To me (as a teacher), 1 hour classes pose a challenge because they are too short!! Just when you get warmed up and really going, it's time for
class to end! I'd much rather have three 1.5 or 2 hour classes per
week than five 1 hour classes; if an activity goes on longer than you expect, the time frame will allow it and you don’t have the awkwardness of rekindling the energy the next day to finish the task....But five 1
hour classes is what you were given, and you CAN make it work. If
you’re worried about it being too much of the same for the students, I
would say from a student’s point of view, they're more likely to hold
their interest with the 1 X 5 timeframe. Look at it this way: it's like just
having a little “taste” of class every day. 1 hour seems less threatening
to a student, so they're more likely to feel refreshed by the class and
looking forward to it the next day.
I wonder if you have already started the class? Because, for me, what
seemed like a long class session to fill often turned into not enough
, once I got into the class. It also might be helpful if you could
list the 4 themes you thought of here. People here can help you come up with more themes - there are plenty of themes out there, you just need to be reminded of them! You can also check out ESL books (if you have access where you are) for ideas for themes - it doesn't have to be a a conversation book either; many grammar and writing and reading books are organized this way and it may give you some ideas, even if you can't use all of the actual material in the book.
I do think you need to have some themes in mind, but I don't think filling class time is so much about having lots and lots of themes as it is learning to S-T-R-E-T-C-H them, that is, milk each to its fullest. I think you could do a combination of what you listed: have a theme each week or so
and devote a day or two to a different acitvity on the theme. Pronunciation lessons can sometimes be geared toward a theme. For example, a reading/discussion/listening activity on interviews (job interview, celebrity interview, etc.) could be combined with pronunciation lessons on intonation and pitch of statements vs. various types of questions, or perhaps emphasis of key words. Sometimes there isn't a clear pronunciation topic that will go with the theme you’ve chosen, so in that case you can pick whatever you want and just make the practice of the pronunciation point about the theme ( so the example words and sentences the students practice to master the point are related to the theme. ) That's usually enough to relate the pronunciation to the theme in the students' mind. I wouldn’t discount grammar as a possible short activity in a conversation class either; a short lesson and oral or even written drill work on a structure that seems relevant to the theme (e.g. question forming for interviews) or a structure that was seen in a reading the students have to do before discussion is very helpful and usually appreciated by students, especially if it's a structure that will prove useful as they are discussing the theme for the week. I've found that the term "game" has a broad meaning in the ESL world, but I would think that games should (in general) not be “random” games for Wednesdays, but built into whatever you're doing if possible so, for example, a pronunciation game (There’s a book by that name if you 're interested) that practices what they learned that week, a vocabulary game with the words they learned (lots of options on that one), a grammar game with the grammar point you highlighted that week, a review game based on material from the past month, etc.. There are some general games you can learn as a teacher that can be adapted to a variety of different teaching areas and lessons.
Getting back to the idea of S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G, you just have to think about every possible thing that can be done with a topic and activity. Break themes down into subtopics. Identify skills that can be learned (asking for information, keeping a conversation going, asking for clarification, introducing oneself, good oral presentation skills, etc..) Identify vocabulary and grammar and pronunciation points that are useful for the theme. Incorporate some kind of short structured practice after every subpoint you teach. (And put it all together at the end with a less structured application activity like a skit, presentation, or focused discussion.) Find a reading or two
and a listening about each theme. Incorporate pair and small group discussion, as well as whole class discussion, after each reading or listening. Give students questions to answer after each listening or reading. Give them questions that require factual answers and some that require creative answers. For some activities, have them report their answers to the class or write up a report or make an illustration for other students to look at. Occasionally work with students on how to use the new words you’re giving them in sentences (time consuming and difficult but more effective than just giving them the words and definitions). And the list goes on. You can do these things with every theme. It would probably take me
at least two weeks (10 hours) to complete a theme if I were stretching it in this way. If the theme is interesting enough and you vary the activities enough, I doubt it will get boring. A medium length reading and discussion alone would probably take me two hours because there is so much to pull from this and students need time to answer questions and express their opinions.
Stretching the themes is really the answer ,I think, and means you will be able to fill class time without the "fluff" that teachers rely on when they can't think of anything else. But if you have trouble s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g at some point and are desperate to fill some class time, there are some tried –and- true activities (not meaningless fluff if you relate them to the theme) that by their nature take up A LOT of class time. You can use these (see below) when you're desperate. I would resist the temptation to on a regular basis do things like spend longer than 10 minutes defining words for students. I think we often want to do that in particular because we think it will help pass the class time and is useful for students, but really, if you think about it, this is not
usually a productive use of time, especially when there are other "time killers" that are much more interesting and actually develop students' skills. (I mean, instead of telling students what each and every word means and taking the time for everyone to write it all down, you can print the definitions for them on a handout, or if you don’t want to do that, students can look up words in the dictionary on their own time at home. If they don’t want homework, have them divide up the task amongst themselves)
Anyway, Here's my list of "time killers" that are also fun for students and useful for building skills:
* Students plan a skit in class and present it. (You can kill loads time with that one
) Dialogues, commercials, etc.
* Individual Student presentations (speeches). These can be really fun for students. Even low intermediate students can do this if you make it doable for them and give them lots of instruction on how to do it, plenty of prep time, and chances to get individual help from you and classmates. How to…, opinion speeches, stories, personal experiences, teaching a new word, show and tell, etc.
* Debates (For low level students, there would have to be a lot of prep for this and the debate would have to be very structured for them to be able to handle this, but it's possible. Group debates with two teams are great for lower levels.
* Interviews (students interview each other on an interesting topic, not just: who are you?)
*Taping sessions (take students outside to tape them speaking)
* Teacher-Student Conferences
* Brainstorming activities
Good luck!
