Five-Minute Activities: A Resource Book of Short Activities (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers) [Paperback]

Penny Ur (Author), Andrew Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521397812 | ISBN-13: 978-0521397810 | Publication Date: March 27, 1992

Five-Minute Activities is an invaluable source of ideas for language teachers. It contains resources of over 130 short activities for the language classroom: some are well-tried favourites clearly restated, others are new ideas or variations. Teachers will find activities which can be used to: * help learners to learn or practise particular aspects of language * help students and teacher to get to know each other * provide a smooth transition between two major parts of a lesson * supplement a coursebook * introduce or round off lessons. The activities are designed to combine learning value with interest and enjoyment. Most of them can be adapted to suit classes of different levels of ability, and in many cases there are additional suggestions for variations or extensions of the basic activity. Almost all the activities can be student-led.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The activities can be used at any level and adapted to any teaching situation. I would therefore definitely recommend this book to EVERYONE.' Standpoints

Book Description

An invaluable source of ideas containing over 130 short activities for the language classroom.

Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 27, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521397812
• ISBN-13: 978-0521397810
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #109,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars English for EFL purposes?, November 20, 2001

By 

Chris Elvin (Kanagawa, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five-Minute Activities: A Resource Book of Short Activities (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers) (Paperback)

Five-minute Activities contains over 130 ideas for the foreign language classroom in its 100 pages. I read this book from cover to cover, and was pleased to be able to make many notes for my future lessons. Some of the activities are actually quite common, and perhaps most teachers would be aware of them, but there were many good ones that I'd never come across, including a few gems. Some are literally five-minute fillers, while others are worthy of spending maybe a whole lesson on. If I had to make a tentative criticism, it'd be that many of the suggestions have students generating language that would never be heard beyond the walls of an EFL classroom. For example, "A pencil is thinner than an elephant." I have mixed feelings about whether this is such a bad thing or not. On the one hand, students can practice structurally correct forms of language and learn whilst having fun. On the other hand, Five-minute Activities doesn't really present them with many opportunities to practise for situations in the real world, which may, of course, not be as fun. Also, I felt that there was a bias for activities that focused on self-disclosure, or competing to be the best in the class. Great, perhaps, for European or South American students of English, but not quite so good for students at my secondary school here in Japan. Overall, I'm pleased to have this book for reference, and I'd recommend it to most of my colleagues, even if some of the suggestions reminded me of what it used to be like as a pupil at a British elementary school.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely good for all levels, a teacher's pet!, September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Five-Minute Activities: A Resource Book of Short Activities (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers) (Paperback)

I've had a copy of this book since 1995. I keep it in my bag of things for class as it helps to fill in those odd minutes of leftover time.

Here in China I find the activities can be used for much longer than 5 minutes.

I highly recommend it. Money well spent.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thank you for the help!, November 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Five-Minute Activities: A Resource Book of Short Activities (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers) (Paperback)

So, I was recommended this book, along with a couple dozen others, from my TESOL class. I FINALLY bought it here in Seoul and I'm happy to have the help with the ideas. Teachers have to be creative but it's nice to have the help. The only thing that I might have liked to see (and this is just to spoil me) is have the book broken down into their categories in the front of the book, instead of just the index...and by level. I still highly recommend the book because I don't see myself living without it again.