Activity 6- Will I ?

Do you want your students to practice the use of "WILL" for making future predictions meaningfully? Here is a simple yet fun way to do so!

 Grammar point: using "WILL" for making predictions about the future

App: Palm Scanner

Operating System: iOS (iPad only)

Price: free

Internet Status: offline

Number of devices required : 1

Instructions:

First ask students to write down on their notebooks a couple of YES/NO questions they would like to know about the future. These can be questions about themselves or somebody else (but the activity might turn out to be more interesting if  they actually ask questions aboutthemselves). Provide students with some examples to guide them if necessary (ex: Will I travel to Paris on my next vacation? Will I buy a puppy next year? Will I win the lottery? Will Justin Bieber marry a fan? Will Germany win the next soccer World Cup?). Then, explain that Palm Scanner is going to answer the questions they are dying to know the answer. Students have a blast because nobody can predict what Palm Scanner is going to answer! If Palm Scanner answers positively, then another student should type in another question and have his/her hand scanned. However, if the answer is negative, explain that students should then immediately make their own predictions for their classmate related to the same question. 

Example:

Student A: (types in) "Will I travel to Paris next vacation?"

Palm Scanner: "That`s not likely to happen."

Student B: "You will travel to the beach."

Student C"You won`t travel. You will stay at home during the whole summer. "

Student d: "You will go hiking in the mountains in Tibet."

Tips:

Always ask students to read the question out loud after they have typed it .

If classroom is equipped with a projector, then use a VGA cable to mirror the image on a screen.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 5- Guess what it is!

Here is a nice idea for your students to practice the modals of deduction in an authentic way!

Level: Intermediate
Language Skill: Speaking
Device needed: camera (cellphone, tablet,digital camera or any other device that has a camera in it)
Objective: Guessing what the photo is by making sentences with modals of deduction

Instructions:

Students can work individually or in pairs in case not everyone has a device with a built-in camera. Explain that students have 5 minutes to walk around within the school premises, find an object or place and take 2 photos of it: one that shows the object or place clearly and another one that shows only a piece of it, like a close-up ,an angle or a detail. Then, in groups of 3 or 4, ask students to show their classmates their close-up picture and have the others guess what it is by making sentences using modals of deduction (ex: It might be a flower/ It can't be watch/ it must be a door/etc). Then, after listening to the sentences, classmates should show the other picture (the one that shows the object or place clearly) so that they know if they have guessed it correctly or not.

Here are some tips to make this a successful activity:

a) Model the activity before by showing the students some pictures previously taken. This way they are going to clearly understand how the pictures should be taken.
b) Write on the board sample sentences with all the modals of deduction you want students to use in their sentences
c) Establish a minimum number of sentences each student should make before classmates reveal what the object/place is.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Tip 1: "Who`s Next?" app

                                         picture credits: itunes.apple.com

This app is a "must have" for every teacher! With it you can call on students radomly and avoid any possible bias. Every single student will necessarily be called!

Operating System: iOS 

Price: $2.99

How to use this app:

1. Go to "Classes"and add a class. Type in the name of the class and add students`names. After names are added, you can add a photo or edit any information by tapping on the student`s name. 

2. Call on a student randomly by pressing "Calling". For the next student, just shake the cellphone or press "Next".

3. Would you like to divide your students into different groups without being biased? Just press "Groups", choose the class (in case you have more than one )and choose the total numbers of groups on the right side. Then, when you press "Create Groups", students will be automatically grouped up. 

4. If a student is absent, just go to "Classes", choose the class you are teaching, find the student in the list and use the on/off switch on the right. This way the student will not be called.

                                                

                                                       picture credits: chomp.com
                                                         

                                                      picture credits: itunes.apple.com

Activity 4- A Special Gift

                                           picture credits: smallbiztechnology.com

This is an idea of a very simple yet meaningful and communicative activity that requires the use of a digital camera.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Language Skill: Speaking
Device needed: camera (cellphone, tablet,digital camera or any other device that has a camera in it)

Instructions: 

Part 1(to be assigned as homework) - Ask students to take a picture of a very special gift they have gotten.

Part 2 (the following class) - Ask students to sit in small groups and tell them that they should show the other classmates the picture they have taken of a very special gift they have gotten. They should tell an anecdote explaining why that gift is so important to them, who gave it to them, when they got it, etc. Encourage students  to ask their classmates some follow-up questions in order to get more details about the anecdote.

Source: Vinicius Lemos