How to Use This Site

There is a translation tool in the upper left corner of the page; choose your language to translate the page. After translation, hover the cursor/arrow over a sentence to see the sentence displayed in the original English.

Explanations of each activity are written lower down the blog page. A link at the top of the page will bring up the List of Acitivities for you to use in the following way:

When I need to choose activities or make a lesson plan, I first determine the language pattern being targeted (words, sentences/negatives, yes/no questions, wh- questions, or commands). Then I simply look down a compiled list of the activities I know (click the Activity List link at the top of the page). My eye/mind recognizes suitable activities as I look through the List, and I note these on a pad of paper. Next I look over the activities I've written down, and choose complementary activities that I want to include in the lesson. The last job is ordering the remaining activities to maximize student experience.

The Minimalist ALT blog offers another method: sorting. By choosing one of the links in the lefthand column, you can bring to the top of the page only those activities that are suitable for your language pattern, meaning- or -pattern-focus, or time. Since the blog can sort by only one criteria at a time, by choosing different sorting tags and noting which activities sort into each option, you can use the sorting feature of the blog to assist you in choosing appropriate activities.

For in-class use, here is a .pdf document listing all of the activities on a single page, divided by meaning-/pattern-focus and teaching/practicing/testing. Keep this in a folder that you carry to class (and your dice & timer!), and you'll have it with you when you need it in a hurry.