When I first began teaching very young English language learners in Germany, I went a bit insane! Kids climbed the walls literally and flew the paper airplanes I had actually thought would be a creative lesson plan. With 14 children running around and yelling, “Shelly Belly” I nearly quit. At least they were using English, [...]
Posts under ‘Activities’
The Halloween party that almost wasn’t
I love parties. However, I’ve been traveling for workshops a lot for the past six months, and have had to cancel quite a few classes. During the last week of September and the first 2 weeks of October alone, I was home for 6 days. So, I thought parents might actually prefer that I let [...]
Tell a story! (By Christina Markoulaki)
Here I am, back from a short-term holiday and ready for my summer lessons! It is customary in Greece for the winter courses in private language institutions to end around May; towards the end of June schools resume preparations to welcome those students who are willing to finish one more English-language class by taking an [...]
Six Word Stories
Recently, I participated in a fabulous digital storytelling workshop through TESOL Electronic Village Online. One of the activities that caught my eye during the workshop was Six Word Stories. The process is simple: Students choose a picture and tell a story in six words.
Cat and Mouse: Reinvention of a Traditional Game (by Marco Brazil)
In the US, they call it Duck Duck Goose. In Bulgaria they call it Pesek, while in Ghana they call it Antokyire. Children across the globe call it many different names, and in the Philippines we call it Iring-Iring. Iring is a Bisaya (Filipino vernacular) word for cat.
Meeting Challenges in the EFL Classroom/ Part 1: Read-aloud activities (by Christina Markoulaki)
Branko M., Assistant Professor of American Literature of the English Department (Faculty of Humanities in Serbia), has been so kind as to give me the opportunity to present in a webinar some of the challenges teachers worldwide need to face if they wish their teaching to result in efficient learning on the students’ part. Although I feel [...]
Witches, Ninjas, Fairies, Princesses, and Super Heroes
Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know It’s Halloween, and time for another class party! These were my students’ costumes for our Halloween party this year. Considering that dressing up wasn’t mentioned, I was impressed that they made such an effort to come in character!
The Auction (by Marco Brazil)
Part of the series: EFL Makeovers Have you ever been to an auction sale before? An auction is defined as a type of sale where the price of an item is negotiated through the process of competitive and open bidding. It is normally a public sale at which items are sold to the person offering [...]
PALAYOK: Reinvention of a Traditional Game for EFL Classrooms (by Marco Brazil)
Cultural Background Ask any Filipinos about Pukpuk Palayok or Hampas Palayok, and chances are they played it or saw it played at least once during their childhoods. The game is so immensely popular that any celebration or town fiesta is not complete without children (oh yes, sometimes adults) playing it. Having been colonized by the [...]
