Activities

Whenever students are talking, they are learning. In large classes, there is not much opportunity for each student to talk in sessions involving the whole class. Therefore, any activity that involves small groups that can operate independently for a while is valuable.

Activities also keep students from getting bored, and break up the class time into manageable segments to keep interest up. Children will go for almost any kind of activitiy, but adults are more goal oriented, and will not tolerate "busy work" or activities that seem to have no purpose other than diversion. Adults resent being treated like kindergartners just because they are not skilled in the English language, and will vote with their feet and leave your class if they are not respected. My students seem to enjoy the activities on these pages, but not all classes are the same. Try them out. Let me know how your students respond to them. Go to the Forum page and share your favorite activities with us.