Generally the structure of an answer to a question using “to be” is straightforward, as we can explain that “not” is placed after the verb.  

Examples:

Are you thirsty? No, I am not thirsty. / No, I’m not thirsty.

Is he hungry? No, he is not hungry. / No, he’s not hungry.

Small groups

The problem arises when students need to form a negative sentence using a verb other than “to be”. Then they must use “to do + not” and put it in the correct tense while putting the main verb in its root form. Examples:

I do not walk. / I don’t walk.

He does not walk. / He doesn’t walk.

They do not walk. / They don’t walk.

The students find this very difficult. As this must be taught within the first few lesson of a beginner’s program, it is a problem to explain it to them when their English is so limited.

 What are some ways that this structure can be presented?

- Provide the students with an outline of the negative using “to do”.

Example: Singular

I do:  I do not = I don’t

You do: you do not = you don’t

He does: he does not = he doesn’t

She does: she does not = she doesn’t

It does: it does not = it doesn’t

Plural

We do: we do not = we don’t

You do: you do not = you don’t

They do: they do not = they don’t

Oral Questions

Whole Class Activity: Ask oral questions 

Team activity

Team Activity Instructions

Team Activity:

Divide the class into two teams. Have them ask each other questions that often require negative answers.

Small Group Activity – Another approach is to divide the class into groups of three or four. Give them a set of questions with the answers written in small print in a box at the side. Tell them to try to find the change in structure. In this way they can check their answers as they work together. This approach will produce a number of questions about the difference in the structure.

See Also:

ESL Curriculum
English for Chinese

Learning English with Laughter

What is the basic goal of any ESL program? “Why, that’s easy”, you might say, “it is to teach the students to speak English!” If that’s the case, why do so many programs fail? In Canada, most students took French in school, but very few people can speak even passable French. In the Czech Republic, all of our students studied Russian, but they told us that after seven years of instruction, none of them could speak Russian.

Learning to speak in sentences with oral questions.

Wherever we taught, we had a list of ten to twenty oral questions for each lesson. Each

Click to enlarge

question is a complete sentence, and we always asked that the student give a complete sentence for an answer. If the lesson was about the past tense, all of the oral questions were in the past tense. In every lesson, each student was asked at least one question, and they were asked in random order, so that they all stayed alert and ready to answer. In our teaching, we always used evaluation quizzes. Every few weeks we gave each student a short form to fill out. The form listed all of the things that we did in our lessons. They were asked to evaluate each of them, with a 10 for most helpful and a 1 for least helpful. We used these forms on well over 1000 students, and neither of us ever got a value of less than 7 for oral questions. Mostly they responded with an 8, 9 or 10. So we found that not only were oral questions very popular with the students, but it got them speaking in sentences, and learning proper word order.

Learning vocabulary words is not enough!

We spent a month in Spain as students in a language school. They told us to make flash cards of the vocabulary words. After a month, we both had about 600 to 700 cards, and we could parrot back the correct words pretty consistently. However, when we went into town, we were completely tongue tied when we went into a restaurant. After the waiter had left, we could carefully put together what we should have said.

Motivation.

Teachers all over the world know that the drop out rate of ESL students can be quite alarming. In the first cold winter we spent teaching in Eastern Europe, we found that the students were likely to get sleepy after the first half hour. We found that many got up at 5 or 6 in the morning, worked all day, and then came to class at 4 PM. Sitting comfortably in the warm room made them sleepy. We decided that it was our job the design activities that taught English, and were lively and fun enough to combat this sleepiness.

A curriculum should have lots of activities that keep students on their toes. Remember, we all like to win; we have seen lots of surgeons, lawyers, and politicians grin all over when they get a stamp on their books for winning a simple Bingo game!

 Overcoming fear.

From childhood, most people have been taught that they shouldn’t make mistakes. It is the job of the teacher to show the students that mistakes are OK; they are an essential part of the learning process. A curriculum should utilize the mastery approach. Students should master each segment of their learning, before they are given a lot more information to deal with. A curriculum that has a test after every few lessons accomplishes this.

I remember a class of beginners that had a test after only four lessons. All of the class got marks in the high eighties and nineties. One girl got 98% and her friend got 99%! By using the mastery approach, students can get marks like these, which abolish fear, and build their confidence.

ASnother interesting activity to get students involved

Student Involvement.

An ESL curriculum should include small group activities in which the students work together. In this way, they help each other, and overcome any reluctance to speak English to each other.

Affordability.

Every school has to consider affordability. So while all of the above are major considerations, the students are going to have to be able to afford to pay for the books.

You might be interested in:

Fun Using Adjectives

A Fun Way to Deal With Prepositions

Play and Win ESL Bingo Games

CLICK BELOW>>

See also:

Bill Finds a Suit He Can Afford

Sandy’s Demise Video

Some Ideas for Teaching Prepositions

One day, early in my teaching career, I saw a beautiful chestnut lying on the sidewalk. I picked it up and put it in my pocket, because it was so shiny, and had such a beautiful color. That afternoon when I was teaching, on a whim, I asked the class what I had in my pocket. There were all kinds of answers, but no one could guess “chestnut.”This began a long relationship between my ESL classes and chestnuts. There is nothing like a chestnut for teaching prepositions.

Originally, I had in mind teaching them the crazy sentence “My name is Tony Chestnut.” I would use this to teach the body parts: toe, knee, chest, and finish with the head – nut. Next class when I started teaching, I asked them where is the chestnut? At that point I realized what a goldmine of information can be taught, just using a simple chestnut. Soon, the whole class knew that the chestnut was in my pocket. Next, the chestnut was in my hand. Then, the chestnut was on my hand. Then, suddenly, the chestnut was on her head!

Then it was on the window sill. Then the chestnut was under the desk.

There is a wealth of prepositional phrases that can be taught. There is behind my back, under her chin, between two books, on the chair at the front of the classroom, on the floor at the back of the classroom, in the drawer. If you use nonsense phrases, like “in my ear,” and things like that, the students will enter into the fun of the activity. It is a good idea to write these phrases on the board as you try different ones. It is best to just try a few new phrases each class, and then review the ones from last time. In this way, the students are not overwhelmed with all the new words.

When the students are fairly competent, here is an activity that we used. (Note: if you haven’t any chestnuts, almost any small object will do. We used coffee beans in Brazil, because there are lots of them in Brazil.)

Divide the class into groups of two or three. Give each group the following instructions and let them practice together:

-Put the chestnut on the desk.

Put the chestnut on your head.

-Put the chestnut under a book.

-Put the chestnut beside your friend.

-Put the chestnut next to your pen.

-Put the chestnut on your head.

-Put the chestnut under your foot.

-Put the chestnut behind your back.

-Put the chestnut between two books.

-Put the chestnut on the desk in front of your friend.

-Put the chestnut on your friend’s shoulder.

-Put the chestnut in your pocket.

-Put the chestnut on your hand.

-Put the chestnut beside the window.

-Put the chestnut on the floor beside your foot.

These activities should be used along with the regular work supplied by the curriculum, and you will find that they add a lot to the teaching of prepositions, and you will find that the students remember the phrases.

See also:

ESL Activity and Games Books

Fun Using Adjectives

No matter where you are, your students won’t know you and they may not know each other. They will likely be curious about you. They’ll want to know if you are alone, they’ll want to hear about your family and they’ll be interested in where you are from. Some of your personal interests may become an important link for making friends. You don’t likely speak their language and it’s important that you speak only English while in class. To facilitate communication you can prepare some pictures of yourself, perhaps some of your special interests and/or a map of your homeland.

In addition to the above suggestions, take an activity that would be suitable for almost any English second language level. We suggest one that introduces the students to each other. It’s very important to get them talking and laughing during that first lesson.

We suggest that you begin the lesson with introductions.

When you are ready to start the class write your name on the board and say, “My name is ______.”

Then have the students introduce themselves in the same way. It is best to have the class organized in a U shape so they can see each other and the board at the front of the room.

As you listen to the students talk you learn a little about their level of English. In order for everyone to get to know each other, continue using any of your own ideas or any of the suggestions mentioned above.

Your next step may be one of several possibilities according to the decisions made by your employer.

- You may have been provided with a curriculum and told the English language level of your students.

- Your employer may want you to choose from a variety of programs available in the teacher’s library.

- You may have been asked to give your students a levels placement test.

- You may have been asked to suggest an ESL curriculum.

No matter where you go you will need to adapt to your specific situation. Every culture is different and every class within that culture has unique qualities. Have fun with your students, find programs that make them laugh and they’ll love learning English.

See Also:

Learning English with Laughter

ESL Storybooks

Teacher Productivity Power Tips

Students and teachers alike become confused with questions like this.

We have provided some free material to refer to and refresh your memory. There is a consice reference chart with examples of 13 common tenses. There is an exercise, as well as an answer sheet, These are all printable. To see the tenses in action, there is a video.To download the free printable chart, exercise and answers:

CLICK HERE>>

Before doing the exercise, view the video:

Click below to view:

Click below to watch this video and find out what happened to Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg after they crashed into Kvitoya Island in the Arctic Ocean.

There are two ways of expressing the future progressive tense.

1) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg will be building a shelter.

2) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg are going to be building a shelter. (This is used to make a prediction.)

Relax! For everyday speech you can use either one!

Choose the sentence that uses either form of the

future progressive tense.

1.   a) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg build a shelter.

b) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg will be building a shelter.

c) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg built a shelter.

2.   a) The explorer’s families will not be hearing news of them for thirty-three years.

b) The explorer’s families didn’t hear news of them for thirty-three years.

c) The explorer’s families haven’t heard news of them for thirty-three years.

3.   a) It’s thirty-three years later; the world is going to hear about the explorers.

b) It’s thirty-three years later; the world hears about the explorers.

c) It’s thirty-three years later; the world has just heard about the explorers.

4.   a) Thirty-three years later some sailors go onto the island.

b) Thirty-three years later some sailors will be going onto the island.

c) Thirty-three years later some sailors went onto the island.

5.   a) The sailors are going to find Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.

b) The sailors found Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.

c) The sailors find Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.

Put the verbs in brackets into the future progressive tense.

Then check your answers.

 The three explorers (to build) ______________________ / _________________

a shelter onKvitoyaIsland. They are hopeful that they (to survive) _________________

the winter. However, no one hears of them for thirty-three years. After all that time, a

Norwegian ship (to land) ______________________ on the island.

As the crew of the Norwegian ship look around the island (to identify)

_______________ / _________________ the two skeletons by the names on their

clothing. As soon as the bodies are returned to Sweden, the people (to celebrate)

___________________  / ______________________ the three men as heroes.

Many of Nils Strindberg’s photographs survived the Arctic cold. People around the world

(to view) __________________/ __________________ them for decades to come.

Note: These two forms are usually interchangeable. Their use will become automatic as you gain more practice.

This article reviews the future progressive tense and provides practice questions for students. A video of Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg’s adventures is provided to add interest to an otherwise dull subject.

ESL Students

If you are a student you may wish to practice your English grammar. This blog provides several exercises that will allow you to review the simple future tense. If you have a minute, try them now.

Click below to view the video:

Choose the sentence with the simple future tense form of the verb

1.    a The three explorers will trek across the ice.

       b The three explorers trekked across the ice.

       c The three explorers are trekking across the ice.

2.    a Their ice-floe is changing direction.

       b Their ice-floe will change direction.

       c Their ice-floe has changed direction.

3.    a They hunted for a few days.

       b They have been hunting for a few days.

       c They will hunt for a few days.

4.    a Their ice-floe will break-up.

       b Their ice-floe has broken-up.

       c Their ice-floe broke-up.

5.    a They arrived at Kvitoya.

       b They will arrive at Kvitoya.

       c They have arrived at Kvitoya.

Answers

Complete the paragraphs using the simple future tense of the verb in brackets. ( )

The three explorers, Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg

are making their long trek over the Arctic Ocean. They

hope to shoot another polar bear, so they  (to watch)

 ______________ as they struggle over the ice. Then, after a few days the

 wind changes direction. Where _____________ it (to take)

_____________ them?

As they drift, their floe crashes into others. _________ they (to reach)

______________ open water or __________ their floe (to break-up)

_________________? They drift rapidly and soon crash into Kvitoya Island

 with such force that their floe breaks into many pieces. ____________ they

(to get) ____________  onto the Island? What __________ they (to find)

 _______________ on the Island?

Their floe settles beside a rocky snow-free area. ______________ they (to

 build) ______________ a snow-house there?  _____________ their food

 supply (to last) ______________ the winter? How many animals _______

 they (to see) _________________? ___________ they (to be able)

______________ to survive the winter?

Find out what happened! Go to:

Click below to view the video.

Our practice questions refer to Andrée’s Arctic Balloon Expedition. Videos for Part 1 and Part 2 told how Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg left Sweden on a balloon in 1897. They lost control of their balloon’s direction and landed on the Arctic ice. They had little idea of their location, but packed some of their equipment and food and headed across the ice to where they had stored some supplies.

The Present Progressive Tense

 The present progressive tenses show that something is happening at a specific time.

To form this tense use the present tense of the verb “to be” (am – is – are) plus the present participle. For the present progressive add  “ing” to the root of the infinitive.

EXAMPLE:

to land = landing

Choose the sentence that uses the present progressive tense.

Practice questions answers

1: a. In 1897 the three explorers are leaving their balloon on the ice.

b. In 1897 the three explorers leave their balloon on the ice.

c. In 1897 the three explorers left their balloon on the ice.

2:     a. They use their little boat on the open water.

b. They will use their little boat on the open water.

c. They are using their little boat on the open water.

3: a. The wind has moved them away from Seven Islands.

b. The wind is moving them away from Seven Islands.

c. The wind moved them away from Seven Islands.

4:     a. They camp on a large ice floe for the duration of winter.

b. They will camp on a large ice floe for the duration of winter.

c. They are camping on a large ice floe for the duration of winter.

5: a. The weather is getting much colder as the winter progresses.

b. The weather gets much colder as the winter progresses.

c. The weather got much colder as the winter progressed.

Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous tense.

Then check your answers.

Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg (to head) ______________

across the Arctic ice. They (to expect) _________________

to reach Seven Islands where they will find their supplies. The

large smooth ice floes (to make) _________________ their

progress easier. As they travel they (to drink) __________________ good water

from pools on the floe. Later they rejoice  as they skin a polar bear that they have been

able to shoot.

Now they (to move) ________________ at a good speed towards Seven Islands,

when suddenly, the wind changes and moves them in another direction. Consequently,

because the weather (to get) ________________ colder and as they (to drift)

________________ in the wrong direction, they need to change their plans. As they

(to progress) ________________ towards Kvitoya they decide to build a snow

shelter for the winter. They will need a lot of space so they (to design)

_________________ a snow house with three rooms. In spite of the cold weather

the three explorers (to hope) ________________ that they will survive the winter.

See also:

Learning English with Laughter