Hello hello! Still enjoying Easter holidays? Yeahhh me, too! So, I just wanted to pop in real quick with an activity I think might make going back to the grind a little bit easier.
What are the main goals of this activity?
Revise and activate newly-acquired vocabulary
Reinforce how to formulate questions
Boost students’ speaking abilities
Introduce movement in the classroom: gallery walks
How to do it
Write six to eight words or expressions you want to revise on cards, big enough to see from a distance. Stick them on the walls of the class for everybody to see.
Depending on the number of students in your class, ask them to work in pairs or groups of three. For each word on the wall, the group must think of an open question using the target vocabulary.
Walk around the room and help with grammar and spelling.
Once the group have their question, ask them to write it on a post-it note or a scrap of paper and put it next to the target word on the wall.
When they have finished and all the questions are displayed on the walls, ask learners to stand up and, in new groups, do a gallery walk discussing the questions.
Picture this. Me announcing to my C1 students that the next lesson in the textbook was going to revolve around Politics. To be honest, any other year, I would have probably shared my students’ feeling of apathy or disinterest. But this year I was really looking forward to this lesson as AI is shaking things up in my English class!
Imagine my students’ jaws dropping when I announced a class debate featuring… wait for it… virtual versions of Biden and Trump! And both using the vocabulary we have been studying, revising and reinforcing.
In this lesson for C1 students, you will find
Tailor-made texts using specific vocabulary
Talking avatars reading these texts to create a listening comprehension activity
Mediation activity using the talking avatars and the texts
Speaking activity using target vocabulary
How I Did it
Using ChatGPT to Generate Text Using Target Vocabulary
Prompt: You are an English teacher. Write a text divided into paragraphs. Each paragraph should be preceded by a heading. The headings should be: economic policies and immigration policies. Write it from a Republican point of view. Write a short paragraph for each heading, using C1 English and include such as the verbs benefit, trigger, boost, undermine, bankrupt, to earn peanuts, to be into, compound, combat, and lead
I repeated the same prompt but asking ChatGPT to generate the text from a Democrat point of view.
Listening Comprehension: creating talking avatars to read the text
I created two separate talking avatars. I created Joe Biden and uploaded the text generated by ChatGPT, and then did the same for Donald Trump, and uploaded them to YouTube. This step was important as I wanted to use Twee.com to generate the comprehension questions, which you can find here.
And … we shouldn’t let the visit of these two politicians to our class go to waste, so the next step will be to use these talking avatars for a mediation activity, hitting several birds with one stone.
help students boost pronunciation
help students boost speaking and mediation skills
Steps:
Note:The day before, I asked my students to bring their earbuds and mobile phone s with a QR Code reader installed for the next class.
During the class, I organized the students into two groups – Republicans and Democrats – and paired them up accordingly. I handed out copies with Joe Biden to the Democrats and photocopies featuring Donald Trump to the Republicans.
Aim: engage in a mediation activity by conveying the information to the other candidate using your own words.
Instructions:
Scan the QR code to listen to the candidate reading the text. Repeat as many times as necessary until you feel confident in pronouncing the vocabulary correctly.
Take notes of what each candidate says. Note: You don’t have to copy word by word.
Time allotted for individual work in this part: 15 minutes
Finally, pair up students and ask them to retell their part, trying to use the target vocabulary. This part might take another 15 minutes.
Speaking: Retrieval Practice
Give students one minute to write in their notebooks all the vocabulary words they remember from this unit.
When the minute is up, ask the students to say their words and write the most interesting ones on the board.
Put the students in pairs or groups of three, underline two/three words and ask students the first questions, asking them to try to use all or some of the words underlined on the board.
How important is it for individuals to stay informed about current political events?
Do you think there’s a growing sense of disconnect between politicians and the people they represent? Why or why not?
What do you think are the most important qualities for a good leader?
Do you think that social media can be used to trigger political polarization? If so, how?
What are the most important factors that people consider when casting their vote?
Does the current political landscape adequately represent the diverse voices and needs of society? If not, what needs to change?
Are there particular areas of policy you’re interested in, like education, healthcare, or the environment?
It might not be your case, but most teachers, including myself, do not dedicate enough time to practise writing in class. And this needs to be fixed because students may simply get better if given the right guidance and enough practice. However, I think it’s crucial that we ask them to reflect on their errors and then, ask them to make the necessary corrections, rather than just correcting them ourselves.
This exercise you are about to read is fun, creative, and collaborative; it gets students out of their seats but most importantly, gives them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and fix fossilized errors.
On Fossilized Errors
Fossilized errors are persistent mistakes that students make despite repeated correction. You know what I am talking about, don’t you? While teachers play an important role in identifying and correcting these errors, it is imperative for students to take ownership and conscientiously analyse and rectify their errors; that’s, in my experience, the most effective way to eliminate them. If you ask me and generally speaking, when students are given a composition with corrected errors, they just have a quick look at them, but they don’t truly reflect on their mistake and then, inevitably, they are bound to make the same mistake over and over again.
IMPORTANT:For this activity, I have used a classroom that has several small whiteboards on the walls. I am not going to deny that using these whiteboards is more appealing, but what if you don’t have these cute whiteboards? No problem, it will work just the same with A3 or A4 paper (the bigger, the better)
Step by Step
STEP 1: FORMING PAIRS AND GETTING A STORY STARTER
Pair up students.
Display the visual below and explain that the boxes contain different story starters. Ask pairs to choose a box. The sentence inside the box will be the beginning of their story. All pairs must choose a different box, meaning they will all have different beginnings.
I have asked each pair of students to stand next to a board (alternatively, as explained, a A3 or A4 sheet of paper ) and write the beginning of their story.
Give students about 5/6 minutes to continue the story in any way they fancy.
STEP 2: ADDING A RANDOM PROMPT AND A CONNECTOR OF CONTRAST
After approx 5 minutes, draw students’ attention and ask a volunteer for the whole class to
choose a box from the exercise below. Pairs will have to continue the story, incorporating the prompt in the box. Right after opening the box with the prompt,
click on the wheel (fed with connectors of contrast and purpose and some verbs) and ask them to continue the story using the connector/verb randomly picked in the wheel.
Give students 5 or 6 minutes to continue the story.
How many times have I repeated Step 2?
I have repeated this procedure three times (i.e. three prompts+ three connectors). Make sure you tell them when they need to finish their stories.
Step 3. Giving students Feedback on their Writing
Give students something to do while you quickly underline the mistakes in their writings. Keywords here: underline their mistakes. I don’t correct them, I underline them. This is vital if you want students to get rid of errors.
Step 4. Students correct their mistakes
Ask students to stand up in their pairs and comment, reflect and try to fix the underlined mistakes.
Important: I ask them not to delete the original text so that I can have it as a reference.
Step 5. Quickly give feedback on their corrections
Step 6. Students vote for the best story
Student stand up again, read their classmates’ stories, and individually vote for the best. They do it by drawing a heart next to the story they like best.
My favourite way to start a lesson is by involving all my students in an activity that helps them revise previous content.
I usually like to engage my students in a fun activity, most of the time teacher-guided, and that will require their attention and active participation. It can be quite challenging, though, because my classes start at 3 pm, right after lunch, and most of them are feeling pretty full and sluggish. (Side note: I live in Spain.)
For this activity, we will complete a crossword using clues related to work vocabulary, but this game can be easily tailored to any vocabulary or level of difficulty. So, if you are looking for a fun and engaging way to test your students’ vocabulary and teamwork skills, you’ll love this game.
As expected, being a technology enthusiast, I have used a digital tool to design a crossword that is completely adapted to the vocabulary I have taught my students.
Crossword game
Teacher-paced
Topic: Work
Level: B2+
How to play
The rules of the game are:
Divide the class into two groups, with each group choosing a representative.
A coin flip will determine which team starts the game.
The active team will select a number, and the corresponding definition will be read out loud.
The active team has 10 seconds to provide an answer, which will be given by their representative. If the answer is correct, the team can keep playing. Yes, they keep on playing.
If the team cannot provide an answer or makes a mistake within the time limit, the other team will take their turn.
The game is won by the team that correctly answers the final question.
Note:Click on the red arrows in the top right corner to enlarge the crossword.
I can’t. I couldn’t resist the temptation of using this song in class. I know you have heard it everywhere, as it has become a global hit in just a few days. And as it turns out, it is also in my English class.
How can I incorporate the song into my lesson plan in a way that goes beyond just a fill-in-the-blank exercise? Easy. We are going to do an activity that combines some of my favourite ingredients:
A touch of technology
A game-like speaking activity
Singing? if not singing, lip-syncing.
STEP 1. Before the game: working on form
Show students the lyrics with the gaps and ask them to predict the lexical category or part of speech that could fit each of the 10 gaps in the song: is it a noun, an adjective, a preposition or maybe an article? Allow a couple of minutes for this task. You might want to show an example.
For example, I wrote a letter___ my mother (students will most likely agree, they’ll need a preposition to fill in this gap)
STEP 2: Defining and Guessing
Hide the gapped text. To begin the activity, the text will be hidden from the students’ view.
Students will work in pairs. Student A will face the board. Student B will face away and write on his/her notebook numbers 1 -10 (there are 10 gaps/words to be guessed)
Tell students you’ll write the missing words on the board in random order, but each of the words will be identified with a number.
Write the first of the missing words in the cloze on the board, and ask student A to define the word, or give a synonym or antonym for student B to guess and write down. For example, if the word on the board is “1. wrote”, Student A might say, “number 1 is a verb in the past, and you use a pen or a pencil to do it”. If Student B guesses the word, he will write in his notebook, next to number 1 wrote. If he cannot guess the word in the allotted time, he will write 1-___.
Tell students you’ll write a new word every 30 seconds.
Continue in the same way until you have written all the missing words on the board. Remember that the words should be written in random order.
STEP 3: Fill-in the Gaps Race.
Once they have all the words, Students A and B will work together to complete the gapped test.
Place a bell on your table. The first pair to complete the task ( i.e. putting the words in the right order to complete the lyrics of the song) rushes to the teacher’s desk. The teacher checks that the exercise is correct and if it is, they ring the bell on your table (well, if you have a bell to ring). From that moment, the rest of the class will have one minute to finish the exercise.
STEP 3: Singing or lip-syncing
Yes. If some students need a pit of persuading, tell them it is a very good exercise to improve pronunciation.
STEP 4: Conversation questions. We talk a bit now.
Can you describe a time when you experienced a heartbreak?
How did you cope with the feelings of heartbreak?
Have you ever helped a friend through a heartbreak? How did you support them?
