HeaDs UP! App

Hi, there!,

Have you ever heard about HEADS UP! It's a really fun hilarious game which is always played by Ellen DeGeneres on her show. 

Now, you can also play it with your friends in a party, with your family at home or in a park, there are many different categories, suitable for all ages. Thanks to one of my workmates, I know that you can download this game from the AppleStore, it's free! I strongly recommend you because it's a fantastic tool to practise your English!!!! I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

Learning English is always Fun!

One Picture - One Story

(Make up a story)

Hi, There!!!,

This speaking exercise is very easy, you only need some pictures and divide your students into different groups. 

Then, ask them to make up a story looking at these photos. 

Every group has one image and they must answer these helpful questions:

(Make up a story)

1. What are they doing?
2. Where are they?
3. What happened?
4. What do they feel?
5. What do you think it's going to happen?

Your students must work all together, use imagination, share their ideas, come an agreement and tell their story to the rest of the class. I hope you'll discover crazy stories and have fun!

(Make up a story)

(Make up a story)

 

Spot Differences - ORAL GAME

HI, Guys!!!,

As you well know, being fluent in a new language is one of the most difficult task. Because of that, I really like playing this game with the students, all of them get involved, take part, have fun and SPEAK ENGLISH!!! 

It's very simple: Find the Differences, just compare and contrast these two pictures!
You can use these expressions:

1. In Picture A or In Picture 1, I can see ...
2. In Picutre B or In Picutre 2, there is / there isn't ...
3. I can find ... in picture ... WHEREAS in picture ...

 
 

HoW To MaKe OuR StuDentS SPEAK UP!

Hi, Guys!!!,

As I see it, one of the most difficult task for teachers is actually getting your students to speak up 100%  English, though ovbiously, it is not an unrealistic impossible goal, but we have to work very hard. Because of that, I'd like to share some of my motivating ideas to help our English learners speak their target language. We should take into account that when you can communicate in English, you can handle the language!

Thus, one of my new academitc year's resolution is this! And how can I get it? By means of INTERESTING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES. All students are very familiar with new technologies, internet, etc., so I'm going to ask them to prepare some oral presentations (max. 5 min.) about different cultural topics. It's going to be our English Cultural Corner at the end of the class. 

By this way, they must find some information about the following topics (I promise I'll add many more!!!). And also, they are going to learn  so much about many different cultural Bristish-American customs, traditions, historical characters, etc.

1. How many types of newspapers are there in UK?

2. What is the Commonwealth?

3. Why is the British flag called Union Jack?

4. Why are the Irish doors so colourful?

5. Where does the name "Wall Street" come from?

6.Who was William the Conqueror?

7. What is the highest building in New York city?

8. What are the origins, history and traditions of the British afternoon tea?

9. When did the Irish Famine happen?

10. What is the Act of Union 1707?

11. What do the Americans celebrate the 4ht of July?

12. Who was Lincoln?

13. Who was Charles Darwin?
14.  What is "Fish and Chips"?

15. Who was William Shakespeare?
16.  What is Halloween?

17. Who was Thomas Edison?
18. Why are London taxis called "black cabs"?

19. Who was Sherlock Holmes?
20. What is The Tube in London?
21. Who was Alfred the Great?
22. Who are the Buskers in London?
23. Who are the Beefeaters?
24. What's the meaning of "AIN'T"? 
25. Who was Robert Burns? and when is Burn's night celebrated? 
26. What is the Remembrance Sunday?
27. When is St David's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition.
28. When is St George's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition. 
29. When is St Patrick's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition. 
30. When is St Swithin's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition. 
31. What about the mystery of the Stoneghenge?  
32. What is Oak Apple Day?
33. What is the Bonfire Night? When is it celebrated?
34. What is Thanksgiving Day? When is it celebrated? 
35. Do you know what the Statue of Liberty stands for?
36. What's the meaning of  "LOL"? What about the netspeak?
37. What's the origin of St Valentine's Day? How was / is it celebrated?
38. Why is the capital of USA called Washington DC?
39. Who was Jane Austen? Where was she buried?
40. History of the Westminster Abbey. Its different parts.
41. Who was Edward the Confessor?
42. Who was Henry VIII?

(THERE WILL BE MORE QUESTIONS TOMORROW ;) AND IF YOU LIKE THIS IDEA, YOU CAN SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS WITH ME. Thanks! )

Then, every student chooses one of the topics. After that, they have to prepare their oral presentations making a power point, showing some pictures, posters, real objects, music, what they consider more attractive and entertaining... They must explain the topic, they have to be careful with their English, make the other students involved, ... and so on. 

At last, once again, I'd like to emphasize ENGLISH IS ALWAYS FUN!!!!

OnE PiCtuRe - OnE WoRd ( a fun English Game)

"Fireworks, Bridge, ..."

Hi, There!,

Onceagain, I'd like to share with all of you another FUN ENGLISH GAME!!!! It's really entertaining and worthwhile for all your students, and even you, as a teacher!!!!, but you'll need to spend some time to create your own cards. Take it easy, it's not very difficult! Let me tell you ...

"Sunset, Sky, ..."

1. You need to pick up many different pictures, you may take them from magazines, ... These may be landscapes, people, animals on a farm, etc. Use your imagination!

2. You'd better stick these pictures or draws on a piece of cardboard.

3. Show one of this card to your students.

"Birds, Smile, Scenery, ..."

4. As fast as they can, your children must say a word related to this card, the first word which comes to their mind. You'll need to take turns; or you can also divide your students into different groups, as you prefer since there are many possibilities.

"House, Flower, Fence, ..."

At last, I encourage you to carry out this Fun English Game with your students, I'm sure they'll have fun as well as learn English!!!! ;)

Big Town and High Town - MES-ENGLISH

Hi, teachers!,

We are all coming back soon!!! I suppose you are familiar with MES-ENGLISH http://www.mes-english.com/, I love this web, it's fantastic!!!


You can find flashcards, resources, worksheets, etc. Because of that, I recommend you to look at this and use one of the following games with your students Big Town or High Town, you can read the instructions and print the cards, like the photos.


The games I recommend in this post will help your students speak English, make up questions, etc. There are many possibilities.

Learning English is always fun!:)

MIME - a fun game to learn English

Hi, TEACHERS!,

Some years ago, I made up this oral game "MIME" to play at the end of the lessons at school , for my adult beginners, ... and they always have fun and learn so much!!! It's very simple and effective for English students.

As you can see in the photo, you have to cut some pieces of cardboard into small pieces.

Then, you as a teacher, choose one semantic field to practise, for example "SportS" or "ProfessionS or JobS". After that, write down one sport or job on one of the sides, and on the other one, you just write "MIME", the name of the game.

Later, ask one of your students to pick up one card. He /she has to mime, he / she can't speak anything, maybe some noises. The other classmates have to raise their hands when they know the answer. Then, the student has to write down the word on the board or spell this for the rest of the students. (Everybody is going to laugh and have a good time, SURE!)

After that, you can pronounce and repeat all the words appeared.

I strongly recommend you to play MIME in class, LeaRNinG EnGLisH iS AlWayS FUN!!! ;)

(I'd be pleased if you told me your experience with this oral game).

PICTIONARY - a popular game to practise your English

Hi, Guys!,


Have you ever played PICTIONARY? It's really fun if you play with your friends, but if you play it making up your own cards with English words, it can be challenging!!! Do you agree with me?

Pictionary Cards 

Once again, you'll need some pieces of cardboard, you can select different colours according to different semantic fields. Now, let me give you an useful link full of basic vocabulary:http://www.languageguide.org/english/ . Take a look and start writing your own Pictionary cards!

Everybody can create their own cards and play together, they are going to learn, amplify English vocabulary, ... but above all, they'll have fun!!! ;)

1, 2, 3, ... GO!!! Just pick up one card and draw the word given, your friends or classmates have to guess this!

TaBoo - a popular game to learn and practise your English

Hi, there!,

Taboo Cards

I think you all know how to play TABOO, it's really amusing when you play with all your friends and family. Why don't you play it at school?

1. As always, you'll need to pick up some pieces of cardboard and cut them into pieces. Then, the teacher can select some common words to help students to speak up and participate. The students and teacher will write down one word in every card. Other day, he / she could bring other difficult words to define.

2. One student picks up one card and has to define the word given without saying it. The first one who guesses the word gets some points. Now it's his / her turn.

3. If your students are older (secondary or uppersecondary level), you, as a teacher, can write one large font word included in a circle and other words crossed out. Now, the student has to define the word given without saying all the words appeared on the card. (see the example in the photo).

4. I hope you'll enjoy this game,

LEARNING ENGLISH IS ALWAYS FUN ;)

One Letter - One Word - SPEAKING

Hi, there!,

As you can see in this blog, I love sharing some of my tricks to help students SPEAK English and IMPROVE their vocabulary. That's why I'm going to show you "One LeTTeR -

One WoRd". It's a funny practical game!

1. You only need to print several alphabets. http://www.uptoten.com/kids/coloringpage-mixedbag-print-abc.html

2. Then, you cut the alphabet into small pieces. (Obviously, each one would be one letter of the alphabet).

3. You can divide your students into groups (maybe four people).

4. Every student will pick up one letter and will say an English word beginning with that letter.

5. Ask your students to write down the words mentioned; by this way, you could check if they are right or wrong.

6. The student who can't say a word immediately stops playing for a while.

7. I hope you'll have fun learning English!!! ;)

Describing Physical Appearance - SpEaKinG

Hi, there!,

Would you like to improve your speaking? why don't you learn or review how to describe Physical Appearance? It's a very entertaining game that you can play with your students or friends to practise your English!

Just take a look the following pages, these are fantastic!!! Then, choose one of your mates and describe him/her for the other people. The others have to guess who you are describing listening to your descripytion. You can also include clothes description. Come on, let's play now!!!

Learn and play ;)

Material Obligatorio Appearances Vocabulary

SpEAkiNG - DescribinG PictureS

Hi, Teachers!,


I'd like to propose you all this practical oral game: "DescribinG PictureS". It's very enriching and funny for your students. You can follow these steps or change them, ok?


1st Select the pictures:
Famous paintings, such as Van Gogh's Irisis or Sunflowers, Leonardo da Vinci's Gioconda, (to help them recognise and learn some famous painters), beautiful landscapes, crowded cities, etc.

2nd Deliver pictures:
Give your students enough time to look at carefully their pictures.


3rd Questions on board:
You can ask the following questions: What can you see in your photo?, Can you recognise it?, Are there any people?, What are they doing?, Can you describe the buildings?, and so on. Obviously, questions depend on the type of pictures chosen. Then, you may need to write some questions on board.


4th Ask your pupils to describe their pictures. At the same time, you can encourage the other children / teenagers to ask some questions to their classmates.


5th Learn English and have fun!!! I hope you'll enjoy it! ;-)

Who WaNtS to Be a MiLLionaiRe?

Hi, Guys!,

Would you like to take part in a contest? You may have watched this Quiz show on TV, it's really exciting and entertaining. Now, let's check your British knowledge in five minutes!

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? PART



Click to Play!

Finish this Sentence! - GAME

Hi, there!,

I'd like to share with you all this easy practical game: "FINISH THIS SENTENCE!". I hope you'll like it! Let's see...
At the beginning, the teacher delivers one piece of cardboard to every student, they have to make up a sentence, but without the ending,, such as: "If my teacher slept in class, ..." or "We'll be given..." or "Mary told him that she ...". 

Then, the teacher collects all the cards, checks them quickly and delivers one to every student. And now, game is ready.: 1,2,3, GO!!!! Once the young learners know a possible ending for their cards, they raise their hands and say it aloud!

Thanks to this simple exercise, they can learn, revise and get many different goals. Just try it! ;)

Game - GueSS the MeSSaGe

Hi, there!,

I'd like to share with all of you the following game, it's easy to prepare and really functional when you need to practise Question-Intonation, to review the question structure, and above all, to learn English while you are having fun.

You only need to cut some colourful cardboards into small pieces. You'll write every word of the question in every piece. (It's better if you see the picture). After that, you'll give your students one question, and they have to gess the message, they have to order the pieces of cardboard. It's very simple. As soon as some children make a meaningful question, you'll write it on the board. Then, you can practise intonation with your students. They will feel involved and motivated.

I hope you'll find my game interesting!!!

GAME - Answer the question

Hi, Teachers!,

I'd like to suggest you the following game "ANSWER THE QUESTION", it's very easy and truly functional. This is an oral activity appropriate for EFL learners in secondary and upper-secondary school. This game has been designed to practise questions and answers, to review all English tenses and to increase vocabulary.

Your students will become enthusiastic and get involved in class.


You only need some small pieces of cardboard. Before starting the game, you have to ask your pupils to think how to make questions in English, you can write some examples on board. Then, deliver these pieces of cardboard.

Now, you ask them to write down one question on every piece of cardboard. After that, collect the cards. Choose one student, he / she'll stand up and pick up one card, he / she'll read the question aloud. If he / she anwers this correctly, he / she'll get a candy. (It's very practical and motivating for children).

I hope all of you will have fun!!! ;)

Test your English knowledge playing!

Hi, Guys!,

Would you like to test your English knowledge? I've just found an amusing way! If you click on the following links, you can check your English as well as play a game online.

For example, can you remember when you have to use MAKE or DO? and what about your vocabulary? You can enjoy and learn a lot! Ready, Steady, Gooooo!!!!!

* http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm
* http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/makeordo.htm
* http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/vocabblock.htm
* http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/vocabexpertp1.htm