Warm-up Activities for Engaging English Lessons

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction

Page 1

General Teaching Skills
1.

Warm-up Activities by Marine Mghebrishvili …………………………………………………………...4

2.

The Basics of Lesson Planning by Mariami Dakishvili…………………………………………..….…6

3.

Learning Styles by Elene Burchuladze……………………………………………………………………...15

4.

Techniques for Making Groups by Nana Sarauli…………………………………………………….…17

5.

Working in Groups by Lana Chakhaia……………………………………………………………………….20

6.

Using a Variety of Question Types Effectively by Tamar Tabukashvili………………………22

Vocabulary
7.

Reviewing, Re-encountering and Practicing Vocabulary by Tamar Tabukashvili ……..28

8.

Presenting Vocabulary through Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic Styles for Lower
Grades by Natia Surguladze………………………………………………………………………………………..31

9.

Kinesthetic Activities for Young Learners by Ann Chachkhiani………………………………….34

Grammar
10.

Teaching Grammar Rules in Context by Sopio Khadagiani……………………………………….36

11.

Teaching Grammar Context by Elena Petrova………………………………………………………….40

12.

Practicing Grammar in Context by Tamar Tskhomelidze………………………………………… 43

13.

Grammar in Communicative Activities by Inga Gelashvili…………………………………………46

14.

Teaching Grammar with Limited Resources by Miranda Tskhadadze……………………...49

Speaking
15.

The Goals and Challenges in Teaching Speaking by Iulia Kusikashvili……………….……...52

16.

Designing Speaking Activities by Nana Kazaishvili………………………….………………….….…55

17.

Cooperative Learning Structures by Sopio Khvadagiani…………………………………………59

18.

Improving Speaking through Role-plays by Nana Kikalishvili………………………….………69

19.

Teaching Speaking through Storytelling by Mariam Kuchukhidze…………………………72

20.

Spoken Fluency through a Dictogloss by Elene Changelia……………………………………..75

21.

The What and Why Diary: Encouraging Students to Speak by Rita Tukvadze……….78

22.

Using Rubrics in a Speaking Class by Natia Katamadze and Ia Gagnidze……………….81

Listening
23.

The Structure of a PDP Listening Lesson by Ketevan Papava-Lobzhanidze…………..84

24.

Teaching Listening Skills in Mixed Ability Classes by Dali Aburhania……………………..89

25.

Using Songs to Teach Listening by Tinatin Kutivadze…………………………………………….96

26.

Dictogloss by Elena Petrova……………………………………………………………………….……….100

Writing
27.

Introducing Process Writing by Ketevan Barkhudanashvili………………………………….103

28.

Scaffolding for Writing Activities by Tea Khachoshvili……………………………….………..106

29.

Writing an Argumentative Essay by Irma Kiria……………………………………………………..111

Reading
30.

Activating Schemata Before Reading by Tamar Remishvili…………………………………..119

31.

How to Scaffold Reading by Marine Goguadze……………………………………………………122

32.

Teaching Reading for Beginners by Nino Sarauli………………………………………………….126

33.

Using the KWL Chart for Reading by Tinatin Kutivadze……………………………………….130

34.

Alphabet Teaching Strategies by Nino Maisuradze…………………………………………....132

35.

Using Reading Texts as Information Gap Activities by Inga Gelashvili…………………136

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Introduction
Background
This handbook contains a collection of teacher training session plans developed by Georgian
teachers as a capstone activity at the end of their training as teacher trainers under the US
Embassy funded Intensive Course for Teachers of English (ICTE) program. The ICTE program
was implemented by PH International and their partner organization World Learning-SIT
Graduate Institute carried out the Teacher and Teacher Trainer Development component of the
program. All program activities took place during 2013.
During the ICTE program the teachers who contributed training session plans to this handbook
participated in a number of distinct training activities: intensive instruction and experience in
training techniques, cultural explorations and leadership skills in the USA, personalized feedback
on training session plans and online post-session reflections, in-country observations of training
sessions by peers and by World Learning-SIT trainers, and presentation of their training sessions
at the program capstone conference in Tbilisi, during November 2013.
A Work In Progress
This handbook does not set out to present a set of perfect training plans. It is a collection of plans
developed by newly trained teacher trainers and is presented as a work in progress. The manual
will serve as a template for experimentation for the trainers who developed the plans, and who
will continue to amend them over time as they deliver them and learn from their experiences and
from the feedback their training participants will provide. For all other current or future teacher
trainers who will access this handbook and borrow, amend and deliver some of the training
activities elaborated here, the contents will be a useful starting point from which to build a
personal portfolio of training session plans.
Developing the plans
The training plans contained in this handbook were developed to this point by the trainers
themselves, with support from World Learning-SIT trainers and with the input of a cohort of
peers. The training sessions were delivered by the teacher trainers during training events in their
own schools or regions and observed by their cohort members and by members of the World
Learning training team.
Following feedback from World Learning-SIT trainers, the teacher trainers made extensive
changes to session plans which were then posted again within their online groups. Further
amendments in some cases were necessary to ensure that the plans were of a sufficient standard
to be implemented and limited enough in scope to be covered in the 35 and 60-minutes time
limits which for logistical reasons needed to be adhered to. When this stage of the work had
1

been completed, many of the authors of the plans continued to propose further additions and
amendments to their plans. This speaks well for the enthusiasm of the new teacher-trainers and
for their future work with Georgian teachers. Most of these plans will be capable of being used
on their own as material for short teacher training sessions, possibly in the teacher trainers’ own
schools. We also envision them being used later, either as components of longer training
workshops or, in an expanded form, as 90 or 120-minute training sessions. We feel certain that
these teacher trainers will have lots of creative ideas about how best to use their work in the
coming months and years.
Creative use of a standard model
Many of the session plans follow a particular model, based on a version of the Experiential
Learning Cycle, which allows the workshop participants to actually experience the technique as
students, then step back and describe what happened, analyze the teaching practices it contained
and then create a plan for using the ideas in their own teaching. This method was experienced by
the teacher trainers during their training in the USA. It is a relatively easy framework for new
teacher trainers to implement and provides a helpful starting point for trainers who will later
move on to develop a more personal style of training and presentation.
Several of the session plans in the handbook show signs of creativity, imagination, fun and
excellent teacher trainer potential which will, we hope, be of enormous benefit to future
generations of Georgian teachers, as these newly trained teacher trainers disseminate their skills
and knowledge among their colleagues.
Benefit to local teachers and learners
One goal of this program was to support the development of trainers who would bring new ideas
and methodologies back to their regions to share with their colleagues. The greatest advantage to
using local trainers is that they would have a depth of knowledge about their local context and
needs that a foreign specialist would not. The session plans contained within this handbook are a
good example of this. There are plans geared towards teaching speaking and communicative
activities meant to motivate, engage and inspire learners to use their English in meaningful ways;
grammar sessions that move away from teacher-centered lectures towards context-derived or
reflexive methodologies; writing sessions in which the students are writing for an audience,
usually each other; grouping techniques to keep classes fresh; ice-breakers and warmers to set
students at ease and to create a warm, supportive learning atmosphere; activities and sessions
devoted to dealing with mixed-level classes. The fact that the session topics were so well chosen
reflects the hard work and sense of responsibility that these education professionals feel towards
their teaching peers and their local students across Georgia.
We are proud of the work produced by the new teacher trainers and have every confidence that
they will continue to develop their training expertise and contribute in many meaningful ways to
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the development of English language education in Georgia. We are pleased to return their work
to them in this manual for future use.

We would also hope that when using these plans, you add further components that will
strengthen the sessions and provide handouts or additional activities and exercises that teachers
can bring directly back to their classrooms, as well as web links to let teachers continue
researching on their own.

Vermont USA, December 20th 2013.

3

Warm-up Activities
Aims: By the end of the session, participants will be able to articulate the positive sides of using

warm up activities to make their lessons more effective and engaging. In addition they will be
familiar with a number of warm-up activities to use in their classrooms.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: paper
Warm-up activities are a great way to create a safe and comfortable atmosphere, essential for learning a
language. This workshop shows you how you might make teachers more aware of their importance as
well as a few ideas they can take straight back to their classrooms.

Procedure
1. Begin by informing the participants that they will be experiencing a couple of ways to start
class and that they need to behave as if they are language students, not teachers.
2. Hand out half-sheets of papers to each participant. Ask each participant to write down their
full names on the paper and quickly draw a picture of their favorite tools (radio, chalk,
pencil) that they use in the classroom. Have the participants mingle and guess what the
pictures mean and why.
3. Have the participants stand in a circle and one by one say their first names and an adjective
which begins with the same letter as their name (My Name is Marine. I am Majestic). Each
person has to repeat all teachers’ names and adjectives (Her name is Marine, she is majestic.
My name is Sophia and I’m sarcastic.).
4. After experiencing a positive beginning to the class, do a bad simulation in order for the
participants to understand the inportance of warming up activities. Begin by sitting
uncomfortably for a minute or two at the start of the lesson, looking around in the classroom,
and asking questions like, “Is everyone here? Who is absent today? Is there anyone else?
Shall we start? What was your homework? Who will read the homework aloud?” Pick on
individual participants to answer and make them stand up. Don’t bother to really listen to
their answers. Correct their pronunciation and then quickly call on the next person.
5. Tell them that the simulation has finished and they can think like teachers again. Have them
discuss the simulation using the following questions:
What did you feel during the simulations? What was the difference between the first, second and
third simulation? How can the third way of starting a class hinder learning?
Now ask: What are warmup activities? Why can they be useful in our lessons?
4

Have the participants work in pairs and after a few minutes, ask for volunteers to share with the
whole class.
Tell them you will now show them a number of warm-up activities that should help to make
students feel more comfortable at the beginning of class.
6.
a) Have everyone stand up and tell them to make the letter W with their bodies. If they
hesitate, show them by yourself. Now, have them spell out the rest of the key word, W,
A, R, M, U, P. Ask them what that spells!
b) Have the participants chant a rhyme while doing the actions and touching their bodies:
Clap your hands:
Clap,clap,clap
Wash your hands:
Wash,wash,wash
Brush your teeth:
Brush,brush,brush
Shake your hands:
Shake,shake,shake

Shake your body:
Shake,shake,shake
Touch your nose:
We go,we go, we go
Touch your ears:
We go,we go,we go
Touch your head:
We go,we go,we go.

Ask: What are these activities good for? How can you use them?
4. Write down a funny story that happened to you last week. Have the participants think of
their own stories. They will take a few notes and then tell a partner. Have them switch
partners and tell the event again. Monitor so you can briefly talk about some of the things
you heard. Ask someone to retell the most interesting story they heard.
Reflection Questions:

Why is it important to begin lessons with warm up activites?
What learning skills can they develop?
How would you adopt the warm-up activities we experienced
during the session for your lessons?
After discussing these questions in pairs, ask for ideas in the whole group. Give the teachers a
handout that gives the steps of the different warming-up activities that were experienced in this
session and wish them good luck!
References: Scrivener, J. (2012) Classroom Managment Techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press
Marine Mghebrishvili is a teacher and a trainer in Qvakhvreli Public School.

5

The Basics of Lesson Planning
Aims: By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify the characteristics of
effective objectives and create a lesson plan that supports accomplishing a well-written
objective.
Timing: 90 minutes
Materials: PowerPoint
This workshop provides crucial information and practice on creating student learning objectives and
lesson plans that will make your teaching life easier and more effective.

Procedure
1. Ask the group, “What is important about writing objectives? And lesson planning?” Do a
round of Think-Pair-Share (TPS) with volunteers sharing their ideas with the whole
group in the end.
Fill in any apparent gaps in the group’s knowledge by using a short PowerPoint
presentation (see below) that covers writing learning objectives and criteria for creating
effective lesson plans.
2. In order to clear up any questions after the PowerPoint, ask and discuss the questions:
What is important about writing effective objectives?
What is important about writing the steps of a lesson plan?
How are lesson plans designed in a logical order?
3. Put this objective on the board: Students will be able to read a text and answer some
questions. Ask whether this is a strong objective or not. Ask probing questions to draw
out the weaknesses of this objective: Can we assess whether students have learned
something by using this objective? What reading skills were you trying to develop? Was
the reading appropriate for this class? How long was the text? What kinds of questions
were asked? This should draw out that the objective is inadequate.
4. Introduce the acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound) and together rewrite the objective. You’ll end up with something like, By the end
of the lesson, the students will be able to fill in a one-page job application using the
biographical information and employment history from the short story, “Huck Bites
Back.”
5. Have the participants work in groups of 3. Give them 3 incomplete objectives and have
them rewrite them so they are SMART.
•

Students will listen and complete a dictogloss
6

•
•

Students will write a paragraph comparing America and Georgia.
Students will write an essay about food.

6. Give instructions to put a jumbled lesson plan in order in teams of 4 (See handouts
below). Each group puts their order on poster paper. Teams compare their solutions and
explain the basis for their decision. When finished, you can choose to give them the
original and they can discuss as a group.
7. Hand out three objectives, one objective to each group of 4.
A) By the end of the period, after having compared their texts to the original, SWBAT
identify 4 instances where their own English was not as grammatically or lexically as
accurate as the native speaker who created the original, as part of a dictogloss on
occupations.
B) SWBAT to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the celebration of
Christmas in Georgia and England through the use of a Venn diagram and in writing
a paragraph afterwards.
C) SWBAT write a 4-sentence paragraph comparing the cultural traditions surrounding
food served for holiday celebrations in America and Georgia

8. Have the participants create a lesson to accomplish the objective they were given and
write out the steps of their lesson plan on a piece of poster paper. Direct a volunteer from
each group to explain the steps of their plan and how their plan meets the lesson planning
criteria and objectives.
9. Pose the following reflection questions:
•
•
•
•

How do learning objectives help teachers and students?
What is important to remember about objectives and lesson plans?
What have you learned about having an activity where students demonstrate what they
have learned?
What did you like and what didn’t you like about today’s workshop?

10. As the participants respond orally, write their ideas on poster paper to provide a
conclusion to today’s workshop.

Mariami Dakishvili is a teacher and trainer from School #4 in Telavi

7

Handouts:

Jumbled Lesson plan
Task: Order the jumbled lesson plan, compare your solution with the original and
comment about the sequencing
Objectives:

Students will be able to develop knowledge of how to vote in an election, to identify steps in voting and
conduct an election in class.

Teacher activity

Teacher puts a rubric on the board to help students judge the
candidates;
The items in the rubric: how many students will benefit by the
program, is the program realistic. How long will it take to achieve
the program, how can you tell if the candidates are truthful.
Candidates have 3 minutes for their speech
Teacher declares the winner

Teacher and her assistants are poll workers. They take the
registration form from the students, hand them the ballot.
When voting finishes, observers count ballots votes and
announce the results.
Teacher distributes color paper to the students and regroups
them. All reds sit and work together, all blues, all yellows, and
all greens. There will be four groups.
Teacher distributes flash cards to the four groups. The flash
cards have pictures of a person voting, a picture of a voting
booth, a picture of a man giving speech , a picture of a ballot
box, a picture of registration form , etc
Teacher explains students that each group has a color and
this color represents each Party, Students should imagine that
the school director will give a 1000 laris to the party with the
best program that would help the most students. Students
make party campaign program on the topic, ”If your party had
1000 laris, how would you spent it to improve education
opportunities, the school buildings or programs of students of
your school?” Ss should write the program on a large paper.
Teacher asks Ss about making choices about their favorite
different seasons. What season they like and why.
Teacher speaks about voting rights in different countries and
how people make their choice for candidates in a free
environment. Teacher introduces vocabulary about elections:
election, vote, booth, ballot box…

8

Students activity

Each candidates makes a presentation

Students are happy about the team
that won
Students go in voting booth to vote.
Several students write down the results
as the ballots are counted on the board
under the appropriate Party color.
Students participate in regrouping.

Students match pictures with new
vocabulary.
Students work in groups and create
their Platform Program. Each group will
present their own Program.

Students give examples and support
their choice.
Teacher and Ss pronounce the words
together. Students say the Georgian
word for new vocabulary

Original Lesson plan
Objectives: Students will be able to develop knowledge of how to vote in an election. Students
will be able to identify steps in voting and conduct an election in class.
Time/Activity
Teacher activity
Students activity
Warm up 3
min.
Act.1
3min.

Act.2
2 min.
Act.3
4min.
Act.4
10 min.

Act.5
10 min.

Teacher asks Ss about making choices about their favorite
different seasons. What season they like and why.
Teacher speaks about voting rights in different countries and
how people make their choice for candidates in a free
environment. Teacher introduces vocabulary about elections:
election, vote, booth, ballot box…
Teacher distributes color paper to the students and regroups
them. All reds sit and work together, all blues , all yellows, and
all greens. There will be four groups.
Teacher distributes flash cards to the four groups. The flash
cards have pictures of a person voting, a picture of a voting
booth, a picture of a man giving speech , a picture of a ballot
box, a picture of registration form , etc
Teacher explains to the students that each group has a color
and this color represents each Party, and students should
imagine that the school director will give a 1000 laris to the
party with the best program that would help the most
students. Students make party campaign program on the topic,
“If your party had 1000 laris, how would you spent it to
improve education opportunities, the school buildings or
program of students of your school.” Ss should write the
program on a large paper.
Teacher puts a rubric on the board to help students judge the
candidates;
The items in the rubric: how many students will benefit by the
program, is the program realistic. How long will it take to
achieve the program, how can you tell if the candidates are
truthful.
Candidates have 3 minutes for their speech

Act.6
12 min.

Teacher and her assistants are poll workers. They take the
registration form from the students, hand them the ballot.
When voting finishes, observers count ballots votes and
announce the results.

Act.7

Teacher declares the winner.

Students give examples and
support their choice.
Teacher and Ss pronounce
the words together.
Students say the Georgian
word for new vocabulary
Students participate in
regrouping.
Students match pictures
with new vocabulary.
Students work in groups
and create their Platform
Program. Each group will
present their own Program.

Each candidates makes a
presentation

Students go in
voting booth to vote.
Several students write
down the results as the
ballots are counted on the
board under the
appropriate Party color
Students are happy about
the team that won.

9

PowerPoint slides

Learning Outcomes = Objectives
 Learning outcomes or objectives describe what the
teacher wants the students to know or achieve by the
end of the lesson.
 Effective learning outcomes should be measurable
and demonstrable. You should be able to count or
see/hear what the student has learned.

3

Examples of vague objectives
which can not measured or
demonstrated:

 SWBAT increase their awareness of the American
culture.
 SWBAT learn more easily from an illustrated book.
 SWBAT compare cultures.

4

10

Examples of more specific
measurable objectives:
 SWBAT describe orally customs in different cultures
using the present simple and vocabulary such as
chopsticks and prepare.
 SWBAT read an illustrated book and write two
sentences explaining what the illustrations tell about
the story.
 SWBAT list four festivals from different countries and
say a least one fact about that festival.
5

Select and organize content
Identify the content to cover the learning outcomes.
Content must be structured in a logical sequence, be
at the right level for the students

6

11

Criteria for an effective lesson plan
 Lesson plan should be appropriate to the age.
 Lesson plan should use pair or group work
 Lesson plan should employ communicative strategies
 Culminating activity should demonstrate what the
students have learned and relate to the main learning
outcome that was stated.

7

Select appropriate teaching
strategies

Provide the variety of teaching strategies in order to
cover the content in different ways.
For example: The voting lesson plan in ELCE was
teaching students about the importance of developing
a campaign platform and learning the steps of the
voting process.
 So the teacher had to develop to divide students into
groups and help them express an opinion.
 Then , the teacher had to teach the steps of the voting
process by guiding students through the process itself.
8

12

Select and develop teaching and
learning resources
Identify the equipment [tape recorders, laptops] and
resources you need in order to deliver a session /
lesson. For examples:
Handouts , tactile puzzles ,quizzes, questionnaires,
revision activities, ballots, ballot boxes, poster paper,
flash cards, markers, colored paper, paper to write
sentences …
9

Design lessons so that all the
students can be successful
 Include activities where students can participate in
some way.
 Consider learning styles. Some students are more
verbal than others. Some students are more successful
at writing or performing or miming activity.
 Vary activities so that students can demonstrate these
skills.
10

13

Why is assessment at the end of
the lesson important?
 If the teacher has written specific objectives, these
objectives guide the assessment.
 If the objective says: write two sentences about
illustrations that tell the story, then each student
should write two sentences.
 The teacher should think what the culminating
activity will be and if it is achievable and yet
challenging. This culminating activity is the
assessment.
11

14

Learning Styles
Aims: By the end of the session, teachers will be able to identify different learning styles,

articulate why they are an important consideration for the language classroom and implement a
number of activities which address various learning styles.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Audio and video equipment, PowerPoint on learning styles
If we can identify which learning styles most appeal to our learners, we will be better able to create
lessons that they find engaging. This interactive workshop will allow participants to experience activities
that take advantage of kinesthetic, auditory and visual modalities.

Procedure
1. Trainees work in pairs to answer the following questions, sharing and then presenting
their ideas in front of the whole group. As they do this activity, use their ideas to make a
mind map on the whiteboard/flip-chart/computer:
• What do I mean by learning style?
• Why is this topic important?
• What learning styles can you name?
2. Inform the participants that they will now have the opportunity to participate in a number
of activities as language students (not as teachers). When the activities have finished,
they will have a chance to talk, as teachers, about what they have just done and how these
ideas might apply to their own students.
Activity 1: Action Mimes. Participants stand in a circle. The first student says a sentence in
present continuous (e.g., She’s reading a book) and the student next in the circle has to silently
perform it. When she has finished, it is her turn to think up a new present continuous sentence to
say to the next student.
Activity 2: Sentence Building. Participants are each given a piece of paper with one word from a
sentence, in mixed order. They must arrange themselves into a line so that the sentence makes
sense. Once this is done, the teacher can add modals, negatives, and question words to force the
students to rearrange themselves again.
Activity 3: Listening to music. Prepare the lyrics to a song on a worksheet or on the board.
Change 5-10 of the words and put them in bold print. Play the song for your class. As the
participants listen to the song, they correct the words in bold. They can listen a few times to
check their answers and also begin to sing along.

15

Analysis and Reflection
3. Have your trainees take a deep breath. Tell them they are no longer students and now
they will have a chance to analyze these activities for use with their own classes. Put the
following questions on the board and have the trainees discuss in pairs and then share
with the whole group:
• What learning style does the activity “Action Mime” match?
• What learning style does the activity “Sentence Building” match?
• What learning style does the activity “Listening to Music” match?
4. Trainees will watch a video of students who have been asked the question, “How do you
learn best?” The trainees will then identify the learning styles of each student and explain
why they came to that conclusion.
5. Working in small groups participants will design an activity for use in their classrooms
and which addresses a particular learning style (Auditory, Visual, etc). Small groups will
share these activities with the full workshop.
6.

As a final wrap-up, ask the participants to discuss these questions, first in small groups
and then with the whole workshop.
1. Will some of these activities work in your classes?
2. How will your students react to your using activities that suit different learning
styles?
3. What suggestions do you have for modifying these activities to suit your students’
level? Why?
4. Say two things you like the most about what you heard today.

Elene Burchuladze is a teacher and trainer in the Ozurgeti district.

16

Techniques for Making Groups
Aims: By the end of the session, teachers will be able to analyze different methods of grouping

students and the skills needed to do it efficiently.
Timing: 35 minutes
Materials: Handouts with grouping techniques
Being able to divide students into groups efficiently is a skill that takes both practice and options. This
workshop intends to give you both of those things.

Procedure
1. Instruct the participants to line up according to alphabetical order but without speaking.
They may do this through miming the first letters of their names with their bodies or their
fingers, drawing the letter in the air or by some other means. Divide the participants into
groups of 4 or 5 by simply taking that number of people from the front of the line.
2. When the participants have sat with their new groups, ask:
• How did I group you? What did you notice about this process?
• Why is it important to know grouping techniques?
Trainees think about the questions individually, and then share the whole group.
3. Divide the trainees into groups again; this time, participants take a slip of paper from a
box held high enough that they cannot see inside. There are 3 different texts (handouts 1,
2 and 3) and signs on the tables: I, II, III. Participants who drew handout 1 sit around
table I, etc. Trainees read the texts individually
4. Have them discuss the texts in their groups. Give them the task: Choose one grouping
technique on the handout and plan to demonstrate it for the whole group. Think about
what language you will need to use, who will lead the grouping, what challenges you
might anticipate.
5. One participant from each group demonstrates the grouping techniques on the whole
group.
6. When all the groups have finished, ask the questions:
•
•
•
•
•

Why did you choose this grouping?
What was easy about it? What was difficult?
How did you feel as you were being grouped? Which group did it most effectively and
why?
What purpose would this serve in the language classroom?
What rules can we form about making groups in our classes?
17

Allow the participants quiet time to think to themselves. When they are ready, have them talk to
a partner about what they decided. Ask for volunteers to share what struck them the most. Be
prepared to board some of their ideas.
7. Each participant is invited to describe, explain, or model to the group a way of dividing
students into groups that s/he uses in her/his classroom. In this way, participants will
leave the training session with a large number of ideas.

Reference:
Scrivener, J. (2012). Classroom Management Techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Nino Sarauli is a teacher and trainer at Mejvriskhevi Public School.

18

Handout 1
1. Making a group with people who have the same color bag as you / were born in the same
month as you / like the same TV show as you / enjoy the same style of hot drink as you;
( Instructions like this may require students to talk briefly with others before they can start on
the main task.)
2. Get all students to write their names on a slip of paper and put them in a bag. Pull out names to
form groups.
3. Tell each student to write down their favorite animal (or a dessert /shop/ song etc) from a short
list you show them (e.g. ice-cream, chocolate, cake, fruit). When students reveal their words,
from groups of people with the same items.
Handout 2
1) Instead of using group letters, choose a set of words the class has recently studied (e.g. types of
fruit). Allocated a different word to each student. When everyone has a fruit, you can ask all the
oranges to make a group, all the apples and so on.
• ‘Tiger, dragon, cow etc.: Wild animals meet up by the window. Imaginary animals meet
up at this table.’
• ‘Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, etc.; Ok all Ferraris drive over here and meet up. All Renaults
race over there.’
• ‘Eiffel tower, Big Ben, Uluru, Tower Bridge, The Louvre, etc: Find partners from the same
country.
Handout 3
1) Make sets of cards. Each card should have one item a lexical set (e.g. books: dictionary,
encyclopedia, coursebook, novel, atlas). Shuffle the cards and distribute one to each learner.
Students should mingle, compare words and make a group that has one complete set of words.
• ‘Orange, purple, crimson, turquoise, etc: Make a group with five different colors in it.’
• Eggs coffee, bacon, etc; Get together and make a complete breakfast.
• Make sets of cards, but mix up lots of different sets of words (e.g. computer words,
seaside words, food items, etc.) so that student must find others who have words that
seem to be from the same set as their own word (e.g. ‘mouse’, ‘monitor’ and ‘keyboard’
will get together but not in the same group as ‘beach’, ‘waves’, and ‘pebble’). The group
forming will take longer.
2) Prepare a meet-and-match task (e.g. different pictures, each cut up jigsaw style into five pieces).
Students mingle and try to find the other students who also have pieces from their picture.

19

Working in Groups
Aims: By the end of the session, teachers will be able to analyze several grouping techniques and
describe how they might be used in their own classrooms.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: PowerPoint with key points and discussion questions, short texts on e-books and
paper books
Setting up and managing group work activities in language classes remains both essential and a
challenge. Teachers are often hesitant to do group work in fear that the class will descend into chaos and
that learning will be lost in the fray. This workshop is full of practical ideas to help teachers make the
most of group work with specific strategies for making it more efficient.

Procedure
1. Introduce yourself and speak about the topic generally. Share the reason why you have
chosen this topic, i.e. because many teachers have problems with using group work in
class and they avoid it because of the chaos and noise.
2. Have the participants count off (“one, two, three…”) and then have the “ones” sit next to
each other, the “twos” next to each other, and so on so that there are new groups of 4.
Give them the following questions:
• What challenges do you face when you have your students do group work?
• What do you find difficult or easy?
• What skills does group work help to develop?
• How often should the teacher use group work?
Teachers first share their answers with a partner and then with the whole group. After
eliciting some answers, show a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes why group
work is important and what skills it develops:
Benefits of Group Work (PowerPoint slide)
• Develop strong communicative skills
• Students plan and manage time
• Break complex tasks into parts
• Delegate roles and responsibilities
• Share diverse perspectives
• Receive social support and encouragement to take risks
• Develop students’ voices and perspectives in relation to peers
• Shy students can have a chance to shine

20

3. To re-group, hand small pieces of paper to the participants; on each piece of paper are
either verb (get, make, give, have) and their collocations (get matches with paid, laid off,
and depressed). Have the participants mingle to find their 3 partners and then have them
sit down together. Write “Challenges Teachers Have” on the board and elicit ideas from
the trainees. Then have the participants discuss to find out the solutions in groups,
speaking about the benefits of group work and tips for keeping it interesting.
4. Ask the teachers if they noticed how they have been grouped in the previous two
exercises. Ask for a brief reaction on how it has felt so far.
Now have them think of a time when they used group work in their classes. Guide them
using these questions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

What was the topic?
How did they organize groups?
How did they distribute roles?
How did they encourage the students to participate?
What was teacher's role?
What did students do?
How did they present the work?

Teachers think for a moment, share with a partner and then with the whole group.
Sample Activity
5. Give the topic for the participants to think about, in this case, E-books versus books.
Which do they prefer and why? They will work in groups of five, with assigned roles:
presenter, observer, scribe, time manager, and leader. Give each participant 3 coins and
ask them to drop each coin in the box after they express their ideas or take part in
designing the poster that shows their discussion results.
Reflection
6. To consolidate all of the ideas that have emerged, ask the participants to think about,
discuss and then volunteer to share their answers to the following questions:
1. What can group work be useful for in my classroom?
2. What are some different ways of making groups?
3. Which of today’s activities did you like and why?

Lana Chakhaia is a teacher and trainer at Zugdidi Public School #4.

21

Using a Variety of Question Types Effectively
Aims: By the end of the session, teachers will be able to create low and high cognitive question

types for a text and articulate when to use them with their students.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, handout with text on Rosa Parks, LCQ & HCQ examples
This workshop explores ways of using questions more effectively in the classroom, by introducing the idea
of different question types that will challenge and motivate students by forcing them to dig deeper.

Procedure
1. Ask the participants to discuss in pairs the purposes of using questions in the classroom.
Show the PowerPoint slide and ask participants to compare their answers to those on the
slide.
Slide 1:
The Purposes of Asking Questions
• To actively involve students in the lesson.
• To increase motivation and interest.
• To check or test understanding, knowledge or skill.
• To check on completion of work
• To review previous lessons
• To assess achievement or mastery of goals and objectives
• To develop critical-thinking skills
• To stimulate independent learning
• To probe more deeply into issues

2. Ask the participants if they can name the types of questions they usually use in the
classroom. Show the picture of the Bloom’s Taxonomy to find the connection:

22

http://morethanenglish.edublogs.org/for-teachers/blooms-revised-taxonomy/

3. Distribute the text about Rosa Parks (see below) and ask the participants to read it. Ask
the participants to form one lower cognitive question (LCQ) about the text. Show the
slide of LCQs and give some examples.

Low er cognitive questions:
/Remember, Understand/

Ex amples of LCQs:
“What is...?“

Fact questions
Close-ended questions
Direct questions
Recall questions
Knowledge questions

"How would you describe...?“
"Why did...?”
"How would you show…?”
"What facts or ideas show...?“
"How would you compare...?“
"How would your classify…?”

(slides 3 & 4)
4. Participants check their questions.
5. Ask the participants to read Rosa Parks’ story once more and to form at least one high
cognitive question (HCQ). Show the slide with types of HCQs and gives examples. Let
the participants check their questions in pairs or small groups. Have the participants find
a new partner and ask the new pairs to ask and answer the questions they formed.

23

Higher Cognitive Questions:
/Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create/

Higher Cognitive Questions:
/Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create/
• Inferring questions- deduction/ with

• Interpretive questions-with more
than one correct answer, supported
with evidence from the text.

logical answers.
• Synthesis questions- with answers
generalized from the given facts.
• Open-ended questions-with answers that
lead to another question, like eliciting

• Evaluative questions-with answers
based on what a reader already
knows.

(slides 4 & 5)

Slide 6
Examples of HCQs
• What facts would you select to show...?
• What approach would you use to...?
• How would you use/do...?
• What inference can you make...?
• What is the relationship between...?
• What evidence can you find...?
• What things justify...?
• What outcome would you predict for...?
• How could you select...?
• How could you prove...?
• How would you prioritize...?

6. Distribute Handout 2 with both question groups and ask the participants to find out which
questions fall under the title of LCQ and which are under HCQ. Write the correct
answers on the board and have the participants discuss in small groups.
7. Ask the participants to reflect individually on the following questions;
• LCQs are appropriate for building what skills?
• What skills do HCQs help develop?
• Thinking of your own teaching, has one type has been overrepresented?
• What types of questions do our textbooks generally use?
• How will the information you received at this session impact your teaching?
Participants talk in groups and then volunteers share their ideas.

24

References:
Ur, P. (2012). A course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scrivener, J. (2012). Classroom Management Techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
http://tccl.rit.albany.edu/knilt/index.php/Higher_and_Lower_Cognitive_Questi
ons http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1836/ClassroomQuestions.html http://www.phy.ilstu.edu/pte/311content/questioning/techniques.html http://beyo
ndpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/energy-and-the-polar-environment/questioning-techniquesresearch-based-strategies-for-teachers

Tamar Tabukashvili is a teacher and trainer in School #18 in Rustavi.

Handout 1
25

It all started on a bus…

Rosa Parks, 42, was on her way home from her job in a department store in Montgomery,
Alabama, USA on 1st December 1955. At 6pm she got on a bus for Cleveland Avenue, paid her
fare, and sat down in the first row of “black” seats.
In Alabama, as in most states in the USA at that time, there were laws to keep white and black
people separate. For example, they could not eat in the same restaurants, sit in the same railway
carriage or play pool together. White and black men couldn’t even use the same toilets. And on
the buses in Montgomery, the front four rows of seats were for whites and the seats behind them
were for blacks.
After the third stop, all the “white” seats on the Cleveland Avenue bus were full and a white man
was standing. The bus driver told Rosa and three other black people to stand up so that the white
man could sit down. The others did what they were told. Rosa moved- but only to the window
seat in the same row.
In her autobiography Rosa wrote, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was
tired, but that isn’t true. I wasn’t tired physically; I was only tired of giving in.”
The police arrested Rosa Parks and she later had to pay a $10 fine. As a result of her arrest, black
people refused to use buses in Montgomery for 381days. The boycott ended when the US
Supreme Court decided that it was illegal to separate whites and blacks on buses.
Many historians believe that American Civil Rights Movement began with Rosa Parks’s action
on the Cleveland Avenue bus.

Handout 2
26

Higher and Lower Cognitive Questions

Read the following list of questions. As you read them, decide which questions
fall under the category of Higher Cognitive Questions (HCQ) and which fall
under the title of Lower Cognitive Questions (LCQ). Next to each question write
either HCQ or LCQ.

1. When did Rosa Parks get on a Cleveland Avenue bus?
2. Can you decide on what is the main idea of the text?
3. Can you explain why was Rosa Parks told to stand up from her seat?
4. What if Mrs. Parks had given up her seat to a white man, what do you
believe the consequences would have been for the Civil Rights Movement?
5. How do you think maybe Mrs. Parks didn’t give up her seat because she
was tired? Justify your answer.
6. Can you recall what kind of laws were there in most states of the USA at
that time?
7. Was the US Supreme Court’s decision right or not? Why do you think so?
8. What happened as a result of her arrest?
9. Can you outline what did Rosa’s action help to start?
10. Imagine you were Rosa Parks, how would you act?

27

Reviewing, Re-encountering and Practicing Vocabulary
Aims: By the end of the session the teachers will be able to elaborate on their experience as

students in three different vocabulary recycling activities, analysing them for effectiveness in
their own teaching contexts.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: PowerPoint with tasks, poster paper, handout with diamante structure

It has been proven that a single encounter with a new vocabulary item will usually not be enough
for the language to be acquired. Research has shown that it takes at least ten to twelve
encounters with a lexical item in order for it to become the part of the learner’s active
vocabulary. During this workshop, you will experience several vocabulary practice activities
that you’ll be able to bring directly back to your classroom to help your students acquire the
language they need in to accomplish their goals.

Procedure
Introduction
1. Introduce the topic and explain the learning outcomes of the session to the participants.
2. Ask the participants which techniques they use when reviewing vocabulary. Give them
thinking time and then ask them to share their opinions with a partner. After this, have
the participants express their point of views openly and write some of their ideas on the
board. This should help disseminate some of the lexis teaching techniques already in use
in the local schools.
Demonstration Tasks
Inform the participants that you will now be doing a demonstration lesson, to give them the
experience of being language students in a vocabulary lesson. They will have the chance to
analyze the lesson as teachers later.
3. Diamante Poems
i.
Elicit two antonyms from the participants, like day and night (nouns or
adjectives). Write the first antonym at the top of the board and the second at the
bottom.
ii.
Then ask for two adjectives associated with the first word and two with the
second. Write these in below and above the original words.
iii.
Next, ask for the gerunds associated with the first two antonyms and writes them
below and above the adjectives.
iv.
Finally, ask for two nouns, each associated with one of the antonyms, and write
them in the single line in the middle.
v.
Show the participants how the whole poem looks like a diamond. Ask a
volunteer to read it.

28

vi.

Distribute the pattern of the poem (see below) and ask the participants in groups
of 4-5 to compose their own poems. Monitor and help the participants in case
they need it. When they have finished, volunteers can read out their poems.

4. Disappearing Text
i.
Show an extract of about 50 words from the text on a poster or PowerPoint slide
(for students it would be from a recently studied text), including items to review.
Ask participants to look through it.
ii.
Show a second slide in which two or three phrases have been deleted from the
text, each phrase being between three and five words. Ask the participants to try
to read the whole text aloud, including the bits that are missing.
iii.
Continue deleting words from the text and each time the participants have to
“read” from memory, until the slide is empty and participants have memorised
the entire extract.
iv.
Ask them to work in pairs to write down the whole text from memory.
v.
Show the first slide with the whole text to let the pairs check their work
(including the spelling of the target vocabulary items).
5. Hot Seat
i.
Ask one of the participants to come and stand with her back to the board. Write a
word you are trying to review on the board. The rest of the participants say
sentences which provide contexts for the word. But instead of the word, which
can be any part of speech, they use the word Cuckoo. Participants keep saying
the sentences until the listener guesses the word. If she guesses correctly, she
chooses the next candidate; if she cannot, then you’ll have to choose.
Description, Analysis and Reflection
6. Either after finishing all of the tasks or after each activity, ask the participants to
reconstruct the steps and instructions of how to do the activities. Write them on the
board or on a poster so the teachers can refer to them later when they want to try these
activities with their own students.
7. Ask the participants how they felt about the newly introduced activities, using questions
like:
• Was the session interesting? Why?
• How will the activities help you? Why do you think so?
• What level are they appropriate for and why?
• Will you adapt them? How?
Let them discuss the questions in pairs and then ask for a few volunteers to share their
thoughts.

References:
Ur, P. (2012). Vocabulary Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tamar Tabukashvili is a teacher and trainer at School #18 in Rustavi.
29

Handout:

Pattern for Diamante poem

Noun
Adjective, adjective
Gerund,
Noun,

gerund, gerund

noun,

noun,

Gerund, gerund, gerund,
Adjective, adjective
noun

30

noun

Presenting Vocabulary through Visual, Auditory and
Kinesthetic Styles for Lower Grades
Aims: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to create a chart showing different

Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) methods for presenting vocabulary to young learners
and analyze vocabulary presentation techniques for their effectiveness when using VAK.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Poster with colorful flowers, PowerPoint on learning styles, short lists of vocabulary as
handouts
In this workshop, participants will experience learning vocabulary in a variety of methods in the hopes
they will find new ideas but also realize that different methods will be motivating to their young learners,
especially those who seem unmotivated by simply hearing or seeing new words.

Procedure
Demonstration
1. Participants imagine themselves as second graders at the beginning of the school year.
We begin by reviewing colors. Present the colors by pointing to flowers of different
colors. Participants will repeat the colors after you.
2. Play the ‘Color Song.’ Participants listen quietly the first time to catch the tune. The
second time they will listen and sing or chant
along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPWZu4LDmQM
3. Distribute the worksheet with smiley faces and participants color each one as you say the
name of the color.

4. Participants now return to having a teacher’s role. Lead a whole group discussion on
what happened in the previous steps. Ask the following questions:
• What was the aim of each part of the lesson? What did I want to achieve in each part?
31

•
•

How did I present the vocabulary?
Why did I use different ways to present vocabulary?

Now, talk briefly about the theory that in our classes we have different kinds of learners. Explain
the Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic styles. (You can use PowerPoint to give them definitions of
each style.)
5. Draw this chart on flip chart paper:
Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic

Ask the following questions and take notes on their answers:
• What visual support did I use?
• What auditory support did I use?
• What kinesthetic support did I use?
Fill in the chart. Participants do the same in their notebooks.
6. Divide participants into small groups and give each group a piece of paper with some
different kinds of vocabulary and instructions to match the vocabulary item to a suitable
learning modality that you would use to teach them and a brief explanation of how.
Practice teaching the items and then have one group member volunteer to present for the
whole group.
Group A’s handout:
Lexical items you need
to teach
e.g. To surf the
internet

Which learning modality(ies), VAK,
makes the most sense to use when
teaching the lexical items?
e.g. V, A

Abstract painting

Internet meme

Knead dough

Tuba

32

Briefly explain how you would teach it.

e.g. I would show a picture of a girl on
the internet and say how she is reading
articles about strange customs around
the world.

7. As they present their vocabulary, the other participants fill in the chart with how the
vocabulary was presented according to VAK.
8. As they finish their presentation, consolidate their ideas by filling in the VAK chart on
the flip chart.
Reflection Questions:
Have your participants think about and discuss the following questions:
• What might be some advantages of the approach we used today rather than the one you
currently use?
• Did you find these methods tiresome or more conducive to your learning style?
• How can you use this, modified if necessary, in your classroom?
• Name one potential problem (other than time) in applying this approach in your
classroom.

Natia Surguladze is a teacher/trainer from Ozurgeti.

33

Kinesthetic Activities for Young Learners
Aims: By the end of the session participants will be able to do 2-3 kinesthetic activities for young learners
aimed at increasing student motivation while learning vocabulary and developing listening skills.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Handouts with the song and the chant, flyswatters, letter cards.
Kinesthetic activities are very useful to teachers of young children, particularly before they begin to read
and write. In our country, we have to teach English to first graders. They learn the Georgian and English
alphabets at the same time! Kinesthetic activities will make teaching and the learning process fun, as the
teacher exploits all opportunities to include a physical dimension in learning.

Procedure
Introduction
1. In order to create teachers’ interest for the session and generate ideas for later, introduce
the title and the objectives of the session. Then ask the participants what activities they
use in primary classes in order to teach vocabulary and develop their students’ skills.
Participants share their ideas in a whole-group discussion.
Demonstration
Activity 1: Song. Tell the trainers that from this point, they will be primary students in
a language lesson and will have the opportunity to experience several activities. Show the
trainees some pictures (head, knees, toes, etc.) and elicit the vocabulary. Model the
pronunciation with choral and then individual drilling. Introduce the name of the song,
“Head and Shoulders.” Play the CD and as the participants listen to the song they have to
touch the parts of the body which they hear. Play it again and encourage them to sing
along as they touch their body parts.
Activity 2: Miming words. Distribute handouts with the rhyme:
Here come the clowns!
Here come the clowns!
They are big and they are small.
They are short and they are tall.
Happy and sad we love them all!
Funny, funny clowns!

34

Mime the adjectives as the participants read. Next, read the rhyme while the participants
listen and mime. Finally, mime it again and the trainees have to say the right adjective.
Activity 3: FLYSWATTERS. Divide the participants into groups and then stick some
letters on the board, for example Zz, Aa, Tt. Call out a word and the trainees have to hit the
letter which starts that word (zebra, apple, taxi). This is a competition so the fastest group is
the winner.
2. Tell the participants that the demonstration lesson is over and now they are teachers
again. Put the trainees into small groups and then ask them to jot down some activities
that could be done using kinesthetics. Each group chooses one activity to share with
the whole group, presenting their activities with a demonstration.
3. Have the participants stay in their small groups and then work to reconstruct each of the
earlier activities that they participated in so they can have a written record of the things
they learned today.
4.

Teachers talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using TPR activities in primary
classes. Lead the discussion so that your points are covered and that new ideas are
validated and clear to the whole group.

5. Ask the participants to write down one new thing they see themselves doing with their
students and one challenge that they may have trouble implementing. Share these ideas
with a final, whole-class discussion.

Ann Chachkhiani is a teacher and trainer at Kutaisi St. Nino Public school #3

35

Teaching Grammar Rules in Context
Aims: By the end of the session, the teachers will be able to de-construct a lesson in which the

grammar rules are generated from a context and then analyze the lesson’s key aspects for
possible use or adaptation in the teachers’ own classrooms.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Handout of boy, crazy story, key

The majority of Georgian public school teachers still tend to provide students with grammar
knowledge through purely theoretical material, which often appears rather boring and
inaccessible for students. Our teachers often lack a wide or varied repertoire of modern
approaches for presenting grammar in ways that students would find motivating to learn. This
workshop is one solid step towards remedying that.

Procedure
Introduction
1. Write on the board, “Introducing grammatical material in context can be beneficial
because…” and ask individuals to write two reasons why it can be beneficial.
Ask the participants to compare their answers in groups and come up with the two
common reasons. Put the trainees’ ideas on the board and highlight the great importance
of using modern, practical approaches in order to deal with the boredom of providing
grammar during our lessons. Show a few key moments from the TEFL online tutorial:
“Teaching Grammar in Context” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnw3l21pWIc).
Lead a brief whole-class discussion, eliciting opinions and asking clarifying questions.
Revisit the sentence head, “Introducing grammatical material in context can be
beneficial because…” and see if any other ideas emerge.
Demonstration
Tell the participants that they need to remove their teaching hats and put on their student hats.
They will experience a grammar-from-context lesson and they can relax and take part in the
lesson as students.
2. Show the participants a poster with the picture of a boy and tell them to work in pairs and
answer the question: “What kind of a boy does he seem to be?”
Then to write the adjectives of quality next to the lines that surround him in order to
characterize him (see handout below).
3. Instruct the participants to pair the adjectives they produced with the word boy (naughty+
boy, etc.).

36

4. Hint that the boy is going to be a character in a story and their task is to make predictions
about what the text will be about.
5. Put the trainees into groups and have them read the story, “A Child and his Mother” (see
below). Participants have to:
• Underline all of the noun-adjective pairs
• Identify which of them are “crazy” adjectives and which are normal.
6. Ask the groups to clarify what other adjectives they could use instead of the inappropriate
ones. After letting them briefly discuss, put up the correct version of the text (see below)
and have the participants check their answers and see how many of their adjectives
appeared in the text.
Reflection
7. Tell the participants that they are teachers again and now they have a chance to analyze
what they just did. Together with the trainees, reconstruct the session on the board,
noting the logical ordering of events. Discuss ways of adapting it for the trainees own
situations. What advantages and disadvantages can the participants predict in teaching
grammar in this way? Put these ideas on the board.

Sopio Khvadagiani is a teacher and trainer in Kutasai Public School #3

37

Handout 1:

• What kind of a boy does he seem to be?

naughty

38

Handout 2:

A Child and his Mother
A huge child asked his mother: “Mommy, why are some of your hairs
turning green?”
The mother tried to use this practical occasion to teach her hard-working child:
“It is because of you, dear. Every excellent action of yours will turn one of my
hairs grey!”
The smart child replied innocently: “Now I know why grandmother has
only clever hairs on her head!”

Key:

A Child and his Mother
Key
A curious child asked his mother: “Mommy, why are some of your hairs
turning grey?”
The mother tried to use this practical occasion to teach her naughty child:
“It is because of you, dear. Every bad action of yours will turn one of my
hairs grey!”
The smart child replied innocently: “Now I know why grandmother has
only grey hairs on her head!”

39

Teaching Grammar in Context
Aims: By the end of the session, after taking part in a context-driven, PPU-style demonstration lesson on
the 2nd conditional, participants will be able to elaborate on several techniques used for teaching grammar
that create student interest and engagement.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Hand-drawn pictures, handout for freer practice

I have chosen this topic as I think that most teachers find the topic quite new, essential and
interesting. I suppose that most teachers in Georgia teach grammar traditionally and this topic
will develop their creativity about how to teach grammar using hand-made materials and simple
but engaging contexts.

Procedure
Introduction
1. Introduce yourself and ask trainees about the main problems they face while teaching
grammar. Participants share them. Write their ideas on the board. Tell the participants
that today they will become aware of a different and creative method of teaching
grammar.
Demonstration
Ask the participants to suspend their teaching judgments and to participate in the lesson as
language students.
2. Show a hand-made picture of your friend and ask a question about him: Why is he sad?
(he has no money) Then show a lottery ticket and ask what is it? Participants answer: a
ticket, lottery ticket.
3. Ask: What happens if you win lottery? Participants: You are rich.
4. Say: “So, my friend dreams of being rich and the things he can buy.” Show a picture of a
car and elicit or say the sentence, “If he was rich, he would/he’d buy a car.” Stick the
picture on the wall. Ask the participants to repeat the sentences and short forms of he
would/ he’d. Show several pictures (a boat, an apartment, champagne, a diamond ring, a
racehorse) and ask the participants to practice the sentences.
5. Ask some concept checking questions (CCQs):
• Is it likely/possible that my friend will win the lottery? No.
• Is it unlikely/impossible? Yes.
Sum up that this situation is unreal or dream.
40

6. Have a participant assist you by modeling the next activity, asking you the question
“What would you do if you were rich?” Answer using the 2nd conditional. Now have the
participants speak in pairs about what would they buy/do if they were rich. Monitor and
offer suggestions when participants are stuck or making mistakes with the target
language.
7. Post another picture on the wall. It’s a picture of your friend’s girlfriend. Say that his
girlfriend doesn’t want to save money, but she wants to give money to charity. Show the
first picture of a car and ask: Would she buy a car if she was rich? No. Use a marker and
make a red X across the picture of the car. Have the participants reconstruct sentence: “If
she was rich, she wouldn’t buy a car.” Do a brief round of choral pronunciation drilling
and then check one or two individuals. Shows more pictures and get the participants to
practice saying them.
8. Sum up the forms of the sentences in the “Second Conditional” and write the summary
on the board like a rule:
• If + simple past…, would + infinitive (positive form)
• If + simple past…, wouldn’t + infinitive (negative form)
• Would + infinitive + if + simple past? (question form)
9. Give the participants split sentences to put in the correct order. (Controlled practice)
10. Give the participants a piece of paper with some interesting situations for discussion. For
example: What would you do if you found $1000? Ask them to write their own sentences
and when they’re ready, share with a partner. The partner can then volunteer the most
interesting sentences she heard. (Freer practice) (Handout 1, see below)

11. Ask the participants to put on their teaching hats again. Revisit the participants’ earlier
comments about their negative feelings towards grammar and go through point by point,
emphasizing that they did not feel this way during today’s demonstration. Have the
participants discuss various elements, such as the pictures, the steps in the activities, the
funny sentences, and the PPU structure. How did these things help your learning? Ask
them: What methods do you use to teach grammar that lead to student engagement?
Board some of their ideas: visual aids, authentic materials, roleplays.

Elena Petrova is a teacher and trainer in School #3 in Rustavi.
41

Handout

1) What would you do if you saw the president in the street?
__________________________________________________________
2) What would you if you saw your husband’s wallet full of money?
__________________________________________________________
3) What would you do if you won a lot of money in the lottery?
__________________________________________________________
4) What would you do if had a supercar?
__________________________________________________________
5) What would you do if you saw your boyfriend’s diary left open?
__________________________________________________________

Resources:
Ur, P. (2012). A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Internet resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKvn0TY4_lA

42

Practicing Grammar in Context
Aims: By the end of the session participants will be able to describe the advantages and
disadvantages of practicing grammar in context through the analysis of a demonstration lesson
on used to.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Gateway B1+ copies, blank strips of paper
This interactive workshop allows participants to feel what it is like to take part in a context-driven,
communicative grammar lesson in which the rules are discovered rather than simply explained.

Procedure
Introduction
1. Tell your personal attitude to grammar (perhaps that you used to consider it too difficult
to explain the rules, you found grammar tedious, boring for students) and give the reasons
why you have chosen this topic today.
2. Write “Grammar is…” on the board and ask participants to write the ending of this
sentence on a sheet of paper.
3. Put participants into groups of five. They arrange the sentences they have come up with
any way they like and then write the last line which they feel makes the writing more like
a poem. For example:
o Grammar is a set of rules,
o Grammar is boring,
o Grammar is important,
o Grammar is interesting,
o So, why not make it fun?
Each group writes a poem and one of the participants reads it aloud. Stick the poems on
the wall.
4. Reflection: Invite participants to comment on problems with teaching grammar and then
sum up the ideas presented.
Demonstration
Tell the participants that they will now be taking part in demonstration and that they should
think and act like students, not teachers.
5.

Give participants a handout from Gateway B1+:

43

Spencer, D. (2011) Gateway B1+ Student Book. Oxford: Macmillan Education

The participants look at the sentences and then match the correct halves of the rules.
Participants first do the activity individually and then in pairs and after that they read the
sentences aloud to the whole class.
6.

Participants will be able to decide if the sentences describe a past habit, a single action in
the past or a present habit. Then they will complete the sentences with the correct form of
“used to”, the past simple or the present simple.
7. Show the participants the picture of a scene from the life of Marco Polo (see below).
They will find eight historical mistakes in the picture and write affirmative or negative
sentences.
Example: They used to drink tea. They didn’t use to drink Cola.
8. Use your own personal story and tell the participants what you used to do in different
stages of your life. Then participants write their own stories individually and share them
with the whole class.
9. Have participants work in pairs. They make notes about how life was different in our
country fifty years ago. Participants should use these topics:
1. Transport
2. Food and drink
3. Entertainment
4. Work
5. Health
6. Education
10. Ask participants to remember the steps of the session. Elicit and write them on the board.
11. Participants discuss these questions and then share their ideas with the entire group:
• How did you feel as a student?
• Did the teacher engage you in language production? How?
• What did you learn? How do you know you learned it?
Tamar Tskhomelidze is a teacher/trainer in Ozurgeti Public School #2.
44

Spencer, D. (2011) Gateway B1+ Student Book. Oxford: Macmillan Education

45

Grammar in Communicative Activities
Aims: By the end of the session participants will be able to
• distinguish between speaking activities which practice grammatical accuracy and activities
which practice fluency.
• create and demonstrate activities which help learners to develop effective communicative skills.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Handouts (information gap pictures, menus)
Teachers in Georgia indicated that they have difficulties with using communicative tasks to improve
students’ speaking skills; students make lots of grammatical mistakes while doing communicative tasks
and teachers find it difficult to help learners to communicate effectively incorporating grammatical
accuracy and at the same time allowing the students space for self-expression. In this workshop, teachers
will be given opportunities to discuss how they can help learners to use grammar in spoken activities.

Procedure
1. Introduce yourself and thank the teachers for taking time to attend the workshop.
2. Ask the participants to discuss the following questions:
• What speaking activities do you use in class?
• What problems relating to grammar arise when you do communicative activities?
• What are the reasons for these problems?
Each group shares one problem. Write their ideas on the board.
3. Tell the participants that they will forget about being teachers for the next 20 minutes as
they will take part in some sample activities as language students. Demonstrate the
following two activities:
Activity 1: Information gap
Learners work in pairs. They both have a picture of a town that is incomplete; each picture is
missing things that are drawn on their partner’s picture. Participants have to ask each other
questions to complete their pictures.
Example language is given:
•
•

Where is the cinema? It’s next to the supermarket.
Where is the school? It’s across the park.

Activity 2: Role play
The role play is set in a restaurant. Participants are divided into waiters, restaurant managers and
customers. They have a menu to choose from and some of them are instructed to complain about
the food. (see handout 1 below)
46

4. Give the participants these questions to discuss:
• What is the objective of each activity? To practice fluency? Accuracy? Or both?
• Would the activities help your learners to improve their use of grammar in
communication? How?
• What opportunities do the activities provide for practicing communicative skills?
Allow them some brief time to think about these quietly before sharing with a partner. Then
open the discussion for the whole class, calling on volunteers to share their ideas.
5. Give the participants an exercise from a student textbook and ask them to create a
communicative activity incorporating grammar accuracy but allowing students to express
themselves.
Give each group a time limit to present their modified activity. While presenting they have to
mention:
•
•

What have you changed? Why?
How have you made it more effective to help learners develop their grammar skills?
Communicative skills?

After each group’s presentation, the other groups can ask one question. Spend up to 20 minutes
on this activity.
6.
•
•
•

Ask the participants to reflect individually on the following questions;
What new information have I learned?
How will this information impact my teaching?
What will I do in the classroom that I haven’t done before?

Participants share their ideas. Finally, lead a whole discussion to consolidate the group’s ideas.
References:
Hedge, T. (2011). Teaching and learning in the Language classroom. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Batstone, R. (1994). Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ur, P. (2012) A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harmer, J. (2012). Essential Teacher Knowledge. Essex: Pearson Longman.
Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English. Essex: Pearson Longman.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/speaking-activities
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/developspeak.htm

Inga Gelashvili is a teacher and trainer in School #4 in Rustavi.

47

Teaching Grammar with Limited Resources
Aims: By the end of the session, participants will be able to articulate the strengths and

challenges of teaching grammar with limited resources in response to the demonstration lesson
and they will be able to adapt and demonstrate one student-centered activity that they co-create
in groups.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Handout (personal story)
Unreliable internet connection? Frequent power outages? Fear of audio and visual equipment? Great!
This workshop will show you practical ways of teaching grammar in engaging lessons that require very
little in the way of resources—the teacher’s imagination and a blackboard are enough!

Procedure
Introduction
1. Try to find a creative way to let the trainees discover the topic, perhaps by playing
Hangman with the entire group in which the hidden word is “present perfect,” or through
some other means.
2. Facilitate as the participants brainstorm what methods and activities they use to teach
students grammar. Do a round of Think-Pair-Share (TPS) to discover their ideas.
3. In order to demonstrate how to teach grammar with limited resources, prepare the
participants by telling them they will be students in a demonstration lesson. Exit and reenter the room as if class were just beginning.
Demonstration
4. Tell a short personal story, such as this:
Present perfect story
My friends Katie, Misha and I have decided to have a winter vacation together. We have
never taken a holiday together. We have wanted to do that for a long time, but have never
had the same holiday schedule. This year we all have two weeks off in December, so
we’re trying to plan a vacation. I wanted to go to Svaneti, but Katie has already been
there. Misha wants to go skiing in Gudauri. He has never skied before. I don’t like skiing.
I’ve skied three times in my life, but I don’t think I want to do it again. Katie wants to go
to Kazbegi, but Misha has been there twice this year. So as you see we haven’t made a
decision yet. We are looking forward to your suggestions!

49

When finished, discuss the tense with the group and highlight the language structure on the
board. Be prepared to read the story more than once. The group tries to sum up by creating a
rule in pairs that they consolidate with the whole group. The teacher can then try to draw out
some of the nuances of the present perfect by asking simple yes/no questions: Did Misha go
to Kazbegi in the past or is she there right now? Do we know exactly when she went there?
Etc.
5. Arrange the participants into pairs. Give them sentences in present perfect tense, either
written on strips of paper or tell them secretly. After 3 minutes, they need to “show” the
sentence to the audience (e.g. “two friends have just met”). The only restriction is the
participants cannot to move or speak. They are “statues”. The entire group tries to
reconstruct the sentence as precisely as possible.
6. In pairs, participants build up short conversations about things they’ve done or seen, and
places they’ve been. During the conversation they need to say two true things and one lie.
The partner has to try and spot the lie.
Reflection
7. Tell the participants that the demonstration is over. Now, move the participants through a
description and analysis phase in order for them to fully appreciate the various elements
of this demonstration. Ask them to describe the process, where the rules for present
perfect came from and how they felt as students (as opposed to students in a lecture on
present perfect). Have the trainees discuss in pairs to come up with adaptations that they
then share with the rest of the group.
8. Get the participants to work in groups of three and then plan and demonstrate one
student-centered grammar activity, choosing a new tense of their choice (either adapted
from this session or their own). Pairs can give mini-presentations on their ideas while the
other participants ask questions. Feel free to comment on their ideas, ask for clarification
and even challenge them if they seemed to have missed the point. (If necessary give the
groups the materials for a pre-planned activity instead of requiring them to invent a new
one).
9. Sum up the session by asking two major questions:
• Is it possible to provide students with grammar and fun the same time?
• What resources did we use during this session?
Let the participants discuss briefly in pairs before sharing their ideas. You may want to put any
final conclusions on the board.

50

References:
Marsland, B. (1998) Lessons from nothing: Activities for language teaching with limited time
and resources. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Woodward, T. (2001) Planning Lessons and Courses: Designing sequences of work for the
language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-present-perfect-activities/

Miranda Tskhadadze is a teacher and trainer from Kutaisi Public School #30

51

The Goals and Challenges in Teaching Speaking
Aims: By the end of the session Teachers will be able to define the main objectives in teaching

oral fluency and introduce ways of dealing with some typical problems in the classroom.
Teachers will learn how to choose or adapt the activities to produce a lot of speaking.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: Poster paper
Teachers in Georgia are facing increased pressure to change their teaching in order to include more
speaking activities. But what do these look like? What is their purpose? How can we assess whether we
are helping our students in the correct way? This experiential workshop hopes to answer these tough
questions while giving the participants several chances to take part in actual speaking activities.

Procedure
Lead-in
1. Elicit ideas about the main goals of teaching speaking and put them down on the poster.
Then lead the teachers by means of questions to one general goal of getting the students
to be able to use their English outside of class in meaningful ways.
2. Elicit ideas from the teachers and put them down on the poster about the problems that
prevent teachers from achieving the goals they have already mentioned. This is done on
a poster that has been divided; these ideas go on the left side while the right is left blank
for now:
POSTER #2

1.
2.
3.

Problems that prevent teachers from achieving goals
…….. we have today
…………we change in the future

Demonstration #1
3. Show the audience a stock photo of a student sitting alone in the hallway of a school,
looking despondent. Ask the trainees to predict what the text will be about. After
boarding a few of their ideas, read the text about the boy and his problems and then
facilitate a mini-discussion on how to solve his problems.

52

Text:
Benny, the only child of rich parents, is in the 7th grade, aged 13.He is unpopular with
both children and teachers. He likes to attach himself to other members of the class,
looking for attention, and doesn`t seem to realize they don`t want him. He likes to
express his opinions, in class and out of it, but his ideas are often silly and laughed at. He
has bad breath.
Last Thursday his classmates got annoyed and told him straight out that they didn’t want
him around; in the next lesson a teacher scolded him sharply in front of the class. Later
he was found crying in the toilet saying he wanted to die. He was taken home and has not
been back to school since.
Reflection #1
4. Ask the participants to discuss some of the strengths of this activity and then how to
improve and adapt it. Elicit the ideas and put them up on a new poster.
Demonstration #2
5. Use an image of a well camouflaged frog from Google Images; show the participants and
elicit their reactions. Unveil the dialogue and get the pairs to read the dialogue in
different voices, pacing, moods, and roles. Monitor and elect the most creative pair to
perform theirs for the whole group.

A: What`s that?
B: This? It`s a frog.
A: Are you sure?
B: Yes, of course I am sure.
A: Amazing!
Have 3 or 4 more amazing pictures to show them with similar dialogues but slightly
different exclamations: Crazy! That’s wild! Awesome!
Reflection #2
6. Ask the participants to identify some of the strengths of this activity and then how to
improve and adapt it. Elicit the ideas and put them up on a new poster.
7. Ask the participants:
• How did it feel to be students in these activities? What can you say about your
engagement level? What elements helped to create this engagement?
• With a partner, discuss how you might modify these activities for your own students.
Elicit their ideas. Help the participants to further explain themselves and steer them
towards the fact that books generally contain a lot of exercises that don`t actually develop
speaking skills, so it is up to teachers themselves to choose the ones that do serve this
53

purpose, adapt the exercises that don’t do enough and supplement the text by creating
speaking activities of their own.
8. Facilitate as the participants give their opinions. Write these on the right side of the
poster started earlier in step 2. Encourage participants to take pictures of these posters to
use as notes and to provide final comments on what they see written.

References:
Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Essex: Pearson Longman ELT
Ur, P. (2012). A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Iulia Kusikashvili is a teacher and trainer at Public School #12 in Rustavi.

54

Designing Speaking Activities
Aims: By the end of the session, participants will be able to analyze several speaking activities
they have experienced to draw out details such as scaffolding and personalization so they can
begin thinking about how to add such elements to their own classes.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: PowerPoint
Participants are given an opportunity to challenge their beliefs about how much speaking students do in
class as well as what actually constitutes an effective speaking lesson. After moving through a number of
speaking activities, participants will have the chance to integrate these into their own practice.

Procedure
1. Start by asking the participants to think of the main goals of teaching speaking activities.
To make it easier for them, you can deliver a questionnaire with three questions:
• How often should learners speak English?
• How should learners express their ideas?
• Should teachers choose a speaking activity which is based on easy or difficult language?
Participants work in pairs and then share their ideas with the whole group.
Participants define three main criteria for teaching speaking activity by the means of a test:
Three Criteria for Teaching Speaking Activities
It should be based on …………… language.
a) difficult b) easy
It should …………….. the amount of learner talk in a limited period of time.
a) increase b) reduce
It should…………….the learner’s inhibition.
a) lower b) increase

2. Ask the participants to think of the main problems teachers may face while teaching
speaking.
After participants listen to each other’s ideas, ask for whole-group feedback and draw a mind
map and complete it using these ideas.
55

The tendency of some learners
Shyness

to dominate

Possible Problems
The tendency of other students to low participation
Inhibitions
Native language use
(inevitable)
After completing the mind map, the participants repeat aloud all the listed problems once again,
just to emphasize these issues.
Recognizing the problem is half of the solution. Now that the problems are defined, let’s start to
find solutions.
3. Activity 1 – Things in common
The aim of this activity is to increase the amount of learner talking in a limited period of time
and also to lower the students’ inhibitions.
Participants are asked to sit in pairs, preferably choosing a partner they don’t know very well.
They are given 5 minutes to talk to one another in order to find out as many things that they have
in common as they can. These must be things that can be discovered only through talking.
Participants have to avoid referring to descriptions of appearance. At the end they share their
findings with the class. Monitor these discussions, taking notes on language use that can be
discussed afterwards.
Reflection questions once the activities have finished:
•
•

How should learners choose a partner and why is this important?
How is the activity done, in groups or in pairs? Why?
56

•
•
•

What do the learners do after they find out what they have in common with their
partner?
What kind of language is used in this activity – easy or complicated?
Would you like to use this activity in your class?

4. Activity – “Pet keeping”
The aim of this activity is to lead the learners from a simple task to a little more complicated one.
The language is easy again.
Step1:
Participants are shown two slides. They are asked to answer the questions from the slide.

Step2: Participants share their ideas about the given statements, present them and support their
ideas.

57

Step 3:
Participants are given keywords (pet’s name, like, walk, feed, look after, flat, house, garden,
park) to make up their own sentences according to the slides.
Step 4: Role-play
Give a model of a short dialog with another trainer.
Participants work in pairs to make up short conversations/short oral stories according to the topic.
If time allows, revisit the reflection questions from activity 1.
5. Tell the participants that the demonstration is finished and they can think like teachers again
Reflection questions to help participants consolidate their thinking about their key learnings:
• Reconstruct the activities with a partner.
• What can you say about how the activities were staged? How do they help
student learning?
• How did you feel while doing these activities? What can you say about the amount
of challenge involved? The use of personalization?
• What are some ways you could adopt these activities for your classes?
References:
Klippel, F. (1984). Keep Talking: Communicative fluency activities for language teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ur, P. (2012). A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wright, A., Betteridge, D., & Buckby, M. (2006). Cambridge Handbooks for Language
Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nana Kazaishvili is a teacher and trainer from beautiful Ozurgeti.

58

Cooperative Learning Structures
Aims: By the end of the session, participants will be able to describe the benefits of using

cooperative learning structures and elaborate on how they could be adapted for their own classes.
Timing: 60 minutes
Materials: PowerPoint, strips of paper, flipchart

I have chosen the topic because traditionally teachers tend to use whole-class, question and
answer structures in classes in order to promote fluency in students. But this structure gives
students little opportunity to interact in class. Cooperative learning structures, on the other hand,
create a natural environment for repetitive, high-frequency conversations.

Procedure
Introduction
1. Show the participants the title of the session written on the flipchart and give each group
a bundle of 9 slips of paper with the characteristics of cooperative learning structures
written on them (handout 1, below). Most of them are appropriate, but there are three to
be excluded from the bunch. Participants have to think together in their groups and
choose the 6 most relevant ones. They use tape to stick the chosen characteristics around
the session title on the flipchart, based on their teaching experience. Accept all answers,
but ask questions to make sure everyone is clear on the posts. Show the PowerPoint slide
#3 on the topic (see below).
2. Give a buzz lecture on the main benefits of cooperative learning structures. Afterwards,
go back to the flipchart with the ideas produced by the participants and check whether
their guesses were correct or not, and cross out those which seem inappropriate for the
cooperative learning structure.
3. Show PowerPoint slide #4 & 5 to further introduce the topic. Tell them there are various
cooperative learning structures which provide fully cooperative atmospheres in the EFL
classroom; today, there will be a demonstration of two of them, the Three-Step Interview
and Onion Rings.
Demonstration
4. Tell the participants that they will now be students in 2 demonstration activities and they
should set aside their teacher minds for now. Divide the participants into groups of 3;
one student will be the interviewer, one will be the interviewee and the third will be the
recorder
5. Show the steps of the activity in process through the PowerPoint slide #6-8.
6. Groups practice the activity and talk over the given question first:
59

1) In pairs, as a one-way interview between Student A (interviewer) and Student B
(interviewee);
2) Then in reversed roles; and at last
3) Student C shares key information with the class that he/she recorded as the
Recorder.
7. Get the participants to form “Onion Rings,” with one half of the group forming a small
circle facing out and the other half forming a big circle and facing in, so each participant
has someone in front of them (slides 9-11).

8. Participants stand in pairs, facing each other. Each participant speaks with the partner
opposite her about the topic until the trainer tells her to move one space to the right. Then
the new partners will speak about a new topic until you tell them to stop and rotate again.
Have these three questions prepared for the participants:
• What will be possible concrete benefits of this type of activity for your classes?
• What type of learners would you use the “Three-Step Interview” with?
• In what other context could the “Three-Step Interview” be used?
9. Participants will jot down the partners’ ideas on stickers that are provided to them. They
stick them on the flipchart on the wall in the correct column headed by the above
questions (slide 12). Have everybody walk around and read. Facilitate a final discussion
about any generalizations the participants can make about the poster. Wait and see if
anyone mentions the onion ring activity; if they don’t, mention that is also a cooperative
learning structure. Take a few minutes to discuss how else it could be used in an EFL
class (e.g. to review vocabulary, as an ice-breaker, etc.).

References:
Orr, J.K. (1999). Growing Up with English. Washington, DC: Office of English Language Programs.
http://www.ccsstl.com/sites/default/files/Cooperative%20Learning%20Research%20.pdf

Sopio Khvadagiani is a teacher and trainer from lovely Kutasai Public School #3.
60

Handout 1

Ss have little opportunity to interact in class
No individual accountability; in some groups some individuals
may participate little or not at all
T calls on one S, others lose their chance to answer
Whole class works together to gain fluency
Positive interdependence and cooperative interaction among
students
Equal participation: each person must produce and receive
language
High-achievers and low-achievers participate equally
Individual accountability
½ of class talking at a time

61

Expressing Your Opinion

A

• Personally, I think/don’t
think…
• …. Is really worth seeing.
• Personally, I’d…
• I would definitely see…
• It seems to me that…
-----------------Useful language:

Which of these would you
choose as a holiday
destination? Why?

White sand
Cliffs
Extravagant hotels
Coconut trees
Beautiful scenery
Shopping malls

• Exciting modern cities
• Beautiful beaches and coastline
• Natural wonders, such as
waterfalls, mountains, etc.

Expressing Your Opinion
•
•
•
•
•

choose as a holiday
destination? Why?
• Exciting modern cities
• Beautiful beaches and coastline
• Natural wonders, such as
62

Personally, I think/don’t think…
…. Is really worth seeing.
Personally, I’d…
I would definitely see…
It seems to me that…
-----------------Useful language:

White sand
Cliffs
Extravagant hotels
Coconut trees
Beautiful scenery
h
i
ll

PowerPoint Slides

COOPERATIVE
LEARNING STRUCTURES
1

COOPERATIVE LEARNING
STRUCTURES
2

Characteristics
???

63

ADVANTAGES OF COOPERATIVE
LEARNING STRUCTURES
3

 Whole class works together to gain fluency
 Positive interdependence and cooperative





interaction among students
Equal participation _ each person must produce
and receive language
High-achievers and low-achievers participate
equally
individual accountability
Teachers who master a variety of cooperative
structures can themselves create skillful lessons

4

64

COOPERATIVE STRUCTURES:
5

 Numbered Heads Together
 Think-Pair-Share
 Jigsaw
 Match Mine
 Co-op

C0-op
 Three-Step Interview
 Inside-Outside Circle (= “Onion Rings”)
 Etc.………..

THREE-STEP INTERVIEW
6

Characteristics:
 Equal participation
 All participate
 Promotes listening and

communication skills
 Individual accountability
 ½ of class talking at a time

65

THREE-STEP INTERVIEW
7

Steps in the Process:
 Each student is assigned a LETTER, then each letter is

assigned a ROLE: A-Interviewer,
B-Responder/Interviewee, C-Reporter/Recorder
 Choose an appropriate length of time for each interview
 A interviews B, while C records key aspects of the
response.
 Then, at a signal, roles rotate between A and B.
 When finished, C shares key information to the class
that he/she recorded as the Recorder.

Flashcards for As and Bs
8

 Expressing Your Opinion
 Personally, I think/don’t think…

choose as a holiday
destination? Why?

 …. Is really worth seeing.

 Exciting modern cities

Useful language:
 White sand
 Cliffs
 Extravagant hotels
 Coconut trees
 Beautiful scenery
 Shopping malls

 Beautiful beaches and

coastline
 Natural wonders, such as

 Personally, I’d…
 I would definitely see…
 It seems to me that…

66

“Onion Rings”=Onion Circles
9

“Onion Rings”=Onion Circles
10

67

Using Inside-Outside Circle (“Onion Rings”)
to reflect on the session
11

 Ps form “Onion Rings” _two circles. The inside

circle faces out; the outside circle faces in.
students use flash cards to respond to teacher
questions as they rotate to each new partner.
 Ps stand in pairs, facing each other. Each speaks
with the partner opposite him/her about the topic
until the trainer tells him/her to move on one
space to the right, to make another pair with
another P to speak about another
topic/question.
 T has prepared 3 questions for Ps

1. What will be concrete
possible benefits of
Three-Step Interview
for your classes?

2What type of
learners would you use
“Three-Step Interview”
with?

3. In what other
context may “ThreeStep Interview” be used?

12

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Warm-up Activities for Engaging English Lessons

Warm-up Activities for Engaging English Lessons

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