Business Phrasal Verbs Taboo Game

Sunday afternoons usually mean one thing for teachers: lesson planning ;) It's the end of a long weekend for many of us here in Europe so I'm sure you want to go back to work with something energising for your students...something that will wake them up after four days off. I bet a game will do the trick :)

In this post I'm sharing a Taboo Game which I've created for my adult students to revise some business phrasal verbs we'd been learning before the break (look forward to, go over, put forward, hand out, lay off, get on to, get out, get down to something, get away with (something), come up with, pull out of (something), knock off, stand out, slack off, go under, fall through, go down a storm, run ouf of).

I love playing taboo with my students: it gets them to speak and it's entertaining for adults and teens alike. Also, it teaches how to describe terms- a skill I find essential in working towards being communicative in a foreign language. Taboo, like any other game, might be played to revise vocabulary after finishing a unit of a textbook or it could be a great time filler at the end of a lesson. It's also a good way of waking your students up if they're a bit sleepy.

Taboo cards are easy to make and can serve you for a long time so you can reuse them (if you laminate them, you can have them forever...and who doesn't like laminating?!?!?!). 

If you've never played taboo and aren't sure how to play it, click here to familiarise yourself with the rules and read some useful tips. 

Enjoy :) 

🎃 Halloween 2018 🎃

Do you teach your students about Halloween? What are your favourite activities? While looking for some spooky ideas for my students I came across these three Halloween activities:

Ricardo Barro's Halloween Conversation Lesson for Adults
Beatriz Solino's Halloween Lesson for Pre-intermediate Students
Beatriz Solino's Halloween Lesson for Advanced Learners

Apart from great Halloween ideas, Beatriz and Ricardo present other interesting lesson activities so don't forget to explore their blogs :)

If you're looking for more Halloween ideas check out the post I wrote last year in which I described my own Halloween activity for teenage students and shared plenty of links with other lesson plans :) 

Happy Halloween!

🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁

Present Simple and Present Continuous Board Game

Aloha! 

Hope you're reading this post from a nice and sunny place sipping on something delicious :) It sure is sunny here but I'm hiding from the heat in a cosy cafe. Unfortunately, my internet connection hasn't been very stable since I changed flats over a month ago which made my lesson planning a bit tricky...but not being able to connect to the internet forces me to review and reuse my old materials which I have forgotten about. Looking for a way of practising the present simple and continuous tenses I came across a board game I created some time ago to practice these structures. I know how you guys love board games so I've decided to share this one with you :) Just click  here to download and/or print the game and you're ready to play! It's suitable for A2-B2 teenage and adult students who need to revise how to use the two present tenses. 

Hope you and your students like it and feel free to comment if you have any suggestions :) 

Humans of London: Rebecca's Story

After a long break (work, work, work), I'm back to share another activity that I created for my pre-intermediate/intermediate students to practice the past simple and the past continuous tenses.  The activity worked really well with my adult students but I'm sure your teens will enjoy it too.

Since my lesson inspired by Humans of New York has been quite popular (if you haven't checked it out yet, click here ), I decided to prepare something similar, but this time I looked for inspiration on Humans of London . 

To warm everybody up, ask your students if they know what Humans of New York/London/Amsterdam are. Have a quick discussion about the photoblogs and ask if there is any story your students would like to share if they were approached by a journalist working for any of these blogs. 

Tell your students they are going to read a story told by Rebecca- a middle-aged woman from London. Show them these two photos of Rebecca  and ask them to describe her appearance and think of some personality traits she might have (always elicit why). 

Now on the whiteboard write down these verbs: have, work, can, grow, cry, divorce, break up, run, lose, go, meet. Tell your students that all these verbs appear in Rebecca's story. Divide your students in pairs/small groups and ask them to write a story about Rebecca using the above verbs in the past simple and the past continuous forms.You might need to go over the forms with your students beforehand if their level is weaker. Give them enough time to complete the task and compare the stories they came up with. Correct where necessary. 

Then, give each student a copy of Rebecca's story which they have to complete with the right form of the verbs. Depending on their level, you might need to pre-teach some vocabulary. Give them enough time to do the task and check it together. Compare the real story to theirs and ask them what they think of it. 

Hope the lesson works for you as well as it did for me :) 

Speaking Board Game

Here is another board game to encourage your students to talk about a variety of topics. It can be used as a time filler or practice for speaking exams. I'm going to play it with a new group of students in order to get to know them and assess their spoken English level. I particularly like to ask my new students about their favourite and least favourite teachers (questions 6 and 8) to find out their preferences and adapt my teaching methods accordingly. You can download the game  here. 

If you're about to start teaching a new group of students and are looking for some fun activities to break the ice with them, you can check out my other post in which I shared my favourite icebreakers → your first impression is your last impression

You might want to start the course by involving your students in a discussion why they are learning English, and getting them to brainstorm benefits of learning a new language. Knowing my students' reasons for learning English plays plays a crucial role in the way I shape the course, plan my lessons, and choose materials.  This lesson plan , based on one of the most touching videos I've ever watched, will definitely help your students talk about the topic

Happy Teaching 😸

Be going to and will board game

The holidays are over, time to get back to work. 

Talking about New Year's resolutions is a great excuse to revise future structures, and since I know my students confuse the use of be going to and will when they talk about the future, I'm planning to concentrate on these two forms in my first lesson of 2018. 

To warm everybody up I show them Friends New Year's Resolutions video or New Year's Resolutions comic by Incidental Comics and engage them in a discussion about New Year's resolutions- the choice of the prompt depends on the level of my students and their interests. Some of the questions I might ask to prompt discussion are:

1. Do you make New Year's resolutions?

2. What are some New Year's resolutions you have made in the past?

3. Are there any New Year's resolutions you have kept? 

4. Are there any tips how to keep one's New Year's resolutions?

5. Are there any New Year's resolutions you have broken? Why?

6. Do you think making New Year's resolutions is a good idea? Why?

I'm pretty sure my students will use be going to and will interchangeably so I'm planning to point out some basic differences between the two structures (i.e. be going to is used to talk about already made decisions, plans and intentions while will is used to talk about predictions, spontaneous decisions, and promises). After eliciting a few examples and making sure everybody understands the form and use of the structures, I'm going to move on to playing a game to practice! All my students love board games so I've made a  be going to or will board game in which students have to throw the dice and answer the questions from the squares they land on. They can only stay where they have landed if they answer the question using the correct future form. Remember to encourage your students to avoid giving short answers- the longer their answers, the better :) 

English For Very Young Learners

While a lot of people are working on their New Year's resolutions, I'm still reflecting on 2017. It was a year full of changes and challenges for me, in both my private and professional life. In addition to moving to a new country and starting learning a new language, I found myself job hunting again. Looking for a new job is always a stressful experience that makes me anxious, but I was lucky enough to be offered a few teaching positions. As well as teaching English to teens and adults, I was given the opportunity to work as an English teacher in a bilingual nursery&kindergarten. I've always been very comfortable working with the former group of learners...the latter one,however, was definitely a bit out of my comfort zone. Nevertheless, I decided to take on the challenge and teach English to toddlers and young children...and it's been bliss!

  In this post I'll share some of my observations about teaching English to very young learners. I'll also share some of the resources I find very useful when working with children. 

Even though I gained some experience in working in childcare in my early twenties and then I taught primary school students for 6 years, I didn't really know what I was getting into when I was about to start working in the nursery. I wasn't sure If I was going to enjoy working with little children...and, to be honest with you, I wasn't even convinced that teaching English to toddlers and kindergarteners was a great idea...However, the last few months have been surprisingly joyful and productive!

One of the most important conclusions I have drawn so far is that in order to be able to be effective in teaching very young learners, one needs to like little children and be able to connect with them. In her TED talk called "Every kid needs a champion", Rita Pierson talks about the importance of forming relationships with students and points out that kids don't learn from people they don't like. I couldn't agree more. Enjoying being around kids is a must when working with very young learners. Everything else will fall into place ;)

While doing my research on working with children, I was given plenty of helpful advice from fellow educators. Everybody I spoke to stressed the importance of singing, storytelling, playing and having fun together. I must confess: I'm not a singing type...I don't feel very comfortable singing. Nevertheless, I've been playing a lot of nursery rhymes from my tablet and my kids have been thoroughly enjoying it, dancing, humming and trying to repeat some words. Even I have warmed up to some songs and I find myself singing along ;)
The links below will take you to my favourite websites with songs and videos suitable for toddlers and kindergarteners:

Super Simple Songs
Jbrary
DreamEnglish

Singing isn't my strongest suit, but I have been definitely enjoying reading and storytelling with my children. I strongly recommend "that's not my..." series (Usborne children's books) and lift-the-flap "busy..." books (published by Ladybird)...or any lift-the-flap books as kids always love those!













You can also try playing the shows from  SuperSimple Online if your little ones are able to concentrate long enough (FYI www.supersimpleonline.com is full of great resources for those who work with very YL).

Singing and reading together have been very fruitful, but doing arts and crafts has been both educational and entertaining to kids and me alike. I have been thoroughly enjoying involving my children in various crafty projects and they have learnt a lot of English and other skills by doing things. Colouring, painting, finger-painting, drawing, cutting out, gluing, modelling plasticine, making posters and handprints have all proved to be a great way of learning new vocabulary.
The websites below are full of ideas and resources for fun arts and crafts for kids:

Activity Village
Ichild
Mes-English
pinterest
Art and Craft ideas (facebook page)

                                                                       

If you're interested in what I do with my children, feel free to visit my  instagram account :)

Apart from buying a few books and some arts and crafts supplies, it's worth investing in a few puppets. Kids love colourful puppets and you'll surely grip their attention with them.

If you're still not convinced puppets are a good idea read 6 reasons why puppets will change your classroom forever.


Here are other websites and articles I consider very helpful in working with little ones:

Genki English
Jolly Learning
The Dad Lab
English for little kids
Twinkl Early Years
How can young children learn languages
Active English

Besides the aforementioned, I make sure I talk to my kids all the time. I talk them through everything we do trying to use simple terms and vocabulary. I try to repeat the same words and create routines so that they associate actions with words. And even though they don't always answer and they don't always seem to understand what I say, I don't lose heart because I know they are taking everything in and sooner or later they will comprehend and use the target language.
Just before Christmas a small girl, who had never spoken English before,  shouted "See you, Alex!" when I was leaving the room :D They do learn, even when we think that they don't! 

                             Please, share your experiences teaching English to very YL :) 

Modern Cinderella Christmas Story

Only 10 days till Christmas and I'm buzzing with excitement already! In the meantime, however, I'm trying to keep my students as thrilled about the festive season as I am. To this end, I've been playing a lot of Christmas music and my beloved Christmas adverts. One of my most-liked Christmas advertisements this season is #YouShall Find Your Fairytale Christmas  by Debenhams (a British department store). I love it because it retells one of my favourite childhood fairytales (Cinderella), and it's narrated by the greatest actor EVER, Ewan McGregor 💖 That's all I need to feel happy right now! 

This spot is a great material for a storytelling lesson where students practise narrating a story using a variety of past tenses and interesting vocabulary. It also gives a perfect opportunity to involve your students in a discussion about the importance of social media in our lives. 

Scroll down to have a look at my attempt to make a good use of this video.

First of all, show your students these  two photos  and introduce the people as the protagonists of a story. Have your students come up with information about the two characters. Encourage them to be creative and brainstorm both appearance and personality adjectives for each character. I even ask my students to invent names for the people as well as their likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc...the more your students get into the task, the better. 

When the profiles of the characters are ready, divide your students in pairs or small groups and give each of them a set of   picture story  . Tell your students the story they're looking at isn't complete so they need to think of an interesting ending of the story. If you want to spice the activity up, you can cut out the pictures, change their order, and ask your students to arrange the pictures into the logical order to create a coherent story. 

Before they roll up their sleeves and get their creative juices flowing, elicit a few features of a good story, i.e. interesting adjectives, past tenses, a range of connectors. Depending on the level of my students I spend some time on revising the aforementioned features or I just move on to the task and monitor the pair/group work. 

Once the stories are ready, have each pair/group share their version of the story with their own ending. Then, play the video and compare the stories. Write down any vocabulary that you think your students might find difficult. 

To follow up, you can involve your students in a discussion about social media and ask them some of the questions below:

• Do you think social network sites are good?
• What do you use social network sites for?
• How often do you connect to social media?
• How much information do you think is appropriate to put on social media?
• What are the advantages of social media?
• What are the disadvantages of social media?
•  Are social media good or bad for relationships? 

If you're looking for more festive season activities, check out  this post in which I shared some of my favourite xmas lesson ideas. 

Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

The holiday season is upon us and I'm sure you're busy in your private as well as professional lives. December has always been hectic for me: looking for Christmas gift ideas, shopping, decorating the house, preparing and marking exams, writing end of term evaluations... I know very well how difficult it is to find time and energy to plan lessons these pre-Christmas days.

This is why in this post I want to share a few festive season lesson ideas that have been thoroughly enjoyed by me and my students in the last few years of my teaching experience. All of these lessons are aimed at teenage and adult learners of various levels.

• A few great ideas shared by Gosia on her never-disappointing blog Lesson Plans Digger :

https://www.lessonplansdigger.com/2017/12/10/3-christmas-videos-activity-ideas/

https://www.lessonplansdigger.com/2015/12/16/best-and-worst-christmas-gifts-speaking-activity/#more-4594

https://www.lessonplansdigger.com/2015/12/15/video-based-christmas-activities/#more-4578

https://www.lessonplansdigger.com/2015/12/13/office-christmas-parties-lesson-plan/

• One of my beloved teaching resources, FilmEnglish ,offers a few holiday season lesson ideas based on beautiful short films:

http://film-english.com/2015/12/18/mogs-christmas-calamity/

http://film-english.com/2016/12/07/buster-the-boxer/

http://film-english.com/2015/12/20/the-man-on-the-moon/

http://film-english.com/2012/12/02/the-journey/

• These activities by British Council's TeachingEnglish  have been very popular among my students:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/charities

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/christmas-gift-experiment

• This post wouldn't be complete without sharing these xmas activities posted by On the same page and All at C :

https://allatc.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/please-please-please-let-me-get-what-i-want/

https://allatc.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/a-christmas-lesson-plan/

https://onthesamepageelt.wordpress.com/2016/11/24/im-going-back/

Please don't be shy and share your favourite xmas lesson ideas!

Tell me about the company you work for

After a very busy month of work and travels I'm back with a quick activity suitable for Business English learners at pre-intermediate-intermediate levels.

I have recently started teaching a business English course to a group of adults who need to become more confident at speaking English in order to communicate with their international partners and clients. Even though their receptive skills are very strong, they struggle to express themselves without getting stuck for words. I've been trying to expand their vocabulary and involve them in a lot of speaking activities in order to encourage them to start using the language they already understand so well.

This lesson, which involves reading and speaking exercises, enhances students' vocabulary and helps them talk about the company they work for. 

First of all, show your students the four logos from  handout 1 (page 1) and encourage them to share anything they know about the companies. Then, show them the four texts one page 2 (the texts are taken from Wikipedia) and ask them to read the texts quickly and decide which companies are described in each text. Next, students should read the texts more carefully and underline some phrases used to talk about companies (e.g. the company empowers people to experience the world). After quick feedback give your students the list of useful phrases (page 3) and go over the ones that haven't been mentioned yet. I always give and elicit examples to check whether my students really understand the phrases and are able to use them.

At this stage students should be familiar with vocabulary needed to describe a company. They should also know what kind of information they are expected to give when talking about an organisation.
Divide them in pairs and give each pair an envelope with a logo of a company and some facts they can use to talk about it ( handout 2) Together they should discuss the companies using the vocabulary from the previous activities. Monitor the task and help if necessary. After a few minutes ask each pair to tell their classmates about their company (encourage them to take turns in speaking so that everybody gets a chance to speak).

Wrap up the lesson by asking your students to tell you about the company they work for. No excuses now- they have been given enough practice to be able to do that task without any problems :)

Witches' brew

Days are getting shorter and colder and supermarkets offer special deals on sweets. I don't even have to look at the calendar to know Halloween is just around the corner. All Saints' Eve is my younger students' favourite celebration so I always digress a bit from our programme and try to make something special a few days before 31 October.

In this fun activity, students learn vocabulary related to cooking and revise the imperative form by writing their own recipe for a magic potion made of horrid ingredients of their own choice.

I usually start this lesson with a general discussion about cooking. I ask my students if they like preparing food and I encourage them to tell me about the dishes they can prepare.

Then I hand out a few recipes and together we make a list of verbs and other words which they might find useful in writing their own recipe (I make sure to write everything up on the whiteboard as they will have to use that vocabulary later).
At this stage I also elicit that the imperative form is used when writing a recipe. Depending on my students' level I decide whether it's necessary to explain the imperative form in detail or a quick revision is enough. There are a number of recipes you can use here: you can choose a more elaborate recipe for your more advanced students or a simple one for your less proficient pupils. Click here to have a look at my favourite Halloween recipes.

OK. so students are now familiar with the structure of a typical recipe and know a lot of cooking words. They have seen a few examples and are ready to create their own recipe...BUT there are a few things they need to do before they roll up their sleeves and get down to hard work.

First of all, I show them this short video and elicit answers to two questions:

1. What is White Queen making? A magic potion.
2. What does the potion do? It makes Alice shorter. 

Now I tell students they're going to make a special recipe for their own magic brew. In order to do that, they need to think of three things:

a) What will your magic potion do?
b) What ingredients will you need?
c) A step by step, detailed instruction how to make your portion.

It's important to point out that a good magic potion doesn't include "typical" ingredients...I always help pupils come up with yucky, hair-raising ingredients and let their imagination run wild. Some of the ingredients might include eye balls, finger/toe nails, witch's tooth, drops/millilitres/litres of tears/sweat/saliva/snot, nose hair, tongue, fingers, toes, earwax, eyelashes...The more imaginative and detailed the list of ingredients is , the more interesting the outcome, so I make sure to help everybody with gruesome vocab.

I never forget to play some spine-chilling Halloween music to get everyone's creative juices flowing. You might find this  Halloween Music Playlist handy.

SPOOOOOKY  BREWING EVERYONE!

P.S. If you're looking for more teaching ideas for Halloween, have a look at these websites:

https://onthesamepageelt.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/using-context-clues-ten-halloween-songs/

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-halloween-activities/

http://busyteacher.org/17448-10-fun-halloween-games-english-practice.html

https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2014/10/23/efl-classroom-activities-and-resources-for-halloween/

https://www.eslkidstuff.com/HalloweenGames.htm

https://www.esolcourses.com/links/halloween-resources.html

http://bogglesworldesl.com/halloween_worksheets.htm

https://www.facebook.com/onthesamepage.elt/posts/2057350524282458:0

http://consiliumeducation.com/itm/2017/10/19/halloween-for-early-years/

https://speakinggames.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/delta-downloads-2-e28093-halloween-riddle-maze.pdf

http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/halloween.php

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/halloween

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/halloween-2

https://tekhnologic.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/trick-or-treat-the-game/