This document provides information about teacherless activities that can be used in beginner level language classrooms. It defines teacherless activities as those that involve students relying on each other for knowledge and practicing the target language without teacher involvement. Several specific teacherless activities are described, including class mingles, information gaps, jigsaw activities, messenger/scribe, double dictation, and games like bingo and battleships. The document explains that teacherless activities are highly interactive, provide repetition, encourage meaningful conversation between students, help build a comfortable classroom environment, and allow students to work at their own pace.

1. WINTERTemplateOut & About:
Teacherless Activities for Beginners
Amy Hemmert & Rick Kappra

2. Language Learning Assumptions
• Based on your experience as teachers and
learners, what conditions are necessary for
learning to take place in a language
classroom?
Brainstorm and list your ideas.
Time: 5 minutes

3. Joys and Challenges
What are some of the joys of teaching low levels?
What are some of the challenges?
Brainstorm and list your ideas.
Time: 5 minutes

4. What are teacherless activities?
A teacherless activity can loosely be defined
as an activity that involves:
• students turning to one another for knowledge or
information
• opportunities to practice the target language
A teacherless activity is NOT:
• teacher-fronted

5. Teacherless Activities
Class Mingles
Information Gap
Jigsaw
Messenger / Scribe
Double Dictation
Fluency Circles
Activity Cards
Bingo
Battleships
Flyswatters
Board Games
Crossword Puzzles
And more!

6. Why “teacherless activities”?
They’re highly interactive with students at the center.
There’s lots of built-in repetition.
They provide opportunities for meaningful conversation.
The lively classroom helps reduce stress.
Students can control the pace.
Students can practice negotiating meaning.
They encourage students to cooperate with one another.
They’re great for the multi-level classroom.
They help build community.
They’re student friendly.
They’re teacher friendly.
They’re highly interactive and FUN!

7. Class Mingles
Students mingle as a whole class, talking
to a number of other students in order to
complete the task at hand.
Example: Find Someone Who…

8. Students ask and answer questions to
obtain missing information.
Examples: picture grid, bus schedule,
TV guide
Information Gap

9. Fluency Circles
Students work in a large concentric
circle, repeating the same response at
least three times to gain fluency through
repetition.
Example: personal information,
food, transportation, jobs

10. Double Dictation
One student dictates the first part of the
list/statement/passage while the other
student writes. Then the second student
dictates while the first student writes.
Example: vocabulary word lists,
descriptions

11. Template
Messenger / Scribe
Students work in pairs with one student
obtaining information from another
location. He/she must remember the
information or return to the source again.
Examples: vocabulary review,
practice statements

12. Bingo
The teacher provides a blank grid.
Students fill in the review vocabulary
words. The teacher (or another student)
calls out the words. The students cross
off the words as they’re called. The first
one to get 5 in a row, yells “bingo.”
Example: vocabulary review

13. Battleships
Students work in pairs. The teacher provides
a grid to each student. They place their
battleships and must take turns guessing to
locate their partner’s ship.
Example: street address practice

14. The teacher puts words or pictures up on the board
and selects one student to be the caller. The rest of
the class forms two teams in two lines facing the
board. The two students at the head of the line have
flyswatters. The caller is given a list of the words on
the board. He/she says a word or a definition, and
the two students at the front of the line must
compete to swat the correct word or
picture. The teacher keeps a tally
on the board.
Example: vocabulary review
Flyswatters

15. TemplateOut & About: Components

16. Contact Information
• Amy Hemmert
Kirby School, Santa Cruz
amyhemmert@gmail.com
• Rick Kappra
CCSF
rkappra@earthlink.net

17. ALTA English Publishers
www.altaenglishpublishers.com
Copyright 2015