Category: Vocabulary

Comparatives and Superlatives

24/4/2013

Below, I present a lesson plan that you can use in your class to review comparatives and superlatives. Students should have at least a pre-intermediate level.

1. Review:
In the board, review with your students how to form comparatives and superlatives. You can do it by creating a chart that includes the rules to follow and have in mind when working with comparatives and superlatives.

2. Worksheet: "Think of a word".

- Divide the class in small teams ( no more than three people) and turn in the worksheet "think of a word" to each team.
- Then, write a noun on the board and ask students to suggest whatever the worksheet tells them.
- It is a competition, so students need to fill in the worksheet as fast as possible but without spelling mistakes.
- Misspellings will be penalised. The first team to complete all the sentences will win a point. Each team will get a point for each word that is correct. Should a spelling be wrong, no point will be awarded. The teacher will ask students to spell the written word is she/he thinks that it might be misspelled. If two groups write the same word in a sentence, they won't get the point.
- Repeat the exercise with different words a couple of times and add up the points to select a winner.

3. SONG: "Everything" by Alanis Morissette

- The teacher will introduce the song to students. He/she will explain ask students to fill in the blanks. The teacher will tell students that the words that are missing are adjectives, comparatives, superlatives and some parts of the verbs in the present perfect.
- Students will listen to the song and complete the gaps.
- If students find the song difficult, the teacher will give them a worksheet that includes the words missing. The teacher will read the words aloud to make easier their identification in the song.
- Repeat as many times as students need.
- Check answers by asking students to read the song aloud.
- Check new vocabulary.
- Identify the adjectives and complete a chart with them like the one at the review stage.

4. The guessing game:
This game can be carried out either writing or speaking:
- Describe an object/animal/person using comparatives until someone guesses what it is
e.g. "It is as yellow as a banana, "it is hotter than fire", "it is as round as a ball" (SUN)
- Wrong guesses should be replied to with another clue comparing the real object with that wrong guess, e.g. “No, this thing isn’t a candle. A candle is colder than it."
- Descriptions should include at least two compatives or superlatives

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Acquisition of the concepts of "hyponym" and "hypernym"

1/4/2013

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This is a fun activity to teach young learners the concepts of hyponym and hyperonym and review vocabulary at the same time. For those who are not familiar with these terms, these are the definitions that are found in Oxford Dictionaries:

1. Hyponym: A word of more specific meaning than a general or superordinate term applicable to it. For example, spoon is a hyponym of cutlery.

2. Hypernym: A word with a broad meaning constituting a category into which words with more specific meanings fall; a superordinate. For example, colour is a hypernym of red.

Children are often confused with these ideas or concepts. This activity will help them to understand that there are some words that belong to a bigger category and vice versa.

Having clarified these concepts, I will carry on with the explanation of the game:
1. Get a ball that you can catch with a hand (ideally a soft ball).
2. Stand in front of your students.
3. Throw the ball to one of your students at the same time as you say a category (hypernym). For instance, throw the ball as you say "animals".
4. The student who catches the ball will pass the ball back to you as he or she says a word
that fits in that category (hyponym). For instance, "dog".
5. When you receive the ball you can pass the ball to another student without changing the
category by saying "another". In this case, the student who catches the ball will throw the
ball back to you saying another animal.
6. You can change the category whenever you want. But I recommend you to play with a
category for a while to make the game more interesting.
7. It is important that students pass the ball back to you and not to another student.
8. You can pass the ball to the same student several times consecutively.
9. Students cannot repeat a word within the same round.

How to get points:
I play this game as a competition between my students and me. I write the points on the blackboard so everyone can see them.

I (the teacher) will get a point if...
1. I hear a student speaking in a language that is not English.
2. A student repeats a word within the same round.
3. A student doesn't know the answer.
4. A student invents the answer.
5. The student says a wrong answer.
6. The ball falls down and it stays on the floor more than 5 seconds.
My students will get a point if...
1. They speak in English during a long period of time.
2. Depending on their age, if they play without failing for a certain period of time.
3. I don't speak in English.
4. When I consider that they are doing a good job.

FOLLOW UP
Once students have mastered how to play the game, you can make it a little bit more complicated. Imagine this situation:

Teacher: "Animals!"
Student 1: "Dog!"
Teacher: "Another!"
Student 2: "Cat!"
Teacher: "Another!"
Student 2: "Horse!"
Teacher: "Another!"
Student 2: "Bird!"

Now it would be the teacher's turn. However, instead of saying "another" or changing the category, the teacher can say another example of animals (hyponym) such as "bear" and throw it to the student. In this case, the student will have to throw the ball back to the teacher saying the category (or hypernym) in which "bear" belongs to. Look at the example:

Teacher: "Animals!"
Student 1: "Dog!"
Teacher: "Another!"
Student 2: "Cat!"
Teacher: "Another!"
Student 2: "Horse!"
Teacher: "Another!"
Student 2: "Bird!"
Teacher: "Bear!"
Student 2: Animals"

After this, the teacher will change the category.

PD:
1. You can carry out the game without naming the words "hyponym" and "hypernym" but it is important that you explain what they mean. These concepts are usually taught in their native language during their "Language Arts" period at some point. You have the decision of introducing these new words or not.
2. These are some of the categories that you can use to play: Animals, parts of the body, numbers, clothes, food, classroom objects, colors, shapes, buildings,sports, languages... You can make the categories a little bit more difficult for higher levels such as things in the kitchen, adjectives, verbs in the past, adverbs...

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"Classmade"- Scrabble

8/3/2013

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"Classmade"- Scrabble
1. Ask your students to sit down in pairs. If you are working with an odd number of students, three students will sit together.
2. Provide your students with a grid.
3.To decide who goes first, students will have to make an addition of the number of letters of their name and surname. The one with the highest number will start.

4. The first student will write one word in the grid. Each letter must fit in each square. The word may be placed either horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally.
5. If both players agree with the spelling of the word, the student who placed the that word will get as many points as letters the word has. Students can use a table like the one below or draw one themselves to keep the score updated. If they are not sure about the spelling of a word, they may use a dictionary to check it.

VARIATION: You can provide your students with this alternative grid. Depending on the color of the square where they write the letter, they will have the possibility of doubling or tripling the points for that letter, as well as doubling the points of the word.

FOLLOW UP: Once your students have finished playing, ask them to fill in each square that is left with a random letter. When all the grid is full of letters, each pair will exchange their grid with another pair's grid. Now the scrabble has turned into a wordsearch!

6. Students will take turns to play. If a student can't think of a word in around 30 seconds, he or she will miss his or her turn.
7. When there is not more space in the grid or students can't think of more words, they will add up all the points.
8. The student who gets more points will win.

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The Finger Family

17/2/2013

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This lesson plan is aimed to pre-kindergartens or children who are 3, 4 or 5 years old. Students will learn basic vocabulary related to the family members (daddy, mommy, brother, sister, and baby).

Flashcards
1. Show each flashcard to your students and say the family member that it represents.
2. Let students repeat what you have said.
3. Repeat several times until students remember the vocabulary.

The worksheet - Rings craft
1. Print one worksheet to each of your students.
2. In order to save time, cut each of the family members yourself.
3. Prepare some cardboard to create the rings and reinforce them.
4. Let the students color the family members.
5. As they finish coloring, stick the ring to the picture with glue or tape. Make sure they fit your
student's fingers.

Download here

The "Finger Family" song
Daddy finger, daddy finger, where are you?
Here I am, here I am. How do you do?

Mommy finger, Mommy finger, where are you?
Here I am, here I am. How do you do?

Brother finger, Brother finger, where are you?
Here I am, here I am. How do you do?

Sister finger, Sister finger, where are you?
Here I am, here I am. How do you do?

Baby finger, Baby finger, where are you?
Here I am, here I am. How do you do?

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"PASS THE WORD"

9/2/2013

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This game is based on the Spanish TV contest "Pasapalabra". In the TV contest, contestants have to guess 25 words that begin with each of the letters in the alphabet. The host will read the definition of each word and the contestant will answer. If the contestant doesn't know the answer or isn't sure about it, he or she will pass saying "Pasapalabra". Two contestants take turns. Each one has a different set of questions. When one passes or fails the questions it will be the turn of the other player. The player who guesses more words wins. Contestants have to answer the questions within a particular period of time.

How to use this game in your ESL classroom:
I have tried this game with my students in elementary and middle school and they absolutely love it. This game is especially amusing if there are not too many students in the classroom. Otherwise, they will have to wait more time till it is their turn to play. Since I usually don't have more than 10 students per class, this activity fits perfectly in my classroom.

1. Divide your students in two groups. Each group will line up.
2. Explain to them that they are going to play a game that is called "pass the word" and provide them with the instructions that I mentioned above. In our case, if students doubt or don't know the answer, they have to say "pass the word" to pass. Since it is a team game, each member of the team will have the opportunity to answer one question. After its turn, he or she will go to the back of the line and will wait until it is its turn again.
3. Each group will have a different set of questions and will take turns when the other team fails or passes.
4. Each team will have around 5 minutes to answer all the questions. The time will vary depending on the student's English level.
5. When the time is over, the team which guessed more words will win.
6. The teacher will be responsible for registering students' answers.

pass_the_word_in_english_2.pdf
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pass_the_word_in_english__verb_edition.pdf
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Follow-up activity: Let students create their own set of questions. Each team can create one set. Next time, you will be able to play with those new questions (you will safe a lot of time!!)

PD: Questions can include definitions, opposites, synonyms or translations from Spanish that you have been learning or reviewing in the classroom. Students can also play without checking the time.

For more advanced students....
I have found this website that includes a software that imitates the TV contest. It is aimed to students in high school. Hope you enjoy it! CLICK HERE

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A visual and intuitive way to teach and learn polysemy

24/11/2012

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The video above is a great tool to teach polysemy in your ESL classroom. The clips that are illustrated in this video show how people use words in different ways depending on the context in which thy are utilized. I recommend to introduce this video in classes in which students have at least a pre-intermediate level.
Next, I will describe how you can implement this video in your classroom:

Explain to students that you are going to play a short video made of several transitional clips and they should pay attention to what these clips describe.
Students can work in pairs of individually depending on their level.
Ask them to write the word (verb, noun or adjective) that characterizes each video clip.
In lower levels you can tell them that several clips represent the same word.
Once they are sure of the word each clip describes, ask your students to write a phrase or sentence representing the clip and then, highlight the main word. Eg. I broke up with my boyfriend yesterday.
Play the video as many times as your students need it.
Students share answers as they watch the video. Explain those meanings that students do not understand.
Introduce the concept of polysemy and ask students to think of other words that have several meanings. Encourage students to use the dictionary to learn meanings of words that students do not know.

(The words that are represented in this clip are: play, blow, break, split, run, fly, fall, feather, light, space)

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Author

My name is Beatriz Paternain. I am an ESL specialist who graduated in 2012 with a Master's of Education in TESOL and World Languages Education from the University of Georgia

Comparatives and Superlatives

Acquisition of the concepts of "hyponym" and "hypernym"

"Classmade"- Scrabble

The Finger Family

"PASS THE WORD"

A visual and intuitive way to teach and learn polysemy

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