LEARNING BEYOND THE BELL
Supporting and resourcing homework programs across Victoria
Activities for students newly arrived to Australia
Many homework clubs work with students who are newly arrived to Australia and who may be from a
refugee background. These students are learning English as well as adjusting to the Australian school system.
Prior to living in Australia some of them will have had little to no schooling.
The activities below are ones that can be done with these students when they don’t bring any set
homework. Most of the activities below can be made easier or harder depending on the student’s level as
well as altering them to topics that they are interested in or have a particular need to learn more about.
Discussions during and at the end of each game will be as much a part of the student’s learning as doing the
activity. With all of the activities, providing pictures/photos to illustrate particular words in the game will
assist students in their understanding. Remember, if you are unsure of a student’s level it would be better to
start with an easier version of one of the activities rather than something which is too difficult for them.
Listening to stories
Having a book read to you while looking at the accompanying pictures or photos shouldn’t be under
estimated as a way of developing students’ English skills. Public libraries have many books available that a
tutor could read to a student. Talking books can also be borrowed from a library. The best ones for this
situation are those where there is an accompanying book with illustrations. If students are older, you could
borrow illustrated books and graphic novels in the Young Adult section of the library. If the student is not
interested in listening to a book, borrow books from the library on topics they are interested in, then simply
discuss the photos and illustrations.
Concentration
This is like the card game many people may have played as children. Using the template of action pictures Appendix 1 (This template is from the book: “Language games for ESL students” by the Department of
Education and Training. See the resources list for more information) Copy the template on to two different
coloured pieces of paper, then cut out each individual square. Place all the cards face down on a table. Those
playing take turns at turning two of the cards over, endeavouring to match the cards of the same action. As
students turn over the cards encourage them to say what action is being performed. The person with the
most pairs of cards at the end of the game is the winner. Another possible game with these cards is
Charades. A student picks one of the cards out of the pile which are facing down. They then endeavour to act
out the action while others guess.
Learning Beyond the Bell
Guess the Sound
Make a recording of everyday sounds and find accompanying pictures. Students have to match the picture
with the sound they hear. Examples of the sounds you could record may be: a car starting, bouncing a ball,
washing dishes, turning over the pages of a newspaper, running up stairs, a bird singing, tuning a guitar, a
crowd at a sporting event, etc.
Finish the sentence
For this game two or more players can participate. Somebody starts a sentence then each person in the
game after that adds another word(s). For example, “On the weekend I like to …play soccer (first
student)....watch TV (second student) ……visit my friends (third student)” and so on. You can make the
beginning of the sentence as hard or as easy as you like depending on the English level of the students as
well as their interests, some examples are below:
•
I like to eat ……
•
I am good at ……
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My favourite sports star is ……
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I like the music of ……..
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If I was famous I would be ………..
Opposite lists
For this activity the student can draw or write items that are opposites. Both of the words in the opposite
pair need to either be written or have a drawing made of them. If the student is not keen to draw or write
they could even cut pictures out of magazines and paste them under each heading. To make the activity
clearer draw a line down the middle of the page, to delineate the two sides. Some examples of opposites
could be: hot/cold, heavy/light, wild animal/domestic animal, inside/outside, like/dislike, healthy/unhealthy.
For older students quirky opposites like cool/uncool may have some appeal.
Odd One Out
Play a game whereby you have a series of short lists. Each list can be about 4 or 5 words. The student needs
to circle the “odd” word out on the list. You can make these lists as hard or as easy as you like depending on
the student’s skills level. Make sure you discuss the student’s answers with them. For more advanced
students an alternative to this game is for them to make up the lists and the tutor or their fellow students
need to guess the “odd” one out. For students having difficulties with this activity, see if you can have a small
illustration beside each item on the list, to help them work the “odd” one out. Here are some example lists:
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Big, Small, Large, Huge
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Grass, Trees, Leaves, Spade
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Ice-cream, chocolate, meat pie, cake
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Gardening, Soccer, Rugby, Football
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Dog, Cat, Dinosaur, Horse
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Wet, Dry, Splash, Water
Learning Beyond the Bell
Matching Signs and Symbols
See Appendix 2 (This template is from the book, “The Literacy Workbook for beginners” by Judy Christie.)
See the Resources list for further information. For this exercise, students need to match the symbol with the
sign. You could make similar matching activities like this, where students need to match a word with a
symbol or illustration.
Matching words/concepts
Make two lists of related words or concepts. Cut out each of the words or concepts, lay them down face up
and students have to match them with each other. The lists for this game can be from a beginner learning
English level through to more complex levels. Three examples are given below: an easy one; one that is
slightly harder and; a much harder version of the game.
Example one:
Example two:
Example three:
1
one
happy
sad
break
broke
2
two
good
bad
forget
forgot
3
three
hot
cold
choose
chose
4
four
wet
dry
take
took
5
five
tall
short
give
gave
6
six
in
out
know
knew
7
seven
left
right
see
saw
8
eight
young
old
steal
stole
9
nine
sick
well
wear
wore
10
ten
day
night
live
lived
Shopping lists
Compile a shopping list of a variety of items you purchase at different types of shops. It would be good to cut
pictures of the items on the shopping list from advertising brochures. This list could be done in discussion
with the student. You then need a list of possible shops (see the sample lists below). The student then needs
to work out which shop would be the best place to purchase each of the items on their list. This activity
could be enhanced by having a map from one of the major shopping complexes and seeing if you can find
the shops on the map and work out what route you would take to do the shopping. If students don’t
understand what the shops below are, give examples of some brand names associated with them, eg.
Hardware shop – Bunnings; Hot Bread shop – Baker’s Delight.
Learning Beyond the Bell
Shopping list:
List of Shops:
Olives
Hardware shop
Necklace
Chemist
Hammer
Delicatessen
Salad roll
Florist
Bunch of flowers
Hairdresser
Medicine
Hot Bread shop
Doll
Takeaway shop
Loaf of bread
Toy shop
Word-search
Create a word-search for students to do - illustrated if possible. Initially make the words only horizontal or
vertical. When the students are more advanced you can also create the word-search so students need to
search for the words diagonally. Word-searches can be simple or complex so create them to fit the needs
and interests of the students you are working with. When students are doing word-searches get them to use
a highlighter pen, as this still lets them to see the words underneath as they work. When students become
comfortable with word-searches they may like to create their own from a list of words.
DOG
CAT
HORSE
COW
BIRD
M
O
U
S
E
Z
B
I
R
D
H
O
R
S
E
H
D
C
O
W
A
G
C
A
T
Learning Beyond the Bell
Resources List
•
Department of Education and Training, 2004. Language games for ESL students: Classroom activities
for students learning English as a second language. Department of Education and Training.
•
Christie, Judy, 1998. The Literacy Workbook. NSW AMES
Websites with activity ideas for working with newly-arrived students
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Activities for secondary students:
http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/lem/BESLsec.pdf.
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Quiz activities:
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ozesl/#LESSON
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Computer games:
http://www.manythings.org/e/easy.html
Learning Beyond the Bell
Appendix 1 – template for ‘Concentration’ activity
Template source: Language games for ESL students, Template source: Language games for ESL students,
Department of Education and Training
Learning Beyond the Bell
Appendix 2 – template for ‘Matching Signs and Symbols’ activity
Template source: The Literacy Workbook for beginners, Judy Christie
www.cmy.net.au/LBB