This post is going to be a short list. mini games for gradual "warming up" without preparation.

1. Make up as many words as possible. You can play one on one with a student, and you can divide the class into two teams. Write long words like: apologise, dictionary, September and ask students to make as many new ones as they can.

2. Make the longest words. Write one topic word vertically and ask students to write another word from each letter. The winner is the one who writes the longest word. For example, WINTER

W aterfallI industrialN auseaT errifiedE mptyR etailer

3. What does your name mean? Using a dictionary, Google, any other source, your task is to find adjectives for each letter of your name. For example:

F lirtatious, R relaxed, E xtrovert, D esirable

4. What do you know about bananas? Set a stopwatch for 5 minutes and let the students talk about the facts they know about bananas (or cats, Belgium, David Beckham, etc.).

5. Racing from A to Z. Come up with a topic with students, for example, food, holidays. The task is to write words that begin with each letter of the alphabet and relate to the topic.

6. What can we do with potatoes? Show the potato to the students and ask them to come up with as many unusual uses for it as they can. For example: paperweight, weapon, pen holder, smartphone dock.

7. Name ten. Have students think and name 10 subjects that meet these criteria, for example:

• Jobs where you have to wear a uniform
• English football clubs
• Sports that are played with a ball
• Foods that contain eggs
• Animals that lay eggs
• Three letter parts of the body eye, arm, leg, hip, ear, toe jaw, rib, lip, gum

8. Two truths, one lie. Write three sentences about yourself, one of which is a lie. Ask students to explain why they chose you, what is true about you, what is false. For example:

I used to be an air steward
I can ride a unicycle
My favorite food is sushi.

9. I'm going to a picnic and I take with me ... This is a game about the rule to be guessed. For example, in the form of a dialogue with uncountable nouns, which can continue until the student guesses the rule:

teacher: I'm going on a picnic and I'm taking milk.
Student A: I'm going on a picnic and I'm taking eggs.
teacher: No, you can't take eggs.
Student B: Can I take orange juice?
teacher: Yes, you can take orange juice.
etc.

Might be interesting:

When I started teaching seriously at a foreign language school, my first group was the dream come true for any teacher: 10 interested in learning, motivated, attentive and patient students. Therefore, I was absolutely not embarrassed by the fact that I started each lesson with “How are you today?”

As their knowledge grew, the answers to the questions became more extensive, the conversation dragged on and took more than 5 minutes. By the end of the semester, my students received A1 diplomas and I received my firstfeedback: Everything is fine, but it’s just very boring to start each lesson from the same one.

Then I seriously thought about how to start an English lesson correctly.

Why is it so important to start the lesson right?

The proverb says: A good beginning is half done". So the introductory part of the lesson is a key aspect of effective teaching.

The introductory part of the lesson is needed in order to:

- present the topic of the lesson

- get students interested in the topic

- set the pace of the lesson and the atmosphere necessary for learning

Imagine tired students who most likely came to your class after work, study, maybe they had a hard day. Our task as teachers is to smoothly switch and focus their attention on the English lesson and prepare them for everything they will be doing during the lesson.

Basic principles of the introductory part

For an effective start of the lesson, you need to remember the following principles:

1. The introduction should be short. and take from 3 to 10 minutes depending on the duration of the lesson.

- if the lesson lasts 30 minutes, it is optimal to allocate 3 minutes for a warm-up;

- if the lesson lasts an hour and a half, you can spend a 10-minute warm-up.

2. . "Good advice, Captain Obvious," you say. But it should be remembered that interest induces motivation for learning and stimulates the desire to learn.

If your students are interested in the topic that you raised in the introductory part, they will be more willing to express an opinion, share experience, agree or refute the information.

3. Relevance. When choosing and developing tasks for the introductory part, be sure to keep in mind the ultimate goal of the lesson and the program as a whole. The discrepancy between the introductory part and the main part of the lesson can cause misunderstanding among students and the question “Why did we do all this?”

4. Authenticity. « Being fully exposed to the authentic materials is one of the key factors for language acquisition". Authentic materials can serve to increase the interest of students, provided they are chosen according to the level, age and interests of your group.

Types of tasks for the introductory part

There are two types of introductory exercises:warmers and lead-ins .

Warmers are used to increase the energy level in the classroom, create a positive and relaxed atmosphere before the main part of the lesson begins. They may not always be related to the topic of the lesson. Towarmersinclude games, quizzes, tongue twisters, songs, etc.

Lead-ins are an introduction to the main part and content of the lesson. The purpose of this kind of tasks is to motivate students and focus their attention on the topic of the lesson, to create a connection between the topic of the lesson and the life of students (personalization).

Ideas for the introductory part of the lesson

We have not published for a long time. Therefore, today we will consider ideas forlead-in assignments:

multimedia tasks

1. Songs . Before starting the lesson, put on a song that fits the theme of the lesson. Try to turn on the song before the students arrive - while they are gathering and taking their seats, they will already have the opportunity to listen to the fragment and form an opinion about it. As soon as the lesson begins, discuss how the song made an impression, whether you liked it, what it is about, etc.

2. Video . Use a music video/snippet from a movie, series, etc. For this you will need a projector. The principle of discussion will be the same as with the song.

3. Freeze . Show students a frame from the video. Discuss what is happening on it and what will happen next. After the discussion, you can watch the video up to the end and talk about whether they expected such an ending or not and why.

4. Photo . Discussing an image is a very common task. To impress students more, display the photo on a wall or whiteboard using a projector.

Phrases, sentences, quotes

5. Finish the phrase . Write the beginning of a sentence on the board ahead of time (for example,I feel the happy when…) and ask each student to complete it as he/she sees fit. A brief discussion may follow.

6. Quote . Write a pre-chosen quote on the board. Ask how students understand it, whether they agree or not, who could this quote belong to, why they think so, etc.

7. Idiom / proverb / catchphrase. Ask your students to explain how they understand the phrase written on the board. Ask if they agree or disagree and why.

visual aids

8. What common? Prepare several photos on the same topic. Discuss with them what these photographs have in common. Ask students to guess the topic of the lesson from the pictures.

9. Moving agree/disagree . Ask students to rise from their seats. Prepare a few statements in advance. Set rules - if they agree with the statement, then they occupy, for example, the left side of the classroom, if not, then the right.

10. moving true/false. The principle is the same as in the previous task. Get some facts ready. If students believe that the statement is accurate, they occupy one part of the audience, if not, then another.

Repetition

11. use the word. Write down on the board in advance the vocabulary that you recently studied, or use. Ask a question such as " How was your weekend?". When answering a question, the student must use one or more words that are written on the board or caught on a card.

12. Explain the word. Prepare cards with new vocabulary in advance (one card - one word) and lay them out face down. Students must explain the meaning of the words; if the student does not know the word, let him try to guess its meaning, starting from the topic.

Life hacks for the introductory part of the lesson

— it is important to prepare the class for the introductory part in advance: write on the board the phrase / expression / quote that you will discuss, turn on the projector, display a video, photo, clip, etc. on the screen.

So even before the start of the lesson, students will begin to think about what is written on the board, to understand whether they like what they just read / saw. So you start the learning process starts even before the start of the lesson.

— the question "How are you?" has a place to be. But don't use it at the beginning of every lesson. Ask it before the beginning of the lesson, when students just enter the classroom.

Use this question in the introductory part if the topic of the lesson is really related to it.

Don't be afraid to experiment and Happy Teaching!

Good winter day everyone!

Autumn is coming to an end, it’s incomprehensible snow outside the window, and your phone suddenly rings and, having picked up the phone and prepared to refuse to take a loan or have a very necessary procedure in a beauty salon, you hear that someone is eager to learn a language, and certainly under your sensitive leadership.

What to do and where to run?

Let's try to figure out what to talk about on the phone and what to do on first lesson in English.

Telephone conversation

By phone, I always try to discuss the points that concern me in order to understand whether we can cooperate or not. And the answer will be negative if:
1) not suitable time or place conducting classes;
2) not satisfied price;
3) goal student learning does not coincide with my teaching goals (for me, this is when a mother wants us to do homework in English with a child or an adult declares that he will only talk, without tedious rules and memorizing words);
4) on the other end of the wire they say as if I already have something must caller.

If everything suits us, we agree on the place and time of the first lesson. I warn you that the purpose of the first meeting there will be a language level determination, it is free and lasts about 40 minutes. You need to take a notebook and a pen with you.
I also learn how the student himself can determine his level of knowledge in order to imagine what level of material to prepare. As a rule, adults quite adequately assess their capabilities, while with schoolchildren one cannot be sure of anything.

It happens that parents say: “we have been studying with a tutor for two years, but she can no longer study with us, so we turned to you”, I prepare A2 level materials, I come to class - and the child barely reads, and say he can’t do almost anything… The student becomes embarrassed because he doesn’t meet my expectations, my mother sees his discomfort and also starts to worry… It’s a stupid situation, I usually try to cheer me up in every possible way to smooth this moment, otherwise after the first meeting there will be an unpleasant impression.

First meeting

If the first lesson is held by the student, I always leave early and try to dress more formally in order to make a good impression, it determines the opinion of the teacher for a long time. This is when we get to know each other better, you can walk in torn jeans and a T-shirt ...

Impressed, proceed directly to the lesson:

1. We start the meeting with dialogue. I have not yet seen a single student who cannot speak English at all. Before the conversation, I say to speak English as they say, without fear of making mistakes. If he does not understand or does not know something, let him speak in Russian.
   I ask standard questions: How are you? The name of? Where does he/she study/work? What does he like to do in his free time? If I see that I am doing well, I ask about the purpose of the study and wishes for conducting classes in English, if not, in Russian. (Accordingly, if there is a student in front of me, I ask this question to my parents, who always sit next to me at the first lesson).
2. I give further vocabulary and grammar test(about 20 questions), about 5 minutes. (If the student is an adult, I can send him to the post office before the meeting so as not to waste time in class.
   It is better to save the results in a separate folder specially dedicated to students. What for? If during the training the popular phrase “we have been studying for six months now, but I don’t feel that I have progressed in learning the language” pops up, show it every time I hear it. This is especially popular with USE students, recently one of them wrote me a sampler for 86 points (against 72 points six months ago), and still the same song: “I know the language worse than before” ...
3. While I'm reviewing the test, I give a small text for reading comprehension, with post-text speaking tasks, and ideally with listening, where the end of the story is recorded (for example, for adults, I like the text about the hotel with a ghost from lesson 6B New English File Elementary).

After all the manipulations, I say what level the student has (as a rule, the dialogue-test-text in unison repeats one thing, but there are also cases when the student understands what he read and writes the test well, but he can’t say almost anything and understands poorly by ear ), and which tutorial and why we choose. When choosing a textbook, I focus not only on the level of knowledge, but also on the tasks assigned to us.

In the end, I ask you once again to express any wishes for the classes, and for my part I warn that:

• at class cancellation(ill, work, urgent matters) must be reported 24 hours in advance. If more than three times in six months a lesson is canceled right before the lesson, I transfer it to an advance payment and increase the price. If I cancel the lesson (due to illness of myself or the child), we can reschedule it at the request of the student for the weekend or for a window in my schedule;
• at unfinished homework(more than three times in six months) we part. I don't believe in progress without independent work. I can make an exception for adults, who may not do homework for one lesson and we chat with them the whole lesson, and for the second they do double volume;
• raise the price I won’t be studying for a year (unless, of course, the goal changes - I suddenly want to pass the exam), and if I decide to raise it from the next academic year, I will inform you about it three months in advance;
• if the student has something do not like during the lesson, I want to focus on some type of activity or any other doubts arise - all complaints are accepted and considered.

Results

It's great if you have a business card with coordinates. It looks professional, and it becomes clear that you are serious about the matter. I want to do everything for myself, I even came up with a design, but my hands won’t reach it.

Over time, at the first meeting, it becomes clear whether the person is serious. This helps to avoid that feeling when you allocated a place in the schedule, prepared for classes, tried to captivate and entertain ... and after a vacation or vacation, it disappears forever, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste on your soul.

I don’t want to end the article on a sad note, so I’ll say that the percentage of students who go nowhere is small - two students left me in a year. When I remember our first meetings, I understand that now I would not waste time. The first one on the phone said “it’s expensive for you”, but she started to study anyway, the second told me every lesson: “I like everything, I’m ready to study and do everything” and also disappeared after the holidays.
There are much more of those who come by word of mouth, so look at everything philosophically - "when one door closes, another one will certainly open."
Happy New Year everyone and good luck!

P.S. About the first lesson with those who are going to prepare for the OGE or the USE, I am writing.

How to do the first lesson

• Before getting to know a student, it is very difficult to understand what level of knowledge he has, what teaching aids to use, and so on. Therefore, it is important to ask as many questions as possible before class. If you have a lesson with a schoolchild, ask the parents how long the child has been studying English at school, what grades he has, whether there are difficulties in doing homework, whether he has ever studied with a tutor before. Be sure to ask what textbooks the child uses at school, this will help you figure out which topics the student is currently studying at school, and which have already been completed.
• If you are going to study English with an adult student, the most important thing here is to find out the purpose of the study. Maybe a person got a job or is going to get a job where English is required, perhaps even preparation is needed to pass some kind of certificate. In this case, you will need to focus on grammar and writing. If a person just wants to improve their language a little for traveling, then the main time of classes should be devoted to speaking practice.
• When preparing for the first lesson, try to pick up as many diverse tasks as possible in order to test the student's knowledge in various aspects. You can even make a small test, with tasks for listening, reading, writing and grammar. Then you will be more likely to understand the level of knowledge of the student.
• At the first meeting with the student, try to immediately get in touch with him. Be kind and considerate with your child, ask him what problems he has in learning English, look at his textbooks and notebooks to understand how the child is doing at school. With an adult, you can start a lesson with a short interview, during which you can find out more about the person’s work, hobbies, and the goals of his education. This will help loosen up, and at the same time give you more information to prepare for further classes. If the student's level of knowledge allows, it is better to speak English, at least partially.
• If your student is a preschooler or elementary school student, try to prepare the first lesson in such a way that it contains more interactive material: educational videos, songs, cards, games. Grammar assignments for students of this age should also be submitted in a playful way, explain the rules using cards, books with beautiful attractive pictures. So the child will immediately form an interest in the English language.
• At the end of the lesson with the child, be sure to give him homework for the next lesson. Immediately explain to the student how important his independent work is, and that in this way he will be able to achieve success in learning English much faster. Adults can print out a book to read, for example from the Cambridge English Readers series. Usually these are either detective stories or short fascinating stories. In the next lesson, it will be possible to discuss the read chapter in the form of a retelling and questions on the text. This is a great conversational practice and the opportunity to learn new words.
• A properly conducted first lesson will create a positive impression of you. Further in the learning process, the main thing is not to lower your bar, continuing to select interesting materials for both adults and young students.

Probably, any work can be done without a plan, at random. But the result of such work, as a rule, leaves much to be desired ...

Teaching English without a plan is like wandering around an unfamiliar city without a navigator or map. You may find the right address, but you will lose a lot of time and nerves. So let's talk about how to properly plan a lesson. We will do this using the example of an ESL (English as a Second Language) lesson. There are many manuals containing ESL / EFL lesson plans, but not always a ready-made plan is suitable for a given class. Therefore, many teachers find it necessary to make their own corrections, and often completely revise the lesson plan. Sometimes this is required by the leadership of the educational institution.

We bring to your attention a basic template, following which you can create your lesson plan of English language.

General Lesson Plan

The plan consists of four main parts that can be repeated throughout the session, but the main thing is to stick to the following scheme:

1. Warming up
2. The main part (program): the study of vocabulary, grammar, phonetics, etc.
3. Analysis of the features of the material covered
4. Practice of use in context

Warming up

Use warm-up to get your brain working in the right direction. Start with simple questions and an offer to talk about, for example, how your weekend went. Use simple grammatical constructions, such as the simple past. If you are working with an advanced group, try discussing an imaginary situation using conditionals (you should have come; I would have done; etc.). To develop descriptive skills, ask students to describe what they see around them. Invite them to turn to a neighbor and ask them to do some action or movement.

For example:
• Clap your hands.
• Snap your fingers.
• Touch your elbow.
• Turn around.
• Pretend to be driving a car.
• Make a funny face.
• Pretend to be shocked.

As a hint, many teachers are happy to use. At the same time, students receive a lot of positive emotions and a charge of vivacity for the whole lesson.

Main part

In this part, we focus on the study of the main material. Here the process is controlled by the teacher. Give free rein to your imagination without going beyond the educational (approved) program. You can explain the grammar and give examples on the board, show a short video for further discussion. New words must be used in a broad context. Read the text, if something is not understood - tell me, work out the grammar and sentence structure. Explain to the students that asking questions is not only not shameful, but even useful. If you cannot answer a question, take a delay by saying, for example: We will return to this topic a little later (in the next lesson). This will give you time to find an answer and save face.

Guided practice

Practice under the supervision of the teacher allows you to determine how students understood the material of the course. You can use blank sentences to substitute, for example, verbs in various conjugations. Offer to complete unfinished sentences in writing using certain templates. Check students' understanding of written text and spoken language. Hold small dialogues on a specific topic, such as an apology, gratitude, business communication, etc.

free practice

Free practice allows your students or pupils to control the development of the material themselves. Such an activity should encourage students to use English more actively for communication. Offer to hold a debate on a topic of interest. Organize a role play and play it like a little play. Writing a short essay on a free topic also has a positive effect. During practice, note for yourself the common mistakes and shortcomings of each of the students. It is advisable to record the results of such observations. Use such notes to prompt and help all students, but do not focus on the personality of the person who made the mistake.

This lesson plan is useful for several reasons. Firstly, students have at their disposal a variety of means for mastering language material. Secondly, they have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge in practice. The teacher, in turn, can give more precise instructions to the students. The plan creates a structure that you can improvise while you practice. The focus of the lesson should gradually move from the teacher to the students. It is very important.

Variations on a theme...

No matter how hard you try, sticking to a plan can eventually get boring. Therefore, it is important to know that any plan allows improvisations that can be used at different stages of the lesson. Here, of course, you will need creativity and ingenuity. For example, students may come to class with their problems, tired, or even late. Let them come to their senses by relaxing a little during the warm-up part. Tell a story, ask simple questions. Help them talk. You can go further and include a good song in English and comment on its lyrics. Draw on the board or use a ready-made picture. Offer to discuss it. You can start with a simple hello, and that's fine, but it's best to tie the warm-up to the topic of the upcoming session.

The main part of the lesson can take a variety of forms. The main thing is that the presentation of the material is clear and understandable. Try to keep the content short. Remember: brevity is the sister of talent. Here are some ideas for how you can convey new information to the class. Find a topic of interest to your wards and offer to just talk. Choose the appropriate text to read. Listen to the podcast in English. Show a short video.

Give the lesson in the form of a presentation. It should contain the main essence of the lesson. Let's take for example. Prepare a short piece of text heavily flavored with irregular verbs. Check how your audience was able to understand and master them. Here you can use exercises and tests that will help you focus on the main topic of the lesson. At this stage, it is very important to provide feedback to students, to allow them to speak on a given topic. It can be answers to the teacher's questions or a conversation with classmates.

Review what you have learned using the vocabulary of the lesson in practice. The exercises should motivate students to independently use the target language constructs. This can be done through pair or small group discussions, written notes or essays, listening exercises, or games. Perhaps the most important principle of a good lesson is that students want to incorporate what they have learned into more complex language constructs. This will require you to be more creative in your learning. It will be helpful to go through the class and write down and summarize the main mistakes. Simply put, in this part of the lesson, more mistakes are allowed, but they must be identified and corrected together with the students.

Feedback allows students to test themselves, and the teacher to find out how clear the lesson material was. This can be done quickly enough using oral questions on the topic of the lesson. Prepare them ahead of time. You can also invite students to talk in groups, giving them the opportunity to better understand the topic covered. This format of classes will help ensure that your students are interested in continuing to learn English. The more opportunities and options for learning the language you give in the classroom, the more interesting it will be for your students to work with you and continue learning the language on their own.