Monthly Archives: October 2013
CPE: Run For Your Life! – Halloween Lesson Plan
This lesson plan is based on an article from The Guardian called Zombie Games: Run For Your Life. It’s about a 5k run called Zombie Evacuation Race where “zombies” run after you and “soldiers” shout at you. This lesson involves CPE exam style tasks – Speaking parts 1 and 2 and also Reading & Use […]
Amy’s Game
This is a very simple warmer that can be good for revising vocab or introducing a topic. I used it yesterday with three different FCE classes (teenagers and adults) at the beginning of a writing lesson. We were writing scary stories for a Halloween competition and so I wanted to get them thinking about spooky […]
Halloween Lesson Plan – In The Room Where You Sleep
I’m posting this Halloween lesson before I’ve actually done it in case anyone else might find it useful. It’s a lesson involving a song and some drawing for my two classes of 10-11 year olds. I’ll comment on it after I’ve done it and hopefully have a video to show for it too! First, I’ll […]
Word association (Mallet’s Mallet)
Here’s a nice quick warmer which has been around for ages (for my generation a version of it was made famous by Timmy Mallet and his mallet). Having an oversized soft or squeaky mallet isn’t necessary in the classroom although it’s not a disadvantage. Get the students sitting in a circle and explain the game. […]
CPE: 60 Second Idea To Change The World
Due to the late delivery of a CD to accompany my CPE text book, I found myself browsing the internet looking for a suitable listening text. I came across this BBC segment called 60 Second Idea To Change The World, part of the Forum on the World Service and decided it was ideal for my class. […]
Cocktail Party
I learnt this icebreaker from Paul Carr, a senior teacher at The Globe School in Exeter, while I was working there this summer and I’ve used it many times since with teenagers and adults. It can be adapted for topic and level as you like. Each student needs a piece of paper and a pen. […]
Invisible Ball
Have I got a great one for you today! I was actually surprised at how successful this one was yesterday – with both my teens and my adults. It’s very simple and it comes from my new favourite warmer resource: this improv comedy site (where they call it Pass Ball). You could use it before any […]
Facts in a Basket
This activity could be used as an icebreaker or a productive task for a variety of ages and levels. It could even be used as a warmer (although it’s not too quick) It’s a variation on a Find Someone Who… type task. Give each student 3 slips of paper. They write one sentence about themselves […]
Pen Grab
This is a great warmer I’ve used many times with different ages and levels. I got it from a talk at an IH conference in Cordoba a couple of years ago, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten the name of the guy who gave it to us. He had a white beard. It’s essentially a timed […]
Christmas Dingbats
This quiz is useful as a warmer or a filler or as part of a larger quiz in a Christmas lesson. It’s not easy – I did it with my advanced students last year and they had a good go at it. I found it on a quiz site called Ken’s Quiz Site. ChristmasDingbatQ ChristmasDingbatA
A Hive of Activities 