Zero Prep Activities for Beginners: Ready-to-Go Activities for In-Person and Remote Language Teaching

By Michal Marell, Natalie Hess, Jan Herron and Laurel Pollard

Zero Prep Activities for Beginners is a transformative guide for teachers of any language looking to increase learning and engagement while decreasing preparation time. Every activity is specifically developed for low-level students, which makes this an uniquely targeted and time-saving resource for instructors who have the exciting responsibility of teaching new learners of a language. The revised second edition of this classic time-saving book features newly added activities for today's language classroom and includes adaptations throughout the book for online/remote instruction. Over 160 pages of activities are divided by language skill into teacher-friendly chapters (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, and Grammar). Every activity is clearly presented with the level, aim, materials, and step-by-step procedures for both in-person and online delivery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pro Lingua Learning
• Release date: Sep 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9780866475839

Book preview

Chapter One

Warmups and Icebreakers

Why do we need warmups and icebreakers? They transition students into the target language at the start of class and help them get to know one another, creating a trusting and supportive class environment.

At the beginning level, many students are filled with enthusiasm as they explore a new language. Other students may enter the target language reluctantly. All students have days when they feel uncertain about how to use this language, and that may be even more true at the beginning levels. They may become tense and fearful, just when they should allow themselves to become relaxed risk-takers.

These activities help with that! They are non-threatening and fun and will even motivate students to be on time for class!

1.1HELLO! HOW ARE YOU?

Basic greetings are very helpful for beginning students. Here’s an easy way to practice them as students enter class.

Procedure:

1.Write on the board some words or phrases people use to greet one another. For example, you might write

A.Hi. / Good morning. / Good afternoon. / How are you?

B.Fine, thanks! / I’m OK. / Not so good today.

2.Model these as students enter the class and encourage them to circulate and greet their classmates.

Online: Students greet one another as they join the class.

1.2EARLY BIRD QUESTIONS

Students often encounter words, idioms, or situations outside class that they don’t understand about their target language and its culture. This icebreaker offers them a reason to come to class on time or a bit