Team gap fill for revising

The third activity is a short game made for revision. If you have access to a projector
or interactive white board, you can use sentences from this gap
fill presentation (PPT 53.2 KB). Alternatively, you could simply write them on the
blackboard. For example:

Divide the class into two teams and give each team a board marker. Put a question
on the board, and two spaces for each team's answer. For example:

Id like __________________ French fluently before my holiday next year.

Team A: _______________________ Team B: ______________________

Now get students to discuss ideas in their groups, only giving a short amount of time
to decide on an answer. Next, ask them to nominate one of their team to write the
answer on the board. Make sure each team member writes at the same time, to
avoid copying each other.

Once both groups have written an answer, discuss them as a class. If the teams
have different answers, discuss whose answer is correct, to encourage self-
correction and reflection. Swap the role of writer around with each new sentence and
give two points for a perfect sentence and one point if theyre close. Continue with
the activity in this way, writing one question on the board at a time.

Team error correction

This game is a quick and easy way to turn error correction into something fun and
competitive. Write the sentences on the board (such as the ones below) and explain
that each sentence has at least one mistake. Ask students to discuss suitable
corrections in pairs.

1. I've never be able to swim in the sea.

2. I'll to be able to play football tonight, if the weather's good.
3. I'd love to being able to speak English perfectly.
4. My friends was able to see my car when I drove past.
5. I'm able to playing the piano really well.
6. If we finish early, we'll be able go to shopping after work.
7. John's to be able to cook like a chef. His food is so much tasty.
8. My brother's able to make great photos in holiday.
9. She able to sing beautifully. All the people thinks she'll be a pop star.

Now, divide the class into three teams, so that theyre no longer with their previous
partners, and ask them to discuss the corrections further, thinking about how
confident they are about their answer. Next, give each of the three groups different-
colour board pens. Each group picks someone to write, who then has to quickly come
to the board and make a single correction to one of the sentences. Once they make a
correction, they have to go back to their group and pass the pen to someone new.
Theres a pause in between each round of corrections, so we can keep the
corrections that are right and remove the ones that are wrong, eliciting reasons from
the class. Each round is a race to the board, so students are rewarded for quickly
coming to an agreement and working together. The pen is constantly swapping within
the group to stop one student from taking over (or from not taking part at all).

Once the game is finished you can add up the points by counting the corrections in
each colour.

Running dictation
A favorite of students young and old, the running dictation exercise can be used in
nearly every lesson without your students tiring of it. All you need is a gap-fill
worksheet. It could be a worksheet you have got from a site like Busy Teacher, or one
youve created yourself with a reading from the textbook. What makes this activity fun is
the element of competition.
First, post the intact text on a distant wall, or even outside the classroom. Then, give
each pair of students one gapped worksheet. Designate one student the writer and the
other the runner. The runner must do exactly thatrun to the complete text, read it
silently and run back to dictate to his or her partner the words to fill the gaps with.

After a minute or so, get the students to switch roles and keep them switching every
minute or two throughout the activity. The value of this exercise is that it integrates all
four language skills. Reading, listening, speaking and writing all take place in the same
exercise.

Remember: Proper setup and modeling are vital to this activity, and if youre working
with children or teenagers, strong classroom management skills are also a must, as
the noise level can get quickly out of hand if you arent careful.

One last tip for a successful running dictation: No matter the age or level of the students,
review the alphabet (especially tricky vowels) beforehand so that the runner can feel
confident spelling out unknown vocabulary to their partner.
In conversation, we often move from general statements to more detailed information. Have you
seen Frozen? Yeah I saw it last week. It was great.

These types of conversations provide a natural context for students to practice the differences
between the present perfect (for the indefinite past) and simple past tense. The following activity
is scaffolded so that students target the language they want to use and then practice it in an
authentic activity.

At the end of this article is a link to a downloadable chart that I use in this activity.

1. I start this activity by writing a copy of the chart on the board and filling in my own favorites. As a
whole class, we discuss which past participles we could use to form questions for each of these
favorites. For some favorites we choose more than one past participle. For example, for Unusual
Food, we might write eaten, tried and had.
2. I model the activity by asking students my questions (Have you ever been to Italy?) and some
follow up questions (When did you go? What did you do?). These are the details for the final
column on the chart. I also elicit from students that we have used both present perfect and simple
past in this exchange.
3. Next, students write their favorites on their own charts. They can write the past participle to the
left but not the entire question. I want them to ask the question, not read it.
4. They then mingle and find classmates who have seen their favorite movie or been to their favorite
place in town. By providing details, students move beyond a simple yes/no answer and make the
switch from present perfect to simple past tense.
5. After the chart is completed, students share with the whole class something interesting they
learned about a classmate. This allows students to practice the third person present perfect.
Students can also write about their classmates using the information on the chart. These
sentences should use both present perfect and simple past tense.

Ellis, R. (2002). The Place of Grammar Instruction in the Second/Foreign Language Curriculum. In: E.
Hinkel and S. Fotos, ed., New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second Language Classrooms.
New York: Routledge, pp.17-34.