ENGLISH TEACHING TIPS

PRACTICING THE PAST PERFECT TENSE Here is an activity to have your students practice the past perfect tense. 1-Ask your students to close their eyes for one minute. 2-During the minute your students have their eyes closed, you will make some changes in the position of objects and furniture within the classroom. For example, close a window, put a book on your desk or make a drawing on the board. 3-When the minute is over, ask your students to open their eyes and tell you about the changes you made in the classroom using the past perfect tense. Ask them to complete the following sentence, which you will write on the board : BY THE TIME I OPENED MY EYES, THE TEACHER HAD...

1-Teach vocabulary of clothing. 2-Teach and have the students practice describing what someone is wearing. 3-Ask your students to describe what they are wearing on a piece of paper without identifying themselves by name. 4-Collect the papers and mix them up. 5-Hand the papers out making sure no one gets his her own. 6-Have the students read the paper, stand up and find the person described on the paper. VARIATION: instead of handing out the papers you may read each description to your students and have them identify the person.

If you have a large class, you might spend quite a while calling the roll. Try doing this in a productive way. If, for example, the current lesson is about colors, you can ask your students to say their favorite colors when hearing their names instead of replying with the traditional PRESENT. Have your students use the language being taught when responding to their names during roll call. That way you comply with your duty while your students practice their English.

1-Present ordinal numbers. 2-Have your Ss practice pronunciation. 3-Read your class list and ask your Ss to pay attention to their position on the list. 4-Ask Ss to say which position they are on the list. For example, I`M THE FOURTH PERSON ON THE LIST.

When dealing with conversations you may follow this procedure: 1-Introduction. 2-Practice. 3-Use. You can introduce the conversation in one of the following ways: -Direct students attention to artwork(if any) and ask them questions about it. -Anticipate topic of the conversation by asking them questions concerning. For example, if the conversation is about two old friends that run into each other after a long time, you may ask your students a question like this: DID YOU EVER RUN INTO AN OLD FRIEND YOU HAD NOT SEEN FOR A LONG TIME? WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT? You may also write the question on the board and have them discuss it in pairs or small groups. -Have the students listen to the conversation with their books closed and answer questions about it while listening. For example, HOW MANY SPEAKERS DO YOU HEAR? WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? -Write some key words from the conversation on the board ask the students to look at the words and predict what the conversation will be about(

1-Pre-teach or review ways of giving advice. 2-Give each student a small piece of paper. 3-Tell the students to write a short note asking for advice and sign it with a nickname. 4-Collect the papers and hand them in again making sure no one gets their own. 5-Have each student read the note they have. Everybody else listens and gives advice using the expressions that had been taught or reviewed.

1-Ask the students to take a small piece of paper and write the first name of 5 friends and/or family members on it. 2-Pair the students up and ask them to exchange the papers. 3-Have the students interview one another about the people on the paper with the following questions(write them on the board) : WHO`S----------? WHAT DOES S(HE) DO? WHERE`S S(HE) FROM? HOW OLD IS S(HE)? WHAT DOES S(HE) LOOK LIKE? WHAT`S S(HE) LIKE? 4- Have the students report what they learned about their partners`friends and relatives. For example: Pablo is my partner`s brother. He is 25 years old. You may add, reduce or modifiy questions to suit the level of your students or to adapt the activity to the objectives of the lesson being taught.

ALI`S STORY If you are teaching third conditional sentences you may want to try this activity. 1-Tell your students Ali`s story. ALI WAS A POOR BOY AND HIS FATHER WAS A POOR FISHERMAN. ONE DAY ALI WAS ON HIS WAY BACK HOME AND HE RAN INTO A MAN WHO WAS LYING ON THE STREET VERY ILL. ALI FELT SORRY ABOUT THIS MAN AND TOOK HIM TO THE NEAREST HOSPITAL. AT THE HOSPITAL, THE MAN THANKED ALI AND ASKED HIM ABOUT HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY, BUT ALI WAS ASHAMED TO ADMIT THAT HE WAS THE SON OF A POOR FISHERMAN SO HE SAID, "MY NAME IS MUSTAFA, AND MY FATHER IS A FAMOUS DOCTOR IN TOWN." A FEW DAYS LATER THE MAN DIED. HE WAS VERY RICH BUT  HAD NO FAMILY, SO HE DECIDED TO LEAVE ALL HIS MONEY TO MUSTAFA, THE SON OF A FAMOUS DOCTOR IN TOWN. 2- Have your students work in pairs or groups to criticize Ali by making third condtional sentences. For example: "If Ali had said the truth, he would have become rich".

BLACKOUT SIMULATION This is an activity to teach and practice the past progressive tense. 1-Turn the lights off and turn them back on right away. 2-Have your students work in pairs and ask each other WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN THE LIGHT WENT OUT? 3- Ask the students to report what their partners were doing when the light went out. 4- Ask students  WHAT WERE...AND,,,DOING WHEN THE LIGHT WENT OUT? WHAT WERE YOU(pointing at the group) DOING? WHAT WAS I DOING?

NAME ACROSTIC This is a great activity as a warm-up on a first day of class. 1-Ask students to get a piece of paper. 2-Ask students to write their first names on the paper in a vertical position. 3-Have the students write one word beginning with each letter of their first names. Those words have to say something true about themselves, for example, a quality, something they like or dislike, a favorite, or anything else as long as it is true information. 4-When everyone is finished have them share their acrostics in pairs or groups. 5-Ask students to report something they learned about their peers.