This was written up by my colleague, Doris. We joined both our classes for this game, and the students really enjoyed it. It takes a bit of preparation though.
Vowel Sound Pronunciation Bee/Games
Divide class into 4 groups. Each group has to choose as its name one of the vowel phonemes (e.g “We are the /I/ group”).
On OHP, put a Snakes & Ladders game board. Project on wall. Each group has a different colored post-it note that they move around the board (projected on the wall) as a playing piece. The first group to reach the finish point will win.
Having two teachers present (or else a teacher and an assistant) makes this flow better.
Have a dice on hand. Each number corresponds to a type of activity. Roll the dice to select the activity.
All teams play all the time for all the activities. The dice is also rolled by the two teams winning each activity to determine how many spaces on the game board they get to move.
Games/Activities
1. Many Words: The teacher assigns a vowel sound to each group (or uses the team name for the first round). The teams have 1 minute to write on the whiteboard as many words with that sound as they can think of. The 2 teams with the most correct words get to throw the dice and move on the board.
2. Sound Chain: Two teams line up facing each other. The teacher says a vowel sound. The first person on the A team has to say a word that contains that phoneme. Next, the first person on the B team also says a word with the same phoneme. The same word cannot be repeated. This continues, back and forth between the two teams, until one team makes a mistake, repeats a word that has already been said or can’t think of a word fast enough (5 second rule) and loses. The winning team gets to roll the dice to advance on the board. (With two teachers present, all four teams are playing at the same time, A against B, C against D).
3. Fake Words: (prepare a list of nonexistent words that follow the spelling rules/phonemes the class has been studying-ahead of time). The teacher writes a “fake” word on the board for each team (or a representative from each team) to pronounce following the patterns they have studied before. If they are correct, they get to roll the dice and advance.
4. Find it-Bring it: (prepare cards with minimal pairs before hand. Mix them up and put them in bags to be handed out to each team). The teacher calls out two or three words (ex. Cat , chicks). Students must rummage through their cards, select the ones the teacher said, and run to the teacher with the cards in hand. The first two teams to bring the correct cards get to roll the dice and advance. (In their sets, they would have had to make the decision between the “cat “or the “cut” card, or the “chick” or “cheek” card).
5. Rhyme it: Two teams line up facing each other. The first person on the A team has to say a word. Next, the opposing person on the B team has to say a word with the same vowel sound. The second person on the A team can choose to change the vowel sound and say a different word for which the second person on the B team must find a rhyming vowel sound word. The same word cannot be repeated. This continues, back and forth between the two teams, until one team makes a mistake, repeats a word that has already been said or can’t think of a word fast enough (5 second rule) and loses. The winning team gets to roll the dice to advance on the board. (With two teachers present, all four teams are playing at the same time, A against B, C against D).
6. Sound Sentence: The teacher assigns a vowel sound to each group (or uses the team name for the first round). The teams have 1 minute to write on the whiteboard a sentence which contains as many words with that sound as they can think of. The 2 teams with the most correct words get to throw the dice and move on the board.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Pronunciation Drill
For a class of 12 students or less (although you can always adapt it!).
1. Divide students into groups 6. Give each student a number from 1- 6.
2. After reviewing a minimal pair combination of sounds (pat - pet), roll the die. If the die rolls to, say, 2, both number 2 students should get up front.
3. The student from the first group reads the words from the first column (pat), and the other student reads the words from the other column (pet). After they finish the list, roll the die again for another pair of students to come up.
4. You can also have a number which means "all participate", so students line up in two rows and each one gets to read a word from their column.
This activity keeps them moving and on their toes, but it must be done only if students feel comfortable coming up front- otherwise it could be tortuous, especially if they still don't feel comfortable with the target sounds.
Review activity - Your number participates
1. Divide students into groups of no more than 6. Students in each group will get a number from 1-6 (if there's less than 6 students, give each student two numbers, or make the last number/s to be "all"). Give one slate (or large piece of paper) to each group.
2. Have a transparency with sentences ready (this can be used to review any topic - vocab or grammar). Show each sentence/ question one at a time, after rolling the die.
3. Roll a die. If, for example, it rolls to 3, only the "number 3"students from each group can write the answer on the slate/ paper. Their group members can help, but cannot write on the slate.
4. The group which shows their written answer first, wins a point (it can be measured in points, or the group can get candy, or whatever.
Possible idea: If there's an odd number of students, get one to be your "referee", a neutral person who decides which group presented the answer first, as it's hard to be doing all that leading at one time. Students themselves can take turns rolling the die, or your referee can do it.
VARIATION:
Have the transparency, and one transparency marker at hand. When the die gets rolled, the students with that number can (once they've decided on the answer) rush to write the answer on the transparency. There will be fun scrambles when students try to grab the marker first. (Of course, this can only be done with respectful students!)
I found this activity in an e-book called "Best ESL Practices". Unfortunately I can't find the reference right now, but as soon as I do, I will give full credit to the authors.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Livening up the coursebook
Activity 1:
I learnt this one from my students. It's a good way to brighten up a coursebook exercise. Simply copy the exercise, mount it on cardboard, and cut it up like a jigzaw puzzle. That way, before students can complete the exercise, they have to put the pieces together and have a little fun.
Activity 2:
No time to plan for today? No problem as long as each student has a book (or worksheet)! Simply sit them in a circle, and get them to complete an exercise- but every minute (or less), blow a whistle or ring a bell, and they have to pass their book on to the person on their left- at the same time, they get a book from the person on their right. They then continue where the last person left off.
This way, all students will probably finish at around the same time, and the activity brings a lot of laughs.
NB: Make sure each student has a lead pencil - some students get very upset by having someone else mess up their books!
Activity 3:
This one might sound really dumb, and I don't recommend it to happen often, but sometimes teachers have those days in which there's no inspiration... In that case, choose an exercise from your coursebook, and divide your students in groups of 2 or 3.
Beforehand, for each group, make little papers with the exercise numbers on them: 1a, 1b, 1c...
Then the students work in groups, but don't follow the order of the exercise. Rather, they draw a paper (e.g. 2.c) and complete that sentence first. Then they draw another paper (e.g. 1.b) and complete that one.
Activity 4:
1. Divide the class into 3 or 4 groups (depending on the size of your board). Also, divide the board and assign a section of the board for each group.
2. Tell Ss that they will complete exercise so-and-so on the board, but only one student from each group can go up to the board at a time (one student, one sentence). If that person makes a mistake, the next student who goes up can correct it.
3. The objective is to see which team finishes first. Points can be assigned by giving 1 (or 1000!) points for each correct sentence, plus giving 2 (or 2000) points to the team which finished first, and 1 (or 1000) points to the team which finished second).
Activity 5:
If a worksheet or coursebook exercise has either/or answers, make students stand up if it's one answer, and sit down if it's the other- or any other type of action that's appropriate for your group.
I learnt this one from my students. It's a good way to brighten up a coursebook exercise. Simply copy the exercise, mount it on cardboard, and cut it up like a jigzaw puzzle. That way, before students can complete the exercise, they have to put the pieces together and have a little fun.
Activity 2:
No time to plan for today? No problem as long as each student has a book (or worksheet)! Simply sit them in a circle, and get them to complete an exercise- but every minute (or less), blow a whistle or ring a bell, and they have to pass their book on to the person on their left- at the same time, they get a book from the person on their right. They then continue where the last person left off.
This way, all students will probably finish at around the same time, and the activity brings a lot of laughs.
NB: Make sure each student has a lead pencil - some students get very upset by having someone else mess up their books!
Activity 3:
This one might sound really dumb, and I don't recommend it to happen often, but sometimes teachers have those days in which there's no inspiration... In that case, choose an exercise from your coursebook, and divide your students in groups of 2 or 3.
Beforehand, for each group, make little papers with the exercise numbers on them: 1a, 1b, 1c...
Then the students work in groups, but don't follow the order of the exercise. Rather, they draw a paper (e.g. 2.c) and complete that sentence first. Then they draw another paper (e.g. 1.b) and complete that one.
Activity 4:
1. Divide the class into 3 or 4 groups (depending on the size of your board). Also, divide the board and assign a section of the board for each group.
2. Tell Ss that they will complete exercise so-and-so on the board, but only one student from each group can go up to the board at a time (one student, one sentence). If that person makes a mistake, the next student who goes up can correct it.
3. The objective is to see which team finishes first. Points can be assigned by giving 1 (or 1000!) points for each correct sentence, plus giving 2 (or 2000) points to the team which finished first, and 1 (or 1000) points to the team which finished second).
Activity 5:
If a worksheet or coursebook exercise has either/or answers, make students stand up if it's one answer, and sit down if it's the other- or any other type of action that's appropriate for your group.
Present passive
Present simple passive:
1. Beforehand, make cards with names of objects written on them, e.g. scissors, shirt, cell phone, pen, pillow, blanket, shoes, computer, broom, paper, etc.
2. Divide the class into two groups.
3. A student from one group comes to the front and picks a card. He/she then gives clues using the present simple passive to help his/her group guess the object.
For example, if the card reads "stapler", sample clues would be: "It's used for keeping papers together. It's made from metal and plastic. It's used in offices and schools."
4. For every grammatically correct clue, the team earns a point. If after three clues the team doesn't guess, the other team gets the chance to guess.
Present continuous passive:
1. Beforehand, make cards with activities in present perfect passive, such as:
-His hair is being cut.
-The floor is being swept.
-A book is being read.
2. Divide the class into two groups.
3. A student from one group comes the front and draws a card. He/she then gestures what the card says, for his/her team to guess. If after 10 secodns the team hasn't guessed, the other team is allowed to guess it.
1. Beforehand, make cards with names of objects written on them, e.g. scissors, shirt, cell phone, pen, pillow, blanket, shoes, computer, broom, paper, etc.
2. Divide the class into two groups.
3. A student from one group comes to the front and picks a card. He/she then gives clues using the present simple passive to help his/her group guess the object.
For example, if the card reads "stapler", sample clues would be: "It's used for keeping papers together. It's made from metal and plastic. It's used in offices and schools."
4. For every grammatically correct clue, the team earns a point. If after three clues the team doesn't guess, the other team gets the chance to guess.
Present continuous passive:
1. Beforehand, make cards with activities in present perfect passive, such as:
-His hair is being cut.
-The floor is being swept.
-A book is being read.
2. Divide the class into two groups.
3. A student from one group comes the front and draws a card. He/she then gestures what the card says, for his/her team to guess. If after 10 secodns the team hasn't guessed, the other team is allowed to guess it.
ESL Football
Instructions here:
http://www.esljunction.com/esl_games/football-print.html
I have used this in small groups (with one or two players per team, plus a referee): Each group gets a board and ball; the referee gets a list of questions, plus answer key, and monitors whether the teams are answering the questions correctly. This way, you can have three or four small groups playing independently, and you can walk around helping them.
http://www.esljunction.com/esl_games/football-print.html
I have used this in small groups (with one or two players per team, plus a referee): Each group gets a board and ball; the referee gets a list of questions, plus answer key, and monitors whether the teams are answering the questions correctly. This way, you can have three or four small groups playing independently, and you can walk around helping them.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Discussion wheels
Discussion wheels
Submitted by Nik Peachey on 23 June, 2002 - 13:00
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/discussion-wheels
Discussion wheels are a good way of giving students time to think and formulate opinions before they do discussion work. They work particularly well with areas of discussion which can have ranges of agreement or disagreement.
Preparation :
1. To create a discussion wheel you simply need 8 or 10 contentious sentences based around a theme which you would like the students to discuss.
2. Draw a circle on a piece of paper and draw lines through the circle (one line for each sentence) so that the circle is divided into segments.
3. At the end of each line, write one of the sentences, then make sure to copy enough so that each student has one.
Discussion wheel template 49.9 KB
Procedure:
1. Give each student out their own discussion wheel and get them to look at the sentences and put a cross on the line next to the sentence according to how much they agree or disagree with it. A cross near the centre of the circle indicates strong disagreement and one near the edge of the circle can indicate strong agreement. A cross half way along the line can mean they are undecided.
2. Once your students have had time to put crosses on each of the lines they can then start to discuss. This can be done in a number of ways. The easiest in terms of classroom management is for you to give them a partner to discuss with (the person next to them or on the table in front of them).
3. If you have the space though, you can ask the students to connect all the crosses so that they form a shape and then stand up and mingle round the class to find the person in the class who has a similar shape to their own. (This has no real pedagogical value, but can be a nice way to get students up and moving and get them to talk to other people in their class.)
4. Once they have a partner to talk to, get them to discuss and explain their opinions and see if they can convince their partner to change the position of the crosses.
5. This approach gives the students more of a supportive framework and a goal for their discussion. If you have time and the students are doing well they can discuss with a number of partners, or you can show them your own discussion wheel with your crosses and see if they can convince you to move your crosses.
This is an idea that I first saw in a book called 'Short stories for Creative Language Classrooms' by Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater (P 52).
Nik Peachey, teacher, trainer, materials writer, British Council
Submitted by Nik Peachey on 23 June, 2002 - 13:00
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/discussion-wheels
Discussion wheels are a good way of giving students time to think and formulate opinions before they do discussion work. They work particularly well with areas of discussion which can have ranges of agreement or disagreement.
Preparation :
1. To create a discussion wheel you simply need 8 or 10 contentious sentences based around a theme which you would like the students to discuss.
2. Draw a circle on a piece of paper and draw lines through the circle (one line for each sentence) so that the circle is divided into segments.
3. At the end of each line, write one of the sentences, then make sure to copy enough so that each student has one.
Discussion wheel template 49.9 KB
Procedure:
1. Give each student out their own discussion wheel and get them to look at the sentences and put a cross on the line next to the sentence according to how much they agree or disagree with it. A cross near the centre of the circle indicates strong disagreement and one near the edge of the circle can indicate strong agreement. A cross half way along the line can mean they are undecided.
2. Once your students have had time to put crosses on each of the lines they can then start to discuss. This can be done in a number of ways. The easiest in terms of classroom management is for you to give them a partner to discuss with (the person next to them or on the table in front of them).
3. If you have the space though, you can ask the students to connect all the crosses so that they form a shape and then stand up and mingle round the class to find the person in the class who has a similar shape to their own. (This has no real pedagogical value, but can be a nice way to get students up and moving and get them to talk to other people in their class.)
4. Once they have a partner to talk to, get them to discuss and explain their opinions and see if they can convince their partner to change the position of the crosses.
5. This approach gives the students more of a supportive framework and a goal for their discussion. If you have time and the students are doing well they can discuss with a number of partners, or you can show them your own discussion wheel with your crosses and see if they can convince you to move your crosses.
This is an idea that I first saw in a book called 'Short stories for Creative Language Classrooms' by Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater (P 52).
Nik Peachey, teacher, trainer, materials writer, British Council
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