Some Old Exercises

Mario Rinvolucri, UK

Mario Rinvolucri, a Pilgrims associate, co-authored around 20 EFL methodology books between 1974 and 2010. Nearly all his collaborators were strongly Pilgrims-connected and they have ensured that these books are rich and multi-focussed.

This is a good place to thank each and every one of them: Without you there would have been much dreary repetition. A thousand thanks, as the Irish say. MR

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The most insignificant (elementary to advanced)
Becoming punctuation marks ( elementary to advanced)
List your students ( Reflective exercise for you as a teacher)

The most insignificant (elementary to advanced)

A group warm-up exercise: teenage and adult

1. Early on in the life of the group tell the students about the most insignificant of your relatives.
   Give them some idea of this person and and explain why they seem to you to be the least visible of your relations.
2. Ask the students to choose the least significant person they can think of in their family circle.
   Pair them and ask them to describe the person to their partner.
3. Give time for a general discussion on “ insignificance “

(one devout Catholic was unhappy with the exercise as he found the concept of “ insignificance” disturbing)

Becoming punctuation marks ( elementary to advanced)

late primary to adult

1. Have one student typing on the screen or writing on the board. Ask people to call out the names of punctuation marks, which s/he takes down......the mark and its name.
2. Ask students to think hard and decide which punctuation mark they are most like.
   “ I am most like the interrogation mark because of the excited way I speak”
   “ No, I’m like the hyphen; I often bring people together.”
3. Ask students to write their chosen punctuation mark on a folded paper on the table in front of them so that classmates can see which mark they “are".
4. Across the group ask them to pair off with a classmate. They should not pair off with a person sitting next to them.
5. Tell the students to write a letter to their classmate about how they feel in role as their mark. They should also enquire about how it feels to be the punctutation mark their classmate has chosen.
6. When they finish writing their letter the students deliver it and sit next to their addressee.
   Allow 5 minutes of paired discussion.
7. Round off with a short plenary discussion on how they felt in role.

Extension

you can do this letter-writing exercise with students in role as members of any set. eg:

line ...... arrowhead.........triangle ...........square............. pentagon.....octogon.........circle

iron.....lead.......plutonium......... ( menbers of the Periodic Table )

van.....bus.........truck.........car...........trolleybus...........tram ( vehicles )

List your students ( Reflective exercise for you as a teacher)

this exercise works if the students are new to you, not if you taught most of them last year

1. After teaching your class for a couple of hours write a list of all the students you have been working with. Do not refer to the register!
2. Notice which are the names that head your list and which are the names you really had to scrabble around to find.
3. Do any of the placings of the names arouse questions in your mind? What can you learn from your rememberings and forgettings?

Note

Tthis has been a stock -in-trade exercise for me over long years as a language teacher and as a teacher trainer.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.