Tuesday 8 November 2016

ARMISTICE DAY

Armistice Day is a day of remembrance, a day to honour those who died in World War I and World War II and other, subsequent wars. Which day is it? In Britain, Belgium, France, Serbia and New Zealand people wear poppies on this day. Do you know the reason why? There are parades and wreathes are laid a memorial cenotaphs in villages, towns and cities. A minute's silence is also observed to allow for reflection, but upon what? Watch the short centenary video below to find out more.


ACTIVITIES: Watch the video again and answer the questions. For a printable copy click here.

1.Answer these comprehension questions.

When was the First World War?
What happened in 2014?
Which day did the first world war end and what do we call this day now?
When is Remembrance Sunday in Britain?
Where did the poppies grow?
Who was Lieutenant Colonial John McCrae and what was he inspired to do?

2. Which of the following areas was World War I fought in?
  1. The South Atlantic
  2. The Middle East
  3. Australia
  4. China
  5. Turkey
  6. East Africa
  7. The United States
  8. The Alps
  9. The Carpathians
  10. Western Europe
  11. Great Britain
3. How Many? Match the numbers on the left to the facts on the right.

13                  soldiers fought in the war
71,497,467    died in Britain alone
888,246         major wars are in progress*
70,000+         smaller conflicts in progress*
Dozens          people have died as a result of these wars*

*Figures correct for 2014, when the video was produced.

4. Complete the following paragraph:

global, lives, November, observe, poppy, remember, silence, victims, War

The First World _____________  was the first truly ___________  war. At 11am on _____________ 11th 1918 the fighting stopped. This day is now an important day of remembrance where people from across the globe ___________ a minute's ____________ to reflect upon the ___________ of all wars. The __________ is a way to ___________ the people who gave their ___________ for the world we live in today.

5. Read the poem. How does it make you feel? What images do you get when you read it? Who narrates the poem?

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Dr John McCrae, 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch
; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

6. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Do you or would you wear a poppy? Why/Why not?
Who are we remembering: soldiers or civilians?
Is there a similar celebration to Armistice Day in your country?
What happens on this day?
Do you think that war is better forgotten?
How do you feel when you see images of war in the media?
Which wars are being fought at the moment?
Many soldiers are referred to as Peace Keeping Forces, what do you think this means?
Do you watch war films? Why/Why not?

7. Click on the links below for a crossword and word search based on the red words from the worksheet, and a gap fill exercise based on the song 'I Vow to Thee, My Country'. This exercise is based on the acoustic version of the song by the singer from London, Elenya.




VOCABULARY
Armistice                  truce; when fighting stops because of an agreement
World War                a war which involves most of the continents
Poppies                     red wild flowers
Parade                       large number of people/vehicle walking in the same direction
Wreathes                   ring of flowers or plants
Memorial                  something created /done to honour people who have died
Cenotaph                  structure/building to remind us of the dead
Centenary                 hundred year anniversary
Silence                      quiet
row                           straight line
larks                          small birds that fly very high
quarrel                      argue 
foe                            enemy
throw the torch to     give responsibility to someone  

Many thanks to: Mr. Allsop for letting me use his video on my blog. He has loads more informative videos on his You Tube Channel 'Mr. Allsop History'. Subscribe and learn! And to Elenya, for her lovely version of 'I Vow To Thee, My Country'. She also has other great songs on her channel 'Elenya'. Subscribe and listen!

Sunday 30 October 2016

WINNING SPOOKY STORIES FOR HALLOWEEN!

After my last post, I held a spooky short story competition for my students. I asked them to write a story that would scare the living daylights out of me. Below are those that made the grade.

Is your story here? Read on to find out! 
(If you wish to have your name added or even a title, just let me know and that can be sorted out!)
Many of the stories had great artwork even if the story didn't make it here, all the pictures have, so congratulations to you all!

Although they are in order of class level, I've copied them up just about warts and all, so don't worry if you see typos! [I added some corrections for clarity.] Some children preferred to remain anonymous, those who wished to take the credit have a by-line.
Note: Stories are not posted in any particular order and there is no overall winner ;-)

scare the living daylights out of someone = frighten someone very much
make the grade = be good enough
warts and all = as it is found/without changing the original
remain anonymous = keep names/identity hidden
take the credit = get the praise
by-line = mention who a piece of writing is written by

Congratulations to the winners and thank you all for your hard work and participation! 
Have a truly Happy Halloween!

Level C2

CONFESSIONS OF A PRISONER: THE UNKNOWN SUSPECT
by Evita Koukia
It was Saturday, 31st of October 2009. Scarlett and Adam had heard some rumors about a haunted house. They decided to take a late walk and pay a visit, just to satisfy their curiosity. Early in that evening, they were already on their way to the haunted house, which was far away from the city centre.
By the the time they got there, they saw an old, abandoned house which seemed a little gloomy at first sight. An old car was parked in front of the the fence. Once they got inside, they started laughing. They did not see anything unusual, suspicious or mysterious. As they slipped towards the kitchen they heard some footsteps. They thought that it might be the owner of the car and paid no further attention. As they were strolling into the other rooms they realized that that the footsteps were coming from downstairs. They were terrified, when they heard a hollow scream. They ran to the door, but it was locked. It felt like somebody did not want them to leave the house.
Their minds were blown as they could not just wait to die. They had no idea about what they were up to. After a while, Scarlett and Adam heard these footsteps again again. But the is time something was different. The footsteps were coming closer and closer.. The door slightly opened but nobody was there. Adam went downstairs to check who else was in the side the house, mocking and playing them like fools. Scarlett was left alone and second later she started screaming. By the time Adam Adam got to the kitchen it was too late. Scarlett was already dead, bleeding to death. Adam felt that it was his fault.
An hour later the police arrived and Adam was arrested. Today seven years later, he insists on his innocence. The crime investigation has shown no fingerprints on the deadly weapon. Adam shares his story with Jonathon Tries, a prisoner who faced a similar situation, with his then girlfriend, 17 years ago.




HALLOWEEN

Anonymous
At the age of 12, my friends and I had a Halloween sleepover party at my house. Curious as we were for creepy stories we have heard, we decided to try one of those ourselves. The idea came from Nikos, the older one, he was 13 then and he was the leader of our gang! He have mentioned of the "Mirrored black which[witch] with the knife..."
"the what?" we asked...so Nikos told us about a black magic witch, living on the mountains hundreds years ago who by her will[wanted] to stay young forever, was killing children with a knife and drunk their blood by the light of the moonlight. When the villagers  found out who she was, they hunted her down, after that they striked her down and burned her, after that they striked her fiercly with knoxes[sic] and knives. Before she passed away, cursed the night, and gave a promise to the moon that she will never stop killing children in halloween nights.The plot of the ceremony required to call her name "Black magic with a knife" three times, infront of a mirror in a dark room, only with the light of a candle. And so we did...the silly ones, we did! As Nikos finished his story, we immediately gathered Nikos, Stells, Eva, George and I started calling her name. At the third calling the mirror started shaking and breaking and a skinny hand with long black nails holding a knife came through the broken mirror. At once a witch appeared screaming at us
"I want your lives. I want my youth" she said, "I want to kill you. we started running and turning on the light and screaming by fear, the witch disappeared and we promised never to try such silly ceremonies ever again.

HALLOWEEN
by Eleni Svina
It was a cold day in Octomber and I was very happy because that it was Halloween. It was raining so I was more happy the rain created a scary atmosphere like it had to. We were ready to go out and scary them so much that they had not even predict. But nobody would predict the event that happened to us.
We wore our costumes and we began to share the fear. All the neighbours were really frightened. My mom said to me that they had nightmare and they could not sleep in the night. Thankfully they gave us many sweets, so we had not to scare them more. We had a really great time, to the time we heard scary screams and voices. We were really scared. The screams heard everytime from closer and closer, suddenly we were surrounded from ghosts. three minutes later, we managed to juggle them and quickly we got inside my home and I locked the door. We were so scared that we could not even to talk. To make things worse, my family were not in there.
"Did you see my parents?"
"No, why?"
"Because they are not here and if there would be a reason, I would not know it."
"What do you think could happen?"
"I have no idea."
Suddenly, I heard that a glass broken but we were in the hall and the glass were in the saloon.
"What happened?" I asked, scared.
"I do not know, something broke down."
"Yes, but how?"
"I do not know."
I unlocked the door. We ran as quickly as we could to my friends house because we believed we would be safer. As we ran these same ghosts surrounded us, take us into their hand to eat us.
"Just leave us, we will find food for all of you but just let us down."
They began to laugh. They dropped their masks and their costumes. These ghosts were our families. They participated in the scaring fest too. I was just unpredictable. I was shocked about one hour. It was really scary.
In the next fest, even when all our families will not participate in the fest we will scare them more than everyone else to tell what we felt. We will push the limits.



Level B2
TRICK OR TREAT?
by Panagiotis Psarris 
Once upon a time in a really spooky neighbourhood it was Halloween.
I was cruising around on my bicycle when suddenly i heard a noise from the passage right next to me. I took a quick peek but it was pitch black, so i walked in blinded. A couple minutes later i noticed that i had a flashlight so i turned it on and guess what I saw, i saw a shadow, a tiny shadow growing bigger. Then shaking like a leaf i keep on walking with my flashlight low on battery. Slowly a light was coming and a noise was coming so I got to the other side of the passage and I heard the noise next to me. I got sweaty and slowly turned my head, and i saw...A pumpkin with a puppy stuck in it. That calmed me down and I got all the stress away. I putted the puppy in my jacket and ran to the vet.
Now the puppy is my pet, and his name is Oscar.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
by Apostolos Psarris
A rainy evening when I was just coming back from my english lessons a thuder suddenly struck the ground, that was the moment I was completely terrified but a folded paper landed right on my leg I unfolded it with curiosity and on it there was a house adress on it, I ran back home, slept and the morning I went to that specific adress:(x0127ae*, I know... weird. So I went to that adress and there was a sign with this template: under the mail-box. I was freaked out while entering the dark yard slowly and I took a sneaky peek under the mail-box, I saw a note it was writing something on it: out in the hole. I searched everywhere and found a hole above the mail-box when I put it inside the hole reptiles flew out imidiately, scorpions, spiders, snakes, lizards. I shouted for help but then I realised they were gummy candy! Well I guess it was my 'sweetest' scare!



Level B1
SPOOKY SUMMER CAMP
by Theodore Damagas
Do you want to scare the living daylights out of you, do you want some adventure, do you want to do something special, then come to Spoocy Sumer Camp. It's a very good place for children who want to learn special facts. The text below is an example for our camp.

1st September 2019.
It's morning, the sun is shining and nothing is scare. We are, now, climbing a mountain. Afternoon: I'm too tired! Evening: Something is making noise outside my tent. I'm to scared. Next, I looked and saw... a... a... a bear!
2nd September 2019.
Today, we are learning how to use guns! Then we are going for hunting in the forest. When we were walking a scary noise is hearing. Next, a green zombie came out of nowhere. All started shooting. Actually we killed it. From then we were have, all the time, the guns in hand.
3rd September 2019.
Now, we have been here in big wooden, haunted house. It is night. Everything in there does spooky noises. Then a vampire, a murderer and 5 zombies start to fighting us...

We found this page on the base camp. It came to us with the river. If you want to learn the end of the story, come to spoocy sumer camp!


THE HAUNTED HOTEL
by Konstantina Triantafillou
The story took place at a little town near Texas. In Brown 2 Street there was a 5 stars hotel that was the most popular in the area. But one day when one family went there creepy things happened...
Thomsons family (the family that went on the hotel) was included by mr. John, mrs Kathrin and their kids, Anna and Bill. After their trip they were very tired so they let their baggage and went at the mini cafe at the ground flour[floor] of the hotel. Anna and Bill wanted toplay so they went to their room. Suddenly there was a blackout and a scary voice said: "If you wanna stay alive live[leave] this place until tomorrow morning." After a while when the lights came up everyone thought it was a joke and laughed. But it wasn't...
When John and Kathrin arrived at their room they saw their kids choked and they saw a ghost holding a knife. The ghost killed them too. The receptionist heard screams and ran to the room and he saw the ghost. It was too late. It hanged him at the chandelier.
But did everyone die? Has anybody servived? Did the hotel close? Why this ghost killed the Thomsons? No one knows.
Maybe the ghost visit your house too!


UNTITLED
by Natalia Sophia
It was Halloween, at midnight. Mary and her friends had gone for pranks. They walked and saw a huge house. But this house has a vampire and Mary and her friends isn't know. They hit the door but nobody answer sudenly the door is open. The girls go insite the house. Sudeny they listen a a strange voice the girls want to go out but the door is closed and they don't up [open] it/ They find secret stairs and they follow it. Sudenly they lisen again the strange voice, on the floor had blood. On the wall its wrote with blood I KILL YOU. Mary it open her eyes and she saw her mother where she said: "Wake up it's time for school." She [Mary] understand that this is a nightmare.



Wednesday 5 October 2016

HINTS FOR (SPOOKY) SHORT STORY WRITING!

October = Hallowe'en

If you know me, you know that I love spooky stories!

What do you need to do to write a (spooky) short story?

Here are my hints and tips for short story writing.
  • Keep it simple! Don't have too many characters. Usually one or two are enough if you are writing up to 350 words.
  • Use adjectives and descriptive verbs (rather than a verb-adverb combination) to build atmosphere. He sprinted is much more exciting that He ran quickly.
  • Use direct speech to carry the story on and give your characters personality. The way someone speaks can tell you how educated they are, where they are from and what they think of the other characters. Compare these examples: "'Sup?" "What's up?" "How are you?" "How do you do?" Check out punctuation for direct speech.
  • Use a variety of linking words to carry the action forward or backward. And then... and then... and then... is dull and repetitive. First of all, secondly, previously, before that, then, later (on), all of a sudden, suddenly, until, (just) when, in the meantime, not until then, at that moment, only after that, as soos as, while, although, even though, so that, finally, in the end.
  • Stories are usually narrated (told) as if the action has happened in the past. Use a variety of tenses to help you do this. Past simple for completed actions, events that happen one after the other, or which interrupt a long action. Past continuous for longer actions or for things that happen simultaneously (at the same time), for setting the scene. Past perfect for an event in the deep past (before other actions in the past). Past perfect continuous for events that were happening before the past perfect action.
  • Use vocabulary appropriate to the theme. For spooky Hallowe'en vocabulary you can look at the following resources: Hallowe'en vocabulary word list, Hallowe'en vocabulary with definitions, My Hallowe'en vocabulary
  • A story has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. That is the reader needs to get to know the characters in the beginning, then she/he needs to experience the conflict (a difficult situation which is, or leads to the main event/action) and finally to feel the pleasure of the resolution (finding a solution to the problem) at the end. Use paragraphs to make these distinctions clear.) I also found a great story map to help you plan ideas. (It has a Minecraft theme, but your story can be about anything!)

Here are some spooky stories for you to read and listen to. Perhaps they will inspire you!
The Riddle of the Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe.

Here are a few of mine:
Jack be Nimble

Thursday 8 September 2016

5 Lifehacks for Super English Spelling!

Lifehacks* are terrific ways of remembering tricky stuff! So without the benefit of one of the those snazzy You Tube vids (I am not up to that level of tech just yet) here are five spelling lifehacks for English!

* You will also see 'life hack' written as two words.

SPELLING HACK #1
POETRY: I learnt to spell difficulty with the very same poem represented here in the wonderful film adaptation of Roald Dahl's book 'Matilda'. You can use Mr. just as well as Mrs. - the rhythm is the same.


'I before E except after C.' Is another rhyme that is taught, but there are so many exceptions how do you remember them? I love this meme, even though it doesn't cover all the exceptions:


Or 'When two vowels go walking, the first does the talking.' Meaning that the first vowel in the pair is the sound that's pronounced. In words with a double vowel that makes one sound, this is usually the case.
boat, goat, maintain,

SPELLING HACK #2
ACROSTICS: Make up silly sentences from the letters of words that you always spell incorrectly.

Look At Ugly Goat's Hair! (laugh) ( Taken from Jolly Phonics books bought from ELC.)
Could Old Ursula Love David? (could)
Would Otters Undo Locker Doors? (would)

SPELLING HACK #3
PATTERNS WITHIN WORDS: Look for motifs within the word you want to remember.

Never remember the order of ght in words like light, night, fight, bright, taught, fraught, daughter? These letters are in the same order they come in the alphabet: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST...

SPELLING HACK #4
MNEMONICS (Memory triggers): These are often mental images.

Is it friend of freind? ie or ei? Simple:
Friend ends with end.

Can I have a piece of pie?

Never remember how many Cs or Ss in necessary? Think of a businessman getting ready for work; it is necessary for him to have one collar and two socks, so one C and two Ss.

Desperately want to write bizness?  Simply remember: Businessmen catch the bus to work.*

Or separet? There's a rat in separate* (*Adapted from Study Skills for Students with Dyslexia)

This also works for homonyms: words that sound the same but have different meanings. How do you remember which ones the right one.

Wear and Where? The one that describes place has the word here in it.
Hear and here? Hear is what you do with you ears and here is there.


SPELLING HACK #5
BACK TO BASICS: Break words down into parts. 

WORDS
: Never remember how many Rs in earring? It's two words, ear + ring= earring

PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES: This is especially true of adverbs and words whose prefix ends with the same letter the word begins with.

Real + ly  = really
un + necessary = unnecessary

SYLLABLES: Re + com + mend = recommend


I hope you enjoyed these hacks and find them helpful. Be sure to follow my blog for more fun and games learning English!




Monday 30 May 2016

To Vax or Not to Vax? (C1/2 debate material/vocabulary)

How Do Vaccinations Work?

When a person is vaccinated, they receive a small amount of a pathogen (the thing that causes the illness) via an injection which causes the body to suffer a mild form of the disease (or a different strain of the disease) against which immunisation is required. In this way the body's defence system builds up antibodies or immunity against further and possible more lethal attack from the disease in the future.

Who Discovered & Developed Vaccinations?

Although the Chinese had knowledge of immunisation as early as the 10th century, the first documented medical trial was conducted by Edward Jenner in the 18th century. He saw that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox seemed to be immune to a more deadly strain of the disease, smallpox. He put this theory to the test by inoculating a small boy, James Phipps, from Sarah Nelmes, a young girl who had cowpox. He later injected the boy with smallpox. Because of his exposure to the milder disease, the subject did not develop smallpox. Louis Pasteur developed the techniques and created vaccines for anthrax and rabies in the 19th century. The most prolific number of vaccines were developed by Maurice Hilleman (measles, mumps, hepatitis A and B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and the flu). The World Health Organisation (WHO) is looking to eradicate various deadly diseases and has been successful. The last naturally occurring case of smallpox was in 1977, polio has almost been eradicated with measles the next on their list.

So Where is the Controversy?

The medical journal The Lancet published an article that claimed autism could be triggered by the MMR (measles, mumps & rubella) vaccination. This caused such a scandal, despite the fact that the claims were founded on very sketchy evidence, that many anti-vaxxers still believe that vaccinations may do more harm than good. There is also the belief that, because a disease had been eradicated, there is no longer any need to receive the vaccination against it. This is unfounded as diseases living in unvaccinated hosts are able to mutate into stronger strains and thus infect even those who have been vaccinated thus destroying what is known as herd immunity. There have been recent outbreaks of whooping cough, scarlet fever and measles probably caused by abstinence from vaccination.

Click here for printable copy with discussion questions and exercises.

Comprehension tasks:
Explain, in your own, words how vaccinations work.
Who was Edward Jenner and what did he do?
Which scientist from the 19th century is mentioned and for ehat reasons?
Can you name three diseases which are mention in the text?
What does WHO wish to achieve?
What are the fears of the anti-vaxxers?
Which belief is unfounded according to the text?
Discussion questions:
Are you vaccinated?
Do you know what you have to vaccinated for?
What vaccinations are required by law in your country?
Is vaccination a prerequisite for attending school or children's social activities?
Are there punishments for not vaccinating your child?
What are the risks of not immunising a child
a) to the child
b) to the community?
In your opinion, do parents have a moral obligation to immunise their children?
Can you think of any grounds where not immunising a child is justified?
Which diseases would you like to see vaccinations developed for?

Further reading:
Rage at anti-vaxxers (The Telegraph, Australia)
Should Anti-Vaxxers be Shamed or Persuaded? (The Atlantic)
Childcare Centre for anti-vaxxers (Northern Rivers News, Australia)
The True Cost of Not Vaccinating (The Huffington Post)
Evidence that anti-vaxxers may not be to blame. (Global Research)
Public support for anti-vaxxers (The Daily Mail)
Vaccination on Wikipedia


Authors note: I have tried to be impartial and represent both side equally, as well as give further reading to support both sides. As a mother of two vaccinated children who have unvaccinated friends, it is a subject on ongoing interest for me and your comments will be of great interest.



Wednesday 23 March 2016

WATCH AND LEARN

Watching documentaries is one of the best ways to improve your English. Now you can surf the Net and look for things that interest you, but I thought I might help you out by adding 10 films I've found on-line. Each one is no more than 20 minutes long. I might add another 10 next month if you like these, so be looking out for them!

HOW TO WATCH AND LEARN
When you are watching a documentary turn on your English learning skills. What do I mean?
  • Have a pen and paper beside you to write notes - facts you like or think will be useful, unknown words etc. 
  • Think about the basic points raised in what you are watching. If someone was to ask you what the documentary was about, what information would they need to know? Could you tell them?
  • If you really enjoyed the documentary, would you recommend it to a friend? Which friend, and why?
  • If you thought the documentary was awful, what were the precise reasons for this?
 

 If you know any good short documentaries to share, add them in the comments below.

Wednesday 10 February 2016

LOOKING FOR LOVE?

So you may be hoping that you'll be on the receiving end of a little love this coming Sunday. Valentine's Day is a day of joy for those who do get something and a day of sadness for those who don't, but were expecting it! Most of us recognise that in reality it's a  Hallmark holiday (it is the second most popular for sending cards after Christmas) and it is true that most do not know the origins of the day.


Who was Saint Valentine?
There are three saints in the Catholic church who go by the name Valentine. One was a priest during the reign of the Emperor Claudius II, who married young lovers in secret, although the the Emperor had ruled that soldiers should remain unmarried. He was decapitated for this. Another was supposed to have freed prisoners from Roman prisons and the last is claimed to have fallen in love with the prison guard's daughter.

No saint at all?
There are even suggestions that the origins lie with the pagan festival of Lupercalia, an ancient Roman fertility festival, which was held on the 15th of February and supposed to bring fertility and a good harvest to all those who were blessed during this celebration.

Give a little love!
Write a poem telling the world, or at least your love, how you feel - be brave! Bare your heart! Here's how:
  • Think of all the reasons why you love this person.
  • Choose your favourites and write them down.
  • Use similes and metaphor.
  • Avoid 'very' and adverbs - use strong adjectives and verbs instead.
  • Order your ideas in way that sounds great when you read it aloud - your poem doesn't have to rhyme.
  • Write an acronym using you lover's name or the words LOVE or ROMANCE, or something just for you.
A little love goes a long way!
The saying goes that 'To give, is to receive.' so why not show your love this year! Don't just think about romantic love. How about showing your friends or your family how much you appreciate them? Give a little love to an elderly relative or neighbour who may live alone.

More importantly, remember Valentine's Day is only one of 365other days; you have to love your love the other 364 days of the year as well! (+1 this year as it's a leap year!)

Sources: Wikipedia,Wikihow,The History Channel

Wednesday 20 January 2016

Playing Up! Acting Out!

Bored? Hate English because it's an endless stream of exercises and learning vocabulary? I know kids who feel just like this, but it doesn't have to be this way!

Image courtesy of scottchan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Drama is something which can make your learning come alive and you can use it with or without a teacher, in or out of class, and it will help you gets to grips with speaking the language. I remember that actually speaking, which when it comes down to is the reason most of us learn a second language, was the hardest part. I felt like I was lying, in some strange way. So make it fake. Invent a scenario and find the language for it. Just as you think through what you would say in a difficult situation in your own language, do the same in English.

In the classroom, drama has the benefit of giving weaker students the opportunity to speak with confidence - they can rehearse their lines. Those who are (hyper) active can get up and move around. If the students write their own script then there's communication and writing involved. Giving and receiving instructions are also necessary, so many skills are put to good use!

You can also use drama to introduce and discuss a theme. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare, far from it, just get an issue out there for discussion. Last week, one of my colleagues was absent and at short notice I had to teach her class. By mistake I'd left my emergency bag of tricks at home. Armed with no more than a CD from my car for inspiration (I had been listening to Monica Richard's 'A Good Thing'.) we had a very successful lesson on bullying.

We discussed the problem: What makes people bully others? How do the victims feel? What should we do if we see someone being bullied? Then we assigned roles and wrote a script up on the board. If your class is big and your play is small split into groups and do the sketch a couple of times. Or if it's small, take it in turns reading different roles.

Our basic idea was a bullying situation that was resolved with the intervention of a teacher (thus not fighting violence with violence). Also, that the bully realise the error of his/her ways.
Scene 1: The bully in action.
Scene 2: Friends/passers-by intervene.
Scene 3: Teacher is called and punishment is given.
Extra if time:
Scene 4: Bully needs help with whatever it was he was bullying the victim for.
Scene 5: Victim is the only person who can provide the help needed.

Not only did the students speak English, but everone also had fun!

Don't forget that Role Play is an integral part of most oral examinations (part 4 of the PTE General, all of the ECPE, part 3 of FCE and ECCE spring to mind) so dramatise everyday situations! See the Role Play Dialogues to the right of this post for more ideas!

Don't play up - act it out!