zero prep cata

7/28/2019 Zero Prep cata

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Zero Prep:

Ready-to-Go Activities

for the Classroom

Laurel Pollard Natalie HessEducational Consultant Professor, BME

[email protected] Northern Arizona University, Yuma

www.laurelpollard.com [email protected]

ALTA BOOK CENTER

www.altaesl.com


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What if you reviewed every activity you ever used or heard of,

choosing only the ones that are the very best teaching/learning practices?

What if you selected from that collection only the activities that

take NO TIME for the teacher to prepare?

We did that.

Here it is.

Enjoy!

When we include Zero Preparation routines

in our lesson plans,

we have more time to relax, reflect,and recover our vision!

The three filters: We bring you activities that

are the very best for learning take no time for the teacher to prepare before class are adaptable for level and content (routines)

Planning: The vision wehave of our students goals and

how to help them get there

Preparation: What ateacher needs to sit down and do

to get activity ready for class

Routine

An activity so effective, so flexible,that we find ourselves using it

again and again,

varying the content and levelbut keeping the basic structure

of the activity intact.


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Zero Prep 1997 Alta Book Center Publishers at www.altaesl.comAll rights reserved. Permission to photocopy must be obtained from the publisher.5.6 MISSING WORDS DICTACOMPThis activity is good for recycling vocabulary. It also works well as a pre-reading activity.LEVEL: IntermediateAdvancedAIM:Writing, listeningProcedure:1. From your students textbook, choose any new paragraph that is not too long or too hard.2. Students keep their books closed as you read the paragraph three times. Increase speedwith each reading, but do not exceed normal speed.3. Reread the paragraph a fourth time. This time leave out about five to ten key words.Make a sound such as mmmm in place of each missing word.4. When you make the mmmm sound, students write the word they think you left out.5. In small groups, students pool their lists of missing words.6. Individually, students write the passage as well as they can remember it, using as promptsthe missing words they wrote.7. In small groups, students compare what they have written.8. Each group appoints a secretary. They rewrite the passage as a group effort.9. A reader from each group reads the groups passage. The class compares and evaluatesthese for correctness of language and content.Note: Accept paraphrasing and synonyms; meaning is whats important here.

Zero Prep for Beginners 2001 Alta Book Center Publishers at www.altaesl.com

All rights reserved. Permission to photocopy must be obtained from the publisher.

1.9 STAND FOR YOUR WORDThis activity gives students a feeling that they own certain words and helps

them to put these words in context.

AIM: Vocabulary review, reading review

MATERIALS:A text (with questions) that students have readProcedure:1. Students take out a piece of paper.

2. Give each student a word from a text they have read. The same word may be given to

several students.

3. Be sure students know what their words mean. They may get help from other students

or from you.

4. Read the text out loud while students listen.

5. As soon as a student hears his/her word, they stand up. Repeat this step a few times if

it is challenging for them.

6. Students trade words.

7. Students hold up their new word and call it out. (Again they get help with meaning, if

necessary.)

8. Read the text aloud again while students stand up each time they hear their new word.

9. Repeat steps 6-8 several times.

10. Write the words on the board in the order that they appeared in the text.

11. Students look at the text and read out the sentences where their words appeared.

12. Students read the whole text and answer the questions.


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Zero Prep for Beginners 2001 Alta Book Center Publishers at www.altaesl.comAll rights reserved. Permission to photocopy must be obtained from the publisher.

1.12 PICTURE DICTATIONStudents have such fun drawing that they may not notice how much they are learning!

They use visual and spoken information to create a picture and recreate sentences. You

can use this activity to teach or review vocabulary, and its a wonderful way to practice

prepositions of location.AIM:Speaking, listening, vocabularyProcedure:1. Dictate an imaginary picture to your class. Adjust the dictation to your students

level. For example, in a low beginners class, dictate a few nouns and see whether students

can draw them. You can also review vocabulary and structures theyve already studied by

making up a paragraph like this one:

In the middle of the picture there is a house.

In front of the house there is a tree.

Above the house there is an airplane.

To the left of the house there is a happy girl.2. Students listen to the description.

3. Dictate again while the students draw the picture.

4. In pairs, students look at their completed pictures. They notice similarities and

differences and talk about what they drew.

5. A volunteer goes to the board. The class tells him/her what to draw to recreate the

picture on the board. (Help with their language if necessary.)

6. Go to the big picture on the board and point to the house. Students say: In the middle

of the picture there is a house. Write this sentence by the house. Continue until

everything in the picture has a sentence by it. (You may have some students advanced

enough to write the sentences on the board themselves!)


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Zero Prep 1997 Alta Book Center Publishers at www.altaesl.comAll rights reserved. Permission to photocopy must be obtained from the publisher.5.15 GIFT EXCHANGEThis vocabulary-enriching activity helps to build a pleasant and supportive classroomclimate. It is as much fun for students as giving and receiving real presents. You might usethis activity when a student in your class has a birthday or at the end of a course.LEVEL:Advanced BeginningIntermediate

AIM:Writing, speakingMATERIALS: Small boxProcedure:1. To make sure that everyone gets presents, have every student put his or her name on a slipof paper and drop it into the box. Students choose a name at random each time theyreready to give another present.2. Together with the class, create a list on the board of what people like to give and receiveas presents.3. On the board write a simple formula for a note to give with a gift and for a thank-younote as well.4. Students pick anyone in class and get busy sending that person a present. That is,everyone creates a present note.5. When a student finishes his or her present note, he or she folds it, delivers it to therecipient, and returns to his or her desk to write either a thank-you note or anotherpresent note.6. Each time students receive a present note, they immediately write and deliver a thank-you note.7. The writing can continue for about half an hour as students busily rush about and happilyopen their presents.8. Students talk to the whole class about their favorite presents.

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