ENGLISH TEACHING TIPS

 A: WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT JUPITER ? B: JUPITER IS A PLANET THAT IS THE BIGGEST IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. A: WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT___________? B: ____________IS A(N) ____________ THAT_________________________________________. THE NILE       NORWAY      THE BIBLE    MIAMI   EVEREST    MERCURY     EBOLA WALMART    CUBA      THE EMPIRE STATE    THE SAHARA

 1- TYPE/WRITE SOME CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ON A BLANK PAGE. 2-(AFTER PRINTING) CUT OUT PAPER STRIPS ABOUT 10X2 CENTIMETERS IN A WAY THE CLAUSES ARE ON DIFFERENT STRIPS. 3-MIX UP THE PAPER STRIPS. 4-GIVE A PAPER STRIP TO EACH STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS. 5-HAVE YOUR STUDENTS WALK AROUND AND FIND THEIR PEERS WITH THE MATCHING PAPER STRIPS. 6-HAVE EACH PAIR OF STUDENTS READ THEIR CONDITIONAL SENTENCE OUT LOUD TO THE CLASS.

This activity is designed to practice yes-no questions with BE at low levels but it can be modified to suit your level or objectives. 1. Ss get into small groups. 2. One student pretends being a famous singer, movie star or sports star without telling the others who he/she is. 3. The others try to discover who the pretended celebrity is by asking him/her yes/no questions like the ones below. ARE YOU A SINGER/MOVIE STAR/SPORTS STAR? ARE YOU FROM______________? IS YOUR NAME_______________? 4.When someone in the group guesses the identity of the pretended celebrity he/she becomes the next to be asked.

A: DO YOU EVER_______________________? B: YES, I ALWAYS/USUALLY/OFTEN/SOMETIMES____________________.      NO, I HARDLY EVER/SELDOM/NEVER____________________________. 1-DRINK COFFEE IN THE MORNING. 2-GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. 3-WATCH TV AFTER MIDNIGHT. 4-DO THE DISHES AT HOME. 5-TAKE A TAXI TO SCHOOL OR WORK. 6-GO SHOPPING ON WEEKENDS. 7-EAT SPAGHETTI FOR LUNCH. 8-PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH AT HOME. 9-TAKE A SHOWER BEFORE GOING TO BED. 10__________________(YOUR OWN IDEAS).

This game is played in small groups. Ss take turns making TRUE sentences starting with I HAVE NEVER...For example:" I have never been to Africa". Whenever the Ss hear a sentence they don't agree with, they will lose a point, which they will show by bending a finger from one of theirs hands ( they all start the game with 5 points each). A student is eliminated when s(he) loses all of his/her points. The remaining student is the winner. Example: A: I have never eaten sushi. B: Neither have I. I don't lose a point. C: I have. I lose one point.

A: WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR______________________? B: I WANT (A/AN)_______________________. 1. breakfast/cereal 2. lunch/rice and chicken 3.dessert/ice cream 4. a snack/hot dog 5. a drink/iced tea 6. an appetizer/soup 7.dinner/sandwich Tell your Ss that they will use the article for singular count nouns and no article for non-count nouns. Have your Ss repeat the exercise giving their own answers.

1-Have your Ss complete the following sentences with information about famous people they know. MY LAST NAME IS_______________________ I'M A(N)_________________________________ I'M FROM________________________________ _________________________________________(any other info you might want to add according to what you've taught) 2-Have your Ss get in pairs or small groups and read their descriptions to one another and then ask WHAT'S MY FIRST NAME? EXAMPLE: MY LAST NAME IS SMITH. I'M A MOVIE STAR. I'M FROM THE USA. ( WILL is the first name of the person)

1-Pre-teach vocabulary of personal items. 2-Take one small personal item from each student and put them in a bag. 3-Ask each student to take one item from the bag making sure they don't take their own. 4-Have your Ss stand up and look for the owners of the items by using the following dialog, which will be written for them on the board. A: EXCUSE ME. IS THIS YOUR__________________? B: YES, IT IS! THANK YOU VERY MUCH/ NO, IT'S NOT. A: YOU'RE WELCOME/ SORRY.

Here's a way to teach and practice vocabulary of family members with low and intermediate levels. 1-Draw a family tree on the board made up of rectangles with people's names inside and connected with lines. The size of the family tree will depend on how much vocabulary you want to teach. One of the rectangles should read ME. 2-Write a list of family words next to the tree for your Ss to label the people's names within the boxes. 3-Have your Ss work in pairs and practice the following exchange. B will play the role of the person belonging to the family whose tree has been drawn on the board. A will ask questions with the names within the boxes. A: WHO'S_______________? B: THAT'S MY _________________? ( B's answers will depend on the family tree on the board and not his or her own )

1-Put some small classroom items in a bag ( a pencil, an eraser, a sharpener,etc. ) 2-Ask your students to stand around your desk. 3-Ask the Ss to close their eyes for a minute. 4-While the Ss have their eyes closed you empty the content of the bag on the desk. 5-Ask the Ss to open their eyes and look at the objects on the desk during a minute without talking. 6-When the minute is over ask your Ss to close their eyes again and put the items back in the bag. 7-Ask you Ss to open their eyes, go back to their seats and write as many phrases as they can using the structure A(N)+ADJECTIVE+NOUN based on what they saw on the desk. For example, A YELLOW PENCIL, A SMALL ERASER, etc. 8-Have your Ss exchange papers and check one another as you take out the objects from the bag one by one and prompt phrases from the class.

1-Write the following exchange on the board : A: WHO-------------? B: IT WAS-------BY----------- 2-Write the following ideas below the exchange : DISCOVERED AMERICA PAINTED THE MONALISA WROTE ROMEO AND JULIET DISCOVERED PENICILLIN DESIGNED THE STATUE OF LIBERTY INVENTED THE LIGHT BULB INSPIRED THE BIBLE ( And-or any other of your choice ) 3-Have your Ss practice the exchange in 1 with the ideas in 2 ( model first ) 4-Check answers with your Ss. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, LEONARDO DA VINCI, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ALEXANDER FLEMING, FREDERIC BARTHOLDI, THOMAS EDISON, THE HOLY SPIRIT.

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 their 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 teaching dialogues you may follow this framework: 1-Introduction. 2-Practice. 3-Use. INTRODUCTION You can introduce the dialogue 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 dialogue 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( books close...

1-Teach or review ways of giving advice. 2-Give each student a small piece of paper. 3-Tell the students to write short anonymous notes explaining a problem they have, real or imaginary, and asking for advice. The should also sign it with a nickname. 4-Collect the notes and read them one by one. 5-Ask your students to give advice to the person who wrote the note. For example: "(Nickname) should go home and get some rest."

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 modify 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 the third conditional,  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. THERE WAS NO ONE IN TOWN WHO MATCHED THAT DESCRIPTION. 2- Have your students work in pairs or groups to criticize Ali by making third conditional sentences. For example: "If Ali had said the truth, he would have become rich".

BLACKOUT SIMULATION This is an activity to practice the past progressive tense. 1-After introducing and practicing the tense, and all of a sudden, turn the classroom 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.