In this post, I’m sharing 7 ideas about making Cambridge exams speaking practice more fun and engaging for the students. These ideas work best with learners preparing for Cambridge First and Advanced exams.
First Certificate Mad Libs
In this activity, students fill in the blanks in the text with the appropriate type of word. Each blank notes what kind of word should go there: noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. This activity is based on a popular party game, Mad Libs, and is suitable for FCE students who need more practice differentiating between various parts of speech.
Alphabet of the obsolete: speaking activity
In this activity, students practice expressing and justifying their opinions discussing this brilliant cartoon by John Atkinson. It is a great discussion generator for conversation classes with adult and teenage students. It might come in handy when talking about such topics as technology, change, society or lifestyle.
TED Talk: Falling in love is the easy part
In this lesson, students watch a TED Talk by Mandy Len Catron, answer comprehension questions, practice asking and answering questions, and discuss the topic of falling in love, dating, and relationships. It is suitable for levels intermediate and higher. Before deciding to teach this lesson, take a look at this article and consider your students’ cultural sensitivity.
Voscreen: teaching with video clips
I might be a bit late to the Voscreen party as I discovered this free platform a couple of months ago. I’ve been experimenting with it quite a bit and I’d like to share my 10 ideas about using it with English learners in and out of the classroom.
January: 3 highlights, 2 challenges, and 1 burning question
You know how January often goes: we go back to work full of energy, new ideas, and willing to start giving our best. As a blogging teacher, I also decided to start summarising each month, looking at my teaching highlights, challenges, questions, doubts, and whatever else I might find worth sharing. Here’s what happened in January.
5 phrasal verbs revision games for advanced students
Making students even remotely enthusiastic about learning and using phrasal verbs has been one of my biggest challenges as a teacher. These 5 games have proved to be effective as far as consolidating and revising my students’ knowledge of phrasal verbs and encouraging their use. I have been using these games with upper-intermediate and advanced learners, especially those preparing for their FCE and CAE exams.
An interview with your future self: speaking / writing activity
The aim of this activity is to provide students with a context to revise present, past, and perfect tenses. I planned it with my teenage students in mind and the inspiration came from this article. It might be executed as a speaking or writing activity. Suitable for levels intermediate and higher.
6 quick games to play at the end of class
With a couple of minutes left until the end of the lesson, your class might descend into chaos: L1 flying, frantic packing, texting, or worse, students actually queuing in front of the door waiting for you to let them out. I am talking about both younger and older students here. In this post, I am presenting 6 quick games that will help you finish on a good note and keep your students engaged until the very end. Continue Reading …
FCE key word transformation
The aim of this activity is to take a little break from the routine of Cambridge English: First (formerly known as FCE) exam preparation. It focuses on Part 4 of Reading and Use of English exam paper where students are supposed to paraphrase sentences using the word given.
