loud, so try doing it with rows of teams seated.
This is a GREAT activity for an end of the year review in junior high. The students basically form groups and work together to find sentences about different people, dictate them, write them down, and repeat them to the teacher. Afterwards, the corrected and in-order sentences are used to solve a puzzle worksheet that is handed out only when they finish the sentences. I made a big drawing of 5 different people and the students had to figure out who was who and how old each person was by matching the sentences which described the people. If I can scan the drawing, I’ll upload it.
A great, great idea. Thanks Three Wise Monkeys! Go to this activity »
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.
Dictionary of Japanese Culture July 26, 2007
Posted by serenden in crafts, sentence-making, writing.add a comment
From Three Wise Monkeys.
Materials: Japanese-English dictionaries
Have your students make a dictionary for you of cultural icons and previously-unexplainable idiosyncracies! Go to this activity »
What’s the Meaning? July 26, 2007
Posted by serenden in sentence-making, warm-up, writing.add a comment
Materials: dictionary
Choose a long, difficult, unknown word (by the students) from the dictionary. A good starter is warmonger. Without using dictionaries, students write down a definition. They can work alone or in groups of two or three. Give them a few minutes to think and write. Then collect the definitions and read them aloud. When you’ve finished reading them, they vote on which one is correct. (You could let them know you’ve thrown in the correct answer).
This activity helps students to be creative and practice writing skills.
