Fresh Ideas

How can you tailor your classes to your students’ needs, learning styles,
and ages?
These fresh ideas provide innovative ways to teach a variety of exercises in
the Student’s Book. Techniques such as Face up, face down; Instant
messaging; and Catch! make classes livelier, more interactive, and more
varied. Depending on the exercise, these techniques can either supplement
or replace the suggestions in the page-by-page teaching notes. Each of the
12 fresh ideas can be adapted to use with different exercises and with both
levels of Passages Third Edition. Handouts are not required.

Fresh ideas Use with

Bleep! Bleep! Vocabulary sections

1, 2, or 3? Grammar sections

Face up, face down Speaking/Discussion sections

What’s next? Listening sections

That’s my point! Reading sections

That reminds me of . . . Vocabulary sections

Language hunters Grammar sections

Catch! Speaking/Discussion sections

Hands up! Listening sections

Instant messaging Reading sections

Collective texts Writing sections

Can I add something here? Speaking/Discussion sections

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Bleep! Bleep!
Aims: Personalize new vocabulary, guess meaning from
context, develop oral fluency
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with vocabulary sections

n Explain the task. S1 chooses one of the words or expressions in

the vocabulary section and keeps it a secret. S1 then comes up
with a sentence that must include that lexical item. When saying
the sentence to the group, S1 has to say “bleep!” instead of the
item. The other Ss try to guess what it is.
n Model the task with one of the vocabulary items.
n Ss take turns choosing items and saying their sentences.

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1, 2, or 3?
Aims: Practice new grammatical structure, develop oral fluency
and confidence using English, develop listening accuracy
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with grammar sections

n Explain the task. Ss work in groups of three. Have each group

write three short (two-sentence) dialogues. In one and only one of
the dialogues, they will include the grammar point being studied.
n Groups read or act out their three dialogues to the class. The other
Ss write 1, 2, or 3, depending on which dialogue they recognize as
having the structure being studied.
n After each group presents, ask for a show of hands to check how
many Ss identified the correct dialogue.

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Face up, face down
Aims: Encourage quieter Ss to speak in whole group
discussions, encourage more talkative Ss to wait for their turn
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with speaking/discussion sections

n Tell Ss to place their closed copies of Passages face up in front of

them.
n When a S contributes to the discussion, he or she turns the book
face down.
n The same S can only speak again when everyone else’s book is
face down. Then everybody turns his or her book face up again
for a second round of discussion.

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What’s next?
Aims: Develop listening accuracy, develop language
appropriacy awareness, expand vocabulary range
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with listening sections

n After Ss listen to the passage and do the listening task, play the
recording again, pausing before eight to ten places where you
think there is relevant vocabulary to be learned (words, phrasal
verbs, phrases, idioms, etc).
n Ss work in pairs. After each pause, have Ss write down in general
terms what they think will happen next in the recording.
n Have pairs share their guesses with the class.
n Continue the recording and let Ss compare their guesses to
the original.
n For guesses that do not match the recording, discuss whether the
guesses would also be possible in that context.

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That’s my point!
Aims: Develop reading accuracy, expand vocabulary range in
discussions
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with reading sections

n After Ss read the passage but before they answer the discussion
questions, have Ss work individually to go over the passage
and underline any parts in the text they think could be useful
information or arguments during the subsequent discussion.
n Have Ss walk around the class and show each other the parts
of the reading passage they have chosen. They may underline
additional parts if they like their classmates’ choices.
n Encourage Ss to use these points during the discussion.

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That reminds me of . . .
Aims: Memorize new vocabulary by associating it to known
people, practice the pronunciation of new vocabulary
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with vocabulary sections

n After new vocabulary has been introduced, ask S1 to choose one

of the items, say it aloud (correct pronunciation if needed), and
say who that item reminds him or her of. This could be a famous
personality or someone in S1’s life (e.g., “my boss”).
n Write the item on the board next to the chosen person’s name.
If the person is not famous write, for instance, Pedro’s boss.
n When all the items have been chosen, erase them from the board,
leaving only the people’s names.
n Call out each name. Ss try to remember the vocabulary item
associated with that person.
Variation: Ss may think of events instead of people.

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Language hunters
Aims: Notice grammatical structures
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with grammar sections

n Explain the task. Have Ss collect samples of the grammar

structure being studied.
n Ss work in groups of three. Set a time limit (5 to 10 minutes)
for them to find samples of a given grammatical structure
anywhere in their books (in grammar sections, reading passages,
instructions, etc.).
n When time is up, compare samples. The group with the most
correct samples is the winner. Give that group a round of applause
and perhaps a small prize.

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Catch!
Aims: Allow physical movement, encourage careful listening,
practice restatement of someone else’s ideas
Preparation: Make a ball of crumpled paper
Comment: Use with speaking/discussion sections

n Have all Ss stand up. Give S1 a crumpled up paper ball.

n S1 gives his or her opinion about the topic being discussed, then
throws the paper ball to S2 and sits down.
n S2 restates what S1 has said, contributes his or her own opinion,
throws the paper ball to one of the Ss standing up, and then sits
down.
n The activity continues until all Ss are sitting down.

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Hands up!
Aims: Notice specific points in listening passages, develop
listening accuracy
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with listening sections

n Choose a recurring language point in the listening passage. This

may be a grammatical structure or a speaking strategy such as
agreeing, disagreeing, hesitating, or any other point that you find
useful for your Ss.
n After Ss listen to the passage and do the listening task, tell them
the specific point you are looking for and have them listen for it.
n Play the recording again. Have Ss raise their hands whenever they
hear that point in the recording.
n When one or more Ss have spotted a point correctly, go back and
play that segment again so that the whole class can notice it.
n Call Ss’ attention to any points that went unnoticed.

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Instant messaging
Aims: Notice and use language in reading passages, practice
fast conversational writing
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with reading sections

n After Ss read the passage and answer the discussion questions, tell
them they are instant messaging a classmate about the topic dealt
with in the reading passage.
n Ss work in pairs to write each other short messages about the
topic, expressing their opinions and agreeing or disagreeing with
each other. They should not speak, just write.
n You may teach Ss common online acronyms, such as B4 (before),
BTW (by the way), FYI (  for your information), IMO (in my
opinion), IMHO (in my humble opinion), LOL (laughing out
loud ), OIC (Oh, I see), and OTOH (on the other hand ).
n If there is time, have pairs swap their messages and read what
others have written.

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Collective texts
Aims: Develop writing skills, practice editing and rewriting a text
Preparation: None
Comment: Use with writing sections

n Have Ss read the sample text and follow the step(s) suggested in
Passages, but stop before beginning the main writing task.
n Tell Ss the class is going to write a text collectively. Start the text
yourself by writing an introductory sentence on the board. Have
Ss take turns contributing to the text. Encourage Ss to copy the
text into their notebooks as you go.
n Point out incorrect grammar or vocabulary, but let Ss try to correct
the text themselves. Help them avoid repetition and produce a
coherent text by suggesting the use of connectives, conjunctions,
and appropriate synonyms.
n When the text is done, ask a S to read it aloud to the class.
Variation: Ask a S with clear handwriting to rewrite the text on the
board. Make sure you get him or her a copy of the text.

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Can I add something here?
Aims: Encourage polite turn-taking strategies, practice
appropriate language for interrupting
Preparation: A pen or marker to be used as a microphone
Comment: Use with speaking/discussion sections

n Before doing the discussion activity, show Ss a pen or marker. Tell

them it is a microphone, and explain that they can speak into the
microphone only, otherwise they won’t be heard.
n The S holding the “microphone” will only give the floor to
another S if the person interrupts politely, saying Excuse me, can
I say something?, Excuse me, can I add something here?, Excuse
me, can I ask a question?, or another informal but polite phrase
for interrupting.
Variation: Ss will each have their own “microphone,” which they
will surrender to you after they speak, to encourage more Ss to
participate in the discussion.

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