Colette - TESOL

I found TESOL a place where I could pick up some great, practical ideas. I want to share some of the ideas that I heard AND have successfully tried out in class since. Apart from the first pronunciation activity, they all focus on student production.


Pronunciation

Elastic bands to illustrate syllable stress

e.g. Manhattan = Man – haaaa (stretch elastic band here) – tan
You only have to use the elastic bands for one class. After that, you can just simulate the elastic band. This really works – I’ve had success with it in my class. It gives the students the idea that words need to be stretched out and forces them to slow down. The elastic band gives them some control over the pronunciation. Sounds crazy – try it!

Scattergories

Find 5 items with this stress pattern London
Things in a kitchen - Toaster, Blender
Cities - London
Free time activities - Swimming, Jogging


Dictation

Opinions

Students divide a piece of paper into three sections:

Agree Disagree Don’t know

You then decide on a topic for discussion and have students dictate opinions about that topic to the rest of the class. Students should write down the opinion in the column that applies to them. So if your topic is “NYC” you may have statements such as “people are rude” or “the pizza is fantastic”. The student decides what he/she thinks about it and writes it in the appropriate column. After about 7 or 8 statements, place the students in groups and have them discuss where they put the statements. This exercise allows students to do the dictation, give their own opinions and then discuss what interests them, not what the teacher thinks interests them.


Opposite dictation

You dictate a story, sentence by sentence. The twist is that students have to write down the opposite of what you are saying. It can be any kind of opposite:

Teacher says Student writes
1. “A man walked into a bookstore” A woman left the grocery
OR
Two men walked out of a bookstore
OR……

2. “The man was unhappy.” The woman was happy
OR
The two men were excited
OR.......
At the end of the story, have the students read their stories to each other. No story will be the same and they will have fun thinking of opposites and creative vocabulary.