Pelmanism: a card game in which matching pairs must be selected from memory from cards laid face down. Here is my tweaked version of it. Give your students some scrap paper and ask them to cut out cards. On each card they must write down a word or an expression that they have seen in class that is both challenging and interesting to know and … Continue reading pelmanism (with a twist)
I typically kick off my lessons with a vocabulary review activity followed by a communicative goal to put the revised language into practice. As a big fan of dictations, I decided to try this activity out with my class of Upper-Intermediate students. A couple of days before they had completed an activity from the textbook (expressions with take). There was a list of 6 expressions … Continue reading phrasal verbs 4
If I was in Boston and you were in Washington DC, where could we meet halfway? A good meeting point would be New York. If I want to sell my bike for 60 euros and you offer 20, where do we meet halfway? The bike is yours for 40 euros. But what if I say “exhausted” and you say “rush”? Where can we meet halfway? … Continue reading meet me halfway
I am a big fan of Padlet and similar web-based noticeboards. Basically these digital noticeboards allow users to place text, images, upload and embed videos or audio recordings and do team work on a given noticeboard. There are many tutorials on the Internet on how to use Padlet. I have my own but I’d rather not share here as you can find more updated ones … Continue reading Padlet: practical use #295
Linguist David Wilkins wrote in 1972: “Without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. Memorizing vocabulary is paramount to language competence and keeping vocabulary lists is a good way to consolidate it and provide spaced encounters and repetition. In this post, I will try to give you a few tips on how to keep vocabulary lists that you may want to … Continue reading vocabulary lists
This activity revises phrasal verbs students are familiar with. It implies a bit of imagination or drawing skills (or both) in addition to language competence. Select about 10 phrasal verbs you would like to revise with your students. I will be using this list as an example for an Upper-Intermediate class. You will be using your own. run after: chase (police running after a thief) … Continue reading phrasal verbs 1
This zero preparation activity requires no materials either, so you might feel relieved there is no need to have a set of chainsaws or to juggle for that matter. A few days ago I happened to be working on a double-page spread from the adopted textbook headed “Are you a risk taker?” So before diving into the textbook material, I decided to give my students … Continue reading chainsaw juggler
