Young learners - especially teenage learners - are at the point in their life when they are

developing their own ideas about the world around them, especially the world beyond their
immediate surroundings. Learning from their elders, media and teachers, young adults pick up a
lot of stereotypes about other nations. Helping them come to terms with stereotypes, and
recognize that stereotypes do contain some truth, but also can not be applied across the board, is
central to this lesson. The lesson also helps them improve their descriptive adjective vocabulary
while they discuss perceived differences between nations through stereotypes.
Aim: Discussion of stereotypes, explaining, improving character adjective vocabulary
Activity: Discussion and comparison of National Stereotypes
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Outline:
Write the word 'Stereotype' on the board and ask students what the word means. If students are unsure, help them by
asking them to finish the phrase, "All Americans..." or something similar.
Once students have understood the concept of what a stereotype is, ask them to mention a few of the stereotypes about
their own country.
Include a few provocative stereotypes of your own at this point in order to get students thinking about the negative or
shallow aspects of thinking in stereotypes. Example: American food is fast food. OR Americans love guns.
Ask students to divide into pairs and choose two of the listed adjectives to describe each nationality. Tell them that they
will need to explain their reasons for the adjectives provided.
Go through the sheets asking different students to explain their reasoning for the adjectives they have chosen. Ask other
students whether they agree or disagree to promote conversation.
Once you have finished your discussion of stereotypes, ask students why stereotyping can be often be bad and which
stereotypes of their own country or region they do not like. Ask them to explain why.
As homework, have students write a short composition comparing their own region or country to another one. Ask them
to include various stereotypes, as well as examples from their own experience that either confirm or refute the stereotypes
they mention.










Stereotypes
Choose two adjectives that you think describe the nationalities listed below. Choose two countries
of your own to describe.
American
_____
_____
_____
_____
British
_____
_____
_____
_____
French
_____
_____
_____
_____
Japanese
_____
_____
_____
_____
punctual
tolerant
romantic
respectful
hard-working
emotional
outgoing
nationalistic
well-dressed
humorous
lazy
sophisticated
hospitable
talkative
sociable
serious
quiet
formal
aggressive
polite
rude
arrogant
ignorant
casual


Getting younger, teenage students to talk can be a real challenge. This lesson focuses on using a
True or False game as a means of motivation to get them discussing their favorite types of music
and musicians.
Aim: Getting teenage students to converse in English
Activity: True of False game
Level: Intermediate
Outline:
Activate vocabulary by asking students about a number of musicians, names of instruments, verbs used in speaking about
music, etc.
Divide the students into small groups and give the students the "Music: True or False" handout.
Ask students to discuss each statement and decide if it is true or false giving reasons for their decision.
Go through each statement selecting a student from each group to give their opinion - making sure that they state their
reasoning for the decision.
Make the exercise competitive by giving a point for each correct answer. You can up the ante by also giving points for
well stated arguments which can help motivate students to actually explain their decisions. Example Scoring: one point
for a correct answer, 0 points for a simple true or false, one point for an explanation, one point for a grammatically correct
explanation. Total possible points on any given question: Three. One for the correct answer, one for an explanation, and
an extra point for a grammatically correct answer.
Extend exercise by having students create "True or False" statements of their own to be shared with other groups.
Music: True or False
Decide if each statement is true or false. Explain to members of your group why you
think the answer is true or false.
1. The Back Street Boys were originally named "The Boys Next Door"
2. Madonna has decided to give up her career in singing and become a nun beginning in 2002.
3. Elvis Presley said, "I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to."
4. Rock and Roll music was first approved of by the US Government because of its patriotic message during World War II.
5. In its early years, rock and roll music was believed to make teenagers crazy, drug-deranged, and/or promiscuous.
6. Rap music star - Vanilla Ice's real name is Robert Van Winkle.
7. The Spice Girls have all been trained as classical musicians. Each member of the group is not only a wonderful singer,
but can also play an instrument at a professional level.
8. In 1994, singer/musician Paul McCartney sent back his razor, shaving cream, and other products to the Gillette Co. to
protest the manufacturer's use of animals in the product testing.
9. Luciano Pavarotti can't read music.
10. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are based in Spokane, Washington where they grew up.
Go to the next page for the answer key.




Decide if each statement is true or false. Explain to members of your group why you think the answer is true or false.
1. The Back Street Boys were originally named "The Boys Next Door" - FALSE
2. Madonna has decided to give up her career in singing and become a nun beginning in 2002. - FALSE
3. Elvis Presley said, "I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to." -TRUE
4. Rock and Roll music was first approved of by the US Government because of its patriotic message during World War II.
- FALSE
5. In its early years, rock and roll music was believed to make teenagers crazy, drug-deranged, and/or promiscuous. -
TRUE
6. Rap music star - Vanilla Ice's real name is Robert Van Winkle. - TRUE
7. The Spice Girls have all been trained as classical musicians. Each member of the group is not only a wonderful singer,
but can also play an instrument at a professional level. - FALSE
8. In 1994, singer/musician Paul McCartney sent back his razor, shaving cream, and other products to the Gillette Co. to
protest the manufacturer's use of animals in the product testing. - TRUE
9. Luciano Pavarotti can't read music. - TRUE
10. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are based in Spokane, Washington where they grew up. - FALSE
























"Guilty" is a fun classroom game which encourages students to communicate using past tenses.
The game can be played by all levels and can be monitored for varying degrees of accuracy. The
game gets students interested in detail which helps to refine students' questioning abilities.
"Guilty" can be used as an integrated game during lessons focusing on past forms, or just to have
fun while communicating.
Aim: Communicating with Past Forms
Activity: Question and Answer Game
Level: All Levels
Outline:
Start by describing a crime which happened last night. Each student pair will be interrogated by the rest of the class and
will create alibis to prove they are innocent.
Have students get into pairs.
Have the students develop their alibis for where they were when the crime was committed. Encourage them to go into as
much detail as possible when discussing their alibis.
Go around the classroom getting an alibi statement from each group (e.g. We were away for a weekend trip to the
countryside).
Write the individual alibis on the board.
Once each group has developed their alibis, ask them to write down 3 questions about the other alibis on the board.
To begin the game, ask one student from the beginning pair to leave the room. The other students ask the first student the
questions.
Ask the other student to return to the classroom and have the students ask the same questions. Take note of how many
differences there were in the students' responses.
Repeat the same with each student pair.
The "guilty" pair is the pair with the most discrepancies in their story.
















Holding 'Sentence Auctions' is a fun way to help students review key points in grammar and
sentence construction while having some good fun. Basically, students in small groups are given
some 'money' with which to bid on various sentences. These sentences include correct and
incorrect sentences, the group which 'buys' the most correct sentences wins the game.
Aim: Grammar and sentence structure review while having fun
Activity: Sentence auctions
Level: Lower levels
Outline:
Divide the class into small groups of 3 or 4 students per group.
Talk about auctions: Do the students know what they are? Can they describe an auction? Have they every been to an
auction?, etc.
Explain the rules of this auction.
The aim of the game is to buy as many correct sentences as possible
Each group will have $3000 to spend
Bids begin at $200
Bids increase by $100 each bid
The sentence will be sold to the highest bidder (remember? "$400 going once, $400 going twice, $400 sold to group
X!")
The winner of the game is the group which has bought the most correct sentences
You can make the auction more difficult by declaring the winner based on the number of correct sentences minus the
number of incorrect sentences (5 correct sentences minus 3 incorrect = two correct sentences)
Once the game has finished, go through each sentence saying whether it is correct or incorrect.
Have a fun celebration of the winning team!
After things have calmed down, go through each sentence explaining any grammar / usage questions that arise.
























Sentence Auction
Decide which sentences (or phrases) you would like to buy! Collect correct
masterpieces! Watch out for incorrect fakes!

1. I don't have money enough to come with you this afternoon.
2. Look at those dark clouds. It's going to rain!
3. What will you do after you graduate from school?
4. They don't often have dinner in a restaurant.
5. He enjoys to go to football games.
6. Would you like some coffee?
7. Jack has lived in Los Angeles in 1995.
8. Unless he hurries up, we will be late for the meeting.
9. She has beautiful dark red long hair.
10. You don't have to do your homework this weekend. It's optional.
11. Could you please to help me with my homework?
12. It was raining hard when I arrived home from work.
13. She is a really interested woman. I love hearing about here life.
14. Did you eat yet?

















Answers
1. I don't have money enough to come with you this afternoon.
Incorrect - I don't have enough money to come with you this afternoon.
2. Look at those dark clouds. It's going to rain!
3. What will you do after you graduate from school?
Incorrect What are you going to do after you graduate from school?
4. They don't often have dinner in a restaurant.
5. He enjoys to go to football games.
Incorrect He enjoys going to football games.
6. Would you like some coffee?
7. Jack has lived in Los Angeles in 1995.
Incorrect Jack lived in Los Angeles in 1995.
8. Unless he hurries up, we will be late for the meeting.
9. She has beautiful dark red long hair.
Incorrect She has beautiful long dark red hair.
10. You don't have to do your homework this weekend. It's optional.
11. Could you please to help me with my homework?
Incorrect Could you please help me with my homework?
12. It was raining hard when I arrived home from work.
13. She is a really interested woman. I love hearing about here life.
Incorrect She is a really interesting woman. I love hearing about her life.
14. Did you eat yet?
Incorrect Have you eaten yet? NOTE: Using the past in this case is often considered correct in American English.







Level 2
1. The film is so an interesting adaptation of the novel that I highly recommend it.
2. If she had stayed in a better hotel, she would have enjoyed her vacation.
3. Not only should he study more, but also should he get more sleep.
4. I would really like to know whether she plans on joining our group.
5. John is a very horrible judge of character.
6. Look at those dark clouds on the horizon! It'll rain before long.
7. When I stopped to talk to Mary, she was picking some flowers in her garden.
8. Our family would go to the park every Sunday when we lived in London.
9. If he were in charge of the department, he would improve staff communication.
10. They had finished their work by the time we arrived.
11. Jack can't have been at home, he told me he was going to be at work.
12. Did you remember locking the door?
13. I'll finish my homework by the time you get back.
14. The number of smokers have been dropping steadily for twenty years.






























1. The film is so an interesting adaptation of the novel that I highly recommend it.
Incorrect - The film is such an interesting adaptation of the novel that I highly recommend it.
2. If she had stayed in a better hotel, she would have enjoyed her vacation.
Correct
3. Not only should he study more, but also should he get more sleep.
Incorrect - Not only should he study more, but he should also get more sleep.
4. I would really like to know whether she plans on joining our group.
Correct
5. John is a very horrible judge of character.
Incorrect - John is an extremely horrible judge of character.
6. Look at those dark clouds on the horizon! It'll rain before long.
Incorrect - Look at those dark clouds on the horizon! It's going to rain before long.
7. When I stopped to talk to Mary, she was picking some flowers in her garden.
Correct
8. Our family would go to the park every Sunday when we lived in London.
Correct
9. If he were in charge of the department, he would improve staff communication.
Correct
10. They had finished their work by the time we arrived.
Correct
11. Jack can't have been at home, he told me he was going to be at work.
Correct
12. Did you remember locking the door?
Incorrect - Did you remember to lock the door?
13. I'll finish my homework by the time you get back.
Incorrect - I'll have finished my homework by the time you get back.
14. The number of smokers have been dropping steadily for twenty years.
Incorrect - The number of smokers has been dropping steadily for twenty years.