PENCIL BINGO - ESL Vocabulary Game

Hello & Happy Monday!

I'm so glad you could make it this week! I want to take a moment to thank you for visiting my blog. The response has been very good and, honestly, I'm so honored. I've always loved creating activities and worksheets for my students. My colleagues seem to like using them. Yet, to have so many people you've never met read and download your stuff, for a new blogger like me, it's a little humbling and sort of marvelous in a way.

This week's worksheet is a Bingo Game. I call it Pencil Bingo because it doesn't use bingo chips. Using chips means having to make the game boxes bigger, which takes up more space. It also means having to remember to bring Bingo chips with you to class. To keep it simple, I have students circle their guesses right on the worksheet.

(A variation is to use semisweet chocolate chips, but this works better with adults! Trust me when I say this does not always work with kids.)

Students play Pencil Bingo and review vocabulary related to things you would find in the city & parks & the home & kitchen.

This worksheet requires no preparation, but you'll need to take a minute to explain the activity to them.

How to Play Pencil Bingo

1. Tell students how to play Bingo. 

Tell them what "getting Bingo" means. They must get all 5 items in a row, be it across, up, down or diagonally. I usually draw lines on the board to show them what I mean.

2. Hand out the worksheets.

3. Students work in pairs. 

Half the class gets one worksheet and the other half gets the other. Students use only their worksheets. There's no cutting out. 

A Bingo Game Card looks like this:

Student A reads the written clues out loud from his sheet while Student B circles his guesses.

4. Students  switch roles.

Students switch tasks, but they keep the same worksheet.

If you have candy on hand, you can give out a piece of candy to any student who gets Bingo. One year, I was teaching kids and I gave them clementines. The kids were absolutely ecstatic. I had to toss the rest of the lesson because they were so wired, and because they took time peeling their clementines, but it was worth it!

I hope you and your students enjoy Pencil Bingo. Enjoy your Monday, and have a great week!

Thank you for visiting!
Faiza Raintree

To download the worksheets for this lesson, click below.

Mel's Diner - Quick Vocabulary Review

Mel's Diner

I hope your students enjoyed this Monday's worksheet on American Diners. Here's a quick vocabulary review activity for it. 

Enjoy!

diner                    restaurant

casual                  popular

employee             typical

stainless steel      exterior

booth                  stool

counter               shipped

owner                 menu

Directions: Fill in each blank in the story with the word that fits best.

Emma and Chris were married on the first of May. The next morning, Emma and Chris decided to go out for breakfast. Chris asked Emma where she would like to go. Chris enjoyed fancy _____. He wanted to take Emma to a fancy _____ for breakfast. However, Emma wanted to go someplace _____. She was tired from a late wedding. Also, she did not want to dress up too much. The couple decided to go to a nearby _____ for breakfast, called Mel's Diner.

Mel's Diner was a _____ restaurant near the couple's new house. When Emma saw the diner, she was nervous. She remembered a TV show about a diner called Mel's Diner. The people in the show were funny, but the food was awful. No one liked the food at Mel's Diner. Chris said that a diner in real life was probably not the same as a _____ on television. Emma agreed, and so they went in.

Emma and Chris walked in and liked what they saw. The _____ of the diner was typical, but the inside was very nice. The entire diner was red with shiny _____  trim. There were red counters with red _____, and beautiful red booths. The waiters, _____ at the diner, smiled at Emma and Chris when they walked in. There were only three visitors in the whole diner. All of them were at the _____. The booths were all empty. Emma and Chris chose a small _____ by a window.

While Emma and Chris were reading the _____, a waitress came by. She and Emma talked. Emma told her that they were newlyweds, married only the day before. The waitress looked happy and smiled at them. She told the owner of the diner about the couple. The _____ came out and smiled at them. He told them that his name was Melvin, but people called him Mel. Mel and his wife were also married on the first of May, thirty years ago. Mel and the couple spoke for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Mel said to Emma and Chris, "Wait a minute. I'll be back."

Mel came back with a basket of flowers. He put them on a large table and moved the couple to the table.

Mel said, "These flowers were _____ from California, and came this morning. I'm so happy that you came to my diner for your first meal! Your breakfast is on the house. We'll make you a very special breakfast today!"

Mel made a lovely breakfast for the couple: bacon, eggs and fluffy pancakes. There was also orange juice and sparkling grape juice. For dessert, Emma and Chris shared an ice cream sundae with whipped cream on top. When the couple got up to leave, Mel rushed over and gave them the basket of flowers.

Mel smiled and said, "Enjoy these on your first day as newlyweds!"

The couple was surprised and pleased. They could not have wished for a better start to their new life!

Discuss & Write 
Tell about a time when someone did something unusually nice for you, or you did something for someone else. What was it? How did you feel?

To download  this activity & answer key, click below.

American Diners - Monday Morning Worksheet

Welcome and Happy Monday!

It's good to be starting a fresh, new week. This has been a difficult week for many Americans, and being bombarded by media images and articles hasn't helped in the least. I've tried to maintain my sanity by re-reading my Ngaio Marsh mysteries, turning off my computer, and spending more time with my kids. Meanwhile, at work, I'm still responsible for making sure we're moving ahead. Teaching is one of those jobs where we do have to keep ourselves together, while making sure our students learn something. 

I wanted to something a little lighter this week, to set a happier and more positive tone than last week. I've done a very short reading on American Diners, what they're about and when they started. I've included some questions on diners, a menu with activities and an essay question. There are enough activities to last up to two class periods, but teachers can easily choose to do enough for only one class. 

Vocabulary Cheat Sheet

I've added a vocabulary cheat sheet for the teacher and a printable one for students (6 copies on a page.). I do not like to overuse our photocopier (it's slow, anyway), so I try to do activities that don't require too much copying. 

You can do any of the following with the vocabulary words.

1.) explain the vocabulary words orally; 

2.) copy the definitions on the board; or 

3.) give out the cheat sheet for students. I make my students get glue sticks and, when necessary, have students glue this sheet to the back. This saves having to copy an extra sheet for each student. 

I do hope  you enjoy this Monday Morning Lesson! I would love to hear your comments about how it went or what you did with it. The posted lesson is similar to the worksheet, which can be downloaded below. 

I hope you enjoy your Monday. Have a great week!

American Diners

A diner is a special kind of American restaurant. Diners are casual restaurants that serve American food. They are popular, and are often open very late. Diners are often visited by travelers, truck drivers, employees and people who enjoy typical American food. 

Most diners have a stainless-steel exterior. The insides have booths and stools with counters. When diners were first started in 1872, they were small. They would first be made and then shipped to the owners. 

Today, there are many kinds of diners. Some are small; others are very large. A few are quite famous. Some diners do not even look like diners anymore. However, you can still tell a diner by its menu.

Questions

1.  What is a diner?

2.  When did diners first start? How were they made?

3.  How can you tell that a restaurant is a diner?

4.  What does the inside of a diner look like?

5.  In your opinion, what are some reasons for diners becoming popular?

Activities

The menu below is a typical menu for a diner. 

1. Scan the menu quickly. What foods have you tried from this menu?

2. What are some items that you would have for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Dessert?

3. Imagine that you opened a new restaurant. Make up your own menu with prices. Include headings for each part of your menu.

4. Writing Topic: Some restaurants do very well. Others do not succeed and must be closed down. What makes a good restaurant? What makes a restaurant successful or not?

To download the worksheet for this post, click below.