This is a grammar revision game that alleviates some of the tedium of a gapfill exercise! It revises general verb tenses and forms. You will need: One copy of the worksheet per group of 2-3 students Procedure (20-25 minutes total)
Use your favourite student grouping method to make groups of 2-3 students.
In their group, students fill each gap with any appropriate word. Allow 10-15 minutes.
As a class, check the answers. I like to do this with small whiteboards that students can reveal all at the same time. Groups score 1 point for a correctly used word, and 1 bonus point for a unique answer (that none of the other teams used).
This is an activity I made to practice reported speech. First students listen to fill gaps in Titanic dialog, then they use prompts to create reported speech sentences.
This went down fantastically with my intermediate Cambodian students who love Titanic.
You will need: An audio or movie clip of Titanic where Jack and Rose are clinging to the wreckage of the Titanic (the "I'll never let go" scene).
It's a new year, a new term, and time to teach perfect modal verbs of probability again. What a clunky term for something so straightforward. I usually refer to them as shoulda, woulda, coulda, which is another song, but not the one I've made a worksheet on. I used to use this song as a warmer or lead-in to perfect modals, which was usually met with a lack of enthusiasm. I was about to stop using it but thought I'd move it to the end of the lesson as a last-ditch attempt at making it work, and this time it inspired singing along and some animated discussions. Well, go figure! Lesson plan Time: 35 mins Resources needed: one copy of the worksheet per student. Mp3 or Youtube clip of the song. 1. Gist task. Write the question on the board: Is this song about: a. a happy relationship? b. a relationship that is going to end soon? c. a relationship that has already ended? 2. First listen. Students listen and compare their answers to the gist task in pairs before OCFB. Elicit the title of the song "It must have been love" and check that they understand this structure is referring to the past. 3. Second listen - minimal response task. Hand out the worksheet. Students listen again and circle the correct word. 4. Productive follow-up. Discussing in pairs, students imagine the story of what happened to the couple. Encourage them to use could/might/must have etc. Eg: they must have had a fight. He might have cheated on her. They can't have been happy together. Write particularly good examples on the board.
Process writing can show up as an IELTS writing task, so it's important for IELTS students to know how to describe a process. However, these videos are also handy for reviewing or practicing the present passive with intermediates and up.
Procedure
1. Warmer: I like to use the "X is made from X" warmer. Students in groups of 2-3 have to brainstorm sentences using this model, for example "Cheese is made from milk", "Pencils are made from wood", etc. The group with the most will be the winner.
2. Review the passive form: subject + is/are + v3. Check the meaning. Does the cheese make something or does someone make the cheese? Does it say who makes the cheese? Why not? (The subject does not do the action, but receives it. It is not necessary to say who does the action because we are more interested in the results.)
3. Explain that you are going to watch a video about how something is made. Elicit any predictions or prior knowledge from the students.
4. Students watch the video and take notes on the process, especially any passive sentences they hear.
5. Check unfamiliar vocabulary and watch again if necessary.
6. Students in pairs construct passive sentences describing the process.
7. Have students write their sentences on the board and correct errors with the class.
8. Students write up the process in full to be handed in and marked.
Videos to use
Processes are an ideal context for the present passive, so you can easily find lesson material by typing "how [anything] is made" into YouTube according to your students' interests. Here are some I've tried before.
1. How ice cream is made
A slightly dated educational BBC clip. My students weren't thrilled by it, but it worked for the lesson.
2. How orange juice is made
They liked this one more. Lesson I learnt: don't use clips that are older than your students.
Here are my favourite easy ways to fill up five minutes with no preparation required. Getting to know you warmers and fillers 1. True, true, lie. Students write some sentences about themselves. Some are true and some are lies. Then they mingle and can ask one another questions to find out which are lies. 2. CV interview. Draw up the basic structure of a CV on the board. Students in pairs interview each other to make each other's CV. 3. Guess the question. Write some words that are connected to you on the board (eg. your favourite sport, pet's name, age...). Make some easy and some harder. Explain that these are the answers to some questions about you. Students have to guess the questions. Students then do the same for themselves and guess the questions in small groups. 4. What am I like? Students write a few sentences about themselves on a piece of paper. (Tell them not to write about appearance or clothes as this will make it too easy.) Jumble up the papers and redistribute. Students then mingle and ask questions to find out who wrote their paper. 5. Same or different? Write up some sentence starters on the board. (Eg. My favourite place is... A colour that makes me feel good is... My favourite time of day is... I couldn't live without my... When I have free time I like to... I'm looking forward to...) Students complete for themselves and then compare in groups of 2-3. Encourage discussion. Each group feeds back to the class on something they have in common and something they disagree on. Vocabulary and spelling warmers and fillers
6. Prefixes brainstorm. Put students into small teams. Each team must appoint one writer who will make the list. The team who can list the most correct examples in 2 minutes wins the game. Suggestions: pre-, int-, con-, dis-, mis-, un-, uni-, ob-, mono-, omni-... 7. Suffixes brainstorm. Procedure as above. Suggestions: -able, -ful, -ous, -tion, -sion, -ance, -ity, -ic, -ism, -ive... 8. Words with X number of letters brainstorm. For low levels, start with 4 or 5. Higher levels, more letters. Points are only awarded for correctly spelled words. 9. Rhymes brainstorm. Students in teams have 2 minutes to list words that rhyme with the word you give. 10. Categories brainstorm. This can be good if you split the class into two teams and they make their lists on the board. The team that can list the most in 2 minutes wins. Points are only awarded for correctly spelled words. Clothes, jobs, animals, foods, countries... 11. Shapes quiz. Draw some shapes on the board (circle, oval, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon...) and students in small groups write down their answers. Include some shapes they will know, and some you think they won't know. 12. Spelling race. Good for revising vocabulary from a previous lesson, or spellings that students persistently get wrong. Divide the class into two; one player from each team must write up the word you call out. First team with the correct spelling gets the point. 13. Back spelling. Arrange students in two lines facing the board and give a word to the two students at the back. They must tell the word to the person in front of them but are not allowed to say anything. Instead they must spell out the word by using their finger like a pencil on the next person's back. First team to accurately pass the word to the front of the line gets the point. 14. Word chain. Students are in two teams. Give a first word and students must continue with a word that starts with the last letter of that word (eg. cat-table-egg). This can be done on the board and the team with the longest chain after two minutes wins. Make it more difficult if the students can handle it by specifying a category. Alternatively, use a ball and play the game orally. A student from one team says the first word, then tosses the ball to a player on the other team who must give the next word. If a student can't think of a word or repeats one that has already been said, they are out of the game. 15. Geography quiz. Use any facts you know off the top of your head. (What is the capital city of... what is the currency of... which language is spoken in... what colours are on the flag of...) 16. Smartphone challenge. Challenge the learners to research specific items of vocabulary using their smartphones. For example, give a list of animals and learners must find the word for the baby animal (cat/kitten, horse/foal, bear/cub...), or a group of animals (sheep/flock, lion/pride, shoal/fish...). My students are usually excited to be allowed to use their phones in class for once. They can do this in groups and the first team to find all the words is the winner.
Grammar warmers and fillers 17. Verb forms revision. Students in small teams; each team has a small whiteboard, if available (paper if not). Call out a verb and students have to write the form that you specify (past simple, past participle...). The first team to write the correct form and hold up their whiteboard gets the point. 18. Present passive practice. Write up the structure "_____ is made from _____". Students in small groups have to make as many sentences as they can using that structure, but cannot use a word more than once. (Paper is made from wood, cheese is made from milk...) Set a time limit of about 3 minutes. 19. Grammar noughts and crosses. Draw a 3x3 grid on the board and write a word in each square. Students are in two teams. Decide which team goes first by coin toss or drawing straws. To take a square, the team must make a sentence with at least 10 words using the word in that square and the grammar structure you specify. If they cannot, it is the other team's turn.
Listening and pronunciation warmers and fillers 20. Minimal pairs race. Write up lots of minimal pairs in a random cloud on the board. For example ship/sheep, eyes/ice, my/might... Divide the class into two teams. Call out a word and one player from each team has to touch the word you said (or circle it with a pen if you prefer). The first to get the correct word wins a point. 21. Numbers race. Same as above but write up lots of numbers. 22. Shopping list memory game. Read out your shopping list with about 15 items. Students are not allowed to write while you talk. Then they make a list afterwards to see how many they can remember. 23. Running dictation. Divide students into pairs and stick a short reading text on the wall on the other side of the classroom. One student will be the runner and the other will be the writer. 24. Shouting dictation. If you don't have the space for a running dictation, have pairs standing or seated a few feet away from each other and one dictates to the other by shouting. Use different sections of text so that one student doesn't end up shouting for all the others.
Sharing a worksheet I have made on the past passive that combines reading practice with grammar work. Before starting, I recommend slicing off the 'grammar bit' so that you can hand it out separately after the students have read and understood the text. The story of the boys who were raised by wolves lends itself very nicely to teaching the past passive, especially with a little tweaking. Here is the story, graded to pre-intermediate level. There shouldn't be too much new vocabulary. Potential stumbling blocks are abandon, survive, and shepherd. The procedure follows below.
* * *
Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. They were born in Italy before Rome existed. Their mother, Rhea Silvia, was the daughter of King Numitor. But the King’s brother, Amulius, wanted to take power. He fought Numitor and forced Rhea Silvia to abandon her sons.
Romulus and Remus were put into a basket, and the basket was placed into the River Tiber. The basket travelled down the river for some time. Then, further down the river, the twins were discovered by a female wolf. She cared for the babies and fed them milk so that they would survive. Then they were discovered by a shepherd, and the shepherd cared for the boys until they were adults.
When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to build a new city. The brothers argued over where the site should be and Remus was killed by his brother. So Romulus was left to build the new city, and he named it Rome.
* * *
Procedure 1. Pre-teach the word 'myth' - a traditional story about the past. It's not usually true. Ask the students about traditional stories in their country. 2. Ask students what they know about Rome. Where is it? 3. Explain that we're going to read the myth of how Rome got its name. Hand out the story and have students read it. Then ask some simple comprehension questions. What happened in the story? Do you believe it? 4. Tell students that we're going to look at a grammar point - the past passive. Write an example sentence and the structure on the board. 5. Hand out the grammar section. Students can work through in pairs or small groups.
6. As a productive follow-up, elicit some sentences from students about things that have happened to them before that can be expressed by the passive (I was bitten by a dog, I was stung by a bee, I was told off by the teacher...). Students form sentences, compare in small groups and then share some with the class. 7. As a filler at the end of the class, I like to walk around the classroom doing various actions and the students call out what I did in the passive (the pen was dropped, the water was drunk, the light was turned off, the book was opened...)
Forgetting the final -s is a common problem for learners of English as a foreign language. As I have discussed before, the Cambodian language, like other Asian languages, does not modify nouns to make plurals or possessives, and neither does it conjugate verbs for gender or number. On top of that, final consonants are not strongly pronounced as it is. Therefore a lot of Ss mysteriously go missing, or students hypercorrect and try to put an S on everything. Oops!
A forlorn snake seemed appropriate.
So I made this handy handout to run through when we need a final -s. It was originally intended for pre-intermediate students but was a good refresher for intermediates too. It finishes up with a correction exercise. (Spoiler: there are 10 mistakes.) The free download includes an enlarged projector version of the exercise, one with answers and one without.
Don’t forget the final -s…
In present simple with third person singular (he/she/it).
I/we/you/they go, play, eat, drink, have
he/she/it goes, plays, eats, drinks, has
In plural nouns (more than one)
A cat, a house, a tree
Two cats, some houses, seven snakes, a hundred trees
To show possession
The car of my brother = My brother’s car
At the end of some words
always
sometimes
Contracted ‘is’
She is a nice girl = she a nice girl She’s a nice girl
Correction exercise
How many mistakes can you find? Correct them!
Yesterday I went to my friend house. Sopheak live in a big house that have three bedroom and many tree in the garden. Sopheak have two brother and sometime we play volleyball with them. But yesterday it rain so we didn’t play. We will play next week when the weather better.
This is an endlessly adaptable grammar practice activity for any level of ESL learners from pre-intermediate upwards. Just make up some prompts that lend themselves to the grammar structure that you want to practice. Print them up on some brightly-coloured paper and make cuts in the paper so that each prompt can be pulled off separately.
For example, here I wanted to practice modal verbs of deduction (could have, might have, must have, can't have):
The louder the colours, the more fun it is.
Model an example on the board and specify how many sentences you want them to write. For example:
My manager looks very tired.
He must have been working all day.
He might not have slept very well.
He can't have had a break today.
Give each group of 3-4 students a grass skirt. You can blu-tack it to the edge of a desk, onto the wall near each group, or on the wall on the other side of the classroom if you want them to be running backwards and forwards. Instruct the students that you have to OK their sentences before they can get the next prompt. You can have each group appoint a writer, or require every student in the group to write one sentence.
This one is for past perfect.
The first group to get through all the prompts wins the game. You can adapt this for almost any grammar structure and it works with both young learners and adults. Do you use any variations on this or have another favourite grammar practice activity?
By special request from my students I made a revision sheet for no, not, neither, and none.
No, not, neither, none
No means “not any” and is used before nouns.
There is no water on the Moon.
I can’t write. I have no pencil.
Snakes have no legs.
None means “not one” of a group of things, or “not one part” of a whole thing.
It is a pronoun which can be the subject or object of a sentence.
None of the mangoes looked good enough to eat.
None of the bread was eaten / We ate none of the bread.
It can also be used as a short answer.
Q. How many bananas are left? A. None.
Neither means “not one” of two things.
I had two projects, but I completed neither of them.
Neither of my parents wear glasses.
Not makes a verb negative.
I do not like dogs.
I have not been to China.
There aren’t any students in the classroom.
My breakfast disaster
Fill the gaps with no, not, none, or neither
One day I got out of bed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I had (1) ____ slept very well, so I wanted to make coffee first. But when I looked in the cupboard, there was (2) ____ coffee left! Then I looked for tea, but there was (3) ____ of that either. So I opened the fridge to look for something to drink, and guess what? There was (4) _____ milk and (5) _____ juice. There was (6) ____ even any water. There were two bananas left, but (7) ______ of them looked good enough to eat. Who had eaten everything in my fridge? It was (8) _____ me! Getting annoyed, I went to the shop near my house but (9) ____ of the staff were there. Finally I went to a café and ordered banana pancakes and coffee, with (10) ____ milk and (11) ____ sugar, just the way I like it. Later I told my friends about my terrible morning but (12) ____ of them were interested.
When I first introduced the passive to my pre-intermediate Cambodian students, their initial reaction was to look at me as if to say, "You're telling me English has another tense? Why, teacher? Why?"
They're definitely warming to it now... I think.
The Oxford textbook that we use tends to jump in at the deep end with grammar points. While the passive may be a breeze for speakers of languages that form it in the same way (eg. French or German), it will understandably take a bit more work for speakers of languages that have no such thing.
To bridge the gap, I made a handout that explains how the passive is formed and what it is used for.
It progresses to some guided practice in the present tense.
When teaching a grammar point it's important to think "When do I actually use this structure in real life?". The present perfect continuous often appears in ESL textbooks in contrived contexts such as "Why are your eyes red? - I've been crying!"... which honestly I don't think I've ever said in my life.
Being in a new town and a new job, I've found myself having the same conversation over and over. Within a few minutes the conversation generally runs to "I work at the language school - Oh, how long have you been working there?"
Teaching this usage of the present perfect continuous prepares students to have a natural, normal, real-life conversation. What could be better?
Procedure
First, have each student take a small piece of paper and write the following items. Stress: not your own name and workplace but a made-up one.
Name
Place of work
Small number
Example:
Sopheak
Hospital
3
Take the papers in, shuffle and redistribute. Model the conversation:
"Hello, what's your name?"
"My name's..."
"Where do you work?"
"I work at the..."
"How long have you been working there?"
"I've been working there for X years!"
Now the students mingle around the classroom to practice the questions and answers using the cues on their paper. To give a motivation for speaking to everyone, challenge them to find someone who works in the same place as them. Obviously this may or may not happen depending on what the students have written, but they will have to speak to everyone to find out!
