IDIOMS AND ACTIVITIES FOR G.C.E. O / L

ENGLISH IDIOMS WITH ACTIVITIES

Idioms are expressions peculiar to any language. It is interesting to learn them and use them appropriately in language. There are hundreds and thousands of idioms in the English language. As a learner of English you should have a collection of idioms in your vocabulary. The correct idiom at the correct place can decorate your language ;and  at the exam , if you could use a few of them in your writings it could make a positive impression on the teacher who marks your paper. It demonstrates your enthusiasm for learning language.

Sajendra Kumara
0777597875

ACTIVITY 01: Match the following idioms with their meanings. Write the correct letter of the meanings given below against the suitable idiom.
1. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
2. To put the cart before the horse.
3. To let the cat out of the bag.
4. To get all your ducks in a row.
5. The lion's share

      A. to do something in the wrong order.
    B. the best or the largest part of something.
    C. seems to be harmless but really an enemy.
    D. to tell a secret by mistake
    E. to be well organized.

ENGLISH ACTIVITIES FOR GRADE 6

 ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND ESSAYS FOR GRADE 6 

The Blogger's Note: (Updated) 

The lessons and materials which appear on this blog page from December 2025 onwards will focus on the curriculum reforms to be implemented from January 2026. I have planned to publish activities related to the module based English language learning which would probably help both teacher and the learner. 

Sajendra Kumara

Best Cloze Passages for OL

 About Cloze Passages: 

  The cloze passage is the 11th question on the OL English language paper. The question carries 7 marks (14 blanks; 1/2 mark for each). 

Well, most students always grumble that the question consumes time and it is challenging. This means you lack practice in answering cloze passages. I also find that most English language teachers also are reluctant to expose children to cloze passages. 

Attempting a cloze passage involves intense brain work. It requires a knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and related techniques. More than anything else , 'patience'. Really, a cloze passage put your 'patience' on test. 

My students, you can practice cloze passages at home. You can do it for yourself. First, take it as a game. 

Well, you can do it the way I mention below. Try it and comment if it works.

Step 01: Select a suitable passage depending on your language proficiency. Make sure that the passage is an appealing one to you. I recommend a short story at first. Write it on a paper or just photocopy it.

Step 02: Read the passage several times until you get some idea of the theme. You may use a dictionary if you find any new words. 

Step 03: Leave the first one or two sentences and mark words after every four , five or six words. Then remove the words and write them down on a separate paper. 

Step 04: Now jumble the words you have removed as you please. 

Step 05: Now you have a cloze passage with you. Try to insert the words. Check your answers yourself with the list of words you took down in order at first. 

Note: while attempting to insert the words try to associate the words with the words immediately around the blank. 

 e.g.  If there is a blank with the article 'an' , your answer MUST be a word beginning with a VOWEL. 

As you practice you will catch up your own techniques. 

Well, you can inform me later.

Bye.

Sajendra Kumara

0777597875

Find scores of cloze passages among the pages of the two Steps to Brilliance Books with answers. The writer is a government teacher at a school in Nittambuwa. 

Best Poems for Comprehension| OL and Other

             "A thing of beauty is joy forever"

The poems published here could be used for your language teaching and learning process. They have been carefully selected to suit the young reader. The teacher can turn these short poems on to a platform where the young learner is motivated towards poetry. 

      Sajendra Kumara

      A trained teacher of English

      Voice: 07775978775

Dear teachers, 

Do not merely get your students to answer these simple poems and switch on to another. First build up a fine bridge between your students and the poem.  Your students will walk over slowly into the poetic world. Let them have that fun with you. 

Then let your students attempt the questions and finally make sure that you lead a healthy discussion. The poems I publish here create a background for you to guide them deeper into the poems. 

Today, most of our teachers have become quite mechanical and do not let the students to peep into the literary world. 

I was made to leave this remark here because I chanced to listen to some young lady teacher explaining a poem in her language class. She did not treat the poem the way she should have done it and roughly touched upon the surface of the poem for the sake of doing it. 

Do justice to the poems and the poets by discussing them with your students. Listen to what your students speak of them. Let your students truly enjoy a poem. Do not steal that right from them. Be well prepared before discussing a poem with your students. 

 I humbly regret if I have hurt you my readers. 

Blogger Sajendra Kumara.

BEST READING PASSAGES FOR OL

The blogger's note: 

Reading comprehension is an important part of language learning. Most students dwell on the misconception that they need to understand each and every word in a text to understand the underlying meaning. That is partly why most of the learners are reluctant to read lengthy passages. Most of them , I practically know , evade reading passages. 

Some teachers have the habit of explaining each and every word in a reading passage and then get the student to answer the questions. Here , really , the teacher plays the role of the grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren. The students are made passive listeners. They never make their own attempt.

Such methods should never be used in handling a reading passage. Here , with or without knowledge, the teacher hinders the student's reading attempt; there by making reading a horrible experience in the student. The student loses his confidence in reading. 

Reading sentences by breaking sentences into meaningful chunks is one good method a student can be trained for reading.    

The teacher has a big role to play here. The teacher needs to expose the student more towards reading texts. Also, a student should never be directed ambiguous questions. An initial  confidence should be built that he / she can understand a given text. The questions should be framed in such a way that the learner easily traces the answers. Later, the teacher can move from simple to complex. 

Sajendra Kumara

A trained teacher of English

Sri Lanka

TP/WhatsApp: 0777597875 

Activity 1 : Read the following passage and do the activity. 

  The Bermuda Triangle covers a large area of the Western Atlantic Ocean. The three points of the triangle are Bermuda, Florida and a point in the sea about 200 miles off the Northern tip of Brazil. It is an area of unexplained mystery. 

   More than 100 planes and ships have vanished completely here, most of them since 1945, and more than 1000 have been lost here in past 26 years. Not a single body or piece of wreckage from the vanished planes or ships has been found. Many of the planes which have disappeared had normal radio contact with their airfields until the very moment they vanished. Other pilots have radioed the most extraordinary messages. Their compasses were swinging about. The sky had turned yellow and cloudy when everywhere else in the region was very clear, the surface of the ocean was strangely coloured and moving widely. 

1. If the following statements are True write T  or if they are  False write  F. 

a) Only planes have disappeared here. (....)

b) The ocean suddenly turned yellow.  (....)

c) The Bermuda Triangle is in Florida.  (....)

2. How many people have been lost in the area mentioned in the passage? ...............

3. Did the pilots have radio contacts until the last moment they disappeared? ........

4. Write two changes in the environment that occurred in the area. 

A) .................... B) .....................

5. What are the following words reffered to?

a) "it" in paragraph one.  ................

b) "their " in paragraph two. ..........

                                      TP: 0777597875  

BEST ENGLISH MODEL PARAGRAPHS FOR OL

     Model Paragraphs for OL and Grade 10

Paragraph writing is usually an integral part of a language paper. It is a testing tool a teacher uses to assess a learner's ability to express an idea briefly using correct language. Paragraph writing is the 8th Question on the OL first paper. Given below is the marks distribution for paragraph writing. Read the paragraphs and think how you could make them your own. 

Sajendra Kumara  

  Paragraph Titles:👉

1. A visit to the village fair    

 2. If I were a bird       

3.The College English Day     

4. The Value of Friendship    

5. Books are our friends   

   Paragraph writing: Watch Video👇👇

   OL Paragraph Writing Video

6. The internet        

7. Newspapers     

8. My Ambition       

9. The person I like most   

10. How I spend my leisure         

11. My favourite pastime     

12. My favourite animal  

13. The joy of travelling        

14. How I spent my last weekend        

15. My favourite sport     

16. An unforgettable trip     

 17. A Shramadana campaign   

18. A visit to a botanical garden 

19. Water is an important resource.     

20. A place of historical importance in Sri Lanka. (1)  

21. A place of historical importance in Sri Lanka 

(2)  22. A visit to a place of historical importance 

23. My last school vacation.  

24. A famous city in Sri Lanka  

25. The Value of Time 

26. Early bird catches the worm.   

27. The television as a source of information 

28. If I were the head prefect o f my school  

29. A beautiful place in Sri Lanka 

30. My hometown  

31. My favourite book   (1) (2)

32.  My plans after the OL exam

33. My favourite subject 

34.  The place where I live

35. The most unforgettable incident in my life.

36. Water is an important resource 

37. The prize giving of our school. 

38. Let's grow our own food

39. Your plans for the next school vacation

40. My country 

GRADE 10 ENGLISH PAST PAPERS AND WORKSHEETS

 The page contains past papers and worksheets for Grade 10. 

The activities and papers which this page carries are free. However, it will take a few hours for Granting you access for downloading. Always keep in touch.

Blogger Sajendra Kumara

WharsApp ( details and materials)

0777597875

It may take several hours or sometimes even a few days for granting access to the papers you request to download. I kindly request you to bear with the delay. Don't give up hopes. Check your e-mails for permission. 

             මෙම blog page එකේ ඔබට ලබාදෙන papers , download කරන්න access ලබාගැනීමට ඇතැම් විට පැය  කීපයක් හෝ දින කීපයක් උවද ප්‍රමාද වියහැකි බව සලකන්න . ❤        Sajendra Kumara                          WhatsApp/call:0777597875 

Dear students and friends ,

If you have an urgent need to download the materials published here simply leave me a message on whatsApp . 👉0777597875

ඔබට ඉතා ඉක්මනින්ම මෙහි ඇති materials භාගත කිරීමට පහත අන්කයට whatsApp message එකක් යොමු කරන්න .

0777597875

Sajendra Kumara 

PASSIVE VOICE EXERCISES

Let's Learn Passive Voice

    Most learners of English language find problems in learning Passive Voice. Undoubtedly, they consider 'Passive Voice' to be the most difficult grammar part of English language. Some language teachers also make Passive Voice a 'monster' in front of the learner. 

   The learner is not made aware 'when' and 'why' Passive Voice' sentence patterns are used in the English language. Examples can be best drawn from the learner's first language; it could easily make the matters clear. A healthy discussion with the student in the learner's first language on instances where Active Voice and Passive Voice sentences are used will help the learner learn this sentence pattern better. 

    Before taking up Passive Voice you must make sure that your student has a sound knowledge of 'Irregular Verbs'. I find that most students have  an aversion for Passive Voice because of this problem. Start Passive Voice with your students only if they are thorough with irregular verb forms. 

   Finally it is the 'IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLE' that makes your student shun from Passive Voice. Practice irregular verbs with your students. It will make your path clear for teaching 'Passive Voice'. 

   My aim here is to help you with some activities that could facilitate your teaching and learning process. 

  I hope you would make best use of these simple activities. 

Sajendra Kumara

(The Blogger) 

A trained teacher of English

Sri Lanka

Voice: 0777597875

                                         💓💓💓💓

👉Grammar Activities 👇

The Simple Present Tense

               

(are killed/is prepared/is cultivated / is taught / are guarded / are examined / is made / is exported / is celebrated/are vaccinated)

      is weeded / are pruned / is mowed / are arranged / are manured / are watered / is swept

     are skinned / are washed / are chopped / are mixed / are fried 

Is paddy cultivated in the hill country? / How is the harvest brought home? / Is the lesson started  by the teacher early? / Why are poems written by Malan? When is the land prepared by them for cultivation? Why are trees cut down by some people? 

   

    are cleaned / are prepared / eat / celebrate / are decorated / is cultivated / learn / protect / are watered / are collected 

      1. are made 2. need  3. are tied  4. is made 5. is fixed  6. is tied  7. are pasted  8. cut  9 are pasted 

 b. the letter is folded c. the letter is inserted into the envelope d. the address of the recipient is written e. The stamp is pasted on the top right corner f. The letter is put into the mail box 

1. are made 2. is selected 3. is made 4. is given 5. is begun 6. is dedicated 7. is realized

    1 / 3 / 5 / 7 

ENGLISH GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR O L

English Grammar Activities.

Dear students,

I am publishing here grammar exercises to help you with in your classroom activities. The simple activities will help you in your exams. 

Sajendra Kumara

Use 'can' appropriately and complete the sentences.

Answers: 1. can speak 2. can speak 3. Nuwan can speak 4. Gagani can speak /can't speak  5. Both / Gagani can speak 

PREPOSITIONS: 01
Fill in the blanks with the prepositions given within brackets. 

                                        [ with  -  of  - in  -  on - for ]

The wheel has been an essential part of human life 1) ........................ the very early years of human civilization. The wheel can be best described as a circular object that rotates 2) ......................an axle bearing. The earliest wheels were known to be wooden disks 3) .....................a hole in the middle 4) ........................the axle. The word wheel first came from an English word. 5) .......................Sanskrit, the wheel is called 'Chakra' to mean 'round' or 'circle'. 
1. since 2.on 3. with 4. of    5. in 

Sajendra Kumara 

ACTIVITY 02: Verb forms

Write the correct form of the verbs given within brackets.

Once , Honour, Fire and Water started on a journey to find new things and new places. After sometime, they 1)________ [realize] that they liked to 2)________[see] different things. "We 3)___________[travel] together for a long time, but we might go in different ways. We  must 4)________[make] plans about how to find each other," Fire said. The others agreed and 5)________[begin] to make plans. Fire said that they could always 6)_______[find] him by his smoke. Water 7)_______[tell] them to look for signs like green vegetation and evening mist. But Honour apologetically 8)________[say], "You have to 9)_______[keep] me with you all the time. If you 10)_______[lose] me once, you will never be able to find me again." 
1. realized 2. see 3. have traveled / have been travelling 4. make 5.began 6. find 7. told 8. said 9. keep 10. lose 
👧👨Sajendra Kumara