Is it Teachable?
Words with the Suffix ‘-able’: Lesson Plan The ability to use suffixes changing a word from one word class to another is what makes our vocabulary flexible and dynamic. It allows us to play around with words and create new…
Category lesson plans and activities
Manners Matter: ‘Move Fast and Break Things’
Manners Maketh Man: Lesson Plan This lesson plan (suitable for intermediate to upper-intermediate levels) is designed around a brilliant short film about Facebook manners. Students discuss new vocabulary and evolving uses of words related to Facebook and social media, give…
DANCE-ISH?
“I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave…
ARE YOU TICKETY-BOO?
Guess the Meaning of the Word: Borrowed Words/Loanwords in English Have students guess the meaning of a particular word (that has a certain degree of the ‘wow factor’). TICKETY-BOO? Listen to the song and try to guess the meaning of…
Passing the Barriers: First Meetings
A series of recent experiments carried out by psychologists reveal that it takes a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger that does not significantly change afterwards. What does it mean for teachers? It means that,…
Reading Shakespeare: Making it a Living Experience
“Nothing worth having comes easily. The enjoyment kicks in when you really start to get it, when you finally meet William Shakespeare on his own turf and his language begins to open new doors in your consciousness”. Joseph Smigelski This…
It’s All about Tenses: Time to ‘Chocolate’
Tense? Moody? Irregular? You must be a verb. Chillax and eat chocolate! Here are a few extension activities to my Sloth’s Guide to Chillaxing and Tense Review. Ask your students to use the verb ‘to chocolate’ (to eat chocolate and…
MERRY CHRISTMAS! (WICKED VERSION)
Eat Chocolate and Play Wicked Games Ho ho ho, we’ve already seen and tried many Christmas activities for those who love a) decorating Christmas trees, b) redecorating Christmas trees; c) doing Christmas quizzes; d) making sweet Christmas dishes or just…
USING ART IN THE CLASSROOM: LESSON PLAN
“Oscar Wilde quite rightly said, ‘All art is useless’. And that may sound as if that means it’s something not worth supporting. But if you actually think about it, the things that matter in life are useless. Love is useless.…
NeuroELT
7 PRINCIPLES – ONE TEXT – MULTIPLE ACTIVITIES – ONE FINALE Here’s my attempt to connect the things we are learning from neuroscience with particular learning objectives, and design a set of more “brain-compatible” activities to be used in the…
