Teaching > Grammar Questions and Teaching Suggestions

Extra classes HEADACHE!

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danielspaniel:
So, four times a week I meet with around 10 middle school girls from different grades. It's an after school class. I'm so supposed to come up with 'fun' activities to do with them. I'm struggling because it's my first week on the job and 'fun' activities is about as specific as the guidance from my school has been so far.

lotte world:
Play charades.  Play pictionary.  Play scrabble.  Watch a short movie in English or read a book or short story.  Get them to draw scenes from the story.  Take some of the fun lessons from here and use them (PowerPoint game etc.).  Do a class outside in the playground.  Have a free-talking session (be prepared for some *very* direct questions) etc. etc.

One thing you could do if the class is going to run for a while is to read a book.  A few pages or a chapter each week.  Choose something simple such as Roald Dahl (Fantastic Mr. Fox is fun).  At the end they will have achieved something.

danielspaniel:
Great ideas. Thanks for your suggestions. That's exactly the sort of specific ideas I need, not 'do something fun' I especially like the idea of using Roald Dahl. I loved him when I was a kid

Thanks

lotte world:
When I do reading like this I get the students to read aloud.  We take it in turns and I try to get the students to emote.  I ask them how each character is feeling and demonstrate different ways of speaking to show different emotions.  I also ask the students to choose a different voice for each character.  It's difficult for them to do, but some students 'get it' and it makes it a lot more fun.  Middle-school girls trying to do a grumpy old man voice is often humourous.

The important thing is to have *something*.  If you go into the class with nothing and try to extemporise you are screwed.

Andyroo:
How long does the class go for?

I really enjoy the smaller class sizes but if it is 2 or more hours that is going to be tough and I would think about working in a video component to try and get it down to an hour or so. Something like Smallville or Glee (watch the episodes first though to check it's all PC).

Your next post will get you to 5 and I strongly recommend the lesson "The World Quiz" that is on here. You may want to use it in your normal classes but otherwise it is a fantastic after school activity and a lot of fun. Should take away a lot of the tension and you can get a measure of their abilities and what they are expecting.

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