Teaching Tip #1
Listening to other students’ activities
In the mornings, students write down what they did on the weekend or what they did the day before. They choose one sentence from their list and write it on a flashcard (no names). Mix and distribute the flashcards, students walk around and ask ‘Did you …. ‘ . Once they find the student who says ‘Yes’ they write down their name on the flashcard.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #2
Key Words - Speaking Activity:
Students write down key words about their activities on the weekend (or the topic/theme you are working on) and stand in front of the class to speak about it. For example, instead of writing down ‘I cooked lunch’ students write down ‘cooked’. Once they have their key words, they stand up and talk about what they did by only looking at the key words.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #3
Review at the door
Before students leave for the day have them line up at the door and ask a question. If they give the correct answer they can leave, if they get it wrong they go to the back of the line and try again. The question is related to the material being covered in class that day. For example, if the class practiced describing symptoms, you can show a picture and ask them to describe it.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #4
Taboo – with back to the board – (aka Hot Seat)
One student sits with his/her back to the blackboard and faces the rest of the class. The teacher writes a word/phrase on the board and the class through actions tries to get the student to guess the word/phrase. The class isn’t allowed to say the word/phrase out loud.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #5
Using Pictures for Listening
Give small pictures to each student (or pair of students) that relate to a text. Then read out the text. Repeat it three times and each time the students do the following:
For lower levels, there will be fewer pictures and shorter simpler sentences while the higher levels could listen to a conversation, process or story.
Teaching Tip #6
Beach Ball and Sharpie
With a sharpie, the teacher writes questions on a beach ball and tosses it to a student. The student answers the question facing them. It can be used as an ice breaker (with 'getting to know each other' questions) or as a revision tool.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #7
Great wrong answers
Give a wrong answer to a question you ask or put up on the board! Allow students to think why the answer is wrong and explain.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #8
KWL Charts – Know, Want to and Learned
Give each student a letter-sized paper and have them make three columns with the headers as: what I KNOW about the topic, what I WANT to learn about the topic and what I have LEARNED about the topic. Introduce the topic and students take some time to think and write down what they know about the topic and what they would like to learn about the topic i.e. column 1 and 2. As the topic is covered, students can fill out the the last column. After the topic is finished, students can review and see what they have learned.
You can choose to display the charts in class on the bulletin board and this gives a chance for students to use each other as resources. (Caution: Some students may be shy about wanting to display their chart if they don't know a lot about the topic. In this case, you can ask students to volunteer to put up their charts)
Note: For the lower levels, the K, W and L columns will probably contain one or two words or pictures (drawn by hand or provided by teacher). The higher levels could include phrases, concepts, ideas, examples etc.
Teaching Tip #9
Think, Pair, Share
When you ask a question (for example to elicit prior knowledge), give students time to THINK about the answer. They can even write it down. Then PAIR the students to share and discuss their ideas with each other. The students then SHARE ideas with other groups or the whole class.
Variation:
Teaching Tip #10
Mind Maps - ‘Making the Connections’
Minds maps show connections between things and ideas. It may help understanding and remembering if words and concepts are connected together. It can be used to activate previous knowledge when starting a new theme, or as a conclusion when ending a theme. The connections could range from simple words that start with the same sound (lower levels), activities in chronological order to more complex cause and effect (high levels)
Extensions:
Listening to other students’ activities
In the mornings, students write down what they did on the weekend or what they did the day before. They choose one sentence from their list and write it on a flashcard (no names). Mix and distribute the flashcards, students walk around and ask ‘Did you …. ‘ . Once they find the student who says ‘Yes’ they write down their name on the flashcard.
Variation:
- On Fridays, they ask ‘Will you ….’
- Students stand in front of the class and read their paragraph about what they did/will do and the teacher will ask another student to repeat what they heard.
Teaching Tip #2
Key Words - Speaking Activity:
Students write down key words about their activities on the weekend (or the topic/theme you are working on) and stand in front of the class to speak about it. For example, instead of writing down ‘I cooked lunch’ students write down ‘cooked’. Once they have their key words, they stand up and talk about what they did by only looking at the key words.
Variation:
- Give time limits to make it more challenging
Teaching Tip #3
Review at the door
Before students leave for the day have them line up at the door and ask a question. If they give the correct answer they can leave, if they get it wrong they go to the back of the line and try again. The question is related to the material being covered in class that day. For example, if the class practiced describing symptoms, you can show a picture and ask them to describe it.
Variation:
- Add a bonus question for higher ability students
- Show a definition instead of a picture
- Works well for reviewing tenses i.e. give them a word in present tense and ask a past tense (lower levels) or ask them to convert a sentence into another tense (higher level)
Teaching Tip #4
Taboo – with back to the board – (aka Hot Seat)
One student sits with his/her back to the blackboard and faces the rest of the class. The teacher writes a word/phrase on the board and the class through actions tries to get the student to guess the word/phrase. The class isn’t allowed to say the word/phrase out loud.
Variation:
- Have students use definitions or related words
Teaching Tip #5
Using Pictures for Listening
Give small pictures to each student (or pair of students) that relate to a text. Then read out the text. Repeat it three times and each time the students do the following:
- The first time they number/order the pictures
- The second time they write keywords under each picture
- The third time they write the sentence
For lower levels, there will be fewer pictures and shorter simpler sentences while the higher levels could listen to a conversation, process or story.
Teaching Tip #6
Beach Ball and Sharpie
With a sharpie, the teacher writes questions on a beach ball and tosses it to a student. The student answers the question facing them. It can be used as an ice breaker (with 'getting to know each other' questions) or as a revision tool.
Variation:
- Write a word and students have to tell the definition
- Draw pictures and students guess the word or phrase
- Play 'pass the pillow' with music. When the music stops the student who has the ball has to answer the question facing him/her.
- Write answers and students ‘Jeopardize’ them (provide a question)
Teaching Tip #7
Great wrong answers
Give a wrong answer to a question you ask or put up on the board! Allow students to think why the answer is wrong and explain.
Variation:
- Give multiple answers and have students evaluate each
- For higher levels, ask students which answer is the best wrong answer and why
- Have students think of wrong answers to a question
Teaching Tip #8
KWL Charts – Know, Want to and Learned
Give each student a letter-sized paper and have them make three columns with the headers as: what I KNOW about the topic, what I WANT to learn about the topic and what I have LEARNED about the topic. Introduce the topic and students take some time to think and write down what they know about the topic and what they would like to learn about the topic i.e. column 1 and 2. As the topic is covered, students can fill out the the last column. After the topic is finished, students can review and see what they have learned.
You can choose to display the charts in class on the bulletin board and this gives a chance for students to use each other as resources. (Caution: Some students may be shy about wanting to display their chart if they don't know a lot about the topic. In this case, you can ask students to volunteer to put up their charts)
Note: For the lower levels, the K, W and L columns will probably contain one or two words or pictures (drawn by hand or provided by teacher). The higher levels could include phrases, concepts, ideas, examples etc.
Teaching Tip #9
Think, Pair, Share
When you ask a question (for example to elicit prior knowledge), give students time to THINK about the answer. They can even write it down. Then PAIR the students to share and discuss their ideas with each other. The students then SHARE ideas with other groups or the whole class.
Variation:
- Lower levels can draw instead of writing down an answer.
Teaching Tip #10
Mind Maps - ‘Making the Connections’
Minds maps show connections between things and ideas. It may help understanding and remembering if words and concepts are connected together. It can be used to activate previous knowledge when starting a new theme, or as a conclusion when ending a theme. The connections could range from simple words that start with the same sound (lower levels), activities in chronological order to more complex cause and effect (high levels)
Extensions:
- Learners can individually or in groups build a mind map of unit or topic or add to previously built mind maps or a large map of the whole course using their course outline, notes and textbook for ideas