Here is an incomplete book title:
First ______ Last
Can you work out what the missing word is? Don’t continue reading until you have tried to do so.
OK, it’s difficult so, I’m going to give you a clue. Here is a description of the book (taken from Amazon.com):
This book is intended to help the start-up business, home […]
Entries Tagged as 'Grammar'
Parser breakdown puzzle
November 28th, 2008 · No Comments
Tags: Grammar · Lesson plans
Men with big hats (a lesson plan)
October 25th, 2008 · 6 Comments
I never had a class that didn’t ask me if I wear a kilt when I am in my country.
I wonder if Mexican teachers working abroad get asked the same thing about sombreros.
This is a silly game that I remember from my childhood. I really hope my Mexican friends forgive me for taking advantage of […]
Tags: -ing forms · Grammar · Lesson plans · Noun phrases · Present continuous · Student drawings
Shoulda coulda woulda quotations
October 7th, 2008 · 3 Comments
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: Could have, would have, and should have.” (Louis E. Boone)
I hope no one minds that I have made a gentle alteration to the above quotation: It orinally read, ‘Could have, might have, and should […]
Tags: Auxiliaries · Conditionals · Could have, should have, would have · Grammar · Learner-friendly corpora · Lesson plans · Translation · Using quotations sites
Tongue twister
October 2nd, 2008 · 1 Comment
El otro hermano de mi amante
El amante de mi otro hermano
El otro amante de mi hermano
El hermano de mi otro amante
Translate these lines into your students’ mother tongue. Then ask them to translate them into English for a tongue twister:
My lover’s other brother
My other brother’s lover
My brother’s other lover
My other lover’s brother
How fast can you […]
Tags: Grammar · Lesson plans · Possessive 's · Pronunciation · Translation
The image of idioms
September 25th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Like many teachers, I love expressions and sayings in the classroom. What I like about an idiom such as “The grass is always greener on the other side” is that it offers us such good value for money. Some possibilities:
Find out if students have an equivalent saying in their language
Ask […]
Tags: Adjectives · CLIL · Comparison · Grammar · Idioms · Pronunciation · Translation · Using images from Amazon.com
Nothing is not a substance!
September 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Do you you agree with the title of this posting?
My sister tells me that a Scottish newspaper once received a large number of letters from readers claiming this very thing. They were writing in response to the following riddle that had been published:
What substance is greater than God and more evil than the devil?
The poor […]
Tags: Some, any, no, every
