Teaching Tips
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Transformation exercises: writing ideas at sentence level
Last week we looked at using a text as a springboard for writing. This week’s tip focuses on sentence-level writing, which can be used with any genre of text. Transformation is often considered the domain of higher-level classes but I also find it useful at lower levels.
Transformation tasks require more… -
Reading to writing with narratives
A few weeks ago we had a tip entitled Reading to Speaking. Readings often lend themselves perfectly to writing activities too. I find opportunities for writing are often overlooked in some coursebooks, and that some teachers are averse to writing, perhaps because they think their students will be reluctant to more…
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David Crystal – English as a ‘global’ language?
A new video this week from our series featuring Professor David Crystal. Here he is discussing the need to teach English as a ‘global’ language to learners, with a focus on the receptive skills.
Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments below. The complete more… -
Comprehension questions – alternative task types
Comprehension questions or true / false exercises are the two most common ways of getting students to work with a text and to demonstrate that they have understood the main message. Often coursebooks themselves can overuse these two task types. Here are a few alternatives, though bear in mind that more…
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Compiling useful lists 2
Last week we looked at collating lists of problem language or pronunciation for your students. You could also create ‘public’ lists of language, which could form a class poster of some kind, to be added to at intervals as relevant examples come up in the lessons. Incidentally, this also provides more…
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Responding to students’ own linguistic problems: activities
Last week we looked at collating different students’ problems over a string of lessons. These errors can then be focused on in various ways:
- Spot the mistake – Compile a hand-out with 7-11 sentences, each with one mistake which students try to correct, e.g. The doctor gave me a more… -
Compiling useful lists 1
Some people are compulsive list makers. Although I am not, there are some lists that I use in class. We probably all make lists of words that come up in the lesson, to recycle in later classes, or lists of grammatical problems that might come up, particularly in students’ written more…
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Exploiting your whiteboard record
By the time your lessons draw to a close, you probably have a list of new words on your board which have been put up during the lesson. I usually write mine down the right-hand side of the board. Often these words can be exploited both to revisit them, and more…
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Word Stress
We can focus our students on word stress by simply saying the word, eliciting the stress, then drilling it. However, there are plenty of different ways you can do this, which can easily be incorporated into your teaching repertoire.
-You can ask students to use coins to mark the stress on more… -
Reading to speaking
After a ‘heads down’ activity such as reading, where students have been actively but quietly focused, I try to counter-balance this with a speaking activity. (See ‘meat and rice’ weeks 1 and 2). Some texts lend themselves perfectly to a discussion or personalisation task, but here are some general ideas more…
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Brainstorming: variations on a classic technique
Brainstorming is a commonly used technique in our classrooms at all levels. It focuses students and prepares them for a topic, it can enforce co-operation and thus energise students and it shows students (and you) what they already know. In addition, it can be fun if handled as a competition. more…
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Spelling 2
Last week I gave two very simple suggestions to practise spelling, and using this to either reinforce vocabulary, or to use as warmers to lead in to a topic, for example. Here are three more suggestions, which you’ll find similarly focus students’ minds.
- Spell out words to students but more…
