Activites for language teachers and students

The New Months of the Year (Alan Maley)  

Language Aims: to revise and teach vocabulary associated with the senses (smell, taste, vision, sounds, etc.)  
 
Educational Aims: to develop the skill of paying close attention to the natural world.  
 
Procedure:  
 
1. Ask students what are their favourite smells (eg. fresh coffee, the sea breeze, lime pickle, etc. ). Then ask them to recall smells they do not like, (eg. durian, bad breath, boiling cabbage,etc.)  
 
2. In pairs, they give new names to the months of the year. These must all be based on a smell or aroma which is typical of each month, or which they personally associate with that month. This will vary a lot from one country to another. For example, in Europe, January might become Pine Cones, October might become Leaf Mould.  
 
3. Allow about 20 minutes for this, then get feedback.  
 
4. Finally, students read out their new calendar for the rest of the class. They then prepare a decorated calendar with the new names for the months on it. This should be displayed.  
 
Variations.  
 
1. Instead of smells, they can base the new calendar on Tastes, on Sights, or on Sounds. You might even try: Colours, Flowers or Birds.  
 
2. Ask students to research the Chinese farming calendar. It has 24 divisons, not 12, each named after a change of weather or something similar : Insects awaken, Grain rain, White dews, Hoar frost falls, etc. Can they base a calendar on this for their own country?  
 
Acknowledgement: I borrowed and developed this idea from a workshop by Mojica Bellac at IATEFL Conference, 2013.  

Grammar Poem (Motikala Subba Dewan)  
 

Objectives:

• to teach grammar through writing a poem
• to develop creative writing skill

Level: Primary to Secondary

Procedure:  

1. Ask or give students few topics which are familiar with the students (eg- teacher, flower, dog, friend, mountain, story, mobile, stone, parents, food, nature, etc).
2.  Write these topics on the board.
3.  Ask students to choose one or two topics.
4.  Ask students to write

 1^st line: statement
2^nd line: question
3^rd line: command
4^th line: exclamation

 about the chosen topics in their exercise books. Even teacher can ask them to do in the group considering the number of students or time. 

 5. Give examples of statements, questions, command and exclamation randomly.

6. Allow students 20 minutes time to write on two topics( time is flexible depending on topics and level)

 7. After completion of their work, ask them to recite turn by turn, however, if they worked in a group, ask them to choose their leader to recite their work.

 8. Do the correction of the poems whether they followed the format or not and also write or recite the example of a format.

Mountain
Mountain is my inspiration (Statement)
What about you? (Question)
See and watch those white range (Command)
How refreshing! (Exclamation) -Motikala

Variations:  
 
1. Instead of writing a grammar poem in given format, they can use different formats; such as they can use negative form or request form of sentences in place of command or exclamation, or even they can write all four sentences in one grammar form such as starting each sentence from WH questions with the answers and excalmaiton.  

 WH Poem:

 Dog

What is the name of your dog?

"Phucchi"

How much did you pay for it?

My father gifted me

Why it's laming?

Car hit it yesterday

Poor Creature!

-Motikala

 
2. Even teacher can ask students to repeat the words or adverb in the beginning of each sentence and four lines can be increased depending providing the guidelines. For example-

Adverb Poem

Silently wind blows

Silently light glows

Silently you smile

Silently then I can walk for miles -

Pragya Bhurtel, BALLB Student

 
Acknowledgement: I borrowed and developed this idea from a workshop by Dr. Vishnu Sing Rai in Pokhara, 2010.  

Four activities from Alan Maley (Updated on 1 July 2013)

Four Letter Words.

Aims:  Language aims:  to stretch students’ vocabulary resources.  To help them write within the constraints of forms.

            Educational aims:  to encourage close observation, lateral thinking and risk-taking.

Preparation    Choose a number of simple 4-letter nouns.  eg. tree, rock, rain, wind, leaf, wolf, lion, etc.

Procedure.  

1. Start by asking students to write an acrostic based on one of the words.  For example;

       W          Whistling

       I            In

      N           Night’s

      D           Darkness

 2. Ask them to use one of the words as the first word in a cinquain. For example:

Wind

blowing strong,

stripping leaves from trees

tearing the tiles from the roofs,

whipping the sea to a white froth:

Storm.

3. Ask them to write a quatrain with one of the words at the end of the first line.

At night I listen to wind,

Hear its voice rise to a howl.

Then as the storm passes and calms,

I sleep to the hoot of an owl.

4. Ask them to write a haiku with one of the words as its theme.

Breathless, hot morning,

Leaves listless, flowers drooping-

This sudden cool breeze.

 Comments.

 1. It will not usually be possible to try all these ideas in one lesson period.  But you can spread them out as a regular part of your lesson over a period of time.

2. You can experiment with words of five letters or even six, but more than this may prove too difficult and take up too much time.

 What’s in front of me?

 Aims.  Language aims: to extend and reinforce the vocabulary of description.

             Educational aims: to encourage close observation and attention to detail.

 Preparation:  None.

 Procedure.  

1. Ask students to look carefully at everything they can see from where they are sitting.  They should make notes on what they can see.  They need to take note of details, not just generalities.  eg. Not just ‘a pencil’ but  ‘A yellow pencil with six sides.  The point is sharp but the end is rough where it has been chewed.’ 
2. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for this, then collect feedback from the whole class. 
3. Ask students to choose four of the things they noticed and to write one short stanza about each one of them.  They should mention factors such as colour, size, shape, special features. Each line should end with a simile.  Here is an example:

 On the table there is a glass,

Tall and straight-sided.

It is half full of water.

The sun is shining through the water

It glows like a crystal lamp.

Comments.  

1. If the context allows, ask students to go to a window and look out ar all they can see.  Alternatively, take them outside the school and ask them to observe all the things they can see in a 360 degree radius.
2. To follow up the exercise from outside, ask them to focus on one small item and write about that.  So they would have two pieces of writing: one about the many things in the 360 degree view, and one about a single, small item.  (I owe this idea to Kirk Branch from our workshop in Kawasoti, Nepal)

 A moment in…

 Aims:  Language aims:  to develop descriptive language in a variety of contexts.

             Educational aims:  to develop the ability to notice important details, which open up new ways of seeing the world.

 Preparation:   In the lesson before this one, ask students to choose a place where they might be (in the library, in a kitchen, on the bus, in the bath, in bed, in a shop, etc.)  They should spend some time in that place before they come to class next time, observing and noticing things which are there, interpreting them in an unusual away.  They should come to class prepared to write about their experience.    

Procedure.  

1. Check that everyone has done the preparation by asking a few students to mention the place they will be writing about. 
2. Ask them to write a short piece about the place they chose.  This can be either prose or poetry.  Tell them to write about it as if they were a visitor from Mars seeing that place for the first time.

For example: 

This platform is covered by a coloured surface.  At one end there is a white cloud.  On the cloud there is a round object.  Part of it is white and smooth, the rest is covered with a dark fur.  There are seven holes in it.  From one of them comes a noise like ‘aaaaargh’. 

3. Allow about 20 minutes for the writing..…Students then share their writing in threes.  If there is time, invite students to read to the rest of the class.

 Comments.  

1. An excellent way to stimulate close observation – seeing things in a different way from what is normal.
2.  With advanced students, you might like to check out the poem by Craig Raine: A Martian Sends a Postcard Home.
3. Try asking them to write from a first person perspective.  eg. I am lying in bed.  Above my head there are some cracks in the ceiling.  They look like a bird flying…etc.

I like tasting words…

 Aims:  Language aims:  to help students develop associative networks of vocabulary, and near lexical equivalents. 

            Educational aims:  to foster personal relationships with the words and concepts in the foreign language. 

Preparation:   None. 

Procedure: 

1. Write on the board; I like ending words.  Then solicit words to do with ending. For example: end, close, conclusion, terminal, finish, shut down, etc. 
2. Then explain that this can be a way of developing a simple poem: 

I like ending words;

close, end, finish

terminate, conclusion

finalise, complete.

Yes, I love ending words. 

3. Now ask them to do the same with any four of the following words, so that they will have a poem with four stanzas based on the above model:  starting words, tasting words, hearing words, sweet words, active words, sleepy words, circular words, noisy words, quiet words, dry words, wet words, bright words, expensive words, empty words, calm words, violent words, etc.     
4. Allow about 15 minutes for this, then ask for volunteers to read their poems to the class. 

Comments: 

1. This is a very simple way to stimulate interest and revision of words with a similar associative feel.
2. Obviously, you can vary the activity in any way you like – by adding words, by specifying how many words there should be in each stanza etc.

Listen to a story

(By Jayashree Mohanraj) (Updated on 1 July 2013)

      Level : Primary

      Materials required:  A simple story from Panchatantra/ Ananse Tales

      Time : 25 minutes

      Purpose: Listening for details

      Pre-listening activity:  Ask the learners if they know any stories. Ask at what time they prefer to  

      listen to stories.

Narrate the story: In the forest lion is the king of all animals. It hunts small animals and eats them. Once a lion thought, ‘why should I take the trouble of hunting? I can ask the animals to send one animal to my cave each day and I can have it as my meal.’ So he sent the order to the animals. One by one the animals started becoming meals to the lion king. One day they had a meeting and were very sad that all of them were going to die one by one. Then a small animal the rabbit had an idea. It said it would go to the lion the next day. The next day the rabbit slowly went to the lion. It was already late. The lion was very angry. The rabbit told the lion that as it was coming another lion stopped it and wanted to eat it. At this the lion got angry. ‘I am your king. How can there be another lion king in the forest?’ he asked. The rabbit offered to show him where the other lion was. The rabbit took the lion to a deep well. When the lion peeped inside he saw his own reflection. Thinking it was another lion he jumped into the well and died. Thus the clever rabbit could kill a powerful lion and save the animals of the forest.

 Post-listening activity:  Ask one of the learners to narrate the story again. Ask the others to help the narrator wherever he/she forgot the details. 

Variation:                   i.   Ask the learners to assume the roles of the lion and the rabbit and build up the dialogue.

                                 ii. Ask  what other thing the rabbit could do to save the animals from the lion.

                        [This activity is included in the book I have recently written. The book is not yet published]

Three more activities (Alan Malay) (updated on 29 August 2013)

Inside people’s heads. 
 
Aims. 
 
Language aims : to draw on existing vocabulary and re-use it creatively. 
Educational aims: to help students see the world through another’s eyes. 
 
Preparation: Make copies of this poem: 
 
A Boy’s Head 
 
In it there is a space-ship 
and a project 
for doing away with piano lessons. 
 
And there is 
Noah’s ark,  
which shall be first. 
 
And there is 
an entirely new bird, 
an entirely new hare, 
an entirely new bumble-bee. 
 
There is a river 
that flows upwards. 
 
There is a multiplication table. 
 
There is anti-matter. 
 
And it just cannot be trimmed. 
 
I believe 
that only what cannot be trimmed 
is a head. 
 
There is much promise 
in the circumstance 
that so many people have heads. 
 
~ Miroslav Holub (1923-1998), Czech poet  
 
Procedure: 
 
1. Students brainstorm in groups of four to answer the question, ‘What kinds of things are going on in a young boy’s head?’ They should make notes of their ideas. 
 
2. Collect feedback from the whole class, then distribute copies of the poem (one copy between each pair of students) 
 
3. In pairs they read and discuss the poem. Answer any questions which arise. 
 
4. Individually, students now use their ideas from the brainstorming to write a poem based on the model. it is better to limit the number of lines to 10 maximum. 
 
5. For homework, they revise their poems, and share them in the next lesson. 
 
Comments 
 
1. In future lessons, you can vary the activity by focusing on what is happening inside a young girl’s head, an old woman’s head, the head of someone who is about to have an operation, the head of a condemned prisoner on the morning of his execution, etc. 
 
2. Make sure the poems are published (ie. made public) in some form – as a display, a brochure, put on the class website,. performed publicly… 
 
  
 ------
  
 
 
Talk to the mirror. 
 
Aims :  
 
Language aims – to revise and stimulate existing vocabulary, especially to do with 
facial features and expressions 
Educational aims – to help see the world through another’s eyes, to think critically 
about personal appearances. 
 
Preparation  
 
1. Prepare copies of this poem. 
 
The Face in the Mirror. Robert Graves. 
 
Grey haunted eyes, absent-mindedly glaring 
From wide, uneven orbits, one brow drooping 
Somewhat over the eye 
Because of a missile fragment still inhering, 
Skin-deep, as a foolish record of old-world fighting. 
 
Crookedly broken nose – low tackling caused it; 
Cheeks furrowed: coarse grey hair, flying frenetic; 
Forehead, wrinkled and high; 
Jowls, prominent; ears, large; jaw, pugilistic; 
Teeth, few; lips full and ruddy; mouth, ascetic. 
 
I pause with razor poised, scowling derision 
At the mirrored man whose beard needs my attention, 
And once more ask him why 
He still stands ready, with a boy’s presumption, 
To court the queen in her high pavilion. 
 
2. Ask everyone to bring a hand mirror to class. 
 
 
Procedure.  
 
1. Do a quick revision with the whole class of all the parts of the face and the expressions it can have. eg. lips, eyes, forehead, chin, cheeks, hair, etc. smiling, scowling, frowning, etc. Write these on the board if necessary. 
 
2. Distribute the poem (one for each pair of students). Give them 10 minutes to read it together, and note anything they do not understand. 
 
3. Check that they have fully understood the poem. The last two lines are especially important in understanding what is happening: he is an old man going out to meet a younger woman. 
 
4. Now students write a poem about their own faces, using the hand mirror to check details. As well as writing about what they can see, they should include something about how they feel – as Graves did. About 10 lines is enough. 
 
5. Have students share their work in pairs. Then ask them to edit their poems for the next class., when they will read them aloud to the others, either in groups of six, or to the whole class.  
 
 
Comments.  
 
1. This is a very effective way of revising vocabulary. 
 
2. It is also an excellent way to develop close observation, and self-awareness. 
 
Follow up. 
 
1. There are many poems about mirrors or reflection. The following are very easy to find on the www: Ask students to find one they especially like and bring it to class to share. 
Thomas Hardy: I look into my glass… 
Alistair Reid. The Water Glass. 
Louis MacNeice. Reflection. 
Sylvia Plath.. Mirror 
 
2. Some students may get so involved in this that they will put together a little collection of mirror/reflection poems. 
  
  
 
 ---- 
 
 
I want to throw away… 
 
Aims 
Language aims – to develop and review vocabulary, especially the vocabulary of  feelings., objects and memories. 
Educational aims - to help students reflect on what is important in their lives, and what is not. 
 
Preparation  
 
1. Find the poem from the www, One Art. The art of losing….by Elizabeth Bishop and print it out. – enough for one between two. 
 
Procedure.  
 
1. Do a class brainstorming activity based on this question: ‘If you had to get rid of objects in your life, what would they be?’ Collect feedback and write some of the ideas on the board, eg. My old mobile phone, the shirt that doesn’t fit me any more, the shoes I got as a present but which I don’t like….etc.  
 
2. Now ask them to brainstorm the same question about memories. Memories they would like to get rid of. Again collect feedback and nice interesting ideas on the board. 
 
3. Repeat the activity – this time about feelings or aspects of their character they would like to get rid of. eg. my moody character, my quick temper, my unhappiness about my boyfriend, etc. 
 
4. . Now students work individually to write a short poem using the stem:  
 
I want to throw away….  
 
They can use any of the ideas they got from the brainstorming activity. About 10 lines maximum should be suitable. 
 
5. Let them edit their poems as homework, then present them to the class in the next lesson. 
 
Comments.  
 
1. This is an activity which needs to be handled with sensitivity. If you think that memories and feelings might result in some students becoming upset, then stick to objects. Objects are relatively safe. 
 
2. An alternative way to do this is to have them write a poem based on objects in one lesson. Then a few lessons later, return to the idea, and base it on memories. 

Follow up. 
 
1. Distribute the poem by Elizabeth Bishop (see above), and let them compare what they wrote with her poem. 
 
2. Ask them to go to the www and find at least one other poem about getting rid of unwanted things.