A bit of repetition never hurt anyone! It might not be the most riveting stuff, but sometimes I come across these ‘listen and repeat’ drills in our materials or in books. They’re ok. I used to like substitution drills myself…. Read More ›
Lesson Ideas
Introducing travel – student quiz
This came up again recently. There’s nothing wrong with ‘Where the hell is Matt?’, that will always be a classic. However, I like to mix things up, personalise, find different ways to engage my students. This worked well… First up,… Read More ›
Word stress – footballs and sticky balls
I like teaching word stress. I have various ‘go to’ activities for noticing and practising word stress – stuff like this: Using Cuisenaire rods Humming the stress pattern Fist pumping when you say the stressed syllable Building vocab based on… Read More ›
Grammar review using drawings
This was a good idea I came across Bucksmore summer school. A review for various tenses/structures. Give students a piece of paper. Get them to split it into 4 squares. In each of the squares they draw one of the… Read More ›
Digital Breaks – James Styring
I attended a useful webinar by James Styring the other week, entitled ‘Easy and motivating ways to use digital technology in the classroom. Click here to watch a recording of the webinar. Overall, it was a very good presentation. There… Read More ›
Spelling races with mini-whiteboards
I don’t do enough spelling practice. I should develop in that area, definitely. But one fun thing I do is a simple whiteboard spelling game as a review. Give each team (about 4 students) a mini whiteboard, pen, eraser. Say… Read More ›
Disappearing dialogues, colour-coded support
On the CELTA YL course I did a story retelling task. The students had watched a Shaun the Sheep video, and I’d pre-taught some of the tough vocab. After the video I wanted them to retell the story, but they… Read More ›
Post-it note votes
A quick post-task for poster work. We’ve been doing quite a bit of post-it note voting recently, students seem to like it. Display posters around the room. In this case, we were designing environmentally friendly parks. Tell students that we will… Read More ›
Comparatives and superlatives – Top Trumps
This is a classic. I find Top Trumps are a fun way to practise comparatives (mainly) and superlatives with young learners. Here’s something I did recently… The topic was ‘Wild World’, but talk of animals like polar bears feels a… Read More ›
Using story cubes
I bought these story cubes a few months ago, and I’ve tried them out a few times this term. They are basically dice with pictures on them, so it’s really up to you how you use them. You can find… Read More ›
ELT Planning 