Speed Sentence

Make a 7 word sentence...

1, where the only vowel used is E
2, where there is no E in any word
3, where each word starts with the letter B
4, with words that start with vowels only
5, with words that are 3 letters long
6 Where no word has more than 4 letters
7, where each word has the letters in order: A B C D E F G
8, where each word has the number of letters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9, where each word has the number of syllables: 1 2 3 4 3 2 1
10, where each word contains the letter S
11, where each word finishes with S, T or D

12, Where the first letters of each word spell out a hidden 7-letter word (acrostic)

Characters in BOLD subject to change

Speed Words

Think of 3 words... 

1, that start with HE...
2, that end in SS

3, that contain double LL

4, with the structure: S + vowel + vowel + consonant

5, of 4-letters that start with N...

6, words that start and end in the same letter

7, related to fruit / veg that start with P...

8, that are adjectives and start with T...

9, that are written in alphabetical order

10, verbs that have 2 syllables

Characters in bold subject to change.

Drawing by Álvaro

Revision Categories

Using all the categories below think of a word with a given starting letter.

The same letter could be used for all the categories (no repeating of words)
or a random letter for each one.

1, Hello! I am from _____

2, a 6 letter word

3, In this town there is a/an _____ 

4, Contains a double letter (example LL or SS)

5, I have _____ here for 5 years 

6, _____y (must finish in Y)

7, ? + vowel + vowel + consonant

8, A Phrasal verb

9, French is not as _____ as English

10, I don't have much _____

11, _____ness

12, My ____ escaped and we can't find it

Example with the letter P:

1, Peru

2, Plough

3, Pub

4, Pill

...

Word Squares

A good one for those that finish fast or look bored.
Draw a 3 x 3 square. Place a letter in diagonally as in the example below.

N _ _ 
_ N _ 

_ _ N 

and then complete with words...

N O T 

A N D

T E N

If thats too easy make the grid 4x4, 5x5 and so on

Alternatively
Think of a 3 letter word and place it in the grid to make words

H _ _
_ E _

_ _ Y

Repeating

A sentence that goes around the class / group.

Person one says the first word of the sentence

Person two repeats the first word then says the second word

Person three repeats words one and two and adds a third (grammatically correct of course)

and so on around the group until we feel the sentence is finished.

Example in a group of 8

I asked them to do a conditional:

Person 1: If

Person 2: If I

Person 3: If I see

Person 4: If I see you

Person 5: If I see you tomorrow

Person 6: If I see you tomorrow I

Person 7: If I see you tomorrow I will

Person 8: If I see you tomorrow I will give

Person 1: If I see you tomorrow I will give it

Person 2: If I see you tomorrow I will give it to

Person 3: If I see you tomorrow I will give it to you

Question Constraint

For these questions you must use the word in (brackets) in your answer.

1, How do you usually keep in touch with your friends? (and)
2, Tell me about your favourite teacher. (however)
3, What kind of things do you like reading? (for example)
4, What are you going to do this evening? (but)
5, Do you help your parents with jobs around the house? (such as)
6. What would you like to study in the future? (although)
7. How often do you go to the cinema? (well)
8. Have you ever travelled to France? (because)
9. What did you do last night? (so)

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 

Revision

 

Why?

The Five Whys

This is a useful technique to get to the root of the problem, as demonstrated in the poem above, for an example closer to work we could ask why someone doesn't do their homework. Here is the method explained on wikipedia

Slamina!

Can you define these words and use them in a sentence? Secondly, each of the words rhymes with an animal. Can you work out which animal?

1, fat

2, coat

3, carrot

4, word

5, house

6, break

7, scare

8, park

9, course

Now can you make a two line poem (a couplet) using the word and the animal it rhymes with?

an example: In my house / there is a mouse

These ones are a bit harder:

1, legal

2, iron

3, socks

4, deep

5, towel

6, relevant

7, chunky

8, trail

9, plough

Vowel Categories

7 to 1

Write a dialogue between two people

However,

The first line must be 7 words

and then each line is one

word less until you get

right down to just 

a single word

it's that

simple

Here it is visually:

A: (7 words)

B: (6 words)

A: (5 words)

B: (4 words)

A: (3 words)

B: (2 words)

A: (1 word)

From my C2 class. They had to include the words ALL OF A SUDDEN.

Hello, do you know what happened yesterday?

I do not. Please enlighten me.

Forgotten... all of a sudden

Do you have amnesia?

I probably do

A pity

Yep

Alternative Proverbs

What is a proverb?

Do you know any in your own language?

Here are parts of some English proverbs.

Complete the sentences with your own ideas.

1, All good things must... 
2, Better late than... 
3, If it isn't broken... 
4, If you can't beat them... 
5, You can't teach an old dog...
6, Knowledge is...
7, ...is the best medicine.
8, No human is a...
9, Practice makes...

10, The early bird... 
11, The grass is always... 
12, The pen is mightier than... 
13, Time is... 
14, Too many cooks... 
15, You can take a horse to water... 
16, Children should be seen and not... 
17, Where there's smoke there's... 
18, You can't always get... 

Compare yours with the originals.

Here are some from my class:

All good things must... happen
Better late than... dirty
If it isn't broken... use it
If you can't beat them... confuse them
You can't teach an old dog... maths
Knowledge is... nature
Sleep ...is the best medicine
No man is a... ghost

Practice makes... humanity

The early bird... doesn't have a life
The grass is always... growing
The pen is mightier than... the pencil
Time is... over
Too many cooks... too much food
You can take a horse to water... but you'll get wet
Children should be seen and not... eaten
You can't always get... popcorn in the cinema.

Exquisite Categories

This is a word-to-sentence game inspired by Exquisite Corpse. Complete the table below with the appropriate words (as shown in the second example). You will then have a table of words that can be made into sentences and which are willing to be played around with.

For example these could be written out or done orally:

A: An artistic aunt asked for an awesome apple.

Mixed up: A colourful aunt became a beautiful doodle.

Using C and the word ALREADY: The colourful car had already cut through the calm countryside. (Notice the need to think about extra language here)

Using D and YET: Has the drunk doctor done a dirty doodle yet?

Using B and C and No sooner: No sooner had the artistic aunt asked for an awesome apple than a boring bowl had become a beautiful basketball.

and so on...

Nonet

A Nonet is a 9-line poem where each line contains 1 syllable less than the line before. So the first line contains nine syllables, the second has eight, the third has seven, and so on.

I asked my class to complete the sentence Monday (or Tuesday) is ___ and complete with adjectives, feelings and language of comparison or anything they wanted. The B2 group used some recent vocabulary. Here are some examples of what we put together as a group on the whiteboard:

Monday (An A2/B1 level Nonet)

Monday is more boring than Friday
It is not as great as Friday
Monday is a normal day
Monday is the worst day

It is depressing
disappointing

annoying
It’s bad
Man

Monday (A B2 level Nonet)

Monday is the worst day of the week

Monday is as bad as Sunday

Monday is a confession

Monday is pitiful

Monday is tiring

It is pure hell

Monday night

It is 

odd

Tuesday (A C2 level Nonet)

The day the gates of hell open wide
Tuesday is no bed of roses
Seldom do weeks cease to be
Hearts will be filled with woe
There’s no salvation
That’s depressing
Or is it?
It is
Help!

Flip

Flippity is a great tool, which turns spreadsheets into activities for class. One of my favourites is the Randomizer. This week, inspired by the game Quicktionary, I have been playing categories using it. I have made easy, medium and advanced versions. How would you use it?

Categories

Choose a letter (example P) and try to complete each slide in one minute using it

Example 1: Plod, part, press...

Example 2: Pi, peg, pose...

Example 3: Pious, painter, partition

The words could be used to make sentences afterwards.

A Poetry Party

A poetry template by Joseph Fasano (Link to Twitter)

My Poem (Title)

My name is (name).

Today I feel like a/an (adjective) (noun)

    (verb)ing in the (noun).

Sometimes I am a/an (noun).

Sometimes I am a/an (noun).

I ask the world, “(question)?”

And the answer is

    a / an (repeat your words from line 2).

Here are some examples from my class:

My Reason to Live

By Aimar (aged 12)

My name is Aimar.

Today I feel like a drunk man

    trying to relax in a hot, small park.

Sometimes I am a dog.

Sometimes I am a cat.

But always I am a happy, shiny heart.

I ask the world “What is my reason to live?”

And the answer is

    a drunk man

    trying to relax in a hot, small park.

A Sloth in the Sand

(By Sofía aged 9)

Template edited for younger students

My name is Sofía

Today I feel like

    a sloth in the sand

I love my sofa

I don’t like walking

But always I am happy

I ask the world “What is life?”

And the answer is

    a sloth in the sand

CPE

Class effort (Various ages 16 +)

My name is Bob.

Today I feel like a damp sponge

absorbing the desert.

Sometimes I am a cactus.

Sometimes I am tumbleweed.

But always I am empty.

I ask the world, “Is there any real question at all?”

And the answer is 

a damp sponge

absorbing the desert.

Original Template:

The Rule of 3

These questions, and any follow up questions, must be answered in no more and no less than THREE words.

Example:

What is your name?

It is Steve

Do you like your name?

Yes, I do.

Can you spell it?

Yes I can

With letters

Yes with letters

1, What is your name?

2, Where do you live?

3, Tell me about your school?

4, Have you got a pet?

5, Have you got a brother or sister?

6, What do you normally have for breakfast

7, Do you like ice cream?

8, What do you do in your free time?

9, What did you do yesterday?

10, What's the weather like today? 

TWOtoFIVE

In the spaces below you must try and write between 2 and 5 words. Each word is valued at one point. 25 points available for the five sentences – but they must be grammatically worthy.

Example:
They _____ to the park on Saturdays.
They take their two dogs to the park on Saturdays. (4 points)

1, I _____ to school every day.

2, My cat likes to _____ on the sofa.

3, Can you _____ me your phone, please?

4, She _____ a book from the shop yesterday.

5, We _____ dinner at 9 o'clock every evening.

Artwork by Laura