Blog Entries - April 2009

Featured: Level Two Grammar Review Game

daniel@sendecki.com — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

This game reviews grammar required for completion of Level 2 (as defined by AZQQ).

It includes questions on topics such as talking about: What you're going to eat tonight? What you usually have for breakfast? About a good film you've recently seen? About something you bought last week? About something you are going to buy in the future?What you're going to wear tomorrow?About your mother, etc.

This student can demonstrate an understanding of some classroom directions and attempts [...]

Thursday's Links of the Day (April 30)

daniel@sendecki.com — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Add 'VOA Special English Words' to your iGoogle page. Personalize your iGoogle page with this handy gadget BangkokPost.net - Words in the News. Word of the day for ESL/EFL learners who want to be able to read a newspaper BBC News Online: World. This is the 'low-graphics', fast-loading version. BlackDog's Word of the Day for Kids. (Suzanne Craig) This is for native English speaking kids, so it might be good for ESL students. CNN Transcripts You can read what is broadcast on CNN TV.

Featured: Talk About Your Experiences Game

daniel@sendecki.com — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

One of my colleagues once asked "How many activities can you make for the present perfect?"

Since the present perfect is used to talk about experiences, the possibility for activities is as endless as that of experiences that human beings can have!

Have you ever... board games are good for restricted personalised practice, too. Group the questions around a particular theme, if you like. The attached game board comprises a number of these different questions. Feel free to [...]

Cell Phone Troubles? Not for long!

daniel@sendecki.com — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Saw this on Dave's ESL Cafe Idea Cookbook:

I have found a great way to solve the cell phone problem. I explain to my students that although some of their teachers will take their cell phones for a week, month, semester, etc. I will only take their cell phones for 5 minutes. At first they are very happy about this, but then I explain that I will use it to call my brother back in Canada. No 001 (in Korea), no use of a calling card, just a straight forward direct call. Then I te [...]

Featured: Level Two General Conversation Game

daniel@sendecki.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

When I taught it, Level 2 was a non-credit course that was intended to provide students with a sound basis in English conversational skills. The course involved individual, paired and group work with the main emphasis being on speaking, but also included some listening, reading, and writing work. Classroom activities used group work to encourage student interaction and were designed to build fluency and conversational skills.

This was one of those activities, which blended some of [...]

Fresh: TV Feud!

daniel@sendecki.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Some fresh Tuesday content for all our members!

I played this game with my class in Korea to learn the vocabulary at the begining of each unit and they loved it - I've included here my handout from our ‘Entertainment Unit'.

It's simply the same kind of thing as the TV game show ‘Family Feud'. So, I call it ‘TV Feud'!

Pick a category for example ‘TOP 5 THINGS YOU WOULD FIND IN THE KITCHEN', then on the pieces of paper individually write wor [...]

Description of ESL Levels

daniel@sendecki.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

AZQQ provides these descriptions of ESL levels to help you think about how to apply the learning materials on this side to the lessons that you teach your students.

Level 1: Beginning
This student is often a new arrival with little previous English training and --this is the key -- a very limited vocabulary. This student is lost in the classroom and has nothing on which to base his ability to function, comprehend, and respond. The student has no knowledge of Engli [...]

Featured: Level One General Conversation Game

daniel@sendecki.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I teach in Korea—I start my days working with kindergarten and elementary students, then rush home for private tutors with ages up to 90! As well as weekly adult conversation classes! I often find that the Koreans are shy to speak so I need new and exciting ways to hear their voices!

This is a simple to make/do game that works great with lower levels in small group settings, especially one on one tutoring!

Included is a game board with a start and finish. In each of th [...]

Featured: Classroom Games

daniel@sendecki.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Activities such as ESL classroom games are very important. Although, there are different daily school timetables from country to country, it is common for children from five to nine, to have a playtime breaks during their lessons. The class time after the morning break is an excellent time to learn, that's why more difficult parts of the program are assimilated better in this period. However, the last hour before lunch is a tired, a low energy period, when ESL classroom games can help.&n [...]

Featured: Find someone who... Bingo!

daniel@sendecki.com — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

A ‘find someone who' activity is a speaking activity which involves learners trying to find someone in the group who matches a description.

Example

The group are practising using the present perfect for experiences. Amongst the group there are learners who have to:

find someone who has been abroadfind someone who has eaten something really strangefind someone who has done a bungee jump