Classroom Activities 7: Info Gap Monsters and Writing

Teaching 3rd Person Grammar to Elementary Students

The fun way! 

   By the time my students arrive at level 3 in English Land, they have a good working vocabulary and are proficient with I like..., I have..., I am.... So they talk a lot about themselves. I noticed that the switch to talking about others and other items and their qualities is quite difficult for elementary students in the foreign language classroom, and when I first arrived at my job I was intimidated by it. But now I know there is no need to be intimidated by this.

Activity: Info Gap Monsters With Writing
Draw and Write, First Learning of Awareness of the 3rd Person

Corresponds to English Land Series Unit 3 

All you need is some descriptions of monsters (using target vocabulary your students have been exposed to: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, wings, teeth, skin, legs, arms, etc...) written in a way students can easily understand.  Students are also learning important sight words like colors. 

All students can read about the same monster, but in my small language classroom I like to give each student a different monster. In a large class, each group could be given the same monster so that they can work on the reading together. Also fun would be to give them all different monsters and then when they finish drawing, they can find members from the other groups who had the same monster. 

Students have finished reading and drawing. They highlight I have...  and I don't have phrases. By this point they have already drawn their monsters and arrived in their groups if you are working in the group setting. 

Students then should be made aware that I is strange in this situation, because we are talking about the monster. So we change it to it, he, or she. The sentences are then changed from I have to It has. The repetition is good for the students.
They can then present their findings to the class, which is good reinforcement, and this is possible in group and small class settings.  Everyone enjoys to see the resulting monsters and everyone had a good time! 

The students who generated these monsters are 3rd graders. This activity works well for 3rd grade and above. 2nd graders usually read "I have" and draw a monster only, without having to write themselves. 

Classroom Activities 4: The Prepositions Table

Classroom Activities 4: The Prepositions Table

What you need: a large table drawn on any surface, can be done in front of a large group or in a private lesson, writing utensil 

What to do: You can practice any prepositions: on, in, under, between

Usually I ask students what foods or things they like and don't like, the things they like I tell them to draw on the table. Then I tell them to draw a toilet under the table and they get really shocked. Some of them break out laughing because it is unexpected. Then they are allowed to draw their disliked foods in the toilet. You can give students the option of giving each other the commands of what to draw and where, using correct usage of prepositions! Easy as pie and effective! 

Corresponds to: English Land 3 Unit 4 

Classroom Activities 3: Practicing Can

Classroom Activity 3

Nonsense Animals and Actions

Type of activity: small group activity for practicing animals and verbs, and the grammar "Can it (action)?", "Yes it can" or "No, it can't", ideal for elementary students, for intermediate students

Text correspondence: English Land 3 Unit 5 

"Can a koala drive a car?", "Can a baby quail push a car?" 

What you will need: a stack of animal cards, the more interesting the appearance the better, and a stack of frequently used verb cards. I use animal cards from a set of Go Fish cards we had in the school, and the verb cards from the Great Verb Game, although the pictures on the Great Verb Game were a little ridiculous. Some students love it and some will refuse to look at the cards, saying they are simply too ugly. So strike a balance between interesting and repulsive.

What to do: have enough sets of cards for small groups. My classes are small so I only need one set of action cards and one set of animal cards, but this game is appropriate for groups of 3-4

    -give each group their stacks, after modeling the target phrase "Can it (a bear) drive?" Students usually take to this right away and start having fun. 

The Back Seat (Story for Discussion)

The Back Seat

One night a woman went out for drinks with her girlfriends. She left the bar fairly late at night, got in her car and onto the deserted highway. She noticed a lone pair of headlights in her rear-view mirror, approaching at a pace just slightly quicker than hers. As the car pulled up behind her she glanced and saw the turn signal on-- the car was going to pass-- when suddenly it swerved back behind her, pulled up dangerously close to her tailgate and brights flashed.

Now she was getting nervous. The lights dimmed for a moment and then the brights came back on and the car behind her surged forward. The frightened woman struggled to keep her eyes on the road and fought the urge to look at the car behind her. Finally, her exit approached but the car continued to follow, flashing the brights periodically.

Through every stoplight and turn, it followed her until she pulled into her driveway. She figured her only hope was to make a mad dash into the house and call the police. As she flew from the car, so did the driver of the car behind her-- and he screamed, "Lock the door and call the police! Call 911!"

When the police arrived the horrible truth was finally revealed to the woman. The man in the car had been trying to save her. As he pulled up behind her and his headlights illuminated her car, he saw the sihouette of a man with a butcher knife rising up from the back seat to stab her, so he flashed his brights and the figure crouched back down.

What's the moral of the story?

Image source doobybrain.com

Story source: unknown, but I think maybe it came from Dave's ESL or similar website.

The Hook (Story for Discussion)

The Hook

(Source unknown, but probably an ESL resource website)

A teenage boy drove his date to a dark and deserted Lovers' Lane for a make-out session. After turning on the radio for mood music, he leaned over and began kissing the girl.

A short while later, the music suddenly stopped and an announcers voice came on, warning in an urgent tone that a convicted murderer had just escaped from the state insane asylum,--which happened to be located not far from Lovers' Lane--and that anyone who noticed a strange man lurking about with a hook in place of his right hand should immediately report his whereabouts to the police.

The girl became frightened and asked to be taken home. The boy, feeling bold, locked all the doors instead and, assuring his date they would be safe, attempted to kiss her again. She became frantic and pushed him away, insisting that they leave. Relenting, the boy peevishly jerked the car into gear and spun its wheels as he pulled out of the parking space.

When they arrived at the girl's house she got out of the car, and, reaching to close the door, began to scream uncontrollably. The boy ran to her side to see what was wrong and there, dangling from the door handle, was a bloody hook.

What is the moral of the story?

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I'm not sure what to think of this story, I found this going through the ESL resources at the school I'm teaching at. Hm. Probably from Dave's ESL cafe or something... I'd love to give the original author credit though.