[Oe List ...] Salmon: ESL topic ideas
William Salmon
wsalmon at cox.net
Sun Jul 21 12:10:24 PDT 2013
Colleagues—
The following is from my grandson on a 6-weeks visit in Jordan to teach adults ESL lessons. I sent him some suggestions using Imaginal Education. This is his contribution back to me on some of the curriculum his team developed. For those of you looking for ESL curriculum, this is shared with you.
Inner Peace,
Bill
Another thing Susy teaches a lot in our class is pronouns. I, she, he, they, you, it. She writes a sentence on the board.
Pam is a dancer. ______ is a dancer. (She)
The book is on the table. _____ is on the table. (It)
Jim and John are brothers. ______ are brothers. (They)
Matt is American. ______ am American. (I)
or
me, her, him, them, you, it.
Jim likes Sally. He likes her.
Sally likes Jim. She likes him.
Jim and John are brothers. Mollie likes them.
Matt is my son. I love you. I love him.
Chocolate is delicious. I like it.
Or she might teach about the verb "be"
am, is, are
I am a girl.
She is a librarian.
He is a boxer.
They are girls.
I am American.
Apples are red.
Partner conversation
Hello, How are you today?
My name is ______. What is your name?
What did you have for breakfast?
I ate _____ for breakfast.
What is your favorite food?
My favorite food is _____.
What is your favorite fruit?
My favorite fruit is ______.
What is your favorite vegetable?
My favorite vegetable is _____.
What is your favorite color?
My favorite color is _____.
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
I have _____ brothers and ____ sisters. Their names are ________.
Did you drink coffee this morning?
Do you cook? If yes, what food do you cook the most often?
Do you like food from other countries? If yes, which do you like the most?
Do you like to eat some desserts after dinner?
What food do you dislike? Why do you dislike it?
What foods do you love?
What are three things you like about our class time? Why do you like those things?
Instructions: Teacher writes the alphabet down the side of the paper. Pass the paper to the first student who uses this letter to write the name of an object, fruit, name, etc.
Pass the paper to the second student.
If any student gets stuck, then the PREVIOUS student can make suggestions.
Finish the alphabet.
Review consonants and vowels
-on a piece of paper write the first consonant then have them finish (like what we did with the alphabet)
-write vowels on the boards while they say them to me
-short vowel sounds
-aaa (cat, bat, pat, tap, hand, stand) they give examples
-eh (bell, desk, chest) they give examples
-ih (hill, ship, fish, pin) they give examples
-ah (fox, hot, pot, dog) they give examples
-uh (sun, run, rug, jump) they give examples
-long vowel sounds
“e” at the end of the word changes the sound of each vowel to make it sound like the letters name
- for “a” (cake, plate, name) they give examples Write examples on board
- for “e” (these, Chinese, Japanese)
- for “I” life, nine, white they give examples
- for “o” rope, stone, home they give examples
- for “u” mule, use, June they give examples
-When two “e’s” together the sound of the vowel is pronounced
- green, three, feet
- they give examples. Write examples on board
-When e is next to an a it makes the same sound
-peace, tea, leaf, please
- they give examples. Write examples on board
-When a is next to y or i the vowel is pronounced like the letter
- day, play, pray
- pain, rain, straight
- they write and give examples
-When two o’s are together depending on the word, there are two different sounds
-the short two o sounds like
-look, book, took
- they write and give examples
The long two o sound is
-tooth, spoon, roof
- they write and give examples
-When o is next to an a it is pronounced like the letter o
-goat, road, boat
- they write and give examples
-When o is next to a “w” or a u it is sometimes pronounced ow
-sour, mouth, house, count, flower, brown, power, tower
- they write and give examples
-Sometimes when a “y” is next to another consonant it is pronounced like the vowel e
-dirty, many, very,
- they write and give examples
-Other time when “y” is at the end of a word it is pronounced like the vowel “I”
-my, dry, sky
- they write and give examples
Review what a noun is
-have each write 3 nouns
-go around the class and have them say one of their nouns without them repeating one that was said before
Singular and plurals
To make most nouns plural just add an “s”
apple - apples
desk - desks
goat – goats
Book – books
Have them fill in these
Hand
Rabbit
Key
Clock
Door
For nouns ending in s, x, z, ch or sh, add -es
1 fox – 2 foxes
Box –boxes
Pitch- pitches
Wish- wishes
Have them fill in these
Boss
Buzz
1 glass (as in a cup) – 2 glasses (
For some words ending in o, add –es
Potato-potatoes
Tomato-tomatoes
Hero-heroes
However, for some words ending in o, just add –s
Logo-logos
Piano-pianos
Photo-photos
*For some words ending in f, change the f to a v and add –es
Half
Loaf
Leaf
Shelf
Have them fill in these
Wolf
Thief
Self
Elf
Dwarf
For common nouns that end with consonant + y, change the y to an i and then add –es
Fly-flies
Have them fill in these
Penny
Spy
Purify
Some nouns are the same in both singular and plural from
Fish
Sheep
Deer
Tuna
moose
For some nouns, change other letters or just change the word completely!
Man-men
Woman-women
Person- people
Child-children
Ox-oxen
Foot-feet
Tooth-teeth
Mouse-mice
Time
Seasons introduced
What doesn’t belong game
Split into 2(?) groups. Each group is going to pretend to host a party. Each group must write in English:
3 foods
3 pieces of furniture
3 drinks other than Pepsi
3 names of people they would invite
Where they will host the party
What time the party will start
What day of the week and what month the party will be on (months other than june and july and days other than Tuesday will be accepted).
1 reason why they are hosting the party (because you are making me doesn’t count).
-ex. Celebrate a birthday, list a holiday
Instructions: first you….., second…., third…., next…., then…., finally…
-have them describe a process in which they have to give instructions (directing a taxi, cooking a meal, describe what a typical day looks like)
-have them go home and write how to prepare their favorite recipe/food for the next class
Group(s) activity
-Going on a vacation
-Who, what, when, where
Complete the sentence:
Have them write down the beginning of the sentence and their response
I once dreamt that ...
Some people ...
When it rains, I ...
My best friend ...
Last night ...
Have students supply you with the titles of some favorite or famous songs. If the titles are in a foreign language, work together with the students to translate the titles into English. Write all of the titles on the board. You will need between eight and a dozen or so titles. The more the better. Next, have the students form groups, and instruct them to use as many of the phrases on the board as possible, with no further alterations of editing, and construct a short conversation. They may add text around the titles, such as subjects, question words, etc., but the main text of the product should reflect the titles. As you might suspect, this activity can be hit or miss. But given the propensity of younger students to gravitate toward love songs, this can result in some interesting composites.
Ask them for questions to ask during a conversation
Are you a good cook?
At what times do you usually eat your meals?
Body parts
Review directions- North, south, east, west, forward, backward, right, left
-Do you know which direction the sun rises?
- Do you know which direction a compass points
- Do you know which direction the sun sets?
-Which direction is opposite of north?
Have students supply you with the titles of some favorite or famous songs. If the titles are in a foreign language, work together with the students to translate the titles into English. Write all of the titles on the board. You will need between eight and a dozen or so titles. The more the better. Next, have the students form groups, and instruct them to use as many of the phrases on the board as possible, with no further alterations of editing, and construct a short conversation. They may add text around the titles, such as subjects, question words, etc., but the main text of the product should reflect the titles. As you might suspect, this activity can be hit or miss. But given the propensity of younger students to gravitate toward love songs, this can result in some interesting composites.
Ask them for questions to ask during a conversation
Students write their own short stories which they share in class
"I Spy" using the Goha book or another book
Spades (Describing things)
Ace
Describe your face.
King
Describe your clothes.
Queen
Describe your mother.
Jack
Describe your father.
Ten
Describe an apple.
Nine
Describe your bedroom.
Eight
Describe your best friend.
Seven
Describe what you had for breakfast today.
Six
Describe your English teacher.
Five
Describe the difference between a dog and a cat.
Four
Describe a pencil.
Three
Describe your favourite hobby.
Two
Describe this game.
Hearts (what questions)
Ace
What did you have for dinner last night?
King
What did you have for lunch today?
Queen
What is your favorite sport? Why?
Jack
What did you do last night?
Ten
What type of music do you like? Why?
Nine
What is your favourite game? Why?
Eight
What does your mother do?
Seven
What does your father do?
Six
What is your favourite lesson at school? Why?
Five
What did you do last Sunday?
Four
What is your favourite television programme? Why?
Three
What would you do if you could do anything in the world?
Two
What is the one thing you would change about yourself?
Clubs (mixed questions)
Ace
What is your address in English?
King
What time do you usually get up?
Queen
Where did you go for your last holiday?
Jack
Where were you born?
Ten
Why are you studying English?
Nine
Which do you prefer, summer or winter, and why?
Eight
Which magazines do you like to read?
Seven
How many hours do you usually sleep at night?
Six
Do you like shopping? Why?
Five
How often do you go to the cinema?
Four
What was the last movie you saw?
Three
Would you like to travel to other countries? Why?
Two
How many friends have you got and who are they?
Diamonds (if clause)
Ace
If you could have a pet what would it be?
King
If you had a million dollars what would you spend it on?
Queen
If you could meet any person in the world who would it be and why?
Jack
If you could change something about your school what would it be?
Ten
If you had to live in another country which one would you choose?
Nine
If you could do anything in the world what would you do?
Eight
If you could speak three languages well, what would they be?
Seven
If you were rich, what would you do?
Six
If you had to spend a day alone at home, what would you do?
Five
If everyone in the world suddenly disappeared, what would you do?
Four
If you could choose how old you were, how old would you be and why?
Three
If you could choose any meal you wanted, what would it be?
Two
If you found $100,000 what would you do?
Read simple sentences from a children’s book
Bingo to review
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