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
Circle the correct part of speech for suffixes- -able -ity(PDF)
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.
Related Resources:
Food, restaurants and cooking home
10 food, eating and restaurant vocabulary and speaking exercises (PDF)
Comparing people: speaking & writing exercise (PDF)
Comparing People Speaking and Writing
Comparing people
A speaking and writing exercise to practice language used for comparisons. Students interview a partner and then write a a paragraph similarities and differences. Click on the image or the link to download the PDF file.
Low level ESL personal information worksheets (PDF)
Meeting people in business worksheets (PDF)
Cool Jobs – A Debate Roleplay Lesson Plan
Cool Jobs – A Brainstorming & Debate Role Play Speaking Lesson Plan
INTRO
This is a lesson appropriate for pre-intermediate and intermediate ESL/EFL students. It would be a suitable activity for using with career vocabulary or with comparative adjectives and nouns.
STEP 1
Have a list of jobs prepared. Mix in some unusual ones with the more pedestrian jobs.
STEP 2
Write a job title on the whiteboard. Sometimes I choose “BABYSITTER”. Brainstorm beneath this heading the “pros” of being a babysitter. It is important to make the students realize that for this part of the activity they have no choice. They are only going to think about the positive aspects of the job. You might lead the students into the activity by choosing one or more students and asking them questions to get them thinking:
“You are a babysitter, you like your job, why?”
“You work in a home. Why do you like it?”
“You like working with children, why?”
“You often work at night, what are the advantages of this?”
“It’s different from working in an office. How?”
While you are asking the students questions like these start writing the answers on the board in note form as below:
Babysitter (Pros)
You can watch TV
It’s comfortable.
Children are fun.
Babysitters have free time during the day.
No taxes.
Food is usually free.
No pressure.
You can read books.
Work in a friendly environment.
No boss hanging over your shoulder.
STEP 3
Group the students in pairs, give them an A4 sheet of paper and get them to choose a job and begin writing a list as you modeled on the board (see above).
STEP 4
After a few minutes, rotate the lists around to give each pair fresh brainstorming material. Push the students to think of new ideas as this will make for better and more lively debates in the next part of the lesson.
STEP 5
When the A4 sheets are just about full stop the students. Pick up one of the “Job Pros Sheets” and introduce the notion of a debate if the students aren’t familiar with it.
STEP 6
Select a pair of students and make sure they are aware they are supporting the job from the job pros sheet they are holding.
Supposing they are holding the “Chef”s Assistant Pros” sheet and you (the teacher) are holding the “Babysitter Pros” sheet you might start the debate by saying:
“Being a babysitter is better than being a chef’s assistant because it’s easier work and you don’t have a boss watching you”.
A student might reply:
“But being a chef’s assistant is more useful because you gain work experience and learn about food”.
This TEACHER-STUDENT exchange (which can be carried on as long as you like because both sides have plenty of firepower ready from the A4 sheets) usually kickstarts the debate process .
STEP 7
Put the students in opposing pairs and let them go. Rotate the sheets and jobs every so often to give the pairs new and fresh debating material. This debate activity is wonderful because all the students are engaged all the time and the subject material (careers) is something most people have strong feelings about. Often classes can talk for 30- 60 minutes with the material they have created.
Related Resources
Listening exercises for English language classes
9 Super Elementary Speaking Exercises
5 Elementary Create a Conversation Exercises for Speaking Classes
5 Elementary Conversational Expressions Exercises
5 First Day Activities for an ESL Class
10 Really! Elementary ESL classroom icebreakers
7 Essential Speaking Activities for ESL Classes
Frequency Adverb Drill
Frequency Adverb Drill
A : Do you study here once (twice/ a week/everyday/every………) a week?
B: No, I study here 3 days a week
C: She usually studies here 3 days a week.
study here
see a movie
buy a gift
talk on the phone
buy a gift
have a holiday
talk to yourself
eat coconut ice cream
think about me
cut up an apple
take bus number….
fall in love
feel sad