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Robots

1. Students form groups of three or four. Their task is to program a robot. They have to decide what the robot can do.
2. In their groups they decide on the commands and write these down on a piece of paper. They also decide on a name for their robot, which they write on the paper.
3. Each group sends its robot with instructions written to another group for a testing period. Students take in turns to make commands. They have two minutes to test each robot.

Fantasy at a window

1. Put these patterns up on the board: What can you see now? Is she/he (Are they) ...ing? What is he/she (are they) doing now?
2. Go to the window, lookout and describe something imaginary happening out there. After 3 or 4 sentences of present continuous action description, pause and elicit questions from the group. Continue your description guided by their questions.
3. Have an able student take over from you at the window. She/he starts a new commentary on imaginary actions. You help her/hi with language.

The shortest route

1. Divide the students into groups of 8. Tell them where you live. Tell them that you would like to visit each student in each group of 8. Ask each 8 to plan the best possible route for you to visit each of them and then get back to your home. Add that you will have to take public transport as you have no car or bike. (The routes may be from country to country or from one street to the next, depending on the type of group.) To guide their discussion, give them some useful patterns on the board: S/he takes the bus from A to B. S/he will change at... S/he'll have to take a taxi here. S/he will take the plane from... with a stop-over at... S/he won't get there until... if...
2. Ask one group to come to the board and sketch a map of your route. Ask them each to tell you and the rest of the class how to get to their particular homes. Question each student about alternative ways of travelling.

Story behind a photo

1. Ask the students to bring to the classroom photographs of themselves, or someone they know, taken some time ago; and bring one yourself.
2. Show the students your photograph, and tell them about the circumstances in which it was taken, or any other interesting facts (in the past) connected with it. Encourage them to ask questions. Then invite another student to display his or her photograph and talk about it. And so on, round the class.
3. The activity may be based on questions, in the past, about the photograph. The owner of the photograph simply states who the subject is - and from then on all information is given in answer to questions: Where was this taken? Did you live there long?
4. For homework, ask students to write a brief composition based on a similar photograph.

By men, by women, or by both

1. Ask students to write down five things that are normally, or more usually, done by men, five that are normally done by women, and five that are normally done equally by both excluding obvious biological functions! (Tell them to consider what the situation really is in a society with which they are familiar - not what they think it should, be!)
2. In groups or in full class, share ideas: do they agree with each other?

Parental control

1. Get the students to sit in a large circle.
2. Start off by saying: 'At the age of eight my parents made me... but they let me...', 'At the age of fifteen my parents made me..., but they let me...'
3. Each student in turn should make statements about themselves in this way.

Plural tennis

1. The teacher explains that the students are going to play tennis with words, counting from 1 to 30 and using plurals as tennis balls. The teacher splits the class into to teams, who turn to face each other. The teacher gives a letter, which will be the initial letter of the first words in the game. The students count in turn, 1 student from each team alternately, using a plural noun which begins with the letter given. This can only be changed when someone gives a word that rhymes with the previous one – then the initial letter of the rhyming word must be used,
e.g. Team A Team B
One boy. Two bottles.
Three buildings. Four bombs.
Five bridges. Six fridges.
Seven foxes.
2. Mistakes or repetitions of a noun count as penalty points against the team. The teams score 1 point when they use the rhyme to change the letter, and also when they use an irregular plural (for example children, thieves, etc)