New Twist on Listening Exercises

Listening is one of the toughest skills to improve, simply because the students can't work at their own pace. They might read at a slower pace, or work out the meaning of a sentence on paper before moving on, which is simply impossible and impractical in a conversation.

I always try to add an element of listening in each lesson, and not just with an activity prepared beforehand. Any activity can be adjusted to incorporate listening, which also helps put a new twist on the usual exercises. Try one of the following:

1. A word search in which you dictate some or all of the words first, then check the spelling as a class. The students then complete the word search (in class, or as homework).

2. Follow the instructions of a worksheet, but do several of the exercises, sentences, etc. aloud as a class. You can have the students work alone, or in pairs. And with smaller classes, you can always ask additional questions not on the worksheet to get everyone participating.

3. Extend an activity with a listening and speaking exercise. For example, after completing a worksheet on the future tense, give three or four new, original sentences about your plans for the weekend. Students listen, and then work in pairs to ask an appropriate follow-up question. You can then have the students do the same: tell, ask, and answer in pairs or groups.

Race to the Board

Put a list of vocabulary words on the board. Divide the class into two teams. One person from each team must then stand about five feet from the board. You read a definition of a word and they must then race to point to the word first. Award points.

Imaginative Listening

Read a series of three or four sentences that describe a scene (optional: describe sensations, e.g. sounds and feelings), and have them form a picture in their minds. After they sit with it for a while, have them work in pairs asking each other about their images. E.g., in the field, did you see corn, wheat, something else? Did you see animals, did you hear anything? (Source: Ur, Penny and Andrew Wright. Five-Minute Activities: A Resource Book of Short Activities, p. 70.)

Darwim Awards Stories

For intermediate to advanced students, read stories from http://darwinawards.com.

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Have some fun activities/ideas?  How about worksheets, review sheets or songs?

Send your ideas to malloryforseth@gmail.com. Please include a short summary of the activity along with any worksheets or extra materials needed for the activity.