(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)
Here is how you know that a set of grammar exercises looks like fun puzzles to your students. You pass out the handout and start to explain the directions, but before you’ve had a chance to talk, many students begin to do them.
The key to making “grammar puzzles”: use an inductive approach.
The grammar-puzzle / inductive approach works well for helping students correct common mistakes with gerunds.
For a good puzzle to engage someone, there needs to be some mystery and steps to follow to solve it.
(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *
Tami’s heart is beating faster. In the movie, a teenager hears a noise in the basement late at night. He slowly walks down the dark stairs. Tami closes her fingers tightly. Her eyes open wide. Then she covers them as the teenager gets to the bottom. When the movie is finished, she immediately starts looking for another scary one for next week.
People like Tami often feel uncomfortable when they watch scary or horror movies. However, when they choose a movie to watch, they often choose this type. In fact, in the past 10 years, the number of people watching scary movies has increased faster than any other type, for example, adventure, action, drama and comedy.
Psychologists have found interesting reasons why people enjoy these movies.
Here is the 17th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.
(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.) *
The lights in the classroom are off, but many of the students in pairs continue talking—in the dark!
For most of this class time, students were engaged in a special conversation-skill activity. The class was almost over, so I wanted to get everyone’s attention, “We’ll need to stop in three minutes.” No one seemed to notice me. After three minutes I said that it was time to stop. But hardly anyone flinched. After another three minutes, I turned the lights on and off. Still most continued to talk. So finally, I turned the lights off. Even then in the dark, some pairs continued talking.
This same phenomenon occurs when I’ve presenting this activity at ESL teacher conferences—to NATIVE-ENGLISH SPEAKERS!! Like my ESL students, the teachers continue to talk IN THE DARK!!
One of them even told me after a session, “I wish I could get my husband and son to use this!”
This activity is not only engaging, but it is also developing one of the most important conversation skills. (Below, I’ll attach a link to the activity that you can use to download and use with your students.)
(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *
Some people thought that self-checkout machines were a great idea. The goal was to help customers save time because they wouldn’t have to wait in line for a cashier; they could scan their items and pay by themselves. Stores also hoped to save money by not having to pay as many cashiers. However, recent research shows that this system has many unexpected problems….(See complete article below.)
Here is the 16th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.
Common Sense Teaching ESL 