Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Ten Ways to Liven Up an English Lesson

an English Lesson

In This Chapter

▶ Varying your resources

▶ Giving students a chance to show off

▶ Adapting your teaching style

T

his chapter contains suggestions for injecting something different into

your lessons when you feel things have become a bit a flat. It happens to

the best of teachers sometimes, but with a little thought you can get things

back on track.

Bring in Real-World Objects

In TEFL, sometimes you want to bring real items – called realia in the biz –

into the classroom to help teach a particular point. These items may include

clothing, food, household items or even a musical instrument.

Lugging these things into class isn’t as easy as showing a picture or offering a

definition, but the advantage is that students are more likely to remember the

day the teacher came to school with a potato in her handbag than the day

she pointed to one in a book. Students will want to pick the item up, play with

it and generally make a connection with something three dimensional.

As well as using realia for teaching new vocabulary, you can also use it to

practise what the students already know. Take prepositions: A toy car moving

through a Lego town is very engaging for young learners, and as one child

plays with the car, the others can describe what’s happening or give instructions

inevitably using prepositions. Even adults prefer using real maps from places

they dream of visiting than pretend ones mocked up for the classroom.