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Tell them that they will write sentences.

Tell them to choose a word to begin.

The next word that they’ll add should start withthe last letter of the previous word.

Good dads shouldn't tell lies.

Teachers sometimes save eager rabbits.

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Students will write sentences.

RULES

•Each sentence must have at least 5 words.

•Each word in the sentence must begin with the same letter given by the teacher.

•You may use a proper name but only once in a sentence.

•The winner is the one who can manage to write a correct sentence.

Eg: Some students sometimes speak slowly.

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This activity is also good to underline the importance of intonation.

•Play music and tell them they will walk around the classroom and stop when you stop the music and do what you instruct them to do.

•Get them say the words in quotation marks in the context that follow.

‘Hello’

To a friend

To a friend you haven’t seen for 3 years.

To a neighbour that you don’t like.

To a six year old baby.

To someone you have just found doing something they shouldn’t

To someone on the phone when you are not sure if they are still on the other end.

Instruct similar things for the followings.

‘Goodbye’
‘How are you?’
‘What have you done?’

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•Give students strips of papers or post-its.

•Name a topic

•Tell students to write a question related to the topic on the piece of paper.

•Tell them to stand up and walk around asking their questions.

•When a pair has asked each other their questions, they swap questions and move off to ask the new question to a new partner then swap again.

•Set a time limit if you like.

Variation:

Play the music and tell them walk around until you stop the music
and when you stop the nearest person is the one to ask questions.

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Tell them they are going to write a paragraph describing a day in the life of Mr Happy/Mr Sad/ Mr Furious / Mrs Nervous

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Ask a student to say the alphabet silently,

Stop him and lethimtelltheletter

With the chosen letter, tell students to write a noun

Tell them to write an acrostic poem for that noun

Tell them to write as many words as they can, beginning with that letter until you stop them (2 or 3 minutes)

Choose some of them (you decide/5 or 6 ) and tell them to write a paragraph

Write a word, beginning with that letter.

Tell them to write what the word associates for them

Paragraph writing or poems can be a follow up

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Tell your students that they are going to write a dialogue.

Give them a situation.

For example:
You are in the class. The teacher is explaining a new topic. But you are very excited because you want to share a fantastic news with your classmate so you start writing notes to each other.

Set time limits.

Student A writes a sentence and passes it to student B.

Student B writes sth and passes to student A

Teacher stops the activity and students read their dialogues or notes.

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Material: copies of 4 (or more) different texts or 4 paragraphs of the same texts or dialogues or some motivational quotes.

Divide the class into as many groups as you have texts. Stick the texts on the walls or on the blackboard at an equal distance from all the groups. Each group must choose someone who is going to run to it and read it, try to memorize as many words as possible and run back to his team to dictate the text to them.

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Hand each student in the class a blank sheet of paper.

Ask sts to write a wish for present, an ability that they want to have, a regret, an annoying habit of sb that they are irritated.

For example: I want a motorbike. My sister keeps reading my diary, etc

Then have them crumple the paper into a ball.

Have all of the students stand up and begin throwing the "snowballs" at each other.

When you feel amused enough by the chaos, you can stop the snowball throwing.

Then have each student pick up a snowball close to them, open it, and say what their friends’ wishes and regrets are.
Variations

•You can ask them write questions and the one who opens the paper answers the question.

•For reported speech you can ask them to gossip about sb and the one who opens the snowball should turn the direct statement to reported speech.

•If you trust your class, this activity is a great energiser.

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Find an interesting way to put them in teams. Try something new from time to time.

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When you tell your students "You three work together", there will probably be some among the majority who will complain and tell that they don't want to work with A or B in that group. They will sulk, they won't contribute, isolate themselves or even worse they won't let the other members work. However; if ... Continue reading How to Pair or Group Students

"I have a mixed ability class and some of the students refuse to respond to the lessons whereas some are highly motivated and some of them join us when they feel they can do" Isn't this a common problem for teachers? People learn better when they want to learn. I agree that teachers can only ... Continue reading A Way of Flipping a Mixed Ability Class

Today I'll write about my reflections on TESOL France's 29th Annual Colloquium which was one of the most successful conferences I've ever attended. It was successful not only it gave us the chance to listen to David Crystal and watch their amazing family show, it also enabled us to attend many sessions of wonderful ... Continue reading My Reflections of TESOL France, Part 2

Last week, with a group of twelve-year olds we had great fun reading a short story. It was our first meeting so I started with a getting to know activity which came from freshly Leo Selivan's latests blog post. Kids loved drawing stick figures and introducing themselves in third person. Then we read the story ... Continue reading Fun with Readers

Before posting goal #1, I'm writing about goal#2 Avoid Burnout Cambridge Dictionary online defines burnout as extreme tiredness or a feeling of not being able to work any more, caused by working too hard. Whether we realize or not, we suffer from burnout from time to time. It can be because of the heavy ... Continue reading My Teacher Burnout Tips #30GoalsEdu

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Search Results for "pair work" - A Journey in TEFL

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When you tell your students "You three work together", there will probably be some among the majority who will complain and tell that they don't want to work with A or B in that group. They will sulk, they won't contribute, isolate themselves or even worse they won't let the other members work.

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It is easy to describe the things we see and touch but how about the abstract ones.

Prepare a handout and ask them to answer the following questions

What shape is grief? Why?

What is the colour of emptiness? Why?

What is the texture of grief? Why?

What is the smell of hunger?

How is the taste of anger?

What colour is happiness?

What is the texture of ambition?

Then compare their answers.

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Set unusual tasks each week that challenges thinking. Set time limit and ask them to describe

Create a 5th season and describe it.

Create a country and describe it

Create a new dessert and describe

Write the dialogue between your pencil-box and a pen.
Some ideas here:

One Word : http://www.oneword.com

Journal Jar: http://exclusivetutors.com/apps/journaljar/

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I'd like to share a guided writing activity that I adapted for my classes. Give students a card and ask them to read the instructions. Tell them they are going to invent a story about what happened to the characters on their cards. Give them the pre-prepared questions and ask them to answer the ... Continue reading Creative Guided Story Writing

One of the skills that our students must improve is writing. I believe if you have something to say it is easier to write. Usually the students do the reading tasks, vocabulary and grammar exercises eagerly but when it comes to write they can't produce. I think it has many reasons but I still ... Continue reading WRITING TASKS

My door is on the roof. I climb with a rope. I have stairs from moon. (Maral, age 11) One of the most favourite activities we do in class is creative writing. It is great for revising grammar and vocabulary. It is also great for unleashing their hidden talents. Although they sometimes complain about drawing, they ... Continue reading Draw a Door

September is here and another school year is on its way. I'm just enjoying the last few lazy days reading and planning ahead. I'm reading "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George at the moment. I loved the book. Not only for the plot, not only it is set in Paris along the River Seine ... Continue reading A first week activity inspired by a novel

"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still." Dorothea Lange Visuals are useful and powerful tools to enhance the use of language, combining the images and the concepts they refer in the minds of the learners. Photos, as all visual images, also encourage the learners to predict and guess the ... Continue reading Using Photos in Language Classes, Part 1

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Search Results for "creative writing " - A Journey in TEFL

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I'd like to share a guided writing activity that I adapted for my classes. Give students a card and ask them to read the instructions. Tell them they are going to invent a story about what happened to the characters on their cards. Give them the pre-prepared questions and ask them to answer the ...

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Draw a star on the board.

Write a name, colour, a title, just 5 numbers etc that are related with you.

I’ll write something like this.

•fried green tomatoes

•2001

•1984

•Sailor

•50

Tell them these are important for you and ask them to find out why they are important for you.

Then you can ask the volunteers to come and prepare his/her life star and wait for her classmates find out what are they?

You can use it as a warm up or a filler. They enjoy talking about themselves and they also want to find about the teacher. I’ve been using it for years and it’s always my favourite.

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Animoto turns your photos and video clips into professional video slideshows in minutes. Fast, free and shockingly simple - we make awesome easy.

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•Student 1 writes an if sentence / time clause

•Student 2 continues with the second part of the sentence and the last student in the team finishes the story.

Example:

•After I do my homework, I’ll watch TV

•After I watch TV, I’ll help my mum.

•If I had a lot of money, I’d travel round the world.

•If I travelled round the world, I’d---

Instead of adding the sentences in turns, you can group or team them, set time limit or say they have to write 10 chain sentences. After the activity you can choose the most creative or the interesting one.

You can use it at the beginning of the lesson as a warm up to revise the previous lesson or at the end of the lesson, as a filler, to practice the new language.