The Grammar

Activity Book
Bob Obee

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Cambridge University Press, 1999
The pages in this book marked From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee Cambridge University Press
1999 P H O T O C O P I A B L E may be photocopied free of charge for classroom use by the purchasing
individual or institution. This permission to copy does not extend to branches or additional schools of an
institution. All other copying is subject to permission from the publisher.
First published 1999
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
ISBN 0 521 575796

The Grammar Activity Book

Map of the book
KEY : E=ELEMENTARY; P=PRE-INTERMEDIATE; I=INTERMEDIATE; U=UPPER-INTERMEDIATE
Activity title

Language focus

Level

Time
(minutes)

Introduction

Page
6

Unit 1 Time like the present

1.1 Global animal bingo
1.2 Wildlife whoppers
1.3 Adverb backgammon
1.4 Behind the screen

Present simple/questions
Present simple: facts
Time adverbs/simple/continuous
Present simple/continuous

EP
IU
IU
E

20
25
25
20

8
10
12
14

Unit 2 Questions and answers

2.1 So whats the question?
2.2 Sporting chances
2.3 Do card quiz
2.4 Zig-zag questions

Phrasing of common questions

Present continuous questions
Subject questions
Appropriate short answers

PI
PU
PI
P

30
25
40
25

15
18
20
22

Unit 3 Talking about things past

3.1 Round about when
Time adverbs: simple past
3.2 Joke go-betweens
Simple past questions
3.3 Last weeks news
Simple past/past continuous
3.4 Past identities
Past continuous: background detail

PI
I
PU
PI

20
25
30
30

24
26
28
29

Unit 4 Making comparisons

4.1 Line up accordingly
4.2 Psychic partners
4.3 Comparative short straws
4.4 Ratio roulette

Comparative adjectives/adverbs
Superlative adjectives/adverbs
Degrees of comparison
Degrees of comparison

P
I
U
I

25
30
20
20

30
32
34
36

Unit 5 Describing things

5.1 Sort yourselves out
5.2 Four-card adjectives
5.3 Collocation bridges
5.4 Square routes

Adverbs: word order

Order of adjectives
Adjective/noun collocation
Use of adjectives/adverbs

EU
PI
IU
PI

25
25
1520
25

37
38
40
42

Unit 6 Looking to the future

6.1 Arrangement squares
6.2 Pantomime fish
6.3 Collecting evidence
6.4 Dedication poem

Present continuous (future)

Use of will
Be going to (present evidence)
Conjunctions/use of will

P
PI
P
IU

20
25
25
25

44
46
48
50

Unit 7 Using the perfect

7.1 Point in a story
7.2 Record-breakers
7.3 What have you done!
7.4 Jigsaw mischief
7.5 Adverb rummy

Present perfect simple (just/already/yet)

PI
Present perfect simple (unspecified past time) PI
Present perfect simple (present result)
P
Present perfect continuous (present effect) IU
Present perfect simple/continuous/past simple IU

20
20
20
30
20

51
52
56
58
60

Activity title

Language focus

Level

Time
(minutes)

Page

Unit 8 Things we can count

8.1 Determiner dominoes
8.2 Pieces of me
8.3 Building captions
8.4 Open the doors

Use of determiners
Partitive nouns
Use of the/zero article
Use of zero article with certain classes of nouns

PU
IU
I
IU

25
25
25
1015

62
64
66
68

Unit 9 Conditional meanings

9.1 Homophone healing
9.2 Blanks and brackets
9.3 Seeking scruples
9.4 Memory consequences

zero conditional
First conditional (if/will/in case)
Second conditional
Third conditional

I
I
I
IU

30
20
35
20

70
72
74
76

Unit 10 Obligation and possibility

10.1 Headline investment
Must/cant/might/could (possibility)
10.2 Streetwise surveys
Must/mustnt/have to (obligation)
10.3 Royal behaviour
Must have/couldnt have (past speculation)
10.4 Rules and lines
Must/mustnt/have to (obligation)

I
PI
IU
I

25
30
20
25

78
80
82
84

Unit 11 Indicating time, movement and place

11.1 Last card wins
Prepositional phrases: time place manner
11.2 Opposite moves
Verbs of movement (prepositions)
11.3 Time pieces
In at on (time)
11.4 Preposition chequers
In at on (place)

PI
U
PI
PI

25
25
25
25

86
88
90
92

Unit 12 Using the passive

12.1 Signs of the passive
12.2 Whose house?
12.3 A causative day out
12.4 Fairytale jigsaw races

Use of passive in signs/different tenses

Simple past/past perfect passive
Causative structure: have things done
Simple past passive by + agent

I
U
U
IU

25
30
25
30

95
98
100
102

Unit 13 Functional exchanges

13.1 Answer keys
13.2 On the floor debate
13.3 Conversation pyramids
13.4 Answer hopping

Short exchanges
Common discussion markers
Short answers and follow-ups
So/neither responses/tag questions

PI
IU
PI
EP

25
30
1520
25

104
106
108
110

Unit 14 What someone said

14.1 Beyond belief
14.2 No more than seven words
14.3 Connecting speech
14.4 Who asked you

You said/told me that

Sentence patterns after reporting verbs
Contrasts between say, tell, speak, talk
Reported questions

I
IU
IU
IU

25
30
25
30

112
114
116
119

Unit 15 Revision games

15.1 Slide rules
15.2 Tense squares
15.3 Throw-out puzzles
15.4 Sole mates

Various structures
Revision of tenses
Various structures
Various structures

IU
PU
P
EI

25
20
30
35

120
122
124
126

unit 1 Time like the present

1.1 Global animal

Level
elementary
pre-intermediate

Class size
whole class

Language focus
present simple Have got
questions about facts and
habitual actions

Pronunciation
weak forms: do you /dju/
you /j/

Preparation time
5 minutes

Game time
20 minutes

bingo
Before class
Make one copy of one Bingo card (p.9) for each learner or each pair
of learners, depending on the size of the class.

In class
1 Explain to learners that they are going to play a game like bingo, which is
popular throughout the English-speaking world. The game here, however, also
involves learners asking questions. If bingo, or an equivalent, is played in your
country, you can tell learners about it.

2 Give each learner a Bingo card. On it there is a grid of phrases. Beneath the
grid is a sentence about an animal and three pieces of information about that
animal: what it has/has got, eats, likes doing, or where or how long it lives.
During the game, each learner will assume the identity of the animal on
his/her card.
3 The aim of the game is to be the first learner to cross off all the phrases on
his/her Bingo card and tell the class which animal each phrase referred to.
4 During the game, each animal must introduce himself/herself. However, it is
very important that learners do not reveal any other details about the animal.
On introduction, other learners in the class should pose questions to the
animal, based on phrases in their Bingo cards. For example, for the African
elephant, the following is written:
Hello, Im an African elephant: I have a small tail, I eat leaves and Ive got
relatives in India.
The learner introducing himself/herself says: Hello, Im an African elephant
The other learners then scan their Bingo cards for any phrases that might
relate to the African elephant, and ask the elephant any questions that the
phrases suggest.

1 long grass

leaves

seals

BINGO

sitting
A learner with
these bingo
squares thus might
bamboo
sealsask: Do you eat leaves?
down
The African elephant answers: Yes, I do. (This is a detail on the card.)
and all the learners who have this bingo square can cross it off.
Anotherlong
learner
with these
same bingo squares
grass
dancing
queenmight ask: Do you eat
long grass?
The African elephant answers: No, I dont (because this is not a detail in
front of him/her).
After a question from three or four different learners, move on to another
learner, who introduces himself/herself: Hello, Im a polar bear, and so on.

5 If there is more than one African elephant etc. in the class, this simply
means that learners may ask the African elephant questions again.

1.1 Global animal bingo

Bingo cards

sitting
down

bamboo

seals

long grass

dancing

queen

Hello, Im a pelican: I live in Romania, I eat fish and

I like going on holiday.

BINGO

China

holiday

longer than
people

Romania

long sleep

seals

leaves

fish

yellow and
brown

Hello, Im a bee: I have a queen, I like dancing

and I like flowers.

BINGO

5 long grass

holiday

bamboo

leaves

small tail

group

white
relatives

grass

small birds

Hello, Im a polar bear: I like swimming under ice,

I eat seals and I like a long sleep.

BINGO

zebras

long grass under ice

small
birds

sitting
down

fish

relatives
in India

China

queen

Hello, Im a tortoise: I live longer than people,

I have a yellow and brown shell and a long neck.

BINGO

grass

Romania

leaves

relatives
in India

holiday

queen

group

zebras

fish

longer than
people

Hello, Im an African elephant: I have a small tail.

I eat leaves and Ive got relatives in India.

grass
flowers

BINGO

small
tail

zebras

dancing

under ice
sitting
down
flowers

small birds long sleep

leaves

white
relatives

China

relatives
in India

small tail long sleep

longer than
people

group

Hello, Im a rhinoceros: I eat grass, I have white

relatives and I like small birds on my back.

8 long grass

under ice

Hello, Im a giant panda: I live in China, I eat

bamboo and I like sitting down.

BINGO

under
ice

BINGO

BINGO

dancing

Romania

in
long neck relatives
India

grass

yellow and small birds

brown

seals

Hello, Im a lion: I live in a group, I like long grass

and I eat zebras.

From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee Cambridge University Press 1999

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