Tag Archives: writing

Moving Up from ” I Made Tea” to” I made myself a nice, hot sandwich of low-fat blue cheese because I was starving”

Games, Grammar and Exercises, Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Writing, , , , , ,

Subtitle:

Improving Writing Skills:  how to move up from the Elementary to the Intermediate Level using Adjectives.

If you are a teacher you would agree with me that helping students move from an Elementary Level to an Intermediate one takes time and practice. One does not acquire the level in one day, you need to go step by step and you’ll need to climb all the stairs to be successful, there is no lift here.

When I mark their compositions some students find it difficult to understand why a composition with almost no mistakes deserves a Pass whereas another one with more “red” ink gets a better mark. Although I explain to them that you’re not only marked for grammatical mistakes and they seem to understand I thought it might be a good idea to do an experiment so that they could clearly see my point.

The little experiment was carried out during the last 20 minutes of the lesson after having dedicated most of the lesson to working with adjectives. The aim was letting the student see for themselves the difference, in terms of adequacy, between two or three grammatically correct sentences by voting on the best one. By letting them be the judges of the best sentence, they also become aware of why essays with no mistakes might score significantly higher or lower.

Before starting with the activities dedicated to Adjectives, I told my students that my aim on that day was to improve their writing skills to help them move from an Elementary Level to an Intermediate one. In my opinion, this bit of information before starting is essential to get their full attention!

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STEP 1.  ORDER OF THE ADJECTIVES

Although not all grammarians agree on the order of the adjectives and the rules for adjective order are quite complicated, it is necessary to give them some kind of order they can stick to. I always use this sentence to help them remember

Important points:

1. Don’t overuse adjectives. While having two adjectives before a noun sounds natural, more than three would have the opposite effect.

2. Purpose adjectives go just before the noun: riding boots ( boots for riding), sleeping bags (bags for sleeping).

3. Numbers go before adjectives: three huge houses.

STEP 2. USING STRONG/EXTREME ADJECTIVES

Isn’t it true that  when you cross out things like very furious, students invariably ask … but, “why can’t you say very furious??”

1. I find it important to see the before and the after. So, prior to beginning with step 1, show them an example of what they normally write, well, a bit exaggerated maybe 🙂 .

Last week I went to a  very big beach. It was very hot and I was very angry because I couldn’t find a place to put my towel as it was very crowded. Finally, I saw one of my best friends and I managed to squeeze in next to her. We went for a walk but after half an hour I was very tired and very hungry so I bought a sandwich, but it tasted very bad. Oh My God !!!

1. Brainstorm extreme adjectives like angry-furious, small-tiny, big-enormous, dirty-filthy, happy-delighted, sure-positive…etc.

2. Point out you cannot use very with these adjectives, but “absolutely” or “really” -among others.

3. Practising intonation with extreme adjectives in dialogues is always an enjoyable activity! Even more fun if you give them the card and get them moving around the class and talking to different people. For this activity, I always use this handout from onestopenglish.com

4. That might be a good time to display the text above again so that they improve it using extreme adjectives.

STEP 3. WRITING GAME

Before the game: Write down on slips of papers, verbs that they have recently studied. For this exercise, I chose verbs with dependent prepositions. Put them in a bag or envelope.

Explain that this writing exercise is going to be a competition, where only sentences without grammatical mistakes are going to be shortlisted. These  sentences will be read  aloud and students will vote for the best one taking into account the length of the sentence, the use of adjectives before the noun and also the use of extreme adjectives

1. Students work in pairs competing for points against the other students in the class.

2. From the bag, ask a student -the innocent hand-to pull out a slip of paper containing a verb in the infinitive form.

3. Students have 2 minutes to write a good sentence containing the verb.

4. Quickly correct mistakes and put a tick to the ones being shortlisted.

5. Sentences are read aloud for students to choose the best one, which is awarded one point. The pair with the highest number of points wins.

At some point during the game, I make a point of telling students once again to reflect on why they feel some sentences are intuitively better.

Hope you find it useful!

Get Students Out of their Seats with a Lesson on Gender Stereotypes

Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Speaking, Students' Corner, , , , , , , , , ,

My beloved father was a chauvinist doctor and my mother was an undercover feminist. I am sure you’ve heard the saying “opposites attract”and that appeared to be the case with my parents. It was not an easy combination to live with. My father was the main breadwinner and my mother was the housewife. These were their roles in the house and to be honest, I don’t think my mother had an issue with that arrangement. The problem was he expected us (three sisters) to fully cooperate doing housework while my only brother did nothing but smile when we complained it was unfair. My father, on the other hand, and contradictorily,  expected us to get the best marks at school ’cause we were expected to go to university and get a degree so as not be the housewife my mother was. Who understands men? 😉

Today I want to share with you a lesson I did with my Intermediate students about Gender Stereotypes. This is a lesson where common general stereotypes about men and women are challenged.

Level: B1/B2

Aim: Get students to discuss general stereotypes about men and women using different expressions to give opinion.

STEPS 

1. Give handouts containing expressions used to give opinion. Here. Encourage students to use a variety of expressions when they give opinion.

2. Ask   Do you know any stereotypes about men and women? Instruct students to talk for about five minutes and then ask them to give feedback.

3. Play the video  Differences between Men and Women to get students into the mood. It’s a funny little video. I hope nobody takes offence.

4.Using Blue-tack, stick the posters containing the statements they need to discuss on the walls of the classroom. Posters here

5. Ask students to, working in twos or threes, wander around the classroom and randomly choose the posters they want to discuss.

Sticking posters on the walls of the classroom enables students to get out of their seats and talk to different people. As always it is important to make sure they understand the importance of using English and only English.

Learn English and have fun!

Write, Write, Write

Writing,

Words — so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

I am not going to lie to you, writing is not easy. It is not even  easy in your own native  language, let alone  in a foreign one.  I think that some people are born with a natural talent for writing, but for most of us  it ‘s a question of  practice , time and determination.

There is a quote by Pablo Picasso that I’ve always liked

And If you want a tip from this humble teacher  , here it  goes  , if you want to improve your writing  read, read , read and write ,write,write.

Anyway, today I want to share with you this website , which is really a timesaver for teachers when our brains are on holiday ,but we are not, and a nice place for students to refer to when they  want to do some autonomous practice. The site is called  English Tonight and although it has different sections to help you learn English, the one I like best is the Writing Section, full of creative writing prompts, as the one just below

Giving Opinion: Driving

Students' Corner, Writing, , , , ,

For the past week I’ve been raking my brains looking for a nice way to display these statements   and finally for lack of something that took my breath away, I have decided to stick to the overused  writeacomic.com , which works just fine … but for a few details there is no point in getting into right now.

So , right below , you’ll find some statements  about driving . This is what you need to do

TASK

♥Choose one statement  (only one , please)

♥Write a comment (5-8 lines) explaining  your point of view and why you agree or disagree with the statement.

♥Use some of the expressions here

I am pretty sure we all agree that these weeks before Three Wise  Men’s Day  are chaos. We’re all  super busy buying , wrapping ,eating and drinking (OMG!) so I don’t think I’ll be back in this space  until lessons start again.Thanks for being there!!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!

Students’ Corner

Students' Corner, ,

 Dear students:

This blog would be pretty much nothing without you. Thank you! 

INTERMEDIATE 1

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF GOING CAMPING by Aida Cecilia Marqués Menéndez

In Europe it’s forbidden to go camping in the nature; there are specific areas for camping equipped with electricity, bathrooms, restaurants, playgrounds  and sometimes even a swimming pool. But in other parts of the world you can go camping in the wild. Staying at a campsite has advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantage is that it is cheaper than staying in hotels.  I think that families with children prefer to go camping because children have more freedom and sometimes there are activities planned for them.  So parents are free too!

Taking a break from TV, computers, mobile phones and the internet is a big advantage and it’s good for children and adults. Another thing that is great in campsites is that you can travel with pets. Dogs are usually accepted although they have to be tied.

A big disadvantage of going camping is that it’s uncomfortable. You have to travel with lots of luggage like a tent, sleeping bags,  backpacks and flashlights. Don’t forget the insect repellent because It’s easy to find insects inside the tent. Furthermore, People have less privacy, for example,  bathroom are communal. But if you travel by caravan or by van it’s like renting a small apartment  but in the nature!

For me , being in the outdoors outweighs  all the disadvantages because I love nature! I think it’s really exciting to go camping.

INTERMEDIATE 2

PEOPLE USED TO LISTEN TO THE RADIO MORE by  Esther Ovies García

I´m not sure if this affirmation is totally true.  First I have to say that our options for entertainment are now far greater than they were in the 1930´s or 1940´s. On those days, the radio or the newspaper were the most important means of communication. Either of them was necessary to keep  people informed.

My grandfather loved listening to his radio. Being  able to listen to music or voices coming from all over the world…. it was kind of magic for him.

With the development of television, video games or internet, we now have more options to spend our free time on….although we have less free time too, that´s true!. When I arrive home after a hard day at work, I watch television or listen to music on my iPad… Both of them are fantastic options to relax…but I don´t usually listen to the radio.

So, everything seems to indicate that people used to listen to the radio more, but… some questions come to my mind, for example:

  • Does everybody have internet at home? The answer is no
  • Does everybody have a radio at home? Probably yes.

Also,I´m pretty sure that everybody listens to the radio while they are driving.

I´ve been looking for more information, about the radio on the internet, and I´ve discovered that there are a lot of Radio ListenerShips around the world.

A Radio ListenerShip is a group of people who use the radio as a mean of communication without high technology. This kind of radars are increasing every year.The reason is that in case of a catastrophe, like hurricanes or floods, the radio is a great deal more important means of communication than any other.

Because of all these, I think the myth that people used to listen to the radio more than nowadays is only that, a myth; and this is  probably thanks to the Radio Listener Ships.

IF I HAD THE CHANCE TO LIVE ABROAD,I’D LIVE IN AMERICA  by Marta Blanco Collazos

I’d perfer to live in North America because, from my point of view, the USA is the land where dreams come true.

  I’m sure everybody knows America by their films. I remember our young Antonio Banderas in Philadelphia or Sony Crockett in Miami Vice. When I was a teenager I used to love Beverly Hills, 90210 but I can’t tell if I liked more Brandon or Dylan. Who doesn’t like to walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame or go shopping on Rodeo Drive like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman?

I’ve always lived in Avilés. It´s a small town in the north of Spain. I’ve never studied or lived abroad so if I had to move to America it would be a big change for me.

I’ve only been to America once. I went on holiday with four friends. We stayed in NY for 10 days. Manhattan is an amazing place and NY is the city that never sleeps.

But our holidays started very badly. We booked an apartment online near Times Square because a friend had stayed there before and she recommended it to us, but when we arrived the owner didn’t answer the phone and the address given was false. Fortunately we booked a hotel that night and the rest of our holidays were fine and we could enjoy going shopping in the 5th Avenue, going for  a walk in Central Park or eating a big pizza in Little Italy neighbourhood. Also, in the subway, I saw the most handsome guy that I’ve ever seen in my life.

But in my opinion America isn’t the perfect country that movies show us because it’s the country with more obese children thanks to junk food and this is a very big problem as they are very unhealthy. I don’t agree with the use of weapons in USA and we see on TV ,every day ,the problems that this use is causing. Neither do  I like the death penalty that some states apply.