English Book - Fun With Grammar

If the instructions specify pairs and you are left with one extra student, you can solve this in a couple of ways. (a) Make one group of three, either randomly (the last three students) or intentionally (two stronger students with one weaker, or three quiet students who will not be overpowered by more outspoken classmates). (b) Work with the last student yourself, a useful stratagem, especially if one of your students is not quite up to the ability of the others. Be aware of the student’s feelings. It may be better to form a group of three so one student does not feel singled out.

Do not let one student work alone. Sometimes a student says he/she is willing to do the activity alone (or even prefers to), but these activities and games are interactive and often cannot or should not be done alone.

When dividing into small groups, use your judgment. Again, the division will be a direct result of the number of students in your class. While it is nice to have even groups, it is not always possible. Keep the numbers as close as possible. If you are doing groups of five and then are left with two students, do not let them work as a pair. Either have two groups of six or create a new group by borrowing students from some of the other groups.

What happens when your groups are all set up and working and a student walks in late? If you have some smaller groups, add the late student to one of them. If all groups are equal, randomly assign him/her to a group, or put him/her in a weaker group (so that there are more students to generate ideas) or in a group that needs someone of a different nationality.

Just remember to be flexible. It won’t matter if you have one more or one less than the suggested number. Even when an activity calls for a specific number because of assigned roles, a differentsized group can be accommodated. Simply assign two members of the group to the same role and have them split the role.

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Acknowledgments

Many of the ideas for games and activities in this book have grown out of conversations and interaction with my colleagues and fellow ESL professionals. In particular, my colleagues at UC Irvine–Extension have encouraged me and helped me to clarify these activities by offering feedback and requesting activities for specific grammar points. Some of these games and activities, which were developed and refined in my classes over the years, were created with instructors who are no longer at UCI–Extension, but I would like to acknowledge their valuable input.

In addition, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable help of several individuals. Eric Bredenberg, always an enthusiastic supporter, was instrumental in helping me get started on this project and has been a dynamic presenter of my ideas in workshops and at CATESOL and TESOL conferences.

Betty Azar has been indispensable in helping me find my way through the publishing world. She has encouraged me and was always available to talk ideas through. I greatly appreciate her insights into the games and activities and would like to thank her for all her helpful comments during the book’s editing phase.

I greatly value the opinions and help of Ellen Bartlett. In addition to submitting several activities to this book, she gave me feedback on many of the activities, reminded me of others we had done at different times in our careers, and reviewed the entire manuscript. Most important, perhaps, was her enthusiasm for the project and her overall support.

Mary Woodward, who unofficially contributed ideas to the book, also supported this project from its beginning. Her assistance with day-to-day activities freed me to concentrate on writing.

I also want to thank Kyle Woodward for his support and encouragement, for his help with computer problems, and for the time he spent at the computer, helping to put the manuscript into its final form.

Finally, I would like to thank all the instructors who contributed activities to this book. Acknowledgments for specific games and activities are due to the following individuals:

Wendy Baldwin, English Language Institute, SUNY at Buffalo, New York: 15.2.1, 15.3.10, 16.5.2 Ellen Bartlett, Oceanside Unified Schools, California: 2.3.3, 5.1.12, 13.3.4

Kathy Bates, Fullerton, California: 13.2.1, 13.2.4

Elizabeth Cadwalader, Baltimore, Maryland: 15.3.6

Jeanne Clayton, Intensive English Language Center, St. Petersburg, Florida: 10.2.1, 12.5.3 Bonnie L. Dahnke, International Language Institute, Washington, D.C.: 8.2.5

Eileen F. Kelley and Diane Sweet, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Massachusetts: 5.1.11, 5.1.15, 14.2.1

Linda B. Leary, Intensive English Language Program, SUNY at Albany, New York: 3.3.1

Thomas G. Long, Educational Unlimited International (EUI), Cambridge, Massachusetts: 6.4.5, 8.1.3, 8.2.6

Patricia Ann Previdi, Catonsville Community College, Catonsville, Maryland: 4.2.7, 6.4.4 Michael Prili, Intensive English Language Center, St. Petersburg, Florida: 8.2.7, 12.5.2

Alice Savage, Houston Community College, Houston, Texas: 2.4.4, 5.1.13, 8.2.8, 10.3.2, 13.1.5, 15.2.3 Jane Shore, Lado International College, Arlington, Virginia: 5.1.14, 9.2.4, 14.2.5

Marlene Sprigle, UCSD Extension, San Diego, California: 10.3.3

Rose To, Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, California: 12.5.1

James Toepper, Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria, Virginia: 3.3.2 Toni Zona, Intensive English Language Center, St. Petersburg, Florida: 8.2.4

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Verbs: Present

1.1SIMPLE PRESENT

4.When two students have discovered something in common, each writes it down on the line next to the name of the student he/she is talking to. In the above example, Soheyla writes We both like sports next to Juan’s name, and Juan writes it next to Soheyla’s name.

5.When they have finished, the students sit down. Ask which verb tense they used most often (simple present) and why (facts). If the students cannot provide these answers, give them clues by soliciting some of the sentences they wrote down. Ask if these are true statements, etc.

6.For fun and to learn more about the students, ask individual students at random what they have in common with someone on their list. (It would take too long to go over all the answers.) You may want to collect the papers to use as a source of information for preparing other activities or exercises.

NOTE: This is a good culmination game at a lower level, after completing the present tense chapter. It also works well as a review for higher students to see if they remember why they use the present tense.

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3. SHORT ANSWERS 1

Materials: Strips with answers (Worksheet 3)

Dynamic: Pairs/Small groups

Time: 20 minutes

Procedure: 1. Divide the class into pairs or groups of three or four.

2.Give each group several strips with short answers on them. Have the students work together to write questions for the answers.

3.The members of each group can take turns reading their questions and answers aloud, or one student can read for the group. The rest of the class judges whether the questions are appropriate for their answers.

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2.Each group writes five short answers on a piece of paper, exchanges answer papers with another group, and writes appropriate questions for the other group’s answers.

Examples:

3.Put the two groups together and have them return the answer papers. The group who wrote the answers checks that the questions are appropriate.

NOTE: This activity can be adapted to a higher level by using different tenses, such as a mixture of perfect tenses.

SUGGESTION: Before dividing your class into pairs, tell them what tense to use or, for the higher-level class, if the activity is intended to be a verb review.

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2.Have the students practice their questions and answers several times. They will do a telephone role play for the class, so they should be familiar with the questions and answers. Circulate, helping the pairs with their grammar and checking their answers.

3.The partners take turns presenting their role plays to the rest of the class.

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Variations: a. Make your own grid from information you know about your students. They will be more likely to be able to complete the game.

b.Use at holiday times with prompts geared to the holiday.

Examples: Has seen a ghost, Will go to the costume party tonight, Has eaten candy corn, Knows what a ghoul is.

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2.The students circulate and ask each other yes/no questions to discover “who” or “what” they are. The responding students look at the picture on the back of the questioner before answering. Circulate around the class to help out if the students are not sure of an answer. Instruct the students that they can answer I don’t know if they are unsure and you are not available to ask. In the example below, the first two questions can be answered with yes or no just by looking at the picture. The third question requires that the student know the identity of the person in the picture.

3.For a competition, the first student to discover his/her identity wins. If it is not a competition, set a time limit and try to have as many students discover their identities as possible. When students discover their identity, have them continue to participate by answering questions from those students who are still trying to guess their identity.

9. CLUE

Materials: None

Dynamic: Whole class

Time: 20 minutes

Procedure: 1. This is another variation of Twenty Questions. Choose one student to come to the front of the class. This student will be given an identity and will give clues to the class. The class tries to guess the identity from the clues and can ask only yes/no questions.

2.Before starting the game, discuss strategy with the class. Tell them that the student who is giving clues will give the most difficult clues first and the easiest last.

Example: Identity: baseball

SAMPLE CLUES: Many people like me.

You can watch me.

It is (or I am) done outdoors.

I am a game/sport.

You need a mitt to play.

3.If the class guesses the identity, it wins. If the class cannot guess the identity after a preannounced number of clues (between 5 and 10), the student wins.

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Variation: Send one student out of the room. Give the class an identity for that student, discuss clue strategy, and go over possible clues. When the student returns, the class members begin giving clues. The student may ask only yes/no questions, or you may limit his/her questions to identity questions (“Am I a teacher?”). If the student guesses his/her identity, he/she wins. Otherwise, the class wins.

Always: I always brush my teeth.

Seldom: I seldom study for tests.

4. Holding the card with the frequency adverb toward the circle, the first student says his/her sentence. The second student says his/her sentence and repeats the first student’s sentence. The third student says his/her sentence and repeats the first two sentences, and so on around the circle until the last student, who says his/her sentence and repeats the sentences from everyone in the group. Don’t allow any writing, but do allow gestures and even one or two helpful words from the other students.

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