100 TESOL ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS€¦ · 3. Cloze Passage Exercise The word “cloze” is TESOL...

100TESOLACTIVITIESFORTEACHERS

PracticalESL/EFLActivitiesfortheCommunicativeClassroom

SHANEDIXON

Contents

Copyright

Introduction

CommonTESOLActivities

TopTenTESOLActivities

ReadingActivities

WritingActivities

ListeningActivities

SpeakingActivities

VocabularyActivities

Icebreakers

LessonPlanningActivities

Warm-UpActivities

ObjectiveDiscussion

PresentingInstruction/ModelingActivities

GuidedandLess-GuidedPractices

IndependentPractices

Templates/ActivityResource

ClozePassage

HowtoMakeaGroup

Half-Reading

Reader’sOutline

CharacterMap

TESOLMAPP

RankOrderExercise

ExampleofaCluster/Brainstorm

ExampleofaVennDiagram

DrawaPicture

ValueLines

MoreThanNameTags

FindSomeoneWho…

SentenceStarters

BalancedandIntegratedLessonGuide

Copyright©2016byShaneDixonAllrightsreserved.

Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyanyelectronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,withoutwrittenpermissionfromtheauthor,exceptfortheuseofbriefquotationsinabookreview.

Introduction

THIS MANUAL IS INTENDED to help give prospective and current Teachers ofEnglish to Speakers ofOtherLanguages (TESOL) some of themost commonTESOLtechniquesandstrategiesrecognizedandusedinthefield.

Themanualisintendedtobepractical,andthesetechniques,forthemostpart,followthegeneralneedtocommunicate,interact,andmakelanguagecomealivein the classroom. Thus, it would be appropriate to state that this manual isalignedmostclosely to thecommunicativeapproach.This isnot intendedasapedagogical handbook nor does it attempt a discussion of research-basedactivities, rather, it simply highlights commonpractices in the currentTESOLclassroom.Practitionersare,however,highlyencouragedtoseekoutstudiesthatdemonstrate theutilityof eachandallof theseactivitiesboth individuallyandcollectively.

Themanualisorganizedinto3distinctparts.

The first section introduces teachers to some of the most common activitiesknowninEnglishlanguageteaching,startingwitha“topten”list.Whatfollowsare subsections categorized according to the “four skills” of reading, writing,listening,andspeaking.

Thesecondsectionprovides insight intoaparticularmodelof lessonplanning.

Thismodelistheauthor’salone,althoughsimilarmodelsarefoundthroughouttheESL/EFLworld.Thereasoningbehindthismodelisrathersimple.Ateacherwhocanprepareaclassroomwithorganizedroutineseachweekismorelikelytohavesuccess.Ihavealsofoundthatmylessonplansareshapedmuchmorereadilywhen I remember certain steps that Imight otherwise forget (take, forexample,theneedtointroduceathemewithawarm-up).

Thethirdsectionincludesprintableworksheetsthatdemonstraterealizationsoftheactivitiesdescribed in themanual.Teachersare free todistributeandcopytheseforclassroomuse.Youcandownloada.pdffileofallofthetemplatesat:

http://wayzgoosepress.com/Activitie%20Templates.pdf

Youarewelcometousethesetemplatesasmanytimesasyoulikeinyourownlanguageclassrooms. Ifyouhavecolleagueswhowouldalso like touse them,please ask them to purchase their own copy of the book (either paperback orebook).Thiswillkeepthematerialsaffordableforeveryone.

I hope you enjoy this small contribution to language learning.May you keepsearchingforactivities that resonatewithyouandyour learners!Anyinquiriesintothismanualcanbedonebyemailingtheauthoratsydixon@hotmail.com.

Happyteaching!

Dr.ShaneDixon

ArizonaStateUniversity,Spring2016

CommonTESOLActivities

ThemostcommonTESOLactivitiesinthemodernclassroomarequitedifferentfrom thoseof ageneration ago.As the communicative approachhasgrown inboth research and pedagogical approach, teachers have continued to discoverwaystomaketheclassroomaplaceofexcitementandlearning.

Thefollowingactivitieswerechosennotonlybecausetheyarecommontothefield but because they elicit the kinds of language production thatcommunicative teachersare lookingfor.Theseactivities tend tocrossover therange of student possibilities, meaning that activities can be adapted for allstudents,frombeginningtoadvanced,andfromchildrentoadults.

Thisdoesnotmean that everyactivity isnecessarilyanappropriateactivity inthecontextthatyoufindyourself.However,byreadingthroughtheseactivities,youareencouragedtoexplorehowyoumightuseandmodifyatleastsomeoftheseactivitiessothatyouaremoresuccessfulinyourEnglishclassroom.

TopTenTESOLActivities

1.InformationGap

Informationgap isatermusedtodescribeavarietyoflanguageactivitieswithonecommonfeature.Inessence,aninformationgapactivityusesasitspremisethe idea thatonepersonorgroupofpeoplehas information thatothersdonothave.Thus, the point of an informationgap activity is to havepeople interactwitheachotherinanattempttofindallthe“missing”information.

Forexample,imaginethatonestudenthasamapwithalloftheriverslabeled,butall themountainsareunlabeled.Another studenthasamapwithallof themountains labeled, but not the rivers.A teacher could invite students to shareinformationwitheachotherinpairswithonlyonesimplerule:studentswiththerivermap are not allowed to look at themountainmap, and studentswith themountainmap are not allowed to look at the rivermap. Theymust completetheirmapswithbothriversandmountainsbytalkingwitheachotherandaskingquestions.Thiskindofinformationsharingisreferredtoasaninformationgap,andhasbecomeacommonTESOLtechniqueallovertheworld.

Here is another simple example.A teacher assigns 10 questions on a piece ofpaper to student A. Student B is not allowed to view this paper. In contrast,studentBisgivenanarticlethatcontainsalloftheanswerstothe10questions,

but student A is not allowed to view the article. Thus, for students tosuccessfully answer all the questions, Student A must ask Student B thequestions,andStudentBmustreportthoseanswerstoStudentA.

Throughoutthismanual,youwillfindvariationsoninformationgapinordertostimulateconversation.Forexample,particularinformationgapactivitiesare:

I’mLookingforSomeoneWho…

InteractionLines

BacktoBackInformationGap

Headbands

ReadingwithHalftheWords

2.ClassicJigsaw

JigsawisacommonTESOLreadingactivity.Therearemanyvariations,butinaclassicjigsaw,ateacherdividesaclassroomintofourgroups(A,B,C,andD).A reading is also divided into four,with onepart for eachgroup (so groupAreadsPartA).Thestudentsineachgroupmustreadandtakenotesoneachpartof the reading. After each group has finished reading the assigned section,students form new groups, with one member from each original grouprepresented(meaningamemberofA,B,C,andDallsitdowntogether).

Students now report information to themembers of the newgroup, and everystudentshould takenotesoneachsectionof the reading.Thisgivesstudentsachance to serve both as a reader, a speaker, and a listener, which naturallyencouragesinteraction.Generally,teachersprovidequestionsthatthefinalgroupmust answer, and shouldmonitor each group to provide guidance and answerquestions.

3.ClozePassageExercise

The word “cloze” is TESOL jargon meaning “fill in the blank” or “missinginformation.” A cloze passage generally has missing words or phrases in theform of a space (____). Students listen to an audio clip, either recorded orspoken,andattempttofillintheblankwiththemissinginformation.

The cloze passage is a popular TESOL activity because it gives students anopportunitytolistentoapopularsong,conversation,ortopicthatusesauthenticlanguagestudentscanidentifywith.

Teachers often hand out a sheet or use an overhead with some of the wordsremovedoraltered.Thestudentsthenlistentotheaudioandattempttocompletethemissingwords.Aword bankmay be provided, and the audio is generallylistenedtomorethanonetime.Studentsarethenaskedtooffertheanswersthattheyheard,eitherindividuallyoringroups.Studentsinadvancedlevelscanevencreate clozepassages themselves and, for example, share favorite songs. [Thisactivity has a downloadable .pdf worksheet available athttp://wayzgoosepress.com/Activitie%20Templates.pdf.Anexampleisprovidedinthethirdsectionofthisbook,Templates/ActivityResources.]

4.Journals

JournalsarecertainlynotexclusivetoTESOLteachers,butareapowerfulwayto allow students to communicate at their own speed and comfort, and in acreative and original way. A journal can allow students to express their ownopinions,dailyhabits,lifestyle,tastesandpreferences,andsoforth.Journalsareparticularly successful at helping students open up to language as a realopportunity to share ideas, engage in critical thinking, or demonstrate aparticularlanguagefunction(Forexample,ifyouwantedlearnerstousethepasttense,youcouldusetheprompt,“Writeaboutapastexperiencethat…”).


Journalsareusuallycollectedregularly(onceaday,twiceaweek,onceaweek),andwhile there isavarietyofdebateon thematter,anumberof teachers findthat journals are a time to allow students to explore their ideas rather than toexpressideasperfectly.Inthislight,journalsaresometimesnotgradedintermsof grammatical accuracy, but rather in terms of content. Conversely, otherteachersuse journals as awayofmeasuring languageoutput, and students aregivenwritingpromptsthatreflectaccuracyaswellascontent(Example:Writeaparagraph that uses the past perfect. Use vocabulary from the following list.)Thosewhofocusonformshouldhaveexplicitinstructions.

5.Dictation

Dictation may or may not seem like a communicative activity. Dictation cansimplymean,“WritedownexactlywhatIsay,”andforsometeachers,thismayseem like an audiolingual or rote-memorization technique.However, dictationactivitiesareoftenstillusedtodaytohelpintroducestudentstonewvocabularyorideas,andcanhelpstudentstopracticetheirlisteningskills.Italsocangivestudentsachancetointeractifdoneingroups.

Forexample,adictationexercisecanbedonebyinstructingstudentstotakeoutapieceofpaperandhaveapenorpencilready.Theteacherrepeatstheutterance(a word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph) a specific number of times. Manyteachers Iknowcalloutaword three times. It seems toworkbest ifa teachertellsthestudentsthattheywillhavetowritedowneverywordexactlythewaytheyhearit.

Afterstudentsaredonewriting,eachstudentcanconferwithapartnerorgroup,andthentheycanraisetheirhandtoaddawordtheyhearduntilthesentenceiscompletely written. A teacher may choose to correct students or have otherstudentshelpifastudentmakesamistake.Alternatively,studentsenjoyhelpingonebravestudent,whoisaskedtowritetheentireutteranceontheboard,whothenaskstheotherstudentsshoutoutpossiblecorrectionsuntil theentireclass

agrees.

Another interactive version of dictation would divide a class into teams, andeachwouldchoosea teamcaptain towritedownwhatwasheard.Thewinnerwouldbethegroupwiththefewestinitialmistakes.

6.ModifiedTPR

TPR,orTotalPhysicalResponse,wasamethodofinstructioncreatedbyJamesAsher that allowed students to learn language through a chronological eventfilledwithgestureandmovement,andgavelearnersachancetobesilentwhileobservinglanguage.

While fewteachers todayfolloweachof the techniquesused in thismethod,anumberofcommunicative teachers stilluse someof the techniquescommonlyrecognizedasTPR.TodayteacherscontinuetouseelementsofTPRespeciallywhen helping students build vocabulary. In short, TPR can be a greatway toteachalistofvocabularywords,especiallythoseassociatedwithapre-readingorlisteningactivity.HereisapossibleactivitythatusesTPRprinciples:

1)The instructorgivesnewvocabulary (usually twoor threewords at a time)anddemonstratesactionsthathelptodeterminethemeaningofthevocabulary.(Forexample,ateachersaysthephrase“Inthemorning”andthenshowsasunclimbingfrombehindadesk.)

2)Theinstructordelaysmodeling,usingthetimebetweenthenarrativeandthestudents’reactiontoassesshowmuchmoredemonstrationisneeded.

3)Once thestudentsare reacting to the“story”withouthesitationandwithnoactions,theinstructormovesontothreeormorenewwordsbutcontinuestouse(recycle) thepreviousphrases(Forexample,“In themorning, Iwokeup,”andthenlater,“Inthemorning,Iwokeup,brushedmyteeth,andputonclothes.”).

4)The teacher starts to“scramble” thevocabulary,meaning that the instructor

presents unexpected combinations of the newly introduced vocabulary. Theteacherthengivescommandswiththatvocabularythatthestudentswilluse(Forexample,“Pablo:wakeup!Susan:brushyourteeth!”).

5) The teacher will continue to address different students, varying betweendifferentindividuals.

6) The teacher then assesses how well the students remember the actions,possibly by having students perform the actions themselves with their eyesclosed. (Forexample,a teachermight say,“Closeyoureyes.Now,brushyourteeth!”andseeifstudentscanpantomimebrushingteeth.)

While perhaps not a communicative activity in the traditional sense, certainlystudentsare learningtocomprehendlanguageandassociate itwithactionsandobjects in the real world. To put a communicative spin on it, you might askstudents to “be the teacher” and give commands in groups.Or youmight askstudentstocreatetheirownTPRstoriesandteachvocabularytheyarelearning.

7.HowtoMakeaGroup(Think-Pair-Square-Shareand“Assignments”)

Communication in a classroom requires teachers to think of ways to dividestudents into groups. For example, some teachers have students respond tonearlyanyquestionusingthephrase,“think,pair,square,share.”

Think:Studentsareaskedtothinkquietlyaboutaquestion.

Pair:Studentsrespondtothequestioninpairs.

Square:Studentsrespondtothequestioninsmallgroups(fourormore,a“square”)

Share: Students respond to the teacher, either by electing a spokesperson or simply bybeingcalledupon.

While the think-pair-square-share paradigm works for questions, it is less

successful at engaging students in projects or larger assignments. For largertasks,oneofthemostsuccessfulwaystogroupstudentsinaclassisbygivingeach student a different assignment. In this activity, a teacher assigns studentswithin a group of three or four to a particular position of authoritywithin thegroup. The positions might include the “leader” (the person who reads theinstructions or gets the instructions from the teacher), “secretary” (the studentwhotakesnotesforthegroup),and“reporter”(thepersonthatreportsfindingstoanothergrouportotheentireclass).

[This activity has a downloadable .pdf worksheet available athttp://wayzgoosepress.com/Activitie%20Templates.pdf.Anexampleisprovidedinthethirdsectionofthisbook,Templates/ActivityResources.]

8.TalkingTokens/ThrowtheBall

Many teachers struggle to have students participate in class. One way toencouragespeakingistohavestudentsgrabanumberoftokens.Atokencouldbeasmallcoin,amarble,apieceofcandy,oranysortofsmallitemthatcanbequicklypassedout.Eachtokenstandsfortheamountoftimesastudentwillberequired to speak.This tends to encourage students to participate and tends tostop those fewstudentswhomayanswerall thequestions.Youcanexplain toyour learners thatassoonas their tokensrunout, theyarerequiredto listen tootherlearners.

Anothercommonvariationrequiressomedexterity,andthatistohaveanumberofbeanbags, footballs,orotherobject to throw inclass.A teacher throws theobject to a student after a question is asked. Then the student answers thequestion and throws the ball back to the teacher.Alternatively, students couldstandinacircleandthrowtheballtoeachother.Whoevercatchestheballmustanswer the question. This keeps students at attention and allows for moreinteraction.

Variationsofthisactivityfoundinthismanual:


•ToiletPaperCaper

•M&MTokens

9.ReadAloudorReadingCircles

Whilethishasbeencalledmanydifferentnames,thebasicconceptbehindareadaloudistogivelearnersthechancetocomprehendareadingbyhavingitspokenout loud either by the teacher, or with a partner or small group. Read aloudactivitiesgiveopportunitiesforateachertoteachdifferentlearnersavarietyofstrategiesforreading,listening,andspeaking.Beforeareadaloud,learnersmaybegivenasheetofquestionstoanswer,alistofvocabularywordstolookfor,oranotherlanguagetask.

Herearesometipsforasuccessfulteacher-directedreadaloud:

a)Chooseastorythatstudentsloveorrelateto

b)Standinfrontoftheclassandhaveeverystudentopentothesamepage

c)Readinadynamicvoice

d)Pauseoftenandstimulateinterestbyaskingstudentstopredict

e)Have students read along to various parts, especially exciting or interestingparts

f)Ifpossible,watchamovieclipversionafteryouhavereadaparticularchapter

Within the technique of reading aloud are a number of excellent teachertechniques.

Considerusingseveralofthefollowingeachtimeyoudoareadaloud:

•ChoralReading–allparticipantsreadoutloudandalltogether

•OnebyOneandSentencebySentence–eachpersonreadsasentence

•DramaticReading–focusonemotionsandfeelings

• Physical Response Reading – describe and act out physical actions andmovements

• PairedReading – each partner reads one sentence and the partners alternatereading

•TheLeaderandTheChoralResponse–theleaderreadsonesentenceandthenthelargegroupechoesbackthatsentence(orthelargegroupmightreadthenextsentence) and then alternate back and forth between the leader and the groupreadingasentenceoutloud

•SmallGroupReading–createsmallgroupsandeachstudentreadsasentenceinacircle

•MaleandFemaleRolesorTurns–allthewomenreadonesentenceandthenthemenreadthenextortaketurnsreadingthedialogforwomenandformen

•FillintheMissing/SilentWords–theleaderreadsoutloudandpausesinthesentence for the group to fill in thewords that are the focus of vocabulary orpronunciationpractice

• Silent Reading – everyone reads a paragraph or page silently and thenquestionsareaskedaboutthereadingorvocabulary,etc.

•ListenandRead–participantswatchpartofthemovieandthenreadthesameportionofthestoryinthebook(thisisagoodreviewandawaytocovermoredifficultpassagestwiceforbettercomprehension)

•ReadandListen–participantsreadapassageinthebookandthenreviewthesame part in the movie (this is a good way to focus on listening to dialog,vocabulary,grammarandcomprehension)

•ReadandDiscuss–theleadercanaskquestionsaboutthereadingorhowthe

participantsfeelaboutatopicorideapresentedinthebookormovie

•ReadandWrite–participantscanwritebookreportsorshortessaysinaclassenvironment

10.TurnANYTHINGintoanEnglishActivity

VeteranTESOLteachersareabletotakeanobject,agroupofimages,anarticle,oravideoandturnitintoanopportunityforstudentstouseEnglish.Theideaisthatanyitem–evenapictureofanapple–naturallyinvitesstudentstoproducelanguage.Whengivenobjectsorvideos,basicstudentsgenerallydescribewhattheysee,whileatmoreadvancedlevels,studentsmightmakeinferencesorshareopinionsabouttheitem.

One variation of this activity is called, “3Things in aBackpack.” I generallygrab three things that have some personal significance tome (for example: atrophy,apicture,aticketstub).Itakeeachoneoutofthebagandaskstudentstowrite or speak asmuch as they can about it. Imightwrite vocabulary on theboardbasedonwhatstudentssay.ThenIexplainwhyIchosetheobject.AfterIhavesharedmy“threethings,”Iinvitelearnerstodothesame.Ihavefounditisafascinatingwaytogettoknowstudents.

Butthisisjustonevariation.Ingeneral,whenateacherfindsaninterestingitemforstudentstolookatorthinkabout,teacherscanusereading,writing,listening,or speaking activities to support it. The websitehttp://www.breakingnewsenglish.com, forexample, turnsa typicalnewsarticleintoahugenumberofopportunitiestolearnEnglish.Thewebsiteoffersreading,writing, listening, speaking, pronunciation, and vocabulary activities that allsupportasinglearticle.Trulyimpressive.

Herearesomesimplein-classsuggestions:

Writing: You can invite students to write down as many words as possiblebasedontheitem,orperhapscreateastorybasedontheitem,orcraftquestions

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com

forotherstudentstoanswerabouttheitem.

Reading: You can invite students to do a web search about the item, or theteacher can prepare a reading that explains information about it. A jigsaw orinformationgapactivitycanoftenbecreatedbasedonanyreading the teacherprepares.

Listening:Youcanaskstudentstolistentoashortpassagebasedonapicture,video, or reading, or, if using a video, perform a cloze passage exercise.Alternatively, studentscan listen toother learners in theclassroomdiscuss theobject.

Speaking:Youcan invite students tomakepredictions fromavideo,ormakeinferencesaboutanobject.Youcancreateaseriesofquestionsthatstudentscanrespondtoindividually,inpairsoringroups.

Youmight be surprised at howmuch studentswant to describe something assimpleasanapplewhengiventhechanceandwhengivensupportingactivities.AnythingcanbeanopportunitytoteachEnglish.

ReadingActivities

Readingactivities, foracommunicative teacher,often involvehelping learnersknowhow to readusinganumberofdifferent strategies.Whilemanyofyourlearners may think that reading simply involves going word by word andsentence by sentence, researchers now understand that reading is an involvedprocessthatcanbeaidedbyanumberofdifferenttechniquesandactivities.

Your jobasa teacher is tohelp learners recognize that reading isanelaborateprocessthatmightinvolvepredicting,scanning,skimming,andaskingquestions(to yourself and to others). Having a specific focus can also help to improvereadingskills,suchasanattempttofocusongeneralmeaning,specificfacts,aparticulargrammaticalitem,guessingawordincontext,andsoforth.

Please recognize that a teacher plays a significant role in helping learners“unpack”writtenlanguagethroughtheuseofmultiplereadingstrategies.WhatfollowsareafewverysimpleideastohelpstimulateinteractionandthoughtinanEnglish classroom.Notice that the first two activities here are very simplepredictionactivities.

1.PredictfromaTitle

Studentsareinvitedtoreadatitleofthereadingandthenpredictwhatitcouldbe about. Give students time to discuss different possibilities, and help themelaborateonthosepossibilities.

2.StoryGuesswork

Studentsareaskedtoguesswhatastorywillbeaboutafterskimmingthefirstparagraph, looking a series of pictures, or reading a short description of thecharacters. Guessing a storyline can intrigue students and get them thinkingaboutkeyvocabulary.Writingkeyvocabularyontheboardcanalsohelptheirabilitytopredictandgetthemthinkingaboutthereadingaheadoftime.

3.Jigsaw

SeeTopTenEFLActivities#2

4.FindaWord,FindaSentence(BoardworkScanning)

In this reading exercise,write a definitionof awordon theboardwithout theword itself. Invite students to look for the word in the reading that has thisparticularmeaning.This can be done as students are reading, thereby keepingthemalertwhilereading.Formoreadvancedstudents,youmightinvitethemtolook fora sentenceor sentences thatanswerquestionsyouhaveplacedon theboard.Boardworklikethiscanhelpstudentsincreasetheirscanningskillsandcan help students “look” for all kinds of important details. Using thesetechniques, you can ask students to search for an interesting sentence, amainidea, a sentence that reminds them of a story, a sentence that the studentdisagreeswith,andsoforth.

5.ReadingwithHalftheWords(LearntoGuessfromContext)

Sincemanyreadingsofferanumberofwordsstudentsdon’tknow,thisexercisecanhelp students realize that theydon’t need to knoweveryword in order tounderstand general meaning. This activity also helps students understand theimportanceofguessingincontext.

Thisreadingactivityisdonebyremovinghalfofthewordsofatext,whichcanbedoneeasilybycuttingastoryorarticleinhalfvertically,oraskingstudentstocoverhalfofthewordswithanotherpieceofpaper.Nowwithonlyhalfofthewordsvisible,studentsmusttrytoguessoranticipatewhatthereadingistalkingabout.Often,aseriesofquestionscanbeaskedaboutthearticletohelpstudentsguessthemeaning.Afterlearnershavereadthearticle,therestofthearticleisrevealed and students investigate howwell theywere able to predict. If donecorrectly, thiscandemonstrate tostudentshowwell theycananswerquestionswithoutknowingeverywordinareading.

As a variation, you canmake this reading activity an information gap, givingstudentAhavinghalfofthewordsandstudentBtheotherhalf.Thegoaloftheactivityisalwaystoanswerthereadingcomprehensionquestionstheteacherhascreatedfortheactivity.


6.Reader’sOutline

Invitestudentstocreateanoutlineofanarticleorstorytheyhavejustread.Anoutlinecanhelpstudentsrecognizemainandsubordinateideas.Italsohelpstoincreasememoryandgivesteachersachancetoassessstudentabilitytoidentify


supporting details. This activity is greatly enhancedwhen asking one ormorestudentstosharetheiroutlinesontheboard,andthendiscusswithaclasswhichdetailsmightbeadded.


7.CharacterMap

A character map allows students to explore a particular character in a story.Eitherselectacharacterorhavestudentschooseacharacterfromastory.Thenhave them draw a picture of the character and add symbols and details todescribe the character’s personality, struggles or problems, and physicalcharacteristics. This can be a predictive activity as well, and you can askstudentswhatyouhopewillhappentothecharacterand/orwhattheythinkwillhappentothecharacterlateron.


http://wayzgoosepress.com/Activitie%20Templates.pdfhttp://wayzgoosepress.com/Activitie%20Templates.pdf

8.ReadingLog

Areadinglogallowsstudentstoshowwhattheyarereadingoutside(orinsideifyouhaveprivatereadingtime)class.Thereshouldbeasettimeeachweekwhenstudentsareabletosharewitheachotherwhattheyread.Theycanwritedownanswers to questions, discuss what they liked about what they read, askquestionstootherswhohavereadthesamebook,orwhateveryouasateacherwouldliketohavethemdointhereadinglog.Areadinglogsimplymeansthatyouinvitestudentstoengageinwhattheyarereading.

One reading teacher I know uses a reading log to help students use thevocabulary they learned in the reading. This teacher asks students to writesentencesusing thewords theydidnotknowprevious to the reading.Anotherreading teacher I know invites students to write a story based on a minorcharacter,orwriteasiftheywereoneofthecharacters.

9.ScrambledSentences

Severalsentencesfromthereading(forexample,5-6forbeginners,andasmanyas10 sentences for advanced learners) are cut intoequal-sized stripsofpaper.Studentsarerequiredtoput theminthecorrectordereither inpairsorgroups.For convenience, numbering each sentence (in random order) can help whendiscussingthecorrectorder.

10.PictureBooks

Picturebooksareagreatwaytohavestudentsrelatestoriestheyarereadingtoeach other. Each student is assigned a book or short story to read. Then thestudentisinvitedtocreateaseriesofpictures(nomorethan10)aboutthestory.Thepicturesareusedtogivethestudentsachancetosummarizethestorytoapartneror to theclass. Ifnecessary,studentsmaywritesmallsentenceson thebackofeachpicture.Thisallowsforstudentstoreadandthenpresentonwhat

wasread.

11.FocusonOrganization

Have students look at the organization of a story. Discuss with themwhat iscontained in the first scene, second scene, third scene, and so on. Then havestudentsretellthestorybyusingwordssuchasfirst,second,andthird.

12.SkitsonReading

After readinganarticleor story,havestudentswritea short skitbasedon thatstory.Studentsoftenlovetoactoutthethingstheyhaveread.

13.FocusonaLiteraryTechnique

EFL teachers can learn a lot from literature teachers.Literature teachers oftenhelp teach students about metaphor, simile, symbols, rhymes, color imagery,description, setting, plot, allusion, or other literary devices.Don’t be afraid toteachgoodliterarytechniquesaswellaslanguage.Itmayhelpstudentstolearnto appreciate the beauty of another language, and will certainly help them toengageinreading.

14.Mapping

DoingaTESOL“Mapp”isespeciallyusefulwhenyouareinvitingstudents tolookatpersuasivewriting(suchasadvertisements).

Tocreatea“MAPP”,firsthavestudentsfoldapieceofpaperintofoursections.Second,askthemtoputintoeachofthefourcornersoneofthefollowingwordsorphrases(usuallyclockwisestartingfromthetopleft):

M:MainIdea,A:Audience,P:Purpose,andP:Personalreaction.

Finally,tellthestudentstoanswer,inthespaceprovided,eachofthefollowingquestions.

M:MainIdea:Whatisthereadingtryingtoteach?

A:Audience:Whoisthisreadingwrittenfor?

P:Purpose:Whydidtheauthorwritethis?

P:PersonalReaction:Whydoyoulikeordislikethisreading?


15.Summarizing/Paraphrase

Asummaryrequiresstudentstotakeanarticleorstoryandrelatethemainideasin chronological order. While summarizing is a common activity in somecountries, it is not a common practice in others. Thus, teaching learners tocondense or summarize information can be an important educational activity.Asking students to find their own words to summarize can be equallychallenging, but can help students to learn how to simplify grammaticalstructures,createtransitionalwordsorphrasesontheirown,andusesynonymsforkeyvocabulary.

16.PicturetheStory

In this activity, you can invite students to focus on the location of a story byhavingthemdrawwhattheyimaginetheneighborhoodinwhichthestorytakesplace. It is often helpful to tell them to think of this story as a “movie”: how


woulditgetfilmed?Whatwoulditlooklike?Thisisaparticularlygoodactivityforvisuallearnersandthosewithcreativetalents.

17.RankOrderExercise

Have students readand takenotes about ideas that seem important (youcouldask,“Whatarethemostimportantideas/themesfromthisreading?”).Thiscouldbe, forexample, themain themesof the reading, themoralsof the reading,orjustalistofthedetailsthemselves.Itisbestifstudentswritefullsentencesforeachitemtheylist(insteadofsaying,“childpoverty”forexample,tellstudentstowrite,“ChildrenoftenliveinpovertyinBrazilianfavelas”).

Then,afterstudentshavecreatedalistofideas(eitherontheboardoronapieceofpaper),givestudentsa“rankingform”(seetheTemplateprovided)andinvitestudents to rank, in order of importance, these ideas. Afterwards, you mightinvitestudentstosharewhytheyorderedtheideaswithapartner,agrouportheclass.


18.AlphabetReading

Whilestudentsarereading,writeeachletterof thealphabetontheboard,withspaceaftereachlettertowriteasmallresponse.Theninvitestudentstorecallasmanyfactsastheycanthatstartwitheachletter(Forexample,“ApricotswereJohn’sfavoritefruit.Bettydidn’tlikeJohn.”)Asavariation,provideasheetofpaperwitheachletterofthealphabet.Individuallyoringroups,tellstudentstocompletetheworksheet.Thestudentorgroupwiththemostresponseswins.


WritingActivities

Writing activities can come in many different forms. For a communicativeteacher,writingactivitiesoften represent achance for students to finally showoff their learningand respond to thematerialpresented in class.Thus,writingactivitiesarewindowsintoalearners’mind,givingteachersachancetoassesswhatstudentsknowandthink(focusonmeaning),aswellishowwelltheyareperforming (focus on form). These two paradigms, focusing on meaning andform, fundamentally change the kinds of activities teachers create whenassigningwritingactivities.

Thosewhofocusonmeaningaregenerallyinterestedinhowwelltheirlearnerscommunicatetheirownideas,andoftenspendtimecreatingactivitiesthatgivelearners time togenerate,germinate, andexpand ideas.On theotherhand, forthe “focus on form” teacher, writing activities can represent opportunities forlearners to follow particular linguistic principles. These teachers often createactivitiesthatelicittheproperuseofwritingconventionsorgrammaticalrules.

The activities presented in this section can be used for both paradigms, andoften,withjusta little imagination,canbeusedandmodifiedinwaysthatcansimultaneously accomplish a teacher’s requirements to pay attention to bothmeaningandform.

Notice thatmany of these activities require a teacher to think of a prompt inordertobesuccessful.Apromptcanbeaquestion,astatement,orevenapictureor object that students must respond to. Writing is often enhanced by theteacher’s ability to inspire students toWANT towrite,whichcanbeachievedwiththequalityandinterestlevelofthepromptsteacherscreate.

Whenfocusingonmeaning,askquestionsthatareallbasedonasimilartheme.This will activate background information. For example, if the class will betalkingaboutthebeachesofHawaiifortheirnextlesson,trytoask4-8questionsthat will encourage students to think about Hawaii (animals, people, food,places).

Whenfocusingonform,askquestionsthatwillallowlearnerstorespondtothatform.Forexample,whenteachingthepast tense,asklearnerstodescribewhattheydidlastweek,lastyear,overthesummer,andsoforth.

1.Workstations

Place four to eight large sheets of poster size paper on thewalls of the room,leavingenoughroomforlearnerstoformgroups.Oneachpaperisaquestionorprompt that studentsmust answer.Questionsmightbepersonalor impersonal,basedonareadingorlecture,orevenbasedonagrammaticalprincipleyouwantlearnerstodemonstrate.

Whenyoucreatethese“workstations,”youmightwanttosetupsomerules.Forexample,youmightway to require each student towriteone sentenceat eachstation,ormoveingroupstoanewstationeveryfiveminutes.Forconvenience,youmighthavestudentswriteattheirdeskfirstonsmallstickynotes,andthenhave them transfer their notes to the posters.Upon finishing the activity, youmightaskstudentstoreadeachthoughtandstartheonestheylikebest,oryoumightcorrectanymistakesoremphasizethevocabularyshared.Thisisagreatactivitytogetstudentsmovingandgeneratingideas.

2.Freewrites

Freewritingisatechniqueinwhichstudentswritecontinuouslyforasetperiodof time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. Some writers use thetechniquetocollectinitialthoughtsandideasonatopic,oftenasapreliminarydrafttomoreformalwriting.Afreewritemeansthatstudentsare“free”towritewhatevertheywant,butoftenyoumustguidethefreewritewithaprompt.

3.Fast-writes

Afast-writeissimilartoafreewritebecausespelling,grammar,andvocabularyarenotevaluated.However,whatisevaluatedisthenumberofwordswrittenina given time. Students can gain a sense of accomplishment as they see theirwriting speed increase. They are generally given an easy topic to fast-writeabout,andsometimesateacherwilldiscussthepromptaheadoftimeandelicitvocabularywordsontheboardbeforethelearnersbegins.Forafast-writetobeaccurate,ateachermustensurethattheactivityisdonethesamewayeverytime.

4.Brainstorming

Brainstormingisaninformalwayofgeneratingtopicstowriteabout.Itcanbedoneatany timeduring thewritingprocess.Writerscanbrainstorm the topicsfor awholepaperor for just a conclusionor anexample.The importantpointaboutbrainstormingisthatthereshouldbenopressuretobe“brilliant.”Studentsshouldsimplyopentheirmindstowhateverpopsintothem.Thinkofitasakindoffreeassociation.Forexample,withanadvancedgroupdiscussingpovertyandeducation,teachersmightsaysomethinglike,“WhenIsay‘literacy,’whatpopsintoyourmind?”

Muchofwhatthestudentswillcomeupwithmaynotbeuseful,butthat’sokay.Part of brainstorming will involve a selection process. A teacher might writestudents’ ideas on the board, or invite a student to write down the ideas. A

teacher can also rephrase questions or add to questions to help students torespondmore fully. For example, a teachermight ask, “Is literacy important?Why?”or“Whatdoyouthinkisstoppingliteracytoday?”

Afterwards,theteachermightgobacktothequestion:“Whatelsepopsintoyourmind when I say literacy?” As a general rule, when brainstorming with aclassroom,expectsilenceandexpecttheneedfortheteachertofollowupwithquestions.Teachersmay also need to call on individuals, or invite students tospeakinpairsandgroupsbeforesharinginfrontoftheclass.


5.VennDiagrams

AsimpleVenndiagramlooksliketwocirclesintersecting,andisoftenusedasapre-writing or post-writing activity. Venn diagrams are used to compare andcontrast two subjects, objects, people, and so forth. For example, if a classwanted to compare dolphins to sharks, studentswould place the similar itemsinside thepartsof thecircles that intersect (fins, swim,eat fish),andput itemsthat are unique to dolphins (mammals, play with humans) and sharks (sharp


teeth,dangerous)ineachnon-intersectingarea.


6.UnfinishedStories

Invitestudentstofinishastoryorarticle.Thiscanhelpthemtopredicttheactualending,andcanalsoservetohavethemimitatethetoneandvocabularyofthereading.Thisactivitycanbedoneingroupsorindividually.

7.AnyFourPicturesMakeaStory

Thisactivityrequiresstudents to thinkcreativelyandmakeconnections. Itcanalsobealotoffuntoseehowstudents’imaginationsdiffer.

Todothisactivity,placeanyfourrandompicturesonawall(oronahandout).Ifplacingthepicturesonthewall,makesurethattheyareprintedlargeenoughforall the students to see.Thenhave students try tomake a storybasedon thosefourpictures.Since thepictures areunrelated, the stories the learnersgenerateareusuallyratheroriginal.


Teachers may want to help learners before they begin doing this activity bywriting down vocabulary words that they do not know (invite them to askquestions about eachpicture togenerate this list).Other requirements, such asthe lengthof thestoryandthegrammaticalelements tobe included,shouldbespecified.

8.GuessworkDictation

Inthisactivityteacherswillaskstudentstowritedownafewsentencesthathavebeen created, as in a normal dictation (seeTopTenTESOLActivities). In thisdictation activity, however, replacekeywordswith “impossiblybigwords” inplaceofkeyvocabulary.Havethestudentswriteoutthedictation.Forthelargewords,tellthestudentsthatitisokaytoguessthespelling.

Examples:

(1)MacroseismshappeninArizonaallthetime.(earthquakes)

(2)PerhapsnotasuperabundantnumberlikeCalifornia,butquiteafew.(many)

(3)Flagstaffhad the inauspicioushonorof threemajorquakesearly in the20thcentury.(unlucky)

Sharethesentencesoutloudjustlikeanormaldictation,andalloweachstudenttowritedownwhatheorshehears.After,invitestudentstoguessthemeaningof the “impossible”word. Students often can remember key vocabulary betterwhen they see a similar, more difficult word, and often enjoy the sound andcomplexityoflargerwords.

9.RememberthePicture

Bringapicture thatwouldbe interesting for students to lookat.Useapicture

with a lot of detail, such as a picturewith a lot of people on the beachdoingdifferentactivities.

Handoutscanbemadeforeachstudentor largepicturesthatcanbeseenfromthe front of the class can be used (teachers can even draw their own). Havestudents study the picture for oneminute.Then remove the picture from theirsight and have them write as much as they can remember. Students can beencouragedtofocusonverbsornouns,colorsorshapes,orwhateverlanguagefocusisbeingstudiedatthetime.

10.DrawYourNeighborhood

Havestudentsdrawtheirownneighborhoods.Thenhavestudentssharestoriesabouttheirneighborhoods.Theymightwanttodiscussatimewhentheyhadafight,theirfirstcrush,orotherinterestingstories.

11.Journals


12.PoetryWriting

Often students are intrigued by different forms of poetry. Teachers can usehaiku, limericks, sonnets, and other forms to create engaging writingassignments.Oneway to inspire learners towrite inEnglish is to ask them toproducepoetryusingpoetrytemplates.Apoetrytemplatecanhelpalearnerwithvariouskindsoflanguagetasks,andcanhelptomotivatelearnerstosharetheirlives andopinions.For example, notice thispoetry template about “MyHero”thatastudentcouldfollowtosharesomeinformationaboutsomeonetheythinkofasahero.

MYHEROName

Adjective,AdjectiveNounphrases(Hint:WhatIsHe/She?)

GerundsPrepositionalPhrases

MYHEROCraig

Calm,Persuasive,ThoughtfulAwisesoul,asteadfastrock,agentlehand

Hearing,Changing,BecomingThroughallofhislife.

ListeningActivities

Thecommunicativeteachercertainlyconsiderswell-plannedlisteningactivities,and pays close attention to how they are structured and how they will beassessed. The activities listed below will not generally show assessment orevaluativetechniques,butrestassuredthatyoushouldspendtimethinkingabouthowyouwoulddeterminethesuccessofeachactivity.

Keeping the end of the activity in mind will help you clarify your languageobjectives foreachactivity (in fact, some teachersonlyhaveveryvague ideasabout an objective at all). Remember that a listening activity should not be a“break” in your instruction, but represents an opportunity for students to gaininformation,skills,andachievegoals.

Sincelisteningisgenerallygivenattherateofspeedofthespeakerratherthanthe receiver, it can bemore difficult than reading,which can be received at alearner’sownpace.Thisdifficulty canbeovercomeasyou find techniques tohelpmakelisteningactivitiesmoreclearlyunderstood.

Teacherscanbreakdownlisteningactivitiesandlightenthecognitive(learning)load of participants in several ways. For example, the simple technique ofrepetition cannot be overstated. If students are struggling with a listeningactivity, consider having students listen more than once and perhaps even

discussorwritedownwhattheyheard.

Another important way to break down listening activities is to pre-teachvocabulary,ortosharekeyconceptsaheadoftime.Usingpredictionactivitiesorfollow-up questions also help to reinforce the information that students havereceived.

Insomesense,asuccessfulcommunicativeteacherisnotjustonewhoisabletocreate strong language activities, but someone that creates a strong supportsystemaroundeachactivitythatiscreated.

1.TheMissingHalf

Divideanarticleintwo,andassignthehalfofthestudentstoreadthefirsthalfofthearticle,whilethesecondhalfofthestudentsreadsthesecondhalfofthearticle. Invite the StudentA partners to look for StudentB partners (and viceversa). Invitestudents toreadaloudtheparagraphto theotherpartner,makingsure thepartnerdoesnot look.Giveeachpaircomprehensionquestions(eitherplacedontheboardforthemtoansweronaseparatesheetofpaper,oraquiz,making sure that questions for StudentAwrites the answers to questions thatrelate tomaterial spoken by Student B, and Student B answers questions thatrelatetomaterialspokenbyStudentA.

2.Headbands

Placethenameofafamouscelebrityonaheadband,makingsurethatthepersondoesNOTknowwhatnameappearsonhisorherownheadband.Forexample,ifstudying a unit on sports, teachers might write a number of famous sportscelebrities on the headbands likeMariaSharapova,MohammedAli, orLionelMessi.

Students walk around the room and look at each headband, with clear

instructionsnottosaythenameofthecelebrity.Thestudentstaketurnsaskingquestions toeachother inorder tofigureout their identity. Instructstudents togivehelpfulcluestoeachother.

Thisactivitycanintroduceatheme,helpstudentstoworkonquestionformation,andgiveopportunitiesforstudentstorespondtoquestions.

3.BacktoBack

Thisisnotsomuchanactivity,butawaytodoaninformationgapactivitythatcanbealotoffun.Studentsaretoldtositbacktoback:thismayinvolvemovingtwochairssothattheyfaceawayfromeachother,orperhapsevensittingontheground with backs touching, if appropriate. Now, in this configuration, givestudentsan informationgapassignmentwithexpress instructions tonever turnaround.Asinanormalinformationgapactivity,eachstudentmustcommunicatetotheothertocompletethemissinginformation.Thiswayofdoinginformationgapworksparticularlywellfordrawingapictureorcompletingamap.

4.Quick20-QuestionQuiz

Ask learners to write down 20 questions from material they have recentlylearned (with the question on one side and the answer on the back). Thesequestions are thenput into a hat or box.At this point, teachers should revieweach question and add a few of their own before proceeding to the next step.After reviewing or adding questions, the teacher then selects a question andreads it out loud, and the learners write down the answers. This is a moreinformalorsimplerwayofdoingaquiz.

5.TruthorFiction

Instruct students to write something true but surprising about themselves,

without revealing it to anyone else. (Example: I have eaten an entire cake bymyselfORIhavevisitedtwelvedifferentcountries).Tellstudentsthatthemoreunusualitis,thebetter.

Then, students write two untrue statements – they can also be unusual, butshould at least be plausible enough to trick other students. Then, one by one,eachstudentsharesthe

three items theyhavewritten downwhile the rest of the classmembers guesswhichitemis“true”oftheindividual,andwhichitemsare“fiction.”

Upon carefully listening to each truth and lie, classmembers then votewhichitem they think is true and which items they think are fiction. For advancedlevels,youcaninviteclassmemberstoaskquestionsanddeliberateingroupsorpairsbeforevoting.Thisactivitycanhelplearnerspayattentiontonotonlythewordsofaspeaker,buttotoneandbodylanguage.

6.ClozePassage

SeeTopTenActivities#3

7.DrawaPicture

Instructstudentstodrawapicture,accordingtotheteacher’sspecificdirections.Besuretohavethedirectionswrittenoutinadvance,andalsohaveapicturetoshowstudentsaftertheirattemptsatdrawingaccordingtoyourinstructions.Seethetemplateforanexampleofapicturewithteacherdirections.

As a variation, several similar pictures can be placed on a board. The teacherthen starts describing one of the pictures. Students should locate the correctpicturebasedon thedescription.Theycandosobyraising theirhand,writingdownthenumber,ordiscussingwithagroup.


8.PerformtheInstruction(FetchIt!)

Theteacherasksastudenttoperformatask(generally,askingastudenttopickupanitemintheroomordosomethingwithanobjectintheroom).Theotherstudents thenattempt todeterminewhetherornot thestudentdid thebehaviorcorrectly.Multiplestudentscanalsobeaskedtoperformasimilaraction,suchasmakeapaperairplane.

Onewaytomakethisassignmentmoredifficult(andfun)is toaskstudentstolisten to the teacher’s words (Place your paper on your chair), but then dosomethingdifferent, suchasput thepaperonadesk.Studentswho follow thewordsinsteadoftheactionsarerewardedforgoodlistening.

9.Dictation


10.SecretOrders

Dividestudentsintotwoteams.Inviteteamstoselectateamleaderandateamperformer. The team leader stands closest to the teacher, and all the otherstudentsstandinalinebehindhim.Theteamperformersarethelaststudentsinline.Theteamleaderistheonlyonewhoisallowedtoseeapieceofpaperthatcontainsan“order”onit.Orderscanbebrieforcomplicated,dependingonthelevelofEnglishofthestudents.

Easy:Standononefoot.


Difficult: Pretend you are a tree falling in the forest because you are beingchoppeddown).

Thestudentmustverballyrelaythemessagetoeachpersononhisteam.Whenthemessage is finally relayed to theperformer, theperformermustactout theorder.

11.StorywithMistakes

Readastorywithstudentsandremindstudentstolistencarefully.Explainthatyou might make mistakes as you read it (you can say, because I forgot myglasses,oranotherexcuseifyouwish).Thenhavestudentscorrectyouasyoumakemistakes.Makingmistakesthatareintentionallyfunnyorfoolishcanhelpstudentsenjoyyourstoryreading.

12.GuestSpeaker

Inviteaguestspeakerthatmightbeofsomeinteresttothestudents.Beforethespeakercomes, invitestudents towritedownquestionsaheadof timethat theywanttoasktheguestspeaker,andthenhavestudentsaskthosequestionsduringoraftertheguestspeaker’spresentation.Youmaywishtotelltheguestspeakeraheadoftimewhatquestionsthestudentshave.

SpeakingActivities

Speakingactivitieshavewidelybeenseenas themostdemandingfor learners.This may be because of the many characteristics unique to spoken language:reducedforms,contractions,vowelreduction,andtheuseofslang.Andlet’snotforgetstress,rhythm,theuseofsignposttransitions,andsoforth.

Speaking activities are also difficult for teachers. In part, this is because evenshort 5-minute speeches require a significant allocation of time to assess andprovide feedback. Imean, truly, howdoes one observe a student speaking forfiveminuteswithoutboringtheothertwentyninestudentswhoarejustwaitingtogivetheirpresentations?

Furthermore, speaking is also difficult to assess since teachers are generallyrequiredtocreaterubricsthatcontainsomeofthemanypossiblecategoriesthatspeakingentails.Teachersmustdecide:Doesspeakingincludetheuseofbodylanguage? Does speaking include the use of visual aids? These and similarquestions demonstrate the difficulty of assigning preciselywhat speaking, andespeciallycompetentspeaking,mightbe.

Onesimplesolutionistosimplyprovidealotofinformal,unassessedspeakingpracticeinpreparationforafewmoreformalevents.Thus,manyteacherstrytoget students talking as much as possible, without a focus on formal

presentations,butratherafocusongeneratingideas,conversing,andpracticingcertainaspectsofspeaking.

The activities in this section mostly address this kind of informal speaking;speakingthatmaynotbeeasilyassessed,butallowsstudentstoengageinfree,opencommunicationpractice.However,pleasepayspecialattentiontotheneedto create narrow, specific objectives in these activities, and keep inmind thatthese informal practices should lead to success in a more formal evaluatedpresentationorspeakingperformance.Speakingactivities,inthissense,takeontheveryreallikenessofpracticescrimmagesbeforeabiggame.

1.PicturePrompt

Invitestudentstolookatapictureandthenrespondtoapartneraboutwhattheysee.Choosepicturesthathelpstudentsrespondtothemesorvocabularythattheywill need for more formal presentations. You may wish to provide a list ofquestionsforstudentstorespondtowhilelookingatthepicture.Forexample,ifyouarediscussingglobalwarminginclass,youmightwanttoshowpicturesthathelpstudentsreflectonpolarice,risingsealevels,andanimalhabitats.

2.ThisMakesMeThinkThat…

Studentsworkingroupsorpairsforthisactivity.Theactivitybeginsbyshowingthem an article or video. Afterwards, students should begin a discussion bysaying,“Thismakesmethinkthat…”Informstudentsthateachmemberofthegroupshouldbeallowedtimetothinkandrespond.

Aftereveryonehasrespondedtothematerial,invitestudentstorespondtoeachotherbyusingthephrase,“Whatyousaidmakesmethinkthat…”Tellstudentsthat theymust continue speaking until the teacher calls the time.This activityallowsstudentstopracticecontinuedspeech.

3.CircleSpeaking

Studentsshouldformtwocircleswithpartnersfacingeachother(aninsidecircleandanoutsidecircle,asseenbelow).Givestudentsatopicorquestiontospeakabout.Studentsontheinsidetalkfirst,withthepartnerdirectlyacrosslisteningintently.Studentsontheoutsidearetheninvitedtospeak,andthepartnerontheinsidecirclelistensintently.

Attheteacher’sdiscretion,whenstudentshavehadenoughtimetospeak,theyarerequiredtoswitchpartnersbyhavingtheoutsidecirclemoveclockwise(youmight want to yell, “Switch!” to indicate that studentsmove).When studentsswitch, you can invite switch topics or give differing instructions (Now shareyourideainonly30secondsinsteadof60,orNowsharewhatyouheardyourlastpartnersay).Thisisasimplegametogetstudentstokeeptalking.

4.InteractionLines

In this activity, tell students that theywill be the “teacher” andwill quiz eachother.Eachstudentshouldthinkofaquestionthatheorsheknowstheanswerto(from a class discussion or a reading). Alternatively, you could providequestions for each student on strips of paper and distribute one question perstudent.

Now,askstudentstolineupintworowsandfaceeachother.StudentsinRowA

shouldasktheirquestionsandthestudentsinRowBwillrespond.ThenRowBwillasktheirquestionsandRowAwillrespond.

Afteraset time(enoughtimeforeachpair torespond),RowAwillmoveonepositiontotheright.Thestudentwithoutapartnermovesallthewayaroundtothebeginningoftherow.

A simple variation of this game allows students to learn how to narrate. Tobegin,onerowlooksathalfofapictureorvideoanddescribestothepartnersfacing themwhat they see. The other row listens to what is being described.Thenthepartnersswitchpositionsso that thepartner thatwas listeningisnowactivelyseeingthesecondhalfofthepictureorvideo.

Then students are brought together to see the entire video or picture, andstudentsareinvitedtodiscusswhattheycouldorcouldnotdescribe.Vocabularythattheteacheroverhearscanbewrittenontheboard.

5.Agree/DisagreeValueLines

Ask students a series of questions that they can agree or disagreewith.Afterstudentsagreeanddisagree,instructthemtorankthequestionsaccordingtohowmuch theyagree/disagreewitheach statementusing theValueLines template.Invitestudentstodiscusswhytheyrankedthevaluelinesinthatparticularorder.As a variation, instead of asking students to agree or disagree, you could askthemtolove/hate,like/dislike,neverdonebefore/donebefore,orotherkindsofclassification.


6.StoryChain

Formgroupsoffourstudents.Astudentineachgroupisaskedtobeginastory.Afteraperiodoftime(forexample,1minute)thenextpersoninthegroupmustcontinue the story. This is done until the story has reached its conclusion oreverymemberhasparticipated.

Youcanbegin thestorywithaprompt that interestsstudentsor introduces thethemeofyourlesson.Tellstudentsthatitisfuntoleavethestoryatamomentofsuspense.Forexample:“Therewasamanwhowasstaringatabagofchips.Hehatedthesechips.Hehatedthemalot.Thiswasbecause…”

7.FolktaleStorytelling

Invitestudentstoreadafolktaleandthenreciteit,bymemory,totherestofthegroup. If you have four stories of equal size, you can form groups and inviteeachmembertoreadtheirstoryandshareitwiththerestofthegroup.

8.DiscussionQuestions

While asking questions is a hallmark of every good teacher, it is a verycommonly ignored aspect of teacher training. Asking questions to creatediscussionsisanartandavitalskill.

Considerthefollowingtipsforcreatingeffectivediscussionquestions:

•AskquestionsthatareNOTyes/no(openended)


•Askquestionsthatare“comeon”questions;inotherwords,thataretwo-sided,butelicitanemotionalreactionbecauseyouhavedeliberatelymadeitlookone-sided(“Technologyisbad,isn’tit?”)

•Askquestionsthatmakestudentsthinkcriticallybyaskingthemhowtheywouldresolveorrespondtoaparticularproblem

•Askquestionsandgivestudentstimetothink

•Askquestions tospecificstudentsaheadof timeand let themknowyouwillbegivingthemtimeinclasstoanswer

9.Fishbowl

ThisactivityrequiresfourlearnersONLYtospeak,whileallotherslisten.Thisisdonebyplacingfourchairsfacingeachotherinthecenteroftheroom(asifinasmallgroupdiscussion).Tobegin,invitefourlearnerstositinthesechairs.Allothermembersoftheclasswillsitinchairsinacirclearoundthefourstudentsinthemiddle, thuscreatingthelookofafishbowl(theoutsidecircle)andfourfish ina fishbowl (the four insidestudentsarebeingobservedby thoseon theoutside).

Providequestionsforthefourstudentsinthemiddleandinvitestudentstospeakatleastonceforeveryquestion.Aftereachhavespokenatleastonetime,other

studentsfromtheoutsidecirclemaytaketheirplacebylightlytappingthemontheshoulder.Thisisagoodwaytosparkconversationandallowforstudentstolisten to each other. Some teachers will provide snacks only for those who“enter”thefishbowl.Studentsontheoutsidemayberequiredtotakenotes,andare encouraged to enter when they feel strongly about the conversation. Thisworksespeciallywellfordebatesorcontroversialdiscussions.

10.ThreeObjectsinaBackpack

Placethreeitemsinabackpackandexplaintostudentsthateachofthesethreethingshaspersonalmeaning(forexample:atrophy,apicture,aticketstub).Askstudentstobringthreeobjectstoclassandsharewhattheobjectsmeantothem.Theyshouldbepersonalandinteresting.Theotherstudentsintheclassshouldpredictwhateachitemmightmeanbeforethestudentshares.

Asavariation,hide3objectsinseparatebags.Ablindfoldedstudentisaskedtofeelinsidethebagandholdit,butnottakeitout.Thestudentthenmustdescribewhatisinthebagtothestudents.Thestudentsmustguesswhattheobjectis,orwritedowntheiranswers.

VocabularyActivities

Vocabulary isoftena favorite forTESOL teachers.This is likelybecause it iseasy togive learnersa list, and it is easy toprovidedefinitionsandgive tests.Oneof theproblems,however, is thatmuchof the timevocabulary learning isnotdurable.Thismeansthatstudentsarelikelytoforgetthevocabularyshortlyafter a period of intense study and test-taking. Thus, the best vocabularyactivities shouldhelpstudents rememberandpracticeavocabularywordmorethanonce,andinmultiplecontexts.

Theactivities in this sectionare intended todo just this:help learnersuseandpracticekeyvocabulary.Anumberof theoristswouldagreewith the idea thatvocabularymustbeseenandusedmultipletimes(somesayatleast7times!)inorder to become remembered and used. Make sure, as a teacher, you don’tcommittheunpardonablelanguagesinofteachingavocabularywordonce,andthenexpectingstudentstorememberanduseit.

1.SpacedRepetition(theLeitnerSystem)

Instructlearnerstomakeflashcardsandtoreviewtheseflashcardsatintervalsorspaces.Tellstudentsthatiftheyansweracardcorrectly,itgoes“oneboxdown”(meaningfrom2 to3,or3 to4)and if it isanswered incorrectly, itgoes“one

boxup”(meaningfrom4to3or3to2).Studentsaretoldtostudythecardsinbox 1 every day, in box 2, every two days, and so forth. Thus, incorrectlyanswered cards are practiced more often, and correctly answered cards arepracticedless.

2.Rebus

Arebusstrip replaceswordswithclipart,givingstudentsachance topracticevocabulary by reading aloud the word every time they see the image. Forexample,insteadofthewordchicken,replacethewordwithasmallimageofachickenandaskstudentstosayaloudthewordwhentheyencountertheimage.

Arebusstripcanbe read inpairsorasagroupwith the teacher.Studentscanalsoformtheirownrebusandreadaloudinclass.

3.MixandMatch(alsocommonlycalledConcentration)

Mix and Match involves having a number of words written on cards, withpicture or definition cards that correspond. In otherwords, if theword on thecardisskyscraper,youshouldhaveanothercardwithapictureordefinitionofthewordskyscraper.Itisusuallybesttohavenomorethan20matchingpairs.

Thewordsandpicturesarerandomlyplaced,facesidedown,onaboardorontheground. Invitea learner to turnoveronly twocards, instructing the learnerthatifheorshefindsamatchingpair,heorshecancontinuetolookformorepairs.Learnersmust then remove a single picture orword and try tomatch it

with its counterpart, but if the learner chooses two pictures that do notcorrespond, theymustbe turnedbackover in theprecise location.Thestudentcankeeppairs that are successfullymatched,and the studentor teamwith themostmatchingpairswinsthegame.

4.CollocationalRelationships

CollocationalRelationships is agame that requires students to find thenaturalrelationships that exist amongwords. For example, thewordsbear andhoneycouldappearonasheet.Thestudentsarerequiredtodrawtwoarrowsbetweenbearandhoney.Thestudentsthenhavetoconsidertherelationshipfrombeartohoney, and also the relationship from honey to bear. Then students usewords/sentencesthatmaketherelationshipclear.

SentencesfromBeartoHoney:

Bearslikehoney.Bearsarehappywhentheyeathoney.Bearseathoney.

SentencesfromHoneytoBear:

Honeypleasesbears.Honeygivesbearssmiles.Honeyisatreasureforbears.

The relationshipsneed to begrammatically correct and shoulddemonstrate anunderstandingoftheconnectednessofthewords,andcanalsobeaneasywaytointroducecollocations.

5.JazzChants

Jazzchantsarerepetitivemnemonicdevicesthathelpstudentsrecallinformationthroughrhymeandrhythm.Invitelearnerstoclapoutabeatandrepeatthechantwithyou.Therearehundredsofjazzchantstochoosefromonline,andyoucanalsoinventyourownjazzchantsorinvitestudentstocreatetheirownaswell.

Say,said.Stoponred.Break,broke.HaveaCoke.Take,took.Learntocook.

Eat,ate.Don’tbelate.Speak,spoke.Tellajoke.Write,wrote.Getofftheboat.

6.DefinitionGuessing

Tell students that you will ask them to guess which word from a list ofvocabulary you are thinking about. Start this activity by beginning with thephrase,“Iamawordthat…”inordertocreatemoreinterest.

7.Flyswatter

Divide students into two teams.Each team is given a singlemarker and takesturnschoosingaleader,whoishandedaflyswatter.Theleaderandgroupmustlisten carefully to a definition of a word. A number of words are writtenrandomlyacrosstheboard.Tellstudentsthattheleadermustchoosethecorrectwordby“swatting” thecorrectword faster thanhisorheropponent.The firstpersontoswatthewordreceivesapointforhis/herteam.

8.TheTrain

Placestudentsintotwogroups.Eachgroupmusthavearowthatconsistsofatleastanengine(onestudent),acar(anotherstudent)andacaboose(astudentattheendofarow).

Tell students you will be giving definitions from a vocabulary list they haverecently studied. Then show the definition of a word to each “caboose” andinvite learners to transfer the information to the engine.The enginemust thenwritethecorrectwordontheboard.The“train”thatwritesthecorrectwordontheboardfirstwins.

Icebreakers

Icebreakers are activities that help students get to know each other. The term“icebreaker”comesfromthe idiomaticexpression,“tobreak the ice,”meaning“toattempttobecomefriends.”Theseicebreakeractivitiesareintendedtohelpateacher, especially in that firstweekofaclass, inorder toestablishclassroomrapportandhelpstudentstofeelcomfortablewitheachother.

Icebreakeractivitiesareessentialpreciselybecauselanguageisaskillthatmustbepracticedwithingroups,andthatyoumustestablishgroupswhereinlearnersfeelcomfortable toshare,makeattempts tospeaknewgrammatical items,andevenmakemistakes and take risks. Icebreaker activities are also a good ideawhenanew learneror learnersentersaclassroom,orwheneveryouview thatlearners are not speaking freely with each other. Most icebreaker activitiessimplyhaveanumberof interestingandpersonalquestions,andofferways tohavestudentsstandupandmovearoundaclassroom.

A good icebreaker generally gets students thinking and moving, and elicits adesiretosharenotonlyaboutyourself,butaboutotherclassmates.

1.MoreThanNameTags

Useaworksheet likeMoreThanNameTags tohelp learnersaskabout fellowclassmates.MoreThanNameTagsis,insomesense,agiantnametagthatgivesinterestinginformationabouteachstudent.

First,invitelearnerstowritehisorhernameinthesquarethatissurroundedbyfour other squares. Then tell students to fill in the other four squares:places,people,things,anddates.Youmaywishtomodelthisforstudentsbyhavinganametagthatyouhavecreatedaboutyourself.

Asstudentsfillout theirnamestags,youmayneedtohelpthemfindtherightwordsforeachcategory.Afterstudentshavefilledouttheirform,havethempinittothefrontoftheirshirtsandaskthemtogoaroundandintroducethemselves,makingclearthattheyshouldaskquestionsbasedonthefoursquares.Youmayneedtomodelquestionsontheboard:

•Whatplaceshaveyoulived?

•Whoarethosepeople?

•Whydidyouwritedownthosethings?

•Whyarethosedatesimportant(toyou)?

As a variation, invite students to be in pairs, and tell the pair that they willintroduce a partner by sharing one ormore things that they learned about theperson.


2.StringGet-to-Know-You

Thisgamerequiresaballofuncutyarnand10get-to-know-youquestions.Invite


students to stand in a circle. Instruct the students that they must answer aquestioniftheyareholdingtheballofyarn.Beginwiththeballofyarn,makingsuretoholdontotheendofthestringwithonehand,andthrowingtheballwiththeotherhand.Whenthestudentcatchestheball,makesurethatyouaskthemtomake sure that the string between the student and you is tight, like a line,connecting the twoofyou together.Nowask thestudentoneof the10get-to-know-youquestions.

Hereisasmalllistofexamples:

•HowlonghaveyoubeenstudyingEnglish?

•Whatareyourhobbies?

•Whatdoyouliketodoinyourfreetime?

•Whathobbiesdoyouhave?

•Whatkindofpeopledoyoulike?

•Whatkindofpeopledoyounotlike?

•Whatlanguagesdoyouspeak?

•What’ssomethingyoudowell?

•What’syourfavoritefood?

•Doyouhaveanypets?

•Areyoumarriedorsingle?

•Doyouhavebrothersandsisters?

•Doyoulikebaseball?

•Haveyoueverlivedinanothercountry?

•Haveyouevermetafamousperson?

•Howdoyouspendyourfreetime?

Thestudentsmustthenpasstheballofstringtosomeoneelse,makingsurethateachpersonholdsthestringwithonehand,sothateventuallythestringformsa

web.Itisfuntowatchandfuntocatchandisagreatmetaphorforhowweareallconnectedthroughlanguage.

3.FindSomeoneWho(InformationGapGame)

Provide each student a handout (feel free to use the downloadable templateavailableat).Tellstudentsthattheywillbe“findingsomeonewho”matchesthedescriptiononthelist.

Tellstudentsthatyoucanonlyhaveonestudentsignperhandout,andsthatthey

mustchangetheprompttoaquestion.Inotherwords,ifthetemplatesays,“Findsomeonewho has a short name,” then the speakermust ask, “Do you have ashortname?”

Ifthespeakerasksaquestion,thenthelistenercangiveananswer(Yes,Ihaveashortname./No,Idon’t).Iftheanswerisaffirmative,thenthepartnercansignthepaper.Thepersonwhoobtains themostsignatures is thepersonwhowinsthegame.

This activity requires students to get up andmove around, and can be a greatwaytomixandmingle.


4.ThreeObjectsinaBackpack

Placethreeitemsinabackpackandexplaintostudentsthateachofthesethreethingshaspersonalmeaning(forexample:atrophy,apicture,aticketstub).Askstudentstobringthreeobjectstoclassandsharewhattheobjectsmeantothem.Theyshouldbepersonalandinteresting.Theotherstudentsintheclassshould


predictwhateachitemmightmeanbeforethestudentshares.

5.SentenceStarters:What’sMyLine?

Givestudentsahandoutwithunfinishedsentencesandtell themthat theentireclasswill be required to finishoneof themany sentence starters listedon thehandout. Tell students that you will begin, and choose one of the sentencestarters and finish it (For example, “I love to give good students anA in thisclass.” Then choose another student, and choose a sentence starter for them.Juan,whatwillyouneverforget?Juan:Iwillneverforget…

As the teacher, you will need to help students to prompt the next student bycreating a question fromeachprompt.Atmore basic levels, invite students tochoosetheirownprompt.Atadvancedlevels,havestudentsdothisexerciseinpairsorgroups.


6.ValueLines

Tellstudentsthateveryonewillhavetostandonalineintheroom,andthattheroomisdividedintotwoparts.Placesignstohelppeopleseethetwodifferentsides of the room. Tell students that one side of the room is for people whoSTRONGLY AGREE, and the other side of the room is for people whoSTRONGLYDISAGREE.Tellstudentsthattheywillhavetostandinthepartoftheroomthattheythinkmostcloselyresembleshowtheyfeel.

Have a few prepared statements or questions that students might agree ordisagreewithstrongly.Forexample,“I lovesports,”or“I like tohaveacleanroom,”or“Televisionisbetterthanreading.”


If a student really loves sports, theywould stand as far to the one side of theroomas they could.Alternately, if they hated sports, theywould stand on thecompleteothersideoftheroom.Iftheydon’tcarethatmuch,theywouldstandsomewhere in themiddle.Tell students that theymust talkwith each other todecidewhoagreesordisagreesmoreor less.Somequestions,suchas,“Ihavebeen studyingEnglish a long time,” can definitely get conversation going andmakeindividualshavetodecidewheretheyfitinaline.


7.ToiletPaperCaper

TheToiletPaperCaperactivitybeginsbystandingatthedoorstudentsenter.Asyou stand at the door, as students enter ask them the unusual question, “Howmanypiecesof toiletpaperdoyouneed?”Donot tell studentswhat the toiletpaperwillbeusedfor.Ifastudentasks,justtellthem(cryptically),“Justtakeasmanyasyouthinkyouneed.”

Aftereveryonehasenteredtheclassroom,explaintostudentsthatthepiecesoftoiletpaperindicatetheamountofitems(piecesofinformation)alearnermustrevealabouthimorherself.

8.M&M’s

This game has the same rules as theToilet PaperCaper.However, instead ofusing toilet paper, which is weird (although it can be funny), useM&M’s oranother small candy to represent the times a student must answer somethingabouthimorherself.Tellstudentsthattheycannoteatthecandyuntiltheyhavesaidsomethingaboutthemselves.


9.VennDiagrams

SeeWritingActivities#5

Note:WhenusingaVennDiagramasanicebreaker, invitestudentstomeetinpairs and discuss things they share in common and things that make themdifferent.



LessonPlanningActivities

Instructional design varies from discipline to discipline, and there are manymodels that might evoke a similar look to lesson planning. Nonetheless, thislessonplandesignincludessomeofthemostbasicelementsofinstructionthatmight be of use for the English language instructor. The terms used here aresomewhatuniversal,butothertermsexistand,onceagain,varyfromcontexttocontext.For example, the term“warmup” is referred tobyother instructionaldesigners as a “theme introduction,” “attention getter,” or as a process of“activating/engaginglearners.”

1)WarmUp

2)ObjectiveDiscussion

3)PresentandModel

4)GuidedorControlledPractice

5)LessGuidedPractice

6)IndependentPractice

Allofwhichleadatthesametimeto

7)Assessment

Step1:WarmuporPrepareStudents

Inthisportionofa lesson,a teacher“warmsup”thestudentsbyactivatingthestudents’ background knowledge and introducing new knowledge. A teachermaydothisbypresentingsomekeyvocabulary,elicitingstudents’knowledgeofthesubject,usingpredictionexercises,etc.

Step2:DiscusstheObjectives

In thisportionof a lesson, a teacher attempts togive learners ametacognitiveunderstanding of the lesson itself. In simpler terms, the teacher is, eitherexplicitlyorimplicitly, tryingtohelpstudentslearnWHYtheyaredoingwhatthey are doing, and HOW these objectives, if obtained, might help them.Teachers who engage in these kinds of metacognitive strategies tend to havemuch more highly motivated students. Teachers themselves also attain betterclarityandfocusbyhavingtheobjectivesclearlystatedandunderstood.

Step3:PresentInstruction/Model

In thisportionof the lesson, teachersgivestudentsnewinformation theymustknow or new skills that theymust acquire. Teachers here attempt to scaffold,explain, or otherwise break down information for students to grasp the newconcepts. In addition to presenting or instructing, teachers are encouraged toprovidemodels(examples)forstudentstofollow.Forexample,ateachermightgive a sample dialogue, amodel essay, or put the necessary vocabulary to beacquiredinsentences.

Step4:GuidedorControlledPractice(Practice#1)

In thisportionofa lesson, studentsare invited topractice theirnewskillsandbecome familiar and comfortablewith it. For difficult language concepts, thispracticeisoftenverycontrolled,meaningthatit isdonewithalotofguidancefromeithertheteacherorotherexperts.

Step5:Less-guidedPractice(Practice#2)

Following a controlled practice, students are often given practice that has lessconstraintsandhigherdifficulty.Forexample,ratherthandoinganactivitywitha teacher, students might be required to do an activity in pairs or groups. Inaddition,theactivityitselfmightbeputmodifiedtoprovideadditionalsupport.Ateacherstillfacilitateslearningbyansweringquestionsandprovidingsupportto thegroupsorpairs,and theactivity itselfshouldhelpstudents togainmorecomfortwiththelanguagerequired.

Step6:IndependentPractice(Practice#3)

After a sufficient amount of pair or group work, the students are given anindependent activity. This often means that the student will work alone todemonstrate the knowledge or skill that they have acquired.This can be donethrough a quiz or testing scenario, or some sort of performance such as apresentationorwrittenrepresentationoftheirnewlyacquiredlanguageskills.

Step7:Assessment

Evaluating student work can happen at any stage of a lesson. Formativeassessment generally refers to the kind of assessment that is done duringinstruction, and could include asking questions, giving informal quizzes, andeliciting student participation. Summative assessment often follows anindependent practice, and ismeant tomeasure a student’s ability to attain the

objectives set out in the lesson plan. It ismeant not only as ameasure of thestudents, but can also provide feedback to a teacher as to how well theinstruction was received, and what parts of the instruction need continuedsupport.

Thislessonplantemplaterepresentsatheoreticalconstructonly,andshouldnotbeusedinalockstepmanner.Inotherwords,noviceteachersmightbetemptedtoprovidethreepractices(controlled,less-controlled,andindependent)foreverylessonplan,butthiswouldbeamistake.SomelanguageconceptsrequiremuchMOREthanthreepracticestoattainfluency,andsomelanguageconceptsmightbe acquired without any practice at all. Thus, a wise teacher will gauge theamountofinstructionandpracticeneeded,andmodifyaccordingly.

Since this template is subject to a kind of reductionist abuse, it is highlyrecommendedthatteachersuseitwiththerecognitionthatanyandallofthese“steps” can be skipped or put in a different order. A one-week template(provided in this book) can guide you to consider not only these 7 steps, butusing a variety of listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities as youconstructaunit.



Warm-UpActivities

Aproperwarm-upactivitycanaccomplishseveralpurposes.Firstofall,warm-upactivitiescanbridgeoldtonewinformation,thusleadingstudentstomakeaconnectionbetweenprevious lessonsandanew themeorconcept.Thus, in itsmostbasic form,awarm-upactivityhelps students rememberwhat theyknow(stimulate the recall of prior knowledge) and then build upon it. A warm-upactivity also introduces new information in away that serves as an attention-gettingdevice,thus,warm-upsaresometimescalledattentiongetters.

That stated, awarm up should not just gain students’ attention but direct thatattention to an appropriate target, thus it can and should also serve to bringstudents a broad view of a topic thatwill be introduced at a later time in thelessonplanmorespecifically.Goodwarmupsareideallyintriguingtolearners,atleastinthesensethattheycangiveinformationinawaythatinvitescuriosityandelicitspredictionactivities.Thus,theuseofvisuals,questionpromptsontheboard,orsmallvideosarecommon.

Another way to think about warm ups is through the use of the idiomaticexpression, “prime the pump.” This expression, which means, “to stimulategrowthbyprovidingasmallcatalyst,”comesfromtheoldfashionedapproachofpumpingwaterfromadrywellpump.Waterwilloftennotcomeoutofawellpumpthatisdry,sooftenasmallamountofwaterisplacedinthepumpsothat

it stimulates thepumpandprovidesenough lubrication for thatpump tobegindrawingwater.Inasimilarway,awarmupisasmallactivitythat“primesthepump.”Inotherwords,alittleactivity,(likealittlewater),activatesbackgroundknowledge, intrigues students, and gives students access to all that they know(thewell).

Warm ups often naturally lead into objective discussions, which can furtherinspirestudentstoconsiderwhatskillstheywillgainthroughthecompletionofthelesson.

1.WrittenPromptontheWhiteboard:QuestionorStatement

Theuseofaquestionorstatementcanbeapowerfulwaytointroduceaclass,especially if the English class is theme-based (generally a reading, writing,listening,orspeakingclass).

While the concept is simple, finding the right question or statement to evokeparticipationisnotsosimple.Whenyouusethistechnique,makesurethatyouareinvitingstudentstorespondtosomethingthatdirectlytargetstheinformationyouwill be trying to teach lateron.Often, aquote that invites adifferenceofopinion or multiple angles can stimulate conversation. Using a quote from afamous individual can also invite a discussion aboutwhat people know aboutthat individual (WhatdoyouknowaboutMartinLutherKing, Jr.?), how theyfeel about thequote (Doyouagreeordisagreewith this statement?), and canleadintoapredictionexerciseaboutfuturecontent(Whatdoyouthinkthisquotehastodowithwhatwewilltalkabouttoday?)Itcanalsobetiedtopastcontent(Whatdoesthishavetodowithwhatwediscussedyesterday?).

Inotherwords,whenyouwriteaquestionontheboard,whatoftenfollowsareaseriesoffollow-upquestionstohelpstudentsstarttalkingandthinkingaboutthetheme.Writedownwordsandanswers,whenappropriate,asstudentsrespond,andgivepositivefeedbackforthosewhoarewillingtospeak.Whilethiswarmupmayonlybeafewminuteslong,itcanservetoengagestudentsintothinking

about the theme and give you information aboutwhat students already know.Consider the following example themes, and sample prompts that mightaccompanythosethemes:

LevelThemePrompt(QuestionorStatement)

Asavariation,youmightprovideawrittenpromptonasheetofpaperandhavestudentsrespondtoitprivatelyasawritingactivity,orinpairsandsmallgroups.

2.PictorialPrompt

While it iscommonlystated that“apicture iswortha thousandwords,” in theTESOLworld,pictureselicitathousandwords.Agoodpicturecanhelptobegina class conversation and have students immediately engage in thoughtfuldiscussion. Just as in a written prompt, a pictorial prompt involves a teacherasking a lot of questions about the picture to lead students into a discussionaboutthecurrentlesson.

Agoodpictorialpromptshouldbelargeenoughforallstudentstosee,andoftenhas something unusual or interesting to talk about.Youmaybegin by asking,“Whatdoyousee?”oramorespecificquestion,suchas“Whatproblemsdoyouseeinthispicture?”or“Whyisthisboysad?”Agoodpictureoftenhasmultipleanswers,andateachercanaskforawidevarietyofopinions.Whenstudentsare

answering, a teacher may have to provide key vocabulary to explain certainvisual items (Does anyone know what this is? It is called a rainbow. Let mewritethatontheboard).

Remember that you may wish to have students write down their answers, ordiscussinpairsoringroupsbeforetheyspeaktotheentireclassortoyouasateacher.

3.ScrambledSentenceStrips

For this activity, you must have a reading in your future instruction. Severalsentencesfromthisfuturereadingarecutintoequal-sizedstripsofpaper(4-5forbeginners,andasmanyas10sentences foradvanced learners). Invitestudentsindividually, in pairs, or in groups, to put the sentences in correct order. Forconvenienceyoumaywishtonumbereachsentence(inarandomorder),soyoucandiscussthecorrectorderafterstudentsaredone.

After students assemble the scrambled sentences in order and there is a classconsensusonthecorrectorder,askstudentswhattheythinkthereadingwillbeabout, preteachvocabularybyusing thewords in the strips, or get students tosharetheirthoughtsaboutwhattheyhavereadsofar.Ifpossible,youmaywishto put a larger version on awhiteboard and show the correct order, as in theexampleherebelow.

4.Back-to-BackInformationGap:RecyclingVocabulary

This is a vocabulary activity. Eliciting key vocabulary can be a good way tointroduce students to a new theme, especially if the vocabulary has been usedpreviously(usingvocabularyfromapreviouslessoniscalledrecycling).Inthisactivity, divide students into pairs. One student will be looking toward thewhiteboard,whiletheotherstudentwillhavehis/herbackturnedawayfromthewhiteboard. If possible, have student chairs facing opposite direction so thatstudentsfacebacktoback.

Write5-10wordorphrasesonthewhiteboard.Tellstudentsthattheymusthelptheirpartner toguessall fivecorrectwordsandwritedowntheiranswersonapiece of paper. The other student can ask questions but cannot turn around.Whenthestudenthasguessedallfivewords,thepaircanraisetheirhands.Theactivitystopswhenallstudentshaveraisedtheirhandsorafteracertainamountoftimethatyoucandecide.

Asavariation,youmaywishtoincludewordsthathaveneverbeenintroducedtostudents.Inthisvariation,itisimportanttoincludewordsthatyoubelieveatleastsomestudentsknow,and,asalways,arekeywordsforthelessonplan.

5.Dress-uporBoxProps

Whilethisactivitycanbeabitrisky,italsohastheaddedbenefitofbeingoneofthe most memorable. If you are talking about a cowboy and reading about acowboy,whynotdressuplikeacowboy?

Whenperforming this activity,youcando several linguistic activities atonce.Youcanaskstudentsaboutvocabularyandinvitethemtoguessatsomeofthefeaturesofthecostume(theseare“spurs”;thisismyten-gallonhat).Youcanalso invitestudents toguesswhat the thememightbe.Youmightalsowant toact out a small skit to help the students understand some of the upcomingcontent.

Whileanumberofteachersmightnotfeelcomfortableputtingonacostume,norhavethetimeandresourcestofindone,amorefeasiblealternativeistheuseofboxprops.Inthisactivity,bringinaboxofitemsthatrelatetothetheme,pullout each item, and have students discuss each item and then the items as awhole.Sometimesasinglepropisallthatisnecessarytointriguestudentsandtointroduceatheme.

6.VocabularyScramble

Thisisapreteachingvocabularyactivity.Placealargenumberofwordsonthewhiteboard in any order (scrambled) and all over the board (youmaywish towrite some words sideways, some up high, some down low), with acorrespondingsheetofpaper.Invitestudentstodefinethewordstheyknowonthe sheetofpaper.Then invite students to sharedefinitionsof eachword, andteach the learners the words that they do not know or recognize. Have themwritedownthosedefinitionsaswell.

As a follow-up activity, youmaywish to do a “flyswatter game.” To do thisactivity,dividestudentsintotwoteams.Eachteamisgivenasinglemarkerandtakesturnschoosingaleader,whoishandedaflyswatter.Theleaderandgroupmust listencarefully toadefinitionofaword.Anumberofwordsarewrittenrandomlyacrosstheboard.Tellstudentsthattheleadermustchoosethecorrectwordby“swatting” thecorrectword faster thanhisorheropponent.The firstpersontoswatthewordreceivesapointforhis/herteam.

7.Warm-upwithDialogue

Invite students to listen to a dialogue. The dialogue can be performed by twostudents, by you and a teacher, teaching assistant, or student. Tell students tolisten carefully for key vocabulary and ideas. Have students summarize thedialogue on a separate piece of paper, then ask students to respond to the

dialogue.Aswithallwarmups,thedialogueshouldincludekeyvocabularyandthemesforthelesson,andshouldinvitestudentstothink,talk,andpredict.

8.IdiomMadness

Inthisactivity,introducethethemeorlessonbyusingoneormoreidiomsthatrelatetothetheme.Youmightplacethemontheboardoronasheetofpaper.Invitestudentstorespondtowhichonestheyhaveheardof,whichonesarenewtothem,andhowtheymightusesuchidioms.Theninvitestudentstothink,talk,andpredictthethemeforthelesson.

9.RankingActivities/ValueLines

Inthisactivity,youwillaskstudentsaseriesofquestionsorstatementsthattheycanagreeordisagreewith.Forexample,forathemeonfood,youcouldhaveanumberofpromptssuchas:

•Doyoulovebroccoli?

•Doyouloveicecream?

•Ieatalotinthemorning.

•Iwanttoeatbetter.

•IeatwhenIamhappy.

•IeatwhenIamsad.

Thereareseveralwaystohavestudentsshowtheiragreementordisagreement.First, you could simply have students hold up a thumbs up or for agree, or athumbsdownfordisagree.Youcouldalsohavethemholdupdifferentcoloredpaper (for example: green for agree, red for disagree). Another way to havestudentsrankthequestionsisbyhavingvaluelines.Theadvantageofthevaluelinesisitallowsstudentstostronglyagreeordisagree,orperhapsgiveaneutralanswer.

Perhaps the most interactive way to have students agree and disagree is byhaving them lineupasaclassroom,oftenagainstawall (as shownbelow). Inthisvariation,showstudentsthatonesideofthewallstandsforagree(youmightwanttoplaceahappyfaceorsomeothersymbolthere),andtheotherstandsfordisagree(placeasadfaceonthatsideofthewall).Explainthatifyouareinthemiddleofthewall,itmeansyouneitheragreenordisagree.Theninvitestudentsto line themselves up according to each question you have given them.Questionssuchas,“Iwastheearliestpersontoeatbreakfastthismorning,”willcausestudentstocarefullydiscusswitheachotherandcreatealotofinteractionanddiscussion.

ObjectiveDiscussion

An objective discussion is a fairly simple concept. Students tend to performbetterwhen they are toldWHAT they are doing andWHY they are doing it.Thus,ateacherthatisabletoclearlyconveythetrajectoryofthelesson

100 TESOL ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS€¦ · 3. Cloze Passage Exercise The word “cloze” is TESOL...

Documents

Transcript of 100 TESOL ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS€¦ · 3. Cloze Passage Exercise The word “cloze” is TESOL...