Greeting/Introduction Ideas:
1.) ALT and JTE have a short conversation about their weekend and/or hobbies. Then, ask a couple of questions to students about the conversation.
2.) ALT tells students about his/her weekend/free time. JTE asks some questions.
Warm-ups/Vocab Activities:
Free Time Chinese Whispers:
Students work in rows. ALT tells the back students something about what they do in their free time. The students then pass that message along the row by whispering in the next student's ear. The front student either tells the message to the ALT/JTE or writes it on the blackboard. Allocate points to the fastest rows and do it again a few more times. Be sure to have students change position so all students get to speak to the ALT.
Free Time Hot Potato:
Students pass a couple of balls around the class, while the teachers play some music (suggestions: "Perfect day" by Lou Reed, "I want to ride my Bicycle" by Queen). When a teacher stops the music, whoever has the ball must answer a/some question(s) from the ALT about free time, e.g. "What did you do on the weekend?" or "What sport do you like?" Alternatively, one ball could be replaced with a box of questions and the student who has it when the music stops asks one of the questions to the student with the ball. Afterwards, review some of the questions and answers on the blackboard if necessary.
The ALT's Stuff:
ALT brings some objects and/or pictures related to their own free time into class. Students either try to guess how the objects are related to the ALT, or if that's obvious, ask the ALT questions to find out more information, e.g. when they did that activity, with whom, or how old they were etc. ALT and JTE encourage and help with questions. ALT eventually reveals all. This activity requires students to be more forthcoming and would also benefit from a supportive JTE to help the students with questions and confidence etc.
Practice Activities:
Find Someone Who …:
A very simple activity to have students practice talking about hobbies, interests and experiences. Students speak to a bunch of other students, asking questions to find someone who fits the description on the worksheet. You should make a worksheet with the language that you want to include, but here is an example. You may need to teach some of the target language beforehand to ensure that students understand. Students can either ask simple yes/no questions or can ask about their partner's free time generally and listen for the answers.
What Did You Do on the Weekend?:
Students work in pairs, but with various partners. They interview their partners to find out what they did on the weekend. You will need to have the students practice the expressions, repeating after you and perhaps also in pairs. An example handout can be seen here.
Let's Meet Up:
Give students a blank schedule for the coming week and have them fill out about half of it with some leisure activities. Students then speak to various partners trying to find a time when they can do something fun together. When they find a time they are both free, they decide what to do and fill in their schedule. This activity involves students in a lot of discourse (bouncing info back and forth according to an agenda/task) and will require some dialog practice beforehand. Although more difficult, it is a very good activity as it helps students with the real, practical skills involved in arranging to do something with friends. Here is an example worksheet.
Consolidation/Filler Activities:
Journals:
If the students keep journals for the ALT (a great idea), they can write an entry about their free time for the ALT to read after and write some feedback. This can be incorporated into all OC lessons. If they don't keep journals, a short paragraph on a piece of paper is fine. Tell them you don't care about mistakes. You just want to know more about them.
Advanced Activities:
2-minute Interviews:
Students work in pairs and interview each other about what they do in their free time. Each student has 2 minutes to find out as much as they can about their partner, relying solely on the English they already know. Students can ask about hobbies and interests, clubs, housework, part-time jobs, study, friends etc. (you can give them these hints on the blackboard). ALT/JTE picks some students to tell the class about their partner. Obviously, you can make the interviews longer (or shorter), but if each student has 2 minutes, the entire activity from start to finish will take about 10 minutes.
Skits:
Divide students into small groups and have them write and perform short skits about free time, e.g. going to the cinema, deciding what to do at the weekend etc. Probably best to assign such themes so as to speed things up. Skits can be very time consuming.
Easier Activities:
Snakes and Ladders:
Draw a snakes and ladders board and write easy questions about free time in random squares. Students play the game in small groups and when they land on a question, they have to answer it. Alternatively, have the questions refer to the ALT (e.g. "What is his/her favorite sport?") and have the students ask the ALT a question to find out the answer (e.g. "What is your favorite sport?"). That way, students get to speak with the ALT a lot and you'll know better if the students are doing the activity properly. Download the basic grids here (sorry, you will have to fill in the rest yourself): 36 squares or 49 squares.