Quick Guide
- Keywords: Personal items, adjectives
- Learner English level: High beginner to low intermediate
- Learner Maturity: Junior high school to university
- Preparation time: 5 minutes
- Activity time: 10 minutes
- Materials: Handout (see Appendix for example), example object
This simple warm-up activity helps students to practice describing objects by giving mini presentations about personal items. It asks students to think on their feet to describe an item in a short period of time and respond to additional follow-up questions. This reinforces existing English knowledge, and gets students thinking, speaking, and listening in English before the actual class begins. This is also a practical activity for students to learn more about what other students bring to class, such as personal keepsakes, which may also strengthen relationships between students if they find out they have similar items and interests!
Preparation
Step 1: Create a handout of a list of commonly used adjectives to describe personal items, as well as sample follow-up questions to use during the activity (Appendix).
Step 2: Prepare the classroom so that students can freely move around.
Step 3: Bring an object of your own to class.
Procedure
Step 1: For homework prior to the class, tell students to bring something in from home, such as a personal keepsake.
Step 2: Explain that students are going to use the items they bring to class to practice talking about objects using adjectives, as well as asking follow-up questions.
Step 3: Conduct a demonstration for the class using your object. Tell the class about your object using adjectives from the handout. For example, “This is a thick bracelet that I received from my grandmother . . . .”
Step 4: Invite a few students to ask questions about your object. For example, “When did you receive the bracelet?” (N.b.: If students are shy or do not know what to ask, you can prompt them using the examples you prepared for the handout.)
Step 5: Elicit some other useful adjectives and follow-up questions from the students. Write these on the blackboard for reference.
Step 6: Distribute the handouts and tell the students they will use the vocabulary and sample questions during the activity.
Step 7: Drill the vocabulary and sample follow-up questions.
Step 8: Instruct students to keep their personal item on their desk so that it is visible to their partner.
Step 9: Put students into pairs. Make one group of three if there is an odd number of students.
Step 10: Have the Speakers describe their personal item to the Listeners using as many details as possible, including the adjectives on the handout, for one minute.
Step 11: Switch roles and have the new Speakers present their objects and respond to follow-up questions.
Step 12: After everyone completes their speeches, choose random students to tell the class about their partner’s personal item.
Conclusion
This activity increases students’ use of adjectives to discuss their personal items. As a variation, the vocabulary list can be modified according to the level of the students. This is a great way for students to think on their feet and to talk about their personal possessions, as well as answering follow-up questions from their classmates. This activity will get students to think in English and is a great segue into the rest of the regular class.
Appendix
Sample Adjectives
|
long |
short |
big |
|
wide |
narrow |
light |
|
bright |
dark |
cheap |
|
convenient |
useful |
high |
|
rectangular |
circular |
triangular |
|
thick |
thin |
strong |
|
small |
square |
cool |
|
heavy |
weak |
soft |
|
expensive |
tiny |
hard |
|
low |
cute |
slippery |
Sample Follow-up Questions
- When did you get it?
- Where did you get it from?
- Who gave it to you?
- Why do you like it?
- Why is it important to you?
- How long have you had it for?
- How often do you use it?