Family tree mobile

Materials: Paper, crayons, string, hole punch, coat hangers (1 per student).
Preparation: Cut paper into 8 cm squares and punch a hole at one end (approximately 6 per student). Cut string into different lengths.
Directions: Distribute paper squares and crayons. Have students draw a picture of an immediate family member on each square.
Then help them tie string to each square and then to the hanger.
Finally, help students hold up their mobiles and describe their families e.g. This is my mom. This is my sister. I have two brothers, etc.

Sort the objects

Materials: 6 boxes or containers, a large bag, classroom realia: crayons, pencils, scissors, glue, books (5 of each).
Preparation: Attach the crayon, pencil, scissors, glue, book and paper cutouts one to each box. Display the boxes at the front of the classroom.
Directions: Put all the realia in a large bag in front of students. Have the puppet help you carry the bag. Walk a little with the puppet, then drop the bag by accident, spilling out all of the school objects.
Have students help the puppet put all the objects in the corresponding boxes. Call up individual students to pick up one of the objects and put it in the correct box. Encourage the class to give instructions for putting the objects in the box. e.g. (name), come here. Pick up a crayon. Put it in the box.

Roll the ball

Materials: Different-sized soft balls, sheets of cardboard, large boxes (4 of each).
Preparation: If possible, take students outside. If not, make a large space in the classroom.
Directions: Have all the students sit on one side of the room. Give balls to four students and stand five meters away. Have stusdents roll the balls to you one by one.
Then have four students sit next to you. Give the four balls to different students. Repeat the procedure until all the students have had a turn.
Next, have students sit in a horseshoe shape. Lean one of the sheets of cardboard against a box in the moddle. Take one of the balls and allow it to roll down the slope of cardboard and across the floor. Stand in the spot where it rests. Invite some students to do the same.
Divide the class into four groups. Have groups set up their own slopes and tell students to take turns rolling.
Finally, have students sit in a circle and roll the balls to each other.

Storytelling and Pre-Schoolers

 We start with the story

• Identify the child's interest.
• If you know them well, great; if not, think about that age group.
• Animals
• Stories where children their age are heroes
• Stories about things children like to do: getting dirty, playing with an adult around, trying something new for the first time, etc. 

 Where do you find good stories?

• Stories from your head (remembered, made up)
• Picture books (especially if trying to excite reading)
• Your school library 
• Family stories (but don't discover yourself on other people's time!)

In, on and under game

Materials: tables, chairs, a large box, toys or stick puppets.
Preparation: If possible, take students to work in a large space outside the classroom. If not, clear a place in the middle of your classroom.
Directions: Place a table, a chair and the box in the middle of your workspace. Have students sit in a circle around the objects.
Hold up the toys or puppets and put them in, on and under the objects, describing where are they.
T: She is in the chair. She is in the box. She is under the table.
Give instructions to individual students to place themselves in different places.
T: Sit under the table. Sit on the chair. Sit in the box.
Have some students give instructions to others.
Then seat students in the middle of the workspace. Arrange several tables, chairs and the box around students to make an obstacle course. Direct students one by one to go through the obstacle course.
T: In the box. Under the table. On the chair.
After each instruction, make sure students go correctly through the obstacle course. Finally, if it is safe to do so, divide the class into teams, set up enough obstacle courses with tables, chairs and boxes and have students race.

Sentence chains

Start off a sentence chain with the conditional: If I study hard, I'll pass my English test. A student continues the chain: If I pass my English test, I'll visit New York in the summer. Continue until a student either cannot think of a sentence or makes a mistake. Then start the chain again with a different sentence.

The weather forecast

Hand out maps. Students draw symbols on the map to make a weather forecast for their region for tomorrow. Call on five volunteers to attach their weather maps to the board. Tell the volunteers to imagine that they are meteorologists on TV. They should explain the forecast for tomorrow and tell the viewers what they should wear.

My trip

Students choose a country they like. Write the following cues on the board: Country, City, Language, Important buildings/sights/monuments/museums, food, how many people, interesting facts.
Students look for information about their chosen country in reference books or on the Internet. Then they write a short text about the place they chose. Call on volunteers to read their texts out loud.

Find Someone Who

Write the heading Find Someone Who... and some characteristics on the board: plays the drums, visits museums once a month, drinks orange juice every day, and so on. Have students stand up with their notebook and a pencil. Tell them to walk around the room to find a classmate who has the characteristics listed and to write the person's name on the corresponding lines: Do you play the drums? - Sonia. Have students go back to their seats when they have finished. The first student to complete the list wins the game. Check as a class.

Die Game

Material: A die.
Assign a category to each die number and write the categories on the board: 1. adjective 2. person 3. verb 4. number 5. place 6. object.
Divide the class into small groups. Roll the die and say what the number is. Have teams make a sentence using a word in the corresponding category: 1. My sister is intelligent. If necessary, ask students to clarify their answers: Intelligent is an adjective. Award a point to the group that finishes the sentence first. Repeat the procedure several times. The team with the most points wins the game.

Correcting mistakes

Write some sentences on the board that have deliberate mistakes in them. Divide the class into small groups. Tell them to correct the sentences. The winner is the team that correct the sentences first. Ask volunteers to correct the sentences on the board.

Category Dictation

Ask students to draw four columns in their notebooks, and give them a category for each. Then dictate a series of words that have to sort into categories. Example: Literary genres / Places / MAterials / Colors - purple, theater, myth, museum, library, wood, white, fable, plastic, horror.
The student who finishes first get to dictate more words.

Body Spelling

Divide the class into two or three teams. Display a flashcard or show an object. Have students use their bodies to spell the word. Award a point to the team that correctly spells the word. Repeat with other words.

Bingo!!

On the board, write 10 to 15 vocabulary words that you would like to review. Tell students to choose five of them and write them down. Read aloud the definitions of the words, in any order. Explain to students that any time you read the definition of a word that a student has written down, they can cross off that word. When they have crossed off all their words, they shout BINGO!! Keep a record of what you say to check that students really have heard all their words.
Variation: Students draw pictures that represent the words, instead or writing them.

Back Writing

Divide the class into pairs and assign roles A and B. Have students A stand up facing the board and student B, stand up behind them, facing the other way. Display a flashcard on the board and tell students A to read it, then turn around and use their finger to write the name of the flashcard on their classmate's back. Students B write down the word. Exchange roles several times. Students get a point for every word that is correctly spelled. The student with the most points wins the wame.

Associations

Divide the class into small groups. Write a word on the board. Get students to say a word that is related to the last word said and so on: pig-pink-flower-garden-house-bedroom.
Optional: Students write a story using the words they mentioned.

Silly Outfits

Materials: Foam sheets (various colors), glue, scissors, yarn, markers.
Preparacion: Body shapes: Cut body shapes from pink foam (1per student). Clothing: Cut out different types of clothing from different-colored foam (enough for all students). Hair: Cut yarn into small hair-size pieces.
Directions: Distribute Body shapes and hair. Have students draw on faces with markers and glue on the hair. Distribute clothes and have students glue them onto the bodies. Encourage students to choose different colors for the different clothes.
Invite different students to come up and describe the outfits on their foam bodies.

Buttons, Buttons, Buttons!

Materials: Large collection of old buttons.
Directions: Divide the class into groups of four of five. Place a pile of buttons in the middle of the desk. Give groups commands for sorting the buttons according to their size, their color or the number of holes.
T: Find all the blue buttons. Find all the big buttons.
Then have students make patterns according to their size, color or number of holes.
T: Find a big button. Find a small button. Make a pattern: big, small, big, small.

Weather Dance

Materials:
Different types of music (slow, fast, quiet, loud), Weather Symbols cutouts.
Directions: Play different types of music and hold up different Weather Symbols cutouts. Encourage students to perform actions that reflect the corresponding weather and music.

Clothing Poster

Clothing Poster
Materials: Scissors, crayons, paper, glue, old fashion magazines or clothing catalogs, construction paper (1 per group).
Preparation: Divide the contruction paper into three columns. Draw a sun at the top of the first column, a snowman at the top of the middle column and a cloud with rain at the top of the third column.
Directions: Divide the class into groups of four or five and give each group a sheet of construction paper. Have students identify the weather symbols at the top of each column. Distribute crayons, paper and magazines or catalogs. Have students cut out and glue or draw pictures of clothing in the columns that correspond to the type of weather. Then have groups bring up their posters one at a time and talk about the clothing.
T: What are these?
SR: They're blue sandals.
T: Are they for hot, cold or rainy weather?
SR: Hot.
Display the posters around the classroom.

Making Clouds

Materials: Large glass jar, hot water, small cloth, ice water.
Directions: Soak the cloth in ice water. Fill the jar halfway with hot water. Wring out the cloth and place it over the mouth of the jar so that part of the cloth falls into the jar. As the warm air rises and cools, little clouds will form near the cloth. Explain to students that this is how rain is made.

Snowball Toss

Materials: 2 pairs of white socks, 2 waste paper baskets, masking tape.
Preparation: Roll the socks into "snowballs." Place two lines of masking tape on the floor one meter away from the waste paper baskets.
Directions: Divide the class into two teams. Have teams line up in single file behind each line of masking tape. Make sure the waste paper baskets are at equal distances from the lines. Have the first member of each team come up and try to toss the "snowball" into the basket. Repeat the procedure until all the students have had a turn. Every time a student tosses a snowball in the basket he or she wins a point for his or her team. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Controlled practice game

If students need more controlled practice of a structure try this. Divide the class into groups. One student says two sentences about another student in the group; e.g., Manuela has blue eyes. She doesn't have black hair. The next student repeats the sentences and adds two more of his own. The next student repeats all the sentences so far, and adds another two. If a student forgets or makes a mistake, students go back to the beginning.

Making project work meaningful

The display stage is very important in project work. If nobody looks at projects once they are finished, they lose their value. Once projects are finished, display them on the bulletin board and schedule time for students to look at each other's work. Give them task; e.g., Which project do you like the most? Why? If possible, invite other classes, other teachers, or even the school principal to look at the projects while the students are there. With this kind of attention, students will soon strat trying to do their best.

Open and closed pairs

An open pair is when a student asks a question and another student answers while the rest of the class listens. Use open pairs to check that students can produce the language correctly. A closed pair is when the class is divided into pairs and all the students ask and answer with their partner at the same time. Use closed pairs to give intensive practice, once you are sure that students are clear about the language.