Look at these big words other and another. Talking about these two is always a good idea. If you are wondering why, it is maybe because you are not a teacher ‘cause if you are in the teaching business, you know well why they are so big.
If you are a student and you don’t recognize the problem these two words might cause, it is mainly for one of these three reasons
You are aware these two cause problems, but you do not make this mistake, in which case you can stop reading here.
You are making this mistake and don’t know how to fix it, in which case this post can really help you.
You don’t really know what the fuss is about, which means you are nor even aware that you are making this mistake. Well, dearest, it is you I had you in mind when I decided to write this post.
Let’s see if together we can fix it once and for all.
First, let’s have a look at the grammar. Below you’ll find the PDF, but I have always liked teaching and then revising and then reinforcing and because it kind of feels repetitive, I feel the necessity to do it in different ways. I don’t want my students to die of boredom.
So, I have designed this nice presentation using the interactive tool Genial.ly to support the rather dull but effective PDF file.
Note: to enlarge the presentation, click on the 3 dots
A drag and drop exercise
2. An interactive quiz
And then the fun part. By the way, I had to resist adding more questions. I am kind of addicted to making quizzes. But I refrained 😊 . Only 15 items here. Enjoy!
It is true that there is so much material out there for our English classes that most of the times, we just need to type some keywords on the internet and voîla, we have it. But, think about it, has it ever happened to you to come across some great material but not just exactly what you are looking for? To me. All the time. And that’s probably why I am always on the lookout for new sites to help me create my own content.
This happened to me last week. I wanted to give my students a board game with conversation questions about sports and at the same time, use a little game to activate the vocabulary we had been studying. I was lucky, from my files, I rescued an old board game that I had used a long time ago. But although it served the purpose, I was not entirely happy and therefore I set out to trawl the internet looking for an editable board game where I could write the questions I wanted my students to discuss.
And as Jeremiah the prophet said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. Well, I must have put all my heart into it ‘cause I found it. The design is not perfect but hey! it’s free.
Tools for educators is a nice little site which offers online editable templates. You just choose the template and write your own content.
In my case, I have used the board game, but you can explore the other templates it offers. I am dying to try the dice generator. I don’t know how I am going to use it yet, but use it I know I will.
So, this is what it looks like. You will need to fill in the 21 squares. If you don’t, it will still print the board but with some blank squares. Options when you have run out of questions? Move ahead one space, move back two spaces… Once you have written your content, just print it.
Activating vocabulary
This is a great way to review any subject that needs a little jazzing up
Give students 5 pieces of paper. I normally reuse discarded printed with a blank side, which I cut into approx 10×5 cm pieces.
Instruct them to write on each piece a word or expression they have learnt about, in this case, sports. Ex: face danger, overcome your fears, adventurous. I encourage them to write not just the word but also the collocation as we have learned it.
Ask students to form groups of three or four people.
Ask them to put together all their cards, shuffle them a bit and place them face down in the middle
Give students counters and a die. The youngest in the group starts playing and then players will continue playing clockwise.
When Player A lands on a square, he reads the question and then picks up a card containing an expression which he will have to use when answering the question. They will have one minute to answer the question. If they manage to squeeze the expression, they can keep the card. If not, the card is returned to the pile.
Here’s what makes this activity perfect for me and my style of teaching
Enhancing their listening skills by listening to authentic audio. Giving students authentic audio they can understand is a real boost to their confidence. Another plus, if there are no comprehension questions, as is the case, students feel more relaxed. Did you know that reducing stress enhances learning? (D Krashen 1981).
Gallery walks using posters which gives students the chance to stretch their legs, and practise their speaking abilities.
A small writing activity related to the posters
Giving students the possibility to work with different students in the class
The lesson
Lead-in
On the board, write the proverb below and ask students, in pairs, to comment on its meaning. Encourage students to share their anecdotes.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
Listening Comprehension: British manners. A note-taking listening exercise
This authentic material is great for B2 learners. It poses just the right challenge. Not too hard, not too easy!
Tell students they are going to hear a man called Elliot talking about 5 British manners. The task is simple. Play each example of good manners individually and…
First time: ask students to write what manners he is talking about
Second time: play the video again and ask students to take down notes
Pair up students and ask one of them to retell the information offered in the video. The other student listens and /or helps. This role will be changed for the second example of manners
Ask someone to retell the information for the whole class.
Write any relevant vocabulary on the board.
Ask: what about in your country?
Repeat procedure for the second example of manners. Remember, there are 5 of them.
Gallery Walks: a speaking and writing activity using posters
Can you see any benefits to always working with the same person/student? I cannot. That’s why I always encourage my students to change partners regularly. However, some of them are quite reluctant and need a gentle push.
Forming groups: I have used small popsicle sticks to form groups of three. The sticks were coloured as in the picture and they just needed to find the other two students with the same colour.
Before the activity: I cut small pieces of paper of different colours and I assigned each poster a different colour
On the walls – I put up simple posters – I had to use the space outside my classroom as my class is tiny. I had six posters: Greetings, table manners, punctuality, gender roles, tipping and taboos.
Students in their groups choose a poster and they are instructed to do the following:
Discuss the manners on the poster in their country and in other countries they might have been to. Is it the same or different?
Before moving to the next poster, students are instructed to take a piece of paper with the colour corresponding to the poster they have been working with and write a piece of advice for someone visiting their country, in this case, Spain. ( if they were talking about Tipping, they should write a piece of advice on tipping).They were instructed to leave their written piece of advice on the table, choose a new poster and repeat procedure.
Allow 25-30 minutes for this part
Quickly correct spelling and grammar mistakes. Using blue-tack, put all the pieces of advice around the posters the advice has been written for.
Ask students to do a second gallery walk commenting on all the tips and having a look at their mistakes.
Writing an article about an unusual custom in the world
Lead-in:
Ask students: Have you ever experienced culture shock? Where were you? What happened?
Unit 1 in our textbooks explains how to to write an article. Using this format, I have asked students to do a bit of research on the internet and write about an unusual custom. To spice things a tiny bit, I have assigned students different countries using a random wheel.
Time to revise irregular verbs. I know, I know!! I am teaching B2, but trust me, they need the revision.
I mean, let’s be real. Technically, they have learned the irregular verbs sometime between A2 and B1 but you and I know that irregular verbs are like a pain in the neck to learn only compared to studying phrasal verbs. So, welcome revision!!
I have always believed that using technology in the classrooms has a lot of benefits for the students- this is probably not the post to enumerate them- but also, I firmly believe that technology without methodology does nothing for the student. Just because you use the latest tools does not mean students are going to learn more or better. They do not. You have to plan exactly what you want to do and how you want to do it if you want the activity to be effective. Otherwise, you are just playing or entertaining students. And this is something I don’t do in my classes. So, playing and learning, a big YES; just playing, a huge NO.
Anyways, since I am a superfan of :
using games to learn
using technology effectively and meaningfully in my classes
I have created the game below using the cool interactive freemium toolGenial.ly (proud to say I am an ambassador of this great tool developed in Spain)
For more information about my workshops on how to use free online tools effectively in your class, have a look hereor here
IRREGULAR VERBS
Aim: to revise irregular verbs.
Level: intermediate
Procedure:
Explain that this a competition to be played in pairs: student A and B
Whole class: As decide on a letter to challenge Bs.
Bs will have one minute to write as many irregular verbs (infinitive-past-past participle) beginning with the selected letter as they can think of.
Explain that irregular verbs will be awarded 1 or 2 points depending on the difficulty of their spelling or on their frequency at an intermediate level. Challenge students to try the difficult ones.
Set a timer for the allotted time and when time is up, display the answers by clicking on the interactive letter.
Student B gets 1 point or 2 points (depending on the verb) only if he has correctly spelt the verb in the past and past participle.
Now, it ‘s Student B’s turn
NOTE: What do As or Bs do while it’s the other student’s turn to compete? They can also do the challenge, but no points will be awarded!
Note: This is an interactive tool. Click on the letters. Click on the arrows to enlarge the game.
