What would you do?

Intermediate and above

Aim:
to practise the second conditional, e.g. with New Headway Intermediate Unit 8.
Procedure

Introduce the activity by asking the class what they would do in a certain situation e.g.
What would you do if you had a day off school tomorrow?
Explain that they are going to hear answers to a similar question and will have to
guess what the original question was. For example, you say, or write on the board

I would call the police.

I'd hide under the bed.
I wouldn't do anything.
I'd go downstairs and call 'Who's there?'

Students should be able to guess that the original question was What would you do if
you were in bed and heard a noise downstairs?
Ask two students to go out of the room, and write another question on the board. Give
students time to prepare their answers.
When the two students come back, they should ask different class members what they
would do in this situation. They carry on asking until they guess the original question
(or a question close enough).
Repeat the process with a different question and two other students.

Notes

Sending two students outside will prevent students from feeling intimidated by this
activity, and the pair will be able to help each other formulate the question.
It is up to you and the level of the group how far you will insist on complete accuracy
in the question formation.
As a variation, you could use sentences in the first or third conditional forms,
depending on the level of the group.
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Famous meetings
Intermediate and above
Aim:
to encourage creative output in English
to develop fluency in speaking, e.g. after New Headway Intermediate Unit 3 Reading.
Procedure

Ask students to think of famous people they would like to meet. Write the names
down on slips of paper, duplicating where necessary.
Put students in pairs. Give each of them a slip of paper, and tell them they have to
rehearse a short conversation between the two people at a party, and act it out in front
of the class. They should discuss what the two people might want to discuss or argue
about.
Give them plenty of time to prepare the conversation, and go round helping where
necessary.
Ask selected pairs to act out their dialogues. As a listening task for the other class
members, you could ask them to guess the identities of the famous people concerned.

Notes

Stress that students should not write down the conversation, as the aim is to develop
fluency.
This activity also focuses on meaning and ambitiousness in using the language rather
than on accuracy, so correction is not appropriate.
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Desert Island
Intermediate and above
Aims:
to practise speaking freely about likes and preferences
to use the language of hypothesising ( I'd / I wouldn't / I might ), e.g. after New Headway
Intermediate Unit 8
Procedure

Ask students to imagine they have to spend one year on a desert island. They have
enough to survive but can take with them:
- one companion
- one book
- one piece of music
- one luxury item

Give students a minute or two to think who / what they would take and why.
Put them in pairs / small groups to explain and compare their ideas.

Notes

This activity is based on a well-known radio programme in Britain called Desert

Island Discs, in which celebrities have to talk in particular about the music they would
take to a desert island.

You can vary the number of people / things they can take if you have more time.
Students could then discuss whether they would enjoy the experience or survive well,
and why / why not.
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Engagement Diary
Intermediate and above
Aims:
to practise language describing activities
to revise making invitations and arrangements e.g. after New Headway Intermediate Unit 5
Arranging to meet
Procedure

Ask students to imagine that they have lots of free time next week and are going to go
out with a friend every evening. Ask them to write on a piece of paper three things
they would like to do (e.g. go to the cinema / go shopping / play football).
Draw the following engagement diary on the board and ask students to copy it onto a
blank piece of paper:
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun

Notes

Explain that they are going to move around the classroom talking to their classmates.
The aim is to fill in their engagement diary. They should invite different people in turn
to do join them doing one of the activities they have noted down. If the person agrees,
they should decide on a day and time, and write it in their diary. Model on the board
what they should write e.g.: Weds: play tennis with Anna 6.30. When they have
made one arrangement, they should move to another person and try to make another
arrangement. They should continue until their diary is full for every evening.
Move the furniture so everyone can move freely and let the activity run for the time
you have available. Monitor to make sure students are doing the activity correctly, but
try not to interfere.
If you have time at the end, you could ask students to compare their diaries with a
partner

This is quite a complicated activity, so ask questions to check students have

understood your instructions.
As with any mingling activity, make sure all the students move around freely, and are
not stuck behind desks.
Make it clear to students that they don't have to accept an invitation for an activity
they don't enjoy, but if they turn it down, they should give a polite excuse.
You could also include in the rules that they should not do the same kind of activity
twice.
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Tell me more
Intermediate and above
Aims:
to practise asking questions, e.g. after New Headway Intermediate Units 1 and 6, or New
Headway Upper-Intermediate Unit 9, and to revise recently learned language
Procedure

Make a flash card with a large question mark on it. Explain to the class that whenever
you hold up the card, they have to ask a question.
Demonstrate the activity by asking one of the more able students to talk about
something (e.g. their last holiday, what they did last night or give them a topic) and
asking another student to hold up the question card after every couple of sentences or
so. When the question card is up, you ask a question about what the student has just
said, e.g. 'How long did the journey take?,' 'Did you enjoy the meal?,' 'Who did you go
with?.'
Put the students in groups of three or four. One student tells a story, one holds up the
question card, and the other student (or pair) asks questions. Then change the roles
round.
While the students are speaking, monitor the activity and take notes on the questions
that the students ask. At the end, you can put on the board some of the good questions
you heard, and also some of the questions with mistakes, in order to correct them with
the students
Notes

Traditionally, it is the teacher who asks questions in the classroom, and students who
answer. And yet when using a language we ask questions very frequently. The more
activities we can give our students to practise making up their own questions, the more
useful it will be for them.
This activity also encourages students to be good listeners, because they have to listen
closely and be prepared to ask questions spontaneously as in real life.
You can ask students to talk about something they have recently practised in class, so
as to give useful revision and consolidation of this.

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Listen carefully
Intermediate and above
Aims:
to practise speaking at length and to practise listening skills
Procedure

Choose a topic that you want students to talk about. This could be related to work
done recently in class, or something like 'My family,' 'My favourite music,' 'My
ambitions,' 'My views on smoking,' or ' My ideal car,' depending on students' level and
interests.
Explain to the students that they are each going to talk to a partner about the topic for
a certain length of time, e.g. one minute, and that they will have to listen carefully
because they will give the information to another student.
Give students thinking and preparation time on their topic they might find it
helpful to make brief notes using key words, but they should not write full sentences.
Monitor and help with vocabulary.
Put students in groups of four (A working with B, and C working with D). Each
should listen to the other carefully without interruption. At the end, they can ask three
questions, either to clarify or to get further information.
Now re-pair the students (A with C, and B with D). Each student has to talk about
what their partner has said. If time permits, you can again allow three questions here.
Finally, re-pair the students a second time (A with D, and B with C). They now have to
say what they heard to the student who originally said it! At the end, the students can
tell their new partner how accurately the information has been passed on.
Notes

This activity can go on for quite a long time and requires no preparation. It is an
excellent way to practise speaking fluently and listening carefully. The element of
preparation also helps students to speak at length using a wider range of language.
The topics should be personalised, but avoid issues that could be sensitive or too
difficult for class members.
Intermediate or quieter students may find it difficult to sustain speech without
interruption for one minute. You could give a variable time limit (e.g. 30-60 seconds)
and do not insist if students 'dry up' before that time.
To add an extra element of interest and chance, you could prepare slips of paper with a
topic written on each, and ask students to pick one out of a box.
The activity requires two changes of partner, so your instructions need to be clear and
you need to monitor the re-pairings carefully. It is usually best in such activities to
give the instructions one stage at a time.
If you are short of time, you can omit the final pairing
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The Whole story

Intermediate and above
Aims: to revise newly studied language
to activate language that students already know,
e.g. after New Headway Upper IntermediateUnit 4 Practice
Procedure

Choose a grammar or vocabulary exercise from Headway that you have recently done
in class. Tell your students that they are going to choose one of the sentences and to
write a short dialogue which includes that sentence.
Give an example, e.g. from New Headway Upper Intermediate Unit 4 p40, the
sentence I was burgled; everything was stolen. Read out the dialogue and ask students
to guess the first line.

A: __________________________.
B: Oh no! When did that happen?
A: Last night, when I was sleeping.
B: Did you call the police?
A: Yes, they came round straight away.
B: And what was stolen?
A : My television, my computer, and some money.

Ask students to work in pairs to prepare their dialogues. You can either set a time
limit, or tell them how many lines to write (4 to 8 lines usually works well). Move
around the class to help or correct as they are writing.
When everyone has finished, ask each pair to read out their dialogue. The rest of the
class has to guess at the end what the missing sentence is.

Notes:

This exercise helps put sentences from an exercise in a meaningful context, and
stimulates students imagination. In this way, they are more likely to remember the
sentences and therefore the language point.
The sentence can be at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the dialogue.
If you like, you can indicate to each pair which sentences they should write about; this
ensures that not all students choose the same ones.
Asking students to guess the missing sentences engages them in listening to their
classmates; otherwise they may be tempted to switch off at this stage.
As an alternative, you can get students to write a paragraph or story containing the
sentence, instead of a dialogue.
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Talk for a minute

Intermediate and above

Aims: to develop fluency and confidence in speaking
to revise recently studied vocabulary
Procedure

Make a list of topics that have recently been covered in class, e.g. films, food,
customs, houses. Write these on the board.
Put the class in small groups (of about 3 6 students) and ask each person in the
group to choose a topic to talk about. Make sure that each student has chosen a
different topic. Tell them that they are going to speak about that topic for one minute.
Give the students a short time (about 2 minutes) to make notes. It is important that
they write down key words, not full sentences.
Tell students that when you say Start, they are going to take it in turns to talk to their
group for one minute, until you give the signal to stop. Ask them to agree an order in
which to speak.
Give a signal for the first person to start talking. After one minute, give the signal for
them to stop, and for the next person to talk. Continue like this until everyone has had
a chance to speak.

Notes:

This is a good activity to encourage students to speak for longer than one or two
sentences. The preparation element ensures that they have some ideas, and should give
them confidence when they speak. Often, too, this kind of preparation results in richer
language use, with a wider range of vocabulary.
If you feel that students cant manage a whole minute, you can ask them to speak
for half a minute. Alternatively, more advanced students may be able to speak for two
minutes or even longer.
If you have one or two groups that are smaller than the others, they can use the final
minute or minutes to discuss one of the topics.
More advanced groups can ask questions after each student has spoken, or say whether
they agree or disagree.
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Quiz Questions
Intermediate and above
Aim: to practise question formation
e.g. after New Headway Intermediate Unit 1
Procedure

Put students in teams of two or more, depending on the size of your class. Explain that
they are going to write questions for a general knowledge quiz.
Write some categories on the board, (chosen to reflect the interests and knowledge of
the group) e.g. current affairs, music, geography, animals.
Give examples of the kinds of question they should write, e.g.

Whats the longest river in the world?

When did (the current prime minister) come to power?
Name one animal that hibernates in winter.
Which singer sang Imagine?

Ask the teams to work together to write questions, the exact number depending on the
number of teams in the class, or the time available. Go round the class helping the
students with vocabulary and question forms, and giving ideas if necessary.
Ask a representative from team A to read their questions out one by one. The first
question should be addressed to Team B, who can discuss together before answering.
If they cant answer, or get the answer wrong, it should pass to Team C, then Team
D, and so on until the right answer is given.
When Team A have asked all their questions, it is time for Team B to ask their
questions, starting by asking Team C. Carry on like this until each team have asked
their questions.
Keep a score on the board of the number of correct questions answered by each team.
The team with the highest number of points is the winner.

Notes:

You may find that there is occasionally disagreement between the teams over the
correct answer! You need to make it clear that the team who ask the questions have the
right to say what is correct or incorrect. Any disagreements can then be followed up
after the class if necessary.
Be sure that you are very clear and fair when awarding points, to avoid disagreements!

How was your weekend?

Elementary upwards
Aim:
to practise talking and asking about the past, e.g. with New Headway Elementary Unit 7, New
Headway Pre-Intermediate Unit 3, New Headway Intermediate Unit 3.
Procedure

Put students in pairs or small groups and ask them to tell each other the best thing that
happened to them at the weekend, or on the previous evening (or during the last week,

if it is a class that you only see once a week). Tell them to listen carefully because they
will have to repeat the information to the rest of the class.
Go round the class and ask some students to report back on what their partner told
them. Tell the rest of the class to listen carefully, because they will have to ask
questions.
When each person has finished speaking, ask another pair or group to ask a question
about what they heard. This will then be answered by the person whose experience
was described.

Example:
'Sonia went to the cinema on Sunday evening and saw "Gladiator".'
(Group A): What did you think of the film?
(Sonia) : I enjoyed it.
(Group B): Why did you enjoy it?
(Sonia) : The acting was very good.
(Group C): Who did you go with?
(Sonia) : With my parents.
Notes

As this is a personalised activity which is based on true information, it should motivate

the class, and help students to get to know each other, thus creating good classroom
dynamics.
Very often it is the teacher who asks all the questions in class. This activity forces
students to formulate questions themselves. It can be done by students who have
learned the Past Simple tense, and should produce more complex questions at higher
levels.
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What are they thinking?

Elementary and above
Aim:
to encourage creative output in English.
Procedure

Choose a picture of a person in the Headway book the students are using. Write on the
board, in thought bubbles, two or three things that the person may be thinking. Ask the
class to choose the one they like best. An example would be New Headway PreIntermediate Unit 10 p.79, with the captions It's lucky this isn't England. You have to
walk on the left there. / It's strange how few people there are on this path! / I wonder
what the view is like?

Choose another picture in the book, and ask students to work in pairs or teams to come
up with a similar thought bubble. Tell them the class will vote on the best one. Go
round the class helping students with words they don't know, and correcting if
necessary.
Ask students to come to the board and write their thought bubble on the board.
Students vote on the best one at the end.

Notes

This is a way of exploiting coursebook visual material and bringing it to life. As an

alternative, you could bring your own pictures into class.
If you like, you could use this activity to focus on a particular grammatical structure
that the students have recently learned, e.g. I wish ..., or If ..., or I think I'll ... .
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The Gift Game

Elementary to Intermediate
Aims:
to practise writing about likes and dislikes
to revise or learn the names of objects
e.g. after New Headway Elementary Unit 9, New Headway Pre-Intermediate Unit 5, New
Headway Intermediate Unit 6
Procedure

Ask students to write their name on the top of a blank sheet of paper and collect the
sheets in.
Put the students in pairs and give each pair two of the sheets of paper, making sure
they don't get their own sheets back.
Tell the students that they have to choose a present for the two people whose names
are on the papers, thinking carefully of what each person is interested in or likes doing.
When they have chosen, they should write the name of the present on the paper with
an explanation, e.g. We are giving you a bicycle because you enjoy taking exercise, or
Here is a box of chocolates because you like sweet things.
While students are doing the activity, go round and help them with the names of
objects they don't know.
When the students have finished, take in the papers and redistribute them to the people
whose names are at the top.

Notes

This can be a good way of improving group dynamics by allowing students to think
about the interests and needs of other class members. It will not work so well if
students don't know each other well.
Younger learners may enjoy drawing the objects on the piece of paper instead of
writing the names.
If you like, or have time, students could write thanks you letters, and you can again
distribute these to the givers of the gifts.