for

for

John F. Chabot

Illustrations by Erik Millette

© Copyright 1995 FULL BLAST Productions

IN CANADA: IN THE UNITED STATES:FB Productions FB ProductionsBox 408 Box 1297Virgil, Ontario Lewiston, New York 14092-8297L0S 1T0

Reproduction of these materials is permitted only byholders of an original copy for use at the site forwhich the original purchase was made.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Chabot, John F., 1959-Thematic activities for beginners in English

ISBN 1-895451-16-7

1. English language - Textbooks for second languagelearners.* 2. Vocabulary - Problems, exercises, etc.I. Millette, Erik. II. Title

PE1128.C53 1995 428.2’4’07 C95-932597-2

Illustrations by Erik Millette

ISBN 1-895451-16-7Printed in Canada

Thank you to my parents, John B. and Andrée Chabot, for always being there.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

UNIT ONE: THE ALPHABET

UNIT TWO: THE HUMAN BODY

UNIT THREE: IN THE CLASSROOM

UNIT FOUR: CLOTHING

UNIT FIVE: FRUITS & VEGETABLES

UNIT SIX: VERBS OF ACTION

UNIT SEVEN: ANIMALS

UNIT EIGHT: NATURE

UNIT NINE: TRANSPORTATION

UNIT TEN: SPORTS

INTRODUCTIONThis reproducible book of ten thematically linked units is intended for learners whoare just beginning to learn English. The idea behind the book is to ease learners intotheir new language through the use of illustrations and popular word games andactivities.

Each unit of THEMATIC ACTIVITIES FOR BEGINNERS introduces twenty-four(twenty-six for The Alphabet unit) arbitrarily chosen vocabulary words on topicscommonly taught to beginners. The book is designed to take a student from theintroduction of the new vocabulary through a series of graded activities.

Each unit starts with a page of numbered SENTENCES. Each vocabulary word isused in a sentence. The sentences aim to use the words in an everyday context.Teachers are encouraged to use realia, photographs, their acting skills or any otherstimuli along with these sentences to introduce the new words.

Following is a DRAWINGS page of the vocabulary words depicted pictorially. Thedrawings are numbered to correspond with the sentences on the previous page. Thedrawings are labeled, and below each drawing is a line on which the student canpractice writing the vocabulary words being studied. Also, the drawings page canserve as a handy reference tool when completing the other activities.

The next page features the same illustrations laid out on the page in a different order.This time the DRAWINGS are labeled, but the letters of each vocabulary word arescrambled. The student must unscramble the anagrams to write the word.

In the next exercise, ORDERING, the student is given a list of the vocabulary wordsand must put the words in alphabetical order.

The QUIZ requires the student to respond to both questions about the vocabularywords in the unit and general knowledge questions about the topic of the unit.

In the DASHES exercise the vocabulary words are listed, but there are letters missingfrom the words. Each missing letter is represented by a dash. The student mustcomplete each word by adding the missing letters.

A WORD SPIRAL follows. Each word is on the spiral. The student must circle thevocabulary words.

In the SCRAMBLES exercise, which is a Jumbles type exercise, the illustrations next

to each example is a clue to the solution of the puzzle. The answers to the puzzles aretaken from the SENTENCES at the beginning of the unit.

In the WORD MAZES exercise the illustrations are again used as clues to the solutionof the maze. The illustration next to the START of the puzzle depicts the first word ofthe maze, while the illustration next to the FINISH of the maze depicts the last wordrequired to complete the maze.

In the cloze part of the MAGIC WORD exercise the sentences used are the same as theones at the beginning of the unit. This provides repetition of the words used incontext. Again, the illustration on this page provides a clue to the solution of thepuzzle.

The EIGHT MISTAKES puzzle, although related to the topic of the unit, requires thestudent to use more vocabulary than that taught in the unit. If a student has difficultycompleting this exercise because of the more complicated vocabulary involved, thestudent need only number the differences on the drawings.

There is a CROSSWORD PUZZLE which uses the illustrations as clues. Thecrossword puzzles are useful as a recall and reinforcement exercise.

The FIND-THE-WORDS PUZZLE has the student search to recognize letter patternsand the spelling of the vocabulary words.

The final page of drawings can be used as a TEST PAGE.

Finally, there is a complete ANSWER KEY at the end of each unit.

Teachers may choose to have the students work in pairs or small groups for someexercises.

Teachers may choose not to use all of the activity sheets in a given unit.

This book can be used with other thematically linked materials, but it has beendesigned to stand alone.

These word games and activities have been designed to serve a specific pedagogicalpurpose. But remember: HAVE FUN!

Alphabet

1

SENTENCES

A. The word apple begins with the letter AB. The word bed begins with the letter B.C. The word cake begins with the letter C.D. The word drum begins with the letter D.E. The word elephant begins with the letter E.F. The word fan begins with the letter F.G. The word glove begins with the letter G.H. The word house begins with the letter H.I. The word igloo begins with the letter I.J. The word jeep begins with the letter J.K. The word kite begins with the letter K.L. The word lock begins with the letter L.M. The word moon begins with the letter MN. The word needle begins with the letter N.O. The word octopus begins with the letter O.P. The word pen begins with the letter P.Q. The word queen begins with the letter Q.R. The word ring begins with the letter R.S. The word sun begins with the letter S.T. The word tent begins with the letter T.U. The word unicorn begins with the letter U.V. The word vase begins with the letter V.W. The word whistle begins with the letter W.X. The word x ray begins with the letter X.Y. The word yarn begins with the letter Y.Z. The word zebra begins with the letter Z.

2

A) apple E) elephant

I) iglooH) houseG) glove

J) jeep K) kite L) lock M) moon

Q) queenP) penO) octopusN) needle

R) ring S) sun T) tent U) unicorn

Z) zebraV) vase

F) fan

3

B) bed D) drumC) cake

W) whistle X) x ray Y) yarn

1) ktie 2) grin 3) anyr 4) ejpe 5) aevs

9) rcnioun8) x rya7) hitsewl

10) akce 11) nomo 12) goloi 13) enlede

17) lvoeg16) rzaeb15) plaep14) oehsu

18) epn 19) tanepelh 20) kcol 21) afn

25) ntet 26) usn24) uneqe23) dbe22) stocpou

6) dumr

4

ORDERING

Put the words in alphabetical order.

elephantringkitesunbed

moon

unicornglovecake

queenzebravase

houseappleneedle

tentjeepdrum

x raypenyarn

octopusfanlock

QUIZ1) If A=1, B=2, C=3 all the way up to Z=26, then what is the coded message that

follows? 5,14,7,12,9,19,8 9,19 6,21,14!

2) See if you can think up 26 other words starting with a word beginning with A and ending with a word beginning with Z. (Clue: X could be the musical instrument known as a xylophone)

3) Make up a coded message and give it to one of your classmates to solve.5

1)2)3)4)5)6)7)8)9)

10)11)12)13)

14)15)16)17)18)19)20)21)22)23)24)25)26)

igloo whistle

DASHES

Complete each word by adding the missing letters. Each dash represents a letter.

1 )2 )3 )4 )5 )6 )7 )8 )9 )

1 0 )1 1 )1 2 )1 3 )

1 4 )1 5 )1 6 )1 7 )1 8 )1 9 )2 0 )2 1 )2 2 )2 3 )2 4 )2 5 )2 6 )

h _ _ s es _ nq u _ e _o _ _ o p _ sb _ _w _ i _ t l _m _ _ nf _ nu _ i _ o _ nr _ _ gv _ _ ea _ _ l ee _ _ p h _ n t

k _ _ ed _ _ mt e _ _x _ a _i _ _ _ oz e _ _ ap _ nc _ k _l o _ _g _ o _ ey _ r _j _ _ _n _ _ d _ e

WORD SPIRAL

Following the spiral towards the center, circle all the vocabulary words from this unit.

6

o c t o p u s t e nt z

eb

ra

ri n

gk

iteelephantqueenlockcak

es

un

un

i co

r n

h o u s e x r a y m o o n i gl o

ow

his

tlefanneedleyarn

jee

pv

a s e p e n d r um

ap

pleglove

bed

SCRAMBLES

Unscramble the jumbled letters to form words from this unit. Arrange the circled letters toform a surprise answer.

UPSOTOC

NORCUNI

ILSEHTW

ELNEDE

GIRN

LVOGE

NETT

ANSWER:

ANSWER:

1

2

7

CLUE: What the alphabet is made of.

CLUE: What you get when you put groups of the answer to Question One together.

WORD MAZES

To find your way out of each maze, follow words from the unit from START to FINISH.The words can go from left-to-right, from right-to-left, upward, downward or diagonally.

whistlegzbvem

hl

mqhokxrrhso

ioouyitetwnra

gsnntcklfnool

tltejphntdmur

dlejqtekuvorn

uqsutupozebra

vefatnetozrki

ycrzvpuerlurp

rkagstqvnngsu

nwyelrynfedis

njpeexbgallng

hecrcinunnfnk

njiuowyxaeirg

uhuirbznorhen

otssnvasezosv

whsdppdkmnoje

leokacsgvelsc

ogppeglevnfav

ovupjspnncake

sespounegl

mou

pjaitopsynary

nryokrmurdpus

fnbkedxpreayz

uqcalnteezcva

neldnenjtxnur

wyeopushwrorb

apptflepoaelt

cktclovgiexrs

etnoynfguspos

jpenuseadokbr

ppkozsnahantd

falkulscsulzc

mxeoceoxuhcao

oyhnierqaetce

onmnokipkjlnm

START

START

FINISH

FINISH

8

MAGIC WORD

Using words from the unit, complete the fill in the blanks exercise below. When you fill inthose words on the chart an extra word will appear in the box.

1) ___ ___ ___ ___

2) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

8) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

3) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

4) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

5) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

6) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

7) ___ ___ ___ ___

9

1) The word ____________________ begins with the letter C.

2) The word ____________________ begins with the letter N.

3) The word ____________________ begins with the letter O.

4) The word ____________________ begins with the letter E.

5) The word ____________________ begins with the letter A

6) The word ____________________ begins with the letter Z.

7) The word ____________________ begins with the letter T.

8) The word ____________________ begins with the letter W.

MAGIC WORD: ____________________

EIGHT MISTAKES

1 2

There are 8 things missing from Picture Two that can be found in Picture One. Find themissing items and write them down.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

810

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

1 2 3

54

6

7

10

8

11

19

12

9

13

16 17

20

23

18

21 22

2524

26

1514

D9

A19

D3

D17A25D20 D24A18

D12

A14

A26A7A5D6A11D1

A16D22D13D4A21

A10D8A23D2D15

11

FIND-THE-WORDS PUZZLE

APPLE

BED

CAKE

DRUM

ELEPHANT

FAN

GLOVE

HOUSE

IGLOO

JEEP

KITE

LOCK

MOON

NEEDLE

OCTOPUS

PEN

QUEEN

RING

SUN

TENT

UNICORN

VASE

WHISTLE

X RAY

YARN

ZEBRA

You will find all the words from this unit hidden in the box below. Find each word andcircle all its letters. To find the words you may have to read from left-to-right, from right-to-left, upward, downward or diagonally.

EFRHKEDESAVSIHWS

CLSHGUQVGUDUBOAU

EDEDESUOHUFRSGPP

MAZPAPILYNZFSCAO

UQEXHSMGAIEGAFAT

RABAHAVOLCIKPYNC

DRREVSNHSOEFPAEO

WZASJAOTXRONLTOD

LEPERPBYDNUTENTE

POYZOIDOEOEFNISX

PLCUSUNPSLXYPRTR

ETIKACLGSLDGHEAA

HMVESKUIOFCEPZUY

OEOFPQAUDCPSEJQO

ONAOEWHISTLEENDA

FANLNEEUQSUSJDEB

12

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

9)8)7)

10) 11) 12) 13)

17)16)15)14)

18) 19) 20) 21)

26)25)24)23)22)

6)

13

ANSWER KEY

14

1) kite 2) ring 3) yarn 4) jeep 5) vase 6) drum 7) whistle 8) x ray 9) unicorn 10) cake 11) moon 12) igloo 13) needle 14) house15) apple 16) zebra 17) glove 18) pen 19) elephant 20) lock 21) fan 22) octopus 23) bed 24) queen 25) tent 26) sun

DASHES1) house 2) sun 3) queen 4) octopus 5) bed 6) whistle 7) moon 8) fan 9) unicorn 10) ring 11) vase 12) apple 13) elephant 14) kite 15) drum 16) tent 17) x ray 18) igloo 19) zebra 20) pen 21) cake 22) lock 23) glove 24) yarn 25) jeep 26) needle

WORD SPIRAL

WORD MAZES

ORDERING1) apple 2) bed 3) cake 4) drum 5) elephant 6) fan 7) glove 8) house 9) igloo 10) jeep 11) kite 12) lock 13) moon 14) needle15) octopus 16) pen 17) queen 18) ring 19) sun 20) tent 21) unicorn 22) vase 23) whistle 24) x ray 25) yarn 26) zebra

QUIZ1) English is fun!2) ?3) ?

MAGIC WORD1) cake 2) needle 3) octopus 4) elephant 5) apple 6) zebra 7) tent 8) whistle MAGIC WORD: ALPHABET

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

FIND-THE-WORDS PUZZLE

ACROSS: 5) house 7) octopus 10) bed 11) unicorn 14) needle 16) yarn 18) jeep 19) lock 21) cake 23) zebra 25) tent 26) vaseDOWN: 1) whistle 2) sun 3) pen 4) glove 6) moon 8) queen 9) x ray 12) igloo 13) ring 15) elephant 17) apple 20) drum 22) kite 24) fan

DRAWINGS Page 4

TEST Page 13

SCRAMBLES

EIGHT MISTAKES1) letters 2) words

E

ESAV

S

L

V

U

E

ESUOHU

P

M

ZP

IL

N

C

O

U

E

H

G

I

A

T

R

B

A

LC

KP

C

D

R

N

OE

P

O

A

T

RO

L

L

R

N

TENT

O

I

E

N

X

C

SUN

L

R

R

ETIK

G

D

AA

M

EP

Y

O

P

E

OEWHISTLEEN

FAN

NEEUQ

JDEB

1) octopus 2) tent 3) zebra 4) ring 5) kite 6) elephant 7) queen 8) lock 9) cake 10) sun 11) unicorn 12) house 13) x ray 14) moon15) igloo 16) whistle 17) fan 18) needle 19) yarn 20) jeep 21) vase 22) pen 23) drum 24) apple 25) glove 26) bed

1) pen 2) sun 3) bed 4) zebra 5) queen 6) cake 7) igloo 8) needle 9) apple 10) tent 11) octopus 12) x ray 13) whistle 14) elephant 15) lock 16) unicorn 17) drum 18) glove 19) yarn 20) moon 21) house 22) ring 23) kite 24) fan 25) jeep 26) vase

1) stripe from sock 2) elephant’s ear 3) cat’s tail4) man’s moustache 5) icing on cake 6) hole in headboard of bed7) baseboard along wall under the front of the bed8) leg from bed

whistle k

it

eq

u

ozebra

e

oe

ln

g

f

i

a

g

cinun

n

o

i

r

r

nvase

ncake

ep m

urdp

ee

j

opus

t c o nuse

su

m

o

o

h

on