THE MONSTER BOOK of Language Teaching Activities THE MONSTER BOOK of Language Teaching Activities A Teacher’s Resource Book of Fun Template Activities for Use in the English Language Classroom THIRD EDITION 2019 © 2019 by Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. The Monster Book of Language Teaching Activities. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Activities compiled by: Maria Snarski Do you have an idea to contribute? Send it here: [email protected] Layout and Design: FeatherMate Designs and Global Publishing Solutions web.gps.state.gov Copyediting by Global Publishing Solutions Icons by Muhammad Ali Hashmi, Arts and Graphics Assistant, U.S. Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan Cover image and all illustrations by the extremely talented Ricardo Anderson [email protected] All images CCBY. Please see https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ for details. This publication is available free of charge online at: www.americanenglish.state.gov Office of English Language Programs Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs U.S. Department of State americanenglish.state.gov Introduction This third edition ofThe Monster Book of Language Teaching Activities is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, which makes it an even more flexible resource for language educators. I am very grateful to all the contributors for agreeing to share their work in this way in order for more educators to have access to this collection. The Monster Book remains a collection of over 150 activities intended to liven up the language classroom, en- gage students in learning, and give instructors straightforward, active options for practicing the four skills and tapping into other elements of language such as grammar, vocabulary, critical thinking, and culture. Many of these activities have been used in the field for several years and are compiled here with simple, clear instructions and variations to fit a wide range of classroom contexts. The activities are organized into 16 sections as a starting point for exploring the ideas rather than hard and fast divisions. The Table of Contents includes descriptive icons to further illustrate the scope and flexibility of each activity. Each entry should be looked at as a template activity for instructors to use. Instructors should insert their own content as appropriate, tweak the activity using any of the variations listed, or bring their own ideas to the activity to suit their context and the performance objectives of the lesson. For example, for the Dialogue Line activity on page 56, there is endless “content” that can be inserted that will allow learners to get speak- ing practice, whether it be for a particular structure, topic, or function. Possibilities include low-level students introducing themselves to a partner, intermediate-level students describing their home or talking about their family, and more advanced students giving their opinion on a controversial topic such as gender quality or how to improve education or reduce corruption. Each time students change partners in the Dialogue Line and repeat the task, they are getting authentic practice with the language structure, helping increase their fluency and building their confidence in the language. Most activities allow for great variation. The impetus to createThe Monster Book came from the programs of English Language Specialist David Malat- esta in Turkey and Brazil between 2006–2010. From these workshops, it was evident that teachers appreciated experiencing interactive classroom activities in order to better understand how these could help support learn- ing in the classroom. Experiencing them in the workshops helped the teachers gain confidence to try them in their classroom. With David’s permission, I formatted the activities he introduced to teachers, solicited additional ideas from colleagues around the world, and organized them into the sections you see in this book. Care has been taken to ensure credit was given to those who contributed the ideas and sources are cited when- ever known. Any lack of proper acknowledgement in this collection is unintentional. Deep appreciation goes out to all the educators who have contributed ideas in order to create this resource. Feedback and any addi- tional ideas are always welcome for future editions. Please send them to [email protected]. Acknowledgements for contributions: English Language Fellows in Brazil (Elizabeth Crockett Hixon, Julie Holaway, Jenny Otting, Anna Grigoryan, Scott Chiverton, Melanie Brooks, Monica Wiesmann-Hirchert), Brazilian Train the Trainer Participants (Adeli Muniz, Alessandra Oliveira Quirino, Alexandre dos Santos Oliveira, Ana Beatriz Pereira Franco, Ariella de Jesus Alves, Daise Lilian Fonseca Dias, Dulce Pazinato Casarin, Erika Suellem Castro da Silva, Isabela de Freitas Villas Boas, Josélia Batista Santos, Jussara Perin, Lilianne de Souza Oliveira, Márcia Maria dos Santos, Maria Cristina Damianovic, Samara Camilo Tomé Costa, Roberta Freitas), Fulbright ETAs in Brazil 2010 (Lauren Koepke, Caitlin Lynch, Candice Dagnino, Dunja Zdero, Kaley Walsh, Christopher Ellison, Aaron Nilson, Avio Tai, Carolyn Wright, Caroline Strelitz, Christina Pope, Oak Rankin, Gabriela Baca, Allison Maranuk, Drew Firmender, Amalia Zeidman, Carolina Escalera, Cara Snyder, Sarah Nicholus); Additional gratitude to: Aycan Yaman Esen (U.S. Embassy Ankara), Helmara F. Real de Moraes (U.S. Embassy Brasília), Thais Hernandez, Nicholas Daly, Katelyn Omans, Lauren Hobby, Trevor Fay, Alexander Werner, Gabriel Friedman, Chris Cote, Claudia Seixas, Kristen Dunlap, Lindsay Bowman, Reuben Clark, Rael Silva, Christine Canning-Wilson. Public School Teacher Development Participants in Brazil (Alberto Guerra, Alessandra Teixeira, Aline Goulart Corrêa, Patricia Moura Santos, Patricia Silva Santiago Melo, Augusto Castilho, Fabrícia Eugênia Gomes de Andrade, Fernanda Eline, Francine Marteloti, Claudenise de Paula Santos, Danieli Spagnol Oliveira Correia, Carla Castro, Débora Mariana Ribeiro, Pedro Moura de Souza, Estela Knitter Barros, Giselly Maia Rodrigues de Miranda, Bianca Conte, Marcos Souza, Lourdes Sousa, Cristiane Andrade, Sandra Olivera, Jefferson de Paula Silva, Juliane Guedes Menino, Vagner Matias da Silva, Karina Aparecida Vicentin, Margarete de Carvalho Santos, Maria Cecília Marques Kosoba, Mariana Neves Neubra, Melissa Zanardo, Tatiana Ferreira Costa, Ricardo Anderson, Sergio Onofre Pantoja Junior, Marcia Pinheiro), ELT Professionals (Andrea Billíková, Aydan Ersöz, Bill Snyder, Brock Brady, Carol Clark, Cristiane Tinoco, David Malatesta, Don Johnson, Efrain Diaz, Elisa Borges, Erik Lundell, Evrim Üstünlüoğlu, Isabela de Freitas Villas Boas, Kristin Lems, Lize Vorster, María Isabel Freyre, María Rosa Mucci, Matías Ansaldo, Dr. Myrtis Mixon, Nanda Klapwijk, Nora N Lerena, Patrisius Istiarto Djiwandono, Silvana Giménez Amadeo, Diane Millar, Harold Samuels, Katie Ryan, Caralyn Bushey, Staff at Hawaii Pacific University),USG Exchange Participants (Arindam Sengupta, Augusto Castilho, Brian Sibanda, Carla Castro, Heather Damba, Hicham Mahda, Kyungu Lwamba, Monica Wiesmann-Hirchert, Keamogetswe Naledi Seipato, Nazaire Massamba, Portia Tshivhase, Vagner Matias da Silva). Table of Contents Page Activity Name Level Skill Practice B I A L S R W G V C K T T 1 1. LEAD-INS 4 Corner Name Tents 5 Roll Call/Attendance 6 Entrance/Exit Activity 7 Bell Activity 8 Find Someone Who 10 In Common (and Not) 12 Scavenger Hunt 14 Discussion Starter 15 I Know English 16 This That 17 Class Poll 18 I’ve Never 19 2. LISTENING 22 Tense Statements 24 True/False 25 Supermarket Ads 26 Fast-Food Placemats 27 Listen On Your Feet Beginner Intermediate Advanced Listening Speaking Reading Writing Grammar Vocabulary Critical Thinking Kinesthetic Tactile The Monster Book of Language Teaching Activities Page Activity Name Level Skill Practice B I A L S R W G V C K T T 28 Movers and Shakers 29 Speed Mimes 30 TPRS 32 Jump to the Right/Left 33 The Line 34 Cross Out 35 3. MUSIC 39 Disappearing Song 40 Question Quest 41 Song Bingo 42 Express Your Feelings 43 Antonyms 44 Correcting You’re Your Grammar 45 Mixed-Up Lyrics 46 Music Moves 47 Song Groups 48 One, Several, Many Drawing to Instrumental 49 Music 51 4. SPEAKING 54 Four Corners 56 Dialogue Line 57 Go Fishing 58 Tiny Bubbles in the Air! 59 Interrupt My Story! The Monster Book of Language Teaching Activities Page Activity Name Level Skill Practice B I A L S R W G V C K T T 60 In/Out Reporting 61 Expert Panel 62 Prove It! 63 Hot and Cold 64 Me Too! 65 Clap Snap 66 Comparisons 67 Two Truths and a Lie 68 Guest Speaker 69 Talk Time 71 5. STORYTELLING 74 Teacher Tell; Student Retell 75 Object-Based Storytelling 76 Vocabulary Stories 77 Drawings from a Story 78 2.0 Stories 79 Readers’ Theater 80 Historical Fiction Stories See also: Story Improv (p. 92) Story Strips (p. 107) Story Starters (p. 141) Picture Chain Story (p. 202) 81 6. DRAMA 85 Drama Box 86 Soundscapes The Monster Book of Language Teaching Activities Page Activity Name Level Skill Practice B I A L S R W G V C K T T 87 Move as If 88 Conversation Letters 89 Dubbing 90 Dialogue Aside 91 Alphabet Conversation Drama 92 Story Improv 93 Emotional Choral Reading 94 Twisted Fairy Tale 95 Replacement Role Play 97 7. READING 101 One-Minute Reading 102 Scan for It 104 KNEFL Chart 105 Reading Warm-Up 106 Pre-Reading Quiz 107 Story Strips 108 Jigsaw 1 109 Jigsaw 2 110 Jigsaw Memory 111 Group Reading Diary Emotional Intelligence 112 Scripting 113 Group Mind Map 114 Scaffolded Questioning See also Culture Paragraphs (pp. 230–243) The Monster Book of Language Teaching Activities Page Activity Name Level Skill Practice B I A L S R W G V C K T T 117 8. VOCABULARY 120 What Is This? 121 List It 122 Fly Swatter Game 123 Dominoes 124 Color Idioms 125 Word Wall 126 Buzz Ban Cards 127 Letter Link 128 Word Ladder 129 Letter Loans 130 Marshmallow Spelling 131 9.