Grades

Any

Interaction

Individual > groups

Language Focus

Any

Preparation

Prepare some 5-6 sentences you would like to review.

Tell students that you will read some sentences one by one. You will read them twice only. The first time they should simply listen, while the second time they should write down the full sentence.

Procedure

1. Read the first sentence. After reading it let students think about it, but do not let them write anything.

2. Read the sentence a second time. Afterwards, allow students to write the sentence from their memory.

3. Repeat stages 1-2 until all the sentences have been read.

4. Students work in groups and compare.

5. Choose some groups to write their sentences on the board and check for mistakes. Students compare their own or their partner's work with the answers on the board. Points could be awarded.

Grades

All

Interaction

Pairs

Preparation

Prepare sentence to dictate using language you want to review.

Blank dictation

1. Dictate sentences containing "blanks". For example :

Teacher reads : He goes to school "blank" bus.

Student writes : He goes to school __ bus.

2. Students should write an appropriate word in the blanks once they have written all the sentences.

Mistakes dictation

1. Dictate sentences containing mistakes ( e.g. not enough words, wrong word, too many words, tense, etc. ). E.g. He go to school by bus.

2. Students correct the sentences once they have written all the sentences.

Scrambled dictation

1. Dictate sentences, but read the words in the wrong order. For example : "by he to bus school goes".

2. Students write down the words and then out them in the correct order. 

Grades

All

Interaction

Pairs / groups

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Present / past simple ( yes / no questions )

Procedure

1. A famous character from movies, politics or sports is chosen either by a student in a group. The other students must guess who he or she is by asking questions. The student being questioned may only answer 'yes' or 'no'. Either the students have to guess the name in fewer than 10 or so questions. Or set a time limit

This can also be done with jobs, animals, or objects.

Examples of questions for a mystery object :

• "Is it heavy?"
• "Do you find it indoors?"
• "Do you have one?"

Variation 1

Stick a piece of paper on all the students' backs with the name of an object / person / job. Students have to go around the class asking yes / no questions until they find out what / who they are. Add the rule that you cannot ask someone more than 1 question. This encourages them to change partners.

Grades

All

Interaction

Groups of 5-6

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Tell students what structure you want them to focus on. They should write one true statement about themselves using the structure ( e.g. Present perfect : I have visited the Great wall ).

2. Groups stand up. One student sits down and reads his / her sentence. The others members of the group ask that student one question ( e.g. When did you visit the Great Wall? ). Once a student has asked a question, they can sit down.

3. When all students have sat down, a different student reads out his / her sentence, and the process is repeated until all students have read out their sentences.

Rationale

This method encourages students to ask questions as few want to be the last student remaining standing!

Grades

All

Interaction

Pairs / groups

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Ask the class what the topic was of the previous lesson. If they can't remember, tell them to have a quick look inside their books.

2. Ask students to write down everything they can remember from the previous lesson ( words / phrases ) without opening their books.

3. Ask a few students to come out and write on the blackboard what they can remember. 4. When you have your blackboard full of words and phrases, stop the class and ask everybody to look at it and check if the spellings are right and to remember the meanings or to try to use in an example sentence.

Rationale

The final stage of using the board means there is a sense of shared memory in the class and a clear focus for the activity.

Grades

All

Interaction

Pairs / groups

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Present / past simple questions

Procedure

A student thinks of a verb and the other students have to discover the verb by asking questions using the word 'teapot' or something similar instead of the verb.

eg: 'Did you teapot at home yesterday?' 

Grades

All

Interaction

Groups of 4-5

Preparation

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Students stand or sit in a circle. A student holding the ball speaks a selected grammatical structure such as 'I like...but I do not like...' or ‘I can...but I can't...'. Then the student throws the ball to another student.

2. The catching student must first report what the student said ‘Sam likes… but he does not like...' or ‘Sam can..., but he can't...'. Then the student adds his own sentence and tosses the ball. If a student cannot remember or makes an incorrect sentence, they are "out". The last remaining student is the winner.  

Variation 1

To make it more challenging, ask students to name items in alphabetical order ( e.g. he doesn't like apples, but he likes bananas ).

Grades

All

Interaction

Class > groups

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Demonstrate this activity first as a whole class activity, by dividing the class into 2 teams. Make a table of 5 x 5 squares on the board, and write a different word in each square. The students must make a sentence using a word in the square. You can specify what grammar structure the students are to use such as present continuous or present perfect. You should also specify the minimum number of words required in each sentence. If a team makes a sentence without any grammatical errors, they OWN that square. They must own 3 or 4 squares in a connected diagonal, horizontal or vertical line to win the game. The other team tries to block them from winning.

2. Eventually, this activity could be played in groups. If some groups are not sure whether or not a sentence is correct, they can ask the teacher to come and check.

Grades

All

Interaction

Mill

Preparation

Prepare 3 simple statements about yourself using the structures ( e.g. present perfect tense ) that you want to practice or review. Some should be true, while others should be false.

e.g. I have travelled by airplane

I have met a famous person.

I have visited the Great Wall.

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Tell students you will read some sentences about yourself and that some sentences are true, while others are false. After each sentence they should guess.

2. Reveal the correct answer after each sentence. Students give themselves 1 point if they guessed correctly. For the false statements, tell them what the true answer is ( e.g. I haven't visited the Great Wall, but I have visited the Summer Palace! ).

3. When students have guessed all your sentences tell them to write 3 sentences about themselves, including some true and false ones, just like in your example. Give the students the structure(s) or sentence stems you want them to use in their sentences.

4. Students walk around the class reading their statements to other students who have to decide whether each one is true or false. If they guess correctly, they get a point. To make it more interesting give out fake money, which students can win for correct guesses.

5. At the end, students should count up their points, and the student wit the most is the winner.

Variation 1

To make the activity faster, tell students they should write two true sentences and one false one. When students guess, they simply have to guess which one is false. 

Variation 2

With higher levels, leave out the writing stage. However, make sure you give them enough time to think of some true / false statements about themselves! To make it even more challenging, allow the people guessing to ask questions. For example : "When did you travel by plane?" or "Which airline did you travel with?

Variation 3

For lower levels, this could be played in teams of 3. Teams work together to write some true / sentences about the people in their group ( using the target language ) and read them to another group who guess whether the statements are true or false. 

Grades

8,9

Interaction

Mill

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Choose one or more language structures to focus on.

Procedure

1. Students they must walk around and find 2 things in common with as many people as they can using the structure ( e.g. Present simple for routines & can for abilities ) set by the teacher. Each time they find something in common, they should write a short sentence ( e.g. Xia and I both usually get up at 6am, Xia and I can both swim.

2. When they have found 2 things in common, they should change partners, but they are not allowed to ask the same questions ( e.g. What time do you usually get up? Can you swim? )

3. Feedback - ask 3-4 students for the most interesting things they found out.

Grades

All

Interaction

Class

Preparation

Look at some of your students' common mistakes and prepare a list of sentences related to the language you have taught. Some sentences should be correct, while others should be wrong.

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Students stand up. Read out the sentences one by one. After each sentence, students turn left if they think the sentence is grammatically correct, and right if they think the answer is wrong.

2. Reveal whether the sentence is correct or wrong. Students give themselves 1 point if they got the answer right.

3. For the sentences which have a mistake, give students a minute to correct the sentence. Reveal the correction, and students can give themselves a bonus point if they were right.

At the end, students should count up their points, and the student wit the most is the winner.

Rationale

This is more interesting than students simply writing the answers. Standing up makes students more active, and it gives students a break from sitting passively.

Grades

All

Interaction

Class > pairs

Preparation

Look at the words the class has been studying ( e.g. widowed, nationality, retired religion ) and write out about 8 questions which include the words either in the question or in the answer.

• Is Prince Charles widowed?
• What nationality is David Beckham?

One could also include personalized questions :

• Is your father retired?
• What's your religion? are most Malaysians?

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1.  Explain you'll be reading out 8 questions twice and they're to write down the answers only. The first time, read them out with pauses between each question to allow students to think about both the question and their answer. The second time read them out without the pauses.

2.  Students compare with their partner

3.  Go through the questions & answers one by one. For "ersonalized"questions, ask several students to give their answers.

Rationale

This flexible, simple, and highly effective activity allows students to see vocabulary and grammar structures used in different contexts.

Follow up

Ask students to look at their answers and reconstruct the questions.

Grades

All

Interaction

Groups

Preparation

Prepare question to ask

Language Focus

All

Procedure

Call out questions – ss answer them in groups – reveal answer after each one. ( teams could write answers )

e.g.

• What is the past tense of ..?
• How do you spell...?
• What is the job of someone who works in a hospital and looks after patients?

Grades

All

Interaction

Class

Preparation

Prepare question to ask

Language Focus

All

Procedure

1. Ask students to stand up. Call out questions with 2 choices ( yes / no, true / false, or correct / wrong ). Students turn left for one answer ( e.g. yes ), and right for the opposite answer ( e.g. no ).

2. Reveal the answer after each time. Students should count up how many correct answers they have. The winner is the person with the most correct answers at the end.

Rationale

This could be simply done with the students sitting down and writing the answers down, but the physical movement of turning left and right makes this activity more motivating and fun.

Grades

All

Interaction

Mill / groups / pairs

Preparation

Select some language that the students have studied. For example, if the students have studied vocabulary about animals, like & don.t like, and the modal "can", write the following on the board :

Language Focus

All

Procedure

1. Tell students to copy the table and in the second column, they should write the first letter of the answer.

2. Students swap papers with eachother and then guess by asking full questions :

e.g. Is your favourite animal a dog? No

A dolphin? Yes

Do you like talking? No

Travelling? Yes!

Can you swim? Yes!

Grades

All

Interaction

Pairs

Preparation

None

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

Using the language that the students have previously studied, students should find 3 things the same and 3 things different to their partner.

For example, if the students have been studying present simple tense and learning how to tell the time, they could ask questions like :

Do you usually get up at 6am? Yes, I do.

So do I ( students note "get up" in same column )

Do you usually go o school at 7am? No, I don't I usually go to school at 7.15am. ( students note down in "different" column.

Variation 1

Students find 5 things the same only.

Grades

8,9

Interaction

Class, groups

Preparation

Students prepare 1 or 2 statements about themselves using the target language. These can be as personal or impersonal as they wish. e.g. I've got an older brother, I like traveling

Language Focus

Any

Procedure

1. Students stand up. One student from the group reads out one of his / her statements.

2. Explain that they can sit down after they've asked that student one ( or two? ) question.

3. When everyone is sitting down, another students reads out his / her statement and repeat the procedure.

Rationale

This method encourages students to ask questions as few want to be the last student remaining standing!