Activity Games

[Harry Palmer]

Materials: Flashcards of simple actions e.g.

Jump, run, hop, skip, crawl, stop, sit, stand... etc.

Pre-teach the commands using flashcards and gestures.

Group the students in a circle.

Have the students follow you copying the actions that you do. Eventually the students will not be following you but that's ok.

Once students appear tired, have them sit down and do a wind down activity.

PS - works best with kids but hey, the grown-ups might get to enjoy it!

[igotworms]

Listening Exercise:

Pick a good song that has clear and easy lyrics (i.e. Hey Jude, Island in the sun (Weezer), the ring of fire (Johnny Cash)) and find the correct lyrics (google). Remove 5 to 10 words from lyric sheet and leave an open space in place of the missing word. Have the students listen to the song (3 times max) and fill in the missing words. Don't worry if everybody can't complete the exercise. Go over the lyrics worksheet as a group to take up the answers. When completed sing it together!

The kids that I have taught really love "Island in the Sun" by Weezer.

extra....Have the students answer questions about the song:

i.e.

What is the song about?

Draw a picture of what the song means to you.

etc., etc.

[Neeranam]

Materials: Flashcards of simple actions e.g.

Jump, run, hop, skip, crawl, stop, sit, stand... etc.

Pre-teach the commands using flashcards and gestures.

Group the students in a circle.

Have the students follow you copying the actions that you do. Eventually the students will not be following you but that's ok.

Once students appear tired, have them sit down and do a wind down activity.

PS - works best with kids but hey, the grown-ups might get to enjoy it!

This looks very good.

Is this also on your web site?

[Harry Palmer]

i read many posts from ELT's asking for help with ideas & materials on forums such as these...

i suggest that spending 30 minutes or so on the internet, perhaps using google, will throw up hundreds of really good sites that provide an ELT with more than he/she could ever possibly use...

[NoAjarn]

Making answering exercises more interesting.

Materials: two large dice

When asking students the answers to exercises, divide the class into two or more teams (depending on the number of students)

One team rolls the two dice and whichever number it falls on, e.g. 6, they ask the opposing team what the answer to that question is. e.g. "What's the answer to number six?"

If it is answered correctly then they win a point. If wrongly answered, then the opposing team gains a point.

[NoAjarn]

heres a nice lesson plan

nit is from Thailand. She lives in a small shack in Nakon nowhere with her mother father 8 brothers and 4 sisters and 3 buffalos.

Nits mother is called lek.

Tomorrow is a big day for nit. She is going to the airport. She is flying to

London. She will stay with an English family in Wembley, West London.

lek is a little sad. She likes her daughter, but tomorrow she will have to

say goodbye, but as she glances in her bank book it all seems worthwhile.

nit is putting three books in her suitcase. lek is watching her. The

suitcase looks very heavy.

"Do you need all those books?" lek asks.

"Yes, mummy! The yellow book is a Thai English dictionary and the red

one is a Tourist Guide to London for all the hotspots."

"But do you need that big, black book?"

"Yes, of course, mummy! The black book's very important. It's about

children. My English family has two young children and I'm going to look

after them, the family made me read it after i was feeding their children fried insects, they said it may benifit me in the future."

nit is very interested in children. Last year, she studied Psychology from some comic books she bought at a second hand stall

. lek likes children too,mainly fried, but she does not know about Psychology.

"But, nit ... the black book's in english! It's about english children!"

"No, mummy! It's about European children. We're all Europeans now! My

psychology comics are international!"

"I don't know about psychology, but I know about you. You're my child.

You've got Thai culture and habits."

"What do you mean, mummy?"

"I mean that you have a barely got an education, you like good food, like fried mice and road kill you have

lunch at 3 p.m. and dinner at 10 p.m. You like sun and you don't like rain.

British children are different!"

lek knows about good food and good weather. She works with her friend at the local karoke

in a food shop in a very sunny street in nakon nowhere. The shop's name is L'alkhia Bienestar Integral.

Their project is to sell organic food and natural products to improve public health and to protect the environment.

lek is sad that her daughter nit is leaving, but she has a lot of work to do in the shop that she just paid for out of the proceeds of this deal.

[NoAjarn]

ok the next lesson plan, but i aint giving u lot no more freebies

We are now in a street in West London. The sky is very dark and it is raining.

This is nit's big day. Her first day in England.

nit is getting out of a London taxi. The taxi driver is carrying a very heavy

suitcase. They walk through the rain to the front door of a big Victorian house.

A small girl opens the door. She is four years old. Her brother is standing

behind her. He is only two years old. One minute later, a young woman comes

to the door.

"Welcome to Wembley!", she says and she offers nit her hand. "These are

my two children, damien and damien1."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs Frost!" says nit with a strong thai accent.

The two children run back into the living-room screaming.

"Don't worry about them! They're a little shy. And please call me Diana!

Now let me show you your room and then we can have a nice cup of tea. Or

would you prefer coffee?"

"I'd like to try a cup of English tea, made in England."

"This is your bedroom. There's a nice view of the football stadium and here's

a little desk where you can study. The bathroom and toilet are just opposite

your door but we would prefer it if you just used the big oil drum in the back garden for washing, and also the apple tree needs some ferterliser. Now I'll just go and put the kettle on."

"Excuse me. What's a kettle?"

"In England, we use a kettle to make hot water. We can then put the hot water

in a teapot or use it to make instant coffee.but we have lots of old dead branches so u can do your cooking in the garden after you have cleared up the snow"

nit is happy with her new home, but she is thinking about her mother's

opinions. Perhaps lek is right. The British are not normal people. They do

not kiss when they meet and they live in large Victorian palaces. Their favourite

drink is tea and they use strange metal kettles to make the water hot. What is

she going to say to damien and damien1? How can she make friends with two monstrous obnoxious

shy English children? Perhaps the answer is in the big, black psychology book.

[Harry Palmer]

those are some really quite interesting ideas for lesson plans dear boy, so nice in fact that i'm going to award you a gold star , enjoy it, perhaps hang it over your bed...

i would however suggest that we have a separate thread for lesson planning, what do you think phil?

[NoAjarn]

i got some great lesson plans me old ginger nut

[NoAjarn]

nits first trip to soho and her first two 50 pound notes is a blinder.

nit does paris is also quite an emotional lesson plan.

leks buffalo dies so she phones nit,

yep i got lesson plans coming out of me ears...

[Harry Palmer]

i love em' & agree... so start another thread... we need more threads else phil ain't got nuffing to mod

[paulfr]

You guys are hilarious !!!!!

ROTFLOL

Abbott and Costello, move over.

But doesn't this belong in the Humor section ??

[Ijustwannateach]

I'm surprised they haven't already mentioned the "learning body parts with Noy" activity, considering these two.

Paulf, on Ajarn we didn't take ourselves too seriously, so you'd mix the humorous in. After all, we're teaching in Thailand- how seriously could we take it without losing our minds?

"Steven"

[Harry Palmer]

because i play a variety of string instruments i really do love activities that involve a musical element, especially when i can join in, as i often do. one of my favourites is to get the students to sing songs whilst i accompany them on my ukulele...

a particular favourite of mine is a colors song...

The Rainbow Colors Song

Red

and orange

and green

and blue

shiny yellow

purple, too

all the colors that you know

live up in the rainbow...

etc...

[Rhys]

This is a basic reward and point system plan....The Thai students love games.. during at the half way point in the semester.. Let the kids start talking to you..

All students are required to talk with the teacher during office hours.. off campus.....ngahh...

Questions are topics that have been covered during the first part the semester.

A = 1000 points

B = 800 ....

Everytime they come a talk to you give them points... 5 - 100.

Also pairs work..well.

For the repeaters.. make it fun.. The bag of chance..

The kids have learned the request forms.. May I, Can I, Could I.... and for their friends.. Can he,,, Can She.. and end with PLEASE..

After a while... 5 points.. in not enough.....so they are ready for the big time.

May I have 500 points, please.... NEXT, Whip out the bag of chance... Show a 500 point ticket.. and a MINUS 500 point ticket.. OOOOOOOOO Let them choose..

The little game will give plenty of natural opportunites to speak English for the kids.

I usually have a grid of questions ready... A set of 5..

What did you eat yesterday, at 6 pm tonight where will you go..

Break them of the nasty habit of the present simple for everything..

Actually, it is a varation of other projects.. but adaptation is key... Then sit back and watch the line form by your office door.. REALLY..

[Harry Palmer]

some excellent ideas here chaps (apart from that noajarn beatnik), lets keep em' coming... the eyes of the forum are upon us...