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Posts Tagged ‘discussions’

12 minute Relative Clauses Revision Activity (int. +)

By Simon Thomas • Oct 19th, 2008 • Category: Creating Lessons from Scratch

 
Note: I came up with this simple activity today. It should take about 12 minutes or so, and leads naturally into an interview-style lesson.
Materials: Whiteboard and pens.
Preparation: None.
Procedure:

Board the following, in two columns:

The place
The person
The food
The country
The animal

I’d most [...]



Speaking/Writing: Lists with a Twist (30 minutes or so)

By Simon Thomas • Sep 28th, 2008 • Category: Creating Lessons from Scratch

Note: I THINK this idea is my own; the seeds for this game come from Keep Talking by Friederike Klippel, and my own boredom with conventional "list" games (wherein students individually order a pre-defined list and then compare preferences, trying to agree a final order), which I believe are a little over-used in the EFL [...]



Speaking: Circles Coursebook Topic Discussion

By Simon Thomas • Sep 28th, 2008 • Category: Using Coursebooks Creatively

Note: I found a close relation to this activity in 700 Classroom Activities by David Seymour and Maria Popova (Oxford: Macmillan, 2005)
Preparation: A coursebook topic title; some questions. Lesson:

Ask the students to help you push any classroom tables back against the walls.
Group the students into two circles: an inner circle facing outwards, and an [...]



50 Minute Interview Lesson

By Simon Thomas • Sep 28th, 2008 • Category: Creating Lessons from Scratch

Note: this idea comes from Jackie Jays, courtesy of the smokers’ corner at St Giles London Central. It’s a really good one to use with new classes, or old classes with a new teacher.
Preparation: None.
Materials: whiteboard; enough whiteboard pens for each group of 3 to 4 students.
Procedure:

Tell your students that today they can ask [...]