Category: For ESL Teachers

Cultural do’s and don’ts

SHOULD

Use should to make recommendations or give advice. It can also be used to express expectation.

  • You should go to school every day.
  • I should do the laundry today.

MUST

Use must to express a strong obligation

  • I must pay the bills tonight.
  • You must fix the car.

Activity: Advice about visiting your country

Give some advice about cultural do’s and don’ts for foreign people visiting your birth country.

  • You should….
  • You shouldn’t…
  • You must…
  • You mustn’t…

Talk about:

  1. Body language
  2. Table manners
  3. Greetings
  4. Directness and indirectness
  5. Family and other relationships
  6. Gifts
  7. Hospitality and visits
  8. Religion
  9. Clothing
  10. Transport and travel
  11. Tipping
  12. Politeness
  13. Eye contact
  14. Special holidays and celebrations

 

25 emotional memories :)

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  1. Have you ever felt really frustrated?
  2. Have you ever felt really exhausted?
  3. Have you ever felt really terrified?
  4. Have you ever felt really embarrassed?
  5. Have you ever felt really ashamed of yourself for doing something bad to somebody else?
  6. Have you ever felt really proud of yourself for doing something good?
  7. Have you ever felt really excited and happy?
  8. Have you ever felt suicidal?
  9. Have you ever felt really disgusted by someone or something?
  10. Have you ever felt really horrified by news you saw on TV?
  11. Have you ever been really sick or hurt?
  12. Have you ever felt really surprised or astonished?
  13. Have you ever felt really lucky?
  14. Have you ever felt really smart?
  15. Have you ever felt really annoyed by someone or something?
  16. Have you ever felt really lost or confused?
  17. Have you ever felt really angry at someone or about something?
  18. Have you ever felt really thrilled or delighted?
  19. Have you ever felt depressed?
  20. Have you ever been really preoccupied by something?
  21. Have you ever been desperate?
  22. Have you ever been heartbroken?
  23. Have you ever felt blessed?
  24. Have you ever felt uneasy?
  25. Have you ever felt free?

 

Future plans

slow-conversations

Ask your classmates about their future plans and write down their answers.

Are you going to …

  1. … go out for dinner this evening? Where ________________________?
  2. … watch a movie this weekend? What _________________________?
  3. … call someone after class? Who __________________________?
  4. … write an email tonight? Why __________________________?
  5. … have a big breakfast tomorrow? What _________________________?
  6. … play sports this week? Where ________________________?
  7. … go on holiday soon? Where ________________________?
  8. … get a job? How __________________________?
  9. … sleep early tonight? What _________________________?
  10. … buy something today? What _________________________?
  11. … improve your English skills? How __________________________?
  12. … get married in the future? Why __________________________?
  13. … learn something new? What _________________________?
  14. … travel abroad next year? Where ________________________?
  15. … save some money? Why __________________________?
  16. … clean your house? When _________________________?

Speaking activity: Make vs. Do

 

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Interview some of the other members of the class. Be prepared to report back general findings and interesting individual facts.

In your family / household:

  • Who makes the meals?
  • Who makes the beds?
  • Who makes the most mess?
  • Who makes the most noise?
  • Who makes the decisions?
  • Who makes the most mistakes?
  • Who makes the most complaints?
  • Who makes the most phone calls?
  • Who does the cleaning?
  • Who does the shopping?
  • Who does the washing-up?
  • Who does the ironing?
  • Who could do with a bit more recognition?

Past Simple: A speaking activity

blah_blah_blah_pacman-1         In the Past

Use the time expressions given below to talk about your memories.

Time Expressions:

  • An hour ago
  • This morning
  • Yesterday
  • Last night
  • Last week
  • Two weeks ago
  • Last year
  • Two days ago
  • Last Saturday
  • Last Sunday
  • In 2013
  • A week ago
  • When I was six
  • Yesterday afternoon
  • When I was ten
  • Yesterday evening
  • Five years ago
  • Last summer
  • A month ago
  • In 2012
  • Last winter
  • A long time ago
  • Ten years ago
  • Last month

My memories:

  1. your first job
  2. your last holiday
  3. the place where you grew up
  4. your first love
  5. your earliest memory
  6. a wedding you attended
  7. a teacher you liked or didn’t like at school
  8. a party you really enjoyed
  9. a holiday you didn’t enjoy
  10. what you did for fun when you were a teenager
  11. your first car
  12. one of your best friends at school
  13. the first time you travelled abroad or far away
  14. a hobby you used to have
  15. our first day at school
  16. your grandparents
  17. a frightening experience you had
  18. an important event in your life
  19. your happiest moment
  20. a subject you disliked at school

Find out if…..

 

Animated Question Mark

Find out if someone in your class:                                                                                      

  1. has had a problem with the police
  2. has almost died
  3. has met a famous person
  4. has had a frightening experience on an airplane
  5. has had a premonition
  6. has had a dream that later came true
  7. has fallen in love with a person they could not have
  8. has been on a terrible date
  9. has gotten a tattoo
  10. has performed a daredevil act
  11. has backpacked in a foreign country
  12. has been to a gay bar
  13. has eaten something disgusting
  14. has won something (for example, the lottery. a contest)
  15. has been to a casino

 

Find someone who…

Animated Question Mark

Find someone who:

  • drank coffee this morning.
  • watched TV yesterday.
  • grew up in the country.
  • played basketball or soccer in the last week.
  • who skipped breakfast.
  • took the bus to school.
  • cut their hair in the last month.
  • had a date in the last week.
  • took a trip last summer.
  • went shopping on the weekend.
  • read the newspaper this morning.
  • watched the news yesterday.
  • grew up in the city.
  • who ate breakfast.
  • had a drink with friends in the last week.
  • went to the beach last summer.
  • lived with their grandmother when they grew up.
  • caught a cold in the last month.
  • who ate fish yesterday.
  • found money on the street.
  • went fishing last summer.

 

 

Talk for a minute

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Instructions:

  • Write the conversation topics on conversation cards
  • Make 3 or 4 sets of conversation cards depending on class size
  • Depending on the number of students, put the students in groups of 3 or 4
  • Give each group a set of conversation cards
  • Ask your students to take turns in taking a card and talk for 1 minute
  • Ask the other students to time the person who is speaking

Talk for 1 minute about….

  1. Someone you’d like to meet
  2. Your favourite type of weather
  3. Your favourite holiday destination
  4. Music you like listening to
  5. Your favourite food
  6. A place you’d love to visit
  7. Your hometown and why you like it
  8. Another language you’d like to learn
  9. A movie you think is great
  10. Jobs you don’t mind doing at home
  11. A newspaper you enjoy reading
  12. A sport you dislike
  13. A topic you hate talking about
  14. Jobs you hate doing at home
  15. Your home and why you like it
  16. A job you’d like to have
  17. A sport you enjoy playing
  18. What you like about learning English
  19. Activities at home you enjoy doing
  20. The day of the week you like the most
  21. A foreign food you enjoy
  22. A car you’d like to buy
  23. What you like doing at the weekend
  24. Something you like doing at the beach
  25. Something you’d like to do this week
  26. Something you’d like to do more often
  27. The website you like the most
  28. Somewhere you’d like to live

First Impressions

download-3LESSON PLAN

Conversation class

Topic: First Impressions

Language level: Intermediate

Duration: 1 hour

Language skills:

·         Speaking: ask relevant questions in order to obtain specific information; provide required information/description; express opinions; describe people (appearance and character)

·         Listening: identify and understand specific details/information

Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to discuss first impressions and how accurate they are; practice describing a person’s face, body and character.

Language:

·         Vocabulary: adjectives describing appearance and character

·         Grammar: use of descriptive adjectives; question formation; comparatives and superlatives

·         Pronunciation: topic-related vocabulary

Materials / Resources:

·         Handouts provided by the teacher 

Procedure:

  1. Warm-up
  • Write the proverb on the board: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
  • Ask students what it means.
  • Ask if they think it’s true
  • Introduce the topic: First impressions
  • Ask students how much they can tell about a person by their appearance (age, job, hobbies, education, personality, hobbies, marital status)
  • Optional: ask students to judge you by your appearance
  1. Pair / Group Activity
  • Write a list of adjectives describing character/personality on the board (dangerous, greedy, intelligent, kind, married, not smart, crazy, generous) and ask students: When you look at someone, what makes you think they are…
  • Elicit as many answers as possible
  • Ask the following questions: Have you met someone who you hated right away even though you didn’t know them? / When are the most important times to make a good first impression? / What are the best ways to make a good first impression? / Do you make first impressions based on what people wear?
  1. Pair/Group Activity
  • Divide students in pairs or groups of 3, or 4 depending on the class size
  • Give each pair/group a set of pictures of different people
  • Ask each pair/group to come up with two or three comments about the people in the pictures
  • Each pair/group shares the comments with the class
  • Encourage the rest of the students to agree or disagree
  • Give feedback

 

 

Canada Day Quiz

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  • What do you call a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars at Tim Hortons?

a. Double double

b. Cafe Au Lait

c. Dubs cream and sugar

d. Two by TwoWatch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)

  • What is a beaver tail?

a. A delicious treat

b. Part of a hockey stick

c. The end of a boat oar

d. A dead animal’s tail

  • If you went to the store to buy a 2’6 and a mickey, what would you be buying?

a. Alcohol

b. Cigarettes

c. Cleaning supplies

d. Snacks

  • How do you say ‘sofa’ in Canadian?

a. Chesterfield

b. Ottoman

c. Armoire

d. Chesterbed

  • What is a Chinook?

a. A species of prairie rabbit

b. A sect of tribal Eskimos residing in the Arctic Circle

c. A warming wind from the ocean into the interior regions

d. A person who loves to ski and snowboard

  • What’s a Toboggan?

a. A Sled

b. A machine for cleaning a hockey rink

  • “eh?” – As in, “We should get some dinner, eh?”

a. don’t you agree?

b. are you sure?

c. why not?

  • “pop” – as in, “I would like a pop.”

a. popcorn

b. soda

c. bubble gum

  • “queue” – As in, “The queue is really long.”

a. line

b. crowd

c. wait

  • “poutine” – As in, “Man, I could really go for some poutine.”

a. French Fries, Gravy and Cheese Curds

b. Hot Dog with Bacon Bits and Cheese Sauce

c. A pizza with French fries on it

  • “toque” – As in, “Don’t forget to put on your toque.”

a. winter hat

b. scarf

c. earmuffs

  • “Canuck” – As in, “I am a Canuck.”

a. Fan of the Vancouver Canucks

b. Fan of Canada

c. Canadian