Dealing with Noisy Teens
Here are four activities to motivate your students and make them less noisy.
STUDENT INTEREST - songs
Stage 1
Take a current song and play the first part. Ask your students:
- What group is it?
- What does the name mean?
- Where are they from?
- What other bands are from there?
Tell your students to write the answers.
Stage 2
Choose a grammar point, e.g the present perfect, for the pop group U2's song 'I still haven't found what I'm looking for'. Play the song again. Ask students:
- to write down all the examples they hear.
- why the song uses present perfect and not simple past.
Further develop this with creative practice using the verbs students find.
Stage 3
Give out the text with gaps relating to your chosen grammar point. Let students think about the answers before playing the song again.
PERSONALISATION - projects
If your project ideas do not appeal to your class, why not try 'My favourite author/My favourite band/My favourite footballer, and why they are so good'.
By personalising the project, you will get more from students and they can express their own opinions.
Follow up with a presentation in class. Putting students' work on the wall serves as a good psychological reminder of how motivating English lessons can be.
Go to Class Confidence
Go to Lesson Presentation
CONFIDENCE - class confidence
Stage 1
Give each student a sheet with the question, 'How many English verbs do you know?' Ask students to write down the number, not the verbs. Give them a few minutes for this.
Stage 2
Work out the class average. Tell students that you will test them. Mime a simple verb. The first student to respond correctly will write down all the verbs that the other students mime.
Stage 3
Each student now mimes any verb they know and the others must guess. All verbs are added to the list and at the end you are sure to find more than the class average.
LESSON PRESENTATION - giving students control
Put students in groups of five and give each a grammar point with explanations.
Allow ten minutes to produce a class presentation. Answer questions but don't interfere.
You can help when necessary during presentations.
