Class Warm-Up

Activity Bank for KS2

Vocabulary 1. ‘What does it mean?’ – guessing the meaning of words  Look for a difficult word in a dictionary and make sure no one in the class knows the meaning of the word. Materials Slips of blank paper  Write the word on the board and ask pupils to individually guess the meaning A dictionary and write it down on a slip of paper. All guesses must be anonymous.

 Pupils hand in their paper to the teacher, who will read out the ‘definitions’. The pupil with the closest meaning to the dictionary definition wins.

2. ‘Snake’ – making words with letters  Write any word on the board. Start by throwing the ball to a pupil (Pupil A) Materials and he / she has to use the first / last letter of the word to make another A ball or a small object that pupils word and throw the ball to another pupil (Pupil B). can throw around

 Pupil B makes another word using the first / last letter and throws the ball to Pupil C.

 Pupils keep throwing the ball and making words until you say Stop! Whoever is holding the ball at that moment has to come out and write another word on the board and start the game again.

3. ‘Miming game’ – guessing mimes  Divide the class into two groups. The two groups take turns to play. Group A Materials plays while Group B watched. Flash Cards

 Hold a pile of Flash Cards near Group A. Pupils from Group A take turns to mime what is on the Flash Card for his / her group to guess. When

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 someone makes a correct guess, another group member mimes the next Flash Card. Count the number of correct guesses within the time limit.

 Group B plays the game and Group A watches. The group with the most correct answers within the time limit wins.

4. ‘What do you see?’ – identifying and describing objects  Give pupils a picture full of things that they have to vocabulary for. Materials A picture with  In groups, ask them to write down as many things / words as possible about things that pupils know the picture, describing the different things that they can see.

 Each group presents their list and the one with the longest list wins.

Vocabulary building 1. ‘Combinations’ – forming compound nouns  Think of words which can be formed by two or more separate words, e.g. foot Materials + ball = football, black + board = blackboard Word cards of different word components to  Prepare word cards for the components of each word and ask pupils to match form compound  up the words to form compound nouns. nouns.

You can use two different colours of word cards to differentiate the beginning words and the end words.

Examples of compound nouns: blackboard, keyboard, cupboard, skateboard, football, basketball, toothpaste, toothbrush, toothache, headache, hairbrush, teapot, teacup, fireman, policeman, postman, businessman

Pupils can work out the meaning of some compound nouns, e.g. if the learn the word ‘toothache’, they can guess the meaning of ‘headache’ / ‘stomachache’.

2. ‘Tic-tac-toe’ – making words with prefixes / suffixes  One pupil marks down only X’s and another only O’s, each alternating in filling Materials Grids for the game in any of the nine squares of a grid. Each time the pupil marks an X / O, he / (see example she needs to think of a word with the prefix / suffix stated in the square. below)

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009  The winner will be the first to fill in three marks in any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row.

Examples of words with a prefix: Grid of prefixes dis: dishonest, disobedient, distrust, dislike, disorder un : unkind, untidy, unhappy, unfriendly, unselfish, unwise, unwanted im : impatient, impolite, immature, improper in : inactive, inconvenient, inexpensive, incorrect, indirect

Examples of words with a suffix: ful : careful, helpful, beautiful, awful, forgetful, joyful, painful, meaningful, useful less : careless, painless, useless, fearless, endless able : comfortable, enjoyable, reusable, washable, countable er : painter, singer, writer, reporter, waiter, driver, designer, social worker or : animator, director, actor, instructor

 Students can look for more words in the dictionary and check with the teacher before they play the game.

3. ‘Bingo’ – guessing the prefix / suffix Materials  Prepare grids of nine / sixteen squares and write words (may not be complete Grids of nine / words) without the prefix / suffix in each square. Shuffle the words or write sixteen squares (see example) different words on different grids. counters

 Pupils can play in groups and each group gets a grid.

 Say a prefix / suffix, (e.g. un-) and pupils need to look at their grid and find words that go with the prefix / suffix. (e.g. unkind, unhappy) and put a counter on the word(s).

 The group who fills in all counters in any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row wins.

prefix / suffix for this grid: im-, dis-, un-, in-, -er, -or

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 4. ‘Pelmanism’ – guessing the synonyms / antonyms Materials  Think of words with the same / opposite meaning(s) to the words that pupils Word cards with words of the same have encountered and use them to prepare word cards. / opposite meaning(s)  Pupils play in pairs and lay all the cards face down on a table.

 Pupils take turns to turn over two cards. They can keep the cards if the words are synonyms / antonyms.

 The pupil with the most cards wins.

Examples of synonyms: rude / impolite, sick / ill, smart / clever, famous / popular, kind / nice, scared / afraid, happy with / pleased with, big / large, neat / tidy …

Examples of antonyms: rude / polite, fast / slow, good-looking / ugly, strong / weak, hard-working / lazy, cheap / expensive, rough / smooth, hard / soft … Refer to the vocabulary list for words pupils have encountered.

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 Adverbs 1. ‘Lucky draw’ – creating sentences using adverbs Materials  Put some adverb word cards in a bag and ask pupils to draw a word from the A bag bag and make a sentence using that adverb. Word cards of different adverbs Examples: • adverbs of manner – quickly, loudly, happily, angrily ... • adverbs of frequency – always, usually, never, sometimes ...

2. ‘Guessing how’ – guessing adverbs of manner  Ask one pupil to go out the classroom and the rest of the class think of an adverb, e.g. slowly, loudly, carelessly, sadly, etc.

 When the pupil comes back to the room, he needs to ask different pupils to do different actions, e.g. Jason, please walk around the room. Judy, please draw a circle on the board. These pupils do the action in the manner of the adverb being chosen and the pupil giving the commands has to guess what the adverb is.

3. ‘How to’ – guessing actions and adverbs  Write some instructions on different pieces of paper, e.g. open the door Materials Pieces of paper with slowly, sing happily, swim quickly, etc. different instructions on  Invite a pupil to come to the front and mime one of the instructions. The rest each of them of the class have to guess what the pupil is doing and how the pupil is doing it, e.g. slowly.

 For each correct guess, you can write down the action and the adverb on the board.

Question words 1. ‘Ask me more’ – revising question words  Write a simple sentence on the board, e.g. The mobile phone is on the floor.

 Tell pupils that they are very curious and they want to find out more about what is happening. Encourage them to ask as many questions as they can think of, e.g. Whose mobile phone is it? What colour is the mobile phone? Why is it on the floor? Is the phone on the classroom floor?

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009  Make up answers as you go and correct their grammatical mistakes along the way.  Pupils will be able to use the language as well as their imagination in this activity.

2. ‘10 questions’ – asking yes / no questions  Think of an object / a person / an animal (can be related to the topic of the chapter you are teaching) and write it on a piece of paper.

 Pupils have to ask yes / no questions in order to find out what is written on the paper. They should not ask what the object / animal / person is directly. They can ask a maximum of 10 questions before they make their final guess.

 Guide pupils when to use ‘Is he’ and ‘Does he’ and use adjectives / descriptions when asking questions.

Instructions Group members can 1. ‘Say and do’ – explaining procedures take turns to read instructions.  Before the class, ask pupils (in groups) to prepare a set of instructions related to their topic of interest. For example, if they like animals, they can make instructions showing how to take care of their pet properly. If they like cooking, they can explain how to make a dish.

 Each group hands in their instructions and you can check for errors before the class starts.

 Invite one group to read out the instructions and have a pupil from other groups to act out the instructions. All groups take turns to read their instructions and they can prepare some tools (e.g. a spoon and a pan) for others to act out their instructions.

2. ‘Robots’ – giving and following instructions  Think of some instructions or ask pupils to think of some, e.g. Touch your toes slowly. Walk forwards / backwards quickly, etc.

 Divide the class into two or more groups and have representatives come out. Ask them to imitate the movements of a robot while following your

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 instructions. If one group’s robot makes a mistake, the other group(s) gets a point.

Directions 1. ‘Captain and ship’ – giving directions  Divide the class into two groups. Each group picks a captain and a ship.

 Blindfold the ship and ask the captain to direct the ship around or over obstacles, e.g. desks, chairs, etc. to reach land, which can be a special chair. The ship who reaches land first wins.

2. ‘Where can I find …?’ – filling in the missing information  Prepare two sets of maps (A & B), each with two places missing. • Write all Materials four places on the board and pupils have to see which places are missing in Two sets of maps, each with places their map. • The pupil with Map A works with the pupil with Map B. missing (on the Without letting their partner see their map, they take turns to ask each companion website) other directions in order to find the missing places. Pupils draw arrows while following the directions and then label the place.

Example of language used when asking for and giving directions: Excuse me. How do I get to the …? / Where can I find a …? Go / Walk straight ahead. Turn left / right into … Road. The … is next to /opposite the …  Refer to the appendix to see the sample maps.

Dialogues / Interviews 1. ‘Longest dialogue’ – extending the dialogue  Give the beginning parts of dialogues to pupils and ask them (in pairs) to Materials extend the dialogue as long as they can. Copies of the beginning part of a dialogue, which can  Give them a few minutes to practise and ask them to act out their dialogue for be related to the the class. topic you are teaching (see  The pair with the longest / most interesting dialogue wins. samples)

Example :

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 Setting – in a restaurant Customer : Excuse me. I’m ready to order now. Waiter : Sure. What would you like? Customer : …

2. ‘Hot Seating’ – role-playing interviews  Invite a pupil to come to the front and take on a character’s role, e.g. a famous person or a character from a film / story such as Cinderella.

 Other pupils interview the famous person / character and have to think of some questions to ask. Guide pupils to ask questions by asking them What do you want to know about …? Give some examples, such as Cinderella, do you want to go to the ball? Why? Who do you want to dance with? Do you want to get rich? What would you do if you married  the Prince?

This can be a post-reading activity after a story / play since both the interviewers and the interviewee need to know the story / character very well in order to ask and answer questions.

Description For use in Two sets of maps, each with places ‘Where can I find …?’ missing. Pupils work in pairs and the Activity teacher assigns a set of maps to each pair. The pupil with Map A works with the pupil with Map B. Without letting their partners see their map, they take turns to ask each other directions in order to find the missing places.

health and beauty store post office

King Street t e e r t

clinic S

e d a J

bank fire station

Queen Street

X (You are here) hospital sports centre

Primary Longman Elect © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 Map B Places you need to find: a health and beauty store, a bank

police station post office

King Street t e e r t

clinic S market

e d a J

fire station

Queen Street

X (You are here) hospital sports centre