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

Remember these? I guess we can use them at any age because my basic adult group used them successfully to practice colors, spelling, and asking and answering questions. After the whole class watched a step-by-step video to learn how to make the fortune-tellers, they colored 4 of the outside squares using different colors. They then wrote 8 different topics on the inside and a question under each topic. In pairs, one student chose a color and the other student had to spell the color as they opened and closed the fortune-teller. Finally, they picked a topic and asked and answered the question on that topic. These are something that can be used in the following classes as a wrap-up and review activity. Adults should also be able to make things and bring out the child that exists in all of us.  

We've come to the end of our unit on animals and what they need to survive. One of the last texts was about how porcupines and sea urchins use spikes to protect themselves. I didn't want to use the usual toothpicks to make an animal so, of course, I decided to use paper.  I first explored the images of the animals with the students and discussed why spikes can be important to some animals. They then wrote a sentence about it and glued their sentence onto a black piece of paper. Next, we rolled up different-sized paper squares and rectangles to make the spikes and cut 2 or 3 slits on the sides to glue them to the black paper. Last, we glued the black paper to a yellow sheet and cut the sides to look like spikes. I loved how the final product looks like some modern art project. 😍  

   My third-grade class just finished studying about living things that produce their own light. I love using black paper to highlight other colors and thought black would be the perfect color for this activity. To start, students used gold and silver pens to draw the living things we have been studing. They added sequins to make the drawings pop out even more on the black background and some students added googly eyes to their fireflies. We glued their drawing onto another paper so they could not just write the names of their drawings but also add why each living thing uses light. They were all very engaged and amazed at how beautiful these creatures and fungi are.

 We made a game! Remember the standing paper I've used before? Well, we used it to make a habitat game. We first made four habitats using different colored paper, crayons, markers and sequins. We drew some of the details on white paper, like the trees for the forest and the cactus for the desert and glued them onto their habitats. We glued all the habitats together with a paper handle added to the middle. I wrote the names of the animals on paper circles and glued them onto bottle tops. Each student wrote on a white sheet of paper which animals lived in each habitat, for example, in the desert, there are snakes, lizards and spiders , and glued the paper on the bottom of all the habitats. Students then played the game. They had to mix the animal names up, and we timed how fast they could place them in the correct habitat. They were excited to see how fast they could do it. It was a fun way for them to not only practice thinking and discussing each habitat but to also practice readin...

 We've been talking about tree frogs and their habitats, and we're still on the topic of what animals need to survive. I had students draw a  big hungry frog on a white sheet of paper, color it, and then cut it out. Before they glued the frog on another piece of paper, we cut the mouth open, and folded the frog in the middle, so its mouth would open a little. We folded the paper they would glue it on in the middle. Students glued the frog right in the middle of the folded paper by adding just a little bit of glue around the edges, so the mouth wouldn't stay glued to the paper. Students copied the questions we've been working on and then made 2 paper pockets to place their answers in. Today they will share their questions and answers with a partner. Ribbit 🐸  

 Still on the topic of camouflage and hiding in habitats, students used paint to create a colorful and then brownish background for their bugs and small animals to hide in. We first placed different colors of paint on a cardboard paper, spread the paint out with popsicle sticks (I think that was the best part), waited for the paint to dry, and then drew the animals with a black pencil. We glued some green paper to resemble the forest floor at the bottom. When they were done, they wrote about which animals they added to their forest. I wanted them to practice the plural there are , so they drew 2 of each animal. They glued their text to the back onto a paper handle, so they could easily take their work home and hang it up somewhere. We all loved the final result, and it was one more way for them to creatively practice the content and vocabulary from the story we read in class.

Our studies of what animals need and do to survive continue. This time, we wrote about owls. I introduced a story we are going to read called Twilight Hunt. It talks about different owls hunting at night to feed themselves and their babies.  We made our owls with paper, some gold sequins, and coffee pods for the eyes. My family got a coffee machine recently, and I have been waiting for a chance to recycle and/or reuse those plastic pods! The kids loved the idea. They said the activity smelled good. 😁🦉 Have you ever used these pods for a craft? Let me know!