Guessing game for large groups with pictures for present continuous

Lessons for the Present Continuous and Daily Activities

Prediction for  present continuous 

1. Model

Draw a picture on the board of  someone doing something…..think of  a suitable present continuous sentence….and ….ask the  students  to guess your sentence. If they have trouble …..elicit the  sentence with clues.

Front (draw picture)

 Back (write question and answer)

What is she doing ?

She is taking a report out of the filing cabinet for her boss.

2. Speaking

Get the students to draw their own  picture on  a piece of  paper  and write  a sentence about the picture ON THE BACK of the paper. For example the sentence for the picture above might be

  “She is taking a report out of the filing cabinet for her boss..”

After the students have drawn the pics they can walk  around asking  their  classmates  “What is he/she doing?”   . If the student answering

does not give a perfect answer  the questioner  can follow up with questions like

What  is she taking out of the filing cabinet?”    or

“Who is she taking it out  for?”.

IMPORTANT:  It always  adds another dynamic to these  short exchange activities if you get the students to exchange their pics after their spoken exchange is completed.

This keeps the exercise endlessly fresh and challenging.

Group speaking exercise for debate expressions

INTRO 
 
This is a well known theatre exercise which is extremely effective for encouraging controlled but spontaneous interaction in ESL classes.
 
STEP 1 PRESENT 
 
Begin by presenting a list of debate expressions such as those listed.
 
STEP 2 MODEL 
 
Model a discussion. Choose yourself as conductor and 4 other students to be conducted. First, the conductor presents a topic. He then selects a student and an expression for the continuation of the discussion.
 
Conductor: Elephants shouldn’t be allowed into Bangkok. Student B “Furthermore”
 
Student B: Furthermore, the government should fine their owners.
 
Conductor: Student A “On the other hand”
 
Student A: On the other hand, people in Bangkok are very generous when they see elephants.
 
Conductor: Student C “For example”.
 
Student C: For example, when they see elephants they feel compassion and give them food and money.
 
Conductor: Student D “You may have a point”.
 
Student D: You may have a point. Nevertheless, the pollution and traffic are terrible for the elephants’ health.
 
STEP 3 WRITING 
 
To reinforce the use of these expressions further, follow this activity by a debate or writing exercise

Chef interview roleplay worksheet (PDF)

Applying for a job as a chef role play speaking activity

  This is an English as a Second Language activity for exploring the language used to talk about  food, cooking and  restaurants. It also practices general conversation and grammar skills The teacher  can model the role-play activity  with a student (preferably a good student) using the  questions on the worksheet as a guide. Students are then encouraged to  complete the  the questions with their own words and  ideas.  The students can then be broken up into pairs or small groups. During the roleplay  part of the activity the teacher is free to monitor the students and also participate, having an opportunity to speak to students individually. Click on the image  or the link to download the PDF file.

(download PDF)

Food, restaurants and cooking home

10 food, eating and restaurant vocabulary and speaking exercises (PDF)

8  hotel vocabulary and speaking skills exercises (PDF)