Spare Activities .

ICELT sessión 2
When preparing your lesson, you start by planning the main items you want to include:
the teaching of a new grammar point, for example, or a grammar exercise, or the
reading of a text. But once you have prepared the main components of your lesson, and
made sure it is (hopefully!) learning-rich, varied and interesting, you may find you still
need some extra ingredients to make it into a smooth, integrated unit. You may need, for
example:

1. a quick warm-up for the beginning to get your students into the right mood for
learning;
2. an idea for a brief vocabulary review before starting a new text;
3. a light filler to provide relief after a period of intense effort and concentration;
4. a brief orientation activity to prepare a change of mood or topic;
5. a light filler to calm students down when they have been a little restless;
6. a game or amusing item to round off the lesson with a smile

Besides contributing to routine lesson planning, you may find these activities can be of
use in non-routine situations as well: when, for example, you have to fill in for another
teacher and need some quick easily prepared ideas for instant use; or for supplying extra
content for an English club evening or English party; for helping a group of new
students to get to know one another; or for keeping students profitably busy when you
unexpectedly have extra tie on your hands.

Characteristics of these activities:

 These activities should have genuine learning value for the students. They
should have a definite learning focus.
 They should be at the right level and some ideas can be adapted for different
levels
 These activities to be called spare activities should be short otherwise they
become language games.
 They can be used with practically no preparation. They demand very little
preparation
 They should also be integrated with the rest of the activities planned in the
lesson.

Sample activities:
1. Brainstorm round a word:
Aim: Vocabulary review and enrichment.
Procedure: Take a word the class has recently learnt, and ask the students to suggest
all the words they associate with it. Write each suggestion on the board with a line
joining in it to the original word, in a circle, so that you get a ‘sunray’ effect. If the
original word was ‘decision’ you may get
 think Talk doubt

committee sure

director decision regret

wonder judge

discuss mistake parliament

2. Controversial statements

Aim: Discussion of controversial topics.

Procedure: Write up two or three controversial statements, or proverbs, on the

board. Each student writes down ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ or ‘don’t know’ for each item.
Invite them to compare their answers in paiss or threes. Then find out what the
majority opinion on each is by vote. If you have time, discuss them.

1. Beauty is only a matter of taste.

2. Riches are for spending.
3. Punishment never does any good.
4. A foreign language can only be learned, not
taught.
5. A woman’s place is in the home
6. Boys and girls should have the same
education.
7. A country gets the government it deserves.
8. Teaching is basically a matter of explaining
things properly.
9. Married people are happier than unmarried
people.
10. Love means never saying you’re sorry.
11. People work better if they are paid more.
12. Everyone is basically selfish.

3. Reasons for wanting an object

Aim: discussion; imaginative argument.

Procedure: Tell the students you have an item to give away as a gift, and the person
who can give the most convincing reason why he or she wants it will get it. The item
can be something that is really desirable (a new car oar a winter coat, for example);
or something that is not (a baby crocodile or a stone) so that students really have to
use their imaginations to devise reasons why it might be needed.
 Desirable objects Not very desirable objects

A car An empty tin

A radio A paper bag
A bicycle A bone
A gold watch A feather
A winter coat A stone
A stereo set A bit of string
A motor boat An old newspaper
A box of chocolates A bucket of mud
An armchair A baby crocodile
A television Aused envelope
A bottle of perfume A single shoe
A bottle of wine A playing card

4. Relaxation technique

Aim: listening and relaxing

Procedure: Tell the students to clear or at least to tidy their desks. Then tell them
that you are going to help them to relax. If they have difficulty in accepting this
proposal, you might point out that many athletes and professional performers use the
technique you are going to demonstrate in order to relax

In order not to interrupt the instructions you are going to give them, check that they
are familiar with the words you are going to use, for example, ‘rib cage’. You might
judge that the students will concentrate better if they close their eyes. Say:

“Sit up´ straight. Don’t be stiff. Now, close your eyes, pull in your chin
and imagine the top of your head reaching to the ceiling. Now I want
you to breathe deeply. First of all, you should try to fill the lower part of
your lungs. Place your hands flat and gently against the lower part of
your rib cage. Your fingers should just touch. Breathe in slowly and
naturally. When you breathe in, your abdomen should expand at the
beginning of your breathing and your chest shouldn’t move very much
at this stage. Hold you breath, then let your muscles relax, and breathe
out slowly and evenly. It is the breathing out which is so important for
relaxation. Now do it again.”
 Match the people

Aim: Imaginative comparison; discussion.

Procedure: Write a list of about ten jobs on the board. Each student writes down a
list of ten ideas, feeling, memories, etc. he or she associates with one of the jobs
listed. ( The name of the job referred to must not be included.) For example, here is
a list of associations with a job given in the first line of the box.

Poor, expensive, colour, canvas, pain, joy, brush, smell, country, friends

Each idea must be described by a single word. The students then work in pairs and
each student studies his or her neighbour’s list and tries to guess which job the list
refers to. The student then confirms or rejects the guess and explains why he or she
put each word in the list; the connection may not always be obvious.

Match the people

artist, actor, actress, architect, baker,

businessperson, butcher, chemist, clerk, cook,
dancer ,dentist, doctor, driver, factory worker,
farmer, footballer, grocer, policeman/woman,
postman/woman, seaman, secretary, singer,
teacher, vet, waiter, waitress, writer.

From: Ur. P., Five Minute Activities, CUP, 1992

SPARE ACTIVITIES

1. What are spare activities?

2. What are the main characteristics of spare activities?

3. When do you use spare activities?

4. What kind of spare activities are there?

READING COMPREHENSION FUN ACTIVITY

Sometimes you can move the letters of a word around, and make a different word. For
example: ARE could become EAR.

A secret agent changed 22 words like this, when he sent a report to his leader the
changed words are in big letters. Can you read the report?

I met the RD in a FACE near the COATS. “DARE this”, I told him. “Then SING it at
the POT. And don’t LEAST it – it’s my NOW copy”.

He began to TEARS closely at the THERE pages.

“These secret SKIN are always so WAKE,” he said. “I HEAT them”.
“I don’t RACE,” I told him. “We don’t need to fight like ACT and GOD. Just DUSTY
the papers. They tell you who HOST down our MEAT, up in the mountains. He got
away on KISS”.

“Nobody BUSY old news like this, “ he said, and he left at once.

I need to watch him – I think he’ll try to TEACH us!

2nd Sample activity – Brainstorm round a word

think Talk doubt

committee sure

director decision regret

wonder judge

discuss mistake parliament

3rd Sample activity – Controversial statements

13. Beauty is only a matter of taste.

14. Riches are for spending.
15. Punishment never does any good.
16. A foreign language can only be learned, not
taught.
17. A woman’s place is in the home
18. Boys and girls should have the same
education.
19. A country gets the government it deserves.
20. Teaching is basically a matter of explaining
things properly.
21. Married people are happier than unmarried
people.
22. Love means never saying you’re sorry.
23. People work better if they are paid more.
24. Everyone is basically selfish.

4th Sample activity – Reasons for wanting an object

Desirable object Not very desirable objects

A car An empty tin
A radio A paper bag
A bicycle A bone
A gold watch A feather
A winter coat A stone
A stereo set A bit of string
A motor boat An old newspaper
A box of chocolates A bucket of mud
An armchair A baby crocodile
A television Aused envelope
A bottle of perfume A single shoe
A bottle of wine A playing card
5th Sample activity - Relaxation technique.

Listen to your teacher’s instructions carefully

6th Sample activity – Match the people

Match the people

Aim: Imaginative comparison; discussion.

Procedure: Write a list of about ten jobs on the board. Each student writes down a
list of ten ideas, feeling, memories, etc. he or she associates with one of the jobs
listed. ( The name of the job referred to must not be included.) For example, here is
a list of associations with a job given in the first line of the box.

Poor, expensive, colour, canvas, pain, joy, brush, smell, country, friends

Each idea must be described by a single word. The students then work in pairs and
each student studies his or her neighbour’s list and tries to guess which job the list
refers to. The student then confirms or rejects the guess and explains why he or she
put each word in the list; the connection may not always be obvious.

Match the people

artist, actor, actress, architect, baker,

businessperson, butcher, chemist, clerk, cook,
dancer ,dentist, doctor, driver, factory worker,
farmer, footballer, grocer, policeman/woman,
postman/woman, seaman, secretary, singer,
teacher, vet, waiter, waitress, writer.

Ur. P., Five Minute Activities, CUP