This is a lesson plan for students preparing for the Cambridge main suite exams. I specifically created it with C1 or C2 students in mind but it could easily be adapted to B2. Students practice word formation while playing a game of noughts and crosses. Download the handout below:
Students play in pairs, they must choose a square on the board where they want to place their token, but they must first correctly complete the corresponding word formation question in order to do so. All of the words are based on the same root word.
If a student answers incorrectly, you could either have the opponent steal the square by answering correctly, or say that the square is now dead and nobody can place a token there.
As a follow-up you could set your students the task of coming up with their own lists of nine sentences to use in future games. You could give them each a root word (use, communicate, etc.) and send them to the Longman Online Dictionary to look up all the derivatives in order to make their 9 questions: https://www.ldoceonline.com/
The last day of term is fast approaching so I’ve made a fun quiz to keep students entertained. I recommend bringing sweets as a prize for the winning team. Credit to my friend Dan for the inspiration and some of the questions. Download the questions and instructions below:
Spilt the class into groups of 2 or 3, give each group a piece of paper and encourage them to come up with an interesting team name. Explain that you are going to give the teams a category and they have 3 minutes to come up with the top 5 items in that category. For example: the top 5 largest countries in the world by area. Students are awarded 1 point for every answer that they guess that appears in the top 5, and an additional bonus ½ point for every answer that is in the correct place in the list, meaning that there is a total of 7.5 points on offer for each round. The different categories are listed below:
(Note: this was designed with Spanish students in Barcelona in mind so some categories may not be suitable for all groups)
Largest countries in the world by area
1. Russia
2. Canada
3. China
4. USA
5. Brazil
Most popular pets in the USA
1. Cat
2. Dog
3. Fish
4. Small mammal (hamster, gerbil, rabbit etc.)
5. Bird
Most viewed artists on youtube.com
1. Justin Beiber
2. Rihanna
3. Taylor Swift
4. Katy Perry
5. Eminem
Highest grossing films of all time
1. Avatar
2. Titanic
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
4. Jurassic World
5. The Avengers
Best-selling books of all time
1. The Lord of the Rings
2. The Hobbit
3. The Little Prince
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone
5. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Largest oceans in the world
1. Pacific
2. Atlantic
3. Indian
4. Southern
5. Arctic
Richest people in the world
1. Bill Gates
2. Amancio Ortega
3. Warren Buffett
4. Carlos Slim
5. Jeff Bezos
First 5 Pixar films in the order they were released
1. Toy Story
2. A Bug’s Life
3. Toy Story 2
4. Monsters’ Inc
5. Finding Nemo
Largest cities in Europe (inc Russia)
1. Istanbul
2. Moscow
3. London
4. St. Petersburg
5. Berlin
Countries in Europe by population
1. Russia
2. Germany
3. Turkey
4. France
5. UK
Male tennis players with most grand slams
1. Roger Federer
2. Pete Sampras
3. Rafa Nadal
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Bjorn Borg
Female tennis players with most grand slams
1. Steffi Graf
2. Serena Williams
3. Chris Evert
4. Martina Navaratilova
5. Margaret Court
Most popular ice-cream flavours in the world
1. Vanilla
2. Chocolate
3. Cookies and cream
4. Strawberry
5. Mint choc-chip
Best-paid football (soccer) players (2016)
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Wayne Rooney
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
5. Yaya Toure
Most popular football clubs in the world
1. Man Utd
2. Real Madrid
3. Barcelona
4. Chelsea
5. Arsenal
Autonomous regions in Spain by area.
1. Castile-Leon
2. Andalusia
3. Castile-La Mancha
4. Aragon
5. Extremadura
Barcelona FC’s most expensive signings
1. Neymar Jr.
2. Luis Suarez
3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
4. David Villa
5. Marc Overmars
5 elements in the periodic table from which the letters in the symbol do not appear in the name of the element in Spanish or in English. (award 1 point for name of element and ½ for correct symbol:
This is a fun memory game for young learners similar to my “there was/there were” activity.
Stage one
Put students in teams of 2-3. Project the image above onto the board and give students 1 minute to memorise as many of the things as they can. Then give students a pen and paper, they have to write as many of the things as they can in complete sentences:
There was a pen on the table.
There were some coins next to the ping pong ball.
The winning team is the one who remembers the most things. Award extra points for correct use of there was/were and prepositions of place: next to, between, on the right/left of…
Stage two
Give each group a sheet of blank paper, give them two minutes to fill the paper with little drawings of objects. The objects must be easy to identify and they have to know the name of the object in English.
Groups then swap their pieces of paper and they have 1 minute to memorise all the things the other group have drawn on their paper. They then write out the sentences like before and the team with the most correct is the winner.
This is a new version of my Alphabet Quiz game designed for very high levels (high C1) in which students have to guess different idioms which begin with each letter of the alphabet. Credit to my colleague Peter Rassa for the idea. The game is similar to the gameshow “Pasaparabla” on Spanish television. You will need the lesson plan with the question sheet:
Write the alphabet on the board, if you’re feeling really creative you can do it in a circle as shown in the picture above. Quickly recap the letters that often cause your students problems. It varies from place to place but in Spain they struggle with J, G, E, I, Q, W, and Y.
Quickly recap the letters that often cause your students problems. It varies from place to place but in Spain they struggle with J, G, E, I, Q, W, and Y.
Write all your students’ names on the board in a list.
Choose a player to go first, explain to them that you are going to ask them a question, the answer to the question begins with the letter A. They have two options: they can attempt to answer the question or they can say “pass”. If they choose to answer and they get it right, they get 1 point but if they get it wrong they lose 1 point. If they choose to pass, then it is the next student’s turn but the next student is asked the “B” question. You continue like this through the list of questions, every time a question is answered correctly you cross that letter out from the list on the board. When you reach the end of the list (the “Z” question) you then return to the top of the list and work your way through any questions which were not answered the first time around.
NOTE: It is important that students don’t shout out the answers to the questions if it’s not their turn as that question could be revisited later.
The winner is the student with the most points when all the questions have been answered or at the end of a set time limit.
A person’s weak spot. Achilles heel.
A person who is bad and makes other bad. Bad Apple
A relaxed, quiet time immediately before period of violent activity or argument .Calm before the storm.
If you are overcharged or underpaid, open, unfair and hard to prevent. Rip-off has a similar meaning. daylight robbery.
If someone has egg on their face, they are made to look foolish or embarrassed.
If you have to face the music, you have to accept the negative consequences of something you have done wrong.
If you get something off your chest, you confess to something that has been troubling you.
If someone is happy-go-lucky, they don’t worry or plan and accept things as they happen.
This expression is used to refer to something good that happens on top of an already good thing or situation. Icing on the cake
If people are joined at the hip, they are very closely connected and think the same way.
When someone kicks the bucket, they die.
The last straw is the final problem that makes someone lose their temper or the problem that finally brought about the collapse of something. It comes from an Arabic story, where a camel was loaded with straw until a single straw placed on the rest of the load broke its back.
If you make a killing, you do something that makes you a lot of money.
If two competitors or candidates, etc, are neck and neck, then they are very close and neither is clearly winning.
If you’re on a roll, you’re moving from success to success.
If you go out for a night out with lots of fun and drinking, you paint the town red.
If someone’s as quiet as a mouse, they make absolutely no noise.
Someone who starts life very poor and becomes rich goes from rags to riches.
When all the best people, things or ideas and so on are used up and people try to make do with what they have left, they are scraping the barrel.
If you take a leaf out of someone’s book, you copy something they do because it will help you.
If you are feeling a bit ill, sad or lack energy, you are under the weather.
A vicious circle is a sequence of events that make each other worse- someone drinks because they are unhappy at work, then loses their job… ‘Vicious cycle’ is also used.
If something belongs to the past and isn’t important or troubling any more, it is water under the bridge.
If something is x-rated, it is not suitable for children.
This idiom means that if you do something for me, I’ll return the favour. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
This is a trivia game designed for teenage pre-intermediate (B1) students that could also be used with adults. I have also created a slightly easier set of questions for kids,and a harder version for adults. Credit to my colleague Peter Rassa for the idea. The game is similar to the gameshow “Pasaparabla” on Spanish television. You will need the lesson plan with the question sheet:
Write the alphabet on the board, if you’re feeling really creative you can do it in a circle as shown in the picture above. Quickly recap the letters that often cause your students problems. It varies from place to place but in Spain they struggle with J, G, E, I, Q, W, and Y.
Quickly recap the letters that often cause your students problems. It varies from place to place but in Spain they struggle with J, G, E, I, Q, W, and Y.
Write all your students’ names on the board in a list.
Choose a player to go first, explain to them that you are going to ask them a question, the answer to the question begins with the letter A. They have two options: they can attempt to answer the question or they can say “pass”. If they choose to answer and they get it right, they get 1 point but if they get it wrong they lose 1 point. If they choose to pass, then it is the next student’s turn but the next student is asked the “B” question. You continue like this through the list of questions, every time a question is answered correctly you cross that letter out from the list on the board. When you reach the end of the list (the “Z” question) you then return to the top of the list and work your way through any questions which were not answered the first time around.
NOTE: It is important that students don’t shout out the answers to the questions if it’s not their turn as that question could be revisited later.
The winner is the student with the most points when all the questions have been answered or at the end of a set time limit.
Credit to: http://www.sporcle.com/user/QuizzleMyShizzle/games for most of the quiz questions.
Questions:
What’s the largest reptile in North America? Alligator
What’s the biggest animal in the world? Blue Whale
What’s the capital of Venezuela? Caracas
What’s the name of the headmaster of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books? Dumbledore
North, South, _______, West, what’s missing? East
Who was the lead singer of the band Queen? Freddie Mercury
What metal does the symbol Au represent on the periodic table? Gold
Which characters in Greek mythology did 12 impossible tasks? Hercules
Tony Stark is the alta-ego of which superhero? Ironman
Which Italian football club based in Turin wears black and white stripes? Juventus
What’s the tallest mountain in Africa? Kilimanjaro
Which singer’s real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta? Lady Gaga
Oktober fest is a beer festival which happens in which European city? Munich
Which tennis player won 9 French open titles between 2005 and 2014? Rafa Nadal
What sea creature with 8 legs is eaten in parts of Spain and Portugal? Octopus
Who is the president of Russia? Vladimir Putin
What is the capital of Ecuador? Quito
Which famous singer from the Caribbean has the surname Fenty? Rihanna
Which actress plays Bella Swan in the Twilight series? Kristen Stewart
What historical region of Romania is considered the home of Dracula? Transylvania
1930, what country hosted and won the first football world cup? Uruguay
What’s the smallest country in the world? Vatican city
What is the name of the cowboy in the Toy Story films? Woody
Cyclops, Iceman and Wolverine are member of which superhero group? X-men
What’s the name of New Yorks most famous baseball team? Yankees
What is the name of the scientific study of animals? Zoology
Kids’ Version
What’s the largest reptile in North America? Alligator
What’s the biggest animal in the world? Blue Whale
What’s the biggest country in North America? Canada
What’s the name of the headmaster of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books? Dumbledore
North, South, _______, West, what’s missing? East
Which famous pink bird lives in Africa and South America? Flamingo
What type of medal does the winner get at the Olympic games? Gold
What’s the name of the famous Greek hero from the Disney film? Hercules
Tony Stark is the alta-ego of which superhero? Ironman
Which Italian football club based in Turin wears black and white stripes? Juventus
What’s the tallest mountain in Africa? Kilimanjaro
Which singer’s real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta? Lady Gaga
Alex the lion, Marty the zebra and Melman the giraffe are characters in which film? Madagascar.
Which tennis player won 9 French open titles between 2005 and 2014? Rafa Nadal
What sea creature with 8 legs is eaten in parts of Spain and Portugal? Octopus
What is Spiderman’s real name? Peter Parker
Who lives in Buckingham Palace? Queen Elizabeth the 2nd
Which famous singer from the Caribbean has the surname Fenty? Rihanna
Who sang the songs “I Kissed a Girl” and “Roar”? Katy Perry
What historical region of Romania is considered the home of Dracula? Transylvania
1930, what country hosted and won the first football world cup? Uruguay
What’s the smallest country in the world? Vatican city
What is the name of the cowboy in the Toy Story films? Woody
Cyclops, Iceman and Wolverine are member of which superhero group? X-men
What’s the name of New Yorks most famous baseball team? Yankees
Which princess does Link rescue in the Nintendo computer games? Zelda
This is a game that can be adapted for a range of levels. I thought it up specifically for students to practice for the FCE/CAE/CPE speaking part 1, in which candidates must give complete answers to a series of interview style questions.
You will need Adam Simpson’s amazing blockbusters powerpoint game which you can download here. You will also need a list of typical Cambridge exam questions which you can download below. Alternatively, for non-exam classes, you can play the game with the “Just a minute” topic cards also included below with the class procedure and rules.
Divide the class into two teams, orange and green, show the blockbusters power point. The green team’s objective is to make a line of tiles from left-to-right across the board, while the orange team has to do the same but from top-to-bottom.
Teams claim a tile by speaking about a topic for a minute with no hesitation, repetition or deviation. For lower levels you could change the time limit to 30 seconds and be more lenient with hesitation repetition and deviation. Students nominate one member of their team to go first.
The team decides which tile they want to try to claim. The teacher chooses a question from the list or a topic from the “Just a Minute” topic cards. The student must then speak for a minute about the topic, if they hesitate, repeat themselves or deviate from the topic the teacher stops the stop-watch and a member of the opposing team can try to talk for the rest of the minute to claim the tile for their team.
Useful language
Time buyers
Well, let me see…
That’s an interesting question…
Rephrasing/Clarifying
What I’m trying to say is…
What I want to say is…
I mean…
Discourse markers
Obviously,
Sadly,
(un)Fortunately,
Probably the (most important)…
etc.
Topic nomination
Speaking of…, … (Speaking of living abroad, my sister is currently living in…
That reminds me…
Before I forget…
Addition
What’s more…
Also…
On top of that…
Besides that…
… as well.
Just a Minute Topic Cards
The best advice my parents ever gave me.
The best day of my life.
Being an only child
Albert Einstein
My favourite dessert
Falling in love
The most annoying thing in the world
My favourite toys as a child.
The worst thing about living in Barcelona
My most embarrassing moment
My favourite hobby
How to cook the perfect paella
Bullfighting
Making a cup of tea
Learning to drive
Chocolate
Things that make me angry
Weddings
What I was like as a child.
cheating
Don Quixote
Breakfast
The best way to propose to your boyfriend / girlfriend
Download tekhnologic’s amazing game templates from here. This week I’m going to play jeopardy with my teenagers and a like/dislike boardgame with my young learners. Try out my completed ones below or download the templates yourself and make your own.
like-dislike-boardgame – target language: I like/don’t like/hate/love/don’t mind. Ss in groups role the dice, move round the board and make sentences about the corresponding picture.
jeopardy-trivia-1-Put ss in teams, they roll a dice to decide which category they answer: Sport, art, geography, science, music, literature. They decide how difficult a question they want on a scale of 1-5. They are given the answer to a question, they have to guess what the question is, for example:
Answer: Usain Bolt
Question: Who’s the fastest man in the world?
If they get it right they get the corresponding number of points depending how difficult the question was.
Kahoot is a great site where teacher’s can design quizzes and surveys that students can play on their mobile devices in class. It makes for fast, frantic and fun classes with competitive, engaged students. I’m definitely going to be putting this one to the test this term.
A great site offering texts in a number of different languages with instant translations, simply click on the word you don’t understand and the translation appears above it. The site then generates a flashcard set based on the words you’ve clicked on.
This is an opportunity for students to use language of deduction:
It could/might/may be….
It can’t be ….. because …..
It must be ….. because …..
I’m torn between …. and ….
I’m going to have a stab in the dark and say ….
By a process of elimination I’d say it’s ….
There’s no way it’s …. because …
… is too obvious.
I’m going to plump for (choose) …
Put students in pairs or threes and have them discuss the three examples and give their answers. Award points for correct answers.
Students create false definitions:
Now give each pair one of the game cards. The cards contain a rare English word and the correct definition. Students must invent two false definitions for the word and write them down. Set a time limit of 3-4 minutes for this part. Groups then read out their words and the three definitions, encourage them to be expressive and inventive in their definitions and their presentations in order to better convince their opponents. Award points for groups who guess the correct definition and points for the groups who successfully convince opponents into choosing their invented definitions.
The old childhood classic retooled for the ESL classroom. All you need is pens and paper.
It’s the last week of term and I need a fun activity to finish on so I’m going for consequences. You can find the instructions in the link below. You will also find a link to lists of personality adjectives which you’ll also need for the game. Have fun!
