Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Write a word on the board, and ask a first student to say something that that word reminds him/her of; then the next student says something related to the first student's word, and so on.

Topic: Group Work Level: Intermediate, Advanced, Age: Adults Skill: Speaking, Description: Small group discussions based on difficult situations.

This subject is especially useful with younger students who might be hesitant to speak about their own lives. Speaking about films provides an almost endless font of possibilities for conversation. Here are a few ideas:

The articles I've read by Japanese high school teachers (quite rightly) refer to how the students are generally silent and try to avoid standing out. I'll certainly take on board the ideas I've read for livening them up. To get a little motivation going, I devised a system which has worked really well for me these last few months. I hold a weekly 3-part competition open to all students in my class.

Sometimes I try to make use of new vocab and tell them to move as if they have just won a million dollars or are all drunk, hungover, are all police officers, wealthy ladies out shopping, and -my all time favourite- as if they can smell something terrible. Breaks the monotony and gives me a bit of a laugh. - Vanessa Pasini

Ss prepare an idiom, expression etc to say to 5 persons before the next class. It works because I hear them say the words and it is fun to hear. Simple but students like it and practice it...

The increasing popularity of social networking sites and mobile phone texting have presented society with problems in how to protect children online. More and more youngsters are becoming victims of Internet predators and bullies. Parents are finding it more difficult to ensure their kids are safe online. Gone are the days when Mum and Dad could keep an eye on their child's surfing with parental controls on the family computer. Today's new mobile and networked world poses new and dangerous threats to online kids. Two recent initiatives aim to teach children about cyber-safety. Internet safety will soon be taught in UAE schools, while in Indiana, USA, parents will attend an Internet Social Networking conference. The UAE has launched a nationwide programme aimed at educating students on how to use the Internet safely and avoid suspicious websites. Spokesman Jay Bavisi said: "Advances in instant communication media, including the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and other instant messaging services, drive the very fabric of our modern society. Parents, siblings, teachers and children alike will need to understand the dangers the connected world presents." The Indiana conference will explore topics like cyber-bullying, sexting and online child exploitation. Local attorney Steven DeBrota said: "The number one way to keep a kid safe is for them to be skeptical. If they do not believe automatically what people tell them, they will be safer."

Activities (and links) for language-learning related to Internet.

English teachers are always being asked to bring songs to class. Although all the input students might have is considered enriching, the fill-in-the-blank exercises seem boring for them and for us as well. In addition, it's very difficult to please students with our song choices.  The aim of this project is to make them think about the songs they listen to and choose one of them to bring to class with the following: a. A copy of the lyrics b. Picture of the singer or group c. A short background of the artist(s) d. Some exercises to be used in class e. The CD with the song (Adapted from Murphey, Tim. Music&Song.Oxford University Press, 1992)

If you have problems getting writing, or if you want some great starting points for your students or writing partners, I have a wonderful resource for you

Victor turned on his computer. White letters appeared near the bottom of the black screen: "Resuming Windows." Victor wondered how long it was going to take this time. Five minutes later, the light blue screen appeared: "To begin, click your user name." He clicked on his name. Then he filled a pot with water to make some fresh coffee. He returned to his computer. The desktop icons had still not appeared. Victor went into his bedroom, took the sheet off the bed and the pillowcases off the pillows, and threw them all into the clothes basket on the floor. He vacuumed his bedroom, and then returned to his computer. A few minutes later, the desktop appeared, with about 40 icons on it. He liked how colorful they were. He clicked on his Word icon. Then he went into the bathroom and shaved. He came back out to the dining room, made himself a cup of coffee, and sat down. Word opened, a full half hour after Victor had turned his computer on. Victor typed his first name into the document. For about ten seconds, the screen was totally blank. Then "Victor" slowly appeared, one ... letter ... after ... another.

Gordon was hungry. He opened the refrigerator. There must be something in here to eat, he thought. There was-a single hot dog. He took it out of its package and put a small frying pan onto the stove's gas burner. He turned on the heat. Then he poured a little bit of vegetable oil into the pan. He sliced the hot dog in half lengthwise. When the oil got hot, he put the two halves in the pan. About a minute later, he flipped each half over. After another minute, he took the hot dog out of the pan. Gordon put two slices of bread into the toaster. This was tasty and healthy bread. The first ingredient listed was organic sprouted wheat. The first ingredient in ordinary bread is usually unbleached flour. When the toast popped up, he put mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup on one slice. Then he added two slices of onion. On top of the onions, he placed the hot dog. On top of the hot dog, he put a couple of slices of apple. Then he added some bits of hot green chile, and then put the top piece of toast onto the chile bits. Ahh, what a sandwich, he thought, as he sat down to eat.

It was noon on Friday. Friday was wash day, Kerry's least favorite day. Doing the wash was such a pain. He had to gather together all the dirty clothes. He had to turn the shirts and slacks inside out to save wear and tear on the outside of the shirts and slacks. He had to empty all the junk out of all the pockets of his clothes. Then he had to find quarters for each load of wash-four for the washer and three for the dryer. It'd be so nice to have a weekly maid, like his downstairs neighbor. Kerry piled all his clothes into the laundry basket and went downstairs. He was relieved to hear silence as he approached the laundry room; no one was using the machines. He put laundry soap and quarters into the washer, and set it at Warm Temperature and Regular Wash. A few minutes later, it was full of soapy water. He stuffed in half of the dirty clothes. This was going to be a two-load day. He placed the half-full basket on top of the churning washer. He shut the laundry room door and walked back upstairs. He set his electronic timer to 35 minutes. When the washer was done, he'd reload it and put the first load into the dryer. He sat down and opened the newspaper to the California section: "Truck Runs Over Crossing Guard," said the headline.

It was a strange day-Thursday-for a wedding. Who ever heard of a Thursday wedding? "Well," Harlan explained to everyone, "the Thursday event is going to cost me half of what Friday, Saturday, or Sunday would cost me. And a 50-percent discount is a lot of money, believe me." Everyone believed him. Harlan knew how to count his pennies. The early evening event was at Cowfish, a popular restaurant and meeting place on campus. Nevin and Janelle arrived at 5 p.m. for pictures, but the photographer had been delayed on the freeway because someone had jumped off an overpass. So they decided to take a stroll on campus. Walking westward, they soon found a fish pond. About a dozen small turtles were swimming in the eastern end of the pond. As Janelle kneeled at water's edge, all the turtles swam toward her. A couple of them climbed out of the water and onto the footpath. They wanted food, but a sign advised visitors not to feed the fish or turtles. So she apologized to the turtles-not that she had any turtle food anyway, she added. Nevin and Janelle took pictures of themselves and the turtles. They walked back to Cowfish just before the ceremony was to begin. Some of the preacher's words were unclear because of static on the portable microphone. After the preacher pronounced Harlan and Ellen husband and wife, guests clapped and cheered. The photographer, who had gotten "some great pictures" of the fallen body, busily took pictures of the bride and groom, the preacher, the parents, and the guests. After their meal, Nevin and Janelle said good night to the newly married couple. This was the fourth marriage for Harlan, so everyone was hoping it would be his last. Then Nevin and Janelle walked out to their car, holding hands and talking about what would be the same and what would be different at their own wedding. That is, if they didn't decide to just drive to Las Vegas for a quick marriage, with Elvis performing at their ceremony. "That way, our only

1)What springs to mind when you hear the term 'social networking'? 2)Hasn't social networking been a part of human society for tens of thousands of years? 3)Have you joined any social networking sites? Are they fun? 4)Are social networking sites for people who aren't good at meeting people face to face? 5)What's the best social networking site? 6)Should companies ban their employees from using social networking sites at work? 7)What new features would you like to see on social networking sites? 8)Do you think social networking could really be called "social networking'? 9)Have you ever tried to find friends on a social networking site? 10)Do you think your country's leader has a page on a social networking site? What do you think it might contain?

Facebook and MySpace start 'hyper-targeting' The world of advertising is set to change as social networking sites open up their pages to advertisers. The sites Facebook and MySpace are now seemingly locked in a battle to win over advertisers by offering them exclusive access to visitors' pages on their websites. Both sites will allow companies to place targeted adverts based on the information their users have provided in their profile. There is a huge amount of data for advertisers to aim at, including geographical details, hobbies, employment, likes and dislikes and a whole world more. This opens up enormous potential for advertisers for what is now being called 'hyper-targeting'. The sites have calmed fears that private information might be used. MySpace has assured its users that only data they choose to be made public will be available to advertisers. The social networking sites have hundreds of millions of users, half of whom logon to their personal pages on a daily basis. The sites allow people to connect with others across the globe and are now an important part of people's lives. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described how his new ads would work: "It's no longer just about messages that are broadcast by companies, but increasingly about information that is shared between friends," he said. Zuckerberg described how advertisers will also use Facebook to advertise: "The core of every user's experience on Facebook is their page and that's where businesses are going to start as well," he explained. He added: "The first thing businesses can do is design a page to craft the exact experience they want people to see." Companies such as Coca Cola, Microsoft and Sony have already signed up.