People's names game

Aim: students have fun learning new words
Level: pre-intermediate or higher
Procedure/ Summary: students or/and teacher translates names of class members or well-known local people into English.  Other students guess the hidden identity.

See next  an example for students in  Catalonia, Spain. You need to adapt the examples to your country.
These examples have been provided by John Lavery, 2013 British Council Workshop.

Part A: teacher "translates" into English the names people who are famous in Spain . Students guess who these people are

Example for Catalan students:


In pairs look at these two word texts. How are these people better known?

1. Joey Moneybox
2. Sawmountain Knight
3. Anthony Enjoy
4. Saviour Givehim
5. Andrew Goodfountain
6. Agnes Taylor
7. Anne Bottle
8. Arthur More
9. Justino Castor

Solutions: Josep Guardiola (guardiola in Catalan is a piggy bank), Montserrat Caballé (opera singer), Antonio Gaudí (Architect) , Salvador Dalí (Artist/painter) , Andreu Buenafuente (Tv presenter/Showman), Inés Sastre (model), Ana Botella (Politician), Arthur Mas (Politician), Justin Beever :-)

Part B: students in pairs or groups  "translate" into English  either the names of other famous people from their area or the names of  their classmates, or both.   The students write the names on the board. Later the whole class or groups guess who the people are. 

Thanks to  John Lavery,  speaker at the  September 2013 British Council Workshop for providing me with this idea.

Autonomous Learning: video tasks for teenagers and adults by the British Council

Aim: this British Council site contains videos with pre-watching and post watching tasks for teenagers but most of the topics should appeal to adults too.

 Click HERE to access the British Council videos for teens page.

Level: the level of the tasks are indicated under each video. Most I have seen are B1 or B2 but check for other levels.

This site belongs to the British Council

Topics: there is a very wide range of topics, from food, tourism and street art to homes of the future and European integration. See below for somme suggestions.

Procedure: Videos come with:

• on line self corrective pre-watching and post watching tasks.
• a printable version of the same  tasks that the teacher may bring to class. The t

These tasks could be carried out:

• by the students on their own.
• in class by projecting the on-line tasks on the White Board.
• in class, with the help of the teacher by distributing a photocopiable version of the tasks.

Suggestions:
B1 - Multicultural Britain: HERE
B1- Food in Britan: HERE


Click HERE to access the British Council videos for teens page 

Seven easy to prepare communicative tasks

Level: Indicated before each activity. The level of tasks goes from easier to more difficult.
Materials: Strips of paper/pieces of paper/ or nothing

Game 1: Ask the teacher some questions
Level: students should be able to write basic questions

Students write questions for the teacher on strips of paper. The teacher answers (for higher levels, only if correctly formed) for about 15m by going round the classroom. Then students work in groups to write the teacher’s biography with one untrue fact. Groups take turns reading their bios and figuring out what is false.
Game 2: Passing notes
Level: students should be able to write basic questions

Teacher hands students several slips of paper, on which they write their name in the lower left corner and the name of someone they want to exchange notes with in the upper right. They write a note, asking at least one question, and then deliver it. Students answer notes and pass them back.

Game 3: What's the number?  
Level: students should be able to write simple sentences in present

Teacher gives small groups of students a number 0-10. Students write 3 riddles or sentences that hint at number on a piece of paper (e.g. a dog has this number of legs). Groups exchange papers and add two similar sentences. Repeat. Discuss favourite riddles, hang up on wall, etc.

Game 4: Conversation with an object
Level: students should be able to write questions. Vocabulary depends on chosen object but this tends to be more complicated than previous tasks. Eg. If you speak to a sock, you may want to use words such as “sweaty” or “wool” .

Teacher tells students to think of an everyday object (e.g. tea kettle, a sock, a pen..). Then students should write a conversation with that object without stopping their pens. Teacher lets students write for 3-5m. Students can exchange papers, ask questions.

Game 5: Blog on paper
Level: students need to contribute points of against or in favour of a statement. This requires somehow higher skills

For 20 students the teacher prepares 5 papers with different leading question at top (e.g., The driving age should be raised to 22. Agree or disagree? Why?). Make 4 copies of each paper and distribute. Students have 5m to respond, then exchange papers and reply for 5m.

Game 6: I yelled at my teacher  (or mother,  boyfriend... you name it!)
Level: students should be able to write sentences in the past/future and use the connectors you provide
 Teacher gives pairs of students a paper with "I yelled at my teacher"(or other person of your or the student's choice). in the middle of the page. Students take slips of paper with connectors (then, so, after that, before +ing, etc.) from bag and must build story above or below the sentence.

Game 7:  Connecting the Top 40
You MAY want to use  a projector for this task  
Level: higher as the titles of the top 40 songs may be difficult

Distribute and review list of the current Top 40 song titles. If you don’t want to use a list on paper, just type “top 40 BBC” in the search engine (google or other) and project the list on the board.

Working alone or in pairs, students write a short narrative using 10 of the titles (unchanged). E.g., One day while hiking, I went Off the beaten path. I ended up getting very lost and couldn't find my way out of the forest. Finally, at 8:18, I heard...

Attention: the week of the 30 of September, hit number one was “Talk dirty”. If your students are underaged, check the list before projecting it.

Thanks to Kirk Moore, speaker at the British Council workshop on September 2013 for sharing these ideas, which he has compiled from different sources.

I have adapted Mr. Moore's talk for my blog and therefore I hold responsibility any mistakes or omissions that may appear.

Magic Box Poem. Add things to put inside the box and finish the poem by describing the box

Aim: students add lines to the Magic Box poem.
Level:  students need to be able to write simple present tense sentences and understand most of the poem below.
This task is suitable to all levels and should help integration of students in multicultural classrooms.
Procedure: students read (all or part of) the poem Magic Box by Kit Wright and add lines to the poem.

Attention: The poem is too difficult for my students so I have  adapted it to my lower levels. I have chosen the easiest verses. Since the word SUN appears two times and they are too close in the adapted version, I have  substituted SUN for FUN in one of the verses. I hope the author approves the change!

Find underneath:

• the adapted version of the poem, that is to say the poem with the easiest verses
• the whole poem. 

Just copy and paste the poem on a Word Document, change the suggested underlined  words to suit the origin of your students. Project it on the board and ask the students to read the poem aloud and to add stanzas to the poem.

Suggested procedure for adding verses to the poem and for creating a whole class poem: students work in groups to create new stanzas. Each Group writes their best stanza on the board.  Number the stanzas and have all students to read their class poem aloud.

Materials:

• a projector to show the poem to the students

THE MAGIC BOX, by Kit Wright (ADAPTED). Substitute underlined word by places that represent the origin of your students. 

I will put in the box
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerene,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put in the box
three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle
a fifth season and a black sun

I will put in the box
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.
the colour of the my fun

I will put in the box…

YOUR TASK

Complete the poem. 

A) What would you put in the box? 
B) Finish the poem by adding a description of your box? 

• What does the  box look like? 
• What is it made of?   
• What shape does it have?

These are the verses my 2014-15 school year added.

Attention: Students have added these stanzas. They are posted  EXACTLY as the students entered them.

1. I will put in the box 
a sweet kiss and a hot night
good memories of our chilhood
a rainbow in the sky.

2. I will put in the box
 the smile off my grandparents
and the my parent's love
a twilight with my loved one.

3. I will put in the box
photos of my family
to remember the good times
that we had in the past

4. I will put in the box
a lot of food
and a piece of fruit
and a glass of soda

5. I will put in the box
another smaller box
inside it  will have something smoller
it is said our wedding ring 

6.I will put in the box 
happy moments with my friends
the day I passed my catalan exam 
a lovely smile of my father


 

THE MAGIC BOX, by Kit Wright (Complete version)

I will put in the box

the swish of a silk sari on a summer night,
fire from the nostrils of a Chinese dragon,
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth.

I will put in the box

a snowman with a rumbling belly
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerene,
a leaping spark from an electric fish.

I will put into the box

three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put into the box

a fifth season and a black sun,
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.

My box is fashioned from ice and gold and steel,
with stars on the lid and secrets in the corners.
Its hinges are the toe joints of dinosaurs.

I shall surf in my box
on the great high-rolling breakers of the wild Atlantic,
then wash ashore on a yellow beach
the colour of the sun.

You may want to visit the Poetry Society page on ideas on how to use this poem HERE 

Thanks to John Lavery, at the September 2013 British Council workshop  in Barcelona for providing me with this idea.

Six Word Stories: speaking and writing task

 The most famous six word story is supposed to be Hemingway's :

For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. 

Aim: students decide what several "six word stories" mean and then they create their own "six word stories" . Procedure:  the teacher provides students with six word stories so that  they decide what they mean. After, students are challenged to create a "six word", or longer, story, (flash fiction piece).  You can use the six word stories in pictures to model what the students have to do. I have included them on the provided power point. Note that there are not correct answers for this activity.

You can download the Power Point by clicking HERE

Level: the level depends on the stories you choose. I propose some stories underneath. These are are suitable for  pre-intermediate or above levels.  The vocabulary  used in the the six word stories goes from easier to more difficult. I have copied and posted them on a Power Point presentation that you can download. Note that many stories refer to alcohol, divorce or death so be careful if you are showing this to sensitive students.

By typing "six word stories" in google you can access many other stories that may suit the level of your student.
You can download the Power Point by clicking HERE


 I propose these six line stories (apart from the ones in the pictures)

1. Tanline on his ring finger? Goodbye.
2. Disputes between nations. Sorrow among families.
3. Facebook has ruined my entire life. 
4. Her friends forgot their drunken promises
5. Drunk. Home late. Locked Door. Divorce.
6. Man cries holding his dog’s leash.
7. One candle, unattended. Only ashes remain.
8. 365 Apples. My annual insurance policy.
9. Single shy zombie seeks terminal necrophiliac.
10. Vehicle swerves. Alcohol flavored regret. Homicide.

Source  for these six word stories: http://www.sixwordstories.net/ . Tip: if you scroll down the six word stories page you can access six words tories grouped by subject: crime, love, loss, famous authors...
Check also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Word_Memoirs and http://sixwordstoryeveryday.com/Best-of-2011,where you can see the six word stories in pictures, which  I have included in this post.
 


Thanks to John Lavery, at the September 2013 British Council workshop  in Barcelona for providing me with this idea.

You can download the Power Point by clicking HERE  

Please leave a comment if you have used or plan to use this activity. 

By María Zabala Peña

 

Children's toys around the world. My most prized posssession. Oral presentation prompt

Aim/Procedure: 

• students look at the pictures taken by Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti.
• students find the similarities and differences among the pictures.
• students are ready to bring a picture of themselves with a most prized possession, which can be a toy or anything else/ They might wish to bring their most  prized object to class, instead of the picture. 

Level: any but students need to know how to use simple verbs in the past simple 

You can download  the presentation by clicking HERE 

Materials:

• Power point with pictures, questions prompts  and possible answers (correction key)

These are some of the pictures you can see in the Power Point. You can download  the presentation by clicking HERE 

Possible extension: geography. The power point indicates the place of origin of each child.  Find the places on a map.

Source of the pictures/original  text :HERE

Please visit Diana Turner scoop it  to find texts for ESL teachers. I got this idea when browsing her selection of texts: HERE

Listening Tasks: BBC Express English/ Spice up your classes with a short video clip

 BBC offers the possibility of listening to a series of short texts on a wide range of topics.
The texts are about one minute long, that's the reason for the series name,  and the script is included. 

I think this can be a good starting point (prompt, warm-up)  for some of your classes as many of the topics are part of the curriculum. Some examples are:  trips, colours, relationships, food choices, shopping, phobias, honesty, new year resolutions... you name it.

The videos can be downloaded from the Express English site or be watched on line.

To access the Express English site click HERE

I have embedded some of the videos below with the link to the page where the script is, but please, browse around. There are  more than 30 choices for you at the Express series site. 

See these examples:Jealousy, Freedom and Fashion. 

 JEALOUSY: Download the scrip from the site HERE

 

When do you feel free? Download the script HERE

What's in fashion at the moment. Download the script   HERE 

Elllo Listening Site. Listen, read the script (if needed) and take the quiz

Elllo stands for English Lesson Listening Library. It  is a short video site or slide share site  where students can listen to  and view short videos/presentations. There is a script for the texts you hear and the recordings are pretty clear. When you finish listening you can just do the listening quiz.

LEVEL:  Lower intermediate or upper 

Warning:  It might be difficult to find the audios  you like as the web is a bit chaotic and you seem to need either the number of the video or the name of the  series to which it belongs. 

This is the link to the site: HERE

See the links to the videos I have chosen  for you below but feel free to browse around!

 
These are some of the examples you may like:

a. Trip to Cambodia:  Julia tells us about a memorable trip in Cambodia to raise money for a charity. .It includes the audio and a slide presentation of her trip as well as the script, vocabulary and quiz. There are 4 presentation on the same subject.

Click HERE





b. Take a peek at the section  "Talking Points"
My suggestion:

• TAKE THE QUIZ
• LISTEN 
• TAKE THE QUIZ AGAIN
• CHECK THE SCRIPT IF YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO

These are the Talking points I liked: 

b.1. American cities  HERE. 
b.2. Best movies ever HERE
b.3. Different jobs the speaker (Todd)  has had HERE

To access the Talking Point series, click HERE


Thanks to my colleagues at the Training British Council Course 2013 for recommending this site.

Cindy Lauper. Girls just wanna have fun. Writing and speaking task.

Aim: students write a composition based on picture prompts. These prompts are taken from Cindy Lauper's Girls just wanna have fun song. Later students watch the video.

Level: picture prompts allow the teacher to decide on the level of the task.This task is suitable for heterogeneous groups. Most questions can be answered by using present continuous.

Download the teacher pack with these and other related tasks!

Materials: 
You can download all the materials by cliking HERE
You will need:  

• Provided power point with picture prompts.            
• Teacher's instructions.
• Video of the wanna have fun song from youtube. See link underneath.

You can download all the materials by cliking HERE


This is the video: 

Linguee on-line dictionary. Find words in context

Linguee is an on-line dictionary that contains a search engine that enables users to look for bilingual texts.

The available languages are English to/from: Spanish, German, French and Portuguese.

Click HERE to access Linguee

•  How does it work?

Capaz de = Able to = Capable of

Let's  say that, as a Spanish speaker, you want to know  the  preposition that   follows the expression "ser capaz" , which in Spanish is followed by the preposition "de".

You enter the text "capaz de" in the engine  and Linguee offers many parallel texts with that expression. As you can see in the displayed image, the English preposition is "to"  after "able"( not "of")  and "of" after "capable". 

• Advantages

The parallel texts have been checked by Linguee editors. If the translation of the word has not been verified the parallel texts is preceded by a warining sign (a triangle). 
Linguee is NOT an automatic translator. Use your head and in the long run you will see this as an advantage.

Click HERE to access Linguee 

Pronunciation: How do you pronounce...?

"How you say" is an on-line tool that will help you to learn how to pronounce words.
Aim: students introduce words they do not know how to pronounce in order to learn them with the sound Suggested procedure if you want to use this tool in your class

•  make a list of the words students mispronounce.
  
• group students in teams
• write the words on the board
• ask teams (in turns)  how a word is pronounced
• check the pronunciation by introducing the  in How j say
• give a point to the team that pronounces the word correctly

Access the HOWJSAY page by clicking HERE 

IF your students are Spanish speakers, you may start with some (or all) of these words:

• Problems with "I" or "AI" sound:  to determine, idea, opposite, to  examine, horizon, since, microphone,  to print, tiger.
• Problems with stress pattern:  successful,  component (stress in "po"), foreigner (FO), surface, insurance, hotel, interesting, invalid (IN)
• Words with two stress patterns: to present/ a present, to report/a report, to progress/ the progress, to address/ an address...
• The "able" words: vegetable, suitable (the "i" does not sound), able, comfortable, table, capable, removable, printable 
• Letter B  does not sound: debt, plumber, doubt
• Letter W does not sound:  sword,  answer, drawer. would
• Other silent letters: mayor (no "y"), heir (no h), guard (no u), shepherd (no second h)
• The -es ending sounding as "iz"or "is". Most student ignore the ending: services, oranges, he fixes/watches, exercises
•  The ones they always get wrong:  biscuit (the "u" does not sound), receipt, recipe, architecture (the K), busy, , key, Pharaoh, choir, aisle,rare, archive (K), corps  /kɔː/ as in Peace Corps vs. corpse.
• The ones that are very similar to Spanish words and students pronounce in the Spanish: fashion: Jamaica, Arkansas, Zanzibar, Ottawa.Lancaster, Asia, Trafalgar (FA), predator (PRE), cigarrette (TT), controversy (TRO), transparent (PA)
• The ones with less syllables than we expect: chocolate, digital, restaurant,  basically
• Teasers (homophones or almost homophones): flour and flower,  guerrilla and gorilla, waist and  waste, pear and pair, heir and hair, write and right, four and for, hear and  here, no and know...  For more homophones in British English go to this page HERE
• -age words: beverages (also stress pattern), village, image, message, usage 
• The - ure words: nature, creature, future, structure, adventure, literature 

Bombay TV - (short) written or spoken texts

Bombay TV  offers the possibility of  creating  short written or spoken texts by subtitling short segments of Indian movies.

Aim: students write or record their voices creating a short text.
Level: any
Procedure.  Students:

• enter the  provided Bombay TV link
• choose a segment of a film
• prepare a dialogue
• record or write their dialogue 
• send the video segment to your e-mail
• open e-mail and share your video with the class  

Click HERE to access BOMBAY TV

 See an  example below

Personalize funny videos at Bombay TV by Graphéine - Graphiste independant
 

Thanks to Ricard Garcia, speaker at the April 2013 teacher training sessions at the British Council, for providing me with this link.

Crumpled up questions

These are some of the questions on the handout (3 our of 17)

Aim: Students practice asking and answering a variety of questions in past, present perfect, present simple and future.
Procedure: Teacher cuts questions and students take turns asking and answering the questions. Students pass the questions around or, if you want to risk it, throw the crumpled up questions to their classmates.
Extension: Students can take notes of their classmate's answers and write a report about that student.

Download the materials from this site HERE

Materials:

• Print the questions on the handout (once or twice, depending on how many students you have). The same handout contains the instructions to carry out the task.

Download the materials from this site HERE

Source of the task: http://eslsite.com/rd/Speaking/crumpled_up_questions.html, adapted by myself, María Zabala Peña

Who wants to be a millionaire? Reading practice

Most of you know the game Who wants to be a millionaire? Are you ready to play? Aim: practice your reading skills Level: students  may get  general knowledge questions as well as language questions. Therefore this game aims at students with higher levels of English. Optional task (two options):  students  create  their  own set of  questions for the contest. You can download the instructions for your students by clicking the link below.

• Option 1: download and photocopy the instructions provided below. You will need one copy for every two students. 
• Option 2: if a projector is available, you can explain the task to your students by using the provided  Power Point. Think it twice before printing and photocopying!.

THE GAME (on line): Click HERE to access the game online.  
MATERIALS.  TAKE YOUR PICK!!!
Click  HERE to access:

• A worksheet with instructions for the students
• A Power Point presentation with the instructions 

TAKE YOUR PICK!!! Remember you need either the Worksheet OR the PP Presentation

Verb tenses external links. Autonomous Practice

This is a link to a post  written by  Ingrid Chavarria
Click HERE to go to Ingrid's Post

Ingrid has grouped links to a variety of verbal tenses so that you can practice autonomously.
The links include, among other items.

• Present simple
• Present continuous
• Past simple
• Past continuous      
• Present perfect
• Past perfect
• Future (will/ to be going to)
• Modal verbs
• Conditional
• Passive voice
• Reported speech
• and more!

Click HERE to go to Ingrid's Post

Many thanks to Ingrid Chavarria for having put together all of these links for us :-)