Resources

On the friday afternoon of our summer camp we hold a Camp Fair. This is always a big hit with the students and a great way to end the week. Here's the detailed teacher guide to plan this activity, and some colourful signs to print for each fair 'station'.

We get our older students working throughout the week on creative construction: using cardboard and recycled materials and a lot of colourful paint to build fun camp games. We challenge them to run the stands (in English) and be responsible for collecting payment (fake camp currency) and awarding prizes and team points.

Make sure to play some fun music throughout the fair and take plenty of photos and videos to include it in your end of camp slideshow. We circulate as the students move station to station and encourage them to use English at all times. It becomes a great roleplaying scenario for real shopping as well as a lot of fun.

We use these giant posters (can be printed as size A0) as group flags for our big challenge groups at summer camp. We award points for which team decorates their poster the best.

A fun way to do this is to set the poster and paints (or big markers) at one end of a playing field or hall and have the teams lined up at the other end, relay style. Blow a whistle for the first student from each team to race up and start painting their poster however they like. After a minute blow the whistle again and the next student has a turn, and so on. It makes this activity very exciting and ensures no one gets left out.

After the posters are dry, display them proudly in the group challenge area to mark meeting spots for each group. Bring them to the front for your final show and when you announce challenge winners.

We love to end our summer camp with a big show. Each student group shows off some of what they've learned with an entertaining, dramatic play or film. We also prepare a slideshow of photos and videos of the camp activities and the students receive their certificate and completed workbook. The students perform the pop song and any other cultural dances they have learned. It's a wonderful celebration of all the great times they've had at summer camp.

As a fun arts and crafts activity a few days before the camp show, we have the students decorate these fairy tale themed invitations. We print them on card and make sure we've done at least one colourful example for inspiration. While they work, it is a great time to sing camp songs and enjoy a food treat.

One student thinks of a person, place, animal or object. The students then rotate around the table each getting one 'yes' or 'no' question to try to guess what it is. If the students ask 20 questions in total, and still don't know the answer, the student wins.

Using an elaborate and complex range of vocabulary, the student is to write a factual piece of writing, detailing a day in her/his life. The writing is to be structured following the daily routine of the student, beginning with waking up and having breakfast and finishing at the end of the day.

The student MUST use the following words/phrases: habitually, sustain, routinely, dedicate time, clockwork, penultimate and consecutive.

Have the student(s) tell a story using story cubes or other visual prompts for inspiration. Write the following expressions on the white-board: before, when, then, while, after, it wasn't until, finally, during, immediately, first of all, whenever, as soon as. Work together to tell a story. Encourage the student(s) to use each expression. Cross them out after they have been used.

Have students answer the following questions to practice using modal verbs for ability:

Can you hold your breath for 1 minute? Can you ski? Can you do a card trick? What are some special things can you do? What are some things you wish you could do? Do you wish you could fly? Do you wish you could live in a different country?

Pretend you went to the supermarket and say what you bought. The next student repeats what was said before and adds something else to the list. To make it more difficult the next student must use the last letter from the previous food item for their food item.

Divide your class into two (or more) teams to play this adjective elimination game.

One at a time, students come to the front of the room. (If possible, you may want to put some type of divider between the students so neither person can see what the other writes.) To play one round, show the two students (and your class) a picture. For the next sixty seconds, each person must write down as many adjectives to describe the picture as he or she can think of. At the end of the minute, have students compare their lists. Any word both students listed gets crossed off. Each student gets one point for every remaining adjective and minus one point for every word which is not an adjective for their team. Continue until everyone has had a turn up front. The team with the most points wins the game.

Give each student a photo of a superhero. They are to give three fitting adjective clues to their classmates. The first classmate to guess the person correctly wins a point. The student with the most points wins.

Each student is given a picture of an animal. Then, using a deck of adjective cards, is given 4 cards. The teacher puts the remaining cards in a deck, and turns one card over to begin the discard pile. Each turn, the student must choose one card (either from the deck or the card that's on top in the discard pile) and discard one. The student who finds 4 adjective cards that describes their picture is the winner.

Split the class into two teams. Have the students invent crazy team names. Flip a coin to decide which team will go first. The first team says an adjective, and second team must respond with that adjective's opposite. If they are correct, no points are awarded. Then, team 2 sends an adjective to team 1. If they are incorrect, team 2 has the chance to steal the point by giving the correct answer. Continue alternating teams until one team has earned a set number of points. They are the winners.

Have students cut out opposite strips, and weave them through the anchor page. Decorate with markers, and gently pull the strips to discuss adjective comparisons.

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of a noun:

• big - They bought a big house.

• small - She found a small kitten in her garden.

• fast - The car wasn't fast, but it was reliable.

• happy - We were happy to see you yesterday.

• dangerous - It is dangerous to drive while it's snowing.

They can describe the quantity of a noun: many, few, hundreds, some

• There are many girls in the class.

• She had two scoops of ice-cream.

They can describe the possession of a noun: my, his, her, our, their

• Please put the book in my schoolbag.

• Their family is going skiing next weekend.

Placement: Adjectives almost always go before the noun they are describing.

• We had a delicious dinner together.

• Frank is a talented singer.

Exception: with linking verbs (be, look, feel, etc.) the adjective can go after the verb.

• The picture is beautiful.

• She felt happy after she won the competition.

Have each student create a list of questions about 'how often' a person might do an activity. Ex: "How often do you brush your teeth," or "How often do you travel to space?" Have the students 'interview' one another, then present their answers to the class.

Give students an adjective and a noun - "happy dog". Challenge the students to see how many adverbs they can think of to describe the phrase. Ex: Happy dog -- 'Always very happy dog,' 'Constantly happy dog,' 'cheerfully happy dog' 'unbelieveably happy dog,' etc. Encourage students to try to make the longest adverb chain possible.

An adverb is a word that modifies:

An adjective

• I was very hungry after the football match.

•It was quite windy out today.

A verb

• The traffic moved slowly.

• I will go to the supermarket tomorrow.

Another adverb

• The race finished too quickly.

• They almost always go to the park on the weekend.

A clause

• They arrived before the concert ended.

• When this class is over, they'll be going back home.

Adverbs tell us:

• when - She always wakes up early.

• how - He dances gracefully.

• where - She went skiing North of the city.

• in what way - She played the guitar slowly.

• to what extent - It's really hot today.

Students are divided into suspects and alibis and they have to describe a story of where they were at the time of the crime. They are then questioned separately. You can make this more specific to Past Continuous by only allowing the detectives to ask questions about the time of the murder, e.g. “What were you talking about?” and “Where was the waitress standing?”

An affix is added to the root of a word to change its meaning or its part of speech.

Common noun suffixes -

• -er: teacher, dancer, worker

• -or: translator, investigator

• -ment: engagement, encouragement

• -ness: cleanliness, readiness, willingness

• -tion: invitation, explanation

• -ee: attendee

• -ance: annoyance

Common adjective suffixes -

• -al: punctual, nocturnal, inspirational

• -able: reliable, likable, durable

• -an: Victorian, Mediterranean, magician

• -ary: visionary, dictionary, arbitrary

• -ful: beautiful, restful, harmful

• -ive: attentive, passive, supportive

• -less: careless, meatless, meaningless

• -ant: defiant, abundant, arrogant

Common prefixes -

anti-, mid-, trans-, inter-, extra-, hyper-, auto-, over-

• anti- antibody, antistress, antiestablishment

• mid- midway, midmorning, midwife

• trans- transatlantic, transcontinental, translation

• inter- intercity, interior, interconnected

• extra- extraordinary, extracurricular, extraterrestrial

• hyper- hyperbole, hyperventilate, hyperextend

• auto- automatic, automobile, autopilot

• over- overcompensate, overwhelmed, overbite

Common negative prefixes - dis-, il-, im-, non-, un-, ir-

• dis- dissatisfied, disinterested, distant

• il- illegal, illusion, illustrate

• im- imperfect, immobile, impossible

• non- non-negotiable, non-profit, nonreligious

• un- unbelievable, undesirable, unthinkable

• ir-irreversible, irreverent, irregular

Have students imagine there has been an alien takeover. Ask them what they think the aliens would do to change life on earth. Would they bring improvements or destruction to the planet? Students should develop an argument with three key points, then have a debate.

Brainstorm a list of 10 adjectives that can be used to describe people. Ask the students to write 5 sentences comparing members of their own family. Ex: My dad is taller than my mum. I am more beautiful than my dog. etc.

This colourful and cute card is designed to be printed and displayed in your classroom. It is very useful as a reference guide to help students spell out words, checking that they are using the correct pronunciation of each letter of the English alphabet. The adorable animal pictures help brighten up your classroom and can extend your students' vocabularies.

Sing the alphabet together. Repeat it in a variety of ways (fast, slow, silly, serious, loudly, quietly) so they can enjoy repeating it until it starts to become familiar.

Have the students imagine what life was like for their grandparents or their great-grandparents. Talk about how the lives of their ancestors could have been, then have the students compare/contrast this lifestyle with their own lives.

These adorable flashcards are great for lessons on animal vocabulary or the alphabet. Your students will love the pictures and have fun learning the animal words. Use them in pre-teaching, reinforcement games, as charade prompts or as a reference guide for spelling exercises. Laminate them to be able to use them over and over.

Have students match up the animal names with the correct pictures until they have filled up their bingo grids.

These flashcards are useful for quick revisions in classes as well as many fun games to help reinforce animal vocabulary. Your students will love the bright colours and cute animal picture! Use the flashcards in lessons to:

• do pop quizzes on their meanings
• hand out 2 or 3 per student for them to incorporate in a writing or speaking task
• play Memory
• play Charades

You can also print the cards and display them as colourful classroom posters.

Brainstorm a list of animals with the class. Make a list of them. Then, invite a student to choose one animal and act it out. The rest of the group will have to guess which animal they are pretending to be. Play until every student has had the chance to be an animal.

Have students colour and cut out the animal noses, attaching them to the appropriate animal.

Have students answer the following questions: if you could be any animal, what animal would you be? Where would you live? What food would you eat? Describe what you would do in a typical day.

Antonyms are words that have contrasting, or opposite, meanings.

• Fall - Rise

• Fast- Slow

• First - Last

• Heavy - Light

• Give - Receive

• Forward - Backward

• Funny - Sad

• Identical - Different

• Healthy - Sick

• Tough - Easy

Have students discuss the possible correlation between people suffering from anxiety based disorders and potentially troubling aspects of modern life - e.g constant internet connection, over-advertising, diet fads, health trends etc.

Every student has a hand of red cards of nouns. One student is the judge and plays a green adjective card. Each student with nouns cards puts down a card of their choice faced down. The judge then looks at all the cards and chooses a winner that best matches the adjective. The student whose card was picked takes the green card as a point.

Write a list of statements on the board: (e.g. The sky is purple. Hippos make great pets. Pineapple is good on pizza. Learning English is easy. I am going to visit Paris next year. )

Ask the students to rewrite each sentence, modifying it with an adverb of certainty, using either the positive or negative form.

Introduce: apparently, surely, obviously, hopefully, hypothetically, and actually.

Play 'Around the World': take a clock off the wall and use it to show different times, moving the hands. Do a competition where two students have to try and say the time correctly (reveal the clock by turning it around to face them after having changed the hand positions). Whichever student answers correctly first then moves to challenge the next student. The one who didn't 'win' sits down and waits for their next chance to beat the challenger. The 'winner' keeps moving around the room challenging the other students until they are beaten, then they sit down and the new winner continues.

Have students discuss the concept of art with you.

Some questions that you can ask are:

What is your favourite form of art, and why? What types of art are there? Why do you think art is important? Who is an artist you respect and admire? Do you have any artistic talents, such as drawing, singing, cooking or dancing?

Split the students into teams of two. One student is given a piece of paper and a pencil and must close their eyes. The other student is given a picture of an object. The student with the picture must describe the object, using as many adjectives as possible. The other student must draw what they hear, attempting to replicate what is in the picture. After about 5 minutes, the partners switch and are given a different picture.

Split the students into teams of two. One student is blindfolded, or can simply have their eyes closed, and the other is given an image of a scene. The student with the image must describe the scenario to the person who is blindfolded. The person who is blindfolded must draw the scene being described. After five minutes, give the teams a new image and have them trade roles. The students who produce the most accurate pictures will be the winners. Organise the things that will be drawn in each picture before hand, that way you can check to see how many correct items have been drawn.

An auxiliary verb - sometimes called a 'helping verb' is used together with another verb to create different tenses, moods, or voices.

'Be' is used with:

Progressive tenses

•I am going to the supermarket.

•He was reading a book before bed.

The passive voice

• I was given an award for my accomplishment.

• That song was famous for many years.

'Have' is used with:

The perfect tenses

• She has never eaten fish before.

• He had been working as a farmer before he became a football player.

'Do' is used with:

Questions

• Do you want to go to the cinema?

• Do you have a pencil I can borrow?

Negative forms

• I don't like studying Maths.

• They didn't go on vacation this year because the weather was bad.

'Modals' are used with:

The base infinitive of a verb.

• You should take an umbrella if it's raining.

• We can have a picnic on the weekend.

Have students answer the following questions as a way to get the lesson started: what's your name, age, and where are you from? Have you got any brothers or sisters? What's your favourite colour, hobby, food...etc.

Tell the students the following story: 'Yesterday, I had to go outside to speak with a parent. When I returned, I realised I should not have left the class alone! You won't believe what happened! Luigi had written his name on the wall with a black marker because two students said it would be funny. One student emptied a bottle of water onto their head because another student dared them. One student had changed the password on my computer... etc.'

Make the list as long as you can.

After you have told them the story, ask the students to remember things from the list, and recreate the list on the white board. They should remember the events using the past perfect and simple past together.

Have students discuss hobbies and why they are important. Some questions to ask the student are: What do you consider to be the benefits of having a hobby? What types of hobbies do you have? Why do you like them? Do you think you will continue these hobbies when you are an adult? If you could try a new hobby, what would you choose?

Ask students questions about their birthdays.

Some questions to ask: What did you do to celebrate your last birthday? Describe the day in as many details as possible. Whom did you celebrate with? What did you eat? What did you receive as a present? Where did you go?

Have the student write the name of their birthday month on the top of a piece of paper. Ask the student to draw things they associate with this month.

Ex: December: Christmas tree, presents, candy cane, snowman etc. (It's best if you create an example to help demonstrate to the students what they should do.)

Help the students write sentences about things that happen in their birthday month. What do people eat? What do people do? Are there any holidays?

Have students describe and write which animals live in each location.

(3 pages in arts and crafts folder.)

Teach children head, body, arm, leg, hand and foot using flashcards. Show flashcards to each student and have them point to the correct part of their own body.

Have students create their own face by cutting and sticking the eyes and noses and then drawing a mouth to complete it.

Introduce your students to simple body part vocabulary with our set of 28 easy-to-use flashcards. Perfect for teachers, these cards showcase everyday actions like "nose," "foot," "hand," and more, making them an ideal tool for classroom activities. The clear, simple visuals aid in comprehension and retention, and are suitable for learners of various levels. These cards are great for interactive games, memory recall exercises and reinforcing vocabulary in a lively, engaging manner. Whether you're leading a classroom or guiding small groups, these cards are a practical and enjoyable resource to enhance your teaching toolkit and spark enthusiasm in your English language lessons.

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The teacher says a shape, letter, number, or word, and the students (in groups of 2 or more) make that word with their bodies. The first group to make it correctly gets a point.

Split the students into two teams and have them line up. The first person in each team goes to the front and sits on a chair that faces the team. You call out 2 body parts e.g. 'Hand - Shoulder', the second person in each team (who will be standing at the front of the line) must run up to the person on the chair and they must touch the two body parts you said e.g. put their hand on the person's shoulder. The first team pair to get it right wins a point.

Have students discuss their thoughts on books and reading.

What is the best book you have ever read? Who was your favourite character? What are some of the characteristics of that character? Do you feel like you can relate to them?

Extension: Have the student/s invent their own book character.