If... Student poems with a condition

Conditionals are a grammar point that will often get a groan, even from the grammar enthusiasts in a class. To many students they're fiddly, boring and repetitive. Exercises seem to consist of matching sentences or questions such as "What would you do if you won the lottery?". So I decided to give a class the opportunity to do something a bit more creative with conditionals, and I think we were all surprised by the results!

Reteach, reuse, recycle - activities to help vocabulary to stick.

Confession time: reviewing vocabulary with students is not my strongest point. This isn't necessarily a problem, since many higher level classes don't need so much help: I've tended to advise students on how they can research a word online to learn pronunciation, definitions, collocations, related words and example sentences then largely leave them to it. (1)

But there are students who don't yet have these independent study skills, and generally also for lower levels much more scaffolding will be needed.

So here's a roundup of ideas and activities for reviewing vocabulary from around the web, and a few thoughts of my own.

This Little Piggy went to Market...

If you're lucky enough to have a good local market, it can be an excellent destination for a class trip, providing numerous opportunities for language practice and discovery.  Here are a few ideas for activities for a market excursion: