There's two activities I like to use that can be used at any different point in the lesson.
If I want to incorporate some reading I'll do the following lesson:
Super Kids
Time: 20-30 minutes
Targets: Read, understand and speak using superlatives
Materials: Printouts of these passages for each student. Print out and show photos from Wikimedia Commons or the Guinness Book of World Records to make the activity more interesting for students.
Level: Advanced Beginner
Call on different students to read the following texts aloud. Then ask comprehension questions for each short text. Have students answer orally.
Avatar Tulsi[/b]
Avatar is from India, and he is the world's youngest scientist. He was in high school at age nine, and he was an M.Sc at age 12.
Comprehension Questions:
• How old was Avatar when he was in high school?
• Where is he from?
• How old was he when he was an M.Sc?
The lesson continues by showing photos, reading and talking about other young people who claim superlative titles. You can read the whole lesson and get the texts that I use here:
ESL Reading & Speaking Activity: Comparatives & Superlatives
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... html?cat=4
Otherwise, if I'm just introducing comparatives and superlatives I usually start by drawing some stick figures on the board and then move into an interactive group game. The game involves having the students stand in a circle and get in order by height, to find out who is the "tallest" and who is the "shortest." I think I read about this game on the ESL Cafe somewhere. You can come up with three of four things students need to get in order by, although adults may be uncomfortable with doing "oldest to youngest." If you want to get students moving, you could start with the game instead.
For anyone looking on presentation material for comparatives and superlatives you can check out this lesson:
ESL Lesson Plan: Comparatives & Superlatives
Time: 35 minutes
Targets: Comparative & Superlative Adjectives
Materials: white board & marker, practice worksheets (optionals)
Level: Advanced Beginner, children to adults
Presentation: Comparatives and Superlatives (25 minutes)
Draw two stick figures on the board, one being taller than the other. Label the first one as 5' 10" and the second as 6'. Give the two figures names, such as Adam for the first and Greg for the taller one. Write "tall" under Adam and "taller" under Greg. Say, "Greg is taller than
Adam. He is six feet tall. Adam is five feet and ten inches tall. Adam is tall, but Greg is taller."
Write "comparative adjective" on the board. Explain that comparative adjectives compare two nouns and they are usually formed by adding "-er" to the base adjective. Tall → taller.
Then draw a third, slightly taller, stick figure. Name him "Bob" and write 6'3" near the figure. Say, "What do we do when we want to compare three people or things? We must use the superlative."
Continue reading the lesson and get the text for the practice worksheet here:
ESL Lesson Plan: Comparatives & Superlatives
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... html?cat=4