Line Puimège
BaSo a
Engels
Jen Van Loock
Waiting corner activities
1. Song - Culture
The pupils listen to a song (God save the Queen) and get pieces of paper with parts of the
lyrics on it. They have to try to put the lyrics in the correct order. After they’ve put the pieces
together, they can listen to it another time to correct the exercise. To make sure they don’t
disturb the other pupils that are still working on their first exercises, you can use earplugs.
This way the pupils can also do this exercise in pairs.
To make the exercise more difficult, the lyrics can be divided into smaller parts. You can also
let the pupils try to put the pieces together without letting them listen to the song first.
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!
O lord God arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall!
Confound their knavish tricks,
Confuse their politics,
On you our hopes we fix,
God save the Queen!
Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
-
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world ov'er
From every latent foe,
From the assasins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign!
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!
Can you find your favourite song and change it into a similar guessing exercise for
your fellow-pupils.
Perhaps we can listen to your song next time!
2. Drawing – vocabulary (clothing)
The pupils sit opposite each other. Pupil 1 is holding a picture with a man / woman in it,
which pupil 2 can’t see. Pupil 1 has to describe how the man / woman is dressed and pupil 2
has to try to draw the picture on a sheet of paper by listening to the instructions of his
classmate. Pupil 2 also has to write down the types of clothing that pupil 1 is describing.
When they’re finished, they compare the two pictures and look at the given wordlist to see
whether pupil 2 has written down the words correctly. After this, they can take a new picture
and pupil 1 becomes the artist.
It’s clear that this exercise can only be done in pairs. If there is only one student in the waiting
corner, I would give the following exercise to do while he waits for a classmate to come join
him. The pupil has to describe his / her ultimate party outfit and can draw a picture of this
outfit. To give some help with the description, the pupil can use a dictionary or the wordlist
given for the other exercise.
Vocabulary list
a skirt
shoes
trousers
a vest
socks
a T-shirt
a blouse
shorts
boots
a scarf
a coat
a raincoat
a trench coat
jeans
high heels
stockings
a handbag
a tie
a suit
a dress
a jacket
a jumper
a cardigan
a sweatshirt
tights
sandals
a belt
sunglasses
gloves
a watch
a hat
a headscarf
a bracelet
a ring
earrings
a necklace
a cap
a waistcoat
a tank top
…
3. Battleship – grammar (the tenses)
The pupils sit opposite each other. They each have a paper with infinitives and tenses on it
and a second sheet of paper with a blank grid on it. They have to try to find each other’s
battleships by guessing where they are in the grid. If pupil 1 finds a ship of pupil 2, pupil 2
has to tell pupil 1 the infinitive and the tense that is given in that particular grid. Pupil 2 then
has to try to form a sentence with that verb in that tense, if the sentence is correct, pupil 1 has
hit one of the ships of pupil 2 and he can mark this on the blank grid. To find out whether the
pupils’ sentences are correct, they can look them up in the given correction key. To make this
exercise more difficult, you can put these symbols in the grids: +, -, ? so when the pupils have
to form a sentence, it will have to be a positive or negative one or a question.
Below you can find an example of how this exercise is done.
This is also an exercise the pupils only can do in pairs, if there is only one pupil in the waiting
corner, I would give him some extra exercises on the tenses (e.g. gap-filling exercise, mix and
match, …) while he waits for another pupil to join him.
Example:
The pupils each have these two sheets of paper. They can put 4 ships on the first sheet of
paper. One ship is as big as 2 grids, the second one is as big as 3 grids, …
1
A
B
To be (past To run
simple)
(present
simple)
2
To have
(future
simple)
3
To do
To
(present
swim
continuous) (future
simple)
To laugh
To give
(present
(past
perfect)
simple)
4
5
To go
(past
simple)
To draw
(present
perfect)
A
1
2
3
4
5
To
score
(past
simple)
B
*
C
To win
(present
continuous)
D
To
drink
(present
perfect)
To clean
To
(past
dance
perfect)
(present
simple)
To watch
To
(past
study
simple)
(present
simple)
To play
To
(present
listen
continuous) (past
perfect)
To ask
To get
(present
(future
simple)
simple)
C
E
To drive
(future
simple)
F
To talk
(past
perfect)
To think
To
(present
answer
continuous) (present
perfect)
To look
To buy
(past
(present
perfect)
perfect)
To sit
(present
simple)
To find
(future
simple)
To teach
To walk
(present
(past
continuous) perfect)
D
E
F
Pupil 1has put his ships on
A & B 1,
C & D & E 2,
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 F and
A&B&C&D&E5
Pupil 2 asks: A1
Pupil 1 says: Hit. To be, past simple.
Pupil 2 says: I was here yesterday.
Pupil 2 checks his answer on the correction key, it’s correct, so he has bombed the ship and
can mark this on his empty sheet of paper (as shown in the grid above). If he hasn’t formed a
correct sentence, he can’t mark the ship on his empty grid, so he has to try again later. And of
course he keeps the feedback/ correction key in mind! In this way he learns from his
mistakes!
Correction key
A1: I was, you were, he / she was, we were, they were …
A2: I will have, you will have, he / she will have, we will have, they will have …
A3: I am doing, you are doing, he / she is doing, we are doing, they are doing …
A4: I have laughed, you have laughed, he / she has laughed, we have laughed, they have
laughed …
A5: I have drawn, you have drawn, he / she has drawn, we have drawn, they have drawn …
B1: I run, you run, he / she runs, we run, they run …
B2: I went, you went, he / she went, we went, they went …
B3: I will swim, you will swim, he / she will swim, we will swim, they will swim …
B4: I gave, you gave, he / she gave, we gave, they gave …
B5: I scored, you scored, he / she scored, we scored, they scored …
C1: I am winning, you are winning, he / she is winning, we are winning, they are winning …
C2: I had cleaned, you had cleaned, he / she had cleaned, we had cleaned, they had cleaned …
C3: I watched, you watched, he / she watched, we watched, they watched …
C4: I am playing, you are playing, he / she is playing, we are playing, they are playing …
C5: I ask, you ask, he / she asks, we ask, they ask …
D1: I have drunk, you have drunk, he / she has drunk, we have drunk, they have drunk …
D2: I dance, you dance, he / she dances, we dance, they dance …
D3: I study, you study, he / she studies, we study, they study …
D4: I had listened, you had listened, he / she had listened, we had listened, they had listened
D5: I will get, you will get, he / she will get, we will get, they will get …
E1: I will drive, you will drive, he / she will drive, we will drive, they will drive …
E2: I am thinking, you are thinking, he / she is thinking, we are thinking, they are thinking …
E3: I had looked, you had looked, he / she had looked, we had looked, they had looked …
E4: I sit, you sit, he / she sits, we sit, they sit …
E5: I am teaching, you are teaching, he / she is teaching, we are teaching, they are teaching …
F1: I had talked, you had talked, he / she had talked, we had talked, they talked …
F2: I have answered, you have answered, he /she has answered, we have answered, they have
answered …
F3: I have bought, you have bought, he / she has bought, we have bought, they have bought
F4: I will find, you will find, he / she will find, we will find, they will find …
F5: I had walked, you had walked, he / she had walked, we had walked, they had walked …
Note: There are some irregular verbs in the grid, maybe this will be too difficult for the pupils.
To help them, you can always put the list of irregular verbs in the waiting corner.