Olympic activities

Martin Sketchley has put together a great series of activities (Pre-Intermediate+)
to coincide with the Olympic games. They include:

• a reading dictation
• a reading really
• a who wants to be a Millionaire type Olympics game

There's also a special Olympics set of words to go with the vocabulary game Pic-your-wits that you can play with your students in class or get them to do for homework

Using the vocabulary game Pic-your-wits in class

Use Pic-your-wits to introduce a topic you are working on in class or as support material for it. It will also work well as a standalone activity that energises your class and changes its dynamics. In addition, it can be used by students as a self-study resource or for homework.


Access the game on Facebook or the LearnEnglish Teens site


For lots of ideas how to use it in and out of class go to the TeachingEnglish website

Online activities from Jon Flyn – Charles Dickens’ London – lesson plan based on the game

Level: Upper Intermediate/ Advanced

Location: Computer Classroom

Skills Focus: Reading

Language Activity: Note-taking

Language focus: Used to/ would/ could have

Game: Charles Dickens’ London

To celebrate the bi-centennial anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, Digital Play has found a game for you packed full of lovely written text for your learners to practice reading and learn a little bit about what living around the year 1812 would have been like. I’ve got learners to play this game as a straight reader. That is, they read it for their own pleasure but they may use an online dictionary if they really want to. However, this game also works well with note-taking while playing and then later generating sentences that focus on used to and would. Of course, a presentation and a little practice on this language is best before the game particularly if you ask learners to predict what life was like 200 years ago (when Dickens lived). You also have to be sure you’ve covered the main differences between used to and would. Could have sentences come mainly from the game which tells you what you could have done by a certain stage but didn’t.

Preparation

Print of a copy of the Charles Dickens’ London worksheet. Present and practice the target language.

Pre-play

Hangman Charles Dickens on the board and elicit and information about him. (Do your students know who he is?).

Tell them he lived in London 200 years ago and elicit a few used to and would sentences from students about him. Hand out the worksheet and in pairs learners make a few predictions.

Play

Learners take the worksheet to the computer room and sit in pairs (player and note-taker)

Learners find the game. (Google – Charles Dickens London game).

Stress they need to play the game and take notes. The first person to finish note taking can play and do no writing. If you see a pair playing and not note-taking click on the refresh button at the top – they restart the game. One learner plays the game while the other takes notes. Change every 5 minutes or so. Monitor and elicit sentences verbally from learners who use their notes.

Post Play

Learners compare notes and expand on their own if necessary.

Learners make sentences using their notes and target language.

Learners write a composition about Life in Charles Dickens London.

If you like this lesson plan, check out the Digital Play blog for lots more!

Online activities from Jon Flynn – The Grammar of Doom – an adventure game.

The Grammar of Doom

Okay, here's the story. You are an adventurer trying to find the secret to the mystical Temple of Doomed Grammar. There are ten rooms in the temple, and each one is full of tricks and traps. You need to use your English grammar and vocabulary to get through the rooms. Each room that you complete gives you one word of the password sentence that you need to finish the game. (Remember the password because you will need it for the next room!) You are told exactly what to do before you enter each room. (Okay, I admit this is a reading comprehension - but don't blame me if you keep dying because you have not read it.)