Teachers' Zone 13

Dear Teachers,

with the autumn approaching and the temperatures dropping lower and lower I thought it was time to discuss warm-ups. We all know them, we all use them- but at least in my case I need something new and different from time to time.

The definition of warm-ups is to prepare something short and easy, or even better- an activity that does not require too much time nor effort and at the same time their aim is to help students get into an  English speaking mood and smoothly move on into the lesson.

Here come some of my ideas, some of which can serve double role as by incorporating them into the lesson we can revise any material we wish.

1.    Spot the word- think about the word used in the previous lesson, preferably at least 9-letter-long, write it down on a whiteboard , set the time limit and ask students to create as many new words with the letters as possible. If you want the activity to last longer take advantage of some other words you want to revise. Also, you need to decide how to reward a student with the longest  word.

2.    Question relay- again you can use it to revise the topic you have been discussing recently in the class.If it was technology you might start with a question „ How much time did you spend scrolling social media yesterday?”. The student who answers that must quickly ask his/her classmate another question on the same topic. The point of the activity is to do it really fast, it might work out slightly better in smaller groups but you can cover different topics just to carry on the competition.

3.    Question time- once all the students have stood up we ask the questions- which is a great way to revise any material. So, if we stick yo technology it could be „ How did people use to communicate in the past?”, „ How often do you charge your phone?”, „ How do you call the device that has replaced paper maps?”. The first person who raises their hand can answer the question and can sit down provided it is correct. The activity can be get competitive as the point of it is not to be the last student standing.

4.    Spot the error- we write down on the whiteboard statements with  grammar, spelling or punctuation mistakes. Obviously, we can use the examples from our previous lessons to check informally how much our students have acquired and remembered- and our students are challenged to spot it and correct it.

5.    Three things in common- depending on the topic you want to revise at the beginning of a lesson students are asked to work in pairs and find out what three things they have in common, for example: three thing you regret not doing, three things you have done for the first time recently.

 

Those are just a few examples that can be adapted in any class at any level- and what they all have in common is that they can generate quite a lot of fun and competition at the same time being helpful when it comes to starting a new lesson as well as to revising the previous ones.

And what are your favorite warm-ups? Would you like to share them with others? I do encourage to  get into touch!

 All the best-

Katarzyna Nowak