EFL

October 5, 2013

Present Tense ‘Getting to Know You’ Question Swap

Every time you start a new class, you need a few good ice breakers that will get your students (a) comfortable talking to each other and (b) used to the idea that they’ll have to talk at every class meeting.  Students who speak a lot on the first day can expect to speak a lot throughout the length of the class (and may be less timid to start speaking later).

This ice breaker is the Present Tense ‘Getting to Know You’ Question Swap.  Each student receives one of the 25 ice breaker questions.  Students should ask a partner the question on their paper.  Once both students have asked and answered their questions, they should swap papers and find a new partner.  You can repeat this for as long as your students stay interested.

All 25 of the questions are information (WH–) questions in the simple present tense.  Some are information “be” verb questions.  These questions can be used either as an ice breaker or as present tense information question practice.

gtkyprsntpre

gtkyprsnt

These question strips were made from scratch by me for use in my classes.  Feel free to use them in your own classes, but please do not distribute this file/offer it for download/include it in any teaching packets, for profit or free, etc.  Happy teaching!

October 1, 2013

Personality Conversation Topic Cards

One of my advanced conversation classes recently talked about adjectives and adverbs to describe people’s personalities and behaviors.  Because many of the students are intermediate-level speakers, I wanted to give as much time for conversation between them as possible.  To encourage full conversations, I created the following conversation topic cards.  There are six cards in total.  Simply print out the page, cut along the dotted line, and pass them out amongst your students.  Laminate for multiple uses.

 

persconvotopicspre

persconvotopics

These cards were made from scratch by me for use in my classes.  Feel free to use them in your own classes, but please do not distribute this file/offer it for download/include it in any teaching packets, for profit or free, etc.  Happy teaching!

September 20, 2013

Present Perfect Tense Gap Fill — Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

This song gap-fill activity is great for students learning the present perfect tense.  Students listen to the song (“Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” by U2, ONLY UP TO 2:30) and fill in the blanks with the words they hear.  As a class, make a list on the board of all the words that students identified from the song.  Solicit the pattern from the students (have/has + past participle).  Have students brainstorm when they should use the present perfect tense and write their suggestions on the board.  Highlight the correct answers and solicit more present perfect examples from students.

stillhaventfoundpreview

u2lastillhaventfoundgapfill

After completing the worksheet, you can have students brainstorm a list of verbs and their past participles.  Then have students create affirmative and negative statements about their own past experiences.

Disclaimer: ”Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is the intellectual property of whomever owns it; certainly not me.  The clipart used on the worksheets was found via a google image search.  If these images are yours, and you want them removed from the activity/this site, please contact me and let me know.

September 19, 2013

Past Tense Gap Fill – “Norwegian Wood”

This worksheet is a gap fill for the song “Norwegian Wood” by The Beatles.  Students should listen to the song and fill in the blanks with the words they hear.  The words that go in the blanks are all regular and irregular verbs.  After listening to the song, solicit answers from the students.  On the board, create two lists — regular and irregular verbs.  have students identify which verbs go in each list.

norwoodpreview

pastverbnorwoodgapfill

Disclaimer:  “Norwegian Wood” is the intellectual property of whomever owns it; certainly not me.  The clipart used on the worksheets was found via a google image search.  If these images are yours, and you want them removed from the activity/this site, please contact me and let me know.