GUA DIDCTICA

INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Getting To Know Your Resources
SKILL:
Speaking
AIM:
Practice speaking abilities by finding out what resources are available to them and how
they can use them.
TIME:
20 30 min.
MATERIALS:
Short video clip
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
It is assumed in this lesson that your school has the following student resources; books
(graded readers), video, magazines and Internet. Dont worry if it doesnt, the lesson
can be adjusted accordingly.
Pre-task preparation: One of the tasks is a video exercise which involves viewing a
movie clip with the sound turned off. This can be any movie depending on availability,
but the clip has to involve a conversation between two people.
Pre-task activity: In pairs students discuss the following questions:
Do you use English outside the classroom?
How?
What ways can you practice English outside the classroom?
Running dictation
Put the text from worksheet one on the wall either inside or outside the classroom.
Organize your students into pairs. One student will then go to the text, read the text
and then go back to her partner and relay the information to her. The partner who stays
at the desk writes this information. When teams have finished check for accuracy. You
can make this competitive should you wish.
In pairs students then read the Getting To Know Your Resources task sheet (worksheet
two). Check any problem vocabulary at this stage. This worksheet can be adapted
according to the resource room at your school.
Depending on how the resources are organized in your center, students then go, in
pairs, to the resource room or wherever the resources are kept and complete the tasks
on the task sheet.

Working with a different partner students now compare and share their experience.
Having monitored the activity and the final stage, use this opportunity to make
comments on your students performance. This may take form of a correction slot on
errors or pronunciation, providing a self-correction slot.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Celebrity Facts
SKILL:
Speaking
AIM:
Practice speaking skills by guessing and explaining information.
TIME:
20 30 min.
MATERIALS:
One copy of worksheet A and worksheet B per pair of students; pictures of the
celebrities, if you do the warmer
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Bring to the class pictures of the celebrities in the sentences, and pin them up on the
walls. Ask Ss to walk round and guess the names of the celebrities.
Pre-teach tap shoes, cheering up and break-dancer. Divide the class in half and give
worksheet A to one half of the class and worksheet B to the other half. Give the Ss a
few minutes to read their sentences and choose the correct verb forms. Go round and
check their answers.
Answers:
Worksheet A: 1 won 2 has recorded 3 wore 4 has never directed 5 first appeared
has been 7 has never been 8 all died 9 has worked 10 has studied

Worksheet B: 1 has directed 2 started 3 was 4 had 5 has never won 6 appeared
7 made 8 appeared 9 has had 10 has dated
Arrange Ss into pairs. Ask them to read out the film star facts for their partner to guess
if they are true or false. Each false answer has an explanation so that Ss know why
those facts are false. Tell Ss to keep a note of how many correct guesses their partner
makes. When they have finished, find out how much the Ss knew.
As a follow-up, you could ask Ss to find out about other celebrities and write similar
true/false sentences for others to guess, making sure they use the past simple and
present perfect correctly.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
All About You
SKILL:
Speaking
AIM:
Practice speaking skills by asking and answering personal questions.
TIME:
20 30 min.
MATERIALS:
Materials: One worksheet per student.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Distribute the worksheets and ask Ss to read the questions and add the missing
prepositions, provide any help if necessary.
Answers:
1 on 2 in 3 with 4 in 5 for 6 with 7 at 8 with 9 at 10 to 11 at 12 about 13
for 14 to 15 on 16 about 17 on 18 about
Ask Ss to write their own answers to the questions in the My answer column. When
they have finished, Ss mingle and ask questions to find other people with the same
answers. They write the name of the person with the matching answer next to the
relevant question, in the Name column. Monitor carefully and encourage Ss to ask
follow-up questions. Elicit any interesting answers for feedback.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Mixed Emotions
SKILL:
Speaking
AIM:
Practice functional language for giving news and responding to news.
TIME:
15 20 min.
MATERIALS:
Four copies of the worksheet, cut into cards
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
To prepare for the activity, make enough copies of the worksheet to provide three or
four cards per student. Cut up the cards, then shuffle them all together. Distribute three
or four cards to each student. Tell Ss not to look at each others cards.
Review the language for giving good and bad news and responding to it before you
start the activity. Give Ss a few minutes to think about how they will tell people their
good and bad news, then ask them to walk around and share their news with other Ss.
Encourage Ss to respond using the expressions reviewed at the beginning.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
How Emotional Are You?
SKILL:
Grammar / Vocabulary
AIM:
Review ing/-ed adjectives in the context of a questionnaire.
TIME:
15 20 min.
MATERIALS:
One copy of worksheet A and worksheet B per pair of students
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Divide the class in half and give worksheet A to one half of the class and worksheet B
to the other half. Explain that Ss are going to do a questionnaire to find out how
emotional they are. First, ask Ss to read through the questions and answers, and
choose the correct adjective in italics in each answer.
Go round and check the answers. Ask Ss to write one more question of their own that
could test how emotional a person is.
Answers:
Worksheet A: 1 a) Relaxed b) stressed c) worried 2 a) boring b) embarrassed c)
frightening 3 a) surprised b) annoying c) disgusted 4 a) Pleased b) confused c)
Terrified
Worksheet B: 1 a) Pleased b) exciting c) exhausted 2 a) confused b) worrying c)
devastated 3 a) pleased b) annoying c) disgusted 4 a) boring b) interesting c)
embarrassed
When they are ready, arrange Ss into A and B pairs. Ss ask each other their questions
and note their partners answers. For question 5, they write their partners answer in
the space provided. When they have finished, ask Ss to note if their partner gave
mostly a), b) or c) answers and to decide which category they fall into. Ss can also use
the answer to question 5 to decide on the category. Ss then read the analysis and
decide if they agree or not. Elicit some answers for feedback.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Idiom Wars
SKILL:
Grammar / Vocabulary
AIM:
Review idioms in the context of a game.
TIME:
15 20 min.
MATERIALS:
One set of instructions (Student A or B) and two grids per student.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Arrange Ss into A and B pairs and distribute the A and B instructions and grids. Explain
and demonstrate the rules of the game, using a grid on the board, similar to the one on
the worksheets. Students secretly write the sentences from the box in one of their grids
(the other grid will be used to record the words they find in their partners grid). Each
sentence contains an idiom. The sentences can be written horizontally, vertically or
diagonally (but not backwards). Contractions (e.g. Its) count as one word.
When they are ready, tell Ss that they have to find their partners idioms. To do this, Ss
take turns calling out grid references to each other, e.g. Student A starts and calls out
G3. If there is nothing written in that square on Student Bs grid, they say Miss! And
Student A should record the miss as an X in their blank grid. If there is a word in
Student Bs grid, they say Hit! as well as the word that is in the square. Student A
records the word in their grid. Then it is Student Bs turn to call out a grid reference.
This continues until one student has found all five idioms. Once Ss start hitting words,
the process becomes much easier and a student can guess the whole idiom from the
words if they think they know it. If they are correct, the other student replies yes, youve
hit the idiom. When they have finished, check that Ss understand the meaning of the
idioms by giving a definition and asking Ss to supply the correct idiom.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Why Would You Do That?
SKILL:
Grammar / Vocabulary
AIM:
Use the second conditional in the context of a game.
TIME:
20 25 min.
MATERIALS:
One set of cards per group
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Write on the board: make a noise like a cat, and ask Ss to give you possible reasons
why they would or wouldnt do this, e.g. If I had a cat, and I wanted to get its attention, I
would make a noise like a cat. Arrange Ss into groups of three (or groups of four if you
have a large class), and give each group a set of cards, placed face down in the
middle. Ss take it in turns to take a card and read it out to the rest of the group. The
other Ss try to give a good reason why they would or wouldnt do this. The first student
to give a correctly formed reason wins the card. Go round and help with vocabulary
and adjudicate where necessary.
For feedback, nominate a student from each group to give the most interesting
answers to the class, forming full second conditional sentences.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
In Your Dreams
SKILL:
Writing
AIM:
Practice writing skills describing a dream
TIME:
30 40 min.
MATERIALS:
One worksheet per student.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Start by writing the following questions on the board:
How often do you remember your dreams?
What kinds of things can affect our dreams?
Do you believe that our dreams can tell us about our personality?
Do you believe dreams can predict the future?
Arrange Ss into pairs to discuss the questions, but ask them not to discuss any of their
actual dreams yet. When they have finished, invite Ss to share some of their answers.
Distribute the worksheets and ask Ss to think of a dream they can remember. If they
cant remember any of their dreams, they can invent one. Give Ss enough time to
make notes in the word webs with the details of their dream. Tell Ss they dont have to
use the examples given: these are just to help Ss think of ideas. Go round and help
where necessary.
Ask Ss to use the notes in the word webs about their dream and write a paragraph
about it giving as many details as possible.
When they have finished, arrange Ss into groups of three. Ss read the paragraph about
their dreams to the other group members, who listen and ask follow-up questions.
When they have all finished, they can work together to try and interpret what they think
their dreams mean/meant. Monitor and check their use of narrative tenses. For
feedback, elicit any interesting dreams.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
The History of My Country
SKILL:
Writing
AIM:
Practice writing skills by and presenting the history of a country.
TIME:
40 50 min.
MATERIALS:
One copy of worksheet per pair of students
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Start by asking Ss if they know anything about important events that had happened in
the history of their country/ies. Explain that they are going to invent the history of a
fictional country and give a short presentation on it. Arrange Ss into pairs and distribute
one worksheet to each pair. Ss first think of a name for their country, then use the
words in the box and their own ideas to invent its history. Tell Ss that they dont have to
use all of the ideas in the box, and they dont have to complete all of the sections, as
long as they include events from a range of time periods. Encourage them to make the
history as interesting as possible and go round and help where necessary. When Ss
are ready, ask each pair to present their history to the class. The other Ss listen and
choose the most interesting one.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Where I Live
SKILL:
Writing
AIM:
Practice writing skills by correcting statements and writing a description about the place
where they live.
TIME:
40 50 min.
MATERIALS:
One copy of worksheet A and worksheet B per pair of students
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Arrange Ss into pairs and distribute the worksheets. Tell Ss not to look at each others
worksheets. Explain to the Ss that they are going to identify and correct the error in
each sentence that their partner reads out. Student A reads out their sentences to
Student B, who must listen and correct the mistake(s) with articles and/or quantifiers.
When they have finished, Student B does the same with his/her sentences. Go round
and help where necessary.
When they have finished, ask Ss to discuss in pairs which sentences are true for them.
Then ask Ss to write a paragraph describing the place where they live using the true
statements, when they finish, ask them to proofread their paragraphs and elicit
feedback.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Dual Dictation
SKILL:
Listening
AIM:
Practice listening skills by writing what another person says.
TIME:
10 20 min.
MATERIALS:
None
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Ask students to get into pairs to write a dialogue. When student A is speaking, student
B should write down what they are saying and vice versa. When they have finished the
conversation, they should check what each other has written and put the two sides of
the conversation together. You could then ask students to perform their dialogues again
to the rest of the class, or to swap with other pairs.
This activity works best if you give students a theme or role-play, e.g.
A conversation between friends about holidays
An argument between siblings
An interview with a famous person
A scene from a film

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Class Memory Quiz
SKILL:
Listening
AIM:
Practice listening skills by asking and answering questions about their classmates.
TIME:
15 20 min.
MATERIALS:
None
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Ask one student at a time to go to the front of the class. Ask the rest of the class to ask
them any questions they like (as long as they are not too personal!), e.g.
What is your favorite color/food/band?
What did you have for lunch?
Which country would you most like to visit?
Try to make a note of some of the answers. When all of the students (or half of the
students, if you have a large group) have been interviewed, explain that you are going
to hold a quiz about the class. Get the students into small teams and ask them to put
their hand up if they know the answer to a question, e.g.
Which student likes Oasis?
What is Marie's favorite food?
Which two students would like to be famous actors?
Award a point to the first team to answer correctly. This game can be a lot of fun, and
encourages students to listen to each other.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Listen For Lies
SKILL:
Listening
AIM:
Practice listening skills by focusing on specific details.
TIME:
20 25 min.
MATERIALS:
Newspaper or magazine article.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
Divide the class into two teams A and B. Ask one student at a time to come to the front
of the class and read aloud a passage which you have chosen, e.g. a story or
newspaper article. Then ask them to read it aloud again, but to make some changes.
Each time a lie (or change) is read out, the students must stand up. The first team to
stand up gets a point. This game requires students to listen carefully and encourages
them to remember important information and details.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Strange But True
SKILL:
Reading
AIM:
Practice reading skills by completing a crossword and a worksheet about descriptions
of four cases of unusual animal behavior, three of which are true and one of which has
been invented.
TIME:
20 30 min.
MATERIALS:
One copy of worksheet A and worksheet B per student.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
1. If any of your students have pets at home, ask them if their pet has ever behaved in
a surprising or impressive way. If so, ask them to describe what happened to the rest of
the class. Are your students aware of any other instances of surprising animal
behavior?
2. Divide your students into pairs, then hand out Worksheet A and give them five to ten
minutes to read through it. Encourage them to look up new vocabulary. Can they
identify which three cases of unusual behavior are true and which one has been made
up?
3. Check answers in open class, and encourage your students to explain what factors
influenced their choices. Answers: The true cases are 2, 3, and 4; the story of the
baseball-loving cat (1) has been invented.
4. Keeping your students in their pairs, hand out Worksheet B and ask them to
complete the crossword.
5. Check answers in open class.
6. Ask the students to put away Worksheets A and B or to temporarily hand them back
to you. Then, keeping the students in pairs, hand out Worksheet C, which contains
most of the text from Worksheet A, and give them another ten minutes for the blank-fill
exercise, in which they have to complete the missing words. If the students cannot
remember what the words are, encourage them to try to figure them out from the
context of the sentence. You might also want to point out that some of the words
feature in the glossary (or, to make it more difficult, you could ask the students not to
use their glossaries).
7. Check answers in open class.

Answers:
Exercise 1
1. with 2. litter 3. friendship 4. rescued 5. yellow 6. female 7. confused
8. mother 9. behave 10. turn
If the sentences have been completed correctly, wise old man will read from top to
bottom.
Exercise 2
1. farmer 2. allowed 3. jumped 4. budge 5. take over 6. agreement
7. hippopotamus 8. tsunami 9. giant 10. ignored 11. different 12. home
13. white 14. zoo-keepers 15. avoided 16. contained 17. with 18. solve
19. nasty 20. shock

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Countries Challenge!
SKILL:
Reading
AIM:
Practice reading skills by comprising information about various different countries.
TIME:
20 25 min.
MATERIALS:
One copy of worksheet A and worksheet B per student.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
1. Ask your students to describe any foreign countries they have visited, and/or to say
what countries they would like to visit in the future. If they were able to have, say, a six
month, all-expenses-paid trip around the world, where would they go, what would they
like to do, and why?
2. Divide the students into pairs and hand out Worksheet A. Give the students at least
five minutes to read the information and, through discussion with their partners, try to
match countries in the box to the twelve descriptions. Make sure the students
understand that four of the sixteen countries in the box are not described. (As a
preliminary exercise, you could perhaps fold the worksheets so that the box at the
bottom is hidden, and see if the students know any of the countries that are being
described before unfolding the paper and seeing the names of the possible countries.)
3. Check answers in open class. (When going through the answers, you could also
provide a little extra information so as to aid the students understanding of how the
countries match the descriptions see below.)
4. Keeping the students in their pairs, hand out Worksheet B and ask the students to
complete the crossword, which is based on the correct answers to Exercise 1.
5. Check answers in open class.
6. Ask the students to turn over their copies of Worksheet A or to hand them back to
you temporarily. Keeping them in their pairs, hand out Worksheet C and give them at
least another five minutes to find and correct the mistakes. Each description contains
two mistakes. Point out that the mistakes are all grammatical or lexical, that most
corrections only require the students to change a word, and that no correction requires
them to write more than one additional word.
7. Check answers in open class.

GUA DIDCTICA
INTERMEDIATE

ACTIVITY:
Cartoons
SKILL:
Reading
AIM:
Practice reading skills by readings opinions and answering questions about cartoons.
TIME:
20 30 min
MATERIALS:
.One copy of worksheet A and worksheet B per student.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
1. Ask students about their favorite cartoons. Who are their favorite cartoon characters,
and why do they like them?
2. Give your students between five and ten minutes to read through Worksheet A,
encouraging them to look up new vocabulary. Tell them they are going to answer a
series of questions on the text, but that they shouldnt write anything down at this
stage. Regarding Bugs Bunnys catchphrase, you could explain that Whats up?
means How are you? or Whats going on? in informal American English, and that
doc was similar in meaning to guy (or mate in informal British English) in
contemporary New York slang.
3. When the time is up, give each student a copy of Worksheet B, then divide the class
into pairs and ask students to work together. In parts A and B they have to find
synonyms and antonyms, in Part C they must answer the true/false/doesnt say
questions, and in Part D they have to fill the gaps to complete the sentences.
Regarding Fred Flintstones catchphrase, you could mention that it doesnt really mean
anything it was just an expression of excitement.
4. Check answers in open class.
Answers
Part A (synonyms)
1. kid 2. clever 3. get 4. hilarious
Part B (antonyms)
1. fail 2. boring 3. modern 4. recently
Part C (true/false/doesnt say)

1. F 2. T 3. T 4. D 5. D 6. T 7. F 8. D
Part D (gap-fill)
1. hilarious 2. characteristics 3. catchphrase 4. character 5. charming 6. channels 7.
recently 8. humor
Words that should not be used: laugh, cinema, get, joke

REFERENCES

Busy Teacher

http://busyteacher.org

BBC British Council

http://teachingenglish.org.uk

Pearson

http://product.pearsonelt.com/speakout1e/

Inside Out

http://www.insideout.net/elessons/archive

One Stop English

http://www.onestopenglish.com/

English Is a Piece of Cake

http://www.englishisapieceofcake.com/