On the second day of
class, I was supposed to review the verb to be to talk about a third person
(This is Ana. She's a teacher. She's 36 years old. She's from The United
States).
We practiced questions/answers in pairs and played a guessing game
about Brazilian celebrities. I had planned to use the I-pads after this
practicing, so students could share some curious facts about different
international celebs. However, I had no idea what tool to use in order for the
students to, once again, practice the structure they had learned and share
that.
So, I called Carla and she suggested that I use the students' cell phones
instead. It would be simple, practical and fast because students were already
acquainted with their devices, so they would quickly know exactly how to
perform the task at hand, which was search for information about an
international celebrity.
That's what I did and the result was fantastic! Thanks
to Carla. I'd NEVER have thought of using the cell phone. I was appalled it
hadn't occurred to me!
Activity: Google a
Celeb
1) Hand out slips with
names of international celebrities. Here are a few:
Bruce Willis
Keanu Reeves
Nicole Kidman
Mila Kunis
Martin Lawrence
Natalie Portman
Emma Watson
(Late) Audrey
Hepburn
2) Explain that students
will search for the following: Their name, birth place, age and
occupation.
3) Ss search for the
information and take notes using the verb to be.
4) Ss in small groups
share their findings by showing their cellphones screens to colleagues and saying, "This is... He's ... years old. He's a…He's
from…"
5) Monitor Ss' errors in
pronunciation/structure.
TWO THUMBS UP!
It was great to see how
students enjoyed the authenticity of such task and their reaction to their
peers' findings! Some were very surprised, so they would say, "Oh really!
Interesting! Wow! I don't believe it!" In sum, they had a lot of fun, and I was
glad with the result.
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