Category Archives: General

Tic Tac TALK with a Fun Twist

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Today, I am sharing  with you an activity that’s as fun, as it is effective. Drumroll, please… introducing Tic Tac Talk with a Fun Twist!

Picture this: the traditional Tic Tac Toe grid is on the board and each square contains a conversation question related to the lesson or topic at hand; in my case, it was questions related to personal identity. If you pay attention to the picture  of my board, you will see another difference; instead of the traditional 9-square grid, I designed a 12-square grid. More questions. More talk. More fun.

Another difference? They play in teams. Two teams: Xs and Os. And everybody talks here.

 

How to go about it. Let’s pretend Os start.
  • Pair up students; let’s say Student A chooses O and Student B,  X. From now on, they will be called Os and Xs
  • Display the grid with the overhead projector. Less paper, more trees.
  • Ask a representative of Os to choose a square and read the question aloud.
  • Tell Os they have 90 seconds to talk to their buddy X answering the question. Encourage students to use target vocabulary. What do Xs do? They listen. Not for long. Soon, it will be their turn to speak.
  • Monitor the time and signal when the time’s up.
How  Os win the Square

  • The teacher chooses a random O as representative of their team. (a different one each time, of course)
  • To win the square containing the question they have just answered, this representative will have to speak for 45 seconds, trying to deliver a continuous articulate monologue without repeating himself. If they manage to do so, their team, ie, Os, will have their icon written on the square but if they make pauses, repeat information or talk nonsense then the teacher, will a lot of drama and an apologetic face, will not grant them the desired square.
Now, it is Xs’ turn.
Who wins?

The rules for the traditional Tic Tac Toe apply here, too.  Players take turns placing their “X” or “O”. The goal is to be the first to make a row of three of your marks, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. If all the boxes are filled up and no one has three in a row, it’s a tie. Needless to say, players can strategize to prevent the other players from getting three in a row, which adds to the fun.

How did I mark the Xs and the Os?

Remember that the grid is displayed on the board. I played the game with two different classes. In one of them, I had a digital board, so it was fun to draw the Os and Xs in different colours. In the other one, I used different coloured sticky notes. It was a colourful display and brightened up the whole board.

Here’s the grid with the questions I displayed in class

Tic Tac Talk by cristina.cabal

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The Great Silence Breaker Silly Challenge: Can my Students Talk about a Simple Object for 2 Minutes?

General

Fun, quick and an opportunity to challenge your students.

As a teacher, and especially at the beginning of the course, I often find myself in situations where I’d love to hear my students talk for just two short minutes on a given topic. But, I ask a thought-provoking question and some students seem to be unable to come up with more than two sentences.  Now, I’m not asking for a Shakespearean soliloquy or a TED Talk-worthy speech, I am just asking to answer a juicy question with more than a simple couple of sentences.

And so, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. It’s time to launch the “Great Silence Breaker Challenge.” This challenge is straightforward yet entertaining. My students have been issued the following decree: talk non-stop for about two minutes on a simple, everyday object. Sounds easy, right?

The beauty of this exercise is that it pushes my students to be creative, think on their feet, resourceful, and yes, a little bit absurd. The idea behind this silly speaking task is that after asking them to talk about a simple spoon, pencil box …etc for about 120 seconds, they will realize how easier it is to answer a question such as” Do you think cars should be banned in the city centre?” which is “slightly” more thought-provoking.

So, here’s the activity.

Procedure.
  •  Put the students into pairs (student A and student B).
  • Ask a representative of Student As to choose a box.
  • Display a timer and ask all Student As to talk about whatever the box contains for 2 minutes. If they manage to talk non-stop without awkward silences, they will get a point.
  • Repeat procedure with Student Bs.

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Exploring Cities: 3 Classroom Activities to Supercharge Speaking Skills

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I am not saying these three activities are great, but I am saying they are

  • visual
  • engaging
  • effective
  • dynamic
  • collaborative
  • thought-provoking
  • challenging
  • Interactive
  • … shall I continue?

So, they are the perfect answer to introduce and end a lesson about our cities and future cities.

1. INTRODUCING

Ask students to discuss the following question in pairs or small groups:

When you think about the concept of a futuristic city, what kind of city comes to mind?

USEFUL VOCABULARY

  • Sustainable development
  • Megacity
  • Vertical farming
  • Urban sprawl
  • Green architecture
  • High-speed rail
  • Smart city
  • Zero-emission autonomous vehicles
  • Renewable Energy
  • Sustainable Transportation
  • Eco-City
  • Drone Deliver

Display the pictures and allow students time to comment in pairs and then,  have a whole class discussion. These images are unique and, as I am sure you have guessed, created with AI.

HOUSING by cristina.cabal

2. DISCUSSING: GIVING A STUDENTS A CHOICE

This activity is designed to engage students in debates and discussions based on their chosen statements.

Before the class

  • In each corner of the classroom, hang a clothesline by using a rope and some adhesive hooks. You will need to assign a corner to each group of 4-5 students
  • Depending on the number of students you have, you will need to print as many sets of cards (one set for each corner) as groups in your class.
  • If you make groups of 5 students, you will need to come up with 5 controversial statements. You can read mine below. You will also need clothes pins to hang the cards on the clothesline. Assign a clothesline to each group.

During the class

  • Give the students a photocopy with some functional language to express opinion, agree and disagree with someone else’s opinion. Ask them to choose 3 or 4 expressions from each list and encourage them to use these expressions in this activity.
  • Divide the class into 4 groups and assign each group to one of the four corners of the classroom.
  • Tell the students to stand up, go to their assigned corner, and choose the statement (phrase) they like the most or believe they can argue for or against effectively from the cards hanging on their group’s clothesline.
  • Have the students sit down and give them 5 minutes to prepare their arguments.
  • Start the debate within each group. Student A should begin by showing their card, stating whether they are in favour of or against the statement, and presenting their reasons.
  • Encourage other group members to listen carefully, take notes, and contribute their opinions to the discussion.
  • After Student A has finished, it’s Student B’s turn to present their card and arguments.

These are the controversial statements I have used for this activity

AGREE OR DISAGREE by cristina.cabal

3. THE HOUSING CRISIS. ORAL MEDIATION: retelling in groups

Lead-in activity

Give each student a piece of paper and ask them to write down one idea for addressing the housing crisis. It could be an affordable housing initiative, a zoning policy, or a rent control measure. Collect the papers and randomly distribute them to different students. Put the students in groups of three and ask them to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the idea on their piece of paper with their group.

The activity

I have used AI to turn text into speech to enhance students’ pronunciation. You will find the QR Code with the audio on page 2  (below).

  • The handout below, Housing Crisis in Cities, is divided into three parts: causes, consequences and solutions
  • Divide the class in groups of 3 students and assign each student in the group a part ( causes. …). Ask them to individually read their part once, underlining any new vocabulary. Divide the whiteboard into three columns( causes, consequences and solutions)  and ask students to contribute with the vocabulary they have underlined. Explain meanings.

  • Once all vocabulary issues have been solved, give students about 5-10 minutes to read their part several times. If they want to improve pronunciation, instruct them to listen to their part  (audio provided by the QRCode). PDF here. 
  • Ask the students that have been assigned Causes of the Housing Crisis to retell the information they have read in as much detail as possible, and then ask the students in their group to contribute with their own ideas by asking :  Can you list more reasons behind/ consequences of /solutions for the housing crisis?
  • Repeat procedure for Consequences and Solutions, with students contributing with their own ideas.
  • Finally, engage students in a whole-class discussion.

Housing crisis by cristina.cabal

Follow-up: Give your students this quote: “Housing is a basic human right, and it is the responsibility of governments to ensure that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and stable housing.” Ask them to express their opinion about it.

More activities revolving around Cities

Fixing Common Mistakes: 3 Activities with End Up or Finish?

General

I don’t know about other languages, but these two verbs, Finish and End Up, can be easily confused in Spanish. Is it also true in your language?

Do you often see this mistake? I do.  We missed the bus and finished taking a taxi. I do. Even when teaching C1 levels. Well, this is about to change.

EXPLANATION

So what is the difference between these two verbs? How can we use them?

END UP
  •  if you end up somewhere, you eventually arrive there, even though you did not originally intend to go there.

           Many of his friends ended up in prison for different crimes

  •  if you end up doing something or end up in a particular state, you do it or get to that state even though you did not originally intend to.

         We missed the bus and ended up taking a taxi

                         If the crisis continues, we will end up with millions and millions of unemployed

In Spanish, it can easily translate as “terminar por”

FINISH
  • If you finish, or finish something you are doing, producing or dealing with, you reach the end of it, so there is no more for you to do, produce or deal with.

            I’ve just finished doing the ironing

When we finished eating, we left

  • When a course, film, sale, etc finishes, especially at a planned time, it ends

            The course starts in September and finishes in May

In Spanish, it can easily translate as “terminar de”

NOTE: The good news is that both verbs are followed by gerund so, you see, here you can not make a mistake.

PRACTICE

  1. A QUIZ . We start with a beautiful exercise I have created on Wordwall.  I am teaching C1  students about Cities and City Life so, all the sentences revolve around this topic.I have tried to use in the sentences some of the vocabulary taught in this lesson.

2. TRANSLATION.  I love, and I know for certain that they like, doing small translation exercises. They claim it helps them fix the structures better. So, here it goes, a small translation activity, using flip cards.  Much easier sentences than in the previous exercise.

How to go about it

  • Divide the class into pairs or groups of three students. Pair A, Pair B… etc
  • Display the first sentence to be translated and give them some time to complete the task. (you decide how much time they have, but the key is to give them neither too much time nor too little.
  • Ring a little bell to indicate time’s up and ask pairs to raise hands if they know how to translate the sentence. You will listen to the translated sentence of the pair who raised their hand first. If it is OK, they score 1 point. If incorrect, with a lot of drama, shout NOOOO!!! Pairs need to be ready to raise their hand quickly if they think they have managed to write the correct translation. If, say Pair D, raises their hand and the sentence is OK, they score 1 point; if incorrect repeat procedure shouting NOOOO!!! until a pair gets the correct translation. Flip the card and comment on any errors other pairs might have made.
  • Continue in this fashion with the rest of the sentences.

3. SPEAKING. Have a look at these quotes and pay attention to how these two verbs are being used. Which quote do you like best ? Why?

Create a GIF-like “Meet-your-Teachers” Interactive Photo with Genial.ly

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Hello, hello!

Do you know this classic end-of-the-course photo we used to take when studying primary education?  I am sure you do and keep some in old photo albums. Ahh I miss the time when we printed photos!

Now, picture this: the annual staff photo or students photo transformed from a static image into a dynamic mosaic of interactive moving photos welcoming the students to the new course. How, you ask?  Thanks to GIFs and the incredible free templates in Genial.ly. It is very easy to create and a lot of fun: you only need a little bit of tech and a dash of inspiration.

Below these lines is an example of what we are aiming for. If you hover over the image, you can read the names of the teachers, the language they teach and the position they hold in the school.

 

Steps to Follow

  • Tell the teachers (students) what you want to do and then, using your mobile phone, record a quick 2-3 second video asking the teacher to make a move. It is important that they don’t talk, just make a movement.  See my own video here

Great! Now that you have the video, we go to the free tool https://ezgif.com/ to create a GIF from the video. We might need to optimize the resulting GIF to reduce file size, but don’t worry, you can do it on ezgif.com, too. To optimize the GIF, look below the GIF (it says” optimize GIF”). I also use this other GIF optimizer when I need t further reduce the GIF; also free.

 

3. Awesome! Now you have all the GIFs for all the teachers (students) in your school. Time to go to  Genial.ly and sign up for free.

  • Click on Create and in the search box, write school photograph ( in Spanish “orla”). There are two free templates. This is the one I have chosen but you can customize it as much as you want.
  • Click on Use this Template and modify the texts.

  • Now we need to upload the GIFs. Watch this video, and you’ll see how easy it is to create it. Sometimes, it is easier to see it than to explain it.

Creating a by cristina.cabal

Can’t wait to see your own Dynamic School Photos!!!  Or are you considering, perhaps, an end-of-the-course photo with your students, too? Or maybe first-day presentations???

Thanks for reading! Love you!