“Why Did You Write That?”: A Flexible Grammar Activity
Most teachers are really creative and could invent fun activities for every lesson they teach. But who has the time? This month’s article
is an exercise that you can use to practice different grammar
points and it only takes about 5 minutes to create. …
You can use this to practice the grammar in Focus on Grammar, the Azar Grammar Series, and the new Real Grammar: A Corpus-Based Approach to English (see next month’s newsletter for more information on this exciting new book).
Before you read any further, download the worksheet for this activity (in PDF format).
Why Did You Write That?
This exercise gives students a chance to practice reading, listening
to, and speaking virtually any target grammar point. This example
targets Present Perfect Simple, but it could easily be changed for
other structures.
Great before free practice
This activity is designed to go between the controlled,
fill-in-the-blank style exercises at the beginning of a lesson but
before the more extended role plays that come at the end.
Step 1. Answering the questions (reading and writing)
Distribute the worksheet to your students. Tell them to write short
answers to the questions in the boxes below. The questions all use the target grammar. It’s important that the answers only be 2-3
words and that they be in random order. Tip: It’s a good idea
to draw a table on the board and demo a few answers of your own
Step 2. Asking questions (listening and speaking)
Tell the students to fold their worksheets in half and trade with a
partner. They should only see the half with the filled-in table.
Students take turns asking their partner why they wrote what they did in the boxes. The answers will all contain the target grammar. The conversations go something like this:
Student
A: Why did you write “Mumbai”?
Student
B: Because Mumbai is a place that I have never been to,
but I want to see.
More proficient students can be instructed to take the conversation
further. Tip: Use your model table from the board to demo this with a student. Write the model conversation on the board.
