SPEAKING PRACTICE ACTIVITIES

MY FAVOURITE SUBJECT

Level: Intermediate+

Aim: to practice fluency; to practice word order; to revise vocabulary

Tim: 20 minutes or more

Language skills: speaking (in variation – writing, reading)

Types of learners: auditory, kinesthetic, visual

Materials for the students: none (in variation – material needed for the presentation)

Materials for the teacher: none

Classroom management: group/pair work

Procedure:

1. Ask students what their favourite school subject is. They should give the reason, too.

2. Group students according to their answers, i.e. all chemistry lovers will form one group. If there are too many students in one group, they can break into pairs.

3. Ask them to recall what they have learnt or found interesting about a topic done recently (e.g. Climate of Southern Europe).

4. Each group prepares and presents their topic orally for the rest of the class. You are free to decide how long and thorough the presentation should be, depending on their level of English and time you have in the class.

Variation:

1. Students (the whole class, a group or a pair) can prepare the presentation of their topic in advance. Most of the students find it easier and more interesting to use pictures, maps, course books, encyclopaedias, and other resources which are easily available.

2. The teacher can write down what he/she had found interesting in students' presentations and ask them comprehension questions later.

3. The students can write comprehension questions on pieces of paper. Each group (except the presenters) takes it in turn to give answers. This can be a competition or a quiz.

Note: Advanced students can be given homework - to put in writing what they were talking about in the class or to pick another group's interesting topic and write about it.

Maja Hadzic, Belgrade, Serbia

ASK ME LATER

Level: Elementary +

Aim: to practice forming questions; to practice fluency; to practice word order; to practice vocabulary / grammar

Time: 15 minutes or more

Language skills: speaking, writing

Types of learners: auditory

Material: one blank A4 sheet of paper per group

Classroom management: in pairs / groups

Procedure:

1. Group students in fours or fives.

2. Ask one student in every group to make up a sentence imagining that it is an answer to a question (e.g. 'At the bus stop' or 'Because it was cold'.). They must keep the sentence to themselves.

2. Now in their groups each student tells his/her 'answers' and others give possible questions. They write it on a paper.

3. In their groups they come to a decision which question is the best or the most appropriate. They read it to the class.

4. Now some other student makes up an answer and the activity goes on until each student has made up one answer.

Notes

1. During the activity, the teacher monitors their work and writes down incorrect questions for later discussion.

2. You can practice some specific grammar points in this way (tell the students to use only present tense).

Maja Hadzic, Belgrade, Serbia

WHAT A SILLY THING TO SAY!

Level: Elementary +

Aim: to practice word order; to practice specific grammar points; to practice vocabulary

Time: 15 minutes or more

Language skills: speaking, writing, reading

Types of learners: auditory, visual

Material for the teacher: one blank A4 sheet of paper per group

Classroom management: in pairs / groups

Procedure:

1. Group students in fours or fives or ask them to form pairs.

2. Write this table on the board. Ask them to tell you 3 items in each of the categories. For example:

Name	Verb	(Object)	Place	Time
Bob	play	a pen	on a bus	every night
Alice	watch	a bunch of roses	in a drawer	last winter
Jane	go	trousers	under the bed	now

3. Write numbers 1,2,3 randomly next to each item.

Name	Verb	(Object)	Place	Time
Bob 2	play 2	a pen 1	on a bus 3	every night 1
Alice 3	watch 3	an armadillo 3	in/ into a drawer 1	last winter 2
Jane 1	go 1	trousers 2	in a shop 2	now 3

4. Now 3 sentences can be made:

v  Jane goes into a drawer every night. (all number 1)

v  Bob played with trousers in a shop last winter.(all number 2)

v  Alice is watching an armadillo on a bus now. (all number 3)

5. Now the students get together and make their tables. Tell them to pay attention to the concord of verb form and time preposition. One more thing they should be careful about is the necessity of an object (intransitive verbs do not have an object), but they are allowed to add prepositions if needed (e.g. play with trousers in number 2).

Variation:

1. You can add or remove categories.

2. You can practice specific grammar point in this way.

3. Students who draw well can draw a picture based on the sentence made. The other students can try to form a sentence.

Note: I noticed that this activity is useful not only when practicing specific vocabulary or grammar. It helps shy students speak their own minds, co-operate in a team, boost self-confidence. And everybody has a good hearty laugh!

Maja Hadzic, Belgrade, Serbia

A FOUR-WORD  STORY

Level: Elementary +

Aim: to revise vocabulary or grammar; to practice word order; to practice fluency

Time: 15 minutes or more

Language skills: speaking, writing, reading, listening

Types of learners: auditory, visual

Material: an A5 blank piece of paper for each group

Classroom management: group work

Procedure:

1. Divide the class into groups of four or five.

2. Give each group an A5 blank piece of paper.

3. Tell the groups to elect the student who will start the activity.

4. This student writes down an English word that first comes into his/her mind when you say 'start' (it is not association on the verb 'start', but any English word he/she can think of at that moment).

5. The student sitting to his left side writes the next word which comes into his/her mind, but which starts with the last letter of the previous word (e.g. race – elephant).

6. When each student has written a word, they prepare to tell a short story containing words from the list. Every student in the group must say at least one sentence.

Variations

1. Depending on the level of knowledge of the class, you can have students write a story or use the words from the list in their story in alphabetical or some other exact order.

2. You can give points (e.g. one point for every word). Students' attention is at a high level here, because they all have different words, thus different stories. What's more, advanced students tend to make their stories funny, so you can all have a good laugh!

3. When the group tells their story, other students try to guess what were the four initial words.

Notes

Students can revise some grammar points by using specific elements in their stories (e.g. use two comparative forms, one past simple and one question tag).

Maja Hadzic, Belgrade, Serbia

AS GOOD AS A NEW COMPARISON

Level: Elementary +

Aim: revising 'as...as' comparisons; revising vocabulary; revising adjectives

Time:

Language skills:

Types of learners: auditory, visual, kinesthetic

Material: None (if you want them to write – a blank A4 sheet of paper per group / pair).

Classroom management: Group / pair work.

Procedure:

1. Ask students to tell you about 10 adjectives.

2. You write them on the board, in a column.

3. Group students into fours or fives or tell them to form pairs.

4. Each group / pair picks one adjective. They make a comparison (e.g. big – 'as big as a plane'), orally or write them down.

5. Students read only the last part of the comparison ('as a plane').

6. The others try to guess what adjective they have chosen.

Note

For the kinesthetic learners you can have students act out instead of read / say their sentences.

Variations

1. You can practice other grammar categories in this way (e.g. write – 'I wrote a poem' in which case they would read only 'a poem').

2. You can practice rhyming pairs (e.g. fine – 'nine').

3. You can practice almost anything!

Maja Hadzic, Belgrade, Serbia

EAVESDROPPING

Level: Elementary +

Aim: to practice forming sentences; to practice vocabulary or grammar points

Time: 15 minutes or more

Language skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing

Types of learners: auditory

Material: none, or you can prepare some sentences before the class

Classroom management: in pairs / groups

Procedure:

1. Divide students in pairs / groups.

2. Say a sentence that sounds like taken out of a dialogue, e.g. 'But this is all I've got!'

3. Students make up short dialogues imagining a situation in which a person might say something like that.

4. They act / read their dialogues for the whole class.

Variations

1. Students can be asked to make up a dialogue concerning specific topic, e.g. sports.

2. Students can be asked to make up a dialogue using superlatives, adverbs, ordinal numbers, etc.

http://www.calameo.com/read/0032055280bded22b9603

http://www.calameo.com/books/0032055280bded22b9603

Silly Language Games for Kids

Silly Language Games It's one of those odd facts of life, but first graders love the ridiculous! Silly language games are just what you need to tickle kids' funny bones while (secretly) teaching them valuable language and reading skills. The best thing about using games to practice language is that it can happen literally anywhere. The only materials you will need are already around you. And once you tap into kids' silly language selves, you will have your hands full getting them to STOP playing these games! Object Stories Look around the room and find 6 or 7 small objects. Since these will be used to tell a story, try to get an interesting variety: a flower, a plastic dog, a tea bag, a toothbrush... you get the idea. Put the objects into a paper bag. Plastic Toy Start a story any way you like. Pull out one of the objects and use it in your story. For example: Once upon a time there was a little boy who was 6 years old. You pull the flower out of the bag. He found a magic flower that that would give him three wishes. Pass the bag to your child. He pulls out another object from the bag and tells a few more sentences of the story. Continue like this until all the objects are gone. (Tip: Kids at this age love silly, ridiculous, or magical stories, so feel free to ham it up!) I'll Marry My Cat Some language games are perfect for waiting in line, or on a long car ride. This is one of them. Tell your child you want to play a rhyming game. You will pick a simple word to rhyme, such as cat. Say, I'll marry my cat! Your child then has to think of a rhyming word to put in that sentence: I'll marry my hat, or I'll marry my rat! When a person can't think of any other rhyming words, switch to a different group of rhyming words. Note: Your sentences do not have to make sense! First graders will love language games that border on the ridiculous. If the silliness gets to be too much for your adult self, get a competition going between your child and a friend. You can also mix it up with other rhyming word sentences: I can eat a (house), I love my (pig), and so on. Say It Like a Cow Silly Kid Think of a phrase, or find one in a book that you like. For example, strawberry bubble gum has an interesting rhythm to it. Tell your child to say it loud. Say it in a whisper. Say it with eyes closed. Say it with lips closed (just do the rhythm). Say it like a cow (moo moomoo moomoomoo) or like a snake (sss ss ss ss ss ss). When you have played with that phrase for a while, pick a new one. I Took a Field Trip Tell your child, I took a field trip to the BEACH and I brought a BROOM. Why would you bring a broom to the beach? Because they both start with 'b'! Have your child say the sentence, I took a field trip to the beach and I brought a ---. After a couple of turns, change the location. Take a field trip to the mountains, the desert, a tree, a house, the forest, etc. and think of things with the same letter. Everything In Its Place Categorizing is an important language skill. Sorting and classifying train children to think in terms of groups and patterns, a skill that they will need in math, reading, science, etc. Give kids practice putting things in order with these sorting and categorizing activities: Sort things that float and things that don't float. Sort clothes by color (a good laundry activity). List things you would buy in a grocery store. List things you would take on a camping trip. Think of words that start with 'b'. Really Fun Games to Teach Reading Games to Teach Reading Looking for some fun games to teach reading? Want to help kids practice and improve reading skills in a way that feels like play? Then you are in the right place. Here are some things to keep in mind as you choose which games to play: Most of these games can be easily adjusted to different reading levels. Begin with words or phrases you are sure your kids can handle, then gradually make things more difficult to keep it challenging. Play just one game at a time, and pay attention to kids' energy levels. When children are learning to read, these games can be hard work. Keep it fun. Be playful and silly. Laughter is a great way to keep kids excited and interested in learning to read. Bean Letters Materials and Preparation: You will need large, dry beans, like lima beans. Write a letter on each bean with a permanent marker. Include extra vowels. Put your letter beans in a bag. How to Play: Have kids take one handful of beans from the bag and make words with their letters. How many words can they make? Note: You can choose whether or not to insist on correct spelling. If you do, you will have kids constantly asking you the right way to spell words. My preference would be to make words that make sense and not worry about spelling at this stage. This will help kids think about their own spelling rules and be more creative in making words, which is a more useful skill in the long run. Silent Orders

Materials: Index cards or pieces of paper. Play money is optional. How to Play: Tell the child you are the big boss. Every time they do what you say, they get a (fake) dollar! The catch is that your mouth is glued shut and you can't tell them what to do--you can only write it down. Games to Teach Reading Write simple sentences at your child's reading level. For example: Go get a small ball. Find a green thing. Jump ten times. Hug me. Run around the room. Tickle mom! After your child has completed each task, make a big deal of paying him. You can give a dollar of play money, or put imaginary money in his hand. (This can be just as much fun.) Since you can't speak, play up your facial expressions! Variations: If your child is like most first graders, he may want a turn at being the boss. Let him write things for you to do. Don't worry about spelling--just respond to the meaning. Do the action and let him pay you. Treasure Hunt Materials: Paper, pencil, and a small prize. Treasure Hunt How to Play: Write 5-6 simple notes with instructions that will lead your child to a prize. For example, you might give her a paper that says, Look under the couch. When she looks under the couch, she would find a note that says, Look behind the TV. She would continue following the instructions and reading notes until she came to the prize. Note: Kids love treasure hunts like this! You can easily make your notes harder or easier. Write on top of TV for early readers, or in mom's coat pocket for more advanced readers. With a little observation and a playful spirit, you can make up your own games to teach reading. Make a game out of finding words around you, sorting them into groups, acting them out, or anything else you can think of! I Spy Materials: None. How to Play: Look around the room. Say, I spy with my little eye something that starts with a 'b'. Try to be sneaky. Kids will try to discover your word by finding things in the room that start with 'b'. Repeat with other letters. Variations: Make this game a little harder by saying, I spy with my little eye something that starts with a 'b' and ends with 'g'. When kids make their guesses, point out ending sounds. "Ball" starts with a 'b', but what does it end with? "Bug" is a great guess; it starts with a 'b' and ends with 'g', but that's not the word I'm thinking of. Word Bingo

Materials: Paper, pencils, list of words your kids are learning, paper bingo chips (optional). Games to Teach Reading How to Play: Show kids how to make a large tic-tac-toe grid on their paper. Give them a list of at least 20 words they are learning to read. Tell kids to write a different word in each box on their paper (they can't use the same word twice). Call out a word. If a child has it on his card, he can cross it out with his pencil or cover it up with a bingo chip. When he gets three in a row, he yells bingo! and wins the round. Variation: You can make the game go longer by playing blackout, filling up the whole card instead of just one row. The best thing about using games to teach reading is that kids just keep coming back for more! When they discover a favorite game, they will ask for it again and again. As their skills develop, you can easily increase the difficulty and keep things challenging, so kids won't get bored. One final paradox as you look for games to teach reading: Kids don't have to be actively reading to practice reading skills. Language development is just as important as learning to read (or decode) words at this stage. As you look for games to teach reading, mix up traditional reading games like the ones on this page with spoken language games. Language and reading skills will work together to help kids pull meaning from printed words.

"Four Corners" Strategy

How it works: Choose four aspects of a topic that your class is currently focusing on. Assign each of these aspects to a corner (or an area) of your room. Present the topic and the four related aspects to the whole group and give the students some "think time." Students can then choose a corner to discuss the topic. Representatives from each corner can share what their respective groups discussed. Why I love this: Student Choice: Students LOVE when they are given an opportunity to choose. They feel more empowered and respected, and thus take far more ownership over the outcome of the assignment. Various Perspectives: The students are exposed to many different view-points in their corner, which can lead to great discussion. Easily Prepared: This activity requires very little preparation on the teacher's part. The teacher simply needs to think of four (+/-) areas that he/she would like the students to discuss and then send them on their way. Easy Implementation: This activity can take as little as five minutes and requires no advanced set-up (e.g. chairs set up, group formations, etc.), so teachers can use it instantaneously and then quickly return to the lesson.

The Fish Bowl Strategy

How it works: Divide your class in half. One half will form the center circle, facing inward. The other half of the class will form the outer circle, facing inward as well. The students in the inner circle will discuss a predetermined topic. The outside circle will be listening to the discussion, making note of interesting, new, or contradictory information. They are not allowed to say a word at this point. The inner and outer circles can then switch positions and repeat the steps above. Why I love this: Eases Discussion Management: Since only half the class is discussing at a time, this makes it much easier to manage than a whole-class discussion. Promotes Active Listening: Half the students have the explicitly given job of listening to the inner circle. They understand that their turn to talk will come, which is more likely to free their attention from trying to get a turn to share, and focus it on attentive listening. Great for Debate: I love this arrangement for classroom debates. The physical position of students makes it very clear when it's time to listen and when it's time to talk. You can switch through the roles a number of times during debate, and students have more incentive to listen when they are in the outer circle so that they can appropriately counter the points made from the inner circle. Peer Evaluation and Modeling: This model presents a valuable opportunity for students to evaluate their peers. Successful student presenters also serve as wonderful models to other students who are not as skilled at class discussions.

"Expert Groups,"

Group your students into 4 equal "Expert Groups" (e.g. Group A, Group B, etc.). These groups should be strategically organized in heterogenous groups in regards to student ability. Each of these groups will have cover a unique topic or have a unique task to accomplish. For example, you could divide a reading selection from a social studies or science textbook into 4 equal parts. The students in these groups are responsible for becoming "Experts" in their topic of study. You will also need to think about how you are going to organize the "Numbered Groups" (e.g. Group 1, Group 2, etc.). Similar to the "Expert Groups," these groups should also be varied heterogeneously. After the "Experts" have gathered to learn their assigned topics in-depth, they can then be dispersed into numbered groups, which will contain one "Expert" from each group. During this time, "Experts" will present to the other members of the group. The number of "Expert Groups" and "Numbered Groups" are totally flexible depending on the topics you are studying and the number of students in your class. I have used the strategy successfully with a class of 36 students (4 Expert Groups and 9 Numbered Groups). Why I love This: Less Overwhelming- The students can focus their learning on one aspect of a topic, which allows for greater understanding of a concept. Student Accountability- The students understand that they will be responsible for presenting this information to another group of students. Responsive to Student Learning- As you observe these groups in action, you will quickly see who is and is not "getting it." If you see students struggling to present the information in their "Numbered Groups," then you can always have the "Expert Groups" reconvene.

"Q&A Match-Up."

Create a set of questions and answers based on the topic your class is studying. Each question will be placed on a separate card and each answer will be placed on a separate card. I made all of my answer cards pink and all of my question cards green; this makes it easier for students to "match-up" during the activity. If you are covering a vast topic (for instance a chapter in a social studies or science text) then you could easily make enough questions and answers cards so that each student has a unique card. However, you can also make several copies of just a few questions and answers so that some students have duplicate cards; this works best when your topic is more focused (e.g. a lesson within a chapter). Randomly distribute the question and answer cards to your students. Give them a few minutes to read their cards and think about what might be the corresponding answer or question that would match their assigned card. Then allow the students to "mingle" as they try to "match-up" with their correct question or answer. Once students start matching up, I have them stand shoulder-to-sholder with their corresponding card/partner along the perimeter of the room. Unmatched students are still floating around the center looking for their counterpart. Once all students have been matched up, each student can read his/her question and matching answer to the group. If the group feels that the match is incorrect, then the students can do a little reshuffling to find a better fit. Versatility: This strategy can be used with almost all content and with varying size classrooms. For some lessons, I would make 17 different question cards and 17 matching answers cards so that each of my 34 students had their very own card. However, if I taught a lesson that perhaps only had 4-5 worthwhile questions, I just made duplicate cards for the students and the activity was just as successful. Engagement: Students love mystery and games and this activity incorporates both elements. Discussion Opportunity: When the matched-up students present to the group at the end it creates a perfect opportunity for discussion. Did the question and answer match? How do you know? Who can elaborate? Why are X and Y a better match? etc. Built in Review: This strategy is a great way to review for a test or reinforce a lesson that you just taught. Longevity: Once you have made a set of these cards, you can use them for years to come, adding and changing certain questions/answers as you see fit.

"Circle Chats," today's cooperative learning strategy, in another great way to get your students out of their seats and interacting!

Divide your class in half. One half will create an inner circle; the other half will make up the outer circle. Students in the outer circle can ask a question of the students in the inner circle. These questions can be self-selected by the students or you can make your own question(s). After a set period of time, the teacher signals and the inner circle rotates and pairs-up with a new student. Once the group has completed a full rotation, the inside circle and the outside circle trade positions and repeat the steps above. Listening and Speaking Practice: This activity allows students to practice active speaking and listening skills. Active Engagement: Students are constantly moving and/or switching roles. This variety keeps students engaged and on task. Safe/Comfortable: Talking one-on-one with each other is far less intimidating than talking to a small group or to the whole class. This is a great activity to help build confidence in students who are reserved or afraid to speak in front of others (ELLs). Ownership: One option for this activity is to have students create their own questions (which they LOVE doing). They really take this task seriously and become quite invested in the process.