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(If you have any ideas for activities after using Power Patterns please email them to mjcurran@hotmail.com and we’ll include them here.)
Activity 1: Ask the students to stand and take a partner. With book in hand, have them ask each other questions using a particular tense. For example, “Do you study French?” “No, I don’t.” or “Do you have a driver’s license?” “Yes, I do.”
They can flip to the verb section to substitute verbs if they wish. The teacher, as facilitator, can move around the pairs and see how they are doing. After a few minutes, the teacher claps his/her hands and everyone switches partners and continues to practice. Within ten or fifteen minutes, students can have four or five exchanges with different partners and be accountable to both asking questions and answering questions.
Activity 2: After practicing and mastering the BPUs (Basic Phrases for Understanding) found in the book (see tabs), I generally like to start with present tense questions. After students are comfortable with “Do you ___?” questions, I introduce the Wh- questions with the present tense “Do you ___?” question patterns (again, see tabs at the bottom of the book). Near the end of a lesson in which the students have been ‘mingling’ (standing and talking in pairs), I like to review with the whole group using the Hot Seat game.
Here is how it works: I place a chair in the front of the room and ask for a volunteer. (This can be quite intimidating at first). When the brave student comes forward I ask him/her to sit on the Hot Seat. Students in the class have two minutes to ask a correct form of a question that we just studied (For example, “Do you ____?” or “Where do you ____?”, etc.) and the Hot Seat student has to answer correctly for the class to get a point. See how many points (correctly formed questions and answers) they can manage within the two-minute period. Switch students on the Hot Seat (by now they are often clamoring to volunteer) and try it again. This, of course, can also be done with teams, though I usually do this activity without team competition. It makes for an excellent review at the end of a lesson or at the end of the week.
Activity 3: As a practical review for the week or for a unit, I like to try English baseball with my students. This may involve a bit of cultural prep as many students may not know the general rules of baseball. Divide the class into two teams and let them choose a name for their teams. Using Power Patterns in hand if he/she likes, a student will “pitch” an easy question to a player on the opposing team. (An example of an easy question might be a present tense question without Wh- such as “Do you have a dog?”). If the question is answered correctly, the batter gets a “single” and moves to first base (set up in the classroom). Questions should be formed in an increasingly more difficult manner or “batters” may choose their own level of difficulty. If the pitcher is allowed to pitch whatever difficulty of question, I insist that they must alter between the four levels: single, double, triple, or homerun: extremely difficult (For example, a homerun question might be: When you go to the shopping mall, where do you usually like to shop?). By the way, if students do not know a word in the question, they can use the BPUs for clarification so long as they use them correctly. A wrong answer means a “strike.” Three strikes and the batter is out. The pitcher also gets four chances (“balls”) to ask a correct question. If he or she forms the question wrong four times in a row, the batter gets a “walk,” that is, a free trip to first base (just like in real baseball). Bases can be set up around the room or as a drawing on the board.
Three outs to an “inning,” then the teams switch sides. I like to mix up the pitchers so Everyone gets a chance to ask questions. I’ve often used this game as a big review before a mid-term or final exam. Enjoy?
Activity 4: Using a small, stuffed animal (“Millie” the cow has toured the world with me and is well known to my students) ask a question and throw the stuffed animal to a student to answer. You can be the questioner or have the students ask the questions and throw the stuffed animal to other students in the class. Be sure to ask the question before the throw so as to activate the thinking of all the students and not merely the one chosen to answer. This activity is fun as a warm-up activity of the previous day’s lesson or as a quick review of the lesson at the end of the class period.
Activity 5: After studying adjectives (see Opposites tab) distribute a blank piece of paper to each student and have them tape it on their backs (Students will need to help each other). Distribute markers. Out of their seats and mingling, have students write an adjective that describes that person. Be sure they share kind, positive words. Afterwards, students can check to see how others described them.
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