Random letters, random sentence.
Teaching tip
When you start a lesson, it can be really helpful to begin with a short task which focuses all students’ attention on English. This is important whether they are attending an evening class or an in-business lesson.
You can use this activity with any level.
- On the board write a series of letters, for example: ASDASD
- Ask students to make a sentence using each letter in sequence.
A silly dog ate spicy doughnuts. Adam saw dirty apples splashing down. - Ask each student to read out their results – you should try the exercise, too!
- For lower-level students write fewer letters, for higher level students add more letters. It doesn’t matter if students cannot use all the letters or if the sentences don’t make perfect sense!
- You could also ask students to provide the letters. Or ask for a sentence where every word starts with the same letter.
The tired teacher travelled through Thailand.
Big bananas build beautiful boats. - Remember: this exercise is to focus students’ attention on being in the English classroom, so be tolerant with errors or inaccuracy.