Lessons & Classroom Games for Teachers
FANS – there’s a word, plural, which conjures up a few different images for the native speaker. Here’s a lesson about fans. As the students enter the room, the teacher overdoes the welcome with a few ‘well done last time’ / ‘excellent homework’ / ‘great test results’ thrown into the opening seconds as the students gather. Overdo the superlatives! Tell them that you are going to be talking about fans. Start the lesson using pictures and props to show several types of fan; a hand-held oriental fan; a strategically waved piece of paper; a ceiling mounted fan; one of those little battery operated pocket fans; an oscillating desk fan.
Talk a little about each – ‘what is this?’; ‘have you used one?’; ‘where would you use this?’ etc. Use the opportunity to test colours, numbers and so on, and use the opportunity to check progress generally – how are the class sounding now, are they relaxing with you, that sort of thing. Next clear the decks and deck yourself with the uniform of a sports fan: hat, scarf, shirt, and rosette – you know the kind of thing. Now talk – explain what each item is, talk colours, talk variety – enthuse about your favourites: mine are Sunderland AFC – red and white and brilliant!!
A fan is a fanatic. Ask the class to brainstorm things that people get fanatical about (teams, bands, sports and so on). Write new words on the board. Split the class into pairs, and ask them to tell each other about a team, band or personality that they are fans of, and why. Each pair should prepare a role-play where one of them is a very famous / popular personality: David Beckham? Pele? Brad Pitt? Put that person in a spot-light, and then ask the others in the group to tell an alien what is so good about that person. Pick a number of personalities from the pair work – you, the teacher, be the alien.
Andrew is a qualified TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher, with 15 years experience of the global Automotive Industry as a Sales manager with an International component and systems supplier. For more information about learning English with Andrew at his home in the UK, visit the Lets Talk 2 website. http://lets-talk2.com/_wsn/page2.html