English for fun

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One of the most popular TEFL activities for practising and reviewing vocabulary is called  ‘The Hot Seat’  game. You have probably played it with your learners, although you may know it as ‘back to the board’. The procedure is simple: One student sits in a chair with his or her back to the board. The teacher writes a word on the board, which the student sitting in the chair cannot see but the other students can. The other students define the word to the student with his / her back to the board. They cannot say the word. When the student guesses the word or time runs out, he / she returns to his / her seat and another student sits in the hot seat. The teacher writes another word on the board. This game/activity is great fun for learners of all ages and is an entertaining way to review vocabulary. I’ve even done it with Business English classes and they loved it, albeit they tend to get a bit too competitive and argue over every point! Many teachers play it at t...

Questions to ask before making a lesson plan Give these questions some thought before you outline your ESL lesson plans. Knowing the answers will save you time and aggravation down the road. 1. Will you review what the school is teaching the students? Or will you create new learning goals? If the target language will be new, be sure it is appropriate for the students’ level. 2. Will you focus on speaking, reading, writing or reading? Or a combination? Your school may have a preference. 3. Will you teach alone or will you have help? The simplest games, for example, can be difficult to teach without translation unless you are very prepared. The 6 crucial stages of ESL lesson planning Step 1: Decide on your lesson plan objectives This is the daunting part, but it is crucial that you know this from the start. Step 1 is the foundation of everything that follows. Your focus could be: a  song  or a  movie  (be sure that your school permits this and t...

When most people hear the word ‘icebreaker,’ they think of boring or silly ”bonding exercises.” In this post, I want to share 8 Meeting Icebreakers that are: Not boring Quick-bonding Easy to do If you are a meeting planner,  team leader , or event organizer, you MUST watch this video. If you’ve ever attended a meeting, you must SEND this video to your meeting planner. I’m going to convince you to upgrade the age-old icebreaker. I host hundreds of meetings every year, from  conferences  to  sales team retreats . One thing I’ve learned is that an icebreaker truly can make or break an event.  Here’s the crazy science on this : Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton gathered 221 participants and had them form groups of two to four people. Then, he asked them to do a campus scavenger hunt where they had to run around taking selfies in front of specific locations. They had precisely forty-five minutes to complete the hunt and the wi...