The aim of this word stress maze pronunciation game is to practise word stress in three syllable words, with the middle one stressed (o O o). It works best with more advanced groups, mostly because of the vocabulary. I enjoy including some pronunciation practice in my conversation classes and this one has worked really well.
free activities esl
Colour idioms lesson plan
Colour idioms lesson will help your students learn and use some idiomatic expressions related to colours. This activity involves matching colour idioms with their meaning and using them in context while discussing various questions. It is suitable for levels intermediate and above. It combines vocabulary exercises with plenty of student talking time and is appropriate for all groups sizes.
The Real Rain Man: video activity about Kim Peek
The Real Rain Man video activity offers students the opportunity to practice their listening and speaking skills. They watch a short video and answer some questions, and then discuss the content of the documentary. I came up with the idea for this activity while looking for more engaging ways to approach the chapter in the book entitled “Secrets of the mind”.
Vocabulary Game: Pass The Bomb
This vocabulary game has been one of my students’ favourite for some time now. It is based on the popular word game Pass the Bomb. It helps with spelling and broadens students’ vocabulary in an entertaining way. I often use this vocabulary game with FCE, CAE, and upper-intermediate students. It is a great way to either start or finish the lesson.
Reported speech speaking activity
The aim of this activity is to practice using reported speech in the context of gossip. Reported speech lends itself quite nicely to be used in such context (repeating what somebody else had said) and the activity encourages a lot of creativity in students. It is suitable for levels pre-intermediate and above.
Smartphone apps listening activity
This smartphone apps listening activity is based around the topic of new technologies and innovative use of smartphone apps. It works best with FCE, CAE, and upper-intermediate students. It compliments well coursebook chapters about technology and its influence on our lives, especially new technologies such as smartphone apps. I used this video published by BBC News.
Parental decisions speaking activity
Parental decisions speaking activity offers plenty of opportunities for your students to discuss various problems, negotiate, agree, and disagree. This is a pretty engaging speaking activity for both teenagers and adults. It works best with levels intermediate and above. Continue Reading …
Talking about regrets lesson plan: unreal past
This lesson plan encourages students to use unreal past in the context of talking about regrets, using wish and if only. The idea for this mini-lesson came from a great video to a great song by an awesome band: Eels and their Mistakes of My Youth. The clip is pretty literal and lends itself perfectly to some grammar practice using wish and if only when talking about regrets.
Wish/If only lesson plan: unreal present and past
This is an idea for a lesson discussing the use of wish/if only to talk about unreal present and past. As this tends to be a tricky grammar point, I decided to move away from coursebook tables in favour of a more deductive approach using a Prezi presentation. My students responded really well to this visual way of presenting information and the fact they were the ones responsible for discovering the grammar rules made them more alert and engaged.
FCE Use of English revision
I prepared FCE Use of English revision with my students’ upcoming mock exam in mind. I focused on such problematic areas as:
a) phrasal verbs
b) prepositions
c) adverbs
