This month, ETA Henry Calkins and his co-teachers created a new activity for students to apply their simple present tense learning in real-world situations.

Over the last two weeks, Kelas X students have been learning the simple present tense. The first week focused on verbal and nominal sentences in positive, negative, and interrogative forms. The following week introduced adverbs of frequency, days of the week, and times of day.

To practice these skills, students formed teams of four and interviewed people around campus about their daily activities. Each team received a worksheet to record responses from one teacher, one student, and one other person of their choosing. Students were given 30 minutes to complete the activity, with teams racing to finish first.

Students were highly engaged, with many sprinting across campus to find interviewees. The fastest team finished in under 20 minutes, while the two slowest teams presented their findings to the class.

Overall, the activity encouraged students to practice English through real-world interactions, physical activity, and friendly competition. Students reported enjoying the experience, and the activity provided Henry and his co-teachers with valuable insights for planning future English lessons.

Henry Calkins is currently teaching at (SMK Wisudha Karya Kudus, Jawa Tengah).