Activity 27- What Did They Say?

Are you teaching Reported Speech? Learn how to connect students with this grammar topic in a very meaningful way!

Level: beginning/low internediate/intermediate
Language skills: speaking and/or writing
Grammar Topic: Reported Speech
Device needed: a tablet or a smartphone (students' own mobile devices) 
Number of devices needed:  one per student or one per group of students
Internet connection: on
App: Twitter
Price: free
Operating System: iOS or Android

Instructions:

Ask your students to enter Twitter and check what some of the celebrities they follow are saying. Ask them to report what they have said recently using the Report Speech structure. The students can write down their sentences or simply sit in small groups and orally report their findings.

Ex: 
Justin Bieber said that he loved music.
On October 13, Oprah Winfrey said that she had just finished a delightful meeting with her 8th graders.
In July, Michael Phelps said that airports might be the best people watching place ever.
Katy Perry said that she was really excited to share those songs with her fans and that she was proud of them. She asked if they would let her know what they thought and how they made them feel. 

Source: Vinicius Lemos
Picture credits: Twitter

Activity 26- Relative Clauses Practice

Here is a fun and simple way to work with Relative Clauses through digital photography!

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Language skills: speaking
Grammar Topic: Using Relative Clauses to describe people and things
Device needed: a tablet 
Number of devices needed:  one per student or one per group of students
Internet connection: on/off (on if students need to search for an image/off if students decide to use their device to take a picture)
Apps: PS Express, Be Funky or Mega Photo
Price: free
Operating System: iOS

Instructions:
First model the activity by showing the students some samples of images that have been modified by a special effect. Show them the images and tell them that they have to guess the famous person, place or object. Before eliciting their guesses, give them some hints using Relative Clauses. Here is an example:

Hint 1: This is a man who works as an actor.
Hint 2: He is a famous Hollywood actor who has a twin brother.
Hint 3: This is a man whose ex-wife is also a famous Hollywood star.

After the three hints, ask students to write down their guesses or just elicit them orally. Then, later, show them the original picture to check if their guesses were correct. 

After modeling the activity, divide students into small groups and set up the time that they have to prepare their material. Then, ask groups (one at a time) to show the whole class their images and read their hints. Students can write down their guesses individually and compare them later or simply say them orally right after they hear the hints. 

Source: Vinicius Lemos
Picture Credits: profimedia.cz/edited by Vinicius Lemos (PS Express/effect: obscure)

Activity 24- Vocabulary Ping Pong

Here is another idea for a very dynamic activity that requires absolutely no preparation. Guess where the material for this activity will come from: students` own mobile devices! 

Level: any
Language skill: speakingFocus: vocabulary
Device needed: any device with a camera
Number of devices needed:  one per pair of students
Internet connection: off

Instructions:

Use ping pong to draw a metaphor to this activity: students are competing against each other and they have to think fast while they alternate their turn in the game. In pairs, they should choose a picture from their own mobile device's photo library. Explain that the challenge is to point out as many vocabulary words as possible from the picture they are looking at. Remind them that words do not need to be about concrete objects and that they can use words that describe feelings or abstract things (examples from the picture I took a while ago: Student A: statue, student B: church, student A: tired, student B:  family, student A:  money, student B: music, student A: shopping, etc). Each student should say a word at a time. If a student is unable to say any more words, then the opponent is the winner in this competition. Pairs can pick up another photo and compete against each other again. 


Tips:

-Model the activity before so that students understand how it works.
-You don`t need to set the time for each opponent to come up with a new word but remind them that common sense is a must. If  the student takes more than 15-20 seconds to think of a word, he/she should  admit the defeat.
-Since they are working on the activity in pairs and independently, set a 5-minute time limit and let them challenge each other as many times as time allows.
-It would be interesting to establish a rule: no naming body parts allowed in the competition. Otherwise, students might focus only on the body parts vocabulary. The idea is that they explore the picture as a whole. 
-This activity works better in tablets because the picture is larger and more details can be spotted.
-If the classroom has a projector and a VGA cable, you can project the photo on the board and turn this activity into a two-group competition. In this case, group members could raise their hand when it`s their turn to say a word.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Activity 21 - This is Me

As teachers we know how good it is to share and exchange ideas with workmates. The post today was inspired by one of those moments! The idea belongs to my colleague Maria Cristina and I added a little flavor to it based on an idea suggested by blog visitor Denise Özdeniz. Thank you ladies!

Level: intermediate/advanced

Language skill: speaking
Device needed: any device with images stored in the photo library

Number of devices needed: one per student
App: Pic Collage (iOS and Android)
Price: free

Instructions: 

Explain that the purpose of this warmer is to get students to know a bit more about each other by having very informal conversations about meaningful things to them. Ask them to select some of their pictures in their mobile devices. Reinforce that they should pick pictures that they feel comfortable showing to everyone and that, in a way, reveal a bit more about who they are, what they like to do, their likes and dislikes, their hobbies, etc. Sit them in small groups and let them show their pictures and talk freely about them. As a follow-up, invite some volunteers to show some pictures and talk about them or invite classmates to report interesting things they have learned about each other.

Tip: You can ask students to select their images and use the app Pic Collage to put all the images together in only one. 

Sources: Maria Cristina and Denise Özdeniz