Posted on by karolasenglishblog

Keep calm and wash your hands ;)

Introduction:

This is a fun activity to review the most common collocations with break, come, keep and pay. Students divide the expressions into four groups and then play a board game where, if they manage to complete a sentence with the right verb correctly, they add either an O or an X to the board until they line up 6 symbols in a row. I currently use the stamps available in Zoom, stars and hearts, which actually makes the board look very pretty and if a student makes a mistake I stamp the square/ field with a cross ( I put the stamps in the bottom right hand corner).

Level: B2

Time: 45-60 minutes

Objectives:

  1. To practise and review common collocations with break, come, keep and pay.
  2. To divide expressions into four categories: ones that collocate with break, come, keep and pay.
  3. To complete a sentence with the correct verb: break, come, keep or pay and line up 6 symbols (O or X) in a row.
  4. To answer a question containing the target language.

Materials (Click on the worksheets below to download the PDF file):

  1. Keep calm and wash your hands Worksheet
  2. Keep calm and wash your hands Board game

Procedure:

  1. Elicit some common collocations with break, come, keep and pay and write them on the board e.g. break a leg, come to an agreement, keep a secret or pay the price.
  2. Put students in small groups of 2 or 3 and give each group Keep calm and wash your hands Worksheet.
  3. To make the activity more competitive, tell students that the first group to complete the task correctly wins or you could give them a point for each correct answer. Much better.
  4. Monitor and check answers as a class. As an alternative you could do the exercise together with the class, depending on the level of your students. I went through all the phrases with my students making sure they were clear on what each expression meant.
  5. Divide the students into teams ( if you have a small group or just one student they can of course play individually) and hand out Keep calm and wash your hands board game  to each team or simply display it on the screen if you are using Zoom.
  6. To see who starts do rock, paper, scissors.  Whoever wins chooses the square they want to start with. Next the player(s) completes the sentence with the missing verb (break, come, keep or pay). I have put smiley faces where the verbs should be to make the board look nice and chirpy. If the player(s) manage to do it correctly, they add either an O or an X to the board. The first player to line up 6 of their symbols in a row wins. Since I have been using Zoom I have actually inserted predefined icons (a star and a heart) when I played with my students as it looked cleaner and much cuter on the screen than an O or an X . You can find the stamps in the annotation tools when you start screen sharing. Also as the students complete the sentences make sure they use the right form of the verb (they could get additional points for that) and of course answer the question. Encourage them to use the collocation in their answer and avoid a simple yes or a no.
  7. At home ask students to choose five questions from the board ( preferably with the expressions that were brand new to them) and answer them in writing.

Related posts:

Make or do? Have no clue 😦

Go Get ‘em tiger!

Do, make, have or take? An instant headache

P.S. A massive thank you to my friend Stu, a genius creator of my new templates. I love them and I love you too potato head.

 

 

Posted on by karolasenglishblog

Make or do? Have no clue :(

Introduction:

This is a fun, competitive card game for small groups of 3 or more players to review the most common collocations with do and make.

Level: B2

Time: 45 minutes

Objectives:

  1. To practise and review common collocations with do and make.
  2. To divide expressions into two categories: ones that collocate with do and ones that collocate with make.
  3. To collect the most cards by completing the sentences written on the cards.

Materials (Click on the worksheets below to download the PDF files):

  1. 36 printable Make or do, have no clue Cards (laminate for future use).
  2. Make or do, have no clue Worksheet.

Procedure:

  1. Elicit some common collocations with do and make and write them on the board, such as homework / washing / judo; a cake, a mistake, a mess.
  2. Put students in small groups of 2 or 3 and give each group a Make or do? Have no clue Worksheet.
  3. To make the activity more competitive, tell students that the first group to complete the task correctly wins.
  4. Monitor and check answers as a class.
  5. Print and cut out the Make or do? Have no clue Cards, one set per group of 3 or 4.
  6. Place all cards face down on the table.
  7. The first player draws the top card off the pile and reads the incomplete sentence out loud. The remaining players listen to the sentence and try to guess if the expression in the sentence collocates with do or make (make sure students use the correct tense). The first player to raise their hand and give the correct answer keeps the card. To discourage random guessing you can penalize incorrect responses. If the answer is wrong, the card is placed at the bottom of the pile. Play continues in a circle going left.
  8. The winner is the player with the most cards at the end of the game.
  9. At the end of the game ask the players to give their cards to the player on their left. The players now individually make sentences with the collocations on their classmates’ cards, e.g. I make myself a cup of coffee as soon as I wake up. Adam makes wonderful coffee for his mother every morning.

Related posts:

Go Get ‘em tiger!

Do, make, have or take? An instant headache

Posted on by karolasenglishblog

Go Get ‘em tiger!

Introduction:

This is a Go Get ‘em tiger! printable board game for students to revise and practise using some common expressions with GO and GET. The students play a board game and then do a quick test in teams to test their memory.

Level: B1+

Time: 45 minutes

Objectives:

  1. To practise using some common expressions with go and get.
  2. To complete exercises 1 and 2 (Go Get ‘em tiger! Worksheet) using expressions with go and get.

Materials:

  1. Printable Go Get ‘em tiger! board game.
  2. One die per group of 3.
  3. Go Get ‘em tiger! Worksheet

Procedure:

  1. Put the students in groups of 3, and give them a copy of Go Get ‘em tiger! board game and a die.
  2. Players take it in turns to throw the die twice – the first throw indicates which column they should use, and the second throw indicates which row, to obtain the question.
  3. When a player lands on a square they must answer the question from that square. The player has to answer the question using the expression in bold at least 2 times, e.g. I get on quite well with my parents, although I must say it’s my mother I get on better with. We seem to have more things in common.
  4. The game continues in the circle going left.
  5. At the end, ask the students to name three collocations they use on a regular basis and three they have never used before.
  6. Put the students in new teams and hand each team Go Get ‘em tiger!
  7. Students complete the exercises in teams.
  8. The first team to complete the exercises correctly wins. Make sure students don’t look at the board game during the quiz.

Related posts:

Do, make, have or take? An instant headache

P.S. Thank you for all your help Alex.

Posted on by karolasenglishblog · 2 Comments

Do, make, have or take? An instant headache

Introduction:

This is a classifying and speaking activity for intermediate + students to practise common collocations with do, make, have and take.

Objective:

1. To practise and review common collocations with do, make, have and take.

Preparation:

Print out and cut up one set of cards per pair or group of three (Alternatively you can copy the words on post-it notes)

Procedure:

Elicit some example of common collocations with do, make, have and take, and put the examples in clear columns on the board.

Part 1:

  1. Put students in pairs or groups of three, and give one set of cards to each pair or group.
  2. Ask students to put the words into four different categories of words that collocate with: do, make, have and take.
  3. Draw their attention to the fact that some words can collocate with more than just one verb e.g. take / have a shower.
  4. Monitor and provide feedback.

Part 2:

  1. Mix the students and put them into small groups of at least 3 students; ask them to shuffle the cards and put them face down in a pile on the table.
  2. The first player takes the top card from the pile and makes a sentence with the word on the card, e.g. On average I spent 1 hour a day doing my hair; I find it really difficult to make friends, etc.
  3. The other players listen to the sentence and decide if it is correct.
  4. If the sentence is correct the player keeps the card. If the sentence is incorrect the card is placed at the bottom of the pile and the player who identified the mistake has an extra turn and takes the top card from the pile.
  5. Play continues in a circle going left.
  6. The winner is the player with the most cards at the end of the game.

cards

collocations-answers

P.S. Massive thank you to my friend Alex. This blog wouldn’t have been possible without your support.