Monthly Archives: March 2014
Text summary and analysis
This is a great way to get Proficiency students (although it could be adapted for Advanced or FCE students) reading, finding useful vocabulary in the text and sharing it with each other. I got it from the inspiring Elspeth Pollock who gave a talk on teaching CPE students in Seville in February. She reminded us that […]
Spelling Bee: dictogloss and games
Whilst marking my students’ exams, I was thinking about how often they lose points not for lack of knowledge or comprehension, but due to misspelling the answer. Then I thought about how often we have spelling tests in class: never! So I came up with this lesson about spelling bees involving a dictogloss and spelling […]
Pas Cap (A spelling game)
I loved this game when I was learning French at school (probably because I was really good at it) and was delighted to be able to use it in class yesterday. I know it as Pas Cap (short for Pas Capable?), and I’m sure it has a name in English but I don’t know what […]
CPE Exam Practice Record
Following on from my recent post about exam classes, I have produced, in collaboration with my students, this CPE exam practice record. We’ll see how it goes. I hope they can use it to keep track of what they’ve done, to note how to help themselves improve and record their improvements. Feel free to try it […]
Do you teach… A) the book B) the exam C) English D) your students?
(This post is a bit of a break from the norm – it’s some thoughts, ideas and questions aiming towards a resource for planning, rather than an activity.) It’s exam time at my school (Academia Britanica, aka IH Huelva), and my FCE and CPE students and I are preparing for the exams with a view […]
Wooden Spoon Speculations
I found this game on a party games website sometime a couple of years ago. It’s a guessing game that works well in a class of students who are fairly comfortable with each other and have a good sense of humour. Students can use it to practise speculative language. Equipment needed: 2 wooden spoons; one […]
A Hive of Activities 