Hey everybody, today I’d like to share a fun activity that always gets my students talking.
I use the weekly ads/circulars/flyers from popular stores to practice many different aspects of English. You can bring in a big stack of them and let each student have one or use them digitally from websites like weeklyads2.com, flipp.com. I also have some at Cool English in the reading section.
There are so many different activities you can do with these flyers and they are so adaptable to the level of your student that it is one of my go-to exercises. Here are just a few of the things I like to do with them.
1. Practice numbers, prices, quantities.
- How much is/are……?
- How many…….?
- Dollars and cents.
2. Practice common vocabulary related to supermarkets and stores.
- Fruits/Veggies
- Clothes
- Electronics
- Toys
3. Learn common phrases and measurements.
- Vocab for sales = things like BOGO (buy one get one) or clearance
- Measurements like oz = ounce or lb. = pound
4. Practice comparisons.
- Compare prices in the ads versus the students’ countries.
- Compare types of products and brands within the ad.
5. Role Plays
- Tell students they have $50 and have them make a list of what they want and why.
- Have one student be the customer asking questions to the other student (employee) about the products.
6. Gap Fill
- Cut out or use a pen to mark out the prices or product names in every other product then do the opposite in another flyer. Now make the students ask each other for the missing information.
7. Game – The Price is Right
- I recreate this famous game show by marking out all the prices then have the students in teams guess the correct price. The team that is closest to the real price gets the point.
8. Translation
- If you bring in ads from a student’s native language, they can write the English words on the pictures in the flyer. I find that writing on a flyer from a popular store in their own country is very meaningful to them. I usually start in class then assign as homework that they write the English word for 20 more products.
Well, I hope some of you find this useful and start to use some weekly ads in your classes. Please let me know if you have any doubts or questions.
John
