Tag: speaking

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 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

businessman-with-stopwatch_1391433

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

Beliefs & Opinions

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LESSON PLAN

 

 

Conversation class

 Topic: Beliefs & Opinions

Language level: Intermediate

Duration: 1 hour

Language skills:

·         Speaking: express beliefs and personal opinions; express agreement and disagreement

·         Listening: identify and understand specific details/information

Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to share personal opinions, express agreement and disagreement, ask for clarification.

Language:

·         Vocabulary: opinions (asking for, supporting, stating, agreeing or disagreeing)

·         Grammar: prepositions, present tense

·         Pronunciation: topic-related vocabulary

Materials / Resources:

·         Handouts provided by the teacher

Procedure:

  1. Warm-up
  • Ask students : Are you passionate about your beliefs?
  • Explain the difference between believe and belief
  • Ask students: Do you have strong opinions on things? What things do you feel strongly about?
  • Elicit as many answers as possible
  • Introduce the topic: Beliefs and Opinions
  • Write examples on the board: stating an opinion, supporting an opinion, asking for an opinion, agreeing with an opinion, partially agreeing or disagreeing with an opinion.
  1. Class or group discussion
  • Discuss the following questions as a class / Put students in groups, give them a handout and ask them to discuss:
  1. Do you ever try to impose your beliefs on others?
  2. Does anyone ever try to impose their beliefs onto you?
  3. Have you ever been afraid to share your beliefs with anyone?
  4. How do you feel when someone disagrees with something you believe to be true?
  5. Do you ever get into arguments with people who have different beliefs or opinions as you?
  6. Are there any politicians or famous people whose opinions you strongly disagree with?
  7. What is the best way to deal with different opinions in the workplace?
  8. Do you consider other people’s opinions before making a decision?
  9. At work do you ever share your opinions on controversial issues? What type of response do you get?
  10. Do you always give your honest opinion or do you sometimes tell a white lie to avoid upsetting someone?
  11. Whose opinion do you value most?
  1. Pair/Group Activity
  • Divide students in pairs or groups of 3, or 4 depending on the class size
  • Write the following list of controversial topics on the board:
  1. Extraterrestrials
  2. Traditional medicine
  3. Telepathy
  4. TV causes violence
  5. Life after death
  6. Men are smarter than women
  7. Alcohol should be illegal
  8. Ghosts
  9. Reincarnation
  10. Vampires
  11. Dogs are the best pets
  12. Dreams have messages
  13. Drugs should be legal
  • Ask students to answer the following question in their groups: Which of the following do you believe in/agree with? Why?
  • Encourage students to practice stating an opinion, supporting an opinion, asking for an opinion, agreeing with an opinion, partially agreeing or disagreeing with an opinion.
  • Monitor the groups and provide help when necessary.
  • Go over the list of controversial topics as a class.

 

 

 

Your Bucket List

images-3             

LESSON PLAN

 Watch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)

Conversation class

Topic: Your Bucket List

Language level: Intermediate

Duration: 1 hour

Language skills:

·         Speaking: ask relevant questions in order to obtain specific information; provide required information/description; express needs, wants, wishes, hopes and preferences

·         Listening: identify and understand specific details/information

Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to ask for and give information on future plans, talk about wishes, preferences, hopes and regrets, express their opinions, agree or disagree.

Language:

·         Vocabulary: wishes, regrets, hopes

·         Grammar: use of descriptive adjectives; question formation; future; superlatives

·         Pronunciation: topic-related vocabulary

Materials / Resources:

·         Handouts provided by the teacher

Procedure:

  1. Warm-up
  • Ask students about their dreams, hopes, wishes for the future. Encourage them to talk about impossible things.
  • Write on the board: things to do before you kick the bucket
  • Ask students to guess / explain the meaning
  • Introduce the topic: Your Bucket List
  1. Give examples of classic bucket list wishes
  • Write the examples on the board: I want to be the boss of my own company, win the lottery, swim with the dolphins, help a complete stranger, plant a tree, skydiving
  • Discuss the following questions as a class: Do you think that bucket lists are a bad or good idea? Why? / Which is the best or worst age to make a bucket list? / When people are close to dying, which things do you think that they regret not having done?
  1. Pair / Group Activity
  • Write these verbs on the board: donate, gatecrash, dye, invent, participate, start, do, meet, climb, visit, learn, travel, kiss
  • Explain any unknown words (gatecrash)
  • Divide students in pairs or groups of 3, or 4 depending on the class size
  • Each pair/group has to come up with a bucket list using the verbs on the board and add 3 wishes of their own
  • Encourage students to be creative and allow themselves to dream
  • Monitor the pairs/groups and provide help / feedback as needed
  • Each pair/group presents the bucket list to the class
  • Encourage the rest of the students to ask questions at the end of each presentation
  • Share your own bucket list with the students
  • Give feedback

 Watch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)

 Watch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)

Emotions


emotions11. Read the following adjectives for emotions and identify which words describe a positive, neutral or negative feeling. Some words may fit into more than one category.

  • discouraged
  • overwhelmed
  • loved
  • annoyed
  • embarrassed
  • regretful
  • anxious
  • enthusiastic
  • relieved
  • jealous
  • frustrated
  • shocked
  • hysterical
  • concerned
  • furious
  • thrilled
  • grateful
  • uneasy
  • helpless
  • defensive
  • vulnerable
  • guilty
  • determined
  • miserable
  • wary
  • proud
  • disappointed
  • optimistic
  • upset
  • puzzled
  1. The list above contains adjectives to describe emotions. Where possible, change them into nouns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Choose five of the emotions from the list above. For each emotion, describe a situation you have experienced that made you feel this way.
  • ………………………………………………..
  • ………………………………………………..
  • ………………………………………………..
  • ………………………………………………..
  • …………………………………………………

Describe…..

blah_blah_blah_pacman-1

  1. Describe your dream date.
  2. Describe your family.
  3. Describe your favourite type of movie.
  4. Describe your dream house.
  5. Describe your bedroom.
  6. Describe your best friend.
  7. Describe what you had for breakfast today.
  8. Describe the difference between a dog and a cat.
  9. Describe your hometown.
  10. Describe your favourite hobby.
  11. Describe a typical date in your country.
  12. Describe the best gift you’ve ever received.
  13. Describe the most famous tourist attraction in your country.
  14. Describe your ideal vacation.
  15. Describe the strangest person that you have known.
  16. Describe your ideal boyfriend / girlfriend.
  17. Describe the worst boyfriend / girlfriend you have ever had.
  18. Describe your favourite car.
  19. Describe your worst meal.
  20. Describe your favorite actor / actress.