15 fun activities for Present Simple/Present Continuous
The best way of teaching the present tenses is to compare and contrast them. These ideas will show you how to do the even more difficult task of combining them in practice activities, all of them done in simple and entertaining ways. There are many well-known and fun activities for the Present Continuous, such as ones involving miming and ones using pictures of crowded street scenes. 1. Give students a list of Present Continuous sentences that they can mime to their partners for them to guess, e.g. 2. Another way of combining Present Continuous mimes with the Present Simple is to ask students to mime actions that they do in their real lives (perhaps choosing from a list with sentences like “You are taking a shower”). 3. Give students a list of words and ask them to choose one and describe it with just sentences using the Present Simple and Preset Continuous. 4. 20 questions 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Video Lesson: Mr. Bean
Follow me on twitter This is a video lesson based around the video “Mr. Bean packs his suitcase” thanks to British Council for bringing it to my attention in their lesson plan on making predictions but I’ve adapted it for use in different ways with different levels. Kids and lower levels The aim of this lesson plan is to practice holiday vocabulary (clothes and items that go in a suitcase) and some basic grammar structure. Project a picture of a suitcase on to the board (or draw one) and ask “What do you put in your suitcase when you go on holiday?” toothbrushtoothpasteswimming shorts/trunkstowelunderpantscan of baked beanscloth/flannelsoapbooksuitcasetrousersshortsshoesteddy bearscissors You could also use this quizlet set to go over clothes vocabulary. If children are old enough to write, put them in pairs and hand out post-it-notes and a pencil to each pair. Mr. in his suitcase. Then stick all the post-its on the board and show the video. Higher levels – video dictations Objects: Verbs:
Simple Present vs. Present Progressive
Exercises and tests Form See also explanations on Simple Present and Present Progressive Use In general or right now? Do you want to express that something happens in general or that something is happening right now? Timetable / Schedule or arrangement? Do you want to express that something is arranged for the near future? Daily routine or just for a limited period of time? Do you want to talk about a daily routine? Certain Verbs The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present (not in the progressive form). state: be, cost, fit, mean, suitExample: We are on holiday. possession: belong, haveExample: Sam has a cat. senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touchExample: He feels the cold. feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wishExample: Jane loves pizza. brain work: believe, know, think, understandExample: I believe you. Exercies on Simple Present and Present Progressive Tests on Simple Present and Present Progressive
Sainsbury's Christmas advert relives no man's land football match during WWI
Advert shows famous meeting of First World War soldiers in no man's land on Christmas Day in 1914Soldiers put down their guns and climbed from the trenches and exchanged gifts with each other In the advert two young men meet halfway across no man's land, shake hands and play a game of footballSainsbury's says 'Christmas is for sharing' and in advert the British soldier gives his German adversary chocolateThese chocolate bars will be sold in Sainsbury's up until Christmas to raise money for Royal British LegionMixed reaction as some call ad 'brilliant' but others say 'cynical' and disrespectful to those who fought in conflictSainsbury's says they 'tell the story with authenticity and respect and hope to keep alive the memory of the fallen'Paul McCartney fans say advert is remarkably similar to his 1983 pop video for number one single Pipes of Peace By Martin Robinson for MailOnline Published: 11:43 GMT, 13 November 2014 | Updated: 20:25 GMT, 13 November 2014 Look familiar?
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Nelson Mandela: Six things you didn’t know
10 December 2013Last updated at 02:16 GMT Nelson Mandela was a figure of international renown, and many details of his life and career were public knowledge. But here are six things you may not have known about the late South African leader. 1. He was a boxing fan. "I did not enjoy the violence of boxing so much as the science of it. "Boxing is egalitarian. Among the memorabilia in the Mandela Family Museum in Soweto, visitors can find the world championship belt given to Mandela by American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. 2. This was common practice in South Africa and in other parts of the continent, where a person could often be given an English name that foreigners would find easier to pronounce. Rolihlahla is not a common name in South Africa. His circumcision name was Dalibunga, meaning "founder of the Bunga", the traditional ruling body of the Transkei - the rural area where he was born. 3. Mr Mandela needed special permission to enter the US until 2008 4. 5. 6.
TOEFL Practice tests
Read the short passage. The reading is followed by several questions about it. There are four possible answers (A-D) for each question. Choose the best answer and click the button next to it. When you have finished, click answers. Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer was born in 1847 in Makó, Hungary. In later life, Joseph Pulitzer collapsed from overwork, and lost his sight. These prizes for excellence in journalism have been given every year since 1917 by Columbia University. ©2006 Biscuit Software Ltd
