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Preparation
These activities take little or no preparation. You can either cut pictures from magazines, or download and use the images we have supplied here.
Food flash cards 576k zip
© All images are copyright Chris Tribble, King's College,...
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At lower levels it can be used to practise present simple in the third person. For higher levels it can be used to practise expressions for giving opinions or for using modal verbs for deduction. It can be used at any level to teach or revise a wide...
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These role cards present a series of simple situations for pre-intermediate and intermediate-level learners, working in pairs. They could also be used for higher levels, who should be encouraged to elaborate on the conversations and make them more...
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Preparation
You will need lollipops, sweets with wrappers or slips of paper. Prior to the lesson write a secret message (the code is described below) on the wrappers or lollipops or another type of sweet. You may also write out the secret messages...
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This is a series of five small role plays which work best with intermediate students. The students are motivated to persuade and argue in a light-hearted manner.Preparation
Download and make copies of the role play cards. You'll need one set for...
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Preparation
Your students will need to know vocabulary associated with food and cooking. It is a good idea to teach them words for cooking utensils too (e.g. saucepan, knife) and verbs connected with cooking (e.g. fry, chop). You might also like to...
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I don't recall the origins of this activity. I picked it up from some book or workshop at least ten years ago!
Preparation
Before class, the teacher fills paper bags with five or six random objects. You'll need one bag per group of four students....
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Preparation
You don't need any materials for this, just an invented story that you are ready to tell.
Procedure
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Procedure
Ask students if they've ever had a party. If they have, tell them to share their experiences with the class. If they haven't, explain to them what a party is.
Tell students to 'remember' the class party they had last week. All the...
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Procedure
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Description This is a lively role-play in which one student is a customer returning goods to a shop and the other student is a shop assistant. Each student has a role card with the information they need to give or find out from their partner, and...
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It is particularly useful for practising describing appearance, character and interests.
Preparation
You will need a selection of flashcards of people, a mixture of ages and types.
Procedure
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Bribery
The oldest trick in the book, and not one to be over-used. The idea is simple, take in small prizes to give to students whenever they have spoken enough English. What is 'enough' depends on you and the class - one word may be all you want...
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They work particularly well with areas of discussion which can have ranges of agreement or disagreement.
Preparation
To create a discussion wheel you simply need 8 or 10 contentious sentences based around a theme which you would like the students...
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This is an activity that I've used with students of all levels. It's also good for getting students to really listen to each other and to take notes or just for some fun.
Preparation
The activity is based around a short video clip of a crime. Any...
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Preparation and materials You will need to record two people planning a night out on the town. Pre-task (15-20min)Aim: To introduce the topic of nights out and to give the class exposure to language related to it. To highlight words and phrases.
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Here are some tips to
shift the task focus from you talking to them (they have to talk to each other).
give them control of their own discussion.
give them practice in formulating their opinions within a controlled framework.
Discussion envelopes
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Keep the conversation peer centred: plenty of pair or small group collaboration.
Avoid asking discussion questions around the class: this puts them in the spotlight and causes potential embarrassment in front of friends. You also risk dominating the...
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Improvisations work best if students are given roles and situations and asked to react immediately.Improvisations can be introduced very briefly with a ‘warm up’. Improvisations encourage students to use whatever language they have available to...
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Target language: Past continuous
1. Write on board: Mrs. McDonald was found dead in her house on Tuesday at eight in the morning. You have to find who killed her and why.
2. Explain to students they are going to prepare a play and perform it (...
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I used this for teaching Present Perfect tense. It is just like bingo, but involves the students mingling and asking questions.
In a 4 or 5 by 5 grid write statements like 'Has never been to Colombia’, or ‘Has been to the cinema twice this month’...
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There's nothing like a group project to get students talking. They work well if:
the topic is centred on the learners' interests
there is not any real need for extensive or time-consuming research
students can present their work orally to the...
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Preparation
Prepare individual questions on slips of paper. The questions should all use the superlative form. For example:
What's the most interesting country you've been to?
What school subject are/were you worst at?
What's the tallest...
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Practise descriptions of places using photos from travel brochures. Give each group a selection of five or six places. Ask them to take turns describing the place in their picture: the climate, the location, the activities you can do there, etc....
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Three students sit in a line at the front of the class. They are the experts, but they don't know what they are experts about. The rest of the class choose the area of expertise, e.g. cooking, car maintenance, trees, etc.
The other students then...
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Construct a 10 x 4 grid and in each square place a phrase often used in discussion (Can you explain? Really!, Where was I?, Is that clear?, Can I ask a question? etc.).You'll have to tailor the phrases to your group but I usually set a limit to how...
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It follows a Test-Teach-Test logic. Procedure Day 1: Student A chooses a topic and talks for 3 to 4 minutes - students B, C and D then ask questions about the content, the teacher notes down problematic language Day 2: The teacher inputs all the...
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Make up a dialogue about six or eight lines, for example a dialogue on making arrangements:
A What are you doing this evening?
B Nothing much, why?
A Would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me in the cafe?
B Yes, I'd love to. What time?
A...
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Basically, you need a controversial topic to start. Once you have established a controversial topic, divide your students into two groups; those who agree with the statement and those who disagree. They now prepare their arguments. Once you have...
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At this age, the learners aren't motivated by new language, they're motivated by an activity. It can be very difficult to get them to speak if they really don't see the point. You can approach this by focussing on the following.The function of the...
