Taking risks with ODD-ONE-OUT and MIND THE GAP

 

Shared by Blanca Serrano:

I’m working with my students in 4ºESO in a Unit named “Taking risks”. 

The vocabulary the book suggests is, on the one hand, mainly related to risks and dangers, with verbssuch as DARE, GIVE UP, STRUGGLE, ENCOURAGE, SUPPORT, REACH... On the other hand, it suggests adjectivesfor describing personality, such as FEARLESS, DARING, CORAGEOUS, FEARFUL, AMBITIOUS, SCEPTICAL... 

The book we use offers some texts and listening activities on extreme sports, adventurous people and explorers, as well as on important people who used their courage to raise awareness or for social causes, like Martin Luther King or Ghandi.

I sometimes find it difficult for my students to assimilate and remember vocabulary, especially when these words consist of verbs instead of nouns related to objects. For this reason, I would like to put into practice some of the strategiesfor vocabulary acquisition I have learnt in this course.

Although there were many games which I’m planning to use in class, the one which most caught my attention for dealing with these verbs and adjectives in particular was ODD-ONE-OUT. 

This is an activity I already knew, a common one in our workbooks, but truly I had never thought of it as a game and I had never considered the students to be the ones choosing the words. 

I think it would be very useful for the vocabulary we are learning to ask students tochoose words related to the topic and create groups of four in which one doesn’t fit for a particular reason. The rest of the class would provide their answers for leaving one word out orally, explaining their reasons in detail. 

Click here to continue reading  about this activity and MIND THE GAP.