Objectives:

Demonstrate an understanding of action words; express meaning through mime; practice memory and aural comprehension skills.

ESL Level:

Newcomers as well as those who have a few months of English.

Procedure:

Teach action words through pictures and mime. Use the list in books published for newcomers. Another great source is Usborne's First Thousand Words.

Here is my beginning list :

• walk,sit,play
• run, read, write
• jump, point,sing
• turn, stand,look
• talk, smile,climb
• eat, drink, cry
• sleep, listen, open

After students have learned these words, compile a list of twenty to thirty action words which are relevent to the ability and ages of your students. This list might include any verb that can easily be acted out: wave, sneeze, cough, rub, sigh, wink, gulp, shout, clap, snap, hum, bend., etc.

Teach students to respond to each word on your list with a specific action. For example, when you say "Clap," have students respond by clapping. As you ask students to respond you can individualize for each student by giving the easier words to new students.

When students can respond correctly to most of the words, play this game with them:

1. Have students sit around a table or in a semi-circle on chairs.

2. Call out a series of actions for the first student to your left such as, "Jump, eat, snap."

3. The first student must repond without talking and complete the three actions in the correct order.

4. If the first student is unable to do this, the turn passes around the circle until a student can complete the actions correctly. The clues are not repeated, however.

5. This requires students to work on memory and aural comprehension skills. They must all listen when you are giving the clue to the first student. When a student responds correctly, you go back to the second student in the circle.

6. If you want to make it a competition, give a point to the student who responds correctly. This can become your assessment of how much your students learned.

© 1998-2005 Judie Haynes, www.everythingESL.net