Students able to form a short, four-word sentence using an article, a noun, a verb and an adjective.
Check and correct pronunciation.
Develop intonation.
Improve confidence in speaking.
Train students how to behave in a classroom, to bring pen and paper to class and to write down new words.
First a warm up
Board some letters (a, b, c, p, t, etc). Ask for animals beginning with the letters.
Write some adjectives (about 5 – 8 depending on class ability). Last night I chose:
angry / big / small / cute / dangerous / fast / slow
Students write down these words, then complete three sentences, and read to the class:
A dog is ______ .
An elephant is _____ .
A tiger is __________ .
Erase the adjectives from the board, leaving only the first letter.
Ask the weaker students to say the adjective, which they should have written down and repeated (several times).
Example: What adjective begins with ‘a’ ?
If the student is unable to answer, homework is to write the word five times and to use it in a short sentence:
A lion is angry
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We use ‘an’ if the word begins with a / e / i / o / u
Example: What is it ? It’s a dog.
What is it ?
Part 2: Use the new adjectives
What is it ? It’s a wild lion
What is it ? It’s a ______ ________
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Game 1 – say are these adjectives positive (good) or negative (bad) or neutral (neither good nor bad)
Game 2 – make sentences using present continuous and two adjectives
EXAMPLE: She is reading a heavy, interesting book.
I ___ play ___________________ , ______________________ music.
You ___ watch a _______________ , ________________ film.
He ___ talk to a ____________ , _____________ film star.
She _____ study every day because she ___ __________ and ___________.
Ms H ____ smile because she is so _________ and ___________ .
The fat cat ___ not share her food because she is ______ and _________ .
We ___ learn ________ grammar but it is _____________ .
President __ wear a _________ dress. She ____ very _________ .
The boy ___ leave school because he was __________ and _____ to the teacher.
The teacher ___ laugh because the ________ , _________ student was sent home !
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
One perennial IELTS speaking topic, an old chestnut in fact, is family. You will, no doubt, encounter such questions as, “Who do you live with ?” or “Which member of your family do you feel closest to and why.”
So, continuing on from the pervious posting, here are some exercises designed to increase your speaking prowess, and boost your score.
To kick off, a recap of expressions:
a heart of gold // firm but fair // as good as gold
life and soul of the party // a little angel // is a good sport
he looks out for me // he has my back //
never has a bad word to say about anybody
On the other hand
a real tiger mum // is a bit of a wallflower
is a little devil // drinks like a fish
is a real prima donna // is very touchy
Exercise 1
Tell me about your mother, using a subordinate clause and at least one of the above expressions.
Image from unsplash.com
EXAMPLE:
My mother, who works as a medical secretary, has a heart of gold.
Exercise 2
Tell me about your father, brother, sister, grandmother and uncle. Make sure you use a subordinate clause for each person. Endeavour (try) to make longer, jaw-dropping sentences.
Image from eicanada.org
Now, let’s kick it up a notch. Add at least one of the personality adjectives from below:
First, decide if these adjectives are positive or negative, then match with the expressions accordingly.
EXAMPLE:
My mother, who is very fastidious, is a bit of a tiger mum. By that I mean she always wants me to pass every test with flying colours. However, I know, deep down, she wants what’s best for me, and that she has a heart of gold.
Image from theprouditalian.com
Exercise 3
Tell me about your family. You have to speak for two minutes, and tell me what the members look like, their personality, their occupation, and an anecdote about them.
EXAMPLE:
My uncle Michael, who lives in Ha Noi where he works as a tour guide, is the life and soul of the party. He is so outgoing and a real extrovert. I recall one time he came to Sai Gon for Tet Holiday and he really enjoyed himself. To be honest, he drank like a fish, singing karaoke and dancing with everybody. My uncle, who is my mother’s brother, actually looks nothing like her as he is very tall and thin, and has a receding hairline.
A receding hairline. Image from stylist225.com
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Arrange class into small groups, named after famous architects from English speaking countries, e.g. Christopher Wren, Frank Lloyd Wright & Amanda Levete
Sir Christopher Wren
St Paul’s Cathedral, London
Frank Lloyd Wright
Fallingwater Building, Pennsylvania, USA
Amanda Levete
MAAT Museum, Lisbon
Therefore we have Team Wren, Team Levete & Team Wright
Game 1 Synonyms: give me a better word for …
yummy // good // big // very small // smart // very friendly // someone from Korea // scared // not easy // not clean // has a lot of money //
(1 point for each correct answer)
Game 2:Correct these sentences …
The Science book is very boring or bored.
I feel so excited or exciting about learning English.
She was disappointed or disappointing about the Japanese film.
(2 point for each correct answer)
Game 3: Make sentences using adj + noun
EXAMPLE:
Qri from K-pop band T-ara
The beautiful lady is a popular singer in a Korean group.
The Korean woman is smiling. She is cute and happy. She has long, brown hair.
Qri is a popular singer. She is Korean and is a fantastic dancer.
Team Wren:
The scientist Albert Einstein. He was born in Germany.
Team Wright:
This lady was born in Russia
Team Levete:
This lady was born in Zambia
(2 point for each adjective + noun structure)
Game 4: Adjective salad bar.
Look at the photos. Choose one you like and make a sentence or sentences. However, you will earn more points by using higher-level adjectives.
Earn 1 point for using these adjectives:
big, fat, friendly, happy, new, old, sad, small, young, yummy
We have ‘visited’ many amazing and unusual places in our lessons, and met many friendly, outgoing people.
So, where do YOU want to go ?
Tell me where, tell me why and tell me something about the country.
EXAMPLE:
I want to visit Korea because it is a very beautifulcountry and has many friendly and outgoingpeople. The food is spicy but delicious and very healthy. The history is amazing and the museums are very interesting.
(2 point for each adjective + noun structure, 1 point for every other adjective.)
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Firstly, a big hello to all my readers and followers in India. I want you all to know how much I appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog. Thank you so much.
Exercise one: Find out some basic information about India from the internet, such as capital and major cities, population, food, religion, imports and exports.
I give you four minutes to do an Internet search, then present to class. DO NOT simply read from Wikipedia.
Exercise two:
Adjectives: look at the photos and describe what you see.
Does this look like YOUR city ? What is similar, what is noticeably different ?
Vocabulary building and listening
In the real world, most students will not be communicating with English-language teachers, but probably with other non-native speakers, so learning to appreciate and understand English spoken with a ‘new’ accent is an extremely useful skill. Here’s a great video which features a charming young Indian lady teaching new vocabulary:
Listen for at least five words you didn’t previously know. In small groups ask each other:
What impressed you ? What disturbed you ? Would you like to go there ? If so, why, if not, why not ?
Here is a chance to practice adjectives, linking words and using the word ‘because’ – giving reasons, supporting your comments.
Famous Indians
In small groups, you have to make a short presentation about one of these famous Indians:
Mahatma Gandhi
Siddhartha – the Buddha
Kalpana Chawla
The class have five to ten minutes to research information, speed read and extract relevant facts with which to enlighten the class. Follow up, tell me about some Indian artists or sports stars.
And now, goodbye from this mysterious, exotic land. Hope to meet you very soon …
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Let’s go to work ! What can you see in the first two pictures ?
Tell me about the lady. Who is the man ? How does he feel and why ? What does the lady do ? How does she look ?
Then the lady … ?
Finally the lady … ?
OK, Top Cats, give me your answers.
Points for using adjectives, correct grammar, and pronunciation.
Image from India Today
EXAMPLE:
A young lady with long straight dark hair is at school. She is very tired and sleepy. She has a lot of boring homework.
Her daddy is very angry. He wants the lady to be intelligent not lazy.
The lady is nervous because she is so shy. She reads many big books. She is unhappy. However, she is hard-working.
Sometimes the books are exciting and she thinks it is important to learn.
She has a high score and her family are very happy.
The beautiful clever young lady has a great job. She is wealthy and has many valuable things. However, she is not selfish. She buys her family amazing presents.
NOW … Your turn
Tell me a story
Tips: Tell me what the boy looks like. Tell me how he feels. Tell me what he does. Finally, what happens to the boy when he grows up ?
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
I have + adjective + noun. Pronouns + is + adjectives
EXAMPLE: I have a Japanese friend. She is clever and shy.
Royalty-free image from Google
The sentence has 3 adjectives. Tell me about your friend:
I have a … friend. He or She is … and …
Tell me about these people:
This man is Greek. I have a Greek friend. He is …
Royalty-free image from Google
This lady is English. I have an ….
Royalty-free image from Google
This man is Japanese. I have a …
Royalty-free image from Google
Now, let’s talk about pets.
Royalty-free image from Google
I have a cute puppy. He is small, quick and happy.
Tell me about your pet.
Tell me about these animals:
Royalty-free image from Google
Royalty-free image from Google
Royalty-free image from Google
Bye bye from the friendly bear.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.