Hello everyone,
I am supposed to make a presentation to my colleagues on interesting classroom activities. I am in urgent need of some ideas. My main activity is using madlibs, but I need more. By the way, I live in Turkey and teach English as a second language. I teach primary school kids but the ideas can also be applicable to middle school students. I want to introduce different games or activities other teachers can play with their students when they teach grammar and the four skills. It would be very nice if these activities are not much heard of. Thanks already.
interesting classroom activities
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EnglishRaven has a very unique way of teaching grammar and structure through a golf game he designed www.englishraven.com/cardgame_grammargolf.html This site requires membership but you can look at the information on the activity for free.
I have some games that I use to teach various grammar points www.mes-english.com (see Eigomon, Big Town, Treasure Island and Bombs Away) There is also a section about using Bingo with young learners www.mes-english.com/flashcards/bingo.htm
There is a games and activities section here at Dave's ESLcafe which is a very useful resource www.eslcafe.com/ideas/sefer.cgi?Games
I'll try to post mre when I have more time. Sorry, gotta run.
Mark
I have some games that I use to teach various grammar points www.mes-english.com (see Eigomon, Big Town, Treasure Island and Bombs Away) There is also a section about using Bingo with young learners www.mes-english.com/flashcards/bingo.htm
There is a games and activities section here at Dave's ESLcafe which is a very useful resource www.eslcafe.com/ideas/sefer.cgi?Games
I'll try to post mre when I have more time. Sorry, gotta run.
Mark
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joshua2004
- Posts: 264
- Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2004 7:08 pm
- Location: Torreon, Mexico
I found the most wanted activities are ones that involve interesting materials. For instance, movies, songs, poems, but also drawing. I am trying to learn how to do plays in the classroom and think it will be a very useful and fun activity.
Songs can be used by creating "cloze" worksheets and then playing the song a few times. Then let students check their answers with each other. I like to provide the words that were taken out at the bottom of the sheet, so students can correct for themselves.
For movies, I show 20 minutes of a popular movie that has lots of physical comedy or action. This way the dialogue is less and students can follow the movie even if they don't understand all the words. I am watching "Home Alone" right now and its working great for my intermediate middle school students.
When the students finish watching the twenty minute section, I have them write 10 complete sentences. I might also add that they need a minimum of 10 words per sentence.
When the movie is over I will have them write a one page summary of the movie from their notes. I will also give them a short answer comprehension quiz of about 5 questions. I grade them off a method I described in the applied linguistics forum under "grading short answer questions and essays"
I also have an interesting prepositional phrase activity that involves students drawing what I tell them. I am going to copy and paste it here:
Are you an artist?
Instructions: On the blackboard or on a piece of paper, draw a large rectangle. Draw a line in the center of the rectangle representing the horizon. Now follow instructions:
1. It’s 6 o’clock in the evening. Draw the sun on the horizon.
2. There are many birds in the sky. Draw 3 or 4 birds
3. We can see many clouds. Draw two or three clouds in the sky.
4. In the center is the house of your grandparents. Draw a house with a door and windows.
5. In front of the house there are flowers and grass. Draw the grass and many beautiful flowers.
6. Now draw a huge tree next to the house.
7. Your grandparents have lots of animals. Draw one dog next to the tree; one pig in front the tree; a cat on top of the house; and one cow and one chicken between the tree and the house.
8. In the distance we see a lake or a river. Draw a small lake or river very far from the house.
9. Now write the name of the artist inside of the drawing, and the price underneath the drawing.
Switch papers with someone next to you and check to see if they got it right.
Show the students a completed correct picture, draw it for them, or have a student draw it on the board.
Songs can be used by creating "cloze" worksheets and then playing the song a few times. Then let students check their answers with each other. I like to provide the words that were taken out at the bottom of the sheet, so students can correct for themselves.
For movies, I show 20 minutes of a popular movie that has lots of physical comedy or action. This way the dialogue is less and students can follow the movie even if they don't understand all the words. I am watching "Home Alone" right now and its working great for my intermediate middle school students.
When the students finish watching the twenty minute section, I have them write 10 complete sentences. I might also add that they need a minimum of 10 words per sentence.
When the movie is over I will have them write a one page summary of the movie from their notes. I will also give them a short answer comprehension quiz of about 5 questions. I grade them off a method I described in the applied linguistics forum under "grading short answer questions and essays"
I also have an interesting prepositional phrase activity that involves students drawing what I tell them. I am going to copy and paste it here:
Are you an artist?
Instructions: On the blackboard or on a piece of paper, draw a large rectangle. Draw a line in the center of the rectangle representing the horizon. Now follow instructions:
1. It’s 6 o’clock in the evening. Draw the sun on the horizon.
2. There are many birds in the sky. Draw 3 or 4 birds
3. We can see many clouds. Draw two or three clouds in the sky.
4. In the center is the house of your grandparents. Draw a house with a door and windows.
5. In front of the house there are flowers and grass. Draw the grass and many beautiful flowers.
6. Now draw a huge tree next to the house.
7. Your grandparents have lots of animals. Draw one dog next to the tree; one pig in front the tree; a cat on top of the house; and one cow and one chicken between the tree and the house.
8. In the distance we see a lake or a river. Draw a small lake or river very far from the house.
9. Now write the name of the artist inside of the drawing, and the price underneath the drawing.
Switch papers with someone next to you and check to see if they got it right.
Show the students a completed correct picture, draw it for them, or have a student draw it on the board.