Describing Processes- Games

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Seven different games to practise vocabulary and phrases for describing how things work, especially use for IELTS Academic classes and Technical English students.

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Lesson Plan Content:


Describing processes games

Do a game or games from this list. Your teacher will tell you which you must do or which you can choose from.

  1. Describe a process from below without saying which one until your partner guesses which process you are describing.
  2. Describe a process and your partner will try to spot (small or big) stages that you missed.
  3. Describe a process from below but deliberately make mistakes (miss out a stage, add stages, mix stages up, etc) and see if your partner can correct you.
  4. Describe one of the processes below. Your partner will repeat the stages back, and you should correct anything they get wrong or miss out.
  5. Pick a process from below. Describe it, making up anything you don’t know about the process, then your partner will try to guess what parts were just imagination.
  6. Take turns describing one of the processes below in detail, including as many steps as possible. Whoever gets to the very end of the process loses.
  7. Take turns describing processes using the vocabulary and/ or phrases that you are given. You get one point for each word you can cross off (maybe using different coloured pens from each other).

Ask about any processes below which you don’t understand or can’t imagine how to describe, working together to describe the whole process each time. 

Discuss one or some together as a class, e.g. taking or preparing for exams or launching a new product.

 

Possible processes to describe

 

A manufacturing or construction process

 

 

A natural process (e.g. the nitrogen cycle or the life cycle of an animal)

 

 

A performance (e.g. modelling with balloons, throwing your voice or a magic trick)

 

 

A legal system (e.g. from being a suspect to being prosecuted or launching an appeal)

 

 

A political system (e.g. running for election or how something becomes law)

 

 

A product lifecycle (from concept to disappearance)

 

 

An administrative system (e.g. finding school places for first year primary students)

 

 

Applying for something (visa, university, language school, graduate job, etc)

 

 

Arts and crafts (carpentry, making Xmas decorations, etc)

 

 

Buying something (e.g. a house or traveller’s cheques)

 

 

Cleaning something

 

 

Closing and/ or opening something

 

 

Constructing something (e.g. flat pack furniture)

 

 

Cooking or preparing some food or drink (e.g. a cocktail or long drink)

 

 

Dealing with an animal (e.g. training a dog or getting a horse ready to ride)

 

 

Dealing with children (e.g. bathing a baby)

 

 

Doing a sport or exercise (a yoga move, a stretching routine or a dance move)

 

 

Doing something on a computer (e.g. using some software)

 

 

Driving or riding something

 

 

Entering a competition

 

 

Emptying or filling something (e.g. a vacuum cleaner)

 

 

Escaping from a difficult situation (e.g. a bear attack or a plane that’s landed on water)

 

 

 

 

First aid or other medical treatments (e.g. treating a snake bite)

 

 

How something is selected (e.g. an American Idol winner or a high school teacher)

 

 

Improving your mental processes (brainstorming, being more creative, etc)

 

 

Launching a new product or service (from the initial concept to launching on the market)

 

 

Making, altering or mending clothes

 

 

Making yourself look better (e.g. putting on some makeup)

 

 

Mending (= fixing/ repairing) something (e.g. changing a light bulb or bicycle tyre)

 

 

Operating electronics (e.g. DVD, alarm clock, dishwasher, or radio controlled car)

 

 

Operating something mechanical (e.g. grandfather clock or gun)

 

 

Planning something (an essay, a presentation, etc)

 

 

Playing or tuning a musical instrument

 

 

Playing or practicing a sport

 

 

Safety checks

 

 

Saving money (e.g. getting something for free or finding something second hand)

 

 

Some DIY (e.g. constructing flat pack furniture or wallpapering)

 

 

Using transport (e.g. the underground railway in another city)

 

 

Taking a test (from arriving at the test venue)

 

 

Preparing for an exam

 

 

Doing a practice exam (at home)

 

 

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