This is my suggestion for Christmas homework and the kind that if I were a student , I would love to be given.
1. Word Games. Do you have five minutes to spare? Find your level and choose from these 13 addictive games. Click here
2. Watching Series. Do you like watching series? Go to ororo.tv, choose the series you’d like to see and watch an episode every day on this site. I am suggesting series and not films ’cause I hope you’ll get hooked on the series . The only catch is that you can only see an episode a day on this site. Click here
3. Listen to music, but not any kind of music; for this exercise listen to ballads , which are easier to understand. Listen to a song and concentrate on understanding the lyrics. Then, look up the lyrics online and sing along. I suggest singers such as the mighty Adele, Ed Sheeran or James Blunt. If you live in Spain, you can listen to radio stations such as Kiss FM.
In this engaging series of activities students will discuss different actions that involve taking risks. It aims at developing students’ communicative, listening and writing skills through the acquisition of new vocabulary.
Do a quick survey asking students: Do you enjoy taking risks?
Play the first 55 seconds of the video and pause it. Ask students in pairs to discuss what they would do in this situation. Get feedback. Ask the class as a whole to predict what might happen to the people who decide to run the risk and take the two empty seats.
Class as a whole. Ask students: What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?
Put students in pairs. Tell them you are going to show them different activities that involve taking risks. Ask students to discuss whether they would be willing to try them or not, giving reasons for their choice.
Step 2. Working with vocabulary .
Put students in pairs and ask them to write, in two minutes, words related to taking risks. On the board, write their suggestions.
Give them handout 1. Focus on any new words/expressions.
Tell students they are going to see a video about parkour. Hopefully, students will remember what parkour is, as they came across this word at the beginning of the lesson.
Once upon a time, there were students who hated having fun in class….
I know, I know… this sounds like absolute blasphemy, but unbelievably there are students who mistakenly think learning and fun are two concepts that cannot be glued together. “You either have fun or you learn…and that’s flat! You can’t have both!” they claim.
I have over the years determined these students think these two concepts cannot cohabit just because they have not been rightfully exposed to them. In this blog you’ll find tons of activities and links to websites to help you change these students’ minds. One of these sites isViralelt, which is an excellent example of how fun+learning can get along.
Viralelt is a blog for adult learners from upper intermediate (B2) to advanced (C2).
All the posts on the blog have a similar structure
They all contain an engaging viral video.
10 conversation questions related to the video (Question Time)
A listening activity (Sitting Comfortably) where students will have to guess which two questions, from the exercise above, are being discussed. I find this section especially helpful because it gives students a chance to see how a native speaker would answer these questions. Therefore, I would suggest doing this listening activity before putting students into groups to discuss the questions
You can download the “Question time”and the “Sitting comfortably?”script in an editable Word document, so you can adapt it to your students’ needs.
The blog is run by Ian James, a teacher at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and here you can read some of his suggestions on how to use Viralelt.
So, let’s say you see this video, The texting hat, on the Internet
You like it. You think it has a lot of potential for teaching and it is just what you were looking for to give your students a break after a tough week. However, your brain has decided to leave you. You watch the video a thousand times, but nothing so far. I’ve been there, believe, very often!
Well, this is when your addiction to this blog will begin. You go to Viralelt and there it is, together with some teachers’ notes to help you with suggestions on how to use the video, 10 conversations questions and the listening activity.
I want to thank the amazing teachers from Cosas que encuentro para clase on facebook for sharing this superb blog with me.
Should I say “hello” in class, everybody would say “hello”, but if I added “Adele”, I bet most of my students would answer “it’s me”. Who, in this planet, hasn’t heard Adele’s new single a thousand times already? And this is good, believe me, at least for teaching purposes. I’ve always found it easier to do songs students are already familiar with as once they know the melody, they are further motivated to work with the lyrics. Mindful of the fact that one of the most important ingredients in learning a language is motivation, what could be more motivating than singing along Adele’s song now that it is being played everywhere?
Show a picture of Adele and elicit any information they might know about her and her music. Offer some information about the song they are about to hear.
Adele is a British singer and songwriter. Her two previous albums, 19 and 21, have earned the artist numerous awards. Now, she has just released her third album 25 and the song Hello is the first single from the album. The song is a soul piano ballad that talks about nostalgia and regret and plays out like a conversation. Hello is the first song to sell over one million digital copies within one week of its release in the USA. (source Wikipedia)
Step 1. Introducing telephone vocabulary
Play from the beginning until 0:27 and ask students to tell you what Adele is saying when she is on the phone. Write on the board:
I’ve just got here, and I think I’m losing signal already. Hello? Can you hear me now? Sorry. I’m sorry, I’m — Sorry
Focus on the expression “losing signal”. Do students know what it means? Elicit vocabulary they know related to using the phone and write it on the board.
Step 2. Vocabulary handout
Hopefully students will know most of the words and expressions you are going to give them. Give students the handout and ask them to do Exercise 1.
Ask students to share their answers in pairs and then go over the answers as a class.
Step 3. The video: telling the story.
Tell students they are going to watch the video without sound; their task will be to narrate the story in the video focusing on using the vocabulary they have just learnt.
Ask students to work in pairs, student A and student B. The video lasts about 6 minutes. Student A will face the board and will tell student B, who is sitting with his back to the board, in as much detail as possible the story in the video for the first three minutes. Then, they change roles and student B does the same from 3.00 to 6.06. Encourage students to use the targeted vocabulary. Make sure everyone understands the activity and demonstrate if necessary.
Step 4. Focusing on the lyrics
Students listen to the song and their task will be to find the following:
a verb meaning to desire to know something.
three phrasal verbs.
an informal contraction that some people consider incorrect.
an idiomatic expression meaning to be lucky, successful and greatly admired.
a modal+ perfect infinitive
an idiomatic expression meaning to cause someone great emotional pain.
a combination that goes against grammar, but which is very common in casual registers.
an idiomatic expression meaningto achieve a goal, to be successful.
Ask students to compare their answers in pairs. Play the video a second time. Go over answers as a class.
Step 5. Singing along
Give students the lyrics and ask them to sing along. Should you have shy students, encourage them to shadow read. It might be good idea, at this stage, to remind students that listening to songs will help them improve pronunciation, listening and understanding of the English language.
The content of the lyrics is open to interpretation. Some people say it’s about a failed love relationship, some others argue that it is about Adele’s relationships with everybody she loves and cannot be with; others, on the other hand, claim it is Adele’s conversation with her old self before she became famous.
This lesson has been designed as a next-day revision activity for B2 (Intermediate +) students.
Aim: to consolidate the use of Past Simple, Used to and Would for past habits and routines.
Level: B2 (Intermediate+)
In this lesson you will find.
Grammar and exercises
Speaking: Picture discussion in pairs
Speaking: an advert from a popular drink comparing past and present
Writing: a fun writing game
Speaking: bits of your childhood
STEP 1. Grammar.
The use of these three verb forms to express past habits and routines can be a bit confusing for students, so in this class I am aiming at some revision to clarify concepts. Assuming students have already studied formation rules, the focus is now on use.
Display the picture of a family in the past and ask students, in pairs, to discuss the differences they can see and the differences they can guess exist between the family shown in the picture and their own family. Encourage students to use the targeted grammar.
Get feedback
STEP3. The video. Speaking.
Tell students they are going to watch a video. Explain there will be no comprehension questions as there is no dialogue.
Ask students to give you a brief description of what they have seen.
Explain that the advert is called “Grandpa” and it tries to show that the lifestyle enjoyed by our grandparents — moving more, eating well, taking it easy — can be beneficial.
Students will see the video twice more and their task is to write down any differences they can see between the man today and his grandfather.
Once students have completed this task, ask them to work in pairs commenting on the differences they have seen in the video encouraging them,once again,to use the targeted grammar point: the use of simple past, would and used to to talk about past habits and routines.
Encourage discussion of the following points
healthy eating
stress
working conditions
means of transport
relationships
habits
STEP 4. Writing game: I have retired
Target language: Used To, Would and Simple Past Tense to describe past habits, states and routines
Preparation: none
Procedure:
Set the context: tell students they have to imagine they are 70 and retired. They are happier in retirement than when they were working but there are some things that they still miss.
Students, in pairs or in threes, choose the job they used to have.
Students will need to produce four sentences using the targeted language, giving clues for the other groups to guess their job.
sentences can be positive or negative
the first sentence will contain the clue most difficult to guess
the last sentence will contain the easiest clue
The first sentence will be awarded 4 points and the last one 1 point
Each group will name a spokesperson who will read out the clues. It’s important, at this stage, to ask students to speak up and clearly. Some rules:
The spokesperson will read the first sentence and the other groups will raise a hand if they think they know the answer.
Only one guess is allowed for each clue
If the answer is correct, they will be awarded the four points, if it is not, the second clue will be read for three points.
Example
4 points. I would work with a lot of people
3 points. I worked after “work”, mainly at home.
2 points. I used my voice a lot
1 point. I used to work with children
How many clues did you need to hear?? Yes, the answer is TEACHER
STEP 5. Bits of your childhood. Speaking in small groups.
Ask students to think about their life at the age of 10.
Give students a list of things they might want to talk about.
Ask students to think about what they will say and the language they will need. Allow some minutes for preparation.
Where did you use to live?
Did your life use to be very different to how it is now?
Where did you use to go to school? Do you remember any of your teachers? Did you have any favourite teachers?
Did you use to get good marks? Did you have a favourite subject?
What did you use to do after school?
Where did you use to play? Do you remember who your friends were? Did you have a best friend?
Can you remember your favourite game?
At lunchtime, did you use to like the food? Did you use to eat with your parents?
What was your greatest wish? Can you remember?
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