AAAA#@RRGG@hh#h PHOTOCOPIER!

Photocopiers can be temperamental beasts, and every teacher has experienced THAT day when the lesson they had in mind goes out the window due to a problem with the photocopier... Don't stress! Don't panic!

Here are some low-prep activities you can do with no photocopier or printer available

• Speed dating- Students write 2 or 3 questions connected to the lesson on a slip of paper. Then they exchange the papers, and sit in two long lines facing each other. Every 2 minutes one of the lines moves up and they get a new partner.

• Blockbusters- Divide the board into a grid and write a letter in each square. Then divide the students into two teams, one red and one blue. Teams take it in turns to choose a letter. You give them a definition of a word beginning with that letter and they must give the word. If they are correct the square is shaded that colour. The red team must make a connecting line left to right and the blue team from top to bottom.

• Verb Scramble- Write 10 random verbs on the board and the students must make a stroy/questions/sentences using those verbs in the tense or form that you are studying

• DIY Roleplays- Why give out prepared rolecards when you can get the students to do it themselves? Simply give each student a role and in groups get them to create the information themselves; they can then swap and perform the roleplays!

• Past tense photo challenge- Give the students a few minutes to run around taking silly photos of whatever they like (they will love this). Then how many past simple / continuous / perfect / future in the past  sentences can they make about the photos "Geoff was jumping but Tracey had moved"

• Sentence building relays- Put students in groups of 4-6 and give them a word. The first student must add a word either side which can go next to this word, and passes it to the next student, who adds another word. For example: 

stand
can't stand
I can't stand
I can't stand listening
I cant stand listening to
I can't stand listening to Jazz

The last student then runs and brings the sentence to the teacher and the first team to do so wins. There should be a minimum of 5 words in the sentence (more for higher level students) 



And they if they don't, just try switching it off and on again ;)