We close the year with more songs

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned in my previous post, this is the last worksheet of the year. I would like to thank all the people (over 12.300 visits!) who visited the blog and especially the ones who took the time to send me comments, mails, and feedback; I look forward to receiving a lot more next year!

Since students and teachers as well found the song activities appealing, I created a task to assess the use of the second conditional with many popular songs.

Here's the audio.









Here's the worksheet.



Happy holidays!
Claudio

Traffic rules

Hey everyone,

The year is finishing and so it's the blog's activity; I'm sharing the second last activity for this year. Thank you all for your encouraging comments and the many many visits you paid the blog this year. I look forward to getting more feedback and reaching more teachers in order to share, discuss and make this experience even more enriching.

This is a lesson I created and used with my A2 students to talk about rules. Throughout these activities students will recognize and differentiate the use of can, can't, have to and be allowed to, classify and apply them. It was a very meaningful lesson for my students; I hope it can be useful to yours as well.

As a follow up, students could go to glogster and create a poster with the traffic rules (or any other kind of rules) in their community, or the most important to them.

What do you think? 

Here's the worksheet

Warm regards,
Claudio

Different ways of starting the day

Here's a simple activity to work on the use of simple past with A1 students. I cut the opening scene from the great Argentinean movie "La suerte está hechada". I believe the activity is self-explanatory: however, if you have any doubt, please let me know.

I hope you find it useful.





Here's the worksheet.

Regards,
Claudio

The news

Hi everyone,

I'm sharing a set of activities I created to work with a group of C1 students on the use of passive voice in the context of news. I hope you find it useful.

Warm up: Students share their opinions. Whole class.

How important is it to be informed?
What is the role of the newspaper in society?
What comes to mind when you hear the word "news"? 
What's in the news these days?
Which source of news do you think is best?

Show them the headlines below. Do they realte to their answers?

Activity 1: Mini debate. 

Devide the class in 4 groups. Each of them is going to defend a source of information. They will have 5 minutes to generate arguments to defend theirs and to attact the others'.

The options are: Television, Radio, Internet and Newspaper.

Activity 2: Understanding and grammar discovery.

Activity 3: Once they understood and practiced the use of passive voice, have them invent facts about a story in order to apply the structure. Using the headlines seen in the first activity as a starting point, they have to come up with 2 or 3 sentences.

Closure: Students read this article taken from breakingnewsenglish.com and write a short report based on what they have read, seen and heard about the virus. Finally, they will read it to the class to see if they have similar ideas.

As a follow up: My students prepared a 5-to-10-minute presentation on the most shocking news they remembered for the following class. They had to select one event they vividly recalled and describe the context in which it took place, why they found it shocking and which was the impact it had in the community.

BTW, I should have recorded them, they were great.

Here's the worksheet.

What do you think?

Stay tuned,
Claudio

Art

I'm sharing an activity I created to work with B2+ students in the use of connectors for discussions. We were talking about art and in this class we discussed several aspects of it. Students tried to define what art was for them, they analyzed a concept and designed their own, and they supported their views through a debate.  

Warm up: Take a look at the following pictures and discuss in pairs.

Are these all examples of art?
What's the purpose of art?

Activity 1: Listen to this teacher talking about art. 

What is art anyway?
Do you agree with her?
How would you define it?

Activity 2: This scene explores another side of art. Watch it and choose the correct alternative.

Closure: A school in your community is planning to cut out the Art hours from its syllabi. Half of the class is going to favor this idea and think of reasons why this is a wise choice. However, the other half is going to be totally against this measure and will come up with a list of arguments which show how wrong it is. Once they have written all their arguments, they will exchange their opinions. The only conditions to participate are the following: Whenever they participate, they have to use one of the connectors seen in the previous activity. And remember:

Expressions they might use (besides the connectors):

In my opinion/view .... 

If you ask me ....

As far as I can see/I’m concerned .... 

It seems to me that ....

I have the/a feeling that .... 

I think/feel/reckon/believe ....

Well, I’d say .... 

First of all/To start with I’d like to point out ...

What we have to decide is .... 

There can be no doubt that ....

It’s a fact that .... 

Nobody will deny that ....

The way/As I see it 

Let me put it this/another way .... 

Let’s get this clear (first) ....

The point I’m trying to make is ....

Personally (speaking) I think .... 

I’m absolutely convinced that ....

My view/point of view is that .... 

The way I look at/see it is this

What I actually meant was ....

Here's the worksheet.

Regards,
Claudio

Relative Clauses

I'm sharing a couple of simple activities I created to introduce, review and/or assess the use of relative pronouns and adverbs with B1 students. After they had revised and applied the structure, I had them work with some songs for them to link the structure to something popular. Here's how I did it.



Warm up: to introduce the grammar, I gave them some nouns (related to the unit we were working on) for them to come up with a definition. In groups, they defined the items using their own words, and then they presented their ideas for their partners to guess the concepts.

Activity 1: Whenever a student used a sentences containing a relative pronoun or adverb, I wrote it on the board.

NB: If this doesn't occur, write a definition yourself or reshape on of theirs.

Grammar discovery: Students and teacher write the grammar rules or explanation on the board.

Activity 2: Any sort of practice. Perhaps, if they are starting to work with the structure, they could use a game like these so that they work in groups. After that, they could work individually on any worksheet or text book exercise.

Activity 3: Application. Have one student sit with his/her back to the screen. The rest will see the slides on this presentation, and will define the image which appears on the screen. Do not accept any answer without the use of a relative clause.

You may write on the board:

It's a person who...
It's an actor who...
It's a thing which...
It's an item that...





NB: Point out that this is a way in which they can communicate concepts they do not know or remeber. They could hone their speaking through the acquisition of this strategy whenever they get stuck.

Closure: Music time! 



Here you have the presentation, the worksheet and the audio.



What do you think about the lesson?

Stay tuned,
Claudio

Culture shock

Here's an activity I created for B2 students to talk about culture shock and to introduce the use of the suffixes ful and less. Throughout this lesson, students will be introduced to the use of suffixes, they will analyze its meaning and use, and finally they will apply it.

Warm up: Listen to the song "Englishman in New York" by Sting. 

How does the singer feel? 
Have you ever been in a similar situation? Share.

Activities 1, 2 and 3: Trailer watching. 

Teacher's copy

Ful or less?

This is a touching story of a woman, full of character, with an idealistic vision for herself and her daughter, and a typical American family. The woman and daughter emigrate from Mexico seeking a better life in America, and discover that the family culture, at least in one American family, runs counter to the values that the woman holds dear. The woman starts working as a maid for the American family which is wrought with some typical American family dysfunction. The American mother is thoughtless to the needs of her daughter and husband--she has been caught up in the "me" age of self improvement, addicted to high paced life of a working mother, turning into a heartless mom. The husband is a sensitive, caring, and thoughtful chef and father who has become estranged from his wife due to her emergent self obsession and insensitivity to the husband and daughter's needs from a mother and wife. The stark contrast in cultures between the beautiful emotionally intelligent Mexican woman and the American family, whose matriarch is lacking in the same valuable characteristics present in the Mexican mother, provides learning opportunities. The daughters learn to appreciate each other's cultures. The husband and Mexican woman discover in each other a special connection which transcends language barriers and allows the husband to see what he is missing in his meaningless relationship. And the daughter of the Mexican woman discovers that she appreciates her mother's values more than she ever thought possible.

Follow up: Writing.

Task A) Send Flor a lettter and offer her some tips on how to deal with her new family life and how to fit right in. Try to include some pieces of advice on ways not to feel homesick as well.

Task B) Traveling can be a very enriching experience; however, moving to another country can pose many challenges. It is not easy to adapt to new places and there are cases in which it does not happen even after many years of living in the new site. Write an essay stating the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a new place.

Here's the worksheet

See you around,

Claudio

A good boss

I'm sharing a short lesson I used with B2 students. We were talking about work and I decided to take advantage of the oportunity to revise the use of modal verbs for necessity and suggestion. In this lesson students discussed, evaluated and constructed the concept of being a good boss.

Warm up: Classify the following adjectives as positive or negative for a boss. Justify your choice. (Student's answers)

Confident - friendly - sociable - pushy - kind - ambitious - generous - shy - 

I think _____ is positive because...
You have a point but sometimes...
I believe _____ is negative because...
Maybe but sometimes it is goo/bad because...

Activity 1: Understanding a scene.
-
Activity 2: True or false? 

1. Nick thought he was going to be the new senior vice president                  
2. The boss decided to absorb the responsibilities                                               
3. He is going to remodel is office                                                                       
4. He will take a 70% of the additional salary                                                    
5. Nick has a bad reaction                                                                                   

Activity 3: Are the men shown in the video good bosses? Why? (Student's answers)


Closure: In groups, define what a good boss is using the following expressions. Then report it to the class.

A good leader should...
He/ she ought to...
A good boss must...
He/ she has to...
A good boss can't...

Stay tuned,
Claudio

Wishes

I'm sharing a simple activity to assess the use of wish statements, pretty similar to the one I had posted a while ago. The idea is to have students listen to fragments taken from songs in order to identify the singers' wishes. I generally devide students in groups and the only condition for them to participate is not to repeat the ideas. I used this activity with A2+ students and although they felt a bit challenged at first, they could understand most of the songs and they really enjoyed the task.

Here's the audio:

Here you have the fragments:

"Oh darling, please believe me"

Eg: He wishes she believed him. He wishes she loved him. He wishes she were more credulous, etc. (accept any logical inference)

The rest:

Don't you cry tonight I still love you baby don't you cry tonight  (Guns n' Roses)
I can get no satisfaction and I try (The Rolling Stones)
This is not America (David Bowie)
Oh Dream about me (Moby)
Go Johnny go, johnny be good (Chuck Berry)
I can't find anyone (Boom Boom Kid)
I'm sorry, so sorry (REM)
To be yourself is all that you can do (Audioslave - Chris Cornell)
I want you so bad (Bob Dylan)
I eat too much, I drink too much, I want too much, too much (Dave Matthews Band)
Mystic Highway that I'm on, take me home, Mystic Highway that I ramble, take me home (John Fogerty)
Born in the USA I was born in the USA (Bruce Springsteen)
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid of darkness anymore and try to be strong (Boom Boom Kid)


I sometimes have them compete for the artist's name as well, that's why you have their names as well.

Would you use it with your students?

See you around,
Claudio

Ed or ing?

Here's an activity created for B1 students to revise, identify and apply adjectives ending with -ed or -ing. I took advantage of these two great actors' popularity and used the movie "Larry Crowne".


Warm up: How would you describe these two people? What do you know about them?

Write on the board all the adjectives ending with ed or ing your students mention (if they don't come up with any, provide a couple yourself). Then have them discuss the difference in meaning. 

Activity 1: Choose the correct alternative.

Activity 2: Complete the plot summary.

Closure: writing.

Here's the worksheet.

Regards,

Claudio

Time contrasts

Here's an activity I used to revise past, present and future forms with A2+ students. Although I found the movie rather disappointing (perhaps due to my high expectations), I decided (in fact it was my wife's idea) to work with "Cloud Atlas". I really liked the concept they try to develop in the film, and in the trailer the interaction among past, present and future is clearly shown. I hope you find it useful.

As a warm up: I showed them some pictures from the movie for them to spot the differences. 

Activity 1: Complete a short description using the correct verb form.

	He____________ (be) a doctor. He ____________ (be) dishonest. He ____________ (travel) by ship.
	Now he ____________(be) a  scientist. Nowadays he ____________ (be)  very correct.  Now he ____________(travel) by  car.
	In the future, he ____________  (help) people in a different way. In the future, we don’t know  how he ____________(be). In the future, he  ____________(walk).

Activity 2: Look at the following pictures and contrast this person's lives as you did in the previous exercise. Use your own ideas.

Activity 3: Watch the trailer and check if the sentences are true or false.

• The song sounds familiar to the woman                                        
• The young man plays music the old man dreamed of                 
• The man experienced a déjà vu                                                       
• In the future, the waitresses have the same face                        

Activity 4: Fill in the blanks.

Yesterday, my life __________ (be) headed in one direction. Today, it __________ (be) headed in another…Fear, belief, __________, phenomena that determine the course of our lives. These forces begin long before we __________ (be) born and continue __________ we perish.

Our lives __________ (be) not our own. We __________ (be) bound to others, __________ and __________ and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our __________.

I believe there __________ (be) another world waiting for us, a better world, and I __________ (be) waiting for you there.       

Closure: How has your life changed? Write a short description using the expressions below.

As a child, I used to….

Five years ago, I…

Nowadays I…

Next year, I’m going to…

In five years, I’ll…

In ten years, I might… 

What do you think about the activities?

Here's the worksheet.

Regards,
Claudio

Inversions

I'm sharing an activity I created for C1 students to review the use of inversions. We were talking about science and technology and after some heavy classes, I wanted to review grammar in a softer way. I decided to use the song"The scientist" by Coldplay.

Here's what I did.

Activity 1: Once they had the whole lyrics, they had to relate a part of it to the inversions they had below.

Activity 2: Then they discussed in pairs up to what extent they agreed with the singer's opinion, and came up with their own ideas.

NB: When presenting their reflection, they had to use at least an inversion per idea developed.

Finally, they watched two segments from The Simpsons discussed the concepts they thought were being conveyed there. Again, they had to use the structure at least once to explain their points.

To conclude: they role-played different parts in this activity I downloaded from www.businessenglishmaterials.com/

Here's the worksheet.

See you around,

Claudio

Personality types

I'm sharing an activity I developed to work on personality types and synonyms with teenagers
in a B2 level. Since I knew it would be appealing to them, I used the movie "Divergent" and although the task was challenging, their being acquainted with the story helped consideably. After looking up some words in the dictionary and discussing the different profile a person in each faction should have, they had no problems whatsoever categorizing many different words which weren't familiar to them. I'll show you how I did it.

As a warm up: Each student chose 3 adjectives that they would use to describe themselves. Then, they assigned 3 adjectives to the rest of the people in the class. After that, each of them read the adjectives he had chosen for one of their partners for the rest to guess who this person was. Then they checked similarities in their choice with the rest of the class and with the person described.

NB: Performed with respect, this can be a great self-image activity.

Activity 1: I pointed out that we are a lot more than three words and have them listen to this song to show them my point. They were expected to write as many adjectives as they could get. I stopped in every stanza.

Activity 2: They watched the movie trailer and checked whether the statements were true or false. Afterwards, we checked which exact word they had used to express those ideas.







Closure: Students classified the words given into the 5 factions shown in the movie.

As a follow up: They had to write a movie review trying to be as descriptive as possible using these sites as reference:

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Movie-Review
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/writing-film-book-review.php#.VAD3-vmSyuJ
http://www.theguardian.com/the-paperboy-movie/how-to-write-a-film-review


Here's the worksheet.

Would you use it with your students?

Stay tuned,
Claudio

Natural Disasters

I'm sharing a set of activities for students to work on the use of the first and second conditionals and imperative forms in the context of natural disasters. They will identify the structure and apply it in various ways. I hope you find it useful.

Warm up: What words regarding the topic are you familiar with? (Brainstorm). 

Possible answers: floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.

Activity 1: Watch the trailer and check which of the elements mentioned in the previous activity take place in this movie. 

Activity 2: Read and answer.

If the birds go crazy, something will happen.

If any of these events took place in Uruguay, we wouldn't be ready. (appart from floods and doughts, we barely have natural disasters)

What's the difference between these sentences?
Which one refers to consequences?
Which one talks about a hypothetical situation?
How are they formed?

Activity 3: Match the sentences paying attention to their formation. Then Complete the plot summary with the words from the box.




Teacher's copy:

2009, Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an American geologist, visits astrophysicist Dr. Satnam Tsurutani (Jimi Mistry) in India and learns that neutrinos from a massive solar flare are causing the temperature of the Earth's core to increase rapidly. Adrian gives a report on this to White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) who ends up taking Adrian to meet the President of the United States. In 2010, President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) and other international leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. Approximately 400,000 people are chosen to board "arks" that are constructed at Cho Ming, Tibet, in the Himalayas. At the same time as the People's Liberation Army are gathering volunteers, a Buddhist monk named Nima (Osric Chau) is evacuated while his brother Tenzin (Chin Han) joins the workers in the Ark project. Additional funding for the project is raised by selling tickets to the private sector for 1 billion per person. By 2011, humanity's valuable treasures are moved to the Himalayas under the guise of protecting them from terrorist attacks with the help of art expert and First Daughter Dr. Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton).

In 2012, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles who works part-time as a limousine driver for the Russian billionaire, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buri). Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National park. There they meet Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), who hosts a radio show from the park. Charlie plays a video of Charles Hapgood's theory that polar melting and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar predict that the 2012 phenomenon will occur. He has a map of the ark project in addition to information about officials and scientists from around the world who were murdered after planning to alert the public. The family returns home as seismic activity vastly increases along the west coast of the United States. Jackson grows suspicious and rents a plane to rescue his family. He collects his family and Gordon as the Earth crust displacement begins, and they narrowly escape Los Angeles as the city slips into the Pacific Ocean. As millions die in catastrophic earthquakes worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve Charlie's map, escaping as the Yellowstone Caldera erupts. Charlie stays behind to broadcast the eruption and is killed in the blast of the expulsion of an ash cloud. Learning that the arks are in China, the group lands in a devastated Las Vegas to find a larger plane…

Activity 4: Watch the trailer and tick the orders they give the kids. Then discuss the consequences of not following them.

Closure: Discuss the possible reactions if there were a tornado in your town.

As a follow up: Students could do some reasearch and create a poster explaining the steps they need to follow in the case a tornado occurs in their town. They should include imperative forms and the 1st and 2nd conditional. They can use glogster to complete this task.

Here you have the worksheets for 2012 and Into the storm.

Would you implement anything in a different way?

Stay tuned,

Claudio

Passive Songs

I'm sharing an activity for B1 students to practice passive voice through songs. In this activity, they have to read active sentences and identify the correct passive version. After they choose, they listen to the audio in order to check.  I hope you find it useful.



Here's the worksheet and the audio.










Once they finish with the songs in the worksheet, they listen to the last 5 segments and do the same process, only this time they provide the passive sentences. The teacher may have to write the active sentence on the board.

Just in case, here you have the lyrics:

1- She takes me away to that special place. (I am taken away to that special place by her).
2- You shook me all night long. (I was shaken all night long by you).
3- You wrote your name right on my back. (Your name was written right on my back by you)
4- See the world in green and blue. (The world is seen in green and blue).
5- It wears her out. (She is worn out by it).

As a follow up I would definitely play jeopardy! You have some examples in my previous post on passive voice.

Can you think of other songs with passive voice?

I await your comments,
Claudio

Despicable me

Here's another activity to work on everyday and sequence words with basic students. I used this great scene from the great movie "Despicable me".

Warm up: What do you know about these people?

They are...
Gru is...
Gru Has...
The girls are...
They have...

Activity 1: Watch the scene and check if the sentences are true or false.

1. Gru wakes up at 7 o’clock
2. He stretches
3. He runs
4. He takes a shower
5. He plays with a plastic horse
6. He brushes his teeth
7. He combs his hair
8. He cooks breakfast
9. He says the date was great
10. He dances
11. He drives to work
12. He greets some people on the street
13. He whistles
14. He helps an old lady crossing the street
15. He plays with a ball
16. He takes a gym lesson
17. He plays the drums
18. He gets to his job

After you watch:

Describe the activities he performs using the following words:

First, second, third, after that, then, after a short time, later, next, finally.

As a follow up, students could enter to educreations.com, choose some pictures and narrate their routines.

Here's the worksheet, I hope you find it useful.

See you around,
Claudio

How much is too much?

I'm sharing a set of activities for intermediate students to work on the use of much and many in the context of relationships. Along this lesson, they will be introduced to the structure, analyze it, practice and apply it.




Warm up: Brainstorm.

What words do you associate with love?
What are the first things you think of when you hear this word?

Activity 1: Check the following concepts and put them in the correct category. Add the nouns the students suggested in the previous activity.

calls - letters - time - times - kisses - attention - pressure - text mesages - visits - passion - demands 

Countable	Uncountable

Activity 2: Movie watching.



-

Activity 3: Complete the underlined lines using much or many. Listen to the rest of the song and fill in the blanks.

There are too __________ questions
There is not one __________
There is no resurrection
There is so __________ confusion

And the love profusion
You make me __________
You make me __________
And the love vibration
You make me feel
You make it __________

There are too __________ options
There is no consolation
I have lost my __________
What I want is an __________

And the love profusion
You make me feel
You make me know
And the love __________
You make me feel
You make me shine
You make me feel
You make me shine
You make me feel

I got you under my skin - repeats

There is no __________
There is real isolation
There is so __________ destruction
What I want is a __________

Activity 4_ Listen to this other song and describe the things he does using much, many, too much, too many. How would you define this man?

Closure: Define unhealthy relationships by using much, many, too much, too many.

Eg: If a person calls you too many times a day...

I hope you find it useful,
Claudio

Gerunds and infinitives

I'm sharing an activity for students to practice the use of gerunds and infinitives through songs. Students are
supposed to choose the correct verb alternative (gerund or infinitive) and then listen in order to check. Hopefully, the power of  music will help our students remember the verbs patterns.






Can you think of any other examples?

I hope you find it useful.

Here's the worksheet.

Here's the audio:

Ratatouille

I'm sharing an activity for A1/ A2 students to work on the use of some and any in a conversation. Before that, they will identify vocabulary, check general understanding of a video and practice grammar. I used a segment from the fantastic "Ratatouille".

Warm up:

Watch the segments and tick the elements you see:

Hamburgers		Water		Salt
Cream		Oil		Garlic
Mayonnaise		Soup		Tomatoes
Onions		Lettuce		Potatoes

True or false:

Remy likes to cook                                            T                        F

A thin chef appears                                          T                        F

He tells Remy that this is his chance               T                        F

Remy doesn’t pay attention to him                 T                        F

Remy washes his hands                                    T                        F

Nobody sees him                                               T                        F

Complete the dialogue using some or any

Waiter: What would you like to order?

Client: I would like to order something delicious. What do you recommend?

Waiter: We have _______ really tasty dishes, for example chicken.

Client: mmm, not really. Do you have ______ vegetable soup?

Waiter: Of course. And what would you like to drink? Would you like ______ juice, ______ soda, ______

other thing?

Client: Is there ______ diet soda?

Waiter: Of course there is. Would you like any dessert?

Client: I would like ______ ice-cream. Is there ______ chocolate ice-cream?

Waiter: No, there isn’t. But we have ______ vanilla ice-cream

Client: I hate vanilla. Is there ______ strawberry ice-cream?

Waiter: We have ______ delicious strawberry ice-cream.

Client: I would like that.

Waiter: Would you like ______ other thing?

Client: Just the check please. How much is it?

Waiter: It’s $300.

Follow up:

Act the conversation and add the things that you would like to order. 

Here's the worksheet.

See you around,

Claudio

Meeting your in-laws

I created this activity for students to work on question forms and dialogues when meeting someone for the first time. I used this task with elementary adult students for them to practice and apply question forms in the (terrifying for many) context of meeting your son's or daughter's boyfriend or girlfriend.


Warm up (whole class):

Imagine your son / daughter invited his boyfriend / girlfriend to your house for the first time. What questions would you ask him or her? Share.

Activity 1:

Organize the words to make questions – Tick the ones you think are more likely to be asked.

• you do alone live ?
• An fly in today you airplane did?
• how earn money do much you ?
• you do where live?
• your what plans are future for the ?
• did for tonight eat pot roast dinner you?
• it was under-cooked?
• you daughter love my do?
• you videos have watched pornographic ever?
• girl did meet you where my?

Activity 2: 

Watch the videos and check if your predictions were correct.

Closure: 

Role play the scene using the following expressions:

In-law	Boyfriend / girlfriend
Tell me more about your life… What do you like to do? That’s interesting/ good/ nice… That sounds great/ fantastic… Me too… What about your future plans?	What do you want to know? I like/ love… I hate/ dislike/ can’t stand… I work at… I live in… I’m good at… I’m interested in… I want to… I would like to…

As a follow up: Students could enter to dvolver.com and create a movie that portrays this situation. Here you have an example:

Here's a presentation I used.

I hope you find it useful.

Regards,

Claudio