oral sentence completion

This activity works well for exercises where students have to complete sentences with their own ideas, such as:

• comparatives and superlatives: ..... is not as interesting as ...
• conditionals: If I were older, ...
• present perfect: I have always wanted to .../ I have never... before

Instructions:

1. You should have a series (about 15- 20 or more, depending on your number of students) of sentences (cues) ready. Put it up on an overhead, or give each student (or each pair of students) a copy.
2. Divide students into groups of no more than 6 people.
3. Have a timer ready.
4. Each group will stand up front, and will have 3o seconds to say as many sentences as they can. Two conditions apply: The same person cannot say two sentences in a row - he/she must give the chance to other members of the group. Secondly, they must produce the sentences in the order in which they are given; they cannot choose their cues.
5. Give one point for each correct sentence.
6. After 30 seconds, the next group comes up and continues producing sentences where the previous group left off.

Have you ever

This is one that a colleague taught me. It's great for bringing life back to a sagging class, and brings a lot of laughs. It's also good for making students focus on accurate language, while giving them a chance to be creative.

1. Students (SS) place their chairs in a circle (no desks!). The teacher (T) also joins the circle, but standing- no chair for the teacher.

2. T thinks of a phrase which starts with "have you ever..." (Have you ever lost the keys to your house?" "Have you ever ridden on an elephant?").

3. Anyone who has ever done that has to stand and find a new chair to sit on. Those who haven't done the action can just remain in their seats. Of course, there will always be one person without a chair, so that person has to come up with a "have you ever" phrase.

4. The game can be played until T sees that SS have revived and are ready for the next activity.

VARIATIONS:

1. Instead of "have you ever...", you can opt for "Are you going to...?" to talk about plans.

2. You could also use this game to practice constructions with gerunds and infinitives, although students find it harder to concentrate on getting all the gerunds, infinitives and auxiliaries in place, and this might make the activity drag ("do you like to cook?" "Are you tired of studying grammar?").

You have been

Source: Harmer, Jeremy (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching, Fourth Edition, Pearson Longman Publishers (pages 336, 337).

1. Using an overhead projector, poster or whatever, show students the following "poems" (or similar ones - I teach at a Christian university, so this goes well with them), covering the bottom part where the answer (who is it?) is.

2. Get students to guess who/what the poems are talking about.

3. Group students into threes, give them large sheets of paper, and let them write their own poems/riddles. They can then decorate them.

4. Students can post their poems on the wall until the next class, so the rest of the class can read them and try to guess who/what they are talking about.

5. Students can also write the answer on the poster, but cover it up with a flap. These posters make a great bulletin board, too!

Sample poems:

You have seen the Heavens before they were made
You have planned the foundations of the earth
Your words have formed the world
You have received glory from Heaven
Your heart has created love
You have seen men turn away from you
You have offered your life
You have provided salvation
You have given more than you can give
Yet you have given me a choice
And you are coming soon for me and those who love you

(answer: Jesus Christ)


I have seen nationalities eating together
I have smelled flavours from different countries
I have seen friendships started during a meal
I have seen romantic gestures, I have heard romantic words
I've heard complaints, I've seen wrinkled noses
I have seen an important part of campus life

Who am I?

(Answer: school cafeteria)


Here are some poems my students came up with:

You're the first person that I've seen
You've been the most improtant in my heart
You've given everything to me
You've solved all my problems
You've taken care of me when I've been sick
You're the one... I love you

(mom)

by Krisdha M, Sirisuda B, Wanida P.


We have seen them every day
We have used them every day,
but we don't use them in our tests
We have heard them in only one language
We have gotten a lot of knowledge from them
We have fed them electricity when they are hungry
We have kept them in our pockets
We haven't seen them contact other people

(electronic dictionaries)

By Dany, Keita, Andy and Pik

I have been with you
I have gone with you everywhere
I have saved you from dust
I have been on your feet

(shoes)

By Prapatsorn, Namtip, Johnny