The New Rose - by Spike Milligan

 The new rose

trembles with early beauty The babe sees the beckoning carmine the tiny hand clutches the cruel stem The babe screams The rose is silent Life is already telling lies.

Read

something out loud.

sdrawkcaB

:saedi emos

1) Spell your name in reverse
2) Count / say the alphabet backwards

3) Write a word in reverse (example: yadretsey)
4) Write words in a sentence in reverse (example: park the to went I yesterday)

5) Write a sentence completely in reverse (example: krap eht ot tnew I tadretsey)

6) Read reversed sentences, maybe make it a game

7) Reverse the rules of a game. For example first team to get 3 in a line loses.

Cake

Using the word cake and the words below

Make some sentences

1, If
2, yet
3, not as
4, since
5, quickly
6, might
7, than
8, most
9, should
10, never

example:

2, I haven't eaten the cake yet

A Land Down Under

G'day

After you've decided if each sentence below is

a FACT, FALSE or an OPINION

make some about the country or place where you live.

AUSTRALIA

1) The official language is French
2) It is the best country in the world!
3) The doctors have wings and can fly

4) The people are so friendly

5) Your teacher is from Australia

6) My mum thinks that Australia is dangerous

7) They use € for money

8) The capital is Sydney

9) There are lots of tigers in Australia

My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun

This poem is a powerful look at the gun violence issue framed through a classroom writing exercise.

The Opposites Game (Youtube video)

Compare & Contrast

 1) Compare and contrast the two words

1, a cat and a dog

2, Spain and Japan

3, Twitter and Instagram

4, The mountains and the beach

5, Watching sport live and watching it on TV

6, Football and basketball

7, The city and the countryside

8, You and your best friend

9, Netflix and the cinema 

and then say which you prefer.

2) Compare and contrast the two words but using the word in (brackets)

1, February, July (however)

2, cat, dog (while)

3, Cádiz, San Fernando (both, but) Two cities 

4, carrot, strawberry (the main difference)

5, France, Argentina (neither)

6, nose, feet (whereas)

7, knife, sword (on one hand)

8, coffee, lemonade (however)

9, teacher, student (unlike)

and then say which you prefer.

Questions

Here are some answers to some questions. What are the questions?

1, I keep in touch with my friends using WhatsApp.
2, My French teacher is fun and explains things very well
3, I like action or fantasy books
4, I’m going to stay at home
5, Yes, I make my bed and help in the kitchen.
6, I’d like to study medicine or maybe be a lawyer
7, Once or twice a month
8, Yes I have. I went in 2018.

9, Not much. I did some homework and then watched Netflix with my cat

Connect Disconnect

Make a list of ten words connected to _____

The words must begin with the letters below:

A ___
B ___
C ___
D ___
E ___
F ___
G ___
H ___

I ___

or

Make a list of ten words not connected to _____.

The words must begin with the letters above

Holidays

Here are ten things people might take on a holiday:

1, a passport

2, pets

3, a suitcase

4, food

5, family

6, a phrase book

7, a hairbrush

8, sun cream

9, a bicycle

10, a sleeping bag

1, What reasons might someone take ___ on holiday?

2, What reasons might someone not take ___ on holiday?

3, What other reasons for and against are there for taking ___ on holiday?

Drawing by Lucía

Dandelion Wine

“A good night sleep, or a ten minute bawl, or a pint of chocolate ice cream, or all three together, is good medicine.”
Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine

What in your opinion is good medicine? Make a list.

What do things Dream of?

Look at this list. What do you think these things dream of?

1, a notebook
2, a streetlight
3, a frog
4, the sea
5, a computer
6, your pet / sibling
7, a wall
8, a lamp
9, a pencil case

Think of another object. What does it dream of?

Here are the efforts from my classes:

My sister dreams of having no siblings

A book dreams of being read

My neighbour’s dream about how they are gonna annoy me

A tree dreams of being inside a forest

People dream that they will be rich

The sea dreams of having more dolphins

An emoji dreams of being in this sentence

A computer dreams that it will dominate the world

My dog dreams of dancing Flamenco

A door dreams of eating ice cream

My cousin dreams of annoying me

A computer mouse dreams of being a real mouse

A pencil case dreams that it will be useful

The sky dreams of having no more clouds

A wall dreams of being painted by a professional

A lamp dreams of being switched off

From Brian Moses

Howmanyywords?

How many words are contained in each sentence.

1, Howdoyouusuallykeepintouchwithyourfriends?

2, Tellmeaboutyourfavouriteteacher.

3, Whatkindofthingsdoyoulikereading?

4, Whatareyougoingtodothisevening?

5, Doyouhelpyourparentswithjobsaroundthehouse?

6. Whatwouldyouliketostudyinthefuture?

7. Howoftendoyougotothecinema?

8. HaveyouevertravelledtoFrance?

9. Whatdidyoudolastnight?

Now answer them.

Drawing by Pelayo

Poetry at Work

I have self. Individuality.

I have intelligence. Capacity.

I have creativity. To transcend.

I have youth. Spirit.

I have space. Radical possibility.

I have praise. Admiration.

I have expectation. Looking forward.

I have memories. Thank you.

Above is a poem by me. Inspired by the poem below by Tomaz Salamun. We could ask our learners - What do you have? And tell me something about it.

News of the World

Here are some headlines:

Can you complete them with your own ideas?

1, Big risk for young people who are _____.

2, Scientists say _____ cream doesn't work.

3, Schools says plastic _____ should be banned.

4, Kids losing language skills due to _____.

5, The happiest country in the world is _____.

6, ____ are helping to save the world's oceans.

7, ____ triggers (starts) global recession.

8, EU says the minimum age to use WhatsApp is _____.

9, ______ swims under water for a record of 32 minutes.

Spoiler. Here are the original words removed:

1, obese  2, sun, 3, straws 4, emoji 5, Finland  6, sharks 7, pandemic 8, 16 9, penguin

Drawing by Hugo (Words added by me)

Always, Sometimes, Never

Decide if these sentences are always, sometimes or never TRUE.

Explain your answers. 

1, I get up early on Saturdays
2, I do my English homework when we have it
3, If you add two odd numbers you get an odd number
4, The Antarctic Circle is located south of the equator
5, Cádiz province is a very hot place
6, The Olympic games take place every 4 years
7, It’s a good idea to use free software
8, Triangles have a line of symmetry
9, Water is a liquid

example

1, Sometimes True: I sometimes get up early on Saturdays because I have a basketball match. If I don't have a match I stay in bed.

Errosr

Can you find the errors in each sentenec?

1, I didn’t have any homeworks so I watched Netflix

2, My dad works like a lawyer 6 days a week
3, Since 3 days I have been trying to call you!
4, We are 6 in the group on Facebook
5, I might come to the party, it depends of my parents letting me
6, I did a mistake so I started again
7, After running to the bus stop we lost the bus
8, I’m agree with you about the best option
9, What means unhealthy?

Comparative Categories

The word is: BUS

Now think of...

1. Something bigger than a bus:
2. Something smaller than a bus:
3. A verb that goes with bus:
4. A word that comes earlier in the dictionary than bus:
5. A longer word beginning with the same letter: 
6. A shorter word beginning with the same letter: 
7. An adjective to describe bus:
8. The opposite of that adjective:

9. Three things similar to a bus:

Now change the word and go again.

Ping Pong Proverbs

This idea from The Philosophy Guy:

Construct a sentence with a partner (or around a group) where you say alternating words in a sentence  – which starts with ALWAYS or NEVER. Is it a good proverb or nonsense? One example from my class below.

A: Always

B: Fly

A: Across

B: the

etc..

Youtube video | Website

Normal Questions. Crazy Answers.

First, complete these questions with your own ideas.

How far...
How often...
When...
How much...
Who...
Which...
What...
Where..

example: How far is it from here to Madrid?

Next, answer the questions but using any of the following 10 random words in the answer.

head, giraffe, hat, handbag, daisy, sun, balloon, comic, holiday, handkerchief

example

It is 10,000 Giraffes to Madrid 

Variations

Using this sentence:

'My dad overcooks and burns the sausages at lunchtime every Saturday.'

Rewrite it using an idea from below

1) Next Saturday

2) Start the sentence with the word IF 
3) Use 'must' in the sentence
4) Make a prediction starting with 'I think'
5) Put the sentence into reported speech
6) Rewrite the sentence without using the letter A 
7) Write the opposite of the sentence (nouns and verbs only)
8) Start with 'In this picture...'
9) Rewrite in the passive

(Example: 3, it must be Saturday lunchtime as dad is overcooking and burning the sausages.)

Harder...

1) Start with the word Seldom
2) Rewrite so that each word starts with the same letter
3) Write the opposite of the sentence (all words)
4) Write a past conditional
5) Start with No sooner
6) Make a sentence starting with I wish
7) Rewrite using the word Foregone in the sentence
8) Use Deduction
9) Rewrite without using the letter A

Remote Associates

Misplaced

There each two words misplaced in are sentence. Find them correct and the sentence. 

1, I later thinking of going to the park was.
2, Is England English in spoken
3, They said us would help they with the work.
4, was the party, everyone after tired
5, this time we week next will be in Madrid
6, I have my friend cut by a hair
7, We’ll have a swim it long as as doesn’t rain
8, She got into of her car and went out the house

9, Would you like a coffee sugar in your little?

Inspiration from A Journey in TEFL

Vowel Categories

Linking Words 2

Link the sentences:

Using these words once only:

as | such as | in fact | but | so | or | even though | first, then and finally | and

1, I like this. I don't like that.
2, I like this. I like that
3, She had to do it all again. She never studies.
4, She studies hard. She gets good grades.
5, We could do this. We could do that.
6, I like a lot of sports. I like football. I like tennis. I like basketball.
7, We went for a walk. It was raining. 
8, Turn on the laptop. Enter the password. Open the Platform.
9, I don’t like this and I don’t like that. I don’t like anything.

Metaphor

The topic is WEDNESDAY.

One person writes an adjective to describe it. Another writes a noun they relate to it (or random) without looking at each others. Then you put the two together and ask why? See example below. it might take a few goes to get a good one.

Other good topics: Any Proper or Abstract Nouns - Time is a/an.. Happiness is a/an... English is a/an...

Disappearing Sentence

Read the text. 

One grey and rainy morning in The Big Apple (New York) in the cold and snowy month of January, Fran, a chatty but grumpy taxi driver, ate a very large and tasty breakfast as usual and then drove her passengers around and around the wonderful city that never sleeps.

1, Each time you have read it eliminate five words. Then read again remembering the words you eliminated. Keep going until there is no text to see but it is all in your head. Recreate the text on paper.

Or

2, Look at the text.

Eliminate words in the text so that the text still makes sense. You can eliminate one, two or a maximum of three words in a row on one turn. You receive one point for each word eliminated.

For example in the sentence: One grey and rainy morning you could eliminate 'grey and' for two points or 'grey and rainy' for three.

You may end up with just one word left.

The Alphabet

This is a useful webpage from Lingolex (screenshot below)

Ways I have used it:

Alphabet Share - Tell me something about yourself using a letter.

P - I enjoy painting. Good for getting to know.

What did you do? Use a letter as inspiration to what you did yesterday / last week.

P - I picked up my prescription.

Connect. The topic is TRANSPORT. Can you think of a related word so we can turn all the hexagons from red to yellow?

P - Pilot

Blockbusters - Use all the above as a game, which you might know as Blockbusters.

Opposites

What is the opposite of these words?

1, read
2, cheese
3, clean
4, easy
5, beach
6, sunrise
7, tidy
8, zebra

9, noise

Next, choose one pair of words and explain why one word is better than the other. For example in number 4 is easy better than difficult or the other way round? Explain your reasons.

Quote from @purlandtraining: 'The aim is to foster discussion among language students. Not all antonym pairs have to be binary e.g. yes/no, black/white. What is the opposite of 'beach' for you? For me it would be 'office'

3 in a line

This approach to the game inspired by Chris Roland. So that all squares are used and language maximised it's who gets the most threes in a line. Two variations seen below.

Examples from first game: A shark can't fly or A frog hasn't got wings will get you a O or X.