OSS! MASTER!

        We're looking for the WORD MASTER :) It's an enjoyable way to test vocabulary knowledge. I've been working on vocabulary for a very long time and been fed up with classical vocab testing ways. I was in search of new methods and this activity suddenly sprang to my mind last week and I tried it.
    
         How to do:

• The pupils are gonna work as individuals. According to their levels, you can demand them mother tongue meanings of the words (do it if you have to pls), visualize them (for objects, action verbs... etc.) or to use the words in a sentence with the right meaning, usage and form.
• Each student has many pieces of paper to draw or write the meanings and sentences.
• The instructor is the referee and writes each student's name on one side of  board.
• The other side of the board is used to write the words to be guessed during the game.
• The pupils have got three "Plead the 5th" rights. They get  (+) for the right answers,  (-) for the wrong ones and  (0) for "Plead the 5th"s.
• When the instructor writes the word on the board. they've got fifteen seconds to write or draw. (The instructor should determine beforehand if the students are going to write meanings, draw or use the word in a sentence.)
• When the time's up, the pupils put their papers up at the same time. According to their guesses they get (+)s, (-)s or (0)s.  The one getting the most (+)s becomes the WORD MASTER of the week and is announced on the class corner till the next one is chosen.

        It worked in my class. I wonder your results and comments. too. :) Take it easy and have it your way...    Mcd :)

FUNNY IDIOMS AND PHRASES - WHAT IF THEY WERE REAL?

          Here are the realistic drawings of funny English idioms and phrases... We had great time doing it :) Good idea for teaching idioms and developing creativity... It worths trying ;)

BOSSY CIRCLE

         If you want to teach "imperatives" or "action verbs", this activity is exactly what you need.

-Prepare a visually supported worksheet for the verbs you're going to use.
-Let the pupils work on it for a few minutes.
-As the instructor, get in the middle of the circle and mime all the verbs one by one and make the pupils act them, too.
-Then, start giving orders: "jump, run, point to the teacher, sleep, swim, crawl, brush your teeth, yawn...etc.". (At this step you'd better not mime, just give orders. Let the students find out what to do themselves.)
-What you do is just a warm-up :) Now, it's the real bosses' turn :) Each pupil comes up, acts like a boss and gives orders to his/her friends and they do whatever s/he wants them to do :)

         I've twenty students. So, it took us nearly an hour to get to the end. However, they never got bored or tired. (To be honest I did after a long tiring day :) )
         Teaching verbs is much more funnier in this way. I hope you're gonna like it :)

         See you soon...
         McD...

HOT OR COLD?

             I'm sure you all have tried this classical game many times before. I've added some rules and made it a little bit more challenging.
             We determined three objects beforehand. The one going to be the "it" chose one of these objects; but in order to be able to choose the one s/he wanted, s/he had to describe it (shape, colour, size... etc.) before it was hidden.
             At the next step, eyes got opened and the search began. As the "it" moved away from the object, the others shouted "Cold, cold, cold!" and as s/he got closer to the object, they shouted "Hot, hot, hot!". They kept on doing the same until the hidden object was found.
              Last year I tried the same game with "Physical Appearance" words. The person chosen to be hidden was described ( hair, eyes, weight, height...etc.) and the"it" got him/her.
              These are my variations of this game. I hope you like them or get your own ones.
       Good Luck :)

CRAZY DANCE

    

        It's a pretty good and enjoyable idea for teaching feelings and emotions. We (both "me" and my pupils :) ) had a great time doing it.

        If  the pupils already have a background of these words, you can directly apply it. However if they don't, you'd better make them ready yourself. Before getting started; determine the words, prepare the worksheets and give them a couple of minutes to work on. This is the most boring part :) The rest will be so funny that you won't even remember the first step...

        How was mine?
        My worksheets were visually supported ( no translation). There were only the words and the smileys showing them and only one word with its smiley on each page.

        Now, find an energetic music (I know, I don't need to say but in English please :)). You can get started then...

        At the beginning you can use some easy instructions like "dance, jump, stop... etc. as a warm up :) Then, show the feeling or emotion you want them to act while dancing. For instance, when you show "happy", they dance happily or sadly for "sad". If you show "tired", they act like they feel tired. Bored, surprised, shocked, scared,..etc. as many as you wish... The activity goes on till you feel dead tired :D..

         Take it easy... See you soon...

SAVE YOUR SHIP

• Determine a lexical area of vocabulary. (fruits, animals, adjectives, stationery... etc.)
• Prepare a worksheet or a list of words for the students to study on. (visually supported, not in the mother tongue)
• When the pupils feel ready for the game, divide them into groups of four or five.
• Choose a captain and a shooter for each group. (the rest is the crew.)
• Let the pupils to pick a name for their ship.
• Then let the game begin :)  

 Here is how:
The ship that the instructor picks starts first. The captain says the first word (from the vocabulary list they studied beforehand), then the crew one by one till the shooter's turn comes. The shooter says his/her own word and then another ship's name. (All the pupils should say different words from the list). Now the ship chosen by the shooter has the turn and they do the same. If the captain of the ship cannot give a word in two seconds or one of the crew and shooter repeats the same word, their ship sinks and the group loses the game. It goes on until one ship is left and becomes the winner.

Did it work?
Absolutely yes! It's an enjoyable and challenging way of learning and teaching vocabulary... I'm sure you and your pupils are gonna love it!