Warm-up activities General 热身运动

Warm-up activities ( General )
Before giving these activities to the students, try to do them yourself, pretending you’re a student. This will give you a clear idea of how easy / difficult they are.
Don’t forget to give time limits for many of these acti vities. Warm-up activities should take 5-10 minutes only.
Grades
This refers to what grades these activities are suitable for. Most are suitable for all grades, but some of the more complex activities should be done at grades 8 or 9.
Interaction
The first time you introduce new activities to your students, it will be necessary to let the students know how the activity works. Explanations are usually not enough. The best way is to demonstrate it by using some of the stronger students in the class. Ask a few questions at the end to check whether students understand. Suitable questions are :
•What is the first thing you need to do?
•What do you do after that?
Once you are convinced that students have understood how it works, they can continue the activity in pairs / groups.
There are 3 main types of interaction in these warm-up activities :
•Pairs ( 2 students working together )
•Groups ( 3 or more students working together )
•Class ( teacher conducting activity in front of class for everyone to see )
•Mill ( students walking around the class, asking eachother questions )
Preparation
If the activity requires the teacher to prepare something before the class or at the start of the activity, the notes in this column will explain what to do.
Rationale
The reason behind the activity.
Follow-up
An optional activity to do at the end.
SPECIAL NOTE
These warm-up activities have been selected as they :
•need no or little preparation
•are suitable for large classes
•are adaptable to many different topics
•are simple to explain / demonstrate
•are easy to set up
•are short
Dictogloss ( sentences )
Grades Any
Interaction Individual > groups
Language
Focus
Any
Preparation Prepare some 5-6 sentences you would like to review.
Tell students that you will read some sentences one by one. You will read them twice
only. The first time they should simply listen, while the second time they should write
down the full sentence.
Procedure 1. Read the first sentence. After reading it let students think about it, but do not let them write anything.
2. Read the sentence a second time. Afterwards, allow students to write the sentence
from their memory.
3. Repeat stages 1-2 until all the sentences have been read.
4. Students work in groups and compare.
5. Choose some groups to write their sentences on the board and check for mistakes.
Students compare their own or their partner’s work with the answers on the board.
Points could be awarded.
Dictation activities
Grades All
Interaction Pairs
Preparation Prepare sentence to dictate using language you want to review.
Blank dictation 1. Dictate sentences containing “blanks”. For example :
Teacher reads : He goes to school “blank” bus.
Student writes : He goes to school __ bus.
2. Students should write an appropriate word in the blanks once they have written all the sentences.
Mistakes dictation 1. Dictate sentences containing mistakes ( e.g. not enough words, wrong word, too many words, tense, etc. ). E.g. He go to school by bus.
2. Students correct the sentences once they have written all the sentences.
Scrambled dictation 1. Dictate sentences, but read the words in the wrong order. For example : “by he to bus school goes”.
2. Students write down the words and then out them in the correct order.
Mystery object / person
Grades All
Interaction Pairs / groups
Preparation None
Language
Focus
Present / past simple ( yes / no questions )
Procedure 1. A famous character from movies, politics or sports is chosen either by a student in a group. The other students must guess who he or she is by asking questions. The student
being questioned may only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Either the students have to guess the
name in fewer than 10 or so questions. Or set a time limit
This can also be done with jobs, animals, or objects.
Examples of questions for a mystery object :
•“Is it heavy?”
•“Do you find it indoors?”
•“Do you have one?”
Variation 1 Stick a piece of paper on all the students’ backs with the name of an object / person / job.
Students have to go around the class asking yes / no questions until they find out what /
who they are. Add the rule that you cannot ask someone more than 1 question. This
encourages them to change partners.
Sit down after a question
Grades All
Interaction Groups of 5-6
Preparation None
Any
Language
Focus
Procedure 1. Tell students what structure you want them to focus on. They should write one true statement about themselves using the structure ( e.g. Present perfect : I have visited the
Great wall ).
2. Groups stand up. One student sits down and reads his / her sentence. The others
members of the group ask that student one question ( e.g. When did you visit the Great
Wall? ). Once a student has asked a question, they can sit down.
3. When all students have sat down, a different student reads out his / her sentence, and
the process is repeated until all students have read out their sentences.
Rationale This method encourages students to ask questions as few want to be the last student remaining standing!
Remember the last class
Grades All
Interaction Pairs / groups
Preparation None
Any
Language
Focus
Procedure 1. Ask the class what the topic was of the previous lesson. If they can’t remember, tell them to have a quick look inside their books.
2. Ask students to write down everything they can remember from the previous lesson
( words / phrases ) without opening their books.
3. Ask a few students to come out and write on the blackboard what they can remember.
4. When you have your blackboard full of words and phrases, stop the class and ask
everybody to look at it and check if the spellings are right and to remember the meanings
or to try to use in an example sentence.
Rationale The final stage of using the board means there is a sense of shared memory in the class and a clear focus for the activity.
Teapotting
Grades All
Interaction Pairs / groups
Preparation None
Present / past simple questions
Language
Focus
Procedure A student thinks of a verb and the other students have to discover the verb by asking questions using the word ‘teapot’ or something similar instead of the verb.
eg: ‘Did you teapot at home yesterday?’
Pass the Ball
Grades All
Interaction Groups of 4-5
Preparation
Any
Language
Focus
Procedure 1. Students stand or sit in a circle. A student holding the ball speaks a selected grammatical structure such as ‘I like…but I do not like…’ or‘I can…but I can’t...’. Then
the student throws the ball to another student.
2. The catching student must first report what the student said ‘Sam likes… but he does
not li ke…’ or‘Sam can…, but he can’t…’. Then the student adds his own sentence and
tosses the ball. If a student cannot remember or makes an incorrect sentence, they are
“out”. The last remaining student is the winner.
Variation 1 To make it more challenging, ask students to name items in alphabetical order ( e.g. he doesn't like apples, but he likes bananas ).
Make a Sentence
Grades All
Interaction Class > groups
Preparation None
Language
Any
Focus
Procedure 1. Demonstrate this activity first as a whole class activity, by dividing the class into 2 teams. Make a table of 5 x 5 squares on the board, and write a different word in each
square. The students must make a sentence using a word in the square. You can specify
what grammar structure the students are to use such as present continuous or present
perfect. You should also specify the minimum number of words required in each
sentence. If a team makes a sentence without any grammatical errors, they OWN that
square. They must own 3 or 4 squares in a connected diagonal, horizontal or vertical line
to win the game. The other team tries to block them from winning.
2. Eventually, this activity could be played in groups. If some groups are not sure whether
or not a sentence is correct, they can ask the teacher to come and check.
Truths and lies
Grades All
Interaction Mill
Preparation Prepare 3 simple statements about yourself using the structures ( e.g. present perfect tense ) that you want to practice or review. Some should be true, while others should be
false.
e.g. I have travelled by airplane
I have met a famous person.
I have visited the Great Wall.
Language
Any
Focus
Procedure 1. Tell students you will read some sentences about yourself and that some sentences are true, while others are false. After each sentence they should guess.
2. Reveal the correct answer after each sentence. Students give themselves 1 point if
they guessed correctly. For the false statements, tell them what the true answer is ( e.g. I
haven’t visited the Great Wall, but I have visited the Summer Palace! ).
3. When students have guessed all your sentences tell them to write 3 sentences about
themselves, including some true and false ones, just like in your example. Give the
students the structure(s) or sentence stems you want them to use in their sentences.
4. Students walk around the class reading their statements to other students who have to
decide whether each one is true or false. If they guess correctly, they get a point. To
make it more interesting give out fake money, which students can win for correct
guesses.
5. At the end, students should count up their points, and the student wit the most is the
winner.
Variation 1 To make the activity faster, tell students they should write two true sentences and one false one. When students guess, they simply have to guess which one is false. Variation 2 With higher levels, leave out the writing stage. However, make sure you give them enough time to think of some true / false statements about themselves! To make it even
mo re challenging, allow the people guessing to ask questions. For example : “When did
you travel by plane?” or “Which airline did you travel with?”
Variation 3 For lower levels, this could be played in teams of 3. Teams work together to write some true / sentences about the people in their group ( using the target language ) and read
them to another group who guess whether the statements are true or false.
2 things in common
Grades 8,9
Interaction Mill
Preparation None
Language
Choose one or more language structures to focus on.
Focus
Procedure 1. Students they must walk around and find 2 things in common with as many people as they can using the structure ( e.g. Present simple for routines & can for abilities ) set by
the teacher. Each time they find something in common, they should write a short
sentence ( e.g. Xia and I both usually get up at 6am, Xia and I can both swim.”
2. When they have found 2 things in common, they should change partners, but they are
not allowed to ask the same questions ( e.g. What time do you usually get up? Can you
swim? )
3. Feedback - ask 3-4 students for the most interesting things they found out.
Turn left, turn right
Grades All
Interaction Class
Preparation Look at some of your students’ common mistakes an d prepare a list of sentences related to the language you have taught. Some sentences should be correct, while others should
be wrong.
Any
Language
Focus
Procedure 1. Students stand up. Read out the sentences one by one. After each sentence, students turn left if they think the sentence is grammatically correct, and right if they think the
answer is wrong.
2. Reveal whether the sentence is correct or wrong. Students give themselves 1 point if
they got the answer right.
3. For the sentences which have a mistake, give students a minute to correct the
sentence. Reveal the correction, and students can give themselves a bonus point if they
were right.
At the end, students should count up their points, and the student wit the most is the
winner.
Rationale This is more interesting than students simply writing the answers. Standing up makes students more active, and it gives students a break from sitting passively.
Question dictation
Grades All
Interaction Class > pairs
Preparation Look at the words the class has been studying ( e.g. widowed, nationality, retired religion ) and write out about 8 questions which include the words either in the question
or in the answer.
•Is Prince Charles widowed?
•What nationality is David Beckham?
One could also include personalized questions :
•Is your father retired?
•What’s your religion? are most Malaysians?
Any
Language
Focus
Procedure 1. Explain you’ll be reading out 8 questions twice and they’re to write down the answers only. The first time, read them out with pauses between each question to allow
students to think about both the question and their answer. The second time read
them out without the pauses.
2. Students compare with their partner
3. Go through the questions & answers one by one. For “personalized” questions, ask
several students to give their answers.
Rationale This flexible, simple, and highly effective activity allows students to see vocabulary and grammar structures used in different contexts.
Follow up Ask students to look at their answers and reconstruct the questions.
Team quiz
Grades All
Interaction Groups
Preparation Prepare question to ask
Language
All
Focus
Procedure Call out questions – ss answer them in groups – reveal answer after each one. ( teams could write answers )
e.g.
•What is the past tense of…?
•How do you spell…?
•What is the job of someone who works in a hospital and looks after patients? Turn left / right
Grades All
Interaction Class
Preparation Prepare question to ask
Language
All
Focus
Procedure 1. Ask students to stand up. Call out questions with 2 choices ( yes / no, true / false, or correct / wrong ). Students turn left for one answer ( e.g. yes ), and right for the opposite
answer ( e.g. no ).
2. Reveal the answer after each time. Students should count up how many correct
answers they have. The winner is the person with the most correct answers at the end.
Rationale This could be simply done with the students sitting down and writing the answers down, but the physical movement of turning left and right makes this activity more motivating
and fun.
First letter guessing
Grades All
Interaction Mill / groups / pairs
Preparation Select some language that the students have studied. For example, if the students have studied vocabulary about animals, like & don’t like, and the modal “can”, write the
following on the board :
Favourite animal D
Like T
Can S
All
Language
Focus
Procedure 1. Tell students to copy the table and in the second column, they should write the first letter of the answer.
Favourite animal D
Like T
Can S
2. Students swap papers with eachother and then guess by asking full questions :
e.g. Is your favourite animal a dog? No
A dolphin? Yes
Do you like talking? No
Travelling? Yes!
Can you swim? Yes!
Same and different
Grades All
Interaction Pairs
Preparation None
Any
Language
Focus
Procedure Using the language that the students have previously studied, students should find 3 things the same and 3 things different to their partner.
For example, if the students have been studying present simple tense and learning how
to tell the time, they could ask questions like :
Do you usually get up at 6am? Yes, I do.
So do I ( students note “get up” in same column )
Do you usually go o school at 7am? No, I don’t I usually go to school at 7.15a m.
( students note down in “different” column.
Variation 1 Students find 5 things the same only.
Sit down after asking a question
Or
Questions, please!
Grades 8,9
Interaction Class, groups
Preparation Students prepare 1 or 2 statements about themselves using the target language. These can be as personal or impersonal as they wish. e.g. I’ve got an older brother, I like
traveling
Language
Any
Focus
Procedure 1. Students stand up. One student from the group reads out one of his / her statements.
2. Explain that they can sit down after they’ve asked that student one ( or two? )
question.
3. When everyone is sitting down, another students reads out his / her statement and
repeat the procedure.
Rationale This method encourages students to ask questions as few want to be the last student remaining standing!。