This document provides English language activities for students of various levels to complete over the summer. For B1 and B2 level students, an activity is described where they research local volunteer opportunities and discuss the benefits of volunteering. Younger students are tasked with drawing and writing a story about life on a cold planet, or describing people in a poster using present continuous tense. The document concludes with reference sources for the materials.

1. 1
July
It’s summer and we want to celebrate the good weather and the sunshine with some refreshing
ideas to practise English while having fun. Our B1 Preliminary and B2 First students can find
out about volunteering activities while they improve their reading and speaking. The A2 Flyers
and A2 Key learners can have fun drawing and telling a story about a very cold planet. The
younger learners can improve their listening using our posters. Happy teaching!
1. Give something back.......................................................................................................................2
2. The Cold Planet: draw and write ...................................................................................................7
3. Let’s play together ...........................................................................................................................9
4. References......................................................................................................................................11

2. 2
1. Give something back
Level: B1 Preliminary / B2 First
Skills: reading and speaking
Interaction: whole class, in pairs, and in groups
activity
Equipment: internet, computer or laptop or mobile
phone
Time: 55 minutes
Warm up! (15’) – whole class
• What do you know about volunteering?
• Have you ever done any volunteering activities? Why (not)?
• If you had the opportunity, what volunteering activities would you like to do?
Speaking (10’) – in pairs
In pairs, discuss these questions together to find out more about each other.
 What are your interests? Do you love reading? Consider volunteering at a library. Do
you love science? Maybe volunteering at a science museum is the best option for you.
 Is there a future career you'd like to
explore? Are you interested in potentially
being a doctor or nurse? Consider
volunteering at a hospital to test out that
career path. Are you thinking about being a
vet? Consider volunteering at an animal
shelter.
 What are your favourite causes? Do you aspire to stop climate change? Consider
volunteering on a beach / park / forest clean-up. Do you want to help the homeless?
You may want to volunteer at a food bank or soup kitchen.
 How much time do you have to commit to your volunteer opportunity? Can you
commit to volunteering for 4 hours every other week? If you can, great! You can have
a go at any of the opportunities listed above. However, if you're not able to commit to
volunteering that often, consider trying to volunteer on a clean-up or at a soup kitchen,
both of which require no long-term commitment.

3. 3
 What is the age requirement? Most of the volunteer opportunities require you to be
16 or older, so if you're younger, your options
may be somewhat limited. If you're under
16, you can volunteer at a soup kitchen, food
bank, or zoo. You might be able to try one of
the other volunteer opportunities, but you'll
have to contact the specific volunteer
programmes to ask.
 Would you rather work with people,
animals, or by yourself? Most volunteer opportunities listed above involve
interactions with people and helping people. However, you don't have to work with
people. If you volunteer at an animal shelter, you'll be working mostly with animals,
and as a garden volunteer, you'll work primarily alone.
Adapted from: Seigel, 2016.
Reading (15’) – in pairs (B2 First students) or in groups of three (B1 Preliminary students)
(A) The Red Cross
The American Red Cross has an entire youth section called the Junior Red Cross. Young
people can organise a blood drive, become educated and ready for disaster relief, or train
younger children in home safety.
The Red Cross offers many opportunities throughout the year for youth, as well as
programmes for adults that teens can do too, such as their knitted items programme. Check
out the national website to find your local chapter.
(B) Soup Kitchen
A soup kitchen in your area may serve meals once or twice a day and are always in need of
dishwashers and general help for the serving of food. Some soup kitchens may have age
restrictions due to local laws about teens working in kitchens.
(C) Hospitals and Skilled Nursing Care Centres
Hospitals and nursing homes are often looking for volunteers to perform a variety of duties.
You may be able to make photocopies, direct visitors, or work in the gift shop. Contact your
local hospital to see if they accept teenage volunteers.
(D) Food Bank
Food banks need donations as well as helping hands. Even if you don’t have a lot of time to
work in a food bank, you may be able to participate in fundraisers. Food banks may also need
help sorting food, carrying boxes, or handing food out. Contact your local food bank to learn
how you can best assist them.

4. 4
(E) Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity has youth programmes in which the youth in your organisation can plan
and build a home for a local family. They use teen volunteers to assist with a variety of jobs
and it can be a very rewarding experience for teens to get to see first-hand how their work
helps a specific family.
(F) Library
Libraries often enjoy having volunteers to assist them with cleaning, organising, or checking
books out. They often have a variety of programmes during the summer months. You may be
able to get involved in helping read to younger children or organising a special themed day
event for kids.
(G) Animal Shelter
Unlike what most people may think, it’ll be work first and then play. You’ll spend a lot of time
cleaning up after the animals, feeding the animals, and helping potential adopters through the
adoption process.
Adapted from: Seigel, 2016 and Morin, 2020.
Questions
1. This option may not be suitable for all teenagers …
2. An option that offers volunteering opportunities all year long …
3. This option may involve working with people or alone …
4. These options may involve working with children … and …
5. This option may not be what you think …
6. This option is suitable for people you don’t have much free time …
7. This option allows participants to see the positive impact their actions have on people
…
Speaking (15’) – individually
Using Mentimeter choose the five most popular options. Work in pairs and decide which one
you would like to try.

5. 5
Follow up (15’) – in groups of three (B2 First students)
You are going to work in groups of three. Student A and B will play the role of candidates
and will discuss the benefits of volunteering for two minutes. Student C will use the Success
Criteria to give you feedback once you have finished.
Now you have about a minute to decide which two are the most important benefits for
teenagers.
B2 First Speaking Success Criteria Yes No Comments
Interactive Communication Yes No Comments
Do your classmates start the
conversation sometimes and respond
to each other’s ideas?
Do your classmates help each other to
reach a decision?
Do your classmates need some help
when talking?
Benefits of
volunteering
Gaining work
experience
Building a sense of
commitment /
responsibility
Developing social
skills
Having a positive
impact on your well-
being
Giving something
back

6. 6
KEY
1. This option may not be suitable for all teenagers (B)
2. An option that offers volunteering opportunities all year long (A)
3. This option may involve working with people or alone (C)
4. These options may involve working with children (A) and (F)
5. This option may not be what you think …
6. This option is suitable for people you don’t have much free time (D)
7. This option allows participants to see the positive impact their actions have on people
(E)

7. 7
2. The Cold Planet: draw and write
Level: A2 Flyers / A2 Key
Skills: speaking, listening and writing
Interaction: whole class, in pairs and individual
activity
Equipment: webcam, online platform
Time: 45 minutes
Warm up (10’) – whole class
We are going to watch a story. The title of the story is “The Cold Planet”.
• What do you think the story is about?
Once students have discussed their ideas, you can add that the main characters are a dog,
an alien and a boy. They can reconsider their stories and add more ideas.
Writing (20’) – in groups of three
In groups of three draw your story*. *If you are teaching online you can use the website
Make Beliefs Comix.

8. 8
Write your story in 20 words or more* (*A2 Flyers) or in 35 words or more** (**A2 Key).
*** If you are teaching online, your students can use Google Docs or Padlet to write their
stories collaboratively.
Listening (5’) – whole class
Now watch the video.
Follow up (10’) – whole class
• Did you like the story? Why (not)?
• Were there any surprises?
• Did you like the end? Why (not)?
• How were your story and this story different?

9. 9
3. Let’s play together
Level: Pre-A1 Starters, A1 Movers
Skills: speaking, writing and listening
Content: activities, description, present continuous
Interaction: whole class, in pairs
Equipment: webcam, computer, online platform like
Zoom or Skype, poster
Time: 25 minutes
Warm up (5’) – whole class
• What do you do in the afternoon? (Do you go to the park? Do you go to the beach?
Do you go to the swimming pool?)
• Do you like playing with your friends, brothers or sisters?
• What do you do with them? (Do you play with the ball? Do you jump? Do you run?
Listening (5’) – whole class (* A1 Movers students can ask their classmates to point to the
right people / object)
Look at the poster and point to…
• the dog
• the monkey
• the boy with the blue T-shirt. He is playing football.
• the boy with the camera
• the boy with a white and red jumper. He is walking his dog.
The teacher can ask one student at a time to stand up and point. If you are teaching online,
you can share screen and ask students to draw a circle or do a cross. The rest of the class
can give feedback. They can touch their nose if the answer is correct and they can touch
their ears if the answer is incorrect.

10. 10
Listening (5’)
Tick or
cross?
0. There are ten trees. x
1. The girl in the pink skirt is scared.
2. The girl behind the tree is blonde.
3. The children next to the monkey are sad.
4. The dog is black.
5. The boy with the camera has number 20 on its T-shirt.
Speaking / Writing (10’) – in pairs
Can you correct the sentences that are false?

11. 11
4. References
Bogdan, R. (2017). Border Collie Outdoor Near Brown Wooden Dog House [image/jpeg]
Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/border-collie-outdoor-near-brown-
wooden-dog-house-663573/ [Accessed 3rd July 2020].
British Council (n.d.). The Cold Planet. Learn English Kids. Available at:
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/short-stories/the-cold-planet [Accessed 3rd
July 2020].
Mentimeter (n.d.). Available at: https://www.mentimeter.com/ [Accessed 29th May 2020].
Morin, A. (2020). Local Volunteer Opportunities for Teens. Verywellfamily, [online]. Available
at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/local-volunteer-opportunities-for-teens-2611429
[Accessed 3rd July 2020].
Nguyen, K. (2017). Cocktails juice. [image/jpeg] Available at:
https://unsplash.com/photos/jcLcWL8D7AQ [Accessed 6th July 2020].
Ortigosa, M. (2019). Person Holding Clear Plastic Bottle [image/jpeg] Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-clear-plastic-bottle-3480494/ Accessed
3rd July 2020].
Pixabay (2016). Person Gather Hand and Foot in Center. [image/jpeg] Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-gather-hand-and-foot-in-center-53958/
[Accessed 6th July 2020].
Seigel, D. (2016). 12 Fantastic Volunteer Opportunities for Teens. PrepScholar, [online].
Available at: https://blog.prepscholar.com/volunteer-opportunities-for-teens [Accessed
3rd July 2020].
Sim, A. (2018). Singapore Botanic Gardens. [image/jpeg] Available at:
https://unsplash.com/photos/0N4UJja6jEU/info [Accessed 6th July 2020].
UCLES (2018). Pre A1 Starters Word list picture book. Available at:
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/starters-word-list-picture-book.pdf
[Accessed 6th July 2020].
Ungaro, F. (2017). Blue, Green, Orange and Red Rainbow Design Decoration [image/jpeg]
Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blue-green-orange-and-red-rainbow-
design-decoration-673648/ [Accessed 3rd July 2020].
Zimmerman, B. (2018). Make Beliefs Comix. Available at:
https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/ [Accessed 3rd July 2020].