Activity 1 – Star
Description:
Star shaped cutout approximately the size of a hand. Participants noted significant ‘things’ on star and worked in pairs to ask and answer questions.
Topics for the five parts of the star in the workshop were: a special place/an important date/important symbol/a special number/name of someone special
Extension activities/suggestions:
• Trace around their hand and ask them to write topics in fingers of hand.
• Tell another person about the person you’ve just met – in order to find
coincidences – evaluating an activity with learners – discuss difficulties they had.
• Use activity for reporting back, as above, or as a plan to write an introductory passage re themselves or another person – could put onto a powerpoint/into a class booklet – perhaps take pictures.
• Use more complex notions on stars (e.g. related to emotions/past dates/places).
• Have categories for each topic:
names – family, friends, famous people,
numbers – house number, telephone numbers, shoe sizes, ages,
symbols – story sequences.
• Draw picture with words and describe for higher levels.
• Categorise each point of star and make stories.
• Write questions on points of star.
• Use as an icebreaker (could include movement).
• Mind map planning in preparation for presentations.
• Use for specific vocabulary (fruit), grammar (adjectives), members of the family.
Activity 2 – Do’nutting or Speed talking (speed dating)
Description:
Two circles of participants standing in the centre of the class, inner ring looks outwards, outer ring looks inwards. Participants partner up (a bit like country dancing). Topics given included what you like to eat for breakfast, plans for after the conference etc. Each topic lasts for one minute.
Extension activities/suggestions:
• Warm up/revision/re-cap/end of class evaluations.
• Asking questions/group survey followed by presentation.
• Good for building group dynamics/ ‘Get to know you’ session.
• Use as ice breaker (higher level) with music.
• Use with pictures moving round the group.
• Employability – practise questions for interviews/interviewing each other.
• Use it to integrate late starters on course.
• Needs analysis for schemes of work – learners could set their own targets.
• Limit subjects given to encourage repetition and learn from each other i.e. new vocabulary etc., would also encourage weaker learners.
• Smaller circles could be used to get to know a smaller/new group of people or to limit activity time.
• Have to be careful re topics for example, in a mixed class with Muslim learners.
• Good way to review language structures.
• Could make it a seated activity.
• With people who know each other, make topics more general.
• Alternative question – “What do you see when you look out of the window?”
Activity 3 – Hot seat
Description:
People sit in groups of four, positions: north, south, east and west. The person in the south seat does simple mimes for the person in the hot seat (north) to copy, then after the mimes have started the person in the west asks simple questions, whilst the person in the east asks simple maths questions, all questions are directed towards the person in the hot seat (north). After a short time, 1/1½ minutes, everyone moves round one seat either clockwise or anticlockwise. Everyone takes a turn in the hot seat, if you have odd numbers of people, put in a rest seat before or after the hot seat. Good for tired classes, good idea to demonstrate first.
Extension activities/suggestions:
• Limit the topic e.g. favourites.
• Use simple spelling questions instead of maths.
• Activity would be differentiated via outcome – complexity of Q + As.
• Set the topic for all four people (e.g. animals/daily routines/colours/numbers).
• Use cue cards in seats 1, 2 or 3 – have to say what they see.
• Questions on specific topics/times (yesterday/today etc).
• Must allow for difference of characters/personalities – let less confident students see what happen three times before they are in the hot seat.
• Ensure that the activity is not threatening (have to be aware that some students may have had bad experiences) – simplify if needed.
• Be clear about the rules for the questions.
Activity 4 – Card game for forming sentences
Description:
Sets of classified cards, topics included places, people, expressions of time and negative or positive. Participants placed in teams to take one of each card group and make a sentence, stimulating discussion. Cards could have pictures from the local area, i.e. hospitals, schools, shops etc. Access photographs from www.google.co.uk - select images.
Activity can be used as a game offering prizes. Can blutak the cards to the board and sentences can be written next to cards, if sentences contain errors can be corrected as a whole class activity. One set of cards can also be used to make more than one sentence. Approximately 20 cards are required for each category of cards.
Extension activities/suggestions:
• Incorporate more time phrases.
• Give specific instructions – put into sentences using adjectives/tenses/time phrases/prepositions/adverbs of frequency etc.
• Instructions to include linking words/relative pronouns.
• Focus on punctuation – include a comma, semi-colon, exclamation mark etc.
• Higher level learners – use conditionals or a target language card e.g. present perfect.
• Vocabulary building/match words to pictures (both on cue cards).
• Use topic related pictures/use for likes and dislikes.
• For lower levels – simple sentence (introducing adjectives) focusing on word order.
• Other sets of cards could be introduced with things that have to be included i.e. adverbs of frequency/verb set of cards.
• Make questions not statements.
• Make a second sentence using a personal pronoun.
Activity 4 – Question cards
Description:
Set of cards with seven questions:
1. What did you learn recently?
2. Was it for work, leisure or both? What’s the difference?
3. How did you learn it?
4. How could you measure/quantify/apply it?
5. How might you teach it to someone else?
6. What will change now you have learnt it?
7. What further learning does it enable?
8. This is left blank for the participants to complete either as a question for the teacher/trainer or as a suggested follow up question to the previous seven.
Participants can either discuss the cards one by one or they can spread them out and see them all at once.
Extension activities/suggestions:
• Use for staff training/training tutors to do role play.
• Interview practice.
• Use at the start of a course as a needs analysis.
• Use as a recap.
• Use as part of the process of reflection with prompt questions.
Additional activity suggestion:
Pass the picture (based on pass the parcel), good for lower level learners. A picture is passed round a group of learners and when the music stops the learner with the picture has to say three things about the picture, could be colours, furniture etc., or short sentences.
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