Thursday, June 23, 2011
Ask and imagine the story
This is a story-telling activity which involves the whole class, and may be used with adult or younger learners.
Preparation
Memorise this story as well as you can: Long, long ago in a village in China there lived a fool called Li. One day Li won 300 yuan in the gambling house. He was very happy so he went to find a place to store the money. He found a great place – the ground! He buried the money in the ground but he was afraid that someone would steal his money. So he thought up a plan. He found a piece of paper, wrote on it and fixed it to the ground. It said ‘300 yuan is not buried here’. Li had a neighbour called Gao. Gao knew that Li had this money and he wanted to steal it. He found the note and dug up the money. When he had finished he found a piece of paper, wrote on it and fixed it to the ground. It said ‘Gao didn’t steal 300 yuan’.
Procedure
- Say ‘I’m going to tell you a very short tale about a foolish neighbour called Li who got 300 yuan. Before I tell it, you have one minute to find out as much as you can about the story. Ask me, I am Li. One minute starting… now!’ As Li (you might alter your posture and voice) give spontaneous brief answers to students’ questions, without giving away the whole story.
- After the one minute, ask students to tell the story they imagine based on your answers before they listen to the story.
- Say ‘Now listen to me tell the story and see how similar or different it is to what you imagined’. This focuses students and they listen very closely. Tell the story in your own words as narrator (not as Li).
- Say ‘Now talk about the similarities and differences’.
- Say ‘Stand up facing a partner. In each pair one of you is Gao and the other is another neighbour. Find out as much as you can from Gao about what happened and how he got the 300 yuan starting… now!’
- Allow one pair to show the class their roleplay if they wish.
Follow-up
Ask students if the story reminds them of another short story they know. The students who have a story to tell get into small groups with students who don’t. Before they tell the story, ask them to say ‘I’m going to tell you a very short tale about a… who…’ and follow the same procedure you have modelled above. If necessary preparation can be done for homework. This student storytelling procedure can become a regular classroom activity with different students telling a story each week.
Who does what? – YouTube technique
Who does what? – YouTube technique
Submitted by leosel on 15 June, 2011 - 13:09
In this YouTube-based activity, students watch a scene from an animated film and observe the actions performed by characters. The activity is suitable for low level students (primary school) since the focus here is not on listening. The technique can be used to review present tenses and vocabulary for daily routine and adapted for other cartoons or films.
Preparation
Open the YouTube video Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6zbY8i4_8&feature=related).
Procedure
Put students in pairs and hand out the worksheets. Ask students to tell their partner whether their mother or father does any of the activities in the box in the morning (can be changed to brother and sister if necessary). Circulate and monitor.
Ask students if they have seen other cartoons from the Wallace & Gromit series. If they haven’t, explain who Wallace and Gromit are. Use a picture if possible. Explain that Wallace is a crazy scientist and Gromit is his loyal dog.
Tell the students to watch the scene carefully and mark W (Wallace) or G (Gromit) next to the activities in the box.
After watching, ask students to check the answers with their partner before checking it with the whole class. Encourage students to practise the 3rd person singular while checking their answers e.g. ‘Wallace reads the newspaper’.
Answers
W: wakes up, gets up, gets dressed, reads the post, eats toast
G: drinks tea, makes some toast, checks the calendar, collects the post, makes breakfast, reads the newspaper
Extension
Language focus
You can draw students’ attention to the difference between wake up and get up by asking what happens first and how much time passes between the two. Also point out that toast in English is not countable. We make some toast or have a piece of toast for breakfast. Make a toast means raise a glass and drink to someone’s health, happiness, etc. Please note that the verbs in the activity are in the 3rd person singular. Students at this stage may have not mastered the third person singular ending; therefore the verbs are deliberately given with an –s at the end to aid the correct use during pair work.
Submitted by leosel on 15 June, 2011 - 13:09
In this YouTube-based activity, students watch a scene from an animated film and observe the actions performed by characters. The activity is suitable for low level students (primary school) since the focus here is not on listening. The technique can be used to review present tenses and vocabulary for daily routine and adapted for other cartoons or films.
Preparation
Open the YouTube video Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6zbY8i4_8&feature=related).
Procedure
Put students in pairs and hand out the worksheets. Ask students to tell their partner whether their mother or father does any of the activities in the box in the morning (can be changed to brother and sister if necessary). Circulate and monitor.
Ask students if they have seen other cartoons from the Wallace & Gromit series. If they haven’t, explain who Wallace and Gromit are. Use a picture if possible. Explain that Wallace is a crazy scientist and Gromit is his loyal dog.
Tell the students to watch the scene carefully and mark W (Wallace) or G (Gromit) next to the activities in the box.
After watching, ask students to check the answers with their partner before checking it with the whole class. Encourage students to practise the 3rd person singular while checking their answers e.g. ‘Wallace reads the newspaper’.
Answers
W: wakes up, gets up, gets dressed, reads the post, eats toast
G: drinks tea, makes some toast, checks the calendar, collects the post, makes breakfast, reads the newspaper
Extension
Language focus
You can draw students’ attention to the difference between wake up and get up by asking what happens first and how much time passes between the two. Also point out that toast in English is not countable. We make some toast or have a piece of toast for breakfast. Make a toast means raise a glass and drink to someone’s health, happiness, etc. Please note that the verbs in the activity are in the 3rd person singular. Students at this stage may have not mastered the third person singular ending; therefore the verbs are deliberately given with an –s at the end to aid the correct use during pair work.
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