GRAMMAR ACTIVITIES

SIMON SAYS:

I think that everyone knows the activity called "Simon says". It is based on simple commands. Students have to understand teacher's commands and respond to them correctly.

Students are supposed to obey these commands only if the teacher says "Simon says"; if you omit that prefix, they should ignore teacher's command. If somebody responds to the command without hearing that prefix, loses a "life". They have three lives, after which they are "out".

Later, students themselves can give the commands.

It can be also done without prefix "Simon says". I tried it with prepositions of places at fifth class. I told them where to put their hands and they responded to my order. Students liked that exercise very much and it helped them in understanding the meaning of prepositions of place.

That activity is the most useful for intermediate learners, however it can be used also with higher level students.

GUESSING MIMES:

We can use this activity to practise Present Progressive to describe action-in-progress.

One of the students is given a cue-card, for example: You are opening a tin. and he/she mimes its content for the rest of the class to guess.

It is important in such activities to make sure that not too much time is spent only on silent mime. The students should be encouraged to keep guessing during the mime, for example: Are you holding something?, Are you opening something? and so on.

DESERT ISLAND EQUIPMENT:

We can use this activity to practise the usage of can, could, may, might to express possibilities.

This activity can be presented as an inter-group competition.

The teacher tells tell the students that they are on a desert island. Students are divided into groups. Each group is given the pile of items. The students themselves have to decide which uses are "legitimate" and which not. The challenge of finding uses is often motivating enough in itself. At the end of that activity, students can be asked to share their most original ideas, or tell the class what they can do on their island as a result of having all this equipment.

This activity isn't good for beginners as they know limited number of vocabulary and more the vocabulary the students know, the more ideas can be created.