If you want to get some extra language practice out of just one sentence (taken from the coursebook, a handout, or even from the student's own work), try some of these short activities.
1> Write the sentence up on the board. Then call on students to come up and change 1, 2 or 3 words.
2> Write the sentence up on the board. Tell your class to choose three words out of the sentence, and make a new sentence with them, one that relates to them personally. Call on a few students to read out their sentences.
3> Dictate all the words in the sentence in scrambled order. Have students try to write the correct sentence. Get a volunteer to write the correct sentence on the board.
4> Write the sentence up on the board, then erase all but the first letters of each word. Then get students to write a new sentence in which the first letters of every word are the same as the original sentence.
5> Dictate a sentence to the class. Tell them to rewrite the sentence, changing as many words as possible, but keeping the meaning as close to the original as possible.
6> Write the sentence up on the board. Tell your students to make as many short sentences as they can using only the information in the original sentence.
7> Write the sentence up on the board. Tell your students to create as many questions as they can based on the sentence.
8> Write the sentence up on the board. Give students cards with words and phrases such as EVERY DAY, TOMORROW, and RIGHT NOW. Tell each student with a card to read the sentence again, and add the word/phrase on the card, changing verb tenses where appropriate.
9> Write the sentence up on the board in big letters with spaces between each word. Put an arrow in one of the spaces, and call on students to suggest words that could fit there. Do the same with the other spaces. Allow students to point out the spaces where NO words will fit.
10> Write the sentence up on the board. Have students create a sentence that could logically follow the one you wrote.
Do you have any other ideas? If so, post them here so we can all learn from each other.
If you are looking for more teaching ideas, try out this site:
http://www.geocities.com/allhou/lessgames.htm
10 quick ways to use a sentence
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2
Here are 3 more ideas for using a sentence:
11> Record a short dialogue in which the sentence you have chosen appears. The dialogue should be very different from the original context in which it appeared. Play the dialogue for the students, and ask them to guess which sentence came from the book.
12> Write the sentence on a card. Ask for a volunteer to come to the front of the class. Show the volunteer the sentence. The volunteer should mime the sentence and the rest of the class must guess what the sentence is.
13> Ask students to turn to the page in their book where the sentence appears. Describe the sentence in grammatical terms "this sentence has 3 nouns, 2 articles, 1 verb, and 1 conjunction. The verb is in the present progressive tense." Ask students to find the sentence based on the description. Follow-up: students write another sentence that matches the grammatical description.
11> Record a short dialogue in which the sentence you have chosen appears. The dialogue should be very different from the original context in which it appeared. Play the dialogue for the students, and ask them to guess which sentence came from the book.
12> Write the sentence on a card. Ask for a volunteer to come to the front of the class. Show the volunteer the sentence. The volunteer should mime the sentence and the rest of the class must guess what the sentence is.
13> Ask students to turn to the page in their book where the sentence appears. Describe the sentence in grammatical terms "this sentence has 3 nouns, 2 articles, 1 verb, and 1 conjunction. The verb is in the present progressive tense." Ask students to find the sentence based on the description. Follow-up: students write another sentence that matches the grammatical description.
Surrealia's idea for number 12 can be extended into the 'Hotel Receptionists Game'
1. Put students in small groups (3 or 4 per group)
2. One representative from each group comes to the teacher - they are hotel guests and the rest of their team are receptionists.
3. The guests are all shown a sentence they must communicate to reception ... however they've lost their voices and must use mime only.
Some example sentences:
I can't pay my bill because I left my wallet in a taxi yesterday.
The man from room 10 has ridden his motorcycle into the swimming pool.
The bar is too noisy so I'd like a bottle of champagne sent to my room.
I left my laptop in the gym this afternoon, and now it's gone.
4. Give the guests a minute or two to mime it as much as possible (the receptionists can ask questions but the guests can only respond with more mime).
5. When time is up, each team of receptionists tells the teacher what they think the sentence is.
6. Give each team marks out of 10 depending on how close they get.
7. Play about 6 rounds and have different players be the guest each round.
Teens and adults love this game. The team element means that nobody has to mime to the whole class (potentially very daunting for shy students).
I think I originally got the game from Wavelength elementary. It makes a great fun filler for the last 15-20 minutes of a lesson.
Brian
http://www.grammarmancomic.com
1. Put students in small groups (3 or 4 per group)
2. One representative from each group comes to the teacher - they are hotel guests and the rest of their team are receptionists.
3. The guests are all shown a sentence they must communicate to reception ... however they've lost their voices and must use mime only.
Some example sentences:
I can't pay my bill because I left my wallet in a taxi yesterday.
The man from room 10 has ridden his motorcycle into the swimming pool.
The bar is too noisy so I'd like a bottle of champagne sent to my room.
I left my laptop in the gym this afternoon, and now it's gone.
4. Give the guests a minute or two to mime it as much as possible (the receptionists can ask questions but the guests can only respond with more mime).
5. When time is up, each team of receptionists tells the teacher what they think the sentence is.
6. Give each team marks out of 10 depending on how close they get.
7. Play about 6 rounds and have different players be the guest each round.
Teens and adults love this game. The team element means that nobody has to mime to the whole class (potentially very daunting for shy students).
I think I originally got the game from Wavelength elementary. It makes a great fun filler for the last 15-20 minutes of a lesson.
Brian
http://www.grammarmancomic.com