Classes with no Multi-Media - Tips and Lesson Ideas

[drkhv7@gmail.com]

Hi,

I've been teaching at a H.S. once/week since this March and it's got a big problem - No computer (no internet).  I've worked in 10 schools in Korea and this is the only school where I've had no computer in any of the classrooms every class...

Does anyone have lesson ideas for creating classes that aren't reliant on ppt and the internet?  It's far too time intensive to print out enough pictures (and then blow them up to a size that they can be easily viewed) so I'm really hurting for visuals besides individual papers/worksheets ...

Anyway, thanks in advance for your input

[laserprinter]

This is how it was back in the day, and it's liberating. 

Lesson 1 - I call it zombie infection.  It takes about 15-20 minutes.  Write "My name is _____ and I like _____ and ______" (Jeff, scuba diving, reading books).  Everyone takes a minute or 2 to think of their answers.  Then they all get up and greet each other with that.  Each person has to memorize and become the person they met. 

2-minutes of fame (1 minute?) Use a timer and give each person in the class 2 minutes to tell the class as many things about themselves as they can.  One point for each piece of information.  You may want to brainstorm possibilities on the board first and leave them up for low-level (name, age, height, family, future job, dream girl).  It'll be one student at a time so it should take awhile.

Lesson 2 - You can draw Jeopardy on the board and simply print your list of questions for yourself. 

If these are unsuitable, get their textbook and work away.

[kaymac]

I teach at a high school also and I have been doing a music opinion lesson that is on waygook that I don't use a powerpoint for. All you might need would be your MP3 player and a set of speakers. There is a handout for the lesson as well if you hunt around on this site, it's under Music on the Master lesson plan list. 
The game Taboo is always great with my students and requires you to make a set of index cards and no other technology outside of that (also here on waygook).
I've used the game "Gimme 5" without a powerpoint before that exists here on Waygook also. In that case, I had a list of topics I would read aloud to the class and then write on the board.
I am a bit of a slave to my powerpoints for my own lessons I've made, but my projector does have a tendency to overheat so I can somewhat feel your pain after having had to improvise my way through without powerpoints a few times. I find brainstorming on the board and getting students up to write on the board a lot is good when you don't have technology to rely on. It keeps them paying attention for when they may have to go up to the board. Good luck!

[vitamin-d]

Hey all,

I don't have a TV and I'm beginning to run out of ideas for Grades 1 & 2.
Any ideas would be most welcome.

Resources I do have: 6 whiteboards & pens...

[kaymac]

Hurting! I have played Give Me 5 without the powerpoint with my kids before and it's gone over well. You end up having to explain a bit since they don't have the visual. Taboo is an excellent game to play that doesn't require technology and is also on this site. If you have some way to play audio in your classroom, music listening exercises are always entertaining whether it be a discussion of music genres etc, or a simply lyrics filling the blank sheet ( I usually show the video after but you could get away with not doing that). Hope some of these suggestions help!

[krb974]

You can play Bumper to Bumper.  Start with a word, and the last letter of the word needs to be the first letter of the next word.  You can make this a group activity, and get the students to do different things to say the next word.  Examples of things the students can do to say another word: the first group to all sit on the ground, the first group to stand on one foot, the first group to touch their nose, etc...

This can really spark some competitiveness within the class.  Also, in between rounds, the students were pretty good at quieting down quickly.

[nancy]

If you have an overhead projector and screen you might try getting the kids to make crossword puzzles. I gave my kids an overhead sheet with a grid and a plain sheet to put over it. They had to compile a list of 15 words that had something to do with the topic we were discussing(in my case, it was sleep). Once they have compiled a list ( bed, pillow, dream etc.) they put it on the plain overhead with the grid sheet underneath as a guide. When that is complete they make clues for their words. Once they have completed this, they present the crossword to the class and have their classmates fill it in by giving them the clues verbally.  I stay at the back of the class and pass out candy to those students who get the right answers to the clues. You can try any variation of this with the kids leading the class. They really enjoyed it and so did I!! It takes at least 2 classes depending on the kids.
With whiteboards I also like scattergories. I write the categories on the blackboard and then give a letter. They work in a group to fill as many items in each category.It's a fun game before exams.

[sonya]

Jeopardy can also be done on the board...or you can make one on cardboard so you are not always drawing it on the chalkboard...just bring your questions with you.

Scattergories is another good chalkboard game! It is posted here: http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,957.msg2670.html#msg2670

Letter Lingo is also at that link...this would be fun to have the students make up a worksheet of rebuses and All Stressed Out you also don't need a TV.

Top 5 you can also play without the TV as I found out when the computers went down this week!  Luckily, I had a copy of all the answers!http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,1724.0.html

I think there is a lot of stuff you can do chalkboard style or print off and do flashcard style.  The powerpoint just enhances the lesson.

Good luck

[vitamin-d]

Thanks everyone, some really useful stuff...

[infogoddess]

lots of games here that don't require a computer

http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi?Games

hope it helps

[zachmokpo]

What are some good lessons to use for class of 40 and no computers?

[kaymac]

Hey there is a directions lesson on here somewhere that you could pull off without a computer. The favourites Bingo could be done without a powerpoint also. For the directions lesson, so long as you have a white board to explain the basic vocabulary, you can then hand out a map and do a directions worksheet with them. Taboo and Give me five can also be done without a computer.

[Yosu Tiger]

You can still do the bombgame using flashcards to prompt answers and then you can make point cards and put them into a box so that the students draw them out after they get a question right.  Some of the cards will have a bomb on and some will be -scores and some +scores.  Then you can make teams of 6 and have them compete against each other.

[teacher_del]

Information gap activities are meant to be done without a computer.  Pair work.  Anything where Student A is trying to guess what vocab Student B has chosen before B can do the same to A can get a lot of students into a competitive mindset.  All you need is paper for each student and a specific vocabulary set they choose their words from. 

Dialog race:  Write a few dialogs and post them around the room.  Divide the students into teams (perhaps eight groups of five).  Team members take turns going to the dialog you have assigned to them, reading (part of) it, and returning to their team.  They then dictate as much of it as they can remember to the group's writer.  The first team to complete their dialog -- correctly -- wins.  Students must take turns doing the work.

Prediction bingo (super popular in middle school):  Write vocab on the board.  Students choose words from the vocabulary and make a Bingo grid.  You then read aloud from a pre-prepared dialog containing some (but not all) of the words.

Jeopardy/Golden Bell style games can also be done, with some extra prep time.  Draw the game board on your whiteboard. Give each square an identifying number or letter or whatever works for you.  Make a list of questions corresponding to each square.  Erase the relevant square from the board as you progress through the game and use up questions.  Prepare flash cards in advance for any questions that require a visual reference.  Again, have the students play in teams.  They must decide on an answer (perhaps give the 15 seconds to confer?) and then answer in unison, so the kids who refuse to do any of the thinking at least have to mouth some English.


Looking at this thread, I cannot believe how computer-depending my teaching style has become since coming to Korea.  I need to relearn these skills.

[taebaekluke]

I don't have a computer in my night classes, and I find it actually quite refreshing to teach without a constant powerpoint/projector in the background.

usually i do project based lessons with my night classes, but here's one pronunciation class that went down very well:

1. they need to listen and circle the correct word as you say it. when you are running through the answers explain the differences in meaning.
2. ask random students to read out the sentences with the correct pronunciation of the words. explain the differences in meaning.
3. students work in pairs, 1 listening to the other. they need to differentiate their pronunciation between the 3 words listed, so their partner can select the correct word.

[RufusW]

Soldiers vs Ninjas is very powerful.

http://waygook.org/index.php?topic=221.0

[Paul]

I'm rather fond of the old Jigsaw activity. It can be made practically into a game, and also promotes paraphrasing, note-taking and group research techniques. Basically, split the class into groups of about 4. Give each member a different piece to read and some objective ("retell it", "pull 5 important points out of the text", or the more competitive "pull out as many important points as you can remember"). Then, in pairs A-B, and C-D, the students share what they know. Then A-D and B-C again share, this time sharing both what they read, and what their original partner told them. Idea is that the students all learn something, whilst also communicating with a set goal.

Roleplays and group presentations also require no computers.

[Janitor]

There was an activity on here that works great. Basically it was like snakes and ladders but with a twist. The version that I use basically goes something like this:
I Draw a 25x25 grid on the board and add the basic things like snakes and ladders but I add in a few "go back to start" and go ahead 5 spaces" also to make things interesting.

Now comes the "twist" depending on what the students roll they will have certain tasks:
1= Teacher asks a question
2= Students as teacher a questions
3= Spelling
4= pictionary
5= sing an English song
6= dance like a chicken

You can change the actions up and if you don't have any dice just put the numbers from 1 - 6 in a hat or something. I really want to thank the poster who created this game but I can't seem to find the thread.

[KiwiInKorea]

Hi there,
There are some good activity worksheets on bogglesworld.com which take time to complete and have the students out of their seats (e.g. 'Can I bug you for a sec?' and making plans on the telephone).

I've also done lessons such as having students in groups choose a topic and make survey questions for it. Then they must complete the survey with others in the class, compile the data and then make a poster on B4 paper complete with graph and findings to present to the class at the end of the lesson.

Hope those ideas help. After our school had the floors re-done, half of the cables etc to the screens are missing so I know how it feels to have no access to a computer/tv screen. I agree with taebaekluke, it is quite refreshing once you get the hang of it.

Good luck!

[Janitor]

Oh and one that I used to do in the hogwan that the students went crazy over was "blind directions"
Basically you give the students a sheet of directions and you blind fold one student. I normally just use toilet paper and draw some funny eyes on the paper. Then as a team the student have to guide the student to the correct destination. the first team to get to their destination wins.

variations:
1) The students know the destination, but don't have the directions.
2) Multiple destinations and the incorrect destination has some sort of punishment (like singing)
3) The destination is an English phrase.
Destination is outside the classroom (supervised)