The Grammar Activity Book: A Resource Book of Grammar Games for Young Students

The Grammar Activity Book Bob Obee

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011–4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press, 1999 The pages in this book marked ‘From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee © Cambridge University Press 1999 P H O T O C O P I A B L E ’ may be photocopied free of charge for classroom use by the purchasing individual or institution. This permission to copy does not extend to branches or additional schools of an institution. All other copying is subject to permission from the publisher. First published 1999 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge ISBN 0 521 575796

The Grammar Activity Book Map of the book KEY : E=ELEMENTARY; P=PRE-INTERMEDIATE; I=INTERMEDIATE; U=UPPER-INTERMEDIATE Activity title

Language focus

Level

Time (minutes)

Introduction

Page 6

Unit 1 Time like the present 1.1 Global animal bingo 1.2 Wildlife whoppers 1.3 Adverb backgammon 1.4 Behind the screen

Present simple/questions Present simple: facts Time adverbs/simple/continuous Present simple/continuous

E–P I–U I–U E

20 25 25 20

8 10 12 14

Unit 2 Questions and answers 2.1 So what’s the question? 2.2 Sporting chances 2.3 Do card quiz 2.4 Zig-zag questions

Phrasing of common questions Present continuous questions Subject questions Appropriate short answers

P–I P–U P–I P

30 25 40 25

15 18 20 22

Unit 3 Talking about things past 3.1 Round about when Time adverbs: simple past 3.2 Joke go-betweens Simple past questions 3.3 Last week’s news Simple past/past continuous 3.4 Past identities Past continuous: background detail

P–I I P–U P–I

20 25 30 30

24 26 28 29

Unit 4 Making comparisons 4.1 Line up accordingly 4.2 Psychic partners 4.3 Comparative short straws 4.4 Ratio roulette

Comparative adjectives/adverbs Superlative adjectives/adverbs Degrees of comparison Degrees of comparison

P I U I

25 30 20 20

30 32 34 36

Unit 5 Describing things 5.1 Sort yourselves out 5.2 Four-card adjectives 5.3 Collocation bridges 5.4 Square routes

Adverbs: word order Order of adjectives Adjective/noun collocation Use of adjectives/adverbs

E–U P–I I–U P–I

25 25 15–20 25

37 38 40 42

Unit 6 Looking to the future 6.1 Arrangement squares 6.2 Pantomime fish 6.3 Collecting evidence 6.4 Dedication poem

Present continuous (future) Use of will Be going to (present evidence) Conjunctions/use of will

P P–I P I–U

20 25 25 25

44 46 48 50

Unit 7 Using the perfect 7.1 Point in a story 7.2 Record-breakers 7.3 What have you done! 7.4 Jigsaw mischief 7.5 Adverb rummy

Present perfect simple (just/already/yet) P–I Present perfect simple (unspecified past time) P–I Present perfect simple (present result) P Present perfect continuous (present effect) I–U Present perfect simple/continuous/past simple I–U

20 20 20 30 20

51 52 56 58 60

Activity title

Language focus

Level

Time (minutes)

Page

Unit 8 Things we can count 8.1 Determiner dominoes 8.2 Pieces of me 8.3 Building captions 8.4 Open ‘the’ doors

Use of determiners Partitive nouns Use of the/zero article Use of zero article with certain classes of nouns

P–U I–U I I–U

25 25 25 10–15

62 64 66 68

Unit 9 Conditional meanings 9.1 Homophone healing 9.2 Blanks and brackets 9.3 Seeking scruples 9.4 Memory consequences

zero conditional First conditional (if/will/in case) Second conditional Third conditional

I I I I–U

30 20 35 20

70 72 74 76

Unit 10 Obligation and possibility 10.1 Headline investment Must/can’t/might/could (possibility) 10.2 Streetwise surveys Must/mustn’t/have to … (obligation) 10.3 Royal behaviour Must have/couldn’t have (past speculation) 10.4 Rules and lines Must/mustn’t/have to (obligation)

I P–I I–U I

25 30 20 25

78 80 82 84

Unit 11 Indicating time, movement and place 11.1 Last card wins Prepositional phrases: time place manner 11.2 Opposite moves Verbs of movement (prepositions) 11.3 Time pieces In at on (time) 11.4 Preposition chequers In at on (place)

P–I U P–I P–I

25 25 25 25

86 88 90 92

Unit 12 Using the passive 12.1 Signs of the passive 12.2 Whose house? 12.3 A causative day out 12.4 Fairytale jigsaw races

Use of passive in signs/different tenses Simple past/past perfect passive Causative structure: have things done Simple past passive by + agent

I U U I–U

25 30 25 30

95 98 100 102

Unit 13 Functional exchanges 13.1 Answer keys 13.2 On the floor debate 13.3 Conversation pyramids 13.4 Answer hopping

Short exchanges Common discussion markers Short answers and follow-ups So/neither responses/tag questions

P–I I–U P–I E–P

25 30 15–20 25

104 106 108 110

Unit 14 What someone said 14.1 Beyond belief 14.2 No more than seven words 14.3 Connecting speech 14.4 Who asked you …

You said/told me that … Sentence patterns after reporting verbs Contrasts between say, tell, speak, talk Reported questions

I I–U I–U I–U

25 30 25 30

112 114 116 119

Unit 15 Revision games 15.1 Slide rules 15.2 Tense squares 15.3 Throw-out puzzles 15.4 Sole mates

Various structures Revision of tenses Various structures Various structures

I–U P–U P E–I

25 20 30 35

120 122 124 126

1

unit 1 Time like the present

1.1 Global animal

Level elementary – pre-intermediate

Class size whole class

Language focus present simple Have … got questions about facts and habitual actions

Pronunciation weak forms: do you /dju/ you /j´/

Preparation time 5 minutes

Game time 20 minutes

bingo Before class Make one copy of one Bingo card (p.9) for each learner or each pair of learners, depending on the size of the class.

In class 1 Explain to learners that they are going to play a game like bingo, which is popular throughout the English-speaking world. The game here, however, also involves learners asking questions. If bingo, or an equivalent, is played in your country, you can tell learners about it.

2 Give each learner a Bingo card. On it there is a grid of phrases. Beneath the grid is a sentence about an animal and three pieces of information about that animal: what it has/has got, eats, likes doing, or where or how long it lives. During the game, each learner will assume the identity of the animal on his/her card. 3 The aim of the game is to be the first learner to cross off all the phrases on his/her Bingo card and tell the class which animal each phrase referred to. 4 During the game, each ‘animal’ must introduce himself/herself. However, it is very important that learners do not reveal any other details about the animal. On introduction, other learners in the class should pose questions to the animal, based on phrases in their Bingo cards. For example, for the African elephant, the following is written: Hello, I’m an African elephant: I have a small tail, I eat leaves and I’ve got relatives in India. The learner introducing himself/herself says: Hello, I’m an African elephant … The other learners then scan their Bingo cards for any phrases that might relate to the African elephant, and ask the elephant any questions that the phrases suggest.

1 long grass

leaves

seals

BINGO

sitting A learner with these bingo squares thus might bamboo sealsask: Do you eat leaves? down The African elephant answers: Yes, I do. (This is a detail on the card.) and all the learners who have this bingo square can cross it off. Anotherlong learner with these same bingo squares grass dancing queenmight ask: Do you eat long grass? The African elephant answers: No, I don’t (because this is not a detail in front of him/her). After a question from three or four different learners, move on to another learner, who introduces himself/herself: Hello, I’m a polar bear, and so on.

5 If there is more than one African elephant etc. in the class, this simply means that learners may ask the African elephant questions again.

8

1.1 Global animal bingo

✂

Bingo cards

sitting down

bamboo

seals

long grass

dancing

queen

Hello, I’m a pelican: I live in Romania, I eat fish and I like going on holiday.

BINGO

3

China

holiday

longer than people

Romania

long sleep

seals

leaves

fish

yellow and brown

Hello, I’m a bee: I have a queen, I like dancing and I like flowers.

BINGO

5 long grass

holiday

bamboo

leaves

small tail

group

white relatives

grass

small birds

Hello, I’m a polar bear: I like swimming under ice, I eat seals and I like a long sleep.

BINGO

7

zebras

long grass under ice

small birds

sitting down

fish

relatives in India

China

queen

Hello, I’m a tortoise: I live longer than people, I have a yellow and brown shell and a long neck.

2

BINGO

grass

Romania

leaves

relatives in India

holiday

queen

group

zebras

fish

longer than people

Hello, I’m an African elephant: I have a small tail. I eat leaves and I’ve got relatives in India.

4

grass flowers

BINGO

small tail

zebras

dancing

6

under ice sitting down flowers

small birds long sleep leaves

white relatives

China

✂

relatives in India

small tail long sleep longer than people

group

Hello, I’m a rhinoceros: I eat grass, I have white relatives and I like small birds on my back.

8 long grass

✂

under ice

Hello, I’m a giant panda: I live in China, I eat bamboo and I like sitting down.

BINGO

under ice

BINGO

BINGO

1

dancing

✂

Romania

in long neck relatives India

grass

yellow and small birds brown

seals

Hello, I’m a lion: I live in a group, I like long grass and I eat zebras.

From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee © Cambridge University Press 1999

PHOTOCOPIABLE

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11

unit 11 Indicating time, movement and place

11.2 Opposite moves

Level upper-intermediate

Class size groups of three (or six)

Language focus prepositions complementing verbs of movement

Pronunciation weak forms: at /´t/ to /t´/ into /Int´/ of /´v/

Preparation time 10 minutes

Game time 25 minutes

Before class Make one set of the Sentence cards and one set of the Opposite cards (p.89) for each group of three learners (six learners if the game is played in pairs). On the back of the Sentence cards write the verb + preposition opposite the highlighted phrase in the sentence (key below).

In class 1 This game is a simple card game based on matching opposites. 2 Divide the class into groups of three (six if the game is to be played in pairs). 3 Give each group one set of both the Sentence cards and Opposite cards and ask one of the three players to deal an equal number of Opposite cards facedown to each player. Tell players to pick up their cards and conceal them from other players. When this has been done, place a set of the Sentence cards in the middle of each group, with the sentence on the first card showing. All the sentence cards should be in a pack sentence-side up, i.e. so the opposite phrase is hidden.

4 Ask one player in the group to write the name of each player on a piece of paper. Nominate one player to start. He/she picks up the Sentence card and places it in the middle of the group. This player then has the first option to lay down an Opposite card from his/her hand, i.e. a card which he/she believes corresponds to the ‘opposite’ phrase written on the back of the Sentence card. The two other players can then also lay down an Opposite card if they wish. The Sentence card is then turned over. The person who has put down the correct Opposite card is the winner of the round. He/she keeps the Sentence card. If no-one is correct, the sentence is simply put at the bottom of the pack. If a player puts down a card which is incorrect, he/she has an ‘X’ written against his/her name on the piece of paper. Players take back their Opposite cards each time. The game continues with a different player starting each round.

5 The game ends when either all the Sentence cards have been used or when one player has three Xs against his or her name. The winner of the game is the player with the most Sentence cards at the end. Key: He left Spain on Friday. (arrived in) We drove through Luxembourg. (stopped in) The cat climbed up the tree. (got down from) The door was locked but we still got in. (got out) We boarded the plane quickly. (got off) The train passed through two stations. (stopped at) He arrived from Italy yesterday. (went to) She opened the car door and got out. (got in) The cars went onto the ferry smoothly. (came off) She went in just before the end. (came out)

88

The train left the station on time. (arrived at) She got off the bus. (got on) The train arrived at platform six. (left from) She got in her car and left. (got out of) They walked away from us. (came towards) The rabbit came out of its hole. (went into) He got there after we arrived. (departed) They left home yesterday. (went back) We came out of the main entrance. (went in through) Sheila went to the fridge. (moved away from)

He left Spain on Friday.

The train left the station on time.

✂

✂

Sentence cards

✂

11.2 Opposite moves

We drove through Luxembourg.

She got off the bus.

✂ The cat climbed up the tree.

The train arrived at platform six.

She got in her car and left.

The door was locked but we still got in.

✂ We boarded the plane quickly.

They walked away from us.

The train passed through two stations.

The rabbit came out of its hole.

✂ He arrived from Italy yesterday.

He got there after we arrived.

They left home yesterday.

She opened the car door and got out.

✂

arrived in

She went in just before the end.

arrived at

Sheila went to the fridge.

✂

✂

Opposite cards

We came out of the main entrance.

✂

The cars went onto the ferry smoothly.

stopped in

got on

✂ got down from

left from

got out

got out of

✂ got off

came towards

stopped at

went into

✂ went to

departed

got in

went back

✂ came off

went in through

came out

From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee © Cambridge University Press 1999

moved away from

PHOTOCOPIABLE

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