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Fun:
Level:
Low Intermediate and up
Time required:
15 minutes for preparation, 10 minutes for each lineup
Goals:
To get students to speak and listen to one another,
cooperate to quickly achieve an objective, and move
around with a purpose.
Materials:
a blackboard for writing target sentence structures
Procedure:
1. On the board, write the following template:
Departure date: Destination: Cost of ticket:
Number of people with you:
2. Ask students to plan a train trip, and tell them to fill in
their own templates with information based on the trip
they plan.
3.
Tell students that they are going to participate in a
lineup activity
and that they will have to stand up, ask
and answer questions, and line up in order,
4. On the board, write the following questions that
students can ask to elicit information from their
classmates:
Departure date:
When are you going? / When are you planning to go?
(I’m going on [date]. / I’m planning to go on [date].)
Destination: Where are you going?
/ Where are you planning to go?
(I’m going to [place]. / I’m planning to go to [place].)
Cost: How much will your ticket cost?
(My ticket will cost [amount].)
Number of people: How many people are going with you?
6. Have students stand up. Tell them that they will form a
line according
to information they have written down, and
that they must ask one
another questions in order to find
their place in the line. If you begin
with the date of
departure, the student with the earliest departure
date will
stand at the beginning of the line (show students where
the line will begin), and other students will line up in order,
with the
last student being the one with the latest
departure date.
7.
Once the line is formed, ask students when they are
going on the
trip—or have students ask one another, so
that the whole class can hear.
8. Pupils can use it in the past simple tense about a
past journey.
Level: Intermediate
Time required: 45 minutes
Goals:
To practice and produce vocabulary related to trains by
describing and drawing
Materials:
pictures or photocopies of trains (pictures could be the
same or
different, depending on availability); paper;
pencils or pens; tape
Preparation:
If pictures or photocopies are not available, ask pairs or
groups of students to draw a train. These drawings should
be kept secret from
other students. Later the train
drawings can be exchanged with another pair or group
to carry out the dicta-draw portion of the activity.
Procedures:
1.Teach the learners the target train vocabulary.
This includes:
Types
of trains, steam locomotive, diesel locomotive,
electric locomotive
high-speed train, trolley, tram. Train
cars: passenger car, dining car, freight car, flat car, oil tank
car, caboose Parts of locomotives or
cars: window, wheel,
smokestack.
2.
Check that the learners have a sound knowledge of the
vocabulary by performing simple drills. You might show a
picture of a train and ask students to describe it in pairs.3. Divide the class into groups of five people.
4. Tell the groups that they must choose one person to
be an artist. Some
groups may have more than one
student who wants to be an artist; some
groups may
have none.
5.
Ask each artist to stand or sit so that his or her back is
facing the group and so that everyone in the group can
see the artist’s back.When everyone is ready, give each
artist a blank piece of paper to draw on.
6.
Go to each group and, using tape, affix the picture,
photocopy,or
drawing of the train to each artist’s back.
Be careful to make sure that
the artists do not see the
picture.
7. Each group must now describe the picture to the artist,
making use of
the train vocabulary. Group members should
take turns providing
information. Artists may ask for
clarification as needed. At first, it
can be helpful for the
artist to receive a general overall understanding
of the
picture rather than a lot of details all at once.
For example,
the describers might begin with an overview:
This is a picture of a train with an electric locomotive, three
passenger cars, and a caboose. The
locomotive has eight
wheels—four are in the front, and four are in the
back.
The artist can also ask questions to get more detail and
clarification:
Artist: How many windows are in the passenger car?
Describer: There are eight windows in the passenger car.
8.
When artists have finished drawing, have the groups
compare the
artist’s drawing with the original. They should
notice details that were
missed, added, or changed, and
they should try to figure out how they
could accurately
describe those details.
Level:
Intermediate and higher
Time required:
1 hour
Goals:
To develop pair or group cooperation and critical
thinking skills
Materials:
One handout of the Passenger List for each pair or group;
if handouts
are not available, you can write the
information on the board or dictate it to the class.
Background:
This is a highly adaptable pair- or group-decision activity
in which students work together to find a solution to what
could be a fairly
complex problem: whom to allow onto
an overcrowded train.
Procedures:
1. Divide the students into pairs or small groups; four or
five people.
2. If you are using groups, ask each group member to
assume a role within the group. Here are possible roles:
Leader – maintains group unity by helping with decision
making and by resolving possible disputes within the
group
Secretary – records the group’s decisions and reasons
Presenter – presents the group’s findings to the whole
class
Monitor – keeps the group speaking English
Enforcer – keeps the group on task
3. If some groups have more than five people, more
than one person in each group can have the same role.
4.
Make sure each member has a clear understanding of
what will be
expected of him or her in the group. You might
want to circulate around
the class and ask students to tell
you their roles and responsibilities.
Make it clear that all
students are expected to participate in the
group
discussion.
5.
Tell the students that they are conductors on a train,
and they will need to solve a problem. The cashier has
sold too many tickets, and now
there is not enough
room for everyone who wants to be on the train.
6.
Give each group the Passenger List of ten passengers
who are waiting to
get onto the train, or write the list on
the board.
Tell students that
ten people want to ride, but there is room
for only five more
passengers. Each person has a valid
reason for wanting to ride, but the
conductors must choose
only the five people they think have the best
reasons.
People who do not board this train will have to wait three
hours for the next one.
The Passenger List has a simple description of the
reason each person has for riding the train.
7. Give students about five minutes to think about the list
individually and to choose the five people they think should
be allowed to board the train.
8. Students share their own decisions with other
members of their groups.
9. Tell students that in 20 minutes.The Presenter should be
ready with:
A list of the five people chosen to ride on the train
A short description in the group’s own words of why
the group has chosen each of these five people.
