Short, Shorter, Shortest

I have decided to prepare a short post on very short activities that I have used (and recycled) recently in my classes.

You can use these activities …

… to warm your students

… as a cooler

… if you have only 5 minutes left at the end of the lesson and do not want to start any new textbook material

… to recycle specific language areas and topics

…  to activate your students

… to show your students English is fun!

… and for many other reasons.

Call my bluff

Students (or e.g. fast finishers) look up a word in a monolingual /English only/ dictionary. It should be a word they think the other students won´t know. They prepare three definitions of the word, only one of which is true. Then they present all the definitions to the class and others decide which is the correct defnition. It is a good way to make your students like monolingual dictionaries J

• Which words have your students learned this way?

Things, People, Topics …

Quickly prepare cards with different categories or topics, e.g. things which are bigger than an elephant, people who wear uniforms, things people usually dislike, animals which have four legs …

Distribute one card to each student. They cannot show the card to their partner. Their first task is to write about five words that match the category/the topic. Then they read the list of things to their partner.  B has to guess the name of the category or topic. E.g. snake, cactus, camel, sun – desert.

• Can you share some other topic areas with us?

Rhymes

Each students is given a word card and asked to think of a word that rhymes with the word on it. E.g. your card reads “mess”. You say: “The word on my card rhymes with /guess/”. Other students in the group have to discover what the original word is, but they have to ask questions only, e.g. “Is it something women wear?” “No, it isn´t a dress”. “Is it something people who work as managers feel?” “No, it isn´t stress.” …

• By the way, which words are good starters?

Changing sentences

Choose one sentence from a text you have read or for example a grammar exercise you have done. Write the sentence on the board.

Ss come to the board one by one. They can change one word at a time, but the grammatical structure must be correct.

• Can you share the original and the final sentence with us? Was it difficult for your students?

Write down as many words as you can

Students have 1 or 2 minutes to write down as many words as they can which melt/which are green/which people collect, which are dangerous …

• Which categories based on your coursework have you come up with?

Personal Bingo

Prepare a bingo sheet (3 x 3 grid). Add personal questions or prompts or let students fill it in themselves. You can make them use certain structures, e.g. If .. If you found a wallet, would you return it to the police? Or present perfect: Have you drunk three cups of coffee today?

 Ss mingle and ask questions. When someone answers yes, they write down their name. When they get 3 acroos, diagonally or down, they shout bingo.

• Can you share your bingo sheets with us?

Mime an action

We all know the activity based on miming words, collocations, phrasal verbs, verbs. Have you ever asked your students to mime full sentences e.g. from a grammarbank or a serious gapfill exercise?

E.g. I wish I was taller. I wish you had told me the truth. I wish I hadn´t bought those shoes.

It is an interesting way to recycle the target language and since the students have just done the sentences in a series of controlled grammar exercises, the task is both fun and manageable.

• Which exercises/sentences have you selected to challenge your students?

Hidden sentence

Two students come and sit at the front of the class. Each student is given a sentence on a card. They do not show their sentences to each other. They start a conversation (you can give them a topic if you wish). They have to guide the conversation in such a way that they can use the sentence on their card. Other students listen and try to guess the hidden setnences.

I use functional language phrases or phrases from the listening material (tapescript), e.g. I´m sorry to hear that. What was it like? Is there anything you´d like to try? And did you? That´s amazing.

• Have your students managed to use it? What about the rest of the class? Were they listening “actively”?

Things in common

Students work in pairs. They talk to one another. They have only 3 minutes to find out 10 things they have in common. They cannot include things which are “visible”. The list must be based on questioning. You can of course play the game in 1-2-1 class as well.

•  What was the most interesting thing you learned about your student this way?

Liar, liar

Students prepare a list of questions, e.g. practising a given structure. They work in pairs and ask each other the questions. The partner has to answer YES whatever the truth is and develop the answers including more detail.

• What was the funniest question you heard? Have you taught your students it is PERMITTED to lie in their language class?

Picture memory

Choose a picture from a book. Students have one minute to study the picture. Then they close the book and describe it either in speech or writing.

• At what stage of the lesson did you use the activity?

Let´s spread rumour

Each student thinks of a simple tale (Who? When? Where? What? Why?). You can help them with a picture from a book/a newspaper. They tell it to their neighbour who adds new details and then retells it to another student, and so on.

• What about the final story? Was it fun? Did you “record” it? Did you write it down and display in the classroom?
• How did you prompt your students?

Two true, one false

You all know an icebreaker based on preparing three personal sentences about yourself; one lie, two true sentences. What about personalizing grammar? Students must use specific grammatical structure you want them to revise. E.g. verbs + ing forms. I am good at mathematics. I am mad about blogging. I like ironing.

• Which three sentences have you prepared about yourself to explain the activity to your students.

Let me know which activities you have tried and how you have modified them.

Have a nice “short activity” week.

Katka