ENJOY YOUR ENGLISH PART 1

ENJOY YOUR ENGLISH

In 1977 I was teaching English as a Foreign Language in Turkey. At that time we had four and half months’ holidays. I needed money; I needed a summer job. I was lucky and ended up in Canterbury working on Pilgrims’ first-ever summer course for young people. It was great fun, and, every summer for the next fourteen years, I returned to England and worked on Pilgrims’ courses, for both children and for adults.

From the beginning Pilgrims was unique. It gathered a group of talented innovators who explored ways in which the learners were the subject matter of the courses. There is nothing more interesting to people than their own lives and interests. Pilgrims was also driven by an energy and enthusiasm that communicated itself to learners of all ages and abilities. Younger students often came back year after year, and grew up with us. Mature students, too, returned again and again, often planning their summer holidays round their weeks at Pilgrims. We became a company of friends just as much as teachers and learners, for in truth we all learned from each other.

When I returned to England on a permanent basis, I no longer had time to work at Pilgrims during the summer. But I continued to use lots of the ideas we use at Pilgrims in my classes in English schools. And most of them worked with pupils and students at all ages, all levels and all subjects. A good idea knows no boundaries.

In the summer of 2010, after a break of 20 years, I found myself once again leading a group of teachers on a course at Pilgrims. What they wanted to know was... what happens in British schools? What strategies and techniques do you use that we can use, regardless of age, ability and the subjects being studied? In other words, how can we teach English in our countries in ways that are experienced by native speakers in your schools and colleges?

Teachers across the world recognise the barriers are breaking down. Young people, in particular, are exposed to so much ‘real’ English that this is what they want in their classrooms. The young, and the not-so-young, are hungry to use English, not in artificial situations but where their English helps them communicate in enjoyable ways. The key word, of course, is ‘enjoyable’. We learn much faster and at greater depths when we enjoy what we are doing; when what we are doing is meaningful fun.

This is what Enjoy Your English offers. Communication through enjoyment. Communication through play. Teach me and I will learn for now. Let me play and I will learn forever. And while you and your learners are playing, forget the errors, forget the mistakes; all that stuff can be corrected at appropriate times, but not during the activity itself when the aim is to release the energy and enthusiasm that encourage permanent learning.

Above all, enjoy the activities yourself – even when they go wrong, even when they don’t work – just remember that you, just as much as your students, are learning, too. Learn together!

Jean-Paul Creton


ENJOY YOUR ENGLISH

1 STARTERS
i. Getting into Lines and Groups
ii. Talking Points
iii. From the Answers to the Questions
iv. Right Word – Wrong Word
v. Behind the Headlines
vi. Headliners
vii. Bravo for You
viii. Acronymic Fun
ix. From the Answers to the Questions
x. Colour Me

2A DEAR EVERYBODY
2B DEAR EVERYBODY – WELCOME
3 ME AND MY SECRETARY
4A ME – MYSELF – AND I (1)
4B ME – MYSELF – AND I (2)
4C YES – NO – YOU’RE OUT!
4D PHOTO ALBUMS

5 PICTURE THIS
i. Pictures to Words
ii. Pictures to Words to Stories
iii. Pictures to Words to Stories to Texts

6 INTRODUCING AND EXPLOITING A TEXT
i. Do It Yourself Story-Telling
ii. Change the Facts
iii. An A to Z of Ways to Explore a Text

7 BITS AND PIECES TELL A STORY

8 TAKE YOUR PICK - WORDS TO SENTENCES TO STORY

9 CREATING YOUR OWN PUZZLES

10 THE MAGIC OF PLAYING CARDS
1. CONCENTRATION
2. BUILDING A STORY FROM THE CARDS
3. BEGGAR MY NEIGHBOUR
4. EXPLANATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
5. MY SHIP SAILS
6. ROLLING STONE
7. SNAP!
8. OLD MAID
9. I DOUBT IT
10. INVITE SUGGESTIONS

11 GAMES USING ORDINARY CARDS
1. PREDICT HIGHER OR LOWER
2. PREDICT RED OR BLACK
3. PREDICT THE SUIT
4. MATCHING PAIRS – in PAIRS
5. MATCHING SEQUENCES – in PAIRS
6. COLLECTING CARDS IN SEQUENCE – in PAIRS

12 JUST FOR FUN
i JUNGLE SAFARI
ii SAUSAGES
iii. HEAD AND SHOULDERS - KNEES AND TOES
iv. THE NEVER-ENDING SENTENCE
v. SPEEDWORDS

13 LEARNING TO LISTEN
i. BACK TO BACK
ii. THE EMPTY CHAIR
iii. SOUND MAPS

14 HOW WELL CAN YOU RECALL?
15 WHO AND HOW OFTEN?
16 THAT’S MINE!
17 CHANGE THE LYRICS
18 BEHIND THE SONG
19 REINCARNATED
20 MY FAVOURITE ROOM
21 WHAT IF.....?
22 QUICK READING ACTIVITIES
23 BRAIN-STORMING - THOUGHT-SHOWERING
24 WORD BUILDER
25 WORD BUILDER – SPECIAL

26 WHO? – WHEN? – WHERE? – WHY? – WHAT? – HOW?

I Right Kinds of Questioning – Right Kinds of Responses


1. STARTERS

i. GETTING INTO LINE/GROUPS
This starter has life in it as long as you (the leader) are very
imaginative about the criteria for the groups.
Keep it all fairly fast and fun.

GET INTO GROUPS THE PEOPLE WHO….

1) GOT OUT OF BED ON THE LEFT THIS MORNING.
2) SOMETIMES TALK TO THEMSELVES
3) HAVE SCOTTISH/IRISH/WELSH RELATIVES
4) CAN SING THE FIRST TWO LINES OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.
5) CAN SPELL THE WORD – MISSISSIPPI
6) CAN DO THE MOONWALK.
7) CAN SPEAK LIKE DONALD DUCK.
8) HAVE BEEN DUMPED BY THEIR BOY or GIRLFRIEND – EVER.
9) CAN RUB THEIR HEAD AND TUMMY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS.
10) LIKE JUSTIN BIEBER (or some such celebrity).


ii. TALKING POINTS
Useful when you’re late, out of breath and want to start instantly.

1. Enter class. Say: “Okay, somebody choose a letter between A and Z. Choose
one of the called out letters, e.g. M. Write M on the board.
2. Say, “Right. Give me a noun that starts with M. Write the words on the
board as they are called out (that leaves you in control of what appears on
the board).
E.g – Man. Utd, Marshmallows, Mickey Mouse, Mental, etc.
3. Explain – “Right, choose two of these words and start a conversation with
your partner that lasts 1 minute. I’ll time the minute. At the end, I’ll
call out, ‘Choose two more.’ You have to start the fresh conversation using
these words immediately.”
4. Students start buzzing. You have time to think what comes next.

Rationale: Explain briefly to learners that in real life we are often
called upon to start talking about subjects that come out of the blue.
This exercise can give confidence in holding conversations about anything.

iii. FROM THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS

1. Group is divided into teams of 2, 3, or 4.
2. Leader gives the answer to the question.
3. Each team must devise 3 questions to which the ‘answer’ could be the answer.
4. If desired, leader can devise the ‘official’ question to each answer, and
the team who gets closest to the official question win an extra point.
5. Answers can range from the simple to the difficult to the obscure.


iv. RIGHT WORD – WRONG WORD

1. Explain to players the nature of the Magic 7. Human beings with an average
memory can keep 7 items in their short-term memory. After that, things
begin to get increasingly difficult.
2. Ask the players (all together) to walk around the room (though this can be
done seated) looking at things. Each player must choose 7 things, pointing
at each item, then call its name out loud.
3. Players return to their seats. Then in pairs, 2 players walk together round
the room, taking it in turns to call out the names of the things they had
chosen earlier.
4. The ‘winning’ pairs are those who remember all of the names.
5. An extra challenge is to name the items in the correct order.


v. BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Select a number of short articles from newspapers and magazines
appropriate to the age and interests of the group. Cut the headlines
from the articles and have them ready for the activity.

1. Group and leader sit round table
2. Leader lays the headlines face-down on the table.
3. Explain you are going to pick up a strip and read out the headline.
4. ‘Teams’ have 1 minute to discuss and decide what the article is likely
to say.
5. Then one team at a time volunteers to describe what’s in the article.
You may show the group the size of the article.
6. Leader then reads out the article.
Whole group decides how well a team did on scale of 0-10.
7. Repeat until headlines (or enthusiasm) are exhausted.
8. Distribute randomly one headline to each pair of students.
Each pair must write the opening two or three paragraphs to the article,
but their article should have nothing to do with the original article.

vi. HEADLINERS
This activity gives learners the opportunity to explore how headlines draw
attention to a story or article. It then gives them the opportunity to
produce their own short, dramatic newspaper stories, and headlines that can
accompany them.

1. Collect a number of short dramatic stories from tabloid newspapers. Examine
each story with the group showing how the headline is used to grab the
reader’s attention.

2. Point out the features of such headlines:
(a) they are short
(b) they use abbreviated language, especially for famous people
(c) they focus on the item that will be of most interest to the readers
(d) they are often dramatic
(e) advanced learners should note how the British love puns (a play on words)
and alliteration.

3. Explain to learners you will now read them a short story from a newspaper.
In pair or small groups, they must devise an appropriate headline to go
with the story.
4. Whole group discuss and evaluate the suggestions.
5. Continue the activity to a total of 5 stories and headlines.

vii. BRAVO FOR YOU!

1. Everyone forms a circle facing inwards with enough room for everyone to
take one step forward.
2. Leader steps forward and announces cheerfully… “I’m going to -------------
today/tomorrow/this weekend.” This must be a very positive statement.
3. Everyone in the circle steps forward and echoes the leader by announcing very
positively: “He’s going to ------------- this afternoon/today/tomorrow/on
Saturday!”
4. Everyone returns original position.
5. Student on leader’s right steps forward and…..”I’m going to-----.”
Process is repeated as above until everyone has taken in turn.

This is a bonding exercise. Learners usually catch on pretty quickly, and
it can be repeated, perhaps once each week, until it becomes a regular feature
of the group’s behaviour.

viii. ACRONYMIC FUN

This activity helps learners develop enhanced memory skills. The
mnemonic memory method is a popular one with “linguistic learners”.
Learners can also use this method to help them learn or practise difficult
spellings.

1. Organise learners into small teams – 2, 3 or 4 in each team.
2. Write a word vertically down the left hand side of the board.
You can use this to practise spelling lists, if desired.
3. Avoid words with Q, X or Z. Allow ‘proper’ nouns.
4. Challenge teams to invent a sentence in which each word begins with the
letters of the given word. For example, apple might produce:
5. Award points to every team who can produce a sentence, and one extra point
for the most imaginative sentence.
6. Add new words to the list until you have seven or eight words in your
vertical list.

ix. FROM THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS

1. Group is divided into teams of 2, 3, or 4.
2. Leader gives the answer to the question.
3. Each team must divide 3 questions to which the ‘answer’ could be the
answer.
4. If desired, leader can devise the ‘official’ question to each answer, and
the team who gets closest to the official question win an extra point.
6. Answers can range from the simple to the difficult to the obscure.


x. COLOUR ME

1. Initially learners work individually. They select a colour pencil or crayon
and make a coloured blob on a scrap piece of paper. If pencils and crayons
are not available, they can simply choose a colour and write down its name.

2. Learners then, without talking to anybody else, scribble down the answers
to the following questions. Assure learners that nobody will see what they
have written so they should not worry about spelling, handwriting, etc.

3. THINK OF YOUR CHOSEN COLOUR.
(a) How does it make you feel?
(b) What food does it like to eat?
(c) What animal could it be?
(d) What would be a good name for it?
(e) What games or sports does it like to play?
(f) What is its favourite song?

4. Learners, in groups of 3 or 4, now share their responses.

5. With the help of the group, each learner now shares one of his answers to
a question with the whole group of learners. Learners could also use their
‘colour answers’ as the basis of a poem or a piece of artwork.

2A DEAR EVERYBODY

After you have been with your group a couple of weeks,
write them a letter beginning,

Dear Everybody…

In this letter you should express some of your genuine thoughts and
feelings about how you are all functioning as a group. You do not have to
avoid anything negative, but you should express those thoughts in a
positive manner. For example, instead of, It annoys me when some people
turn up late, write, Things would be better if we all arrived on time,
including me!

Invite the group, writing as individuals, to suggest activities the group
might enjoy doing. Although the group may be going along very well, it
will function better if some of the ideas come from them, and it will
relieve you of some of the burden of what you’re going to do next.

Let the learners know that if they write to you, you will write back
individually. It’s a lot of work but it provides real satisfaction for
those who receive your individual reply.

Let the group know you’d like to do a Dear Everybody once a term, but
you’ll be happy to receive individual letters from them at any time.


2B DEAR EVERYBODY - Welcome

Of course, a letter to your group can equally be used near the beginning
of the course. The level of English can easily be varied to suit the
levels and composition of your group. For example, a welcome letter to a
group of ‘EFL’ teenagers might begin:

Hi, there!
I am very happy that you are going to be in my class. My name is Susan and
I am going to be your teacher. I hope that you will enjoy our time
together. I have been teaching for five years, and I enjoy teaching
teenagers from different countries very much.

3 ME AND MY SECRETARY

Essentially this activity involves pairing learners in the group.
Then each learner will take it in turn to act as the other learner’s
secretary, and not only write but deliver his/her letters. The activity
usually becomes fast and furious, so 15-20 minutes is enough!

Materials: A pile of A4 lined paper, cut in four to produce A6 notelets.
Pens/pencils at the ready.

1. Learners are paired with a friend. Or younger learners are paired with
older.
2. Explain to learners that they are going to write brief letters to anyone
in another pairing. However, in the pairing A and B, if A wants to write a
letter to X in the pairing X and Y, A must dictate his letter to B who will
not only write it down but deliver it as well.
3. B then returns to A, and dictates a letter to someone in the group that A
will write down and deliver.
4. Meanwhile, X is dictating his reply to Y, who will write it down and
deliver it to A, who, having completed and delivered B’s letter, must
respond to X’s letter.
5. This reads a lot more complicated than it actually is in practice
– though learners quickly get tied up in knots as they attempt to keep up
with the flow! Leader urges everyone to try and keep up with the pace!

4A ME – MYSELF – AND I (1)

This activity offers an original way to introduce yourself to the class
but it can also be used later on, but not after they have got to know you
very well. Some preparation is advance is needed but usually proves well
worth the effort.

1. Select about 10 interesting facts about yourself: where you were born,
hometown, favourite subjects in school, family, sports, hobbies, where
you’ve travelled, etc.
2. For each of these prepare a single word, a date, an illustration, a symbol,
a flag; in fact anything that you associate with the facts.
3. For example, if your favourite sport is rugby, you can draw a rugby ball.
If you have two children, draw two stick kids. If your favourite holiday
spot is Bermuda, draw a yacht or the flag of Bermuda.
4. Put the items on the white-board or an overhead transparency.
5. Now get the learners to explore and guess what each item represents through
a question-answer session with you.
6. Give them clues when the going gets tough.
7. Extend the conversation when students become engaged by a topic.
8. When your items have all been explained, get the students in pairs to
prepare one item each in relation to themselves.
9. Students then present their item to the class who interrogate them and try
to work out the meaning of the item.
10. Finally, each student should prepare a short written introduction to
themselves and present it to the class.

4B ME – MYSELF – AND I (2)

Prepare ten statements about yourself.
Five of the statements should be True and five should be False.
Write the statements up where all your students can see them.
Explain five are True and Five are false.
Your students may then ask you 10 questions for each statement.
Then they must decide whether the statement is True or False.

4C YES – NO – YOU’RE OUT!

Keep a note of who has had a chance to take the hot chair. It’s not
a good idea to give every member of the group a ‘go’ during one session.
Leader goes first to model the procedure. Explain at the start that this
game depends on complete honesty.

1. The ‘hot chair’ is placed in front of the group.

2. Members of the group raise their hands and ask the ‘hot-chair’ questions
about what he/she did the day, including evening, before. The hot-chair
must only answer YES or NO, and must answer in complete honesty.
For example:
Did you have breakfast yesterday?
Did you watch TV last night?
Did you come to school yesterday?
Did you drive to school yesterday?
Did you have a cup of tea yesterday?

3. The aim of the game is to stay in the game,
so if the hot-chair answers YES, the questioner stays IN;
if the hot-chair answers NO, the questioner is OUT.
The leader may also eliminate a player who cannot ask his/her question
within 10 seconds of it being their turn.

4. Five minutes is allowed for each game.

4D PHOTO ALBUMS

In this activity, participants do not have the support of a pre-set
topic nor of controlled structures, but they do have the support of their
memories and of their imaginations.

1. Each player takes a sheet of A4 paper and folds it in half to produce their
personal photo album.
2. Players draw rectangles of various sizes to represent the photographs.
3. No actual drawing is allowed inside these frames. This is an exercise in
visualisation.
4. Players, including the group, leader, are given time to visualise the
contents of their photographs. They should briefly label each photograph,
e.g. Me at the Tower of London.
5. A player then takes the hot seat or is ‘interviewed’ at his place at the
table.
6. Leader, through questions, encourages players to ask for lots of
information about the contents of each photograph.
7. If there is no time for all players to be interviewed, they should at least
have time to describe their photographs to a partner. Remember – these
photographs can be very personal.


5 PICTURE THIS

i PICTURES TO WORDS

1. Players form a partnership in pairs.
2. Each pair is given a picture/photograph from a magazine. Each pair is given
a different picture, one picture for each pair. Try to supply a range of
pictures.
3. Partners then take it in turns to point to an item in the picture and name
the items until each partner has chosen and identified 7 items each. They
are not permitted to choose the same items.
4. Each partner must then attempt to name – out loud – the 7 items chosen by
their partner.
5. An extra challenge is to name the items in the correct order.


ii PICTURES TO WORDS TO STORIES

1. Partners are then challenged to devise a story that combines their 7 items
and tell each other their story.
2. Players are invited to tell their story to the group.
3. Partners are then invited to combine their words, 7 + 7, to produce a
single story.
4. Partners may then combine to tell their story to the group.
5. A final challenge is for the group to combine ALL the words into one longer
story that makes sense.


iii. PICTURES TO WORDS TO STORIES TO TEXT

1. Combine each pair into groups of four players.
2. Each group must produce a story that involves all four pictures in order
from the first to fourth picture.
3. The group must produce a written text to accompany each picture.
4. Each group may then mount their illustrated story on the Picture Wall.

6 INTRODUCING AND EXPLOITING A TEXT

i DO IT YOURSELF STORY-TELLING

The importance of these activities is that they can be used to introduce
and exploit any text on any topic at any level. Of course you will choose
texts that match the capabilities of the players, remembering to
choose texts that will offer them some degree of challenge. They can
also be used equally well with native speakers as with language learners.
To illustrate the procedure we will use a text written for native speakers
of English.

My Dear Friends,

I hope this letter gets to you and that you can help me. I would like to tell you where I am but I haven’t the faintest idea. I suppose I should begin by telling you who I am.

Call me Harry Miller. Let’s say I am 45 years old and a bachelor. I have lived in this city most of my life. I have been working for the same company since I was fifteen years old. I’ve been sitting at the same desk for twenty years with the same grey people around me doing the same grey jobs.

I live in a dark little flat on the fifth floor of a drab Victorian tenement on the outskirts of the city. I take the same bus to work every morning and I return by the six o’clock bus every day. I have never spoken to any of my neighbours and they have never spoken to me.

I am not entirely alone. I have my cat – Oscar – who has been my only companion these last twelve years. We love to sit in the little park across the street on a Saturday morning. Together we watch the pigeons strutting so purposefully about their pointless business. Our life together has not been exciting but it has been enough until something happened.

I once had a hamster but Oscar took a dislike to him and terminated him. I also had a little terrier but he had an unfortunate encounter with the No. 206 bus. My budgie flew away and a piranha ate all my tropical fish.

I remember coming home from the office about six thirty as usual. The bus was three minutes late. I purchased a pork pie and a portion of chips. It was, as usual for the time of the year, chilly. Light rain was falling. The lift was out of order and I was out of breath after climbing the spiral staircase. With frozen fingers I was just fishing in my waistcoat pocket for my key when I noticed something amiss: the front door was slightly ajar. My heart skipped a few beats. Was that tobacco I smelled in the air? I have never smoked in my life. Oscar hates it.

Slowly, nervously, I edged the door open. I heard a voice saying, “Come in, Harry. I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been playing with Oscar. I’ve been longing to see you.”

Nervously I stepped into the room. Then I felt a blow on the back of the head, and I remember noting until I work up here, tied in this chair.

Questions: Answer these questions in complete sentences.

1. How old is Harry Miller?
2. Is Harry married or is he a bachelor?
3. Where does Harry work and what kind of work does he do?
4. Describe Harry’s home in about fifty words.
5. Who is Oscar?
6. How do Harry and Oscar spend the time on Saturday mornings?
7. What time did Harry get home that day?
8. What did Harry buy on the way home?
9. Why did he feel nervous when he reached his front door?
10. What noises did he hear coming from his front room?

a) Players use their imaginations to answer the questions. It is helpful to
ask them not to number their answers as this will encourage continuous
prose. Players may answer the questions individually, in pairs, or in small
groups. Players complete the questions to produce their own versions of the
text.

b) Players may then be combined, if desired, in pairs or small groups. They
are then instructed to combine their texts to produce a single version of
the text. This will involve negotiation and compromise.

c) Players can then be invited to read their versions of the text/story.
Leader then introduces the original text in which players now have a level
of investment.


ii CHANGE THE FACTS and make any other necessary changes

Select a text that matches the abilities and interests of your learners.
Underline some of the information in the text. Read through the text
and invite learners to suggest alternatives to the underlined information.
You can also invite them to extended the information in the text.

Example
Jon got up at 7 o’clock. For breakfast he had tea and toast. He decided
to take the bus to school because it was raining. He got to school at 10
minutes to 8. His first lesson was English. Jon really enjoyed the English
lessons. His English teacher came from Canada. Her name was Miss Summer.
Jon thought she was very pretty. He answered three questions in class and
got all of them correct. After his English class, Jon had History. After
the break he had Sports for the rest of the morning.

iii An A to Z of Way to Explore a Text

a) Look at the apostrophes in ‘this’ sentence. Write down any word that has an
apostrophe. Explain why it is there.
b) Find the common nouns in this sentence.
c) Find the proper nouns in this sentence if there are any.
d) Find the adjectives in this sentence. Name an alternative adjective for
each adjective you find.
e) Find the adverbs in this sentence. Name an alternative adverb for each
adverb you find.
f) Find any words you do not know the meaning of. Find out what it means. Use
it in a sentence to show you can use it appropriately.
g) Name a synonym for these words.
h) Name an antonym for these words.
i) Explain any facts you can find in this paragraph.
j) Explain any opinions you can find in this paragraph.
k) What in your opinion are the three most powerful words in this paragraph?
l) What words are used to create the atmosphere of the story.
m) How does the story hook you from the beginning?
n) Name one or two of the characters in the story.
o) Which character in the story would you most like to be? Why?
p) Which character in the story would you least like to be? Why not?
q) Write a diary entry for one of the characters in the story.
r) What questions would you like to ask the character? Ask them!
s) Write a text message to one of the characters in the story.
t) Does this story remind you of any of your memories or experiences?
u) In your opinion, what are the key moments in the story?
v) Invent an alternative ending to the story.
w) Complete the sentence... One thing I really like about this story is......
x) Complete the sentence... It would be better in this story if......
y) Write a short letter to the author of this story explaining what you think
about the story and the way that he/she has told it.
z) Make up some questions you would ask to check if someone has read the story
carefully and understood the story.

7 BITS AND PIECES TELL A STORY

Preparation: Get a small bag and fill it with bits and pieces, e.g.
feathers, buttons, beads, odd chessmen, small bottles, odd playing cards…
in fact any old small bric a brac lying round the house. Do not include
anything normally found in classrooms.

Bring the bag into the classroom. Get everyone to stand around a desk.
Dump the bits and pieces on the desk. Ask the class to bring in any 3
contributions they can for the bits and pieces bag. Decline to explain
anything at this stage.

1. Everyone, including leader and learners, stand around a desk or table.
Pushing two or three desks/tables together is advisable.
2. Dump the bits and pieces on the table. Spread them out.
3. Leader picks up anything he chooses from the table, e.g. a feather,
and begins, “Once upon a time… there was a handsome but poor young
farm boy who found a magic feather.”
4. Leader holds onto the feather, then gestures that the learner standing on
his right should pick up another object and continue the story.
Try to explain what’s to be done through gestures rather than verbally
explaining the procedure; the magic is stronger this way.
5. After the story has made its way back to the leader, the leader can round
out the story and then say, “I think we can do better than that this time.”
6. Leader points to a learner and says, “Begin our story, please.”
And off we go… Once upon a time…


8 TAKE YOUR PICK - WORDS TO SENTENCES TO STORY

Materials: A short text of about 100 words on any topic whatsoever; fact
or fiction. Preparation: none Time: 5 – 10 minutes

1. Allow the learners to pair off.
2. Give them a piece of A5 paper; tear up A4 sheets.
3. Leader explains he will read a short text and they should listen carefully.
Leader does not explain why he/she is reading the text.
4. Leader explains he will read the text again, and pairs should note down any
words and as many words from the text as they want to. Leader should hint
the more words the greater chance of success.
5. Leader reads the text again at normal speed while learners scribble down
the words they choose.
6. Leader now explains the challenge is for each pair to write one sentence
containing all the words they’ve scribbled down. Their sentences should
have nothing to do with the original text.
7. Learners fold up their papers containing the sentences and passes them to
the leader who unfolds them one at a time and reads them out.
8. Learners decide which sentence was most original and imaginative.