Using an anecdote
Example topic: idioms
You know I play football, right? No? Well I love it. Anyway, I went into town to buy some new boots the other day. Im in Sports Direct, and I see these Nike boots that I really like, theyre the new model. The assistant comes over and is like «can I help you?»
And Im «yeah. Can you tell me how much these
are?» She says «Theyre £500»
And I said £500???? Thats an arm and a leg!
Cuisenaire Rods creation
Example topic: Tourist attractions
Give each pair of students a bunch of Cuisenaire rods.
«Work in pairs. Use the rods to create a model of a well-known tourist attraction in [town/city/country/continent]. You have 2 minutes» Students then look at each model and guess the attraction.
Cuisenaire Rods model
Create your own model using rods. Elicit what it represents.
Example of the UK political parties and their share of the vote, for a lesson on politics)
The Musical «Guess the topic»
Example topic: family and relationships
Think of 3 or 4 songs which in some way reference the theme/topic of your lesson
Avril Lavigne Skater Boi («he was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it any more obvious?»)
The Hollies He aint heavy (hes my brother)
Baz Luhman Everybodys free to wear sunscreen («maybe youll marry, maybe you wont) Ozzy Ozbourne Mama Im coming home
Play students a relevant segment of the song (where something about the topic is referenced).
Ask them to write notes on what they hear, compare notes, and guess the topic of the lesson.
Family fortunes
Example topic: British customs and culture / stereotypes
Create a fake family fortunes style question:
«We asked 100 people from England, Scotland and Wales which things make you a
typical Brit?»
Board the following
1 ________________ 2 ____________ 3_____________ 4____________ 5____________
Students work in groups to prepare answers. Make it a little game (they win points for each correct answer).
Five possible answers for the above: queuing, drinking tea, talking about the weather, eating fish and chips, having bad teeth.
Picture parts
Example topic: animals
Make some extreme close-up pictures of animals. Pass them around and get the students to guess what they are and hence the topic of the lesson
Picture association «Guess the topic»Example topic: «once in a lifetime
Gather pictures of things that people MIGHT do only once in a lifetime.
Examples: drive a Ferrari, skydive, run a marathon, win the lottery (?), see a shooting star (?).
Board the pictures or pass them round, students discuss each one and guess the common theme.
Complete the sentence
Topic: Making apologies
Think of a relevant starter sentence and have students complete in their own words «The most common time to say sorry is.»
Topic: 2nd conditionals
«If I looked like David Beckham, I would»
Me/not me
Example topic: Food and drink
Get students to create a table with two categories