PLEASE: Don't view with Internet Explorer ESL teachers:
◊ No time to take the copies to the secretary?
◊ Substitute teacher in a rush?
◊ Need activities without photocopies for your students?
◊ Need visual prompts for more dynamic lessons?
THIS IS YOUR BLOG!
IMPORTANT! Optimized for Firefox and Google Chrome. You may not be visualizing the entire blog if you are using Internet Explorer.
Feel free to send your ideas to my email: mariazabalapena@gmail.com /englishforeso@yahoo.es. To use the lesson plans in my blog, you do NOT need photocopies for students. You MAY need to print instructions or to use a projector and/or a computer.
For ESL VOCATIONAL TRAINING LESSON PLANSgo to my other blog HERE Browse LABELSto the right, underneathto find prompts and tasks.
* English for Communications.Click HERE. By Beatriz Papaseit Fernández and myself, María Zabala Peña
* English for Office Applications (Computers :Word 2007 and more).ClickHERE. By Beatriz Papaseit Fernández and myself, María Zabala Peña
Use this robbery scene as an oral prompt or a writing task prompt.
Materials: short silent video (2 minutes, 16 seconds)
Level: students need to be able to explain the story in
the past. This can be done using simple past or compound tenses,
depending on the level of students Useful vocabulary: Robbery, bank, safe, machine gun or weapons, wig, fake moustache, rubber gloves, ground. Useful verbs: to rob, to faint, to pretend (to faint), to wear, to breath, to swipe a card, to shoot, to impersonate, to ring the bell, to walk on all fours = to crawl, to wave at somebody.
If you want to download the video,you can do it HERE
Underneath you the You Tube link. Clink on the image to see the You Tube video on-line .
Use this scene as an oral prompt or a writing task prompt.
This short
film features a night in the kitchen. Utensils fall in love while the oil
bottle feels lonely. The the Modena Vinegar bottle shows up. Wait until after
the credits so see the struggle of Mrs. Modena
Materials: short silent video (3minutes)
Level: any as long as student... Option A) students are able to explain the story in
the past Option B) students can tell the story using present/ present continuous.
The outcome will depend on the level of your students. See below for higher level vocabulary Possible special occasion: Saint Valentine Useful upper level vocabulary: Tears, pool of oil, bottle spout, moonshine, cutting board, salt shaker, pitcher, mucus, lonely, wooden salad servers, bouquet/posy, the sink, slippery Upper level Verbs: cry /weep, rub against, sniff, frolic,pick up, fall in love, hope, shine, reflect on the eyes, slip, sigh, drop, try to climb up
Use this scene as an oral prompt or a writing task prompt.
Materials: short silent video (33 seconds)
Level: students need to be able to explain the story in the past. This can be done using simple past or compound tenses, depending on the level of students
If you want to practise the future, stop the video when the man drops his biscuit and students can predict the end of the story. Useful vocabulary: Biscuits/cookies, paper bag/wrapping, dog's pooh = dog's poop= faeces / ˈfiːsiːz/, dog's leash, bench If you want to download the video,you can do it HERE
Purpose:
students listen to a video in which scientists and inventors Mark and Betty prepare to receive a host.
Creator: the video and exercises have been created by Martams, at ESL quiz. tudents Two options to view the video and questions
A) You can project the questions on the whitboard. Clickhere to see the video and the questions online, at the ESL quiz page.
B) Click hereif you want to download a photocopiable version of the questions
Do you want to go over the vocabulary to revise for a test or just for fun?
Blockbuster is a good way of doing it
Click HERE to view or donwload a PowerPoint with instructions and two possible boards to play Blockbusters in class with your students.
Just project the Blockbuster Board on your White Board and play!!
Students are confronted with a picture in which a man is seen with a knife on one hand, a cat on the other and a red stain on the floor. The students need to decide what happened. After watching a 30 second video they may realize they judged too quickly
Level: Students need to be able to explain the story in the past. This can be done using simple past or compound tenses, depending on the level of students
The students well need these words:
Verbs: enter, open/ carry, look at, cook, add spices/salt, chop food, set table, lean on pot/drop sauce, jump, pick up cat, look guilty, hold, be scared/alarmed
Other nouns: cat, key, kitchen counter, flower vase, knife
Materials:
1. Instruction sheet
2. Related picture
3. Related short silent video (30s)
4. Overhead projector
To download the materials: Instruction sheet + Video click HERE.
(Make sure you don’t mislead the students by using the word “kill” in your sentence)
2. Make teams. Students have 10 minutes to explain the situation
3. Students compare their answers
4. Students watch the video and decide whose explanation was closer to the one seen in the video To download the VIDEO: click HERE To see the video in YouTube click HERE
Purpose: students role-play a business card exchange. They learn how to be polite by commenting on the card that is given to them.
Level: students need to know how to say basic sentences about the design or content of a business card. The sentences can be only in the present simple. Students are given model sentences that they can use later when they practice the card exchange.
Examples of model sentences in the exercise: This here is very original! / One colour on each side. I really like the combination/ I really like the logotype!!/ So your company is in Leeds. Are you from there? /
Materials:
a) provided PowerPoint to show to the students (provided underneath)
b) teacher’s instructions (provided underneath)
c) projector
Procedure:
Part 1) the teacheruses the overhead projector to show students the provided PowerPoint. Students need to decide if the comment under each business card relates to content or to design.
Then the students need to write their own comment for some provided business cards.
Teachers can preview the PowerPoint on the blog before downloading it.See underneath
Part 2) students create their own cards and role play a business card situation. Students need to add a comment on the content or on the design of the business card they receive. Students can create the business card on paper or use a provided page for designing cards (see teacher’s instructions)
Click HERE to download both the teacher's instructions and the PowerPoint.
Here you can PREVIEW the Business Card PowerPoint
Purpose: students practice asking questions in the past. The level of the questions and answers depends on the level of the students. At the end of the activity, as a follow-up to the speaking task, students could write a letter or email.
Level: students need to know how to ask questions in the past using question words and they need enough vocabulary to ask about age, family, relationships, job, likes, dislikes and past life. Students may have to use modals and a variety of pasts in their answers.
The teacher may have to help the students with vocabulary or can give them a dictionary.
Materials: a photo of a person. At the end of this post I propose some photos the teacher can project on the white board with the Projector . There are many more pictures/portraits available at google images. I offer a variety of pictures that may appeal to children, teenagers and adults. The one of the girl in the office could cater for the needs of students in administration related vocational training programs.
Procedure: Students may work individually or in groups.
A) Show a picture of a character to the students and ask them to write down 15 questions for that character. Note that the first 6 questions will be very similar in all groups (how old are you? Are you married? etc.) The aim of asking the students to write down 15 questions is to force them to produce more creative questions as well as to practice question structures. You may not have to wait until everybody has 15 questions if the production is adequate.
B) When the students are ready, tell one of them to come to the front of the class and impersonate the character in the picture. He/she has to answer his/her classmates’ questions. As he/she answers, the other students will spontaneously change their questions according to the characters' answers. This allows students to practice question structures without previously having written them down.
Note that as the character-student answers, new characters will pop out: his/her mother, his/her husband, his/her boss...
C)When you spot an interesting character (the husband, for example), tell the student at the front of the classroom to go back to his/her seat. Ask another student to come to the front of the classroom. His/her role is to impersonate “the husband” by answering his/her classmates’ questions.
D) Proceed this way until 4 or 5 students-characters have answered their classmates’ questions.
F) Possible follow-up: divide the students in 4 or 5 teams, depending on how many characters you have had.
Each group of students represents a character (eg. the mother, the husband, the cleaner, the child, the boss, or the secretary of the person in the picture). Ask students to write an email or a letter to the character.
Thanks to Roger Hunt, our English methodology teacher at International House, summer 2010 for this idea. The course I took was "Language Analysis for Teaching Purposes"
Purpose: this game can be used as a warmer to revise the simple past tense. No materials needed. Level: any level but students need a basic knowledge of the simple past tense. Procedure: this game works with a group of up to twenty something students. Students need to tell a story. The first one needs to start his/her sentence with the word “Fortunately”.
The next student needs to continue the story by using “Unfortunately”.
The student that comes after needs to continue the story but this time his/her first word is “Fortunately”.
The opener can be anything that may interest the students.
At the end of the task the students may vote for the best sentence.
Look at the example:
Teacher: Yesterday the Queen of England went to the opening of an important bank. Fortunately.., continue Laura.
Laura: Fortunately, the weather was very good. Unfortunately, continue Sandra Sandra: Unfortunately her dress was too tight for the hot weather. Fortunately, continue Pedro Pedro: Fortunately, she could unfasten her belt. Unfortunately, continue Juan
The story continues until everybody has contributed to the story.
You can ask students what their favourite sentence was.
Thanks to Rosie Burke, one of our methodology teachers at International House, summer course 2010 for this idea. The course was "Language Analysis for Teaching Purposes"
Purpose: students practice the present continuous by watching a video in which dogs perform several actions. Level: very basic. Students need to know how to form the present continuous and how to use some action verbs (see list underneath). Material: provided video + pen and paper to take notes. Video Option 1: you can watch it on-line in the blog (see end of blog). Video Option 2: download the video from my site by clicking HERE
Then you can open it and watch it without an Internet connection. The video has MP4 format. Make sure you have a current version of your video reader (RealPlayer, Windows Media, VLC,...) installed in your computer. Procedure: tell the students they are going to see some dogs in action. They need to take notes of the actions and after that, in pairs or teams, create as many true sentences in present continuous as they can. The team/pair with more correct sentences is the winner. Actions: you may want to copy, paste and print the list of actions underneath. Some students will know some of the basic verbs, higher achievers will know more verbs. This task caters for students in a multi-level classroom :
The dog is /dogs are:
Dancing against a window
Skating on the skate board
Falling into the pool
Smiling
Running after a frisbee
Wearing glasses on its behind/rear
Driving a pick-up truck /lorry
Leaning against a wall
Falling from a couch
Eating a bone
Running after a Scalextric car
Posing for a picture (with a cat)
Looking at the camera after being naughty/breaking a flower pot
Belly dancing
Imitating a roadsign
Looking like its/their owners
Skipping
Rolling up against a sofa
Falling asleep/looking groggy
Biting a tree branch and hanging from it
raising its ears
Dressed as an alien
Falling from a sofa head first
Looking out of a window
Being caressed
Getting dirty with sand
Playing with a toy/a ring
Playing with a baby cat (the cat is biting its ear )
Carrying a dumbbell
Posing for a picture
Laying with a cat
Sitting in a truck, wearing sunglasses, and fixing the rearview mirror with its paw
Picking up its mess (faeces) with a dustpan and broom
Level: any level but students need at least a basic knowledge of:
the simple past and prepositions of location (to/on the left of, next to, at the top/bottom (of), behind, under, in front (of), next to, to be in between x and y …)
Materials: Internet connection to project a picture (provided below) + whiteboard + Projector + some white sheets + dictionary (depending on level of students) + character answer sheet (provided below).
You may want to cut, paste and print these instructions.
Procedure:
Part A
1. Group students as you think fit (3 or 4 students per group).
Ideally the number of people in each group should be the same as the number of groups.
This is to say, teams of 5 if there are 5 groups.
2. Project the image (underneath) on the white board. Click on it to enlarge.
3. Ask students in each group to identify together as many people as they can and write down their identities on a piece of paper. Set a time limit (about 3 minutes). Minimize the image when the time limit is over.
4. Each group chooses a representative. Give each representative a coloured pen if possible (blue, green, red, black…). Each colour represents a team. If you do not have enough colours, give each a representative a number. Enlarge the image again. Representatives have 1 minute to draw a circle (or write their number) around the people they identified in their group. Only one circle (or number) can be drawn around a person (i.e. two groups cannot identify the same person)
5. Representatives go back to their team.
6. Each team identifies orally the people they identified on the board. If they did not draw anything around the famous person they cannot say they identified them.
i.e. the team who has drawn a circle (or a number) around Audrey Hepburn may say:
“Audrey Hepburn is to the left of the picture, sitting behind a table and a TV set”
The teacher can check whether the answers are correct by either:
a) using the answer sheet provided at the link below.
b) using the online image that allows both to identify a person by hovering over it and to click on the person to see their Wikipedia profile. This picture is larger than a standard whiteboard. The link is provided below as well.
The team with the most correct identities wins part A of the task.
Part B
7. After the teacher has checked the identities, each team writes some sentences about the people they identified. The teacher should monitor and help students. You may want students to have a dictionary.
8. When this is done, the teacher names the people in each group: A, B, C, D… The last letter is the student who was the representative in part A of the game.
Students A move to the next team, clockwise
See picture below to understand the mechanics of the "clockwise" system.
Students A read /or explain (depending on the level of the students) their texts to the next team WITHOUT revealing the identities. The members of the group need to guess the name of the famous people.
Example: Students A tell the members of the next group (as they have moved clockwise)
“This person was a famous actress. She acted in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, she was very thin…”
Students A note how many identities the members of the team guessed.
Students A go back to their team.
Students B in each group go to the SECOND team clockwise and read from the same sheet as students A. They note how many right answers this second team had.
Students B go back to their team and give the paper with the score to the student C in their group.
Students C in each group got to the THIRD team clockwise....
Continue until students have read their sentences to all the groups.
The team that has guessed most identities is the winner of part B
Click to enlarge
Mechanics of the "clockwise" system
Click to enlarge
by Chinese Artists Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An
Useful links:
Click HERE for famous people painting answer sheet
Click HERE for an online picture with links to Wikipedia for each person
Thanks Ingrid for this idea: Check also Ingrid's blog HERE
Purpose: review of the phrasal verb "to look" Language items: to look up, to look into, to look back on, to look forward, to look after, to look down on, to look up to Level: intermediate and upper Possible special occasion: Saint Valentine's. The last task entails reading a love letter and finding regulars verbs that can be substituted for a phrasal verb Materials: provided PowerPoint + Provided Teacher's pack (not really necessary as Power Point provides answers) + Projector
In this site (HERE) you can download the power point + teachers' pack.
To see vocabulary revision for MORE THAN one unit, please clickHERE
Any level but for some games students need to have practised techniques for categorising words (this is a verb, an adjective, this is a past simple...)
Timing: about 10 minutes
No material needed
A) Word telepathy
Have a volunteer sit at the front of the class with his/her back at the board. Write a word from the unit on the blackboard. The class must help the volunteer to identify the word. E.g. The word shoe. Student might say something similar to: you wear this on you feet, A boot/traineris one type, you can buy this in Camper shop.
B) Sentence telepathy
The same as before but with a sentence. Review these basic categories before you do it: determinate/indeterminate article (a/an/some/the) as they need to use grammatical terms to help the volunteer. E.g. Maria is wearing a t-shirt (A girl in the class with short hair + verb to be + verb to have clothes on you body in the gerund+ indeterminate article+ Jordi Carlos is wearing this today).C)
C) Lip reading
Tell the student the category of the word (words related to hair, sport...). Ask the students to read yourlips and say aloud the words you are saying.
D) Today’s question
The question is on board when students arrive. Best questions use current lesson grammar and vocabulary. If the question is about a grammar point you may allow the students to tell you the answer in their native language. Give the student who answer the question properly some reward (a positive point). E.g. Why are these sentence wrong?: * I wearing a jacket, * It rains now, *My fathers aren`t like Coke.
E)Stepping stones
Tell the students the vocabulary class of the exercise. E.g. FEAR. The first two rows of students are team A, next two B, next two C (or A and B if you have less students)
Draw this on the board:
TEAM A) o o o o
TEAM B) o o o o
Students need to cross a dangerous river stepping on the stones:the os.
Imagine the word to guess is SPIDER
The teacher writes S on the blackboard. Team A says one word from the lesson ( e.g. spider), if the word isspiderthe teacher checks meaning and puts an X on the stone .If it is not team A does not win the first stone. The teacher writes the next letter of the wordSC. Team B says e.g. scare. If this correct the teacher checks meaning before giving the X. If the word is not scare the teacher writes next letter SCAetc. The word in this example is scar. The first team step on all the stones, wins.
F)Crazy eraser
To end the class on a high note and avoid misbehaviour, rub the board with the duster/eraser chopping of parts of the words. Students need to reconstruct what was written.
Source: MacMillan teacher training (Barcelona 2006?) Dave Spencer workshop: how to teach English in ESO without loosing your sanity.
Purpose: fun review of present, past simple and future simple
You may just use part of the task depending on what you want to revise
Level: lower intermediate and upper
Language items:students need to know basic verbs in the present, past and future to say/write simple sentences in present, past and future.
Activity based on two YouTube videos with two different versions of the song: Don't cry for me Argentina
Materials:
OPTION 1 : provided PowerPoint + Provided Teacher's pack (not really necessary as Power Point provides answers) + Internet Connection + Projector
OPTION 2: if internet connection is not available in the classroom, you can download the videos from my site and watch them from your USB pen
This is the site (HERE)you can download the power point + teacher instructions + videos
DON'T FORGET THIS: you can watch the videos:
A) at the YOUTUBE LINK PROVIDED in the POWER POINT
B) by downloading them from my site (see link above). Make sure you have current versions of REAL PLAYER, MEDIA PLAYER or VLC installed in your computer as these are MP4 videos.
C) by using the embedded version underneath (full screen not possible) 1. Preview of power point .This is a preview and therefore, links and transitions with mouse clicks won't work. To use this in class, download Power Point from my site. The link to my site is provided above.
YOU CAN PREVIEW THE ACTIVITY HERE
Link to video 1: slower version of "Don't cry for me Argentina"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Ns1U0OnE8
You can preview this video underneath Link to video 2: Madonna's fast version of "Don't cry for me Argentina" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BP6OitHVXc You can preview this video underneath
In order to convert a Power Point into video, all you need is a small free program such a as E.M. Free PowerPoint Video Converter V2.80 (Freeware)
You can download it HERE
You will be converting your powerpoint online and therefore you need internet connection.
You may have to close all your programs for your converter to work.
Open the converter, select NEW TASK and choose the desired FORMAT (AVI , for example).
Make sure you tell the program where (what file) you want the result (the video) to be downloaded. This way you can locate your new file easily at the end of the process.
Level: any level but students need to know vocabulary to describe the body and clothes.
Material: a sheet of blank paper per group. If students have colours, the activity is funnier.
Procedure:
Seeing the result of this activity, it is very easy to understand how it works. These are some of the drawings my students made.
Download related documents (vocabulary help for teachers):click HERE
Step 1:Revise vocabulary for clothes and description of clothes (polka dots, ruffles...) and for body parts and their description (long, short, rounded, squared…) Elicit vocabulary according to the level of your students.
See documents above to help you with possible vocabulary.
In order to revise, tell students that you are going to draw a person on the board. You cannot talk and you will only follow clear instructions. If students need a word, write it on the side of the board so that they can reuse it later when they do the exercise on their own.
Step 2:Divide the students into groups of 3
Give each group a sheet of blank paper
Tell the students that they have to fold the paper over twice in such a way that the sheet of paper is divided into 3 parts. At the end of the exercise, on the top part there will be the head, on the middle part there will be a body and arms, on the bottom part there will be the legs and probably the hands (if they are not on the middle part)
Step 3: Two students tell another student in their group to draw the face, hair and neck. When the teacher sees students are finishing, tell them to continue the line of the neck so that it continues on the middle part of the sheet. This way the next group knows where to continue their drawing.
Step 4:Students pass their piece of paper to another group. This group continues drawing from neck to waist. A different student draws. It is important that the student who draws does only if the instructions are clear and in English. Again students continue the line of the waist and arms so that next group of students can continue drawing the bottom part of the body.
Step 5: teacher takes the drawings and shows them to the class. Each student needs to say something he/she likes in each drawing and something he/she does not like.
Idea for this activity: I used to play this game with my sisters and I have adapted it to ESL lessons.
Use this scene as an oral prompt or a writing task prompt. Materials: short silent video (1 min, 30s)
Level: students need to be able to explain the story in the past. This can be done using simple past or compound tenses, depending on the level of students Possible special occasion: International day of disabled people
If you want to practise the future, stop video at minute 0:49 and students can predict the end of the story.
This silent short movie tell us an intimate love story between two members of a family
The video has .wmv format.
Click HERE to download or watch the video (full screen)
You have the video in my blog too, below
Idea for the activity: Carme, our school secretary, sent me the video and I prepared the activity.
Level: lower intermediate and upper Possible special occasion: hunger awareness day Language items: Students need to be able to say/write simple sentences in present and future. Students need to talk about pros and cons of junk food Students need to know some adjectives to describe feelings At the end there are suggested oral and written activities to choose depending on the level of students
Activity based on video: Chicken a la Carte by Ferdinand Dimadura ( summary of the short film underneath). Length of video: 6 minutes
Ferdinand Dimadura’s video shows how a poor family lives on the leftovers of normal citizens. The video consists of images and music. The proposed activities (PowerPoint) make students think about their manners, eating habits and good luck. Materials:
1. Instructions for teachers 2. The PowerPoint presentation that leads students through the different activities 3. Video (if you do not have an internet connection in your class)
Click HERE to download PowerPoint, word document with instructions and video in MP.4 format
DON'T FORGET THIS: you can watch the video:
A) at the YOUTUBE LINK PROVIDED in the POWER POINT
B) by downloading it from my site (see link above). Make sure you have current versions of REAL PLAYER, MEDIA PLAYER or VLC installed in your computer as these are MP4 videos.
C) by using the embedded version underneath (full screen not possible)
1. Preview of power point .This is a preview and therefore, links and transitions with mouse clicks won't work. To use this in class, download Power Point from my site. The link to my site is provided above.
Film synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.
Genre: Drama | Produced In: 2005
Idea for the activity: Carme, our school secretary, sent me the video and I prepared the activity.
Make sure you have the suitable software to view the videos (VLC recommended)
Students listen to the "The things I like" , Julie Andrews. The PowewerPoint provides teachers with exercises and visual cues that help students learn the vocabulary
In the end students make a list of things that make them happy
DON'T FORGET THIS: you can watch the videos:
A) at the YOUTUBE LINK PROVIDED in the POWER POINT
B) by downloading them from my site (see link above). Make sure you have current versions of REAL PLAYER, MEDIA PLAYER or VLC installed in your computer as these are MP4 videos.
C) by using the embedded version underneath (full screen not possible)
YOU CAN PREVIEW THE ACTIVITY HERE 1. Preview of power point .This is a preview and therefore, links and transitions with mouse clicks won't work. To use this in class, download Power Point from my site. The link to my site is provided above.
FULL VIDEO FOR FIRST ACTIVITY 1 (MUSIC + LYRICS + IMAGES) :
KARAOKE VIDEO for singing activity (YOUTUBE link also provided in power point)
Thanks to Christine Wilson. She gave me this idea at the 5th British Council ELT conference held in Barcelona in 2009
