by andreeabarbulete » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:01 am
1. I think story telling is one of my favourite games; it can be adapted for the use of Present Simple or Past Simple ant it applies to students’ imagination and it keeps them focused to each other. I give the title of the story and students take turns in completing the story one sentence at a time; it’s a relaxing activity, it frequently becomes extremely funny, and students don’t get the impression that they actually learn grammar.
2. I try to personalise the activities as much as possible; I also have my students work in pairs or groups, and when working with adults I choose specific vocabulary when practicing grammar (I mean I focus on their areas of interest when i choose the examples).
3. When teaching Present Continuous I ask my students to play a guessing game, Where am I? I ask them to imagine they are somewhere (in the mountains, at the seaside, in a cinema, at the mall etc) and then I tell them to look around and describe what the people around them are doing, in no more than five sentences; the others or their partners must guess their location. I think activity one can be turned into a game Who am I? The students imagine they are one of the characters in the picture and they describe the activities of the other characters around them, and the other students guess their character. (For example: I choose to be the girl on the blanket. My sentences could be: I’m not standing; Two people on my right are sitting under an umbrella; A man is doing the same thing I am. Who am I?)
4. The benefits are that students don’t get tired of drills with no apparent purpose; they don’t get the feeling that they only learn rules which they could live without and whose practical aim they fail to see.
I cannot offer a ratio, but I try to have both productive and receptive activities as my students’ different learning styles require them both.
1. I think story telling is one of my favourite games; it can be adapted for the use of Present Simple or Past Simple ant it applies to students’ imagination and it keeps them focused to each other. I give the title of the story and students take turns in completing the story one sentence at a time; it’s a relaxing activity, it frequently becomes extremely funny, and students don’t get the impression that they actually learn grammar.
2. I try to personalise the activities as much as possible; I also have my students work in pairs or groups, and when working with adults I choose specific vocabulary when practicing grammar (I mean I focus on their areas of interest when i choose the examples).
3. When teaching Present Continuous I ask my students to play a guessing game, Where am I? I ask them to imagine they are somewhere (in the mountains, at the seaside, in a cinema, at the mall etc) and then I tell them to look around and describe what the people around them are doing, in no more than five sentences; the others or their partners must guess their location. I think activity one can be turned into a game Who am I? The students imagine they are one of the characters in the picture and they describe the activities of the other characters around them, and the other students guess their character. (For example: I choose to be the girl on the blanket. My sentences could be: I’m not standing; Two people on my right are sitting under an umbrella; A man is doing the same thing I am. Who am I?)
4. The benefits are that students don’t get tired of drills with no apparent purpose; they don’t get the feeling that they only learn rules which they could live without and whose practical aim they fail to see.
I cannot offer a ratio, but I try to have both productive and receptive activities as my students’ different learning styles require them both.
