Jazz Up Your Lesson
HAND-MADE AUCTION
This game is a perfect chance for the students to practice English together with getting symbolic hand-made presents. This game may be played at any holiday or celebration.
1. Let the students know about the coming auction a week in advance. This time is necessary to prepare some small hand-made presents together with its presentation to the class.
2. Make a copies of money so that every student will have about 1500 roubles. You may prefer dollars or pounds.
3. Choose the leader of the action. He/she will open and close the auction, lead the haggling.
4. Give the following vocabulary to the leader, so that he/she would feel more confident with the task.
Vocabulary for the leader:
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to welcome you to our auction.
Today we have 15 lots on offer.
I would like you to know our rules:
1. You can only use the given money to buy goods.
2. You can’t borrow money.
3. You can’t lend money.
4. You can’t cooperate to buy goods.
5. When haggling the price – a minimum step is 10 points.
So I invite our first presenter.
The initial price is…
Make your bids, please!
Is there any advance on the bid?
Going 80 roubles – one, going 80 roubles – two, going 80 roubles – three, gone! 80 roubles to the lady in red.
Could you, please, comment on your purchase?
“I DON'T AGREE!" GAME
This is a truly useful activity that helps students to learn to disagree in a polite form. Accentuate the attention of your students that this issue is hugely important not to seem rude and arrogant.
Remind students how to disagree politely:
That is not really how I see the issue
I think you are mistaken
If you do not mind my saying so, you are not quite right here
I can not really go along with you here
I haven’t heard of that
I see your point but
Well, I need to disagree
I see what you mean but
I do not know exactly but
I suspect that this might not be quite true
It says nothing to me
I guess it would make more sense to do the opposite
We do not see eye to eye on this issue, I’m afraid
I’m afraid you are not right
Divide the students in pairs and organize mini-debates. Let them talk on the following topics where the key-issue is to disagree with each other. Ask the students to change roles – the one who agreed the first time should be the one to disagree the second time.
Topics:
1. TV does only harm.
2. There is nothing bad in growing fat and be happy with it.
3. Parents should take no part in the decision-making process of their children.
4. Dangerous kinds of sport should be banned by law.
5. All books, films, computer games should be censored.
6. No one wants to live to be 100 years old.
7. Only a crazy person can prefer living in a city like Moscow.
8. The only safe way to travel is on foot.
9. Pop stars certainly earn their fortunes.
10. Only stricter traffic regulations can prevent accidents.
11. Camping is the ideal way of spending holidays.
MAKE LIFE BETTER
This game is aimed at helping students express their ideas in public, enables team-work and creativity.
Divide the students into teams of 3–4 people. Give them certain social spheres to choose from, like
– Animal rights
– Family law
– Children rights
– Women / Mothers rights
– Men / Fathers rights
– Traffic rules
– Education: Students / Teachers Rights
– Social rights
– Copyrights
Every group chooses one sphere of their interest and makes 3 laws to improve the situation there. The group discusses the law and then, puts it down and presents it to the whole class. Make sure every student has a word. Later the drafts of the law can be handed in to the teacher.