Giving and Receiving Directions (beginner/intermediate level)

Being able to follow directions or even give them, is a great boost of confidence for the new language learner.  This blog post will provide the ideas to practice giving and receiving directions.

Vocabulary

• Locations:
• Grocery store
• Bank
• Police office
• Bakery
• Pharmacy
• Barber/beauty salon
• Park
• Restaurant
• Gas station
• School
• University
• Prepositions:
• In front of
• Behind
• Next to
• in between
• across from
• diagonal from 
• Directions:
• North, south, east, west
• Straight, turn around, go back
• Left, right
• _______ blocks from
• Sentence Structure:
• Excuse me, where is the _______________?
• Could you please tell me where the _________________ is?
• It is ___________________.
• Walk _____________.

 Warm Up Ideas

Give Directions in 1^st language

• Procedure: Have students give directions to a well known spot from the class in their first language to each other.

Mirror

• Procedure: Students are in pairs facing each other.  One student is the mirror (who mimics the other persons movements) and the other is the person looking in the “mirror”. 
• Modification: Students who are not in the pair give commands to the person looking in the “mirror” to do.  (This practices body parts as well as giving basic commands)

Draw a Map

• Procedure: Have students draw a map of the school, town, or other area. (can use for practice or production activities)

Practice Ideas

Giant Map

• Procedure: Students create a map of the town, school, or other area on the classroom floor (if it is a tile floor a whiteboard marker can be used to draw the map OR students can create small-scale 3D models of the town, area, etc.).  The goal is for students to be able to walk on the “road” of the map.  Once map is made, students work in pairs to give directions to go from Point A to Point B on the map.

  

  You can make the map smaller and of a town, school, or room.
  But make it big enough to walk through.

  Source found here

What is Missing? Map

• Procedure: In pairs, students are given a copy of the same map.  However, while the maps are of the same place, each map has different buildings or rooms labeled while others are not labeled.  Using a prompt, students ask each other where are the missing buildings or rooms. 

Obstacle Course

• Procedure: Divide students into pairs and with in the pairs decide who will close their eyes and who will give the directions.  The students that are closing their eyes need to go out of the classroom (and have another assignment to work on) while the partners that will be giving the directions arranges the desks into an obstacle course for the others to walk around with their eyes closed.  Once room is arranged (give students 2 minutes to arrange the room), have them call their partners in one at a time (staggering them though).  The partner giving directions must safely get their partner from the door to Point B without touching them or running them into anything. Then they switch roles. 

Production Ideas

Give Directions

• Procedure: Students must write or tell directions on how to get from Point A to Point B in a well known area (school, town, classroom). 
• Modification: Students can actually have someone follow their written or verbal directions. 

Draw A Map

• Procedure: Students are given written directions of an area (school, town, park, restaurant, etc.) and they must draw a map of the area according to the directions.
• Modification: Students are given a copy of What’s Missing map and must finish according to some written directions.

Basic Personal Information (Beginner Level)

The year is flying by!  I can’t believe we are at the end of May.  While this blog has taken a backseat to other projects I have going on, I hope to focus on it more now and as we begin the second half of the year.

A huge portion of successfully speaking in your second language, is being able to convey information about yourself.  Today’s post will provide the basic grammar and some activity ideas to do just that. 

Vocabulary

• Months of the Year
• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• Numbers
• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
• 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,18, 19, 20
• 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
• 31
• Directions
• Street
• Road
• Drive
• Corner
• North, South, East, West
• Greetings and Leave Takings (formal and informal)
• Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening
• Hello, Hi, Hey
• How are you?, What’s up?
• Fine, Doing Well, Thank you
• Good bye, Bye, See you later
• Nice to meet you, Pleased to meet you
• Self Statements
•  My name is __________________.
• My phone number is ________________________.
• I am _______________ years old.
• My address is ________________________.
• I live ________________________.
• My birthday is _____________________.
• Questions:
•  What is your name?
• How old are you?
• What is your phone number?
• Where do you live?
• When is your birthday?

Warm Up

Video Clip

• Procedure: Watch a short clip from a well known movie where people introduce themselves and give personal information

Greeting Race (in 1^st language)

•  Procedure: Give students a set amount of time (no more than 3 minutes) and have them greet and ask one question to as many students as they can.  Once time is up, ask each students how many people they met and what they learned about each person. *This is done in their 1^st language*

Greetings at the Door

•  Procedure: Teacher or student greets everyone in the 2^nd language at the door before the class starts.  Change up the greetings as each person comes in. 

Sing a Song

• Procedure: Teach them a song that has to do with greetings and giving person information.

Practice

Dialogue

• Procedure: Students read a prewritten dialogue in pairs.

Board Game

• Procedure: Students play a board game in small groups.  When it is their turn, the students roll a dice to see how many spaces they can move if they can correctly respond to the question correctly.  Personal information questions are written on different cards, after a student rolls they pick up a card and answer the question (the correct prompt is on the back).  If they can correctly respond to the question, they move their game piece the amount of spaces the dice says, but if not they cannot move their game pieces.

I don't know the source.
If you do, let me know.

I also can't remember the sources for this one either.  

Click here for FREE download

Hot Potato

• Procedure: Students plan Hot Potato like normal but when the Potato is stopped the student must answer a personal information question. 

Who Am I?

• Procedure: Teacher tapes the names of famous people on each students back without the student knowing who is on their back.  In order for students to find out who is on their back, they must ask the following questions:

o   How old am I?

o   Am I a man? 

o   Am I a woman?

o   When is my birthday?

o   Where do I live?

Created by sticky notes and notebooks

Click HERE for free download

Signature Scavenger Hunt

•  Procedure: Students are given a paper with the following statements on it:
•  Someone who is the same age as you
• Someone who lives in the same town/neighborhood as you
• Someone who has a birthday in the same month as you
• Someone who has a birthday on the same day as you (can be in a different month)

Created by sticky notes and notebooks

Click here for FREE download

Production

Dialogue

• Procedure: In pairs, students write a dialogue introducing two famous people, two teachers, themselves, etc. 

Interviews

• Procedure: In pairs, students will interview one another like they do on television.  One students is the interviewer and the other is the interviewee.  Then they present their dialogue to the class (the rest of the class is the audience).
• Modification:
• Students pretend to be famous people.
• Audience can ask questions after the interview

Poem

• Procedure: Students write a poem about themselves

Sharing Ideas

Hello again!  The month of April flew by with the completion of two conversation clubs, training the new TEFL Peace Corps group, seeing the US President, and sharing our house with the trainees.  Now we are in the middle of May!  When did that happen?

I wanted to have my first post after my break be about the ideas I learned from the teachers I worked with in the conversation club.  I love learning new things from these wonderful people.  

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!


Warm Up idea: 

 Mirrors 

• Procedure: Students are put in pairs facing each other.  One is the person and the other is the mirror.  The person starts moving and the mirror must do the same action while facing the person (like a mirror reflects).  Students can vote on who is funniest and what not.  created by: Ileana and Everardo (topic: locating people and places)

Practice Idea: 

Commands

• Procedure: Student or teacher gives other students commands (stand between Maria and Jose or sit in front of Brandon) created by: Ileana and Everardo  (topic: locating people and places)

Who Am I?

• Procedure: Students write a short (2-3 sentences) description of an occupation without saying what it is.  Then they read their description and classmates guess what occupation. created by Mariela and Yirlen (topic: occupation)

Missing Song Lyrics

• Procedure: Students listen to a song one time without doing anything else.  The second time they listen to the song, they have to fill out a worksheet that is missing some of the words of the song BUT they have to fill in the word that means the opposite.  The third time they listen, they sing with the words they wrote in.  created by Daubin and Sheila (topic: antonyms and synonyms)

Tips:

• When making a slideshow to teach new vocabulary include pictures, vocabulary word, questions/answered that will be needed about that topic, and an example sentence for each vocabulary word.  from Mariela and Yirlen
• To encourage more student participation, use Random Name Selector (and other options)!  This website picks a name from your class list (can make one for each class) so the pressure is off you choosing students.  from Sheila and Daubin
• Use a top or small spinner with an arrow drawn on it to help choose students to answer questions or do a specific job in a small group.  from Warner

And to thank the wonderful participants that shared with me in the first conversation clubs of the year...a collage of pictures.  

What teaching ideas do you have that you want to share?