ELT Pros Linkedin | Videos | Blog | Printables | ELT News | TpTs | Amazon
Everyone loves lists! They are handy and great ways to organize knowledge and also to use as a base for further language-related activities.
So I’d like to share a “list of lists” — basic list-related activities that teachers can quickly use as the “flour” for their language lesson. But before this, a few thoughts.
I was surprised looking at ELT Buzz Teaching Resources and seeing under the search term for “list” — 881 items! Holy Mackerel! But upon reflection, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. We focus on “materials lite” and content that doesn’t impose itself onto a teacher and turn them into a robot following instructions. And lists, getting students to brainstorm and share their knowledge — fits right into materials lite methodology and design.
Lists and having students exploit existing lists or brainstorm their own lists fosters a lot of cooperative learning and critical thinking. Teach students the language to discuss and offer their choices — “I think …. is a good fit”, “My opinion is …” “What do you think about …?” etc … With this in hand, “listing” (my term) is a great, strong language teaching, “go to” core lesson activity.
So here is my List Of Lists. Really off the top of my head and linked with existing examples on ELT Buzz Teaching Resources. Starting from the most common to the least common.
Shopping lists
To-Do lists
Bucket lists
Alphabet / Word Lists (starts with letter X, has 4 letters, ends with …)
Famous people lists
Top 10, Top 5 lists
Things that … lists (collocations — are yellow, you drive, you love, are round).
Checklists
Tip / Advice lists
Favorites lists
Movie / Music playlists
Pros & Cons lists
Famous people lists
Best Things About … lists (summer, being single, country …)
Top Reasons To (buy a car, get married, get a dog etc …)
Wish lists.
Christmas Wish Lists
Job / Careers lists
Synonyms / Antonyms lists
Country lists
My Currents lists
Preferences lists
Trip Packing lists
If lists (if I had $million, if I were …, if I could …)
Questions lists
Stand up if … (Yes / No questions) lists
Originally published at ELT Buzz.