So far this month, we have presented games to practice subject-verb agreement and verb tenses. While these are very important grammar skills for English language learners to master, adverbs and adjectives are also critical to add detail to students’ spoken and written work. This week, we will focus on two games to help students practice meanings and how to use both of these parts of speech correctly.

Skills: This game practices adverb meanings and syntax. Students also practice listening and speaking as they play.

Materials:

●      Chairs (one less than the number of students)

●      A list of verbs that students can “do” during the game (see suggestions below or have students brainstorm a list)

●      A list of adverbs that can modify the verbs

●      A device to play music if desired

Example Action Verbs and Adverbs:

How to Play:

1. Set up the chairs. One option is to arrange chairs in two back-to-back rows so that students can move around them. Another option is to spread them out in a random way around the classroom and have students move throughout the space during the activity.
2. Explain to students that you will give a command that contains a verb and an adverb, such as “Students, please crawl slowly.” Even if the verb does not usually require movement (for instance, snore) tell students that they must walk and perform the action so that they are always moving around the chairs.
3. Once the command is given, students must follow it, moving either around the chairs in a circle or throughout the room. You can play music during the time that students are moving if desired.
4. When you want students to stop say, “Stop and sit!” and turn off the music if you are playing it. Students must then find a chair as quickly as possible.
5. Each round will end with one student who is unable to find a chair fast enough. This student is out of the game and must not participate in future rounds. Remove one chair each time a student is eliminated so that there is always one fewer than the number of students.  You can allow the student who is gets eliminated each time to give the command for the next round.
6. Continue until only one chair and two students remain. The last student to claim a seat is the winner!

Skills: During this game, students will practice generating adjectives and using them correctly in sentences. Students will also read and write during the activity.

Materials:

●      Familiar objects that students can easily describe in terms of color, shape, size, taste, smell, or other attributes (Suggestions for items include classroom objects, fruits/vegetables or other foods, toys, familiar books/movies, household items, articles of clothing, etc. If you do not have access to the actual objects, you can also use pictures of items printed from the internet or cut out of magazines.)

●      A large bag/box to put objects and/or pictures in

●      Paper and pencils for each team

●      A timer

How to Play:

1. Divide the class into two to four teams with an equal number of students in each one. Have students arrange themselves according to a characteristic such as age, height, birthday month, etc. Designate which student will go first and be sure that those who follow know the order of who goes next. If your space permits, have students line up accordingly.
2. Choose a “recording area” where each team’s paper and pencils will be located. Ideally each recording area should be an equal distance from where you ask teams to line up. One suggestion is to place a desk or chair at the front of the room for each team. Be sure to separate the desks/chairs sufficiently so that teams cannot see each other’s papers.
3. This game is a relay during which each team competes to quickly write grammatically correct, descriptive sentences about an object (or picture). Explain to students that you will start a timer and then pull an object from the bag and hold it up. As soon as the object is displayed, the first student from each team must hurry to their team’s paper and write a descriptive sentence about the object. Tell students that they must not repeat any of the adjectives already used by their teammates, and that each sentence must be grammatically and mechanically correct to earn a point.
4. When the sentence is complete, they return to their team, lightly tag the next person in line, and get behind the last person in line. The process is repeated, with each new player coming to write a new sentence, until time runs out.
5. When time is up, the teacher checks each paper for correct sentences. A point is awarded for each sentence that accurately describes the object, is grammatically correct, and uses a new adjective. Points should be recorded for each team after each round of play. Alternatively, students can check each other’s work and calculate points.
6. The game is repeated until all of the objects (or pictures) have been presented for students to describe. The team with the most points is the winner.

Adverbs and adjectives can add detail to students’ spoken and written English. Both of the games presented this week will help students incorporate these parts of speech in memorable ways. Give students additional practice with descriptions in English using Guess What? and Picture This! from the Activate Games for Learning American English series.

In this interview, Walker talks about volunteering, Boy Scouts, and being on his high school swim team.

High-Intermediate to Advanced

Speaking, listening (primary focus); writing, reading (secondary focus).

Students will practice using reported speech through a vacation-planning activity.

• Teacher: whiteboard/chalkboard, markers or chalk.
• Students: pencils or pens, notebooks or writing paper.

In this week’s Teacher’s Corner, students will practice phrasal verbs through a vacation-planning activity.

1. Read through all the materials carefully before starting the activity.
2. Print a copy of the Vacation Flyer in Appendix 1 for each pair or small group of students.
3. Print a copy of the Travel Phrasal Verbs card in Appendix 2. A card can be printed for each group or one can be printed and put on the chalkboard/whiteboard for the whole class.

Part 1 – In-Class Practice

1.     Begin the activity by having the students form pairs or small groups.

2.     Inform the students that today you will be discussing vacations.

3.     Next, give each pair or small group of students the Vacation Flyer in Appendix 1.

4.     Give the students time to read the flyer and ask any vocabulary questions they may have.

5.     Next, have the students discuss what they would like to do during the beach vacation shown on the flyer.

a.     Encourage the students to be creative and think of more activities than just those shown on the flyer.

6.     Have the students list the things they want to do on their beach vacation and things they need to do on their vacation.

a.     For example:

7. Give the students time to work on the list. Be sure to circulate among the students and check their work. Encourage them to include write complete sentences, or at least use a verb and a noun in their ideas. Later, students will replace these verbs with phrasal verbs.
8. Next, have the class come back together as a group and share the vacation ideas they brainstormed. List these ideas on the board in a format similar to the table in step 6.
9. Give each group the Phrasal Verbs Travel Card in Appendix 2 or place a copy of the card on the board. Review the phrasal verbs on the card and brainstorm other possible phrasal verbs with the students.
10. Ask the students which verbs can be replaced with phrasal verbs.
    
    1. For example:

i.     Note: Not every verb can be replaced with a phrasal verb.

11.  Encourage the students to be creative and think of more things they may want to do, or need to do, during their vacation. For example:

a.     We should dress up and take pictures at the beach.

b.     We must ask a friend to drop us off at the airport and pick us up when we come home.

c.     It is sunny at the beach, so we should put on sunscreen so we don’t get burned!

12.  Once students have some phrasal verbs to work with, have them write a short speech they can present to the class describing their beach vacation.

d.     Once all the pairs/small groups have presented, have the class vote on each presentation:

i.     Which pair/small group is the most practical and planned the best vacation?

ii.     Which pair/small group will have the most fun on their vacation?

Optional Activity

If time permits, have the students form new pairs/small groups based on the type of vacation they would like to take. For example: an adventure vacation in the mountains, a big-city vacation, a quiet vacation at the beach. Then have them create a new vacation plan that fits the type of vacation they would like to take.

Low-Intermediate to Advanced

Speaking, listening (primary focus); writing (secondary focus)

Students will practice using phrasal verbs through a dialogue practice and a speaking activity.

• Teacher: whiteboard/chalkboard, markers or chalk, computer with speakers, printer  
• Students: pencils or pens, notebooks or writing paper.

This week’s Teacher’s Corner is divided into three parts: a listening dialogue, a review activity, and a speaking activity. The listening dialogue will provide students vocabulary and sentence structure that they can use in the speaking activity. Before using the activity in class:

1. Read through all the materials carefully.
2. Print out the Listening Activity worksheet in Appendix 1. Make enough copies so that each student in class has a worksheet.
3. Print out (or have a digital copy of) the House Party worksheet answer key in Appendix 1 to check answers with the students.
4. Download the House Party Listening audio file included with this week’s materials. Listen to the audio before class.
   • If you do not have a computer to play the audio, you can read the dialogue to students. The listening transcript is in Appendix 4.
5. Print out the House Party worksheet in Appendix 3. Make enough copies so that each student in class has a worksheet.

Part 1 – Listening Activity

1.     Give each student a copy of the Listening Activity worksheet in Appendix 1.

2.     Next, read the directions with the students. The students will listen to the audio and fill in the blanks with the words they hear.

3.     Play the audio and have students fill in the blanks on the worksheet.

• For lower-level classes you may want to play the audio twice.

4.     Review the answers as a group. Have the students check their answers, or they can change papers with a partner and check their partner’s answers.

5.     Play the audio again so students can follow along with the corrected answers on their worksheets.

Part 2 – Phrasal Verbs Charades

1.     Review the phrasal verbs used in the listening activity by playing charades.

• Note: Charades is a guessing game. In charades, one student silently acts out a word or phrase and the rest of the class must guess the word of phrase.

2.     Act out one of the sentences from the listening activity and have the students guess which sentence is it is.

3.     Have students come to the front of the class and act out another sentence from the listening activity.

• For more competitive classes, award points to students who are the first to guess correctly. The student with the most points at the end wins.

Part 3 – House Party!

1.     Begin this part of the activity by having the students create their own sentences on a sheet of paper. Encourage the students to use the pattern used in the listening activity:

• (phrasal verb)  the  (noun)  in/at/on the (location).
• For example: Clean up the pizza boxes in the living room!

2.     Next, give each student a copy of the House Party! worksheet in Appendix 3. Read the directions on the worksheet as a class.

3.     Have the students form pairs. Each pair will have student A and student B.

• Note: This activity will be done in two rounds. During the first round, student A will read his/her sentences and student B will write them down on his/her worksheet. Then the pairs will switch roles.

4.     Next, have student A start a dialogue with student B. Encourage the students to use stress and intonation like they heard in the dialogue. Student A needs to instruct student B on how to clean up the house. Student B should write down on the worksheet the instructions he/she hears from student A.

5.     After they have finished sharing sentences and taking notes, have the students switch roles. Student B will now call student A and give instructions.

Optional Activities

1. If time permits, have the pairs come to the front of the class and act out their dialogue.
2. Another optional activity is charades. Now that students have had a chance to work with the phrasal verbs, have individual students come to the front of the class and act out the sentences they wrote for the House Party! activity.