the Whiteboard: Vivid Verbs

Emotion

Movement

Behaviour

Face

Body

Animal

MInd

Natural

Noise

Voice

Now let's have a chat

1. Do you sometimes conceal your real opinions? Why?

2. Do you have a special way of coaxing a cat to come up to you for a pat?

3. Is there anyone in your life that you might try to dodge of you saw them in the street? Why?

4. What's a kind of food or drink you despise?

5. Do you struggle to emerge from sleep in the morning or do you leap out of bed?

6. Can you successfully flip a pancake?

7. Who is a friend you love to goof around with? What sort of things do you do together?

8. Have you ever fainted? When was it? Where were you? Why did you faint?

9. When did you last have to haul furniture from one house or one room to another?

10. Do you sometimes honk the horn of your car at other drivers?

11. What time of day do you find it easier to focus on more creative things?

12. Do you enjoy hunting for bargains at secondhand shops?

In groups write a suitable noun next to any of these verbs: e.g. shatter + glass

Vivid verbs practice:

A to E

E to M

M to U

Raise

retain

Foresee

resisting

define

inspired

Explore

Measure

gather

focussing

1. How do you _______ your progress and development in learning a language?

2. Why might someone ______their eyebrows?

3. What are you _______ on at the moment in your English language development?

4. What good things do you _______ in your future?

5. Which parts of New Zealand would you like to ______ further?

6 . Do you feel like you _______ the language you learn? How do you do this?

7. Where do young people usually ______ in your town?

8. How would you ______ your personality type?

9 . Are you good at ________ the temptation to eat junk food?

10. Talk about a person that ______ you as a kid.

Conversation fun (using 2nd conditional)

1. Ignore:

If someone ignored you during a conversation, how would you make sure they noticed you again?

2. Design:

If you could design a new fashion trend, what would it be and how do you think people would react to it?

3. Pinpoint:

Can you pinpoint the moment when you realized you were really good at something? Was it embarrassing or awesome?

4. Reconsider:

If someone told you that eating pizza every day would make you healthier, would you reconsider your diet?

5. Prevent:

What’s the best way to prevent embarrassing moments in front of your crush? Any tips?

6. Sidestep:

Have you ever tried to sidestep a tough question from a teacher or boss? How did you do it?

7. Retain:

If you could retain one piece of advice forever, what would it be, and why do you think it’s so important?

8. Scan:

If you were scanning a room full of people for the most interesting person, what would you be looking for?

9. Inspire:

What’s the most ridiculous thing someone has ever said that actually inspired you to do something?

10. Indicate:

If someone’s body language indicated they were totally uninterested in what you were saying, would you keep talking or change the subject?

Write ten ten-word sentences using ten workhouse verbs.

1_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

2_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

3_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

4_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

5_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

6_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

7_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

8_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

9_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.

10_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ________ ________.