Great ideas, Dorothy!!! Very active and connected to real life.

*********************************************************
Nancy R. Faux
ESOL Specialist
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
3600 W. Broad Street, Suite 669
Richmond, VA 23230-4930
nfaux at vcu.edu
http://www.valrc.org
1-800-237-0178



dtaylor at buffalo.edu 
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05/19/2009 01:25 PM
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Subject
[EnglishLanguage 4302] Re: Using group games to teach   the 
presentcontinuous






One way I help students focus on the present continuous isn't exactly a 
game, but I assign pairs or small groups of students to go to different 
parts of the school and report back what is happening. We have 6 floors in 
our building, so it's easy to assign each group a floor and a specific 
number of activities to report (e.g., 3 - 5 activities per team). I give 
them a time limit, and when students return to the classroom, they write 
sentences about the activities on the board, large chart paper, overhead 
transparencies, or a computer attached to a projector. Each team then 
reports out. As they report out, we make corrections to their sentences 
and discuss any issues or questions that come up. For example, a team 
might report, "The student is knowing the answer," and we talk about 
non-progressive verbs.
Prior to the above activity we often write a collective short story about 
what is happening outside our window. Fortunately, our classroom is 
located on a busy street corner! As a follow-up the students write a short 
paragraph about what is happening inside their house, at their job or 
outside their window.
As to the implicit/explicit question - I usually do both. I've found that 
many students want to know The Rule, so I do spend time explicitly 
teaching a specific grammatical form, such as the present continuous, and 
guidelines for using the form with lots of examples. However, I try to 
include activities in class that focus on function or meaning with a less 
rigid focus on form and getting it exactly grammatically correct. 
Generally, I focus on form more with writing and meaning more with oral 
activities.
Dorothy Taylor
Educational Opportunity Center
SUNY/University at Buffalo



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