All You Need is Paper (and a little love) ESL/EFL activities

  To practice using GOING TO, my 4th-graders have been talking about plans for the future. It's the end of the school year here in Brazil and everyone is somewhat tired and having more difficulty focusing. My class had to write about a place they were going to go to in the future and what they were going to take and instead of just having them write, I thought that making a little paper suitcase using craft paper would get them a little bit more engaged in the activity. Luckily, it worked. We folded half of a sheet of paper in half so that they could write inside the suitcase. Some students even drew what they would be taking with them. We made the handle out of craft foam. It was all pretty easy and the kids could finish the activity in one class. I still want them to share with their classmates what they wrote.

This is pretty simple. We were studying clothes, specifically winter clothes. So, I cut out the shape of a long sleeved shirt. Everyone had a piece of paper with a hole in the shape of a shirt. Kids then had to go around the classroom placing their shirt in different places to get different colors and patterns. As they went around the class I asked them: what color is your shirt? They all had a different answers depending on where they placed their paper: my shirt is pink and orange or my shirt is blue, etc.  I punched out some snowflakes for them to glue to their papers to remind them we were talking about warm clothes.   

I didn't really know what I could call this activity but I guess Drawing Heads is exactly what it first starts out to be. Let me tell you what I did. We were studying clothes and the kids were all 6 or 7 years old. I handed out paper and asked them to use the entire size of the paper to draw their heads. When they were done, I taped the Heads to the board, gave each student a pen and asked them to draw the rest of their bodies. They then had to describe what they were wearing to their friends. Very simple but they had a lot of fun on the board and could change what they were wearing. You can also use this and instead of just having them draw whatever clothing they want, you dictate what they should draw. You can have them add belts, boots and buttons. By the way, that's me in the striped pajamas.