Category: Elementary

Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings

This material is a demonstration of the approach called CLIL. In CLIL You learn the content and thus you learn the language. However, experimenting a bit with the approach I like to do this a bit differently. First, I introduce the vocabulary through the mind map, then I present the text (this time in a video) and then we assess the understanding and play the games to practise the vocabulary.

Battle of Hastings – video

Watch the video and try to understand it.

Battle of Hastings – mind map

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Battle of Hastings Mind map

Battle of Hastings – games

Once you have watched the video you should try the comprehension questions in the game. Your task is to shoot only the evil figures.

Battle of Hastings – On Target game

Vocabulary games: In the first game you should read the definition and guess the word. Then click the arrow and you will see the correct words

Flashcards – vocabulary

Now that you know the words it is time to see whether you know the words:

Quiz – vocabulary

Fill in the blank – vocabulary

Crosswords – vocabulary

Battle of Hastings – For teachers

As many of the readers of this blog are teachers here is a brief section for them. When I teach this section I display the second slide of the Powerpoint presentation and I teach the vocabulary there. Then I play the video and play the comprehension game On Target with the students (divide the students into two teams to make the game more enjoyable.) Then I display the last slide and the students have to retell the story of Harold, Harald and William. Moreover, there is a pdf file with the mind map and a presentation which is easy to display on the IWB as it is in Powerpoint.

1066_Battle of Hastings
Battle_of_hastings

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Containers – mind map and games
Containers – mind map and games

The concept of uncountability is very difficult to understand and use correctly for learners of English. However, even the English sometimes need to count the things which are uncountable. To do this they count the containers the things are commonly packed in or they have a countable expression which is used with the given noun. Thus, they have  one pair of trousers, two pieces of cake or a carton of milk. To master this you have to learn the containers by heart. To make it easier I have prepared a short video, a mind map and three games for you.

Containers – video

Watch the video and repeat the phrases with the native speaker.
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Containers – mind map

The following mind map visually maps the containers and their usage.

containers mind map

Once you have learnt the containers it is time to see whether you really know them. Play the following games and if you win you can be sure that you know the vocabulary.

Containers – games

The first game is the easiest one. You have to choose the correct container for the given phrase. If you succeed you will be given the chance to shoot a penalty. Can you score 10 times? No one ever has. BE THE FRIST ONE.

Containers – penalty game.

The second game is slightly more difficult. Your task is to choose the word which fits into the gap. You have to choose a noun which is commonly used with the given container. If you are successful then you can try to win the fencing duel.

Containers – En Garde game.

The last game is the most difficult one. While in the previous games it was enough to choose a word, here you have to make it up. And in the meantime the invaders get more and more aggressive. Will you save the planet?

Containers – Teacher invaders game.

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Clothes vocabulary – elementary
Clothes vocabulary – elementary

Clothes vocabulary is useful and quite easy to learn. Here you will find a video introducing the correct pronunciation (American English) of the words. Watch the video and repeat. In the second part of the video you should say the words yourself.
Then there is a mind map introducing the new words. You can add more to the mind map if you want to. Further you can find here several games to practise the clothes vocabulary.

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Video

Watch the video and repeat the words. Then say the words for the clothes you see.

Clothes vocabulary mind map

Here is a mind map of the clothes vocabulary. You can (and you should) print this mind map out and add more words you want to learn.

Clothes vocabulary elementary

Clothes vocabulary games

Once you went through all the words and you think you know them, it is time to practise them in the following games. First one is fill in the blank. Your task is to write the word you see in the picture. You will get 10 words to practise.

Fill in the blank

The second game is a matching activity. Your task is to click on the word that you see in the picture.

Matching

The last activity to practise clothes vocabulary is a crossword. Click into the crossword and you will see the clue. Write the words.

Crossword

The last game is called Click the word. Read the sentence above the pictures and then click on the correct picture and on the button submit.

Clicking

I hope that by now you know all the new words pretty well.

Other games to learn English

The Kiss is a classical story by the American author Kate Chopin. You can read and listen to the simplified story and then try several comprehension games at http://www.aj3000.org/TheKisspage/the_kiss_story.html .

Christmas – vocabulary and listening
Christmas – vocabulary and listening

Christmas is nearly over, but when the holiday ends I would like my students to tell me about their Christmas. To be able to do this properly they will need a lot of Christmas vocabulary. Here is a mind map introducing all the key words and concepts connected with Christmas in Great Britain and the USA. Go through all the words and content and then play the game to practise the Christmas vocabulary.

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Christmas Vocabulary game

Once you know the vocabulary it is time to practise it. Here is a simple quiz where you should fill in the names of the things you see in the pictures. If you get more than 80% of all the answers correct you can play a game called Indiara. Good luck.

Christmas Vocabulary quiz

Christmas Traditions – listening

I come from the Czech Republic and I have prepared a short text describing the unusual traditions connected with Christmas here. You can listen to the recording and then play a comprehension game. To make the listening easier for you, you can listen and read the text at the same time. This kind of listening is very good for your pronunciation too, as you can read along.

Listen and read
Comprehension game – Hoopshoot.

If you feel that you need more listening practice, try the following dictation exercises. Listen to the recording and then fill in the missing words. You can stop the recording whenever you like and play different parts again. In this way your listening comprehension will improve.

Czech Christmas Customs Dictation – elementary
Czech Christmas Customs Dictation – pre-intermediate
Czech Christmas Customs Dictation – intermediate

I hope you will find all these resources useful.
Merry Christmas.

More Games to learn English

If you like these exercises there are many more games to learn English at this site. We recommend the following ones:
Past tense of the irregular verbs – this post contains a mind map and several highly addictive games to learn the English irregular verbs in the past tense.
And what about present perfect tense? Is it still a mystery for you? Try the following post on Present perfect tense.

Furniture vocabulary
Furniture vocabulary

Furniture vocabulary is one of the easy areas for learners of English. However, I think that it never hurts if the students experience some success.

In this post, there is a video with all the words, an infographic and three games to practise the vocabulary.

Furniture vocabulary – video

Start your lesson with the vocabulary film. Listen and repeat the words and then say the English word for the furniture that you see in the picture. The words are presented and then repeated. The video is based on the learning method described and recommended by Baddeley in his book on memory. I can confirm that it works.

Play the video at least twice in the lesson. Your students will remember the words better.

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Furniture vocabulary – infographic

Here is a mind map showing all the important furniture words. The pieces are placed in the rooms but they could appear in a different room.

furniture mind map

Furniture – games

And now it is time to practise the new vocabulary. Here you can find three games. First is a quiz and if you label more than 70% of the pictures correctly you will get to play a game called Indiara. The game is in HTML5 so it will play on all mobile devices and desktop computers.

Furniture vocabulary – label

The second game is basketball. If you choose a correct answer you will get a chance to throw the ball into the basket. Good luck 🙂 To play this game, you need to download the game and then open it in Adobe Reader. Then click on the game and it will work.

The third games is called Matching. Your task is to find the picture and the correct word. Will you manage it in fewer then 40 turns? This game is in HTML5 and it will play on all mobile devices and desktop computers.

Furniture vocabulary – matching game
Food – elementary vocabulary
Food – elementary vocabulary

Food, glorious food … Food is one of the most important vocabulary areas to teach. You can teach about 30 different vocabulary items connected with food in this post. There are several activities to use: an infographic, a video and an online quiz.

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