ACTIVITIES

1. In groups of three or four, students ask each other about their food likes and dislikes. Students should keep asking until they find a food that no one in the group likes. Have a representative from each group write that food or dish on the board. See if there is a food or dish that the entire class dislikes.

2. Write the color of a students shirt, jeans, backpack, shoes, or purse on board and ask the class to guess who is wearing the color. Whoever gets the correct answer can write the next color on the board and students guess again. They should try to pick a different color than one already on the board.

3. Students can practice the simple past by saying what time they got up, what they ate for breakfast, and how they got to school or work. On the board, write down what time you got up, what you ate for breakfast, and how you got to school. Make sentences with each and ask the students to repeat. Then do a chain activity by having the next student repeat your answers, then supply his or her own, and so on. For example: This morning, I got up at 7:00. I ate cereal. I drove to school. Next Student: The teacher got up at 7:00, s/he ate cereal, and s/he drove to school. I got up at 6:30, I ate scrambled eggs, and I took the bus to school. 4. Get your students to write 5 or more facts about themselves, fold their piece of paper into a paper airplane then fly the plane across the room. Who ever it lands nearest to, picks up the airplane, reads the facts out loud and tries to guess who wrote the facts.

5. Getting to know each other - 'Would you like to move in with me? Time: 20 min Preparation: Revise how to form questions with the students before you start the activity. Let students imagine they are all looking for a new flatmate for their shared apartment. In order to find the best suitable person, they have to ask numerous questions that seem interesting and relevant to them (e.g. Find out if you have the same interests so you could do things together, Find out character traits and habits (e.g. orderly vs. messy person) etc.) After having asked at least three people in one-on-one conversations (and writing down things they have in common), students decide who to move in with and justify their choice. This activity takes up at least 20 minutes and is fun to the students as they move freely across the room. Students present their choice in the end, so everyone in the class gets to know at least a few details about everyone. Try to let students who are not presenting write down details about their classmates. A good way is to give students different tasks e.g. one group of students writes down character traits, another group collects adjectives of different habits etc. so you can continue working with adjectives for example. I tried this with my class and they really enjoyed it! Hope you do so too :)

6. A simple and short activity to introduce classroom language at the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the year I wanted my students to be introduced to the classroom language I expected them to use for the rest of the year. This is the activity they had to do. In pairs they make up a dialogue including these phrases and act them out in front of the class: I don't understand I don't know Pardon? Once more, please. What does _____________ mean? What's ____________ in English? How do you spell? Is this ok? Later we wrote all that classroom language on posters that we put up on the walls. 7. This is a fun way to make your students talk like they would talk in a daily life - improvising dialogues. They work in groups with different topics chosen by you or their class mates. It stimulates to use the vocabulary they have, practice it and make conversations they would in daily life. It is also great to have fun activities in class. In this speaking exercise you ask students to come to the front and do a little drama/ dialogue. Procedure : 1. Prepare small cards with different characters (example, pop band singer (2-3), a fan, a police man) or you can ask your students to give the plot of situation (if you have creative students) 2. Ask a number (according to number of characters) come in front and using a lottery choose their character 3. If level of English is low, give few minutes, not more than 5, to prepare, so they know what they will do. 4. Let them improvise! 8. This is a fun way to make your students talk like they would talk in a daily life - improvising dialogues. They work in groups with different topics chosen by you or their class mates. It stimulates to use the vocabulary they have, practice it and make conversations they would in daily life. It is also great to have fun activities in class. In this speaking exercise you ask students to come to the front and do a little drama/ dialogue. Procedure : 1. Prepare small cards with different characters (example, pop band singer (2-3), a fan, a police man) or you can ask your students to give the plot of situation (if you have creative students) 2. Ask a number (according to number of characters) come in front and using a lottery choose their character 3. If level of English is low, give few minutes, not more than 5, to prepare, so they know what they will do. 4. Let them improvise!

9. Divide players into teams, depending on the number of students you have. Ask them to think about the future and what they wish to have then... they will be the inventors! Ask them to give name to his invention, and to make an accurate and interesting description... and above all, do not forget the price! Once the task, get them to expose to their classmates.

10. Prepare a self adhesive label or post-it note for each young person in your group. Write on it the name of a well-known or famous person. This can be an historical character or current sportsman, musician, TV personality, celebrity etc. Have a good mix of men and women. Keeping the names hidden, stick the post-it notes on the foreheads of everyone in the group. They must then ask questions of the others to find out their identity.

11. Divide your learners into pairs. Ask them to take three minutes to interview each other. Each interviewer has to find 3 interesting facts about their partner. Bring everyone back to together and ask everyone to present the 3 facts about their partner to the rest of the group. Watch the time on this one, keep it moving along. Each person takes a turn to ask questions and figure out who they are. For example, Am I alive? Am I female? Am I in a band? Only yes or no questions can be asked. If the answer is no, their turn is over. If the answer is yes, they can ask another question and keep going until they get a no, or guess who they are. Keep playing until everyone has guessed, or if time is short, stop after the first few correct answers. 12. Collect together a number of objects and place in a canvas bag. The objects can include everyday items i.e. a pencil, key-ring, mobile phone, but also include some more unusual ones i.e. a fossil, holiday photograph, wig! Pass the bag around the group and invite each young person to dip their hand into the bag (without looking) and pull out one of the objects. The leader begins a story which includes his object. After 20 seconds, the next person takes up the story and adds another 20 seconds, incorporating the object they are holding. And so on, until everyone has made a contribution to your epic literary tale. 13. good first-day activity is to, when introducing ourselves, give the meaning of our names (as well as the spelling and pronunciation as necessary). Many students will know their names meanings, and most people enjoy discussing their names. Those students who dont know their names meaning may be inspired to find out by the next class. This is a valuable activity because it provides speaking and listening practice as students discuss their names. In addition, it provides extra processing time of each name, increasing the likelihood it will be remembered. 14. When introducing a new topic to class, distribute index cards to every student. On each of the cards a statement on the topic should be written: some true, some false. Students then must decide which statements are true and which are false, using whatever means they desire: their text, each others knowledge base, the Internet, etc. With this method, students get introduced to the topic and clarify any preconceived notions, correct or incorrect, they have on it while interacting with their peers and even doing a little research.

15. Before beginning a reading, write its title on the board and play a modified game of scrabble with it: finding as many words within the title as possible. Even a simple title like Reunion yields union, run, and rein, etc. Students will also inevitably discuss the title itself, what it means, and what the reading is likely to be about. In this way students are developing their vocabulary as well as preparing for the reading. 16. When introducing a new topic, such as body image in Western culture, show a picture, such as Marilyn Monroe as a young woman. Direct students to discuss the picture on their own without teacher guidance or prompting. They will almost certainly touch on issues related to the topic: for example, that by todays standards Monroe is fat and how attractive they do or dont find her. With the use of a picture and minimum teacher guidance, students develop discussion skills and get prepared to read about and discuss the topic in depth. 17. The teacher should begin by explaining the termsoptimist and pessimist,perhaps using the glass-half-full-half-empty analogy. Then in pairs, have students take opposite perspectives, one of an optimist or pessimist, on an issue that can be as easy as Will it rain tomorrow? to the more complex, When will the economy improve? Have them talk for about five to ten minutes then switch topics, and have students switch roles as well. Besides providing vocabulary development and conversation practice, this exercise develops critical thinking skills as students discuss from a variety of perspectives. 18. A good first-day warmer is to discuss any interesting talents we might have. Everyone has something unique or near-unique they can do. For example, one student play several musical instruments; another might be able to create a scary story impromptu. While not strictly unique, these are fun and interesting talents to share that make remembering each other easier. 19. At the beginning of a class, in the first days, an interest survey is a good idea. Have students anonymously, if they wishfill out a survey on the topics they would like to discuss. Providing them with some alternatives related to the course content and objectives is a good idea. At the same time, the teacher can get an idea of which language skills students are most interested in working on: speaking or writing, for example. Later, the teacher can compile the results of the survey to use as a plan for the curriculum. Taking into consideration student interest and goals increases student motivation and retention. 20. It's a great game activity. It may be used as an ice-breaker or a "getting to know each other" speaking activity. The level in fact depends on you, because you may change the questions. It doesn't require a lot of preparation from you, but gives your students an opportunity to speak without being stressed. My students really loved playing the game. PREPARATION - At home prepare some questions or tasks, depending on your students level. In less advanced groups the tasks should be as simple as these: - smile at a person sitting opposite you,

- shake hands with your neighbors, - pay a nice compliment to a third person sitting on your right, - ask a question a second person sitting on your left, - what is your friend like?, - what do you do in your free time?, - what is your favourite book about?, etc. In more advanced groups the tasks can be a bit more complicated: - what was the happiest day of your life?, - where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?, - what would you change if you were the headmaster of our school?, etc. Write each question or task on a separate strip of paper and put them all into a basket. PROCEDURE Ask your students to sit in a circle. Give them a basket with your questions/tasks, play music (it should be a fast piece of music). While the music is playing, they should be passing the basket to a person sitting on their right (so the basket is wandering around the circle). Stop the music the person who is holding the basket should take one strip of paper and answer the question or do the task. My students really like playing the game and they have great time learning English, getting to know one another and playing at the same time 21. Before giving students an academic reading on a topic like the AIDS virus, create a semantic web on the board. This involves writing the word AIDS in the center of a circle and then branching out from that with related words connecting to the original word or to each other. So, for example, the word virus might connect to AIDS and then communicable to virus. Students call out words they associate with the word AIDs or other words connected to it. This is a good way to review or develop vocabulary related to the topic; in addition, at the end students will be primed to read on the topic having gone over related concepts. 22.