Hi,

I have a class of 10 Italian teenagers (in Italy, intermediate level) 2 hours a week: I’ve had them 3 times and they’re less than enthusiastic about what we’ve done so far. They want to do more conversation stuff but I’m at a loss for ideas. Any and all suggestions for dynamic activites would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks!

Reply To: Help teaching teenagers (please!)

There are lots of activities which you can use at this level profog – picture games, interactive storytelling, anecdote telling , visualisation activities, Describe and … games to name just a few. If you click [url=http://eltnotebook.blogspot.com/search/label/Teaching%20Speaking/]here[/url] you’ll find a selection of articles which describe these and other activities for practising speaking.

Reply To: Help teaching teenagers (please!)

most italian students are ready to rock. enthusiasm is contagious. go in with some fun activities but make sure the lesson has substance. nothing wrong with grammar games [mr rinvolucri] and once upon a time [mario with john morgan].

go easy on pop music. it can win short term favour but needs to be used sparingly and/or purposefully.

try music with clever lyrics – paul simon; james taylor or, further back, the songs of cole porter.

siddharta
teflersanonymous@yahoo.com

Reply To: Help teaching teenagers (please!)

Check the latest of the ICAL TESL videos to see how you can exploit movie trailers to get your students to use their English in a real way, just as native speakers do.

http://www.icalweb.com/videos/default.asp