Teaching Prepositions Activity

This is a simple but fun activity to teach prepositions.
All you need is a tie and a set of instructions.
First, demonstrate how to tie a tie in front of the class. To arouse the students' curiosity at this stage you might just stand in front of the class and without further explanation just take a tie from your pocket and put it on.
You might then pre-teach a few useful words:

- tie
- knot
- wide/narrow
- neck

At this point you can go through prepositions and make sure they're understood. Then maybe remove and tie up the tie again, giving the instructions as you do so:
- Put the tie around your neck; the wide end on the left and the wide end about 40 centimeters longer than the narrow end.
- Cross the ends near the top, the wide end over the narrow end.
- Hold the tie where the two ends meet with your left hand.
- Wrap the wide end under then over the narrow end above your left hand and pull the knot together.
- Fold the wide end under and through the loop around your neck and pull the knot together.
- Tuck the wide end through the loop at the front from the top.
- Tighten the knot then pull it up to your neck.
Next, of course, you give ties to your students and have them practice with the instructions.

Variations
There are plenty of variations here you can make:
one student reads whilst another ties the tie
introduce different kinds of tie knots with slightly different instructions
have a quick competition to see who has tied the best knot

Teaching the Past Continuous

This is a simple way of practicing the Past Continuous. I've used it several times with my (small) classes and it provides a method of practice where students can see the use of the tense.

1. Prepare a large sheet of paper; in the middle draw (or photocopy/paste) a picture of a row of houses. Around the edge of the paper paste pictures of different people involved in different household activities, e.g. washing, brushing teeth, watching tv, etc.

2. Explain to the students that the time frame is yesterday evening and this is what was happening in the street. Begin yourself by pointing to the first and second characters and saying,

"While Jane was playing the piano, her mother was cleaning the house."

The next student must then say,

"While her mother was cleaning the house, next door Mr Jones was watching television."

And round it goes.

A further exercise can be used to contrast the use of the past continuous with the past simple. Point to the first picture and show a possible interruption:

"While Jane was playing the piano, her friend knocked at the door."

Songs in the Classroom

Songs are great tools to use in the classroom. Everyone likes listening to music and the right song can not only be fun for the students (and teacher) but also be used in an effective way to teach.
Popular song lyrics are often very simple and mostly in the first person. They use rhyme which can help in remembering and the language is often conversational.

Choosing a Song
A couple of things to bear in mind here. Songs are very generational and music which you as a teacher may think is classic and cool is likely to induce groans from your students, especially if they are teenagers. There are ways round this though: select music which is either "classic" (which isn't always so easy) or get your students to give you the names of artists they like. It's easy enough to get hold of music which your students like and which is suitable for the class. You can get a list of popular songs in one lesson and use one or two several weeks later and surprise the class.

Song Activities
Here are a few ideas on how you can use songs in the class.

Missing Words
Essentially this is a gap fill exercise. Print out the lyric sheet of a song but with gaps where some words should go. Hand out the sheet to the students and have them (in groups) try to work out what words would fit in well in that space. Sometimes it's obvious:

When we moved apart
You broke my .....

But sometimes it's not:

When we ...... apart
You broke my heart.

Once this has been done you can compare what different groups have put together. Which words work (i.e. they have the right number of syllables and scan well) and which words don't.
Then you give the students a new copy of the lyric sheet with the missing words. This time they listen to the song (a couple of times if that's enough) and complete the missing words.
Afterwards it's good to compare the students' version with the artist's version. It's often the case that the lyrics the students have chosen can make the song sound better and there's plenty of scope for discussion on the way in which the meaning has changed.

Lyric Strips
Print out the lyrics with wide gaps between each line then cut the lyrics into strips with one line per strip. Jumble up the strips. With the students in groups, hand out bundles of lyric strips and have the students reassemble the song and tape them together.
Go through the different versions in the class and then compare it to the original.

Song Writing
Present the students with the first verse and chorus of the song. Work with them to establish the number of syllables and the structure of the verse and then have them (in groups) write two or three more verses.

Depending on the level of the class you can give them a few phrases to help them along.