English Class: Play With Us. Quick Fun Activities

An adverb poem contest

Core language: Formation of adverbs with -ly

Level: Pre-intermediate – advanced

Number of students: Any

Stuff needed:A white/blackboard

Time: 10 minutes

People/characters involved:

– The teacher acts as a presenter and possibly as a participant

– All the students are the contestants

Procedure: The teacher writes/types adverbs ending in -ly and a sample poem on the board and explains the rules of the contest to the students. The students have seven minutes to write a poem (one or two verses) using adverbs from the list and any others. Then they read their poems out. Finally, the class decides whose poem is the best.

Example:

Adverbs

Slowly, quietly, tragically, angrily, carefully, carelessly, nervously, urgently, lovingly, suddenly, lazily, peacefully, heavily, really, immediately, nearly, finally, incredibly, loudly, eventually, hysterically, desperately, fortunately, unfortunately, warmly, happily, fondly, luckily etc.

Sample poem

At a lesson (a joke)

She was watching them carefully —
They were yawning lazily,
She asked them a question angrily —
They looked away nervously…

They were talking to each other loudly,
She tried to stop them desperately…
They were sitting quietly,
She laughed hysterically…

Some of them were sleeping peacefully,
Others were using their phones carelessly…

She sighed and gazed at them lovingly,
She started again patiently…
In the end, they smiled at her warmly,
So, the lesson ended happily.

Some helpful ideas: It seems to be a nice idea to award a little prize to the best poet of the group.

Definitions

Core language: The class vocabulary

Level: Intermediate – advanced

Number of students: Any

Stuff needed:A white/blackboard

Time: 10 minutes

People/characters involved:

– The teacher acts as a presenter and possibly as a participant

– All the students are participants

Procedure: The teacher writes/types a list of words and phrases that need revising on the board. One of the students thinks of an item from the list and, without saying it, gives a definition of that item. The rest of the group guesses which word/ phrase has been chosen. The participants take it in turns to define the vocabulary items. At the end, the students may vote for the best definition justifying their decision with reasons and comments.

Example: (from a text about roller coasters, intermediate level)

An amusement park

exhilarating

anticipation

a pendulum ride

suspended

weightlessness

motion

a roller coaster

gravity

glimpse

Student A: A railway track at a fairground with lots of steep slopes and sharp bends where people ride in fast trains.

Student B: A roller coaster!

Student A: That’s right. It’s a roller coaster.

Student C: It is an adjective which means making someone feel very excited or elated.