REALIA

10 Ways to use students' stuff in the classroom

It's amazing what students carry around with them in their bags and rucksacks. Why not use these things, which they are familiar with, as a resource to help them feel more 'at home'? This helps to personalise it more - thus making the content/language more relevant and memorable for learners. 

Here are 10 suggestions:

1) Whose is it? /Possessive adjectives/ possessive pronouns and possessive 's

Collect stuff from tables, mix it up, then ask students to guess whose it is (e.g. 'Piotr, I think this is your phone..../no it's not mine - it's Jen's.

2) Where is it? / Prepositions of place 

Ss put stuff in different places, hide things etc. 'Where's the book? I think it's in the drawer'

3) How many/ how much? Countable/uncountable nouns/There is/there are/ he/she’s got some/any/a few/ a/an/ have you got....etc
Ss guess what's inside their partner’s bag or describe what’s in their own bag/ pockets etc.

have you got any fruit? etc.

4) Describing objects/ order of adjectives/ lost property role-play etc.
Ss describe each other’s stuff. It’s a big, red, leather purse.

5) Phone role-plays, describing people, talking about family or friends
Get Ss’ to hold their actual phones during a phone role-play or show each other photos of friends, family or places during a discussion. I find it helps them to relax a bit as it mirrors life outside the classroom.

6) Chemist or shopping role-play
Use their actual money and stuff for a role-play (perfume, tissues, cough sweets, make-up etc)

7) Going to + inf/ infinitive of purpose/ other tenses?
Ss take stuff out of their bags (e.g. a sandwich) and say what it's for etc. 

Why have you got a ....with you/in your bag? =I’m going to have it for lunch.

8) Spelling race 

A good filler. Put stuff on the table. Ss spell the words in teams.

9) Scavenger hunt/Alphabet race in groups 

In teams, Ss find things for each letter of the alphabet e.g. apple, book, crayon...Award extra points for the most unusual collection.

10) Find Someone Who's got a..../ who's wearing a brown watch etc. Mingle activity.

11) Other ideas?...

All of these ideas would work well with lower levels (beginner-pre-intermediate). However, with higher levels it is also worth thinking about how you could personalise things more or make students feel more 'at home' in the classroom. 

*Some students don't carry much, but almost all of them are likely to have a phone, a wallet, keys and other bits and bobs on their person.

Watch this space for more ideas in January!