Classroom Management

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Group Dynamics

Lollipop Sticks / Traffic Lights/ Grab the string/ Coloured sticky notes/ Sorting Activities/ Onion
groups/ Autograph book /Twitter door/ Happy tunnel/ Our Class Contract/ Classroom Jobs/
Things that help me learn/ How I like to do homework/ L1 Cards/ Maintaining a Voice/ Voice
Control/ Setting Goals/ Activity Choice

Lollipop Sticks: write the name of each student on a lollipop sticks and keep in a jar on your
desk. Whenever you ask a question, you choose a lollipop stick at random from the jar and
call on that student. This guarantees that all students have an equal opportunity to
answer questions and help a weaker learner to become involved in the lesson.

Traffic Lights: we give each group a set of three plastic cups: one green, one yellow and one
red. The cups are placed on the students’ desks. Students restack their cups to indicate their
status: a green cup on top means there are no problems or questions, a yellow cup means
that not everything is clear, a red cup signals that students need help.

It also enables team learning as those who are having difficulties can seek the help of
a learner with a green cup on top of their desk.

Grab the Sting: This is a fun way to get students in pairs. Before class get a roll of strings
and cut into pieces about 30 cm long. You will need one piece of string for every two students
in the group. Put all the string together and hold the bunch in the middle. We invite students
to grab the end of one of the pieces of string. When everyone has taken one end, we let go
of the bunch. Students find whoever is holding the other end of their piece of string and work
with that student.
2 Coloured sticky notes: We use different coloured sticky notes or small coloured cards to
group students simply and effectively. We place a sticky note on each student’s desk before
the lesson start to save time. Random grouping is possible using this method.

Sorting activities: We set all the students the same activity eg: topic quiz: a time vocabulary-
matching task and correct it. On the basis of the results, we decide how students are going to
be grouped for the next activity that we have planned.

This gives us a quick indication of how well students have understood a certain
language point or content, how much background information they have about the
topic. This information can help us decide about subsequent groupings more
effectively.

Onion groups: Students work on a task or activity in groups of three or four. When we give
the signal, one member of the group peels off and goes to join another group, where
information is exchanged. The peelers continue around the room at regular intervals, finally
returning to their original group after visiting all of the other groups in the room.

Autograph book: we get students to create an autograph book for keeping track of who they
work with in group situations. Their job is to collect a signature of each partner in their
book at the end of the activity. This technique is designed to ensure that students do
not always work with the same partner in situations where there is a lot of group work
and pair work.

Twitter door: we display on the door a twitter sign and some laminated black slips of paper,
we write a question about the topic of the unit and we encourage students to write on them,
and then we go through their answers. It is a good way to check our student’s previous
knowledge.
3 Happy tunnel: the aim of this activity is to encourage students to say positive things to other
in class, to build up empathy towards others, to develop self-steem, to create a positive socio
affective atmosphere for learning.

Before starting we provide students with the words they may need and chunks of language
such as I like you… you’re nice, good at…

We ask the child to walk slowly through the tunnel. The rest of the class whispers or says their
sentences. The child that comes out of the tunnel with a big smile: i.e: happy! We repeat with
one or two children. In order for everyone to have a turn going through the tunnel, we can
repeat this activity once or twice over several lessons as a follow up activity.

It makes children feel good about themselves, it also helps them to realize how easy it
is to make other people feel good too, therefore creating a positive atmosphere for
learning.

Our Class Contract: the main aim to set up parameters for learning and behaviour by
negotiating a class contract; to develop awareness of the value of mutually agreed rules; to
create a sense of communicating and positive socio-affective atmosphere.

We draw two columns on the board, we ask each to choose a maximum of six suggestions
they think should be included in the class contact for you and them. We ask the groups to
report back and we set up the rules together. We keep the class contract on the classroom
noticeboard.

It helps to promote a responsible attitude towards learning; to get students involved in

class decision making.
4 Classroom Jobs: the main is to involve children in organization of learning; to develop a
sense of responsibility about carrying out everyday classroom job; to create a sense of
community and positive socio-affective atmosphere.

Things that help me learn: the aims are as follows: to reflect on learning styles; related to
specific area of learning; to develop awareness of their learning preferences; to begin to
develop personalized learning styles and strategies.

We elicit things that help the children, for example, learn vocabulary. We either note their
ideas on the board or give them a handout and ask them to circle the statements that apply
to them and /or add any other ideas of their own.

When the students are ready, divide the class into pairs and ask them to compare their views.

We discuss their responses with the whole with the whole class. We use the discussion to
make the point that there are no ‘right’ answers and that we all have our own preferences for
the way we learn. The important thing is to try and identify and use the strategies that work
best for us individually.

We use this activity to get children to explore personalized strategies to specific areas of
learning.

This helps children become aware of options and choices available to them for learning
and identify their own preferences.

How I like to do homework: to recognize the value of your own personal effort in learning.
The language focus is on preferences, likes / dislikes, prepositions, of place and time.

The students complete a mind map this is a good way for them to find out their preferences
when doing their homework. It is worthwhile organizing and planning when and how they do
their homework.
5 Small pieces of homework on a regular basis can reinforce school learning and help children
to learn how to concentrate, work independently and manage their time. Homework can also
include enjoyable projects and strengthen corrections.

L1 Cards: we cut up a set of seven to small cards for every learner or group. And hand them out
at the beginning of the lesson. Each card can be used be the student when they want to say
something in L1. Whenever they use their native language, they have to hand in one of their L1
cards.

At the end of the lesson give the cards out to students so they can use them in subsequent
lessons.

Reversible flag: we make a double sized sign showing the UK flag on one side and the Spanish
flag on the reverse.

We use the flag to indicate moments when students may – but do not have to – use L1.

Turning the flag to its ‘English’ side can be an effective stimulus to encourage more use of the
target language.

Maintaining a Voice: Dominant learners are used to taking center stage in lessons and can find
it frustrating if their opportunity to be heard are suddenly limited – if they are not heard, these
learners will become demotivated and assume a more passive role. Our aim is to keep everybody
involved.

Providing students with an individual mini whiteboard and marker is an excellent way of tackling
the problem.

Dominant learners have the chance to show what they know, even if they are not always called
on to speak.
6 Setting goals: we do this activity with the group and individual students to help them identify and
set short-term personal learning goals; to review whether or not the goals have been met and the
reasons for this; to develop independence, self-motivation and a responsible attitude towards their
own learning.

We draw a goal post and three large footballs on the board and ask children to copy this or give
the children a copy of the goal setting handout. We elicit or explain that goal is also the rem in
football when players score goals for their team. We explain that we want them to set learning
goals for themselves for the next week or two weeks or during unit work. We provide them with
examples: I want to understand better when people speak so I am going to watch DVDs in
English, I want to increase my vocabulary, so I am going to learn 20 words related to the
topic. We write the goals in the footballs on the board.

Voice Control: Using flashcards to make students aware of different noise levels; time to work
individually, in pairs or in groups.

Activity Choice: to exercise personal choice in deciding what activities to do; to develop a sense
of responsibility for their own learning; to develop independence; to respect the decisions of
others. I’d like to, I want to, any language vocabulary relevant to the activities.

We use opportunities to offer students activities to do.

We give them choices, this may be with the whole class together.

It may be possible to write an activity menu on the board at the start of the lesson and, after initial
input and plenary work, students individually choose the activities they want to do and the order
in which they do them. In this case, we may need to stipulate, for example, that everyone
completes at least three activities.
 Practical ideas for developing learning strategies

7 Giving new information:

Listening with key words/ Co-operative listening/ Scan the text/ Write the text question/ Text
circles/ Students as words/ Correct me/ Parroting/ Echoing/ Mutual Dictation/ The Text Jigsaw/
My sentence/ Where is my other half? / Three in one/

Listening with key words: the aim is to recreate a text; identify and recognize key words;
listen for key words; practice writing; work in groups.

Select a text which contains important factual information. This could be from a coursebook.
You can use it as a dictation.

Write a list of several key words and phrases from the text and photocopy enough copies for
pairs or small groups of students. Mount the copies on different coloured paper or card and
cut them up so there is one key word or phrase on each slip.

1. Put the students into groups of not more than four.

2. Give each group a set of key words and phrases and tell them these are taken from the
text they are about to hear. Give each students time to read and help each other
understand them. They can ask you for help and use dictionaries.
3. Tell each group to share the slips. While you read out the text they must place the key
words in order in which they hear them. They may hear some words twice, but they place
the card the first time they hear a word.
4. Let them send a spy to the other groups to compare their order. Read or play the text again.
5. In their group the reordered key words to help them write the text from memory. This does
not have to be word for word as the original.
6. Play or read aloud the text again.
7. Give students time to edit their text before taking them in for marking.
 Give the students a copy of the original text or direct them to the appropriate page of the
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coursebook.
Variation

a) Give different groups or pairs a different text.

b) The students select their own key words and write them on different slips of paper.
c) Combine two groups or pairs. They take turns to read their texts while the others order the
key words.

Co-operative listening: the aim is to develop listening skills as well as fostering note-taking,
cooperative learning.

Prepare and practice reading aloud a short talk on the topic you want to tell your students
about such as Continents and Oceans.

If you have a large class call the front row A and the row behind them B. Repeat this sequence
with the remaining rows. If you have a small class arrange them into one A row with one B
row sitting behind them. All the students must be facing you.

Write the topic of your talk on the board.

Tell the class you are going to give them a short talk. The A rows are the listeners and must
not write anything down. The B rows are the writers and can take as many notes as they like.
Give half your talk.

When they have finished tell A rows to turn their chairs round to face their group B partners.
The As tell the Bs what they can remember from listening to the talk. The Bs listen carefully
and use their notes to jog the As’ memories. They need to help the As to remember more, but
they must not just read out their notes.
9 Now ask the students to change roles so that the As are the writers and the Bs are the
listeners. Give the rest of your talk. Repeat step 5 with Bs recalling what they heard, helped
by the As from their notes.

Working in their pairs they now reconstruct the notes so that they will be a useful reference.

When they have finished ask them to discuss the difference between listening and taking
notes and listening without taking notes. What are the advantages and the disadvantages of
each?

Scan the text: to work on the poem, to report back; to introduce a text, give input; skimming
and scanning; to make long texts less stressful. Other: to work in groups

Find a text and make sure each student has a copy. Keep a note of the source for the students.

Identify the key points you want your students to remember and write these down as a list in
English.

Write each sentence or sentence part on a separate slip of paper. Remove the numbering.
Mix the slips up so that they do not follow the order of the text.

Put the students into group of three or four. Give a copy of the text to each student.

Tell them that one person at a time from each group will be the messenger who walks out to
you and reads the slip of paper you show them. The messenger holds the information in their
head and goes back and tells their group what they read.

The group then scan the text until they find the sentence or sentence part that was on your
slip of paper. They number and underline it on their text.
10 New messenger goes to you and repeat the activity until all the search slips have been used.
Keep up a reasonable pace, and encourage the students to work quickly by saying, for
example: I am about to show the next slip of paper / As quickly as you can, please / Ok,
next one coming

Now read out the beginning of any slip and choose a student to say the rest of the sentence.
Take the text away and ask the groups to write down everything they can remember. They
may remember only the key words on the slips. This sets the key words in their minds.

Write the text question: to give examples; to predict; read and select key information;
understand written examination questions; note-taking.

Find a suitable text. Make two copies of the complete text. Keep one complete copy for
yourself and divide the other copy into logical sections. Photocopy each of the sections three
times.

Write the section titles on the large cards in large print. Paste or staple the text sections on
the cards, with three cards for each text section.

Procedure:

1. Write the title of the topic on the board. Get the students to suggest as many areas as
possible. Write these on the board. If students use their mother tongue, write the English
equivalents underneath. Then add from your original list any students have not mentioned.
2. Give each student a sheet of paper and tell them to fold it into three parts horizontally. At
the top of the first section ask them to write ‘Things I knew’, at the top of the second
section they write ‘Things I didn’t know’ and on the third they write ‘Examples to
remember’. Put students into groups with a maximum of six.
11 3. Tell each group which text section to read. Explain that you will give them a time limit.
4. Students read the text individually. As they read each student writes down information
under the three headings on their paper. They make quick drawings or notes for the
‘examples to remember’ section.
5. When the time limit is up, ask the students to return to their groups and pool their
information.
6. Each group presents their information to the rest if the class.
These are the things most of the group knew…..

Things some of us didn’t know were….

An example of this is….

7. This step is optional depending on the course. The groups write possible examination
questions about their text are on slips of paper – one slips of paper – one slip per question.
The groups display these questions by the appropriate texts. Give the students time to
move from text to text and write down some or all the possible questions.

Text circles: to ask and answer questions; order words; get new information; work in groups;
develop reading.

Find a short text. Divide the text into sections, making sure that each section break is in the
middle of the sentences. There should be enough parts of each student in a group to have
one. Type or write the prepared text in the parts, writing the number 1 next to the beginning.
Do not write any other numbers.

Cut into slips. Duplicate enough sets of five slips for the class.
12 Procedure:

1. Write the text title on the board. Write up any difficult words or phrases from the text and
ask them to listen and repeat in English.
2. Ask them to get into circles of five. Give out the slips. Ask the students to read their slips
to each other. They must keep their own slips of paper. Tell them that the student with
slips in their chosen order to check that they are correct. They do this in their groups.
3. Ask the students who have the first part of the text to read out their slips. Then get the rest
of the group to read their slips in their chosen order to check that they are correct. They
do this in their groups.
4. Choose a group to read out their text in their chosen order. The whole class listens and
checks. Do this with another group to give them to check, hold and anchor the information
in their minds.
5. Take in the slips. Give out copies of the text, one for each of student.
6. The students sit down. Each student writes a question about the text.
7. Taking their questions with them the students move round the class asking and answering
questions.
Variation

Use two different texts covering a similar topic. Use different coloured paper for each text.
Alternatively use different fonts. Each student should have a copy of both texts.

Students as words: to put words in order to make phrases and sentences.

We give out students a word card, as many students as words in a sentence and we ask them
to come out to the front.
13 Each student reads out his or her word card without showing it to the class and the rest of the
students have to remember who has got each word and put them in order based on their
memory.

Correct me: to draw conclusions; predict sequencing a text; read aloud to correct the teacher,
follow instructions; sharpen observation skills.

Subjects: Chemistry: an experimenting demonstrating a chemical reaction. / History:

Sequencing an event/ Food technology: sequencing a simple recipe/ Design and technology:
making an origami figure.

Find a set of instructions and re-write them in a jumbled order. Photocopy one set for each
student.

Procedure:

1. Write a sentence on the board introducing the topic but leaving a gap for the missing topic
word or words. Ask the class to guess the words.
2. Tell the class you are going to demonstrate the stages of an experiment absolutely silently.
The only words they will hear will be: for example, wait five minutes. Tell them to watch
carefully.
3. Demonstrate the experiment silently in slow, clear stages, except for stages two and eight,
which you must say out loud.
Example: the following is the correct order:

1. Put the thermometer in the jar and close the lid.

2. Wait 5 minutes.
3. Write down the temperature.
4. Remove the thermometer from the jar.
14 5. Soak a piece of steel wool in vinegar for one minute.
6. Squeeze the vinegar out of the steel wood pad. Wrap the steel wool
around the bulb of the thermometer.
7. Place the thermometer and steel wool back in the jar and close the
lid.
8. Wait 5 minutes.
9. Now look at the temperature.
4. Next give out a photocopy of the experiment stages, telling them that they are in the wrong
order. Ask the students to reorder them correctly based on their memory of our
demonstration. They write the numbers 1-9 by the appropriate stage.
5. Read out the jumbled list stage by stage telling the students to correct you by reading out
the correct instruction.
6. Ask them what they think will happen to the temperature at the end of the experiment. Ask
them to guess how much it will rise.
7. If you are working in the laboratory ask them to work in small groups to do the experiment,
following the correctly ordered instructions. Tell them to check the temperature on the
thermometer before they begin. They can check the accuracy of their guesses by seeing
how much the temperature has risen at the end of the experiment.

Parroting: this activity is ideal to learn definitions; pronunciation; read and repeat statements.

We write definitions on the board, leaving a space to add the key word.

We dictate the key words, and we invite students to come to the board and write the matching
key word next to each definition. We go through each definition making sure students know
them. Then we read each definition out loud. We ask students to repeat after us. We rubout
a part of any sentence, but not any of the key words. Then we get the students to read all the
15 sentences again. We keep like this until all the sentences have disappeared and only the key
words are left. The students write the sentences from memory in their notebooks.

Echoing: to listen and write; work in groups.

Subjects: Biology: Transpiration of plants, Geography: earthquakes; Art: The Impressionist

movement. Any topic your students need to learn and memorize.

Find information in English on the topic and prepare a short presentation.

Divide your input into separate short sentences.

Procedure:

1. Write the title of your topic on the board. Example: Vladimir Ilych Lenin
2. Put the class into group not more than four. Ask them to tell each other what they already
know about the topic.
3. Write on the board and explain any key words or phrases from your sentences that your
students may find difficult to understand.
4. Tell the students to put away their pens and not to use them until you tell them.
5. Ask the members of each group to number themselves one to four.
6. Tell them you are going to read some sentences aloud. You will repeat each one. Every
time you stop speaking, one student in each group has to echo to their group exactly what
you said. The first time this will be student 1, the student 2 and so on. The whole group
the repeats what the echoer said. Alternatively, in a mixed-ability class the echoer could
be the highest-level student.
7. Read the first sentence twice clearly. The students 1 in each group repeat it, all at the
same time. The rest of their group repeat it, all together, back to the echoer.
 8. Read the second sentence twice for the students 2 to repeat. The groups then repeat it
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back. Continue in the same way until you have read all the sentences.
Example:

i. Lenin was born in 1870 in Russia.

ii. He studied law at University.
iii. He became a professional revolutionary.
iv. He was arrested and exiled to Siberia.
v. After his exile he became the leader of the Bolsheviks.
vi. In 1917 he organized the Bolshevik take-over of power in Russia.
vii. This led to three years of civil war.
viii. There was widespread famine.
ix. He died in 1924.
x. His body is in a mausoleum on Moscow’s Red Square.

9. Write a key word or two from each sentence on the board.

i. born 1870
ii. law University
iii. revolutionary
iv. arrested exiled
v. leader Bolsheviks.
vi. 1917 organized take-over power
vii. civil war
viii. famine
ix. 1924
x. body mausoleum
 10. Ask students to look at the key words and reconstruct all the sentences. The we check

17 together.
Mutual Dictation: to work on listening, speaking reading & writing.

Write or find a text which gives the students key information.

Divide it up into alternate A and B sentences. On one sheet write their A sentences leaving
the B lines blank. Do the reverse on the other sheet.

Photocopy the sheets so that you have one A and one B sheet per pair of students.

Procedure:

1. Give half of the class the A sheets and the other half the B sheets.
2. Students have time to read and understand their sentences.
3. We write on the board any word they are not familiar with or they may have difficulty
pronouncing and work on the pronunciation with them.
4. The students work in pairs dictating to each other, taking turns and writing their missing
sentences. They continue like this until they have completed the dictation and filled in
all their lines.
5. Then they compare what they have written by reading it back to each other.

The Text Jigsaw:

Aim: reading, summarizing, writing, explaining, fluency practice.

Level: all

Preparation: divide the text you want to study into four sections and copy enough of each
section of the text for a quarter of your class. Label the sections A, B, C, and D. Go through
18 all the A’s and number them all 1-4. Do the same for B’s, C’s and D’s. Prepare some
comprehension and interpretation questions on the reading.

1. Put the A, B, C and D sections in stacks on your desk.

2. Students say A, B, C, D in turn around the class, thus assigning themselves these
letters.
3. Check to see if everyone knows which letter is theirs by saying Will everyone who has
letter A raise their hand. Continue with all letters.
4. Point out to students that there is also a number on their papers, and they will alter
need these numbers.
5. Students pick up their letter reading from your desk.
6. Students read their individual reading silently. Circulate to help out with vocabulary.
7. Peer groups. In small groups, students meet those who have read the same letter
reading.
8. In these small groups, students clarify the reading to one another and summarize it.
Each person in the group should have a brief written summary.
9. Expert groups. In groups of four, students meet classmates who have the same
number on their paper. These will be groups in which everyone has read a different
section.
10. In the Expert groups, starting with A and followed by B, C, D students tell one another
about their readings.
11. In the Expert Groups, students re-read their individual sections, choosing one
sentence that seems particularly important or meaningful to them. They underline this
sentence.
12. In the expert groups, students read out their sentences and explain why they have
chosen their sentences.
13. Students return to peer groups
 14. In the Peer groups, students once more read out and explain the sentences they have
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underlined.
15. As a whole class, discuss the reading by asking comprehension and interpretation
questions.

My sentence

Aim: review, speaking, listening

Level: all

Preparation: bring sticky tape to class

Students look over a reading they have recently studied and choose one sentence that
somehow speaks to them. Perhaps they completely agree with it or disagree with it or
don’t understand it or find it beautiful or perhaps it reminds them of something.

Students write their sentences on a piece of paper that they pin or tape to themselves.

Students mingle, reading the sentences of others and asking those they meet to explain
the sentences they have chosen.

Students try to find those who have chosen the same sentence. They stand together and
explain to one another why they have chosen the particular sentence.

In plenary, volunteers offer sentences together with explanations.

Where is my other half?

Aim: review, speaking, listening, reading

Level: all
20 Preparation: choose some sentences from a reading passage you have recently done.
Write them in slips of paper and cut each sentence in two halves. Have enough half
sentences for your entire class (one half sentence for each student)

1. Students stand and mingle. They read their half sentences to one another until they
find the second half of their sentence.
2. All the sentences are read out.
3. Students form a line in the order of how the sentences appeared in the text.
4. The teacher reads the original text, and students re-arrange themselves to correct any
mistakes in order.
Three in one

Aim: review, speaking, listening, reading

Level: all

Preparation: choose sentences from a reading you have recently done with your class or
one that you plan to do. Choose enough sentences for one third of your class. Write the
sentences on strips of paper and cut each strip into three pieces, so that there is a third of
the sentence on each piece of strip.

1. Each student gets a piece of strip.

2. Students mingle, reading out their strip to classmates until they find the other two
students that form a sentence with them.
3. In groups of three, students read their sentences.
4. Each group reads out its sentence to the entire class.
5. Students look at the passage from which the sentences were taken and locate their
own sentence.
 6. In their groups, students read the sentence that preceded their own and the one that
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followed it.

Teaching and activating vocabulary

Define it/ Right in one/ Touch the word/ Ladders/ Guess my word/ Call our bluff/ Definition
bingo/ Mastermind/ Hot Seat/ Word Wall/ On target /Word box/ Swap mingle/ Show and Tell/
Pass it round/ Words without vowels/ /Vocabulary Wall/

Define it: to compare and contrast; give definitions.

Procedure:

1. Give each student two slips of paper. Put the students into group of no more than eight.
Give each group a container.
2. Write the topic on the board.
3. Each student writes two different expressions to do with the subject one on each slip. They
do not show or tell the other group members what they have written. They fold the slips to
hide the writing and put them into the group container. It does not matter if term is
duplicated.
4. Choose a student in each group to start the activity. The student takes out one of the slips
fro the container, reads it silently and gives a definition without using the words written on
the slip of paper. If the student does not know the word, they replace it in the container
and take another one.
5. The others in the group say what they think it is. They can speak in any order.
6. When a student guesses correctly, he or she keeps the slip, takes another slip from the
container, and repeats the activity. If the group fails to guess correctly from the definition
given, the slip is returned to the container for another student to pick out later.
 7. Set a time limit depending on the ability of the class. The activity continues until all the
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definitions have been matched and all the slips removed from the container, or the time
limit is reached.
8. The students copy the words and write the definitions.

Right in one: to give accurate definitions; revise key vocabulary.

Write list of words you want your students to define.

Prepare two worksheets. A and B, as in the example below. Prepare the B worksheet in the
same way, but with Student B at the head of the top left-hand box. Photocopy the student A
worksheet for half the class and the Student B worksheet for the others.

Student A Right in one

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

My partner’s list Right in one

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.
 4. 4.

5. 5.
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Procedure:

1. Divide the class into two halves, group A and group B. Give out the blank worksheets.
2. Give a list of five words to group A for them to copy down on their prepared worksheet
under student A. Do the same for group B with a different set of words. If the groups are
large you will need more than list of words for each group.
3. Students As work together for a few minutes to discuss how they could accurately define
their words. Do the same with students Bs. Give them time to think their definitions. They
do not write anything down.
4. Then pair A and B students. Tell them they have to define their words on their list for their
partners to guess. They must not say the actual word when they are defining it. The idea
is for the pair of students to get as many words ‘Right in one’ as possible.
5. If the partner guesses correctly at the first try the student A can tick that number in the
Right in one box. Student B then writes the word they have defined correctly in My partner’s
list and ticks the Right in one box. If the guess is not right then Student A must put a cross
in the Right in one box.
Student A Right in one

1. bay 1.X

2. spit 2.

3. wave-cut platform 3.

4. cliff 4.

5. headline 5.X
 My partner’s list Right in one

1. meander 1.
24

2. ox-bow lake 2.

3. levee 3.

4. flood plain 4.X

5. alluvium 5.

6. The students take it in turns to give their definitions.

7. Then they check all together.

Touch the word: This is a lively and distinctive activity to practise vocabulary already
introduced about countries, continents, and houses around the world.

When we have a new list of 15 or 20 words from a chapter, we play the fly swatter game. We
write the words (without the article for nouns) in large print in rows across the board. Then we
divide the class into two teams. The first time around with the fly swatters, we explain how the
game works. After that, it's not necessary.

For those not familiar with the fly swatter game or you can use hand pointers, one student
from each team comes to the front of the room facing the class, with their back to the board.
Each has a fly swatter. When we say a word, they have to turn around, look over the words
on the board and touch the word we've said with the fly swatter. The first one to touch the
word gets a point for their team.

There are some other basic rules: 1) You may not hit another student with the fly swatter. 2)
You may not throw the fly swatter at anyone. 3) You may not "block" another player with your
arm or your body to prevent them from getting at a word.
25 For the first round, we tell the class we're going to start with something easy. We say the
word in English and the two at the front have to find it. The one who touches it first with the fly
swatter gets the point.

For the second round, we give clues such as: Find something you can sit on (chair, couch,
bed, carpet when we did items in a room, for instance). If they touch a word that's plausible,
they get the point.

Find something that you can wear on your feet (when we did clothing)

Find a male family member (when we did family words)

Find something you usually do indoors (when we had activity verbs - play cards, go hiking,
play the piano, go horse riding).

For each round, we make sure every student has a chance at the board. We find this repetition
helps, plus we have lots of laughs as we do it and we think that aids retention, too.

Ladders: to review vocabulary

1. Divide the class into two or three teams and ask each team to line up in front of the board.
Explain to them that you are going to ask them to write one word connected to the topic
on each step of their ladder.
2. The first person in each team writes the firsts word on the bottom step of the ladder. They
then pass the pen to the next person who writes the next word and so on.
3. Once one team has a word on each step of the ladder, everyone stops writing.
4. Point are awarded for each word that is connected to the topic. The team that finished first
also earns a bonus point. Only those words that are spelt correctly earn points or / and
only those words which do not appear on any of the other ladders earn points.
 Guess my word: Language: Describe / Other: Guess the word
26

Ask students to think of a word on plants. They mustn’t say the word bust must stand up when
they have thought of it.
Tell the students you are going to try to guess their word. If you say exactly their word they
can sit down. The winner is the last person to be standing.
Have two columns on the board, one for the wrong guesses and another for the right ones.
Make a guess and write the word in the appropriate column on the board.
As soon as you have made a right guess, the students with that word sit down. It is now up to
them to guess the words of the others.

Call our bluff: Language: Write true/false statements / Other: Student- student dictation;
work in groups; listen for specific information; remember important facts, record true
information.
Write a list of areas to the topic you want your students to revise. Have one area per group.

1. Put all the students into groups of about five. Give each group a different area of the topic
to work on. Give each group a number or let them choose a name and write these on the
board.
2. Give out five slips of paper per group. Ask three people in each group to write the word
true on a slip of paper and the other two write the word false. They mix up their slips of
paper and distribute them in their group.
3. The students with the true slips of paper each has to write a true sentence about the topic.
The students with the false slips of paper each write a false sentence about the topic. They
check their sentences with each other and then you.
4. The first group starts by reading out their sentences to the class. They read each one twice.
The first time they read at normal speed and the second time at dictation speed. The rest
of the class listen the first time and individually decide if the statement is true or false. If
 5. they think it is true, they write it down with its number when they hear it the second time.
27
They do not write the sentence they think it is false.
6. The groups compare their sentences and agree on which ones they think are true. Each
group in turn then tell the original group the number of the sentences they have agreed on.
Write their numbers on the board under the name of the appropriate group. When all the
groups have done this, the original group reads out their true sentences. Give each group
one point for each true sentence they chose. All the class must make sure they have a
written record.
7. Repeat steps 4 & 5 until all the groups have read their sentences.

Definition bingo: to recognize definitions; to match key words with definitions; understand
and memorize key words.

Subjects: Chemistry: Important substances and processes; Sports science: Cardiovascular

system; Mathematics: different types of graphs; Business studies: Business ownership
structures.

Prepare a list on nine key words you want your students to understand and remember.

Write definitions for each key word on a separate slip of paper.

Procedure:

1.Write the key words all over the board.

2.Ask the students to draw a nine-square grid. Tell them to choose nine of the key words and
to write each one in a square, in any order.

3. Put the definitions in a bag and pull out one at a time and read it out.
28 4. Continue reding the definitions until one student has crossed out all their squares. This
student calls out Full House!

5. Read out any definitions still remaining in your bag and ask students to give you the
matching word.

Mastermind: this game concentrates students’ minds mainly on the spelling of new words.

Procedure:

1. Draw a short line on the board for each letter of the word we have chosen, for example,
mice.
2. Ask students to think of English words with four letters. We elicit words from the students.
3. If none of the letters in the students’ words are the same as the letters in your words, write
‘X’ under each line. If any letters are the same as the target word in the wrong positions,
write ‘o’ for each correct letter. If any letters are the same and in the correct positions, write
a filled-in ‘’ for each correct letter.
4. Different students try to guess the word. The student who
guesses the correct word gets a point and can choose the
next word.

Hot Seat: Thinking skills: creative thinking, evaluating; Language focus: Questions; Language
Skills: Speaking and listening. Any topic can be used for this activity.
29 Preparation: Identify 10 or 20 key words or phrases related to the current topic which you want
your learners to remember and understand. Write them on a separate card. Copy one set of cards
per group of six learners.

Procedure:

1. Divide the class into group of six. Nominate one of the learners to sit in the ‘hot seat’.

2. Give each learner in the hot seat one card you have prepared. Tell them to look at the firsts
card, without letting anyone else in the group see it.
3. Tell the remaining fie members of the group that they must take it in turns to ask questions to
find out the word or phrase on the card. Their questions may be open or closed, but learners
may not ask what is on the card directly.
4. The learner in the hot seat must answer the questions. The firsts learner to guess the words
on the card then takes the hot seat, and the activity continues until all the cards have been
used up.
5. If necessary, practice guessing the word on one card together as a class.

Word Wall: Thinking skills: classifying, deciding, evaluating; Language focus: vocabulary in a
unit; Language skills: reading and speaking.

Preparation: 20 or 30 rectangular cards or sticky labels for words and definitions. 2 maker pens
for each group of three or four learners. Resources, the Internet or dictionaries so students can
find out the meaning of words, they need their coursebooks too. Prepare enough copies of Word
Wall 1 for each student and Word Wall 2 for each group of students.
30 Procedure:

1. Explain to learners that they will be creating a ‘word wall’ of unfamiliar key vocabulary that
appears in the coursebook. They will also help each other to understand and spell the
vocabulary.
2. Each learner looks through the lesson of the unit individually and completes Word Wall 1
to create a personal list with five words from the lesson they are going to start. These
should be words that they do not know but that they feel it is important to learn.
3. In groups of threes or fours, learners compare personal lists and agree on a group master
list.
4. Distribute 10 cards or sticky labels and markers to each group. Learners print the key words
in large letters on the card or sticky labels and put the words up on the board alphabetically.
Remove any that are duplicated.
5. As a class, ask learners to speculate on the meaning of the words. Discuss the meaning
of prefixes like ex-, in-, im-, or suffixes like -tion, -able.
6. Hang the word wall on the classroom wall during the lessons dealing with the unit.
31

On target: Language: Spelling practice / Other: Expand and consolidate topic vocabulary,
remember and revise information. Find or write lists of six words related to the topic (Ocean)

Put the students into team groups. Each group has one sheet of writing paper and chooses a
writer. Change the team writer after each round.

Write a topic on the board. Tell the students you have a list of six words about the topic. Each
team must write down six words they think could be on your list. Set an appropriate time limit
for each round. When the time limit is up, the students hold up their paper. No more writing is
allowed.

Ask a group to read out one of their words. Start each round with a different group. If a team
calls out a word which is on your list, write that word on one side of the board in one colour,
for example,
32 red. The team scores a point. If the word is not on your list write it on the other side of the
board in a different colour, blue. Continue round the terms until all your words have been
called out. If at the end there are words left on your list, which have not been called out, then
write theses up on the board in red.

All the teams score a point for each word they match with your list, but only for the words on
your list. The teams keep their scores. With the students, check the blue word list and reject
any you and they feel do not fit in with the topic list. The students copy down the appropriate
words from the lists.

Word box:

Aim: Vocabulary building

Focus: Recycling vocabulary

Preparation. If you teach in the same classroom every lesson, put a box on a desk or pin a
folder or large envelope to the wall. If not, make whatever you easily portable.

1. When new items of vocabulary are learned, ask a student to write the word or phrase on
a piece of card or paper, use their dictionaries to make the stress and write a short
definition of the word on the back of the card.
2. Put the cards into the box/file/envelope and use them for quick spelling quizzes or
vocabulary revision. Or peer/self-testing when you have a few minutes.
33 Show and Tell

Aim: Vocabulary building

Focus: Recycling vocabulary

1. Tell students that in each lesson one student will teach the rest of the class a new word
or expression in English that he or she knows but nobody else does. They may get their
new items from the Internet, from their reading, from a movie, or from wherever they like.
This is their homework for today, though they may only present their word later in the
course.
2. If there is already, in the present lesson, a student in the class who happens to know such
an item invite to present it. If not, perhaps teach one yourself. (word of the day).
3. In later lessons invite individuals to teach their new item. Usually, it is enough for one or
two students to present in each lesson.
4. Encourage them to make their teaching more interesting by using pictures, examples,
internet references and so on.

Pass it round

Outline: Students add new items to lists of vocabulary as they are passed round the class.

Focus: Words that fit a given sentence context; collocations.

Preparation: Sheets of paper with base items written halfway down. You need one such sheet
per three students, each showing a different item.

1. Write on the board a base expression like: You can break…

2. Invite students to suggest what objects might come after this, and add them like this:
34 You can break ……an egg.

a cup.

a vase.

a bottle.

a leg.

a promise.

3. Divide the class into groups of three, give each a sheet of paper turned sideways, with
different beginning phrase:
You can eat…

You can listen to…..

4. Tell students they have three minutes to fill in as many possible objects as they can.
After three minutes, ring a bell, or call out stop! And tell them to pass the sheet of paper
to another group.
5. Each group now works on its new paper for three minutes: they have to read what the
previous groups has written and add more.
6. The process continues; make sure that each sheet of paper moves each time to a group
which hasn’t seen it before.
7. Move around the classroom helping groups think of new items; tach new words as
necessary.
8. When all groups have contributed, students should leave the finished sheets on their
desks and move around the class to read all the others.
9. Take in the sheets, and then either a9 read out the results immediately, stopping to
teach or review any items that some or all of the class don’t know or b) take the lists
10.
 home, and the next day of the items you think the class may not have known or needs to
35
review.

Words without vowels

Outline: Students reconstruct words they ‘ve learned from words written only with
consonants.

Focus: The spelling of recently learnt words.

1. Write up on the board a set of words you want to review, without their vowels.
2. Students write down what the full word should be.
3. Invite students to come to the board, two or three at a time, to fill in the missing vowels.
4. Check that all the meanings are understood.

Vocabulary Wall

Aim: review, vocabulary study

1. Assign one part of a classroom wall to become the ‘vocabulary wall’

2. At the beginning of lessons, ask students if they heard any words that they didn’t
understand or if there were words in their text that they found particularly difficult.
3. One student takes on the responsibility to write these words in large clear letters-each
word on a separate card or piece of paper.
4. Post the words on the vocabulary wall.
 5. Spend some time each lesson reviewing the vocabulary wall- students should know
36
how to pronounce a word, how to spell it, and how to use it in a sentence.
6. When everyone in the class is sure the word, remove it from the vocabulary wall.

Guiding Understanding

Graphic Organizers/ Mind the gap/ Understanding new words/ Venn Diagram/ Graffiti /
Questions on a stick/

Graphic Organizers: Thinking skills: ordering, classifying, understanding, analyzing;

Language focus. Depends on the text; Language skills: reading.

Preparation: select a text and read through it to identify its main structure. Choose a graphic
organizer which would help learners to structure the information in the text visually.

Procedure:

1. Introduce the topic of the text briefly. Give each learner a copy of the graphic organizer you
have designed and ask them to work in pairs to see how much information they can
complete before they read the text.
2. Give each pair a copy of the text and ask them to correct and complete their graphic
organizer using the information in the text.
37 Spider Map

Mind the gap: Thinking skills: reasoning, understanding, evaluating; Language focus: subject-
specific vocabulary; Language Skill: reading.

Preparation: Select a short text. Delete a number of important subject-specific words (no more
than 15 words) from the text you have chosen. Delete only words for which there are clues in the
text that will help learners guess each word. This is called a cloze text. Number the gaps for easy
reference and ensure the gaps are not too close together so that learners can use the context to
guess the words.

Procedure:

1. Learners work in pairs and write down five words they would expect to read or hear in
a text about the topic. The learners share the words they have listed with the class.
2. Explain to the learners that they are going to read a cloze text (i.e. a reading passage
in which words have been deleted and they need to fill in).
3. Hand out one copy of the text to each pair and ask learners to fill the gaps in the text.
The words they listed at the beginning of the lesson may help them.
 4. Encourage the learners to discuss how they worked out the correct missing words, i.e.
38
which clues in the text they used to help them.
5. Allow learners to compare their answers with the complete original text.

Understanding new words: Thinking skills: Reasoning; Language Focus: vocabulary; Language
skills: Reading

Preparation: Select any text you want to use in class. Make on copy for each student. You will
need a set of coloured highlighter pens for each pair of students.

Procedure:

1. Carry out an understanding for gist activity to introduce the text to your students.
2. Students work in pairs and underline all the words in the text that one or both of them already
know.
3. Learners use a pink highlighter pen to mark all the words which look like words from their first
language.
4. Learners use a green highlighter pen to mark all the words which contain affixes that they
know (um-, im-, -tion, -able)
5. Learners use a blue highlighter pen to mark any words which contain Latin or Greek roots.
6. Learners use yellow highlighter to mark other words in the text which are new, but that they
think they can guess.
7. Learners draw a line with a pencil through the remaining words that they think they need to
know to understand the text. Can they understand the text without these words?
8. How many of the remaining words do the learners think they should look up in a dictionary?
You may decide not to use all the categories suggested in the procedure.
39 Graffiti: Thinking skills: reasoning, giving opinions, evaluating, identifying: Language focus:
depending on topic and questions. Language skills: Speaking and writing.

Preparation: make four copies of six or more different texts or visuals (graphs, pieces of art, sets
of photographs) which relate to the same subject. Before the learners come into class hang up
six posters around the wall. At the top of each poster, write a question relating to texts you have
chosen to use. These questions should help learners to understand the text they read as well as
getting them to think: they should not be too easy.

Procedure:

1. Make groups of four and give each learner a number from 1 to 4. Tis is to ensure that every
learner participates: they will not know the role for their number until later.
2. Give each group a colour name (red, blue, black and green) and a marker of that colour. The
group will keep that marker as they move to a different poster and topic.
3. Now give each group a different article to read. Learners skim through their articles for a few
minutes.
4. Learners stand next to a poster in their groups. They read the question and then have three
minutes to write their groups’ responses on the first poster. Number 1 will write on the first
poster, number 2 on the second poster, and so on.
5. When the three minutes are up, groups move to a different poster and answer the question
on that poster. They can also add comments, questions, extra points or questions marks.
6. Repeat step 5 six times so that every group has answered a question on each poster.
7. When learners have finished, they can sit down. Now explain that each group should return
to the poster they began with, take it off the wall and prepare a short presentation using the
answers on the poster. Tell the learners you might call on anyone to give the presentations,
so they should all be prepared.
8. Learners give the presentations.
40 Focusing on Speaking

Balloon debate/ Mini talks/ Choose from your list/ Tell me what you know/ Think, pair, share/
Ranking Cards/ Front of Class Spinner/ Circle talk/ Group Dictation

Balloon debate: Thinking skills: ordering, reasoning, creative thinking; language focus: giving
opinions; speaking.

Preparation: Choose six people (objects or solutions) related to the topic of your subject. The
class must consider the qualities of each person and then vote for one to be removed on the
grounds of being lest ‘essential’. In order to do this, the class debates about their qualities of each
person and then votes for one to be removed.

Procedure:

1. Introduce the idea of a balloon debate, describing the situation as follows: Six people are
inside the basket of a hot hair balloon which is quickly losing weight. To stay in the air, one
of the people must leave the balloon or it will crash.
2. Divide the class into six groups, each group represents one person in the balloon.
Alternatively, a balloon debate can work with items related to your subject.
3. Give each group 10 minutes to prepare a two-minute presentation which persuades the
rest of the class why they should remain in the balloon. To ensure participation at this
stage, explain that any learner in the group can be called on to argue the groups’ case.
4. Set a timer. One random person from each group presents their arguments in two minutes,
in turn. Be strict with the timing. During the presentations, each learner notes down which
person they feel should be rejected and why.
5. After the presentations, each group discusses which person should be removed from the
balloon. This, of course, will not be their own person, object or solution. Give groups five
6.
 7. minutes to prepare one-minute speech to explain who they think should be thrown out of
41
the balloon and why.
8. Set a timer. Each group presents their counter-arguments in one minute, in turn.
9. Groups discuss gain which person, object or solution should be removed from the balloon
and make a final vote.

Mini talks: Writing questions; preparing and giving short talk; recalling previously taught
topics; giving concise information; listening; cooperative learning.
42 Preparation: Decide on two topics you want your students to talk about. World War 1 / Russia
and the USSR.

Procedure:

1. Put the students into groups of four to six, so that you have an equal number of groups,
so that you have an equal number of groups. PAIR OFF THE GROUPS. Give each pair
of groups one of the topics.
2. Ask each group to choose a specific aspect of the topic for each person in their pair-group
to talk about for up to three minutes. This could take the form of a statement or a question.
They should write these, followed by the names of the students in the other group, on a
sheet of paper.
Example World War 1

a) How did the peace treaties of WW1change the map of Europe? Name a person to talk
about it.
b) Which different countries were involved in the war? Name a person to talk about it.
c) Describe the trenches. Name a person to talk about it.
d) Name and describe an important figure in WW1. Name a person to talk about it.
3. The group exchange their papers. Give everyone time to make notes about their topic.
4. In their groups each person talks about their topic. The group discuss each topic and add
or change anything they think necessary. They can ask you for help.
5. Give everyone time to practice saying their topic themselves. They may prefer doing this
walking around.
6. Students now take it in turns to give their talk to their own group. The group can offer help
if needed.
7. Put the pair-groups together. Each person gives their prepared talk.
43 For homework they could write up their talks.

Choose from your list: preparing and giving a short talk on a specific subject; memorizing
words;

Note-taking, making revision, listening.

Preparation: Display these instructions or make copies for the students.

1. Write notes on the content you want to include.

2. Do not write full sentences. Ask me for help or use a dictionary.
3. In your head give the talk in English. Make a note of any language you still need
help with, ask for help or use a dictionary.
4. Repeat your talk once more in English.

Procedure:

1. Ask students to write a list of words on a given topic. Tell them that if they do not know
the words in English they can ask for help. Example: animal and plant cells nucleus, cell
membrane, cell wall…
2. Tell the class they are going to give a short description (not more than 3 minutes) of one
item that they choose from their list.
3. Give each student a photocopy of the instructions.
4. Give students time in class to prepare, or ask them to do this for homework, using their
dictionaries. They can check any questions with you in the next lesson.
5. Put students into pairs and small groups. Take it in turns to give their talks, while the
listeners take notes.
44 Follow up: Students describe their topic and the class have to guess the original word.

Students write about their chosen topic.

Tell me what you know: Asking and answering questions, using questionnaires, oral
revision, interviewing skills.

Preparation:

Write a worksheet and make copies, one for each student. Write an answer key.

Procedure:

1. Give each a student a copy of the worksheet. Set a time limit. Ask the students to walk
around the class and interview as many other students as possible. Tell them to try to find
answers for at least eight of the questions before you stop them.
2. On the dotted lines the students make notes of the answers they get and the names the
students who gave them.
3. When they have finished, choose a student to read out the information they collected for
question 1. Choose a different student to answer question 2. Continue through the
worksheet. Tell the students to keep the questionnaire for future reference.

Follow up: Students work in groups and choose one of the questions to turn into a five-minute
presentation.

Find someone who…

1. can name the year President J.F.Kennedy was killed.

…………………………………………………………………
 2. can give you the names of two US Civil Rights leaders in 1960s.
………………………………………………………………….
45

3. know which European country the Soviet Union invaded in the late 1960s.
…………………………………………………………………

4. knows what medical ‘first’, Christian N Barnard achieved in 1967.

……………………………………………………………………

5. can tell you which countries fought in the Six Day War.
…………………………………………………………………

6. knows when the Berlin Wall was built and demolished.

……………………………………………………………….

7. knows the names of the first moon walkers and the name of their spacecraft.
……………………………………………………………..

8. can name a famous sportsperson of the 1960s.

…………………………………………………………….

9. can name some famous musicians, artists and writers of the 1960s.
……………………………………………………………

10. can name a fashion designer and describe the kinds of clothes worn in the 1960s.
……………………………………………………………………….
46 Think, pair, share: Thinking skills: depends on the activity; Language Focus: any; Language
skills: Speaking.

Preparation: prepare in advance some questions that you want your students to think about,
related to the topic of your next lesson.

Procedure:

1. Ask learners a question, e.g.: What is penicillin? Can you write five words beginning with
im-? What do you know about Salvador Dali?
2. Tell them to write down their answer individually.
3. Ask them to discuss their answer with their neighbour.
4. Ask a number of learners at random to share their answer to the rest of the class.

Ranking Cards: Thinking skills: ordering, comparing and contrasting; Language Focus:
expressing ideas, persuading, agreeing and disagreeing, asking questions; Language skills:
Speaking.

Preparation: Prepare 10 to 15 cards about concepts or facts related to your chosen topic,
one set pair of learners. Each of the ideas or facts is written on a separate card.

Procedure:

1. Learners work in pairs. Each pair has a set of mixed-up cards in a pile in front of them.
2. Learners take the two top cards, decide which is the most important and put it on the right.
3. Learners then take a third card and compare it with the two cards they have on the table,
asking the question Which is more important? They place it on the appropriate side (left, if
less important and right if more important).
 4. They continue until the pile of cards is used up, thus creating a row of cards with the most
47
important idea on the right and the least important idea on the left.
5. As pairs finish, make groups of four learners. They compare their rankings and come to a
consensus together to produce a new one.

Example:

Art, design and technology: materials

wood plastic glass fibre metal

Questions for learners: which of these materials is most suitable for making chairs and why?

Front of Cass Spinners

Instantly turn your whiteboard into an interactive game with these engaging sets! Simply draw
a segmented circle, place the magnetic pieces and you’re ready to play! You can do this
activity to get students to describe the different habitats, ocean, desert, jungle, forest.

We elicit from students as much as they know about habitats, getting them to describe the
different habitats and through questions, such as: what kind of water does the ocean have?
48 Group Dictation

Aim: writing, clear speech, listening, dictation practice, review.

Preparation: Find a suitable passage to be dictated. It may be a passage from a text you have
recently studied, and thus it will serve as a review, or it may be a passage from a text that you
will soon read, and thus will serve as a preview. The passage should not be longer than about
half a page of text.

1. Divide the class into groups of five.

2. Each group sends a reader to the front of the classroom.
3. Give each reader the passage to be dictated.
4. Groups send another student who meets the group reader.
5. The reader reads the first sentence to the group emissary. The emissaries may ask for
as many repetitions as they need. They can also ask for only half of the sentence. (but
the reader is not allowed to show the text to the emissary).
6. The emissary returns to the group and dictates what he heard while group members write.
They may ask for repetitions, and the emissaries can go back and ask the reader for
repetitions as many times as they wish.
7. When you notice fatigue on the part of the emissaries, call Switch. This will be a signal
for groups to send new emissaries. The former emissaries will join the groups and
continue the dictation of the previous writers.
8. Do several switches.
9. When one group is finished with, the entire passage, declare that group the winner.
10. Give each group the entire passage and allow some time for them to check their work.
11. Ask for a correct reading of the entire passage.
49 Circle talk

Aim: fluency practice, class cohesion

1. Students form inner and outer circles of about eight students in each inner and outer circle.
Students facing outward form the inner circle and students facing inward form the outer
circle, so that each student from the inner circle has a partner in the outer circle.
2. The inner circle students will not talk but show their partners that they are good listeners.
3. Give the students a topic.
4. Students in the outer circle have one minute to talk about the topic.
5. Students in the outer circle move one step to the right and face a new partner.
6. Students in the outer circle have two minutes to talk about the same topic.
7. Students in the outer circle again move one step to the right and face a new partner.
8. Students in the outer circle have three minutes to talk about the topic.
9. Repeat the entire procedure with the inner circle.

Focusing on Writing

Exactly fifty words/ Spelling practice/ Students-student questions/ Questions to Answers/

Using words from a topic to write a poem / Summarizing

Exactly fifty words: Language: Writing summaries; reading; writing; taking in important
information; Skimming and scanning

Choose the text you want your students to understand and remember. Make a note of the
key points.
50 Give your students the text and ask them to read it through once to get the gist of it. Give them
a time limit.

Ask them to read it again, but this time to underline the key points. They also need to write on
a separate piece of paper any proper names and numbers.

Give them a short time to compare and discuss their underlining with a partner.

Ask students to write their names on their texts. Then take them in.

Students write a summary of the text using exactly fifty words. This could be done as a
homework activity.

Give back original text.

Spelling practice: to work on difficult spelling; say and understand the letters of the alphabet

Prepare a list of words your students find difficult to spell.

Write the words all over the board- not in a vertical list. Put the students into pairs. Tell them
they are going to take it in turns to choose a word from the board and to write it with their
finger on their finger on their partner’s back. Their partner has their back to the board.

Demonstrate with the students whose back is to a board. Write each letter of the word
separately and ask the student to say it out loud, before continuing with the next letter. The
student first says the word, then spells it out without looking at the board.

Stop the activity when they have all written two words on their partner’s back.

Tell them they must now choose one other word which they write with their finger in the air.

Finally ask them to choose any remaining words and write them with their finger in the air.
51 Rub the words off the board and ask the students to write them from memory.

Questions to answers: to write what is/ what are questions; write definitions. Other: Listening,
understanding definitions.

Write a set of short definitions related to previous work.

Tell the class you are going to read out some answers to questions. Their task is to write a What
is/ what are questions which would elicit this answer. They must not write down the answer.

Read out the first definition and write the first two words on the board. Give students time to write
the question individually. Then check the questions to make sure they understand what to do.

Continue in the same way with the remaining answers, but do not check them yet. Ask students
to leave a line after each of their questions.

In pairs they compare their questions. Then you check their questions.

Ask the students to reconstruct each of your answers and write is after its question.

Using the information in the questions and answers, the students write a definition for each
keyword.

Summarizing: to summarize, expand sentences; pick out key information; write; learn key
information.

Find two sentences which contain key information.

Take out everything but the bare bones from one of the sentences.

Put the reduced sentence on the board.

Dictate the words you removed. Don’t dictate them in the original order. Let the students compare
notes and ask you if they have any problems in understanding or spelling the words.
52 Tell the students these words came from the original sentences. Their job is to put them back so
as to create the original sentence.

When students are ready, dictate the original sentence for them to check their answers.
Alternatively, ask a student to write their solution on the board.

Poem: Come to the Forest: To get students play with the language and rhythm words.

Students work in groups.

We give out slips of paper with each line on a slip of paper.

We ask students to order the poem, any order they want.

There is no right or wrong answer for this.

Once having ordered their poem they write it on a piece of paper.

After that they listen to the original poem and they have to put the slips of paper in the order they
hear. Then they compare their poem with the original one.

Acrostic Poem

An acrostic poem uses the letters in a word to begin each line of the poem. All lines of the poem
relate to or describe the main topic word:

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/acrostic-poems-
30045.html

Poetry: Use the form below to write a poem about the Desert. On the first line have the first word
start with a D. On the second line have the first word start with an E. Continue in the same manner
to complete the poem. Cut your poem out and put on coloured paper. Make a border and add
pictures.
53 D______________________________

E______________________________

S______________________________

E______________________________

R______________________________

T______________________________

Consolidate

True/false dictation / Jumbled sentences/ Running dictation/ Two minutes to remember / Pass the
bell / Noughts and Crosses/ Auction

Two minutes to remember: to defining and describing

Other: Listening for specific information; note taking; memorizing key words; learning definitions

Find or write a text that gives key words and examples. The text could be completely new to your
students or one they have seen before in their textbook.

Make a list of all the key words you will write on the board, and another of the examples you will
write around the key words.

Example: Key words: China, Venice, France…..

Writing around the key words: France: castle,

Write the title of the text on the board. Discuss the title with the students.
54 Write the key words from the text in any order on the board. Draw a box round each key word and
leave enough space between the boxes to add the example words give in the text.

Tell the students you will read the text twice. Do the first reading. Do not discuss the text with the
students.

Write the example words by the side of the side of the matching key word boxes and draw lines
connecting them. Do not discuss the examples with the students.

Read the text the second time. Tell the students that they have two minutes to memorize the
examples.

Rub out the examples but leave the key words on the board. Ask the students to work alone, copy
the key words and write the examples they can remember: Set a time limit depending on the
ability of the class.

Students check their work with a partner and add to their list.

Call for volunteers to write the examples on the board next to the matching key words. Students
copy what is on the board for future reference

Pass the bell: What do you know about it?

A) Draw the following 6 x 7 grid on the board.

B) Write the categories, but do not write the questions on the board.
C) Write the point values.
D) Write this rule below the board: ALL ANSWERS MUST BE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES!
E) Divide the class into three groups.
F) Give each team a bell or some kind of noise maker to "ring in." If you don't have a bell, you
can use anything - bring three metal spoons from home, and have the students tap them on the
55 desk!
G) Print out a copy of the gameboard with questions and don't let the students see it!
H) This game takes 50 - 60 minutes to play with lower levels. Upper levels take less time.

Here are the rules for play:

1) Decide which team chooses first, then let them choose a category and point value. For
example, "Desert for 100 points."
2) The first person from each team has the bell, and they get to ring in and answer the question
if they know the answer.
3) Only the students who have the bell may give an answer.

4) Students may consult with their team mates - in English! - to come up with an answer, but
they may not have time if another team rings in first.
5) When a team rings in, they must answer the question immediately. They cannot ring in, and
then consult with their teammates - that's cheating! If they try this, they lose that number of
points!
6) When a team rings in and gives the correct answer, they win those points.
7) However, when a team rings in and gives the wrong answer, they LOSE that number of
points! Get ready to do some negative-number math!
8) If the answer is wrong, or it's given in an incomplete sentence, they also LOSE that number
of points.
9) Each team has one chance to answer each question. They cannot try again if they are wrong.
10) PASS THE BELL - The next teammate is up! *Cross out each used square as you play until
there are no more squares.
*The team who answered correctly last gets to choose the next category and point value. The
higher the point value, the more difficult the question!
*The winning team is the one with the most points at the end of the game.
56 Noughts and Crosses

Place pictures of vegetables on the board. Split the class into two teams. A member of Team 0
says the name of a vegetable. A member of team X must tell what part of plant it is. If he does
this correctly, he can place an X in the grid. Teams take turns. The team that gets a line of three
X’s or 0’s either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins. As a variation, students on one team
can name a part of a plant. The other team must name a vegetable we eat that represents that
part.

Auction

1. Group your students and give each group an auction sheet. Tell them that some of the
sentences on the sheet are correct and some incorrect. They are to read through and decide
which sentences are correct and which incorrect. In the auction that is to follow they are going
to have to bid for sentences, the aim being to buy only correct sentences.
2. Tell them each group has £5,000 for buying sentences and ask them to note down in the
budget column of their auction sheets how much they are willing to bid for a given sentence.
They may not spend more than £5,000 in the auction. The winners of the auction are pair with
the most correct sentences and the most money left.
3. Before starting the auction tell them you will not accept bids of less than £200.

Start the Auction

a) Read out the first sentence in a lively, persuasive way, even if it happens to be wrong, and
then ask for bids.
b) Keep the bidding moving fast, keep up a fast patter to convey the excitement of an auction
room.
 c) When you come to the ‘going, going, gone’ stage, be ready to accept last minute bids. When
57
a sentence has been auctioned off make sure students keep a note of the buyer and the
amount in their bought columns.
d) After each sale tell the group if the sentence is correct or not and in the latter case give the
correct version. Do it first, so as not to break the ‘auction’ mood! Postpone explanation of
the mistakes involved until after the game.
e) Start the auction with the first sentence but then auction the rest of the sentences in random
order-this heightens the feeling of expectancy.

Using Multimedia

Quick response reading race. (QR codes) / Code message trail (QR codes) / Class vocabulary
audio notebook / Digital poster / Memory Poster / Word Puzzles / Learner-generated quizzes

Quick response reading race. (QR codes): comparing images to descriptions; reading for gist.

Preparation: Use a QR code generator. You can create QR codes at ClassTools.net

(http://www.classtools.net/QR); Kaywa QR code (http://qrcode.kaywa.com) and QR Code
Generator (http://qrdroid.com/generate).

The activity requires learners working in groups of three, with each group having access to a
mobile phone with a camera and a bar-code reading software. You will also need Wi-Fi access
for the learners to access the webpages.

Procedure:

1. Place the images around the classroom and put a QR code next to them (the QR codes should
not match the pictures).
 2. Tell the learners that they are going to have a reading race, and they have to work in groups
58
of three to go to each of the images, scan the QR code and read what the text says. They
should then decide quickly if the text relates to that particular image or another one.
3. Ask the learners to continue scanning the QR codes and reading the texts. As they do so,
they should try to match the images with the texts.
4. When the learners have finished, check the answers and declare the winning team. They look
at specific features of the texts you want to draw their attention to.

Code message trail (QR codes): making reading fun; scanning, reding for specific information.

Preparation:

For this game to work, you will need to be able to allow your students to move outside the
classroom to other spaces of your school. Create a series of clues, leading from classroom to
other places in your building. Use a QR code generator, create one QR code per clue and place
them in order near the places you have chosen for the trail.

Learners work in groups of three.

Procedure:

1. Display the first clues on the board and ask the learners to scan the QR code and read the
clue. If you want to make the game more interesting, then create four different trails that
converge into one later on. For the game to work well, each group should have about five QR
codes to scan. Here are some examples of the clues that learners see when they scan the
bar codes:
59 Group 1:

Leave the classroom and turn left. Walk along the corridor until you reach the first extinguisher.
Look next to this.

Group 2:

Walk out of class and turn right. Walk along the corridor and take the second left. Look next
to the landscape painting.

Group 3:

Leave the room and go to the main entrance. Look under one of the chairs for next code.

Group 4:

Go into the garden and walk to the tree near the wall on the left. To the right of this near the
ground is the next clue.

2. Tell the learners the game is a race to reach the end. If you like, leave a prize at the last
location. While each group may follow the clues in a different order, all groups should have
the same clue in the final location.
 3. Let the learners go off in their groups and follow the trail. Monitor them and help, if necessary,
60
with language they do not understand.
4. Back in class, once the trail is over, ask the learners to reconstruct the clues as best they can,
writing the directions down as a post-reading task.
5. Ask the learners to check what they have written by giving them the text of the clues.

Class vocabulary audio notebook: pronunciation of class vocabulary.

Preparation: Choose a podcasting website that allows you to create short recordings and create
a class account. SoundCloud (http://www.soundcloud.com), Audio Boo
(http://www.audioboo.com), and Podomatic (http://www.podomatic.com).

Procedure:

1. As the class encounter new words and phrases that are difficult to pronounce, ask volunteers
to record them. They can do so by coming to a computer and recording directly to the
podcasting website; alternatively, you can use a mobile phone with a voice recorder and
upload the vocabulary sound file afterwards or ask the learners to take responsibility for their
words and phrases, record them on their phones and upload them to the podcasting site for
homework.
2. Refer to the recordings from time to time in class. Use them when looking at pronunciation
issues and as home-made examples of pronunciation.
3. This is a good way for the students to keep a record of the new words they learn focusing on
how to pronounce them.
61 Memory Poster: vocabulary revision; recycling vocabulary topics.

Preparation: create a class account at a digital poster-creation website and prepare and example
digital poster. Digital Poster sites, Glogster (http://www.glogster.com), and the online scrapbook
tool Scrapblog (http://www.scrapblog.com), let learners mix text, images, audio, and video in order
to represent ideas or tell a story.

Procedure:

1. Ask the learners to work in pairs/small groups and for each group/pair to select a different
topic from the unit/syllabus – one that you have already looked at. Tell them they are going to
make posters to revise vocabulary.
2. Each of the groups/pairs chooses a number of words or phrases from a vocabulary topic that
they think it is important to remember, and they take note of the words and expressions and
their meaning.
3. Once groups have their 10 words/phrases, introduce the learners to poste-creation website
and tell them they are to create a poster illustrating the vocabulary they have chosen with
images from the software image library. Show them an example you created and ask them to
guess the words that are missing.
4. The learners start to make their posters, adding text and using the tools of the website to
illustrate the words and phrases with images and videos. Because learners can spend a lot
of time creating their posters if they are allowed to do so, be sure to set a time limit (20 to 30
minutes) for this activity. If they don’t finish, then ask them to complete the poster for
homework.
5. When the posters are ready (the next class if necessary), display them one by one, and ask
the other pairs/groups to take turns guessing the vocabulary.
6. Award points to the pairs/ groups for correct answers. The posters can be added to a class
wiki or blog.
 7. In later lessons, perhaps just before the beginning or the end of a class, you can display one
62
of the posters and call on the learners to guess the words.

Word Puzzles: encouraging vocabulary learning; having fun; word definitions and extending
knowledge of words.

Preparation: Choose a word-puzzle site. Recommended word-puzzle sites include Wordia

(http://www.wordia.com), and Puzzlemaker (http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-
puzzlemaker).

Procedure:

1. Introduce the class to the word-puzzle site you have chosen and choose a type of puzzle
suitable for their level.
2. Ask learners to choose a number of words that they have recently come across in class and
to create a word puzzle for their classmates. Your choice of puzzle will depend on the level of
your
class. The puzzle site will generate puzzles with only a group of words, but you should
encourage the learners to write clues which are definitions, gapped sentences.

3. Monitor the learners as they do the activity, and provide help as needed.
4. When learners have finished making the word puzzle, ask them to print a copy, and collect
the puzzles. You can then either use them as warmers/fillers I future classes or give them out
from time to time for learners to do for homework.
63 Learner-generated quizzes: vocabulary revision

Preparation: Create a class account with a test-quiz-generator website. Quia

(http://quia.com/shared/english), Quizlet (http://www.quizlet.com) and Vocab Test
(http://www.vocabtest.com).

Procedure:

1. Ask the learners to work in pairs and to select a number of vocabulary items that they would
like to revise from work that has already been done. You can give different pairs of learners
different topic areas, or let them choose which types of words to focus on.
2. Ask the learners to make a list of 10 words or phrases and to write definitions of them (they
can use dictionaries to make it easier).
3. Once they have their lists, they create their tests using the quiz-generator website, entering
the words/phrases and definitions. The software will automatically generate a vocabulary test
from these. While learners are doing the task, monitor them and check the words/phrases are
spelled correctly and the definitions make sense.
4. When learners have finished, invite them to try some of the tests created by their classmates.
5. You can set some of the tests for the learners to do at home, too.

Assessment for Learning Opportunities - AFL

Group self- evaluation/ Jigsaw rubric: Assessing Speaking / Language Feedback / Exploring MI/
Revision Circles / Stickers / Correction Cards / Correction Code / First Person Revision
64 Group self- evaluation: Thinking skills: Evaluating, giving opinions. Language focus: Giving
opinions. Language Skills: Writing.

Preparation: prepare one self-evaluation sheet – one per learner per lesson, so that they keep a
record of the process and their progress as a group.

Procedure:

1. Explain that each learner needs to keep their own individual record of how group work goes
during each project lesson.
2. Give each learner a copy of a self-evaluation sheet to complete each time and tell them to
keep it in their file. You can use the handouts to coach the learners as they go along, too.
Jigsaw rubric: Assessing Speaking: Thinking skills: Classifying, ordering. Language focus:
Present tenses, descriptive language. Language Skills: Reading and Speaking

Preparation: Prepare a rubric for assessing speaking. an individual group, or individual

presentation, a song, a poem, a role play.

A rubric consists of a numbers of assessment criteria to be rated an da number of descriptions,

outlining the different stages of development of work. You can also use an online rubric generating
site, such as Rubistar (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/). Prepare a rubric replacing some of the
information with numbered gaps. Make cards of the information from the gaps and give each card
a letter to identify it.

Procedure:

1. Introduce your rubric for assessing oral work. Explain what a rubric is and show them an
example.
2. Learners work in pairs. Give the learners a copy of your gapped rubric and a set of cards.
Learners match the descriptors on cards to the gaps.
 3. Check their answers with the key. Give them topics of the complete rubric to use while
65
preparing their oral presentation.

Language Feedback: Thinking skills: analysing. Language focus: accuracy and appropriacy.
Language skills: speaking.

Procedure

1. As learners ca
2. Carry out a speaking task in groups or pairs, listen to their spoken language and use a table
to note the names of the learners who speak. For each learner, note an example of good use
of language, e.g. vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and a language mistake, e.g.
vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar.
3. At the end of the speaking task, ask learners to correct the language mistakes you noted.
4. Photocopy the table including correction and give it to the learners or the language teacher.

NAME 😊😊 M Correction
66 Exploring MI: Thinking skills: Evaluating. Language Focus: present tenses, adverbs of
frequency. Language Skills: Reading and Speaking.

1. Introduce the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) to your class. Explain that we all learn in
different ways and develop a range of different intelligences that are helpful in different
situations. Discuss with your class, using discussion questions such as:
a) Which intelligences do you think you are strong in?
b) In what ways is your best friend/ brother/sister/ parent intelligent?
c) Which famous people possess one strong intelligence?
2. Give each learner a copy of the MI questionnaire to complete. They answer each question
with a score of 0 to 4.
3. Learners add up their scores, complete the key and then complete an ‘MI pizza’ for
themselves to visualize their scores.
4. Learners tell you top three intelligences and write these on a poster for everyone to see. You
can use the results of the MI test to create groups according to similar or different intelligences.
This activity is suitable for all subjects.

Revision Circles: Thinking skills: Recalling, reasoning. Language Focus: various, depending on
the topic. Language Skills: Speaking.

Preparation: Tell learners in advance that they are going to have a test and need to revise for it.
Prepare your questions.

Procedure:

1. Explain to your learners that they will revise together and then take the rest individually.
2. Learners stand or sit in two parallel circles (e.g 10 in the inner circle and 10 in the outer circle),
facing each other. If you have an odd number of learners, ask two of them to work together
as a pair.
 3. Reveal your first question on the topic-on the board or in a Power Point presentation.
67
4. Learners discuss their answers with the person opposite them. Remind them to speak in
English, since the test will be in English.
5. Then they say: Outer circle move one person/two people to the left, so that the learners are
then facing a new partner.
6. Show them your second question and ask them to discuss it with their new partner.
7. Call out: Inner circle move two people to the left and show your third question. Continue
rotating the circles alternately so that each question is discussed with a different partner.
8. Grade as a test.

The circle arrangement makes it easy to swap partners. If space is an issue, it is possible to keep
a more traditional classroom seating arrangement.

Subject examples

Science: biology

1. What is the location of the light stage of photosynthesis?

2. Light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll and is used to:
(b) Regenerate ATP and reduce carbon dioxide
(c) Aplit water and regenerate ATP
(d) Oxidise glucose and split water
(e) Split water and fix carbon dioxide
2. What is the hydrogen acceptor in photosynthesis?
68 Stickers: Thinking skills: reasoning, understanding. Language Focus: Vocabulary. Language
skills: reading, listening and speaking.

Preparation: This is a revision activity. Choose one page of information about a topic that you
want learners to revise. You will need one sticky label per learner.

Procedure:

1. Learners read the page of information quickly.

2. Give out one sticky label per learner. They choose and write one idea (e.g. hormone- biology;
revolution-history) or part of speech (e.g. noun) on the sticker. Collect the stickers and check
there is no repetition.
3. Stick one label on each learner’s back, without telling them what it is.
4. Remind learners how to ask questions in the first person (with I).
5. Learners circulate around the classroom with the information, asking each other yes/no
questions in the first person. (Am I an A? Am I related to B? Am I found in C?) to try to discover
what their own label reads. For each question they ask, they write an X on their classmate’s
label.
6. Once they have guessed who or what they are, they move the sticker from their back to their
front but keep on answering other learners’ questions.

Correction Cards: Learners play a card game correcting typical mistake. Thinking skills:
identifying Language Focus: any, agreeing and disagreeing, Language Skills: speaking.

Preparation: Create a set of about 20 correction cards of either language or content mistakes,
enough for one set per group pf learners. To make it more challenging, include some correct
sentences in your set of cards.
69 Procedure:

1. Learners sit in groups of three or four around a table. Give each group a set of correction
cards and ask them to make a pile of cards in the middle of the table. Explain that the mistakes
are all content mistakes. (Water boils at 105 degrees) or language mistakes. (Water boil at
100 degrees) but that some of the sentences are correct.
2. Learners turn over a card in turn, read the sentence aloud and decide as a group if it is correct
or not.
3. If the sentence is correct, they keep the card. If the sentence is not correct, the learners
discuss what is wrong with it and how it should be corrected.
4. The group with the most correct cards is the winner.

First Person Revision: Thinking skills: Comparing & contrasting, remembering, identifying.
Language focus: Giving and asking for opinions, subject vocabulary. Language skills: Listening
and speaking.

Preparation: Write 7-10 words or concepts that are important for your learners to revise or
remember on sets of cards, one set of cards per group or pair. Create about 10 statements in the
first person, to

which the words or concepts on the cards are answers; each word should correspond to at least
one statement and preferably to more of them. An example for maths is: My sides are all the same
length.

Procedure:

1. Put learners into pairs or groups of three. Give each group a set of cards and ensure that everyone
can see all the cards.
 2. Explain that when you read out a sentence (or question) they should find one or more answers to
70
your question in their set. Read out the first sentence. The groups hold up the cards which they
think correspond to the sentence.
3. Continue until you have read out all your sentences, one by one.
71 Things that help me learn
72 Classroom Jobs

Our Class Contract

73 How I like to do my homework

Setting Goals
 References:
74

Sheelagh Deller -Christine Price (ed) 2007 Teaching Other Subjects Through English. Oxford
University Press.

Phil Ball- Keith Kelly- John Clegg (ed) 2015 Putting CLIL into Practice. Oxford University
Press.

Edmund Dudley and Erika Osvath (ed) 2015 Mixed-Ability Teaching. Oxford University Press.

Gordon Lewis (ed) 2009 Bringing Technology into the classroom. Oxford University Press.

Liz Dale – Rosie Tanner (ed) 2012 CLIL Activities – a resource for subject and language
teachers. Cambridge University Press.

Do Coyle-Philip Hood- David Marsh (ed) 2010 CLIL Content and Language Integrated
Learning.

Cambridge University Press.

Kay Bentley (ed) 2011 -The TKT Course CLIL Module. Cambridge University Press.

Carol Read 500 Activities MacMillan.

Cindy Leaney 2007 – Dictionary Activities. Cambridge University Press.

Penn Ur 2012 – Vocabulary Activities. Cambridge University Press.

Natalie Hess 2001 – Teaching Large Multilevel Classes. Cambridge University Press.

Webquest: QuestGarden http://questgarden.com/

Learning Resources: https://www.learningresources.com/

Twinkl: resource materials: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/