Activities using the Wordpower topic word cards

[Pages:7]Activities using the Wordpower Topic Note Word Cards

1 Presentation activities: Match words and definitions Teach each other

2 Practice activities: Mime the words Make example sentences (`That's a lie!') Personalize a word Make up a story

3 Vocabulary-building activities: Thinking around the word Words into categories

1 Presentation activities

Match words and definitions A matching activity in which students use their dictionaries to help them learn new vocabulary

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for each student. Fold the pages in half down the middle, so that the headwords are on one side and the definitions are on the other.

Procedure: Before you start the activity, write all the headwords on the board (in no particular order - e.g. put them inside a bubble or a cloud shape). Then cover the words (e.g. with a large piece of paper) so that students cannot see them.

Give each student a copy of the folded Topic Word Card pages. Place the side with the definitions (the right-hand side) face up, so that the definitions are visible but the headwords are not. Make sure that students do not look at the headwords!

Ask the students to read through the definitions and examples and, working in pairs or threes, try to guess the headwords. Set a time limit. (Tell the students not to write on their pages, as they may want to re-use the definitions later to test themselves.)

Now reveal the headwords on the board. Ask the students to match the headwords to the definitions (again, it's best if they do not write the words on their pages) using their dictionaries.

When students are ready to check their answers, tell them to unfold the topic word pages and look at the headwords.

Variation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for each pair of students. Cut up the headwords and definitions. In pairs, students spread all the cards on the table and then try to match the headwords to the definitions. The cut-up cards can be kept and used later to play the game matching pairs/pelmanism.

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Teach each other A communicative speaking activity in which students mingle in order to teach each other new vocabulary

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages. Cut the cards out into strips (i.e. cut the cards up but keep each headword connected to its definition).

Procedure: Give each of the students one strip of paper (i.e. one headword together with its definition and example). Tell the students that this is a speaking activity and they must not show their strip to anyone else. Explain that they are going to teach their word to all the other members of the class. Set a time limit.

Students should mingle and talk to each other one by one. They should take it in turns to give their word or phrase, explain the meaning (preferably without having to read from their card), and if necessary clarify the meaning using the example sentence. For example:

Student A: My phrase means `a place where a lot of people go on holiday'. Do you know what it is? Student B: No, I don't know. Student A: It's `a holiday resort'. A holiday resort is `a place where a lot of people go on holiday.' Student B: OK. `A holiday resort' Student A: For example, `We stayed in a big hotel in a holiday resort.' Student B: Aha! `A holiday resort' OK. Thanks. Now I'll teach you my word....

Students should try to remember the words that they are taught, but they must not write any of them down (they will have the chance to do this later). If they forget a word they can go back and ask again.

When the time limit has elapsed, tell the students to work on their own for a minute or two and write down all the words that they can remember (just the words, not the definitions). Then get them to compare lists with the students sitting beside them. Finally*, give each student his/her own copy of the Topic Word Card pages.

*If you wish to extend the activity at this stage, fold the Topic Word Card pages before you give them to each student (see the `Match words and definitions' activity above). Ask the students to look at the definitions and try to recall the headwords. When they have done this, they can unfold the pages and check their answers.

2 Practice activities

Mime the words Students mime topic words for their classmates to guess.

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for every three students. Cut the cards out into strips (i.e. cut the cards up but keep each headword connected to its definition). Remove any words that might be particularly difficult to mime (unless your students are especially imaginative and uninhibited!)

Procedure: This activity works best if you demonstrate it yourself first.

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Put the students into groups of three. Ask them to place the pile of word cards face down on the desk. Each student should take a card from the pile, making sure to keep the word hidden. Students should think for a moment about how they might mime the word on their card.

For example, if you were trying to mime the word `sunbathe', you might pretend to put on a pair of sunglasses and some suntan oil, and lie back on a chair. If you were trying to mime the phrase `go on holiday', you might first mime packing a suitcase, and then pretend to be checking in, showing your passport, etc. at an airport.

When the students are ready, one person in the group should mime the word on his/her card. As he/she is miming, the other students in the group should try to guess the word. The first person to guess correctly takes that particular word card. If both students guess at the same time, neither of them gets the card.

The students continue like this, taking it in turns to act out their words until there are no cards left in the pile. At the end of the activity, the student who has collected the most cards is the winner.

Make example sentences ? `That's a lie!' A writing and speaking activity that encourages students to make personalized example sentences to help them learn new words

Preparation: Before you do this activity, make sure that you have presented the words and that they are not completely new to your students.

Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for each student. Procedure: This activity works best if you demonstrate it yourself first (i.e. put some examples of your own on the board and ask students to guess if they are true or false).

Tell students to look at the Topic Word Card pages and choose 5 or 6 words that they would like to remember. Explain that they are going to write their own example sentence for each one. They can use the examples on the word cards to help them. The sentences should be based on their own lives and should be as memorable as possible. Some of the sentences should be true, and some of them should be lies.

A true example (using the word `sightseeing') might be: Last year I went to London on holiday and did lots of sightseeing. I saw the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.

An untrue example might be: Last year I went to London on holiday. I hate sightseeing so I stayed in my hotel room and watched television every day.

An untrue example using the phrase `go on safari' might be: Yesterday I went to Kenya on safari. I played football with a few lions and went swimming with some crocodiles.

It doesn't matter if the untrue examples are obviously untrue. The main thing is that they are funny and easy to remember, and that the English is correct. Monitor the students carefully as they are writing the sentences and correct any errors related to the new vocabulary.

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When they are ready, ask the students to get into groups of three. Tell them to read their examples aloud to each other. The other members of the group should listen carefully and say at the end of each example whether they think it is true. If they think it is untrue, they should shout, `That's a lie!'

When they have finished listening to each other's sentences, each group should choose the funniest or most interesting of their examples. They should then share these with the rest of the class (but make sure that you correct any mistakes in the sentences before you ask students to do this).

Personalize a word Students practise for speaking exams by picking a word at random and talking about it.

In many speaking exams, students are asked to talk about photos or discuss topics without being given time to prepare. This activity helps them to practise giving opinions and talking about their own lives in relation to random words, with minimal preparation time.

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for each pair of students. Cut the cards out into strips (i.e. cut the cards up but keep each headword connected to its definition). Depending on the exact needs of your students, it may be useful to pre-teach some phrases such as the following:

For responding to photos: This reminds me of when... This makes me think of the time (that) I... One thing I've always wanted to do is...

For giving opinions: Personally, I think that... In my opinion As far as I'm concerned I don't know why some people...

Procedure: Give each pair of students a set of cards, and ask them to place the cards face down on the desk.

One of the students should take a card and look at the word. He/she should then make a sentence related to the word on the card, perhaps using one of the phrases above. For example:

a tour ? This reminds me of when I went on a guided tour of the Tower of London. ? This makes me think of the time that some friends came to visit me and I gave them a tour of my

town. ? Personally, I think that guided tours are the best way to see a place. ? I don't know why people like going on tours. I prefer to do sightseeing on my own.

Then the other student should take a different card and do the same. For example: go on a cruise ? This makes me think of the time one of my friends won a competition and went on a cruise. ? One thing I've always wanted to do is go on a cruise in the Mediterranean. ? As far as I'm concerned, round-the-world cruises are a waste of money!

Don't ask students to do any more than come up with one sentence per word the first time that they attempt this task (unless of course they find it easy to say more). It is important for them to get used to thinking laterally in this way before they are forced to say anything really meaningful.

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Once the students have made a sentence about all of the words, they can shuffle the cards and repeat the activity. This time, encourage them to say more about each word, elaborating on their original opening sentences.

If the students are confident enough, ask them to speak about each word for 30 seconds or a minute or more, and get them to time each other. Remind students that what they say doesn't have to be true, as long as the English is correct!

Make up a story Students revise vocabulary by writing stories.

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages and cut the cards out into strips (i.e. cut the cards up but keep each headword connected to its definition). Put the strips into a small bag or box.

You will also need a selection of pictures (e.g. magazine photos). These should include at least two people and one or two objects (e.g. a sports car/an aeroplane/ an expensive watch/an animal, etc.)

Procedure: Display the pictures at the front of the room and ask students to suggest some basic information about the people in them (e.g. their names/jobs/relationship to each other, etc.). Write the funniest/most interesting suggestions on the board. Tell students that they are going to write a story about the people in the pictures in order to revise some of the vocabulary that they have learned recently.

Ask some volunteers to draw words out of the bag/box (ten to twelve words is usually best, and if possible try to get a selection of verbs, nouns and adjectives). Copy these words onto the board, or ask students to write them in their notebooks.

Put the students into pairs and tell them that they should work together to write a story about the people and objects in the pictures. They must use as many of the topic words as they can. Set a time limit and/or a word limit, and give the students an opening sentence if they find it difficult to get started. Tell each student to write their own copy of the story, as they will need it in the next part of the activity.

When the time limit has elapsed, ask one student from each pair to swap seats with someone in another pair (they should take their stories with them). Each student should then read his/her story aloud. The other person in the pair (i.e. the new partner) should listen carefully and try to write down all the topic words that he/she hears in the story.

At the end of the activity, find out which stories contained the most topic words. You can then ask students to put their stories up on the walls of the classroom, and give students time to walk around and read each one.

Variations: Some topics lend themselves better to stories than others. For example, if you want to revise the topic `Holidays', find some appropriate photos and ask students to make up `Holiday disaster stories'. For instance: `My family and I went on a package holiday last summer, but it was awful! The travel agency lied to us, and we stayed in a horrible holiday resort. We couldn't sunbathe because it rained every day and the beach was covered in rubbish...'

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This activity also works well when students have covered a variety of topics and there are lots of different words in the vocabulary bag/box. If you have enough words, give each pair a different selection. This makes the stories more interesting, and also makes the final part of the activity more challenging ? students have to listen carefully to find out which topic words have been included in their partner's story.

3 Vocabulary-building activities

Thinking around the word A vocabulary competition in which students look at the Topic Word Cards and try to think of more vocabulary connected with each headword

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for every student, or display the topic words in the classroom (for example, stick the word cards on the walls and ask students to do the following activity while walking around the classroom).

Procedure: Ask the students to work on their own. They should look at each headword and try to think of three or four more words that might be associated with it. They should write these extra words down, either on their word card pages or in their notebooks.

For example, if students are looking at the word `accommodation' in the `Holidays' topic note, they might add hotel, campsite, youth hostel; or they might add caravan, B&B, cottage. For the phrase `go snorkelling', related words might be the sea, waves, fish; or they might be scuba-diving, flippers, coral.

Encourage students to avoid basic words. Tell them that at the end of the activity they are going to compare their words with two other students, and will get one point for every word that the other students do not have. Monitor the students carefully while they are writing down their words and encourage them to use a monolingual dictionary to find more words.

Once the students have finished writing their lists, ask them to get into groups of three. Each student in turn should read his/her words aloud, and the other students should look at their own lists and tick any words that they have in common. Students should make sure that the words are correct and check with you or in their dictionary if they are not sure.

After the students have added up their points (one point for every correct word that neither of the other students in the group have), find out which students in the class got the highest scores.

At the end of the activity, ask the students to choose their favourite words (or the best/most interesting words) and write them up on the board.

Words into categories A vocabulary-building activity which shows students how putting words into groups can make vocabulary easier to memorize

Preparation: Copy one set of the Topic Word Card pages for each pair of students, or write the topic words up on the board.

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Procedure: Tell the students to work in pairs. Ask them to look at the topic words and try to group them into categories. Remind them that vocabulary is easier to remember when it is organized in this way.

If necessary, you can provide students with the categories, but unless the vocabulary is particularly challenging, it is better if they are asked to devise the categories themselves.

For example, possible categories for the Topic Note at `Holidays' might be:

before you go on holiday: the travel agent's, a brochure while you are on holiday: go snorkelling, sightseeing, sunburn where you stay: accommodation types of holiday: go on a cruise, go on safari, a package holiday

verbs: sunbathe, phrasal verbs: look round (a place) verb + noun collocations: go snorkelling, take photographs, go on a cruise countable nouns: a tour, a journey uncountable nouns: accommodation

Tell students that it doesn't matter if there are a few words which do not fit into any category. Likewise, it doesn't matter if some categories only have one word in them, as long as the category is valid (i.e. students can think of more words that might fit into it).

The teacher should monitor the pairs, giving advice if necessary and pointing out any problems with the categories. When the pairs have finished, they should share the names of their categories with the rest of the class.

In the second stage of the activity, the students should try to come up with more words to go in each of their categories. Set a time limit for this, and encourage them to use a monolingual dictionary to find more words and check that they are correct.

To continue the example above, some extra words which students might come up with for the topic of `Holidays' are:

before you go on holiday: pack your suitcase, buy travel insurance while you are on holiday: write postcards, eat out in nice restaurants, get lost where you stay: in a youth hostel, on a boat, in a rented apartment types of holiday: camping, pony-trekking, skiing

At the end of the activity, students should share the most interesting words with the rest of the class. These words can be written on the board, or the teacher can ask pairs to swap their lists.

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