Jazz Up Your Lesson
Difficult tense? – Easy practice!
These games are aimed at training students’ skills in using Present Perfect tense in communication. Usually, this tense presents certain difficulties due to the absence of analogy in the Russian language tense system. The following activities enable students use this tense in real life situations and hopefully make them feel the very essence of this tense, especially compared to Past Simple.
GAME 1
Prepare 2 sets of cards:
| A
1. Say what you did on last New Year holiday? 2. Say what movie you haven’t seen yet. 3. Say how many cups\glasses of tea\coffee\juice you have drunk today. 4. Say what book you have recently read. 5. Name 3 things you have done today. | B
1. Say what you did yesterday. 2. Say what book you haven’t read yet. 3. Say how many friends you have met today. 4. Say what interesting film you have recently watched. 5. Name 3 things you haven’t done yet but you would love to try. |
Divide the students in 2 groups and let every group take one set of cards. Make sure that each student has a card. Then put As and Bs into pairs and let them interview each other.
Feedback. After the students have talked, let them share a couple of facts that surprised them most in their partner.
GAME 2
Here are the cards with key-phrases on them and 2 spare columns. Make sure every student has one card. Let the students write questions in Present Perfect opposite the key-phrase in the second column (monitor them while writing or ask them to read the ready-made questions aloud and other students correct them if necessary).
After all the questions are written ask the students to go round and ask their classmates the questions on their lists. Let them put their classmates’ answers in the third column. Encourage students to ask one question until they find someone who can actually answer “yes” (or you make sure that nobody in class at all has ever done this) and let them ask additional questions in Past Simple to learn the details.
Feedback. Everyone may share a couple of most interesting facts they have just learnt about their classmates.
| Eat crocodile meat | ||
| Lose something very dear | ||
| Speak to an American | ||
| Go to Africa | ||
| See the film “Titanic” |
| Eat 12 bananas at once | ||
| Lose a friend | ||
| Speak to a 100-year-old person | ||
| Go to America | ||
| See a football match in a stadium |
| Eat a kilo of ice-cream at once | ||
| Lose something you borrowed | ||
| Speak to an African-American | ||
| Go to Antarctica | ||
| See a movie star in real life |
| Eat a mango | ||
| Lose a mobile phone | ||
| Speak to a police officer | ||
| Go to England | ||
| See a famous person in real life |
| Eat octopus (осьминог) | ||
| Lose a key from home | ||
| Speak to the school principal | ||
| Go to Canada | ||
| See a flood (наводнение) |
| Eat fast food | ||
| Lose a wallet | ||
| Speak to a famous person | ||
| Go to France | ||
| See a fire (пожар) |
| Eat raw fish (сырая) | ||
| Lose money | ||
| Speak to a famous singer | ||
| Go to Scotland | ||
| See Lake Baikal |
| Eat snails (улитки) | ||
| Lose your temper | ||
| Speak to a journalist | ||
| Go to Washington D.C. | ||
| See a volcano erupt (извержение) |
| Eat snakes (змеи) | ||
| Lose important documents | ||
| Speak to yourself | ||
| Go to Italy | ||
| See wild animals in nature |
| Eat shrimps (креветки) | ||
| Lose your passport | ||
| Speak to an Englishman | ||
| Go to Spain | ||
| See a waterfall |
GAME 3
This is a deduction game where teams of students race against each other to find an answer in response to a prompt.
Divide the students into roughly equal teams (3-4 teams of 3-4 players each). Give each student a card and ask them to fold their cards so that only the exclamation in bold type could be seen (not the sentence in italics with present perfect)
The aim of the game is to win as many cards as possible by guessing the correct sentence with present perfect shown by another team. Nominate one team to start and ask one player in the team to hold up his\her exclamatory sentence and tell it to the class. Let the others guess: they may call out what they think has happened. The card is given to a team whose player has guessed the correct answer and given a correct sentence.
CARDS
| I’m full!
I’ve just had dinner. | That’s strange – nobody’s at home!
I’ve just rung the doorbell. |
| I look terrible here!
I’ve just looked at a photo. | It’s ok. I’ll answer it!
I’ve just heard the phone that rang. |
| And you are?
I’ve just introduced myself. | Wrong number, sorry!
I’ve just answered the phone. |
| Fasten your belt!
I’ve just got in a car. | Yuk!
I’ve just tasted some awful food. |
| Like my tan?
I’ve just come back from holidays. | Which floor?
I’ve just got on a lift. |
| It fits!
I’ve just tried some clothes on. | My feet are wet!
I’ve just been in the rain. |
| Which channel?
I’ve just turned on the TV. | I need a plaster!
I’ve just cut myself. |