Welcome to
ESL Printables,
the website where English Language teachers exchange resources:
worksheets, lesson plans, activities, etc.
Our collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. If
you want to download you have to send your own contributions.
Let ´s BRAINSTORM universal READING TASKS, please!
DEAR FRIENDS, I AM LOOKING FOR a list of TASKS THAT CAN BE USED with ANY text. COULD YOU HELP ME? I would like to have a "copy paste activities to go with any text (tasks which I can copy under virtually any text) Most of the activities can go with stories, but some can be used with letters, newspaper articles etc...
CAN WE please SHARE a list of OUR FAVOURITE "universal" tasks to go with ANY reading text? Let �s play with words / reading: Find 10 adjectives and write their antonyms or synonyms Mirror dictation - think about a word and dictate the antonym (think: black, dictate: white, S2 writes BLACK) Find 5 irregular verbs and write sentences in past simple / present perfect / passive Write 10 key words from the story and their definitions and let your partner guess. Play tictactoe. Memory Game - make cards - word + definition / picture. What�s missing? - Read your key words, cover 2 of them, S2 guesses which are missing Play hangman - alphabet shark - burst balloons - catch the fish - melt the snowman Make a spider diagram of some words used in the text. Write words with one semantic root - act - action - active - actively Cloze task - take out some words (sentences) and ask your partner to place them back in the correct place
Jumble words in 5 sentences and ask your partner to unscramble them. Spelling dictation - spell the keywords, your partner will write them down Choose one longer word - make new words - ANAGRAMS Expanding 1 short word - "in" - tin - win - intelligent ... or hat-cat-car-bar-bat... Double Dollars - make pairs beginning with same letter - angry adult etc... Rhyming Dictation - Write a few words from 1st paragraph and think of rhyming words. Eg. cat - hat. Dictate hat, S2 reads the paragraph and tries to find the original word - cat... Rhyming Words - Write a short poem. Advanced SS - poem summarizing the text. Word Duels - SS make a circle and write a summarising sentence(s) - one word at a time Logic sequence - write a sequence + partner guess the missing part - Mo-Tue-___-Thu Correct Me Please - misspell 5 words (/wrong tense), your partner corrects Scanning - circle/find the given key words in the text as fast as possible Silence Please - whisper 3 key words very quietly. Others write down. Each group must agree on the correct answer. (It must have been... It can´t have been... It might have been...) - for advanced ss.
Games: Magic Pics - cloze activity - erase 5 words and draw pictures instead of them. S2 guesses. Flash Pics - draw pics of key words, show it quickly, show only a part, others guess Chinese Whispers - against a teacher, if the word correct, T loses a point Mime it! - mime 1 key word (from each paragraph). Others guess. Mime opposites/1 paragraph - 2 ss mime opposites/1 paragraph. Others guess.
Writing tasks:
Write a summary in 4-10 short sentences. What is the gist?--Write a 10 word summary of what happened. Create a timeline of the action. Rewrite with Past Perfect. Imagine a story with the same title. Imagine a sequel to the story (what happened after). Imagine a prequel. Rewrite the story from the perspective of a baddie. Write his/her diary. Write a different ending to the story. Draw a picture of it and comment it! Comment 1 sentence - choose 1 sentence that ___ (a sentence that is beautiful,
interesting, surprising, contains the main idea, I didn�t
understand, I agree/disagree with...) Create new sentences with the words you have just learnt Imagine additional dialogues that may fit in the story. Act as the main character or reporter. Write reported speech. Find verbs in ___ tense and explain why they are used Rewrite or retell the story from the point of view of one of the characters (in the 1st person) "The Most" List - write the longest list of ... the most dangerous sports, funniest presents, silliest mistakes... Mixed-up Stories - take 2 summaries, cut the lines in the middle and jumble the strips + recreate 2 stories Make a comics from the story. Erase some speech clouds and S2 guesses. Or jumble. Make titles/headings to all paragraphs. Mix them. S2 match titles + paragraphs. Underline some pronouns in the text (them, it her...) and ask what do they refer to? Underline words you are not familiar with and look them up in a
dictionary. Write definitions. Write a letter to the main character of the story Design a nice poster with a few of the suggestions that came up. Question tasks: Write 5 questions to the story. Answer your partner �s questions. What is the text about? Do you like it? What is the text type - newspaper article, short-story, letter, (in)formal email, description, diary, note...? What would your title of the text be? Jeopardy -Guess the Q- write questions and answers about the text. Say answers and your partner has to create an appropriate question. Indirect questions - Report the most interesting questions - He wanted to know..., She asked me if/whether..., Embedded questions - Report what you didn�t know - I didn�t remember what time it had started. I didn �t know who had won the race Which questions would you ask the main character? S2 makes up the possible answers. Write true / false statements. Your partner nods or shakes his head. Question words - make 1 question with how, who, when, why, which, where + what. Play a Jeopardy / Who Wants to be a Millionnaire game. Use ss´ questions. Speaking tasks: Work in pairs and re-tell the text. You can say only one sentence at a time and your partner continues. Think
about one "secret magic word" from the text and say a word connected to
the magic word. Your partner will guess... Eg: Day is the magic word.
You say: sun. S2: Is is a noun? You nod. S2: Is is heat? Don�t nod. Divide and cut the story in 6-10 parts and ask your partner to read/number the parts of the story in the right order. Discussion - dis/agreement - Think of a topic/statement that is closely related to the text. You agree and your partner disagrees. Brainstorm ideas why you agree. Third student is a jury and s/he decides whether SA or SB is right. Compare with another story Tell a similar situation that happened to you / your friend Describe character�s moral characteristics + give your opinion Draw an illustration to each paragraph. Read a story/summary, S2 match pics + paragraphs. Mistakes Please - Listen and shout stop every time you hear a mistake and correct it
CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TASKS?
I usually read short stories to my students (9-12) and then I ask them to draw and ending and comment it orally. I ask them to think How would they finish that story. They have to tell us why they drew such thing and what it represents. It �s very funny to listen and see what they come up with and all are different! They love it! and I enjoy listening to them and watching how their imagination runs wild!
What is the gist?--Write a 10 word summary of what happened. (good for really getting to the "meat" of the story)
Go through the reading paragraph by paragraph and put a check in the margin if you understood that paragraph, or a minus if you didn �t. (This is for longer readings, especially non-fiction) to self monitor comprehension.)
Thanks to all! YOU ARE ALL SOOOO CREATIVE !!!! And special thanks to Anitarobi who sent me links to her collections with tons of ideas... I am updating / adding some of the ideas in the list... Check and come back in a few minutes!!! Let �s make the list as loooong as an anaconda :-D
- Underline some pronouns in the text (them, it her...) and ask what do they refer to? - Write some headings and match them with the paragraphs of the text.
