39 ESL Vocabulary Activities: For Teenagers and Adults - Jackie Bolen, Jennifer Booker Smith 2015

-er dictionary activity
Games and activities for higher-level students

Skill: Reading/Writing/Speaking/Listening

Time: 10+ minutes

Materials: Worksheet

Students learn early on that -er refers to a person who does something. Examples include, teacher, writer, baker, etc. However, nouns ending in -er can refer to people, animals, or objects or can have multiple meanings involving a combination of the above. The activity will reinforce the need to be cautious with general rules in English while providing dictionary practice.

Begin by preparing a list of nouns ending with -er. If you would like this to be a brief activity, limit it to about five words. The more words you include, the longer the activity will be. Have three columns beside the list for students to tick if the word refers to a person, animal, and/or object. Students should use their dictionaries to determine which categories each word belongs to.

Here are enough -er words for an entire class period:

Blender, Bumper, Buyer

Cadaver, Canister, Cleaner, Coaster, Customer

Diver, Dozer, Driver

Fryer

Hipster

Oyster

Passenger, Pitcher, Planner, Player

Ringer, Roster

Scanner, Sticker, Stinger

Walker

To add a speaking element, have students work with partners after filling in their answers.

Partners should take turns asking and answering questions about the words. For example, “A person who bakes is a baker. Is a person who cooks a cooker?”

Teaching Tips:

Depending on the level of the class, you can allow students to defend answers they may come up with, such as, “A banner is a person who bans,” or simply explain that it is a logical conclusion, but that English is not always logical.

This may be a good time to review “a person who. . .” and “a thing that. . .”

Procedure:

1. In advance, prepare a worksheet with a list of nouns ending in -er with tick box columns for person, animal, and object. Also, at least one class beforehand, instruct students to bring their dictionaries on the appropriate date, if you do not have class sets.

2. Explain to students that although they know that nouns ending in -er are people, -er words can also refer to animals and objects.

3. Have students use their dictionaries to categorize each word on the list as person, animal, and/or object.

4. When students have looked up all the words, have them work with a partner asking and answering questions about the words. For example, “Is a walker a person who walks?” (Answer: “Yes, and also something that helps people walk.”)