The importance of warm-ups

The warm up of a lesson often receives less attention than it should. Teachers
spend a lot of time preparing explanations and worksheets to introduce and
practice the target language, for example. They then enter the classroom
unprepared for the first five or ten minutes. "Let's do something fun" usually
constitutes all the planning that goes into this stage of the lesson. Planning
then gets done on the way to the classroom, with the teacher pulling a game
out of his bag of tricks. But a well-planned, effective warm up offers more
towards the class than just a bit of fun.
Because it's the first activity of the class, the warm up sets the tone for the
next hour. An activity that students find too difficult, or even confusing, results
in a class of disinterested zombies. Similarly, a writing-based activity won't get
the students communicating. This then translates into a quiet class session in
which you have to prod and push the students to volunteer examples or simple
answers.
A fun warm up, on the other hand, raises energy levels. Fun activities also
produce relaxed, less inhibited students. With the right warm up, you'll have
created a positive atmosphere to practice and experiment with the language.
The class warm up gets students into "English mode." If you teach English in a
third world country, the class may represent the only chance for students to
use the language. In other words, they might not have spoken English since the
last session, be that two days, one week, or one month ago. Even if your
students encounter and use English every day, it still takes some time to
prepare for the intensive 55 minutes of classroom time.
To fully get into "English mode," as I like to call it, a warm up should last from 5
to 7 minutes. I'm assuming your lessons meet for 55 minutes. Without enough
time to get warmed up, though, students will continue to make mistakes during
the early stages of the lesson - important time needed to present and drill the
new material. Students may be slow to understand, too, again because those
wheels aren't turning yet. As a final comment, if the warm up takes too long,

say fifteen minutes, then valuable time gets lost from the main focus of the
class. Students have less time to acquire the new material.
An effective warm up serves as a springboard into the topic or target language
of the lesson. If the lesson focuses on how to make hotel reservations, then a
few lower-intermediate questions will get everyone thinking about the topic.
The warm up activates already held information, in this case about hotels and
hotel reservations. There's the chance, too, that students may even
inadvertently produce some of the key language, which you can make note of
and use to present the target material.
A conversation-based warm up between the students allows you to sit back,
observe, and assess everyone's ability. Assessment proves especially important
if you see different faces each session. But even a class with regular
attendance will catch students on good and bad days. Let's say everyone is a
bit tired and unfocused, in which case you'll have to scale back the lesson
objective. On the other hand, you may have to expand the scope if everyone
uses the target language correctly from the get-go.
You can also assess who will partner well together, and who won't. Strong
students may not want to work with weak students, or a middle-aged
housewife may feel most comfortable with a woman her age. Although you
won't be able to fully determine abilities or personalities for later pair and
group work, assessment here will signal any potential problems or conflicts at
the very least.
Here are some final comments about warm ups:
Don't correct the students. Assistance is fine, especially if some people have
difficulty participating in the activity. But remember: your students still aren't in
thinking in English, so they'll make mistakes even with familiar material. If you
have ever studied a foreign language, do you remember how far into the
conversation you began to feel comfortable? Which point is easier, the first few
exchanges in a conversation, or five minutes into it?
In addition, correction not only interrupts the flow of the activity, it also
generates a teacher-centered lesson. As mentioned, the warm up sets the tone
for the next 55 minutes. If you participate in the activity, especially in a smallsized class, it turns the focus towards you, too.
To offer an example, in a class of two, you first talk to a student one-on-one for
a few minutes, then do the same with the second student. In so doing, you've
established yourself as a participant rather than a guide. The students won't be
as quick to volunteer information or participate in conversations unless you
initiate and run them. This steals valuable talk time from the students, and
creates more hesitant speakers inside and outside the classroom. Compare an
activity in which you write three questions on the board, and instruct the
students to pair up and sustain the conversation for at least five minutes.
Always strive for an atmosphere in which the students take responsibility for
the language they produce.

Because the warm up opens the class session, it sets the atmosphere and
expectations of the lesson. It also allows you important assessment
opportunities, which will later determine the type of activities, who will partner
with whom, and the scope of the lesson. Always give equal consideration to the
warm up as to other steps of the lesson. The result will be a more focused and
positive group of students performing to your expectations.

The importance of the vocabulary

With hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, teaching
vocabulary can seem like a very daunting prospect. Remember though that the
average native speaker uses around only five thousand words in everyday
speech. Moreover, your students won't need to produce every word they learn,
some they will just need to recognize. Selecting what to teach, based on
frequency and usefulness to the needs of your particular students is therefore
essential. Once you have chosen what to teach, the next important steps are to
consider what students need to know about the items, and how you can teach
them.
What a student may need to know about an item

What it means

It is vital to get across the meaning of the item clearly and to ensure that your
students have understood correctly with checking questions.

The form

Students need to know if it is a verb/a noun/an adjective etc to be able to use it

effectively.

How it is pronounced

This can be particularly problematic for learners of English because there is

often no clear relation between how a word is written and how it is pronounced.
It is very important to use the phonemic script in such cases so the sts have a
clear written record of the pronunciation. Don't forget also to drill words that
you think will cause pronunciation problems for your students and highlight the
word stresses.

How it is spelt

This is always difficult in English for the reason mentioned above. Remember to
clarify the pronunciation before showing the written form.

If it follows any unpredictable grammatical patterns

For example, man-men / information (uncountable) and if the word is followed

by a particular preposition (e.g. depend on ).

The connotations that the item may have

Bachelor is a neutral/positive word whereas spinster conjures a more negative

image.

The situations when the word is or is not used

Is it formal/neutral/informal? For example, spectacles/glasses/specs. Is it used

mainly in speech or in writing? To sum up is usually written whereas mind you
is spoken. Is it outdated? Wireless instead of radio.

How the word is related to others

For example, synonyms, antonyms, lexical sets.

Collocation or the way that words occur together

You describe things 'in great detail' not 'in big detail' and to ask a question you
'raise your hand' you don't 'lift your hand'. It is important to highlight this to
students to prevent mistakes in usage later.

What the affixes (the prefixes and suffixes) may indicate about the
meaning.

For example, substandard sub meaning under. This is particularly useful at a

higher level.
Which of these areas you choose to highlight will depend on the item you are
teaching and the level of your students. Now it's time to think about how we
can get the meaning across.

Ways to present vocabulary

How can we get away from a bunch of crappy information and actually explain
things well? How can we provide meaningful content?

Here are a few tips for teaching vocabulary (and any topic!):
1. Tell A Story: Use a story to explain a concept. Any story will do. It doesnt
have to be an elaborate one, but can be as simple as a story about getting
coffee at Starbucks and how that relates to building an email list. Stories help
concepts stick in peopls minds.
2. Use Repetition: Dont be afraid to repeat the same information in a different
way. In fact, I love using the 3T method: Tell them what youre going to tell
them. Tell them. And, then tell them what you just told them. (I promise, it isnt
as complicated as it reads!).
3. Make It Matter: I was listening to a lecture the other day and kept wondering
why does this even matter. Dont leave your students scratching their heads
wondering why they should know this or how it fits into their lives. Explain to
them the importance.
4. Use Their Language, explain ideas on their terms and in words they know
and understand. As long as they understand the content, we are not going to
quiz them on the definitions.
5. Analogies: If it fits, try to compare ideas to something similar. Want to
explain how to create a website? Compare it to constructing a house.

6. Ask questions: Use questions to get people to think. Now, I dont mean start
throwing in questions all willy nilly. Make sure your questions have a point and
require learners to do some deep-thinking. In other words, stay away from the
Yes and No type questions.
7. Stay away from jargon & acronyms: Want to know the fastest route to
confusing anyone? Start explaining concepts using words that are specific to
one industry. Youll have an entire room of perplexed faces. Instead, make sure
to define jargon and acronyms WHEN you first start using them.
8. Dont make assumptions: You know so much information about your subject
that you might assume that the small tiny details dont matter. But, they do.
This is where knowing your learners comes into play. You may think that
specific information is irrelevant, but oftentimes the small pieces of information
are the ones that make the lightbulb go on.
9. Relate content to something familiar: Find something in pop culture or
everyday life that people can relate to. If your topic easily fits, use the
comparison to explain the concept.
10. Know their background knowledge: Adults have tons of experiences under
their belts. And, they probably have some experience that they can relate to
the content. Try to incorporate the sharing of those experiences whenever
possible. Ask your participants opinions. Let them teach a lesson. Get them
involved in sharing.
11. Chunk the content: Have a very involved topic? Or, does your topic require
a lot of in-depth explanation? Look for ways to break up the content into
smaller pieces. This makes it easier for learners to understand.
12. Make it visual: We love images. Take a look around. Pictures are
everywhere: Instagram, Pinterest, Infographics. We tend to take in information
better when in visual format. Have content that might be better delivered as a
picture, chart, or diagram? Find ways to explain topics with imagery.
13. Learn by doing: The best way to improve is to do. Dont worry about
ultimate perfection or the what ifs. Get your brilliant message out there, get
feedback, and make tweaks. Trust in yourself and the process.
Other things to consider

Review the vocabulary you teach through a game or activity and

encourage your students to do the same at home.
Encourage autonomy in your learners. Tell them to read, watch films,
listen to songs etc., and note the useful words.
Have a section of your board / glass for vocabulary items that come up
as you are teaching. Use different colors for the word / the phonemics /
the prepositions / the part of speech.
It is a good idea to teach/learn words with associated meanings together.

Encourage your students to purchase a good dictionary and use class

time to highlight the benefits of one.
Teach your students the grammatical names for the parts of speech and
the phonemic script
Always keep a good dictionary by your side in case a student asks about
a word you don't know.
If you don't and have never heard of the word, tell the student you will
check and get back to them. Do get back to them.
Give extra examples sentences to the students if they are unsure and
encourage them to write the word in an example sentence (maybe for
homework).

Source:
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
www.tefl.net
www.headsupenglish.com
www.englishcurrent.com
www.teachgoodstuff.com