Board games, especially the classic version of tossing a coin and then answering the question in the square you land on, have been the saving of many a tired teacher or bored class over the years, so much so that the students might have had one from each teacher for several years or teachers might lose track of the language aims of using such games. The variations below are meant to add language and interest so that board games really can be useful time and (more…)
How important do you rank these things?
Can it happen only once, or will it be interesting to do the task multiple times with slight changes (e.g., new groupings, new “topic”, etc.). Repetition allows for rehearsal, refinement, confidence building, and (more…)
1. Likes and dislikes mimes
Students mime whole sentences about likes and dislikes, e.g. miming “I hate tea” by showing picking up a cup from a saucer, sipping, and looking disgusted and maybe spitting it out. The game can be personalized by students only being given a single word or picture clue and miming their own reaction to it.
2. Likes and dislikes Pictionary
The same language and cards as are used for Likes and Dislikes Mimes above can be used if (more…)
Using English and avoiding L1 for instruction language and common questions in the classroom is absolutely vital if you want students to use English every day and realise that what you are teaching them is relevant to their lives. Below are 15 games to practise this kind of useful (more…)
“Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.” Martin Fraquhar Tupper
As a teacher trainer one of my ongoing issues in pre-service courses is with teacher talking time - how much is coming out of the teacher’s mouth, the proportion of time the teacher is talking vs. the students, and how to get this ratio as high as possible in the students’ favour. (more…)
There is often fierce debate about the relative merits of Teacher Talking Time (TTT) and Student Talking Time (STT) in the classroom. Although TTT has its place in providing a model for students, it is clear that the principal objective of most students is to be able to use English verbally, ie talk as well as listen. And it is equally clear that without the opportunity to practise unaided talking (more…)
