My Extraordinary Family! – Speaking & Describing Activity

One of the first things we want our students to do is tell us where their uncle lives and what he does. Does he have a dog? Does he have any children? These activities go deeper and are much more fun – both for your students and you.

How to use this activity?

  1. Print enough copies of page 1 for each student.
  2. Print and cut out one or 2 sets (depending on how many students you have) of celebrity cards on pages 2 and 3.
  3. Put them in the middle of the table face down.

Students work individually, in pairs, or in teams. Ask each group to draw 20 cards, 10 of which they will place on their empty family tree in the free spaces (page 1). Give your students total freedom in the construction of their family (even if the connections are hardly possible).

Next, ask them to prepare a description of 3 members of their extraordinary family (part 2 of page 1) and respond to the other questions on the page.

Finally, have your students present their families to the rest of the class. You could limit this to a written exercise but its so much less fun. Once all the families have been presented, you could have your class vote for the most incredible family. If you want to go even further, or you are teaching kids… why not have your students make a colorful display of their family tree with pictures and drawings to illustrate their remarkable family and then present it in the next class or on the walls?

Variant: on page 4 you will find a table of empty squares which you can print, cut out and let your students decide who will be the celebrities used in this activity. Pass out 20 empty boxes for each team, let them choose their celebrities, and then collect them, mix them and put them on the table face down and play like in the original version. This version allows your students to focus more on their own cultural references and may create better exchanges and descriptions than the original version.

Reviews

  1. angelinox33

    Hi! Thank you for making the contents. Is it possible to download this pdf? Thank you again.

    • Benoit Villette

      Hi,
      it is now 🙂
      Sorry about this missing link.

      • haswp

        I think it is still missing.. I can’t seem to find it O.o

        • Ian Kime

          You may not be able to find it because this is exclusively for Total Teacher Access subscribers. If you do have a TTA, please let us know and we will fix the problem!

          Ian

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Ian Kime

Ian Kime

I have been teaching English abroad since receiving my CELTA certificate in Poland in 2018. I enjoy tracking my individual students’ development but love having lessons with big groups! Now that I teach online, I am accompanied by my sidekicks Olaf, Mała, Pirate and Bandit on a regular basis.

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