Page 8 - English 11 | Games and Activities-1

THEME 1 FUTURE JOBS

FUNCTIONS
F1 Making plans and predictions
F2 Making an appointment
11 GRADE F3 Talking on the phone
th

8 What’s in the Bag?

The aim of this activity is to support speaking and listening skills as a part of language development in class. The goal
is to help your students think quickly and talk about their plans for the imaginary objects in the bag.

Materials and Preparation

You will need an empty bag or a backpack.

Procedure

1 Arrange students in a circle, and give one of them an empty bag or a backpack.
2 The student who receives the bag looks inside the bag and thinks of an object that would fit inside it.
3 He/She then asks the person to his/her right, e.g., “Why do you have a/an _____ in your bag?’’
4 That student then has to think of an appropriate reason quickly to explain his/her plan for the object using be going
to. For example, an exchange might go like this; “Why do you have a poetry book in your bag?’’ “I’m going to read
poems in my poetry club. I’m sure I will be the poet of the week.’’
5 If a student cannot answer a question appropriately or cannot think of a use for the object, he/she is out of the game
and must leave the circle. The last student remained in the game wins.
6 Students are out of the game as well if they repeat an answer given by another student or take too long to reply.
7 If you want this game funnier or harder, ask your students to invent something unusual or bizarre that could be inside
the bag.
E.g.
May: Why do you have a hamster in your bag?
Joe: I’m going to give it to my little brother as a present. He’s crazy about hamsters.

9 Just One Question

This activity aims at using the correct future form to make plans and predictions. It also encourages students to
improve their listening and speaking skills.
Materials and Preparation

Tell each student to take a blank paper for taking notes.

Procedure

1 Just One Question is a survey activity for getting students to talk about the future.
2 Students have to think of some interesting questions they could ask their classmates about the future.
3 Then, students choose the best question and survey at least 10 of their classmates, taking notes about what they
find out.
4 After that, give students some time to analyze their results and prepare a few sentences to share with the class about
what they have found.

10