Oxford basics simple speaking activities

basics

Jill Hadfield
CharlesHadfield


Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street,Gdord ox2 5Dp
Oxford NewYork
Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotd
BuenosAires Calcutta CapeTown Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong
Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid
Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
Paris SZo Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo
Toronto Warsaw
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
oxFoRD and oxronp ENGLIsH
are trade marks of Offord University Press
ISBN 0 19 rt42l59 4
@ Odord University Press1999
First published 1999
Third impression 2000
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of Ordord
University Press,with the sole exception of
photocopying carried out under the conditions

describedbelow.
This book is sold subject to the condition that
it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without
the publishert prior consent in any form of binding
or cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this condition
being imposed on the subsequent purcbaser.
Photocopying
The publisher grants permission for the
photocopying of those pagesmarked'photocopiable'
according to the following conditions. Individual
purchasers may make copies for their own use or for
use by classesthey teach. School purchasers may
make copies for use by their staff and studen6 but
this permission does not extend to additional
schools or branches.
Under no circumstances may any part of this book
be photocopied for resale.
Illustrations by Margaret Welbank
Typeset by Mike Brain Graphic Design Limited,
Ordord
Printed in Hong Kong


Gontents
Foreword
AL AN

M AL BY

Introductlon
L

Activltles
Greetingsand introductions

2

The alphabet

3

Numbers

4

T.llirg the time

5

Personalinformation

6

Countries

7

Nationalities

I

Locatingobjects

9

Feelings

10

Families

LL

Colours

L2

Shapes

13

Partsofthebody

L4

Describingpeople

15

Clothes

16

Roomsin a flat

LZ

Furniture

18

In town

19

Directions

20

In the market

2L

Shopping

22

Foodand drink

23

Leisureactivities

24

Daily routines

25
26

lobs
Housework

27

Abilities

28

Rules:'must'and'mustn't'

29

DescribingactionsI

30

Describingactions2

Foreword
There is a formidablerangeof materialspublishedworldwide for teachersof
English as a Foreign Language.However,many of thesematerials,especially
thosepublishedin English-speaking
countries,assumethat the teachers
using them will be working with smallish classesand have abundant
resourcesavailableto them. Also many, if not most, of thesematerials make
implicit culturally-biased assumptionsabout the beliefs and valuesof the
teachersand learners.
This situation is ironic in view of the fact that the vast majority of Englishas
a ForeignLanguageclassroomsdo not correspondat all to theseconditions.
Typically,classesare large,resourcesare limited, and teachershavevery few
opportunities for training and professionaldevelopment.Also, the cultural
assumptionsof teachersand learnersin many parts of the world may vary
quite significantly from those of materialswriters and publishers.
This book is an attempt to addressthis situation.The authorspresent
30 lessonsat elementarylevel,eachwith the samemethodological
framework.The lessonsare explainedin clear,accessible
language,and none
of them require sophisticatedresources.Instead,they call on the basic
human resourceswhich all teachersand learnersbring with them to class.
The languagepoints coveredare onesfound in a typical elementarycourse,
and the topics are those which form part of everybody'sdaily lives,for
examplefamilies, homes, and leisure activities.
Most importantly, however,the book offers a framework for teacherswho
lack training and support. The hope and the expectationis that such teachers
will begin by following eachstep of a lessonquite closelybut, as their
confidenceincreases,

will adapt and add to the techniquespresentedhere,
respondingto the particular needsand abilitiesof their learners.
This is an important book: one of the few attemptsto addressthe problems
of the'silent majority' of teachersworldwide who havelittle or no training,
and few resourcesto work with.
AL AN

M AL EY

Assumption University
Bangkok, Thailand


Introduction
Englishis taught all over the world, by all sortsof teachersto all
sorts of learners.Schoolsand classroomsvary enormouslyin their
wealth and their provision of equipment.Learnersarevery
different from placeto place.But, whateverthe conditionsin which
you are working, there is one resourcewhich is universaland
unlimited: the human mind and imagination.This is probablythe
one singlemost valuableteachingand learning resourcewe have.
Nothing can replaceit. In eventhe most'hi-tech' environment,a
lack of imagination and humanity will makethe most up-to-date
and sophisticatedresourcesseemdull; conversely,
the most simple
resourcescan be the most excitingand useful.
We havebeenfortunate to spendquite a lot of our time working
not only in'hi-tech' environmentswith computersand video,but
alsoin classroomswhere there is little more than blackboardand
chalk and someout-of-datecoursebooks.Someof our most

interestinglearningand teachingexperiences(asConfuciussaid,a
teacheris 'alwaysready to teach;alwaysready to learn') havebeen
not in the comfortablewell-resourcedsmall classroomsof a private
Ianguageschool,but in classroomswhere only the minimum of
equipmenthasbeen available.Equally,someof our most
memorableteachingexperiences
in'hi-tech' classroomshavebeen
when we haveabandonedthe cassetteor video or glossy
coursebookand got to work with that most preciousresourceof
all, the learners'ownexperienceand imagination.
Teachersoften haveto usematerialswhich are out of date,or
contain subject-matterirrelevantto their particular group of
learners.For example,we havehad greatdifficulty explainingthe
conceptsof the fridge -freezerand microwave oven to Tibetans.In
the sameway,learnerswho havespentall their livesin northern
countries might have difficulty with an exercisefrom an African
textbook which asksifthey preferyam or cassava.
So over the last
few yearswe havebeen trying to design materialswhich can be
usedin aswide a rangeof teachingsituationsaspossible.
The activitieswe suggestare as flexibleasthe human imagination is
creative;they are'teacherresourcematerial'which teacherswill be
ableto adjustto suit their particular environment.In thinking
about universallyapplicable,'lo-tech'materialswe havecome
up with a list of criteria that needto be met. The materialswill
needto:
be usablein largeclasses
aswell assmall.
be suitablefor adult learnersaswell assecondarylearners,and if
possibleeasilyadaptableto a primary context.

be centeredon the universalsof human experience.


Introduction

:f: cover the main languageskills and have a useful baseof grammar
and topic vocabulary.
traditional enough to be recognizableby all teachers,and thus
b€
',,,
give them a senseof security,while providing communicative
activitiesfor learners.
,, be non-threateningin the demandsthey make on learners.
,i: !. teacher-based'resource
material' rather than books for learners.
ri;. assumethat no technical and reprographic resourcesare available
and be basedon the human resourcerather than the technical.
, be culturally neutral,not context-bound,and thus be flexible,easily
adaptableby the teachersto their own culture and teaching
context.
be flexibleenoughto complementa standardsyllabusor
coursebook.

Simple SpeakingActivities
This book containsthirty activities,designedaccordingto the
criteria above,for developingthe speakingskill at elementarylevel.
Eachactivity hasthree main stages:
r,

'

rl

Settingup-This introducesthe learnersto the topic. The activity
may be demonstratedto the whole class,or learnersmay make
materialsto be usedduring the speakingpractice.
Speakingpractice-This is the main part of the activity. The
learnerscommunicatewith eachother in pairs or groups,or
competeasteams
Feedback-The learnerscomeback togetheras a whole class.A few
of them may report to the rest of the classon things they have
talked about in their pairs or groups.This is the time when the
teachergivesfeedbackon the languagepractised,and dealswith
anv oroblems.
It is especiallyimportant in speakingactivities,when learnersare
often working in pairs or small groups, that they know exactlywhat
to do. If they are confused,much valuablespeakingtime will be
wastedand no-one will enjoy the lesson.Many of the activitiesin
this book start with a demonstrationof things the learnerswill do
later in their pairs or groups.A demonstrationcan be done:

Settingup

On your own in front of the classas,for example,in 16'Rooms in
a flat' and 25'Jobs'.
::r With a learner,or learners,in front of the classas,for example,in
3'Numbers'and 14'Describingpeople'.
, With the whole classas,for example,in 2'The alph4bet'and
7 'Nationalities'.
r;

Introduction

However clear you think the demonstration has been, it is alwaysa
good idea to double check that everyoneknows what to do.
Other activities begin with the learnerspreparing materials that
they will uselater on. For examplein 5'Personalinformation'the
learners copy a form that they will later fill in with their partner's
details,and in 29'Describingactions I'they preparepiecesof
paper with actions written on them that they will later share.
The setting-upstageof the lessonis also a good time to practisethe
pronunciation of any words and phrasesthat you know your
learnerswill find difficult. You will find help with many common
problemsin the'Pronunciation points' sectionof eachlesson.

Speakingpractice

A speakinglessonis a kind of bridge for learnersbetweenthe
classroomand the world outside.
*eakinB
Iearningnew language
in the classroom

Olacece
using languageto
communicate in real life

In order to build this bridge, speakingactivities must have three
features.They must give the learnerspracticeopportunitiesfor

purposefulcommunicationin meaningfulsituations.
Compare thesetwo activities:
Activity 1
TEAcHER 'Youmust do your homework.'Repeat.
LEARNERS'Youmust do your homework.'
TEACHER Good.'Youmust arrive at eighto'clock.'Ben?
'Youmust arriye at eighto'clock.'
BEN
TEACHER Good.'Listento the teacher.'
Sara?
'Youmust listen to the teacher.'
sARA
Activity 2
Setting up
f Tell the learnersthat you would like them to think of good
rules for learning English.Write one or two exampleson the
board:
Youmuet epeakEn7liahin claae.
Youmuatn'Lepeaklmolher longueJin class,
Give them a few minutes to think on their own.


lntroduction

Discussion
2 Put the learnersin groups of three or four and ask them to
sharetheir ideas.Remind them to use'must' and'mustn't'.
3 Tell them to prepare Ten Rules for Learning English and to
write them down on a sheetof paper.
4 When all the groups have finished making their rules, collect

their ideasand write them up on the board.
The most obvious differencebetweenthe two activitiesis in the
way they are organized.In Activity 1 the teacher is talking, first to
the whole class,then to individual learners.In Activity 2 the
learnersare talking to eachother in small groups.
This type of learner-learnerinteraction in pairs or groups provides
far more practicein using the languagethan the more traditional
teacher-learnerinteraction.In a classof twenty learners,a twentyminute activity where the teacherasksthe learnersquestionswill
give the learnersa total of only about ten minutes' speakingtime,
i.e. half a minute each.And the teacher(who doesn'tneed the
practice!)getsten whole minutes' speakingtime. In contrast,a
twenty-minute activity where learnersare working in groups,
askingand answeringeachother's questions,will give them many
more opportunitiesfor practice.
Both activitiesprovide a lot of repetition of the structure'must
(+ verb)', and both do so in a fairly controlled way. In Activity 1,
the control is provided by the teacherwho tells the learnerswhat to
do. In Activity 2, control is provided by the examplesentenceson
the board. However,Activity I providesrepetition with no context.
The sentencesare random and unrelated.Such repetition is
virtually meaningless:the learnersare simply repeatingthe
and
structure.They haveno idea why they are sayingthe sentences,
possible
without
in fact it would be
to do the activity
understandinga word! In Activity 2, there is a context-making
rules for learning English-and all the communication is relatedto
this context. This makes the activity much more meaningful for the

learners.
In Activity 1, the learnershaveno senseof purpose in producing
they are merely doing what the teachertells them,
their sentences;
and the only purpose of their repetition is to practisethe structure.
In Activity 2, however,the learners have a goal-making the
rules-and the languageis used for the purpose of achievingthis
goal. This mirrors real-life situations much more closely,as well as
making the activity more interesting and motivating for the
learners.


Introduction

There are many different techniqueswhich can be used to create
meaningful contextsfor speakingpractice in English. For example:
Ask and answer-Learners ask and answerquestions.
Describeand draw-Learners work in pairs.LearnerA has a
picture which learnerB cannot see.LearnerA describesthe picture
and learner B draws it.
Discussion-Learners work in pairs or groupsto find out each
other'sideasor opinions on a toprc.
Guessing-The teachet or someof the learners,haveinformation
which the others have to guessby asking questions.
Remembering-Learners closetheir eyesand try to remember,for
example,items from a picture or the location of objectsin the
classroom.
Miming-A learner mimes, for example,a feeling or action which
the others have to identifi'.
Ordering-Learners arrange themselvesin a particular order (for

example,alphabetical)by asking questionsuntil they find their
correctposition.
Completing a form/questionnaire-Learners ask and answer
questions,or provide information, in order to completea form or
questionnaire.
Role play-Learners act out an imaginary situation. The learners
either use a dialogue,or the teachergivesthem instructionsabout
what to say.
There are examplesof all thesetechniquesin this book.
Materials
Severalof the activities in this book need no materials at all. Where
materialsare needed,they are usuallyvery easyto prepare.For
example,some activities require every learner to have a small piece
of paper or card with information on it: 4 'Tellingthe time'and
7 'Nationalities' are two of these.The information is alwaysvery
brief, so they will not take long to prepare.Indeed,in somecases,
for example12 'Shapes'and30'Describingactions2', the learners
make the piecesof paper themselvesas part of the activity.
In severalof the activities,we haveprovided pictures, plans, or
questionnairesfor you to copy.Thesemay be drawn on the board,
on largepiecesof paper ('posters'),or on piecesof card
('flashcards').In the caseoflarge picturesand plans,postershave
obvious advantagesover drawings on the board: you can prepare
them in advanceand they can be stored and used again.Tiy to find
a cheapsourceof largesheetsof paper for posters.In Madagascar,
for example,the teacherswe worked with found the sheetsof paper


lntroduction

usedfor wrapping vegetablesin the market were ideal for making
posters.A good way to fix postersor flashcardsto the board is to
pin a length of string along the top of the board like a clothes-line.
You can then useclothes-pegsto peg your postersto the string!
Someactivitiesneed two different posters,one at the back and one
at the front of the class.Learnersthen sit in pairs,one facing the
front and one facingthe back.The reasonfor this is to createan
'information gap'.Eachlearnerhas different information which
they haveto exchange.The posterscan be pictorial, for examplethe
two comic figuresin 13 'Partsof the body',or written, for example
the two half-dialoguesin 23'Leisureactivities'.
Realobjectsor'realia' can be usedas an alternativeto drawings,for
examplein 21'Shopping'.
Glassroomorganization
If your learnersare new to working in pairs and groups,you will
need to introduce thesewaysof working with care.Here are some
tips to help you:
Introduce pair- and groupwork gradually.First get your classused
to doing very simple activities,practisinglanguagethey are
confidentwith. At first the activitiesshould not be too long-for
exampleyou could introduce a short one at the end of a lesson.
Tell the learnerswho to work with rather than giving a vague
instruction like 'Find a partner' or 'Get into groupsof four'. If your
classis working in pairs and you havean odd number of learners,
make one a group of three.
It is important to give clearsignalsto show when eachstageof the
activity beginsand ends.For example,when you want learnersto
begin an activity you should say'Startnow' or'Go', and when you
want them to stop,you should clap your hands,ring a bell, orperhapsmost effective-silently raiseyour hand. You can teach
them to raise their hands too as they stop talking. This way the

silencespreadslike a ripple.
The teacher's role
While learnersare working togetherin pairs or groups,you have
the opportunity to give them individual attention. There are several
rolesyou might need to adopt:
Explainer-If somelearnershavenot understoodwhat to do or
haveproblemswith the language,you will need to help them. If a
large number of learnershavethe sameproblem, it is probably
better to stop the activity, explain to everyone,and then start again.


Introduction

Controller-If the activity getstoo noisy,you will have to quieten
things down. (You could usethe techniquejust mentioned of
raisingyour hand and gettingthe learnersto raisetheirs.)You will
also have to make sure as far asyou can that all the learnersare
speakingEnglish.This meansyou will haveto be quick on your
feet!
Evaluator-These activities give you a valuable opportunity to
listen to your learnersand evaluatetheir progress,both as
individualsand as a whole class.You can get a lot of feedbackfrom
listeningto them to help you decidewhether they haveunderstood
and you can move on, or whether they need more teaching.You
can also givethem feedbackon their problems.It is best not to
interrupt the activity asthis can impede fluencyand undermine
their confidence.Carry a pieceof paperwith you, note down errors
and problems,and dealwith them in the feedbackstage.

Feedback

When the activity is over,it is important to bring the classback
together again.If the activity has involved, for example,a
discussionor a questionnaire,ask a few learnersto report back to
you and the rest of the class,for example:
TEACHER
Maria, now,you and Helen.What canyou both do?
MARrA Wecan both sing.Wecan bothplay ... check...
TEACHERChess?
MARrA Wecan bothplay chess.
It is alsoimportant to give feedbackon the languagepractised.Use
the notesyou made while monitoring the activity asthe basisof
your feedback.In the caseof grammar and vocabularyerrors,try
writing them on the board and askthe learnersif they can seewhat
is wrong. If a large number of learnershavemade the same
mistake,you might needto spendsometime explainingor
clarifring it. Make sure they have understood and perhaps ask them
to do the activity again with a different partner. You might also like
to make this languageproblem the topic of anotherlessonat a later
date.This is also a good stagein the lessonto focus on persistent
pronunciation problems.

points
Pronunciation

Eachactivity containssuggestionsfor pronunciationwork. The
pronunciation points dealtwith arisedirectly out of the language
being presentedin the activity.While it is impossibleto address
every problem that usersof the book will encounter,we have made
an attempt to cover points that many learnerswill find

troublesome,like stresspatterns,intonation in different typesof
questionand statement,and somework on individual sounds,


lntroduction

focusingon thosethat givetrouble most often such as long and
short vowels,or the /0/ sound. Suggestionsfor teaching the learners
to produce individual sounds are given in eachactivity.In general,
a useful technique is to get the learnersto produce and practise the
sound in isolation first, then go on to produce it in a word, and
then to producethe word in a sentence.
Stress
There arevarious techniquesfor practisingstresspatterns,both in
individual words and in sentences,for example:
&
,

Get the learnersto clap out the rhythm before sayingthe word or
sentence.
Get the learnersto tap out the rhythm on their desksas they repeat
the sentence.
Dictate the word or sentenceand get the learnersto mark the
stress.
Intonation
The main patterns dealt with are:

r"r Falling intonation in question-wordquestions,for example:
____________
Where'sthe station?

$i

Rising intonation in yes/no questions,for example:
Do you like fish?

la

Falling intonation in answersand negativestatements,for example:
No, there isn t any sugar.
Falling intonation in commands, for example:
You mustn't smoke.
There are various techniquesfor practising intonation patterns, for
example:

F: Show with hand movements how the voice risesor falls.
ts Get the learnersto make appropriate hand movements up or down
as they repeatthe sentences.
fllr Get the learnersto mirror the rise or fall physically,for example
when they repeat a yes/no question get them to begin the question
in a seatedposition and to standup astheir voice risesat the end
of the sentence.


Introduction

ffi

Dictate the sentenceand get the learnersto mark the intonation
arrows up or down.

Buildinga lesson
There are two companion books to this one,PresentingNew
Languageand SimpleListeningActivities.Each of thesealso contains
thirty activities,and in all three books the topics and the language
presentedand practised correspond.So,for example,activity 1 in
all three books is about'Greetings and introductions'and activity
30 is about'Describing actions'.The activities in eachbook are
graded,following a basic structural syllabus.Thismeansthat you
can designyour own lessonor sequenceof lessonsusing material
from one, two, or all three books, depending on your learners'
needsand the time available.


Activities


Greetingsand introductions
LANGUAGE Hello. My name's

What's your name?
Nice to meet you.
Role play.

TECHNIQUE

The dialogue below.

MATERIALS
PREPARATION
T IM E GUIDE

Setting up

1,

None.
20 minutes.

Divide the classinto two groups of equal size.Get the groups to
form two circles,one inside the other. The learners should face
eachother in pairs,like this.

The learnersin the outer circle are',{s and thosein the inner circle
are'B's.
2

Tell the pairs to introduce themselvesto eachother like this:
What's your name?
LEARNER
A Hello. My name's
Nice to meet you.
B My name's
LEARNER
A Nice to meet you too.
LEARNER

Role play

3

Get everyonein the outer circle (the As) to move a step to the
right, so that they are facing a new partner.This time, the'B's in
the inner circle should start the dialogue:
LEARNER
s

Hello. My name's-,

etc.

4

Get the As in the outer circle to continue moving round until they
have gone all the way round and are back where they started. As
and'B's should take turns in starting the dialogue.

5

Review any common pronunciation problems the learnershad.

aaaaaaar ataaaaaaor alaaoaataaa al aaaaa

Feedback
t2


Greetingsand introductions

aaaaa aa laa aa aa aa aaaaaaaaaalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa a a a a

Pronunciation points

I

Practisethe stresspatternsin the dialogue:
oaa

Hello. My name'sBen. What's your name?
aa

My name'sKate. Nice to meet you.
o

Nice to meet you too.
c

Practisefalling intonation in question-word questions:
_----=

}

What's vour name?
aaaa aa ao toa o

Comment

aaaoaa a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a o a a a a a

This is a good activity to use at the beginning of a courseor school
year when, especiallyif the classis large, they may not know one

another well. This activitp as well as needing a lot of space,can get
quite noisy, so if you can, do it outside.

13


Thealphabet

2

The letters of the alphabet.

LANGUAGE
T ECHNIQUE
MATERIALS

A list of the letters of the alphabet in random order.
Make the list of letters.

PREPARATION
T IM E GUIDE

Setting up

Completing a grid.

7,

30 minutes.

Tell the learnersto draw a grid like this:

Tell the learnersto work alone and choosefifteen letters from the
alphabet-they can be any letters they like. They should write one
letter in each squareof their grid.
Tell the learnersthat you are going to call out a list of letters in
random order.When they hear you call out a letter that is in their
grid, they should crossit out. The first learner to crossout all their
letters is the winner.
aaaar ot r aaaaaaaaoaat aat a a a a t a a a a a a a a a o a a a a a r a a

Gompletinga grid

4

Divide the learnersinto groups of three or four. One person in
eachgroup should write down the letters of the alphabet in
random order, asyou did. The other members of the group should
draw new grids and fill them with letters.

5

The learnerscan then take turns in playing the game in their
groups.

6

Review any problems the learnershad in pronouncing the letters of
the alphabet.

t at alat oaat €at aaaoaaaaaa a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a o a a

Feedback

t4


Thealphabet

aa laa aa aa aa aa aaaoaaaaaoaaaat aaaat ar aaa a a a a a a a t

Pronunciationpolnts

Gomment

*

The lettersof the alphabetdivideinto sevensoundgroups.The
phonemesfor the soundgroupsareasfollows:
A HJK

lerl

B CDE GP TV

li:l

FLMNS X Z

lel

IY

larl

o

laul

QUW

lazl

R

la:.1

This activity is basedon a g:rmecalled'Bingo'which is popular in
Britain. This is usually played with numbers rather than letters.
When someonehas crossedout all the numbers on their grid, they
call out'Bingo!'


Numbers
LANGUAGE

Numbers.
What's your number?
It's -.

T ECHNIQUE
MATERIALS

PREPARATION
T IM E GUIDE

aaar aaaae

c6a

aaaar a

Ordering.
Cards with the numbers you want to teach on them. There should
be one card for eachlearnerin your class.
Make the cards.
20 minutes.
aaaaaa

Setting up

L

Ask for five volunteers to come to the front of the class.Give
eachlearner a card with a number from one to five.

2

Write the following speechbubbleson the board:
What'eyour number?

It',e

Ordering

3

Tell the volunteers to find out eachother's numbers using the
dialogue on the board. They should then arrangethemselvesin the
order of the numbers on their cards.

4

Collect the cardsfrom the volunteers,add them to your other
cards,and mix them up.

5

Give eachlearner in the classa card and ask them all to stand up.
Tell everyoneto arrange themselvesin a line from the smallest
number to the largest.Show them where the person with the
smallestnumber should start the line. Remind them that they must
use the dialogue and not show their cards to anyone else.

6

Review any sequencesof numbers the learnershad problems
with.

aaaaaa

Feedback

t6

aaaaaaa3c aaa a


Numbers

Pronunciation point

Practise
/0/ in'threeiTeachthe learnersto makethis sound
by puttingtheir tonguebetweentheir teethandbreathingout.

Gomment

If you want to practisea limited sequenceof numbers,for example
1 to 10,useseveralsetsof cardsand divide the learnersinto
groups.This activitr',as*'ell as needinga lot of space,can get quite
noisyso,if you can,do it outside.

t7


Tellingthe time
LANGUAGE

TECHNIQUE

MATERIALS

PREPARATION
T IM E GUIDE

Setting up

What time is it?
It's o'clock.
Ordering.
Piecesof paper with a time of day written on them in figures(for
example72.15,3.45,5.30)-there should be one for eachlearnerin
your class;small piecesof card to make clock faces(seebelow).
Preparethe piecesof paper and card.
20 minutes.

1- Divide the classinto groupswith about ten learnersin eachgroup.
Tell eachgroup to find a spaceand mark a'clock face'on the floor
with piecesof card,like this:
qvP
AA

DO

ooooo

2

Ordering

Give eachlearnera pieceof paperwith a time written on it. Tell
them not to show it to other membersof their group.

Tell them to arrange themselvesround the clock face according to
the times written on their piecesof paper.They should do this by
standingwhere they think the hour hand on the clock should be.
They should then askthe other learnersstandingnear them the
time.
What time is it?
It's o'clock.
If necessarythey should changetheir position. When they have
finished, they might be standing round the clock face like this:

(The times this group of learnershad were: 12.00,I2.I5,2.30,2.45,
6.45,7.00,9.30,
10.00,I 1.15,11.45.)
l8


Telling
the tim e

Feedback
Pronunciation points

5

Collect the piecesof paper and redistributethem. This time, you
could turn the activity into a race-but make surethere is no
cheatingand learnersdo not look at eachother'spiecesof paper!

6

Review anv times the learnershad problems with.

'O'clock'ispronounced/ekloki.
Practisefallingintonationin question-wordquestions:
---=_-_-_
What time is it?

T9


IA

Personalinformation
\r,

LANGUAGE

What'syour name/address?
How do you spell that?
How old areyou?
Whereareyou from?
My name's
I'm-.
I'm from
Numbers,alphabet.

TECHNIQUE

Completinga form; guessing.

MATERIALS

The form below on the board.

PREPARATION
T IM E GUIDE

Settingup

L

None.
30 minutes.

Draw this form on the board and tell the learnersto copyit:
NAME
hoL

ADDRE)9

TLACEOFFIRTH
Ask for a volunteerto cometo the front. Ask him or her the
following questions:
What'syour name?
How do you spellthat?
How old areyou?
What'syour address?

Whereareyou from?
Fill in the form on the board asthe learnerreplies.

20


Personal
information
a ara aa aa aa raa aaat aaaaaaaaaaaeaaaaat aaa t a a o a t a a

Gompletinga form

3

Ask two learnersto cometo the front. Get oneto askthe questions
and fill in the form for the other.(Put the questionsup in speech
bubbleson the board if you think they needthis support.)

4

Tell the classto work in pairs,askingand answeringthe questions
and filling in their own copiesof the form for eachother.

5

Collectin the forms.Pick one at random from the pile. Tell
the classwhetherthe persondescribedin the form is a'he' or a
'she'.Get them to identifr the persondescribedby asking:

aa ato aa ao taa aaaaaoaaaaaaaalaaaeaaaaaaa o a a a t a a l

Guessing

How old is he/she?
What'shis/heraddress?
Whereis he/shefrom?

Feedback

6

Ask some learners what they found out about their partners, for
example:
TEAcHERMark, how old is John?
MARK
He,S... elv_.
TEAcHER... eleven...
MARK
He's eleven,
TEAcHERGood.And where'she from?

a aa aa acaa taa alaat t t aoaoat aaaalaaaaaaaaaa a a a r a a

Pronunciationpoints

!

Practise/h/ in'howl Teachthe learners to make this sound
by pretending to laugh (Ha! Ha!) while holding a sheetof paper in
front of their mouths. The paper should move.

I

Practisefalling intonation in question-word questions:
_=-----_
What's vour name?

How do you spellthat?

2l


l^

Gountries

O
LANGUAGE

'Countries' vocabulary area (for example,France,Italy, Argentina).
Where is -?
It's in -.
Which country islare
He's/she's/it'sfrom
They're from -.

T ECHNIQUE
MATERIALS
PREPARATION

T IM E GUIDE

Setting up

L

ls from?

Ask and answer.
Piecesof paper for all the learners.
Think of six cities,six kinds of food, and six famous peopleyour
learnersare likely to know.
30 minutes.

Put ouestionslike theseon the board:
Whereis

Taria?
Rome?
BuenoeAiree?,etc,

Whichcountry

ia

epaqhetti

are

curry

from?

hamburqere,ef,c.
Whichcountry

ie

[6 namesof famouepeoplel

from?

Give all the learnerspiecesof paper and tell them to tear them into
six smallerpieces.Then divide the classinto groupsof three.The
first member of eachgroup should write one of the citieson each
of his or her piecesof paper,the secondmember should do the
samewith the'food'words, and the third with the famous people.

Ask and answer

Tell the groupsto put all their piecesof paper facedown in a pile
on a deskin the middle of the group.Tell them to mix them up.
Tell them to take it in turns to pick up a piece of paper and ask the
appropriate question to the other two learnersin the group. The
first to answerthe questioncorrectlyshould be given the pieceof
paper.The learnerwith most piecesof paper at the end is the
winner.

22