© Bilingual Education Survival Tips (Edelvives)

© Bilingual Education Survival Tips (Edelvives)
Do you usually write down everything you
want to remember?
Have you noticed that your students pay
more attention when you write something
on the board?
Do they ask you to write things they don’t
understand?
However, do they whine when you tell
them to write?
Present some practical (and entertaining!)
activities to develop our students’ writing
skills in our English class from sentence to
text
Convincing our students that:
Students answer the questions in groups.
The answers are corrected on the board (using T
and F flashcards to add more emotion!)
Each group is asked to write their own T /F
questions.
A round of questions is played among the different
groups.
E.g. Imagine you are teaching “used to” and past habits,
you can use the following text as a fun way to introduce
the new structure and then ask your students to write
similar sentences in groups (cooperative writing)
Divide your students
into groups of 4 or 5
Read aloud a few
questions you’ve
prepared
Ask students to write
their own questions
TIP
To make it more exciting (and avoid
cheating) ask them to prepare three
pieces of paper with A, B, C on
them or T, F
© Bilingual Education Survival Tips (Edelvives)
What is Queen Elizabeth’s husband’s name?
(a) Philip
(b) Harry
(c) Charles
Which of the following numbers should you call to contact
the police, ambulance or fire service in an emergency?
(a) 000
(b) 911
(c) 999
At what age must British children start school?
(a) 3
(b) 5
(c) 6
Which Prince married Sarah Ferguson?
(a) Andrew
(b) Edward
(c) Philip
British policemen carry guns
TRUE
If you play music on a public building such as a shop, a bank, a
pub, etc. you have to pay royalties
TRUE
In Britain, you have to pay taxes for every TV set you have at
home
TRUE
The main meal is usually after 5 p.m.
TRUE
Most British usually don’t rinse the cutlery and plates after
washing up.
TRUE
Now write your own question!
Great activity to fix the comparative while using cooperative
writing
Divide your students into groups of 5, one is the captain (who
will get the cards) and another one is the writer. The rest
cooperate.
Each captain picks up a card and goes to their group.
Everyone cooperates to write a correct (and logical!)
comparative sentence without repeating the adjectives!
Once they’ve written it they have to check with you if it is okay.
If so, the captain can go and pick up another card.
The first group to finish the cards is the winner.
Divide the class into teams, ask them to write about the
topics covered, including pictures and drawings
The classroom magazine should be kept in the class
library for everyone to see
These are some examples if you’re teaching the planets:
Imaginary news: “A new planet has been discovered!”
Funny adverts: “prices of flats in Mars”
Interviews: “Interview with a celebrity”
TIP
To encourage students you could also vote for the best articles
(Pulitzer prize-like!)
A good way of making writing creative and fun!
Can also be done as a cooperative writing activity
Give them the title or the first lines of the story:
“When John woke up, he realised he wasn’t alone, it had
been a long night and he didn’t remember muchC”
Students write and illustrate their stories if they choose the
cartoon format
Stories are displayed in class so that everybody can see them
Students vote “secretly” to see which is the winning story
Students love games
So, it is always very motivating to finish
our class with a writing game
E.g. “Scattergories” (good for vocab)
E.g. “Musical story”(good to practice
narratives)
Instructions:
Divide your students in groups of 5-6 students
One is the captain (the one who writes the others’
suggestions)
Ask them to draw a chart (or provide a copy yourself)
They have to write one word for each category,
starting with the letter you give them
They score 10 points for using the word nobody else
has used and only 5 points if the word is repeated by
other group(s)
TIP
To avoid cheating when correcting, ask them to swap
their charts with other groups!
Mammal
Invertebrate
Oviparous
Fish
SCORE!
Mammal
Invertebrate
Oviparous
Fish
SCORE!
Seal
Snake
Sparrow
Salmon
40
Panda
Python
Penguin
Plaice
40
• Divide students into groups of 4
• Each student needs a sheet of paper
• You give them the beginning and they have to finish the
sentence as fast as possible, getting inspiration from the
music they hear
• Then, they fold their paper and pass it to the student on
their right
• Again, you give them the beginning of another sentence
and tell them to finish it according to the music they hear
and pass it to the student on their right and so the game
continues until you reach the end of the story
• Once the story is over, they unfold the paper and read
their different stories, voting for the most “coherence”,
the funniest, etc.
Musical story
1.
It was C (time) in C (place)
2.
He was C
3.
She wasC
4.
They met C
5.
He said: “C”
6.
She said: “C”
7.
Then, they ...
8.
In the end, C
Music by Jane Birkin