Perfect aliens

In small groups design an alien , the weirder the better. Get someone in the group to draw it. Describe it to the rest of the class and see if they can draw it. Compare your pictures with theirs.Which description / the picture does the class like the most?

Health and safety

In groups write a list of rules for one of these situations. Choose a secretary to keep a note of your ideas under four headings: must , mustn't , should, shouldn't ,don't have to.

managing a restaurant, kitchen , conducting a fireworks display,looking after a baby, going trekking in the mountains.

Swap lists with another group to see if they missed anything important.

Gadgets

Tell your students to bring a gadget to the next lesson.Work in pairs. Explain to your partner how it works. Here are some possible items:  camera,  mp3 player,  mobile,  game console, tablet, camcorder.

Guess the place

Work in groups. Imagine you are in a particular place. Say one of the rules that apply, and the other student will try to guess where you are. If they can't guess give another rule, e.g. 

A - You mustn't talk loudly.
B- Are you in a hospital?
A- You have to return things you borrowed.
B- Are you in a library? 
A- Yes.

Bare necessities

In pairs brainstorm a list of the twenty most important things that you need on a day-to-day basis and put them in order from most to least important. See how your list and order compares with another pair.
What is the bare minimum that a person needs to survive?List a few other things that people say they need , but that might not in fact be necessary.

On - line resources

Some of the most useful on - line resources for teachers and educators you can find here : http://www.teachthought.com   On - line resources 

Haiku

Does anybody know what a Haiku is? Where are Haiku from originally? How are they structured?              
( Traditionally a Haiku is a short poem describing a snapshot of the natural world and containing some reference to the season. They are from Japan, and have three lines. The first has five syllables, the second  seven and the third five.) There are some examples:

underneath the bridge
a Christmas tree abandoned,
in cold grey darkness

a strand of cobweb 
drifting on the summer breeze
catches the sunlight

In pairs , write two traditional Haiku for all seasons. When you finish , leave them on the table, then go around the classroom and read everybody else's.

WebQuest

A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson  in which most or all the information that students work with comes from the web. It is kind of instruction which a teacher prepares for students. Since the beginning days of the WebQuest idea in 1995, when the model was develpoed by Bernie Dodge,  lots of teachers have embraced WebQuests as a way to make good use of the internet by engaging their students in the kinds of thinking that the 21st century requires. 
Technologically, creating a WebQuest is very simple. As long as you can create a document with hyperlinks, you can create a WebQuest. That means that a WebQuest can be created in Word, Powerpoint, and other programs. 

Some interesting examples of WebQuests in Polish you can find here: http://mrostkow.oeiizk.waw.pl/wq/przyklad.htm

Design thinking

Design thinking can be a powerful tool in any field. It is creative , collaborative and gives your students lots of fun.You can use the method in education  easily. There is a site which promotes design thinking for educators http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/ where you can see the film how to use the method .Please visit d.school Bootcamp:  and see the results :)

Love

Do you believe in love at the first sight? Does anyone know the story of Romeo and Juliet? ( Elicit the story , one sentence at the time, from those who know it, with a question about each line from those who don't.e.g.:They met at a party.Whose party was it?)

In small groups discuss the way relationships begin in different cultures.What are the most important foundations of a successful relationship? Compare your ideas with another group.

Virtual walk

maps.google.pl is a really good tool to see the most interesting places abroad. Let's go for a walk then. You can visit London, New York, Sydney and base your lesson on presentation of the city connected to a certain topic or story.  Having a projector and PC is the only limit you have got.

Permission

May I ...


Work in pairs. Student A, you are in Student 's B house. Ask for permission using May I....?, Do you mind if....?. Student B - you don't want anything touched . Refuse Student A as politely as possible and explain why, e.g. May I open the window?  I'd rather you didn't it is very cold outside. 

Here are some things to ask about: phone, piano, CD collection, TV, garden.