Monday, April 30, 2012

Activity 3- Make an Animal


Here is an awesome activity for very young learners! They will definitely have fun creating different animals and it`s a great opportunity to drill learned vocabulary!

Teaching point: vocabulary- animals
App: Make An Animal
Operating System: IOS (iphone or ipad)
Price: free
Internet Status: offline
Number of devices required : 1 or more, if available
Instructions:
First, demonstrate how the app works: students can make an animal by choosing the ears, eyes, tail, legs, etc. If each student has a device, have them work in pairs, or, if there is only one, work on the activity with the whole group at the same time. Explain that one student should   make an animal and show it to the others. Classmates, then, should say which animals they can identify in the picture.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Activity 2- Missile Attack


Here is a simple and fun activity for young learners learning the relationship between simple past and past continuous! The app used for this activity is very user-friendly and intuitive! 

Grammar point: simple past x past continuous
App: Action Movie FX 
Operating System: IOS (iphone or ipad)
Price: free
Internet Status: offline
Number of devices required : 1 or more, if available

Instructions:

 To get students in the mood, explain that they are going to produce some short video segments for the next Mission: Impossible movie. Students should work in pairs or small groups(assign roles: one student handles the camera, the other directs the scene and the other(or others)should perform the action). Explain that their videos are going to be very short (about 10 seconds) and that the recorded scene should be that of the students performing a single action (ex: dancing, singing, sleeping, etc). Tell them that the effect they are going to choose is :  "Missile Attack". After everybody has finished recording their scenes, write on the board:

_____________ was/were ___________ - ing, when the missile hit him/her/them.

Model it by giving an example (ex: Robert was dancing when the missile hit him./ Meggie and Sue were playing tennis when the missile hit them.) Then, explain that students are going to write down a sentence for each video produced by their classmates.
As a follow-up, students can vote on the best/funniest video.

Tip: Before students make their videos, it is a good idea to demonstrate how to use the app. This won`t take more than 2 minutes, since the app is very simple and easy to use.

Source: Vinicius Lemos

Watch a video made with the app Action Movie FX :

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Activity 1- What Do They Look like?

                                             picture credits: blogs.seattleweekly.com

Level: Beginning
Language Skill: Speaking
Device needed: camera (cellphone, tablet,digital camera or any other device that has a camera in it)
Objective: Describing people

Instructions: 

Students can work individually or in pairs/groups in case not everyone has a camera. Set a time limit of 5 minutes and ask them to go around the school taking pictures of the school staff (teachers, secretaries, etc). When students come back to class, group them up and ask each one to show  the other classmates some of the pictures they have taken. Classmates should describe the appearance of the people in each picture.

Tip: Talk to the school staff before you conduct this activity, so that you can get their permission to be photographed. Also, remind your students to tell the people they approach that they are working on a class project and to ask for permission before taking the pictures.

Source: Vinicius Lemos