Top 200 Classroom Activities for English Teachers

demonstrate vocabulary students should be encouraged by their teacher to mimic new words by acting out a language they will interpret meaning through different parts of the brain pairing physical movement with the language when using verbs you should role play their activity and ask students to copy you like every time you say eat do the action and students follow they will also understand it better by watching it being performed and doing it themselves nouns can be taught the same way by pairing it with obvious actions connected to it for example toothbrush you can brush your teeth students look towards you for guidance and will learn a language faster from a teacher that is more expressive when teaching here are the steps for demonstrating vocabulary model and repeat say the new vocabulary words to your students while you do that use exaggerated gestures facial expressions props or body movements to illustrate the meaning of the word have students copy the movement while you say the word Next Level you ask them to say the word while making the movement finally you do the action without speaking then the students do the action while saying the word you can also mix things up by saying the word and they act out the meaning make sure to write the vocabulary or phrases on the board so that students can make the connection between oral and written words number two Simon says the most famous tpr game is definitely Simon says it's simple to do and students enjoy being challenged how it works is that the teacher calls out an action which the students have to complete but students must only do the action if it's preceded by Simon Says for example Simon Says touch your nose touch your ear I didn't say Simon says you're out it adds a fun challenge to the game by doing this the students learn new vocabulary and instructions by physically acting them out but instead of randomly calling out actions teachers should be more methodical in their approach to using Total Physical response first start out with basic actions touch your nose bend your knees walk in place close your eyes these are good for practicing commands learning body parts and motor skills then take it up a notch by using everyday tasks wash your hands pet the cat right in your book there are countless possibilities try to incorporate whatever topic you're doing in class that day then pretend to things don't need to be real students can have a great time by acting it out paint in the sky blow bubbles you are Superman picking up a truck and throwing it use emotions you are sad you are happy Simon says it's your birthday add adjectives objects and people slowly quickly move your friend's book add possessives pick up your use my add this that here there Simon says look there look up ah gotcha I didn't say Simon Says use colors numbers and sizes show four fingers show me a blue pen animals and sounds moo like a cow Simon Says wag your tail like a dog it can be tough thinking up actions on the spot so I added a free Word file with 100 actions for Simon says in the description below after practicing a couple of rounds eliminate the students who get it wrong to find a winner at the end another fun way to do it is the circle method students stand around the teacher in a circle make sure there is enough space the teacher then calls out a word which the whole class does the last student to do the action is out and should sit down we can use this game in many ways but I will explain it with daily activities because daily activities are a good way for students to learn everyday actions first you need a normal deck of cards use as many cards as actions for example if you write 10 actions on the board only use 8 to 10 and remove the king queen and Jack you can write Ace is cook dinner two brush your teeth three get rest for hand up laundry Etc once you have all 10 written on the board go through them with the students remember with all learning repetition is key now there are four corners in your classroom assign Each corner to a different suit for example diamond is that corner and that's the kitchen Spade is in that corner and that is the bathroom heart is in that corner and that's outside Club is the last corner and that is your bedroom Each corner in the classroom has a different suit place the cards in the middle of class students have to go pick one card then go do their action in one of the corners it's a lot of fun you just see all the students run grabbing their cards looking at it running towards their corner and then doing their action once they are done ask them what they are doing I am brushing my teeth teeth outside outside really you can make it competitive by eliminating players who do the wrong action but as with all movement activities warn the students not to run or bump into one another otherwise they will be penalized even if students don't understand all the words they will eventually learn what it means students don't only mimic the words they have fun doing it the way that tpr works is similar to how we learn our native language by interacting with it mine role plays these are also a lot of fun for adult students give each student a role to act out but tell one of them that they've lost their voice explain to the voiceless student what situation he or she has to act out but don't tell the other students what it is for example for student a you need to find a pharmacy and you ask someone for directions you have lost your voice and can't say a word student B you will be stopped in the street by someone who needs directions but this person can't speak so you must interpret their gestures to find out where they need to go so student a will come up and gesture and the other person has to try and figure out what they want this is a lot of fun and very easy to set up stories are a great way to put vocabulary into context and get students to have a better understanding of what goes on in class adding tpr to your story will make it more engaging and easier to understand choose a story or create your own that involves the same vocabulary preferably more than once so that the repetition helps them remember if the topic for class is animals create a story about going to the zoo and seeing different animals add a specific tpr action for each animal or action when you are done telling the story ask a few students to redo it for class by summarizing what they have learned they are more likely to remember using TBR in a story format helps him practice telling the story in full sentences When developing your or tpr activity think about what your students may experience in the outside world experiences like giving and receiving directions are essential elements for ESL and the tpr driving activity will allow your students to master these you will need to get to class a bit early for this lesson to set up your classroom in a series of streets and common places from your neighborhood you can label each Street in the room leading to a hospital post office home hotel park and so on after you build the little classroom town with streets have your students stand in various starting places this will be the first stage of this tpr activity for example Tom go stand by the post office student Tom will follow the command and walk to the post office next you will instruct a few students to get into their imaginary cars and command them to move about the room as you instruct Jane go pick up Tom at the post office Jane will then go and pick up Tom another layer to this activity is to give and receive directions have Jane give Tom directions to a certain place and see if he can complete the task without knowing the Final Destination this promotes discussion and communication between students a fantastic ESL skill for them to work on this activity can be done in many ways and the students always have fun with it remember to give them a review activity by writing down the directions afterwards step-by-step recipes and instructions after your students have mastered basic vocabulary doing a step-by-step activity is a great way to test and encourage them to listen well simply give your students a set of directions verbally to follow don't check in on them after each step just let them figure it out as they go after the directions are finished check in on their final product and see if the outcome is correct review the activity to fix the steps where they might have made a mistake this is a great way to teach your students a new skill like origami drawing a picture making a specific type of sandwich and practice their listening comprehension and language development at the same time once they have mastered it they can write down or practice giving the instructions to a partner props for English the idea is to collect a bunch of random small items that could fit inside a shoe box the items could include toys miniature furniture plastic flowers buttons Keys play money toy cars crayons Etc with this shoe box filled with small items you can teach a variety of phrases commands questions and vocabulary terms easily these items can be a great tool if you're looking to introduce some tpr into your classroom routines even with older students for example sort the items by color first letter category size say things like find a red item or pick up an animal or choose an item that you could find in a kitchen once your students are ready you can move Beyond TBR and ask them to create their own stories or dialogues using the items chants are one of the core elements of teaching English to Young Learners kids love the Rhythm movements and repetition while doing chants there are many reasons for the successive chance with Young Learners but most like learning new movements to go with the words charades divide the class into two groups then let the members of each group find two random words from their textbook and write it on straps of paper take these papers and put one of them in front of the other group and the other bunch of papers in front of the other group one person from each group goes to the front and takes a random paper from the pile what I like to do is let the students take two papers and pick their favorites that gives them a sense of ownership over their actions when you give this signal both students have to act out the word and the other students in their group has to call out the answer until the correct one is found this could also be a race where each member of the group gets a turn to go to the front the first team through all of the words is the winner tpr is great for keeping the attention of your students and helping them learn faster by pairing the physical with the language use it to make your English classes more enjoyable and engage your students with the lesson find something you have in common give each person a class list with everyone's names on it students can also write down each person's name if you are unable to printed out then they have to go around the room and speak to each other their mission is to find one thing that they have in common same vacation home favorite food same amount of Brothers students may not use the same answer twice the great thing about this is that students will talk about many different things before they can find out the one thing they have in common make sure to check in with students after what did you have in common with the person next to you number two line up get students to line up according to different pieces of information start with something simple line up according to your Heights from shortest to tallest line up according to your birthday line up according to your name by alphabet another fun idea is to ask them to think of an interesting animal don't make it too easy now they have to mime the animal then arrange themselves by what they think the size is of that animal once they're done let the students reveal their animals to class number three what's different this is a really fun group activity split the class into two teams and let them line up to face each other tell them to look at the other team to make sure they notice all the details one team turns around and looks away while the other team has to change things about themselves they can switch places they can exchange jackets they can untie their shoes they can untie some buttons they can switch their watches from one wrist to the other any change they can make then let the other group turn around and try and spot all the changes they have made get the students to interview a partner they get a couple of minutes to ask each other questions and write down the answers make sure to ask them to make it interesting and to build up their partner almost like a hype man they should also focus on asking follow-up questions during the interviewed process once they are done they should introduce their partner to class do an example before they start a fun variation of this is the psychic game where the students have to look at each other and then make guesses about what the other person is like you have two brothers you look like you enjoy spaghetti you are good at math make sure that they make positive assumptions to help you I put a link in the description to questions two students can ask each other buy a couple of packets of M M's put the students into groups each student has to pick a random Eminem and then talk about something for 30 seconds the topic that I have to talk about depends on the color of the m m blue can be a hobby yellow family or friends green vacation orange your favorite place Brown a wish red food this is a fun way for people to talk about different topics we remember to check if a student has a peanut allergy then you can just use the chocolate only ones 250 conversation starters places students in groups of three to five I've collected 250 conversation starters cut them out and place them upside down in front of the groups taking turns each student picks up a random conversation starter which they will ask to the person to their right they continue until the time is up remember review every activity after you do it ask each student what they learned about someone else two truths and a lie write three facts about yourself on the board two are true and one is a lie make it interesting students should ask you questions to find out which one is true and which one is a lie then let them vote which one they think is the lie and reveal the answer give the students a couple of minutes to write down their own facts too true one a lie it should be random make it fun and don't copy your examples then place the students in smaller groups they take turns sharing their three facts the other students ask them questions and then guess they reveal the answer ask students to walk around the class then the teacher says a number the students must form groups with that number for example they March around and you say the number two all the students have to form pairs if you say three then they have to make a group of three and so on students who failed to form a group are out another variation you can do is you write a number on the board and they have a pre-arranged action they have to do with that number if it's the number one they have to sit back to back with someone if it's two they have to stand with their toes touching three they have to sit in a circle four they have to sit on their chairs the activities are up to you get all your students to stand in an open area then ask them to write their names on Post-it notes maybe two or three take all the Post-it notes from them and attach them randomly to other students backs when you say go the students have to walk around and try and find their own name remember to tell them no running or pushing when they find a note with their name on they take it and place it on their chest to show that they are done this is a very simple exercise that involves the whole class together and a lot of movement you should have a list of cues that you call out then the students have to stand on the left side of the classroom or run to the other side depending on what they choose salty sweet coffee tea hot cold so if students prefer hot they have to stand on the left side of the class if they prefer call they have to go to the other side of the class dogs cats chocolate vanilla Justin Bieber Ed Sheeran 1 000 questions and answers I wrote a book on 50 topics with 10 questions for student a and 10 questions for student B print these out cut them in half give one to student a one to student B and they practice with each other remember to ask them for feedback at the end of the exercise what did your partner say I put the book in the description below if you want to check it out what's the question first secretly write down a question and then write the answer on the board for example I can write down Eric now I ask all the students to guess what the question is and they can ask oh who is the tallest person in class or what's your name and then I can reveal who is the best teacher Eric you can also do this with the students where they have to now write down a question and an answer and they can do it in front of the whole class or in small groups button that shirt get two large dress shirts with buttons then bring two students to the front and tell them to wear the shirt but leave it unbuttoned put them into teams their teams have to shout out questions every time a student answers a question correctly they get to button up one button at a time they continue until they get to the top the first person to get all their buttons buttoned up wins Lying Game put students with a partner and they have to take turns asking the other person questions the trick is that the person should always lie they've got to try and trick their friend into saying a true answer what's your name Ben how old are you I am 200 years old what day is it today it is 2 000 years into the future you can trick a student by telling them listen if you can lie to five questions I will let you leave class early or some kind of other reward what's one plus three and they will lie and say 600. uh what color is the sky it's red what's your name it's Billy Bob what number are we on again uh usually the students fall for this one and they will lie and say ah number six and then I say oh you've played this game before and then they say no I haven't played it I gotcha questions volley use a small softball students write down some questions that they can use this helps prepare them for the class when you get the ball you ask a question and then throw the ball the student that catches the ball has to answer the question ask a new question and then throw it to a different student continue like that it's a lot of fun 20 Questions yes this is a fun game we all know and love you have to think of anything in the universe anything in the class and the students can only ask yes or no questions to figure out what it is now a trick to this game is you should start broad Is it alive or is it not alive is it on Earth is it in the universe is it a person if it's a person is it a man is it a woman that's a great way for the students to start thinking about what questions to ask you can play it in groups or you can play it with the class would you rather I put a link to 20 would you rather questions that you can give to your students to ask in class two truths and One Lie write down two truths and One Lie on the board they should be mixed around so that the students don't know which one for example I love Seafood I've got four brothers I'm good at playing chess the students can ask you questions to try and figure out which one is the lie like what are your brothers names uh what kind of seafood do you like what kind of move do you use in chess or when is the last time you played they continue asking you until they're ready to answer who's the burglar this is a fun game where you give each student Accord with information they have to keep it secret then you tell the students some information on someone who committed a crime they've got to go around ask questions to each other and find out who is lying the person whose card was read they've got to lie about everything on there Jeopardy is a fun quote show in the United States when you answer a question you've got to answer in a question format if the picture is an apple then you've got to answer what is an apple if the question is where is the Eiffel Tower you've got to answer where is France or where is Paris here is a website where you can create your own jeopardy games or you can find some games to use bean bag toss play sight words on the floor say a word and two Computing students should try and get the bag as close as possible to it the one that gets nearest wins a point A variation is where words have different points attributed to them for example the ones furthest away get more points students say a word and if they land on it they get those points the team with the most points wins feed the monster build a cute box and write down sight words on strips of paper if the students are able you could ask them to copy the words themselves saving you the hassle one by one say the words out loud students then feed the sight words to the monster and try to repeat it as they do reading race use a timer or minute glass students try to read as many words as possible before time runs out they can get competitive but remember to encourage students who struggle they may feel disappointed if they don't do as well as their friends now put them in pairs their friend counts how many sight words they can read go through it again then ask them to try again and see if they improve their score that way you motivate them to enjoy the activity and learn at the same time SWAT the word you can lay down cards or Post-it notes with sight words on them call out the sight word and the student has to swat it what and they like and subscribe it can also be played in groups where you call out the words on the board with competing teams line the two teams up and a member of each team has to slap the correct word sight word music a great YouTube channel for Sight Word music is Jack Hartman I put it in the description below look listen and say the sight words [Music] many people don't understand that learning a language starts with passive skills kids listen then read then say the words later you can get them to write it down for Young Learners listening to sight word songs is a fun way to learn and memorize new words scavenger hunt Place words all around the classroom ask students to walk around and find all the words see who finishes first this activity can be expanded on by asking students to copy the words on their own sheet of paper or give them a specific checklist of words to find when it comes to learning remember to focus on the journey and not the destination site world map write down words on paper plates or cards line the students up say a word out loud and a student should step on it to make it even more complicated place a beginning and an end students have to go from one side to the other by saying the word before stepping on the plate and then you have to go to the start make it through to the end starts what [Music] she of [Music] and in find words in the morning message at the start of class hand students text with a message then show them a list of words they have to find inside the message and circle them this exploration is a fun way to challenge Learners and make learning sight words into a game when learning is practical students are more likely to see the value and internalize the lessons students don't need to be able to read the whole passage but they should be able to find the sight words within Scrabble spell words with individual letters give students letters to use then show them a list of words after students construct a word out of the individual letters they get to check it off students have control over their own learning giving them a list helps them set a target of words to learn autonomously another option is to have students type the words into a keyboard and then check off all the words they typed out exit tickets write a couple of words on the board to leave class after the lesson students have to write the words down it could be on the board with markers or in their own books write two words then three words if the students find it too easy when they can do that put the words on the door or on a shirt and the students have to repeat them before exiting watch out for students that just try to memorize the words you can do this by randomly pointing at words to be read after a student read two or three words they may leave the class use flashcard games flashcards are the foundation of teaching ESL show the students the flashcards when explaining a new word because a picture is worth a thousand words add additional words like synonyms and commonly used words when explaining it then play games with these cards by placing the students into groups or pairs line the students up in two lines show a random card they compete and guess then score a point you could give an additional point if they use the word in a sentence make sure to add variety by changing the game a bit you can draw a racetrack on the board or use a die to make it fun let the students throw a ball at a Target keep it interesting don't play the same game every time otherwise the students will get bored another common way to practice new vocabulary is bingo let students draw a grid of four by four or five by five then write in the new vocabulary randomly draw cards and students cross it out as you call the words if they have two lines they shout out Bingo to win they enjoy the randomness and learn the new vocabulary by writing reading and listening for the words vocabulary should be relevant to the students lives so it's important for you to create connections explain how is it used in their life and bonus points if it is useful we tend to remember things that are interesting or practical in our lives give them simple examples of how to use the word outside of class a fun way to do this is for students to explain the word place them in groups they open a card and have to use it in context let's take Apple for example students go around a circle and say something related to Apple at lower level they can say red food eat sweet fruit at higher level they can use it in a sentence or tell a story a fun game is to give students a word list and then they have to tell a story each student adding a sentence by use using one of the words from the list pre-teach make a list of words that will be used and share it with the class prior to starting the lesson you can let them copy it from the board or reveal it to them by telling them a story be sure to refer to the list whenever you encounter the word during class repetition helps with memory so you want to repeat these words as often as possible also try to teach words using common phrases or collocation the habitual juxtaposition of a particular word with another word or words with a frequency greater than chance so basically words that are often used with the vocabulary word appointment make an appointment or contract sign a contract practice out loud when going over the vocabulary list make sure to let students say the words out loud that gives them an opportunity to practice also with younger students you want to Anchor words by creating chants based on simple rhythms and creating an action to go along with them Total Physical response is tremendously important when teaching new words or practicing phonics with younger English Learners A is for apple apple b is for ball word clusters and webs create associations between vocabulary words and other words write a word on the board and ask students to call out words related to it for example zoo animals Food Lion elephant they can even expand on those words to create a web play students in groups hand them each a large poster and ask him to make a word with the poster with the most unique words wins with clusters you can give students a word list and they have to write it under beneath different categories just like playing Scattergories antonyms and synonyms when teaching students a new word make sure they know some synonyms words with the same meaning and antonyms words that have the opposite meaning a fun way to practice It Is by acting it out Place students in pairs with a word list they have to act out the antonym or opposite of the word on the card and their partner has to guess it I like to play it in three phases I give students a stack of cards then I ask them to look at their cards and place them in order from easiest to most difficult in the first phase they explain the card to their partner they may use the extra words in phase two they play Taboo where they have to explain it without using these words in phase three they have to act out the word by having fun the students will remember these words better use a story dialogue or images with younger students let them draw an image to help them remember the word when reading a story ask students to circle the vocabulary or underline a word if they don't know it so you can explain it after reading you can also show them a picture with many items or a lot going on students write down as many words as they can see it could also be a memorizing game where you show them an image and they have to memorize as many words as possible translations ask students to find the translation for a word then make a sentence using the English form remind them that this is an English class they should focus on speaking English this is just a quick way for them to learn another useful way is to use realia real objects if possible for example with food this is sugar sugar is sweet these are potato chips potato chips are salty definitions ask students to look up or write the definitions for the new vocabulary in their own words practice it with the class by showing a random word at a student and asking them what the definition is a fun game they can play is by writing down correct and incorrect definitions place a class into small groups and give each group 10 difficult words using a dictionary to help them let them write down the correct definitions for five words and random entries from the dictionary for five wrong definitions each group exchanges with another and without cheating guess what the five correct and five incorrect words are I like to use what I call the Mom rule when a student leaves class and meets their mom and they explain to her what the word means if yes they pass hide and seek this is a fun game that students love it's not very educational but sometimes we need to make things fun so that students are excited to come to your class get four flashcards and put them in each corner of your classroom get one student to stand in the middle and blindfold that student they have to count down from 10. while they are doing that the other students have to go and stand in one of the corners once they reach zero they have to shout out one of the flashcards the students in that corner are out continue until there's only one left and they become the new leader musical chair flashcards the students sit in a circle and you hand each one a flash card while you play the music they have to quickly pass their cards around once the Music Stops they have to quickly pick up a card stand up and shout out the word another variation is to sit in the circle with your students and then take out a flash card and send it around you say it out loud pass it to the next student they say it friend friend friend once they get used to that you can start sending another card this is a great game if you want them to practice saying something out loud Jump On It Place cards all over your floor then put the students in groups of two or three say a word and one student from each team has to go and jump on the word points for the one who gets there first try to get them not to jump on each other's feet you can also play this game by putting flashcards all over your board and then saying out a word and a student has to slap the correct card slow fast and lip reading when working with young students you want to over exaggerate your gestures and emotions that will get them excited and focused in class you can look at a card and then silently mouth the word the first one to get it right gets a point you can do a fast reveal or you can do a dramatic slow reveal over and under let the students line up then take a card read it out loud hand it to the first student and they have to say it out loud as they pass it overhead and then under over under until it gets to the end and the last student has to read the card out loud easy hard make a pile of two cards easy and hard then put the students in groups and give each group 50 points students can then choose an easy card or a hard card they can place a bet if they know it or not one to five points for an easy card six to ten points for a difficult card if they get it wrong minus the points if they get it right plus the points then you can look at the card give them a hint if they don't get it in 10 seconds subtract some points Vanishing flashcards show the student some cards you can use more cards if you want tell them to memorize the cards then close their eyes once their eyes are closed take one card away and Shuffle the rest students have to guess which card is missing basketball this is another game purely for fun get students to take paper and make balls out of it you show them a flash card if they shout out the word correctly then they can try and shoot it into a basket points if they make it this is especially for students who are sporty and love to be active tic-tac-toe make a big tic-tac-toe grid on your board put the students into two groups show a flash card they shout out if they are right they can put a big circle or an X depending what their team is don't worry if only one team gets a lot of answers in succession make three give them a point wipe out new game Sumo get some clothes pegs and a flash card pin it onto two students backs and they have to try and maneuver over to see their friends flashcard and say it out loud the first one to say their friends flashcard wins remind the students not to grab each other otherwise you'll see some real wrestling questions to a partner make a list of questions for student a and a list of different questions for student B they ask each other these questions and they get to answer and respond to it why is this the best possible one it's because it maximizes student talking time and I feel this is the best way to engage the students survey this is a famous activity you make a list of questions and students have to walk around the class and ask one question to a different person each time students love this activity because it allows them to walk around the class and actually talk to some of the friends they haven't really spoken to a lot speed dating you make a list of questions and students sit down with a partner for a minute or two and then you ring a bell and then there to switch Partners what makes this different from a survey is that it's not only one question they have to ask it's a few questions and that gives them the opportunity to practice these questions and also these responses they can also choose which questions they ask their Partners at a more advanced level I want you to encourage students to ask follow-up questions so that they practice a more natural way of speaking running sentences students have to continue a sentence or an idea or Story one student will start with the story and then it stops and then that's the next student and the next student and the next student this is also used in writing where someone writes at the start of a story and someone writes the middle and the end it's also great for conditionals if one student says if I had a million dollars I would be happy and then another student continues that and says if I was happy I would would live in a big mansion third student if I lived in a big mansion I would have a butler and so on deserted island ask students to draw a picture of something anything once they're finished tell them that they are on a deserted island and only half of them can survive they have to try and persuade their friends to pick them give them some time to prepare by writing some reasons why they should get picked to survive and then once it's their turn they should plead their case students really like this they draw something it makes them imagine it and then also because they're actually fighting for their lives taboo is uh you give students a word let's say politics and then they should try and explain this word to the other students but they can't use these words sometimes you can put it on a projector or you can put it on the screen in front you show them a word and say okay listen you can't use these words I prefer using cards I've got a whole stack of cards that I use I think it's so it's an easy way to put students into groups what you want to do with most activities is you want to scaffold it so what I do is first I start off and I say okay everyone explain this word to your friends and you can use these words to help you then after some time I say okay stop stop this is way too easy for you guys now let's make it a little bit more difficult I want you to explain this word don't use these words two truths and one line This is a fun activity you ask students to write down two things about themselves that is true and then one that is false tell them to make it interesting don't make it anything boring for example when you show students how to do it you can say I have three brothers uh I can't eat seafood and my favorite color is red okay and then the students should actually ask you questions to find out which one is the LIE tell students not to use the examples you have done they should try and make their own original ideas it's easy for them to fall back on oh well I'll just copy the teacher you should encourage them to use their own remember to split them up into groups so that they can practice with their friends the reason we split students into groups is to maximize talking time if you use the whole class then students get bored it takes too long they don't really get a chance to do anything and when students are like that they're then going to zone out so you want to engage your students as much as possible by making them part of the activity when they're in their groups tell the students to remember to ask each other extra questions to try and find out which one is the lie for example if I said I had three brothers they can ask me what are their names how old are they just to see which ones are true Alibi this is a really fun activity tell the students that yesterday a crime was committed and they want to find a group of students who is responsible if you have a class of 20 students you could make groups of four four four and then an investigator for each one one one one the investigators I usually make the brightest students so that they can start and ask good questions give the groups a few minutes to create an alibi a story and its details where were they what were they doing at what time what were they eating what was the weather like once they're done each of the four investigators will interview the group and ask them questions they can give that group a score how much do they believe them to make it easier you can also write some example questions on the board that the investigators can ask and they can also come up with their own questions they will interview each group and then after a few minutes move around so that they interview all the groups afterwards all the detectives should say which group do they think is responsible Hotsy seat put the students into groups maybe if you have a group of four students once it's out you tell these three students a word or phrase they have to explain this student turns around and they have to explain it to him or her what you can do is you can make it more competitive you can put the groups against each other and give them a list of words they have to run through then you'll see who finishes first it can get a little bit loud but I think if you set the ground rules then it should be a lot of fun 20 Questions we all know this you think of something and the students can ask you 20 questions to figure out what it is is it alive is it big you can ask any question you'd like once again put the students into groups to make sure that everybody gets a chance Small Talk activity put the students into Pairs and each pair with another group so that they are four together the first pair thinks of the topic and the other pair has to discuss it with each other for one minute you can change the amount of time depending on the level of the students this is a great activity because you don't need to prepare anything and the Learners pick the topics make sure to get feedback from your students ask them if they heard anything funny or interesting it's worth doing this so students can see that their experience of an activity has Value Hobby experts each person has something that they're very good at Let each student pick a hobby or skill that they are proud of and quickly write down a few notes how to become very good at that hobby then they have to explain to a partner step by step how to get good at that skill make sure that they include at least five steps and no sleeping or playing video games when done ask the students what their partner has taught them use phones we have one of the best resources in the world at our fingertips when I start class I often ask my students to take out their phones and find a photo they have taken recently then they have to share the story of the photo in small groups social media like Instagram is blooming and Learners really want to share their lives with other people most are so happy to share something interesting or fun that happened in their very own lives or just a pretty picture they took of something it also makes it easier for them to explain what is going on in their lives you can also encourage the rest of the group to ask them the five W's when was it taken who is in the picture where what were you doing why include these to make this a great activity for adults and advanced Learners Project based learning or pbl speaking of phones since most people have internet on their phones you can ask the students to do some projects together pair them up and tell them to present their findings to the class they are news presenters and they have to find a new story that they will share with the class but make sure they find the information from an English site I've done the same thing when I Was preparing students for a trip abroad I asked them to plan a day in the city they were visiting their itinerary should include places to go restaurants to eat at and activities to do and remember push them to use English sources most Koreans use the exact same blogs but we want to expose them to real content instead of translating it could also be something simple like telling the class that we're going to have a day out one group has to pick a movie one group has to plan the transport how are we going to get there another confined restaurant that we'll eat at the possibilities are endless find something in common all humans want to form connections with other people so there is nothing better than to find out what you have in common with a classmate challenge your students to have a conversation with a partner and find out what exactly they have in common it could be that they went to the same vacation spot when they were younger or they both have two sisters it's even better if it's something exciting or interesting give them a couple of minutes to have a conversation write it down and then they can share it with the class you might notice that I insist on getting feedback from the students after every activity it's because I believe that at this level you should always have an outcome or a resolution 250 conversation starters I found a wonderful list of conversation starters it has 250 questions that you can ask someone to get a conversation started I've put the link down below cut them out for conversations in class students sit in small groups pick up the question and answer just a minute most students have an issue with fluency they speak very slowly and there are often pauses in between their sentences just a minute is a great activity to help with fluency write down topics on your board it could be topics that you're already doing in class or ones that you think of on your own make sure that there are more topics than you have students have students play Rock Paper Scissors or pick a number from a jar the first student comes to the front they pick a topic and they have to talk about it non-stop for one minute make sure to emphasize that speed is the most important you don't care if they make mistakes but you want them to talk very quickly once they're done you can erase the topic and then the next person comes once again you don't care what they say but they have to talk real quick for one minutes this is great as it shows students that it's not important how many errors they make but how fluent they can be pechak Kucha originated in Tokyo in 2003 and it means students make a presentation on PowerPoint with 10 pictures and they put the slide counter to 10 seconds or 20 depending on the level of your students when they do their presentation they have to quickly explain each slide before it disappears this is a very adaptable activity and you can use it for any topic and there's another great activity to improve their fluency job interview we have all done these in class it's a useful activity because It prepares them for their professional lives do it in small groups of four where the interviewee will be asked questions by three other interviewers I have never students raise their hands they and they have to say something they have never done if somebody else did it in the group that person has to put down a finger and then talk about that experience try to keep things PG this is a great way for students to share experiences Simon Says Simon Says touch your ears Simon Says rub your head Simon says turn around jump up you're out kids love this game because it gets them active you can also up the listening Factor by saying Simon Says touch something starting with the letter a and students have to run around the class and find something that starts with the letter A you can also do rhyming dictogloss is a simple activity to use for advanced Learners the teacher tells an interesting story to the students and they have to memorize it after that you put them into groups and they have to retell the story using their own words after that you can break them up and make new groups and they have have to retell the story in those groups a good idea is to record yourself when you tell the story the first time to show them the original at the end this is a fun activity because students practice their listening skills and they learn how to substitute different words and keep the meaning intact musical chairs all the students stand up and you ask them one question then you play the audio as soon as the students hear the answer they have to sit down the last one to sit down loses what they can also do is they can do an activity like walk like a zombie or bounce like a rabbit and as soon as they hear the answer they have to stop this is just a fun thing to keep students busy and also focus on listening listen and throw split the class into teams and hand each team a different colored paper students roll it up into tools which they will use to answer with in the front of the class you put three bins a b and c then you play the audio and as soon as the students hear the answer they have to throw the ball into whichever answer it is it doesn't matter that they win or lose they actually do something active which is great you can also do a different activity where you have a ball you ask a question and then you throw it to a student when they catch it they have to answer they ask a question throw it to a friend and you send it around the class that means that the students have to actively listen to the questions and be ready to catch if you have a really big class split it into different groups so that students have a better chance of participating minimal pairs hold up something that is particularly difficult for ESL students is listening to the difference between words that sound the same but might be written a little bit differently these are words like leave live feel fill three three fit feet have a set of cards printed out for all these Troublesome words divide the class into two teams and let them line up you will say the word and then one student in the front from each team has to quickly find the card and lift it up you can also make it a little bit more difficult by using the word in a sentence and then they have to search around pick up the card and show it and their team gets a point these days we have access to Fantastic books that were written for a younger audience and English Learners have students listen to an audio book or a story then they have to write a book report they can do a presentation or they can give a summary of each chapter movie vocabulary find a movie clip and watch it for interesting vocabulary that you write down then make a list of all these interesting words that you can hand to the students while they're watching this video clip they have to check what words they hear afterwards you can discuss it with the students to find the meaning and use it in sentences another fun thing you can do is they can re-enact some of the scenes from this video clip telephone create two teams and then pick two leaders the rest of the students have to close their ears and you can play music in the background so that they don't listen then give each leader a sentence that they have to tell the rest of their team they tell each person and it goes around and at the end they reveal what the final sentence is you can also record your sentences before you show it to the students crowdsource a monster or picture so pick two students they go to the front of the class to the board and then they have to draw a monster according to what the rest of the class tells them so you can ask how many hands does it have how many eyes how big is it is it tall is it short and then they have to draw the monster according to all the students shouting out their ideas or another idea is you get two students they look away you draw something on the board a scene of something happening take a picture of it with your phone and then erase it the two students come in and then the rest of the class has to direct them what to draw and then afterwards you can compare it to the original this is a really fun game and very easy to do in class if you don't know what to do and you've got some time left song Gap fill songs are a great way to engage reluctant Learners so why not use the most recent pop song give each student or pair of students the song the lyrics with some missing words students listen to the song and they have to write in the correct lyric to make it easier you can have a box with a list of missing words at the top of the page Play the song and pause if necessary the aim is for the students to fill in the missing words at the end you go through the song and you see which students have all the words correct and you can also go over the meaning of these words step by step another important listening skill that students must develop is learning how to understand step-by-step instructions hand students is a city map and give them instructions how to find a certain place they can also do it with their friends to find different locations or students have to bring a recipe for a meal that they read to a partner and the partner has to write down step by step what they have to do they can also repeat it back to the person who read it writing is such an important skill that we should not Overlook the value it has for our students writing reinforces their their understanding of English and improves vocabulary it increases knowledge creativity and Imagination creative writing prompts I made a list of interesting topics to write about you can download 60 really fun writing prompts for free in the description below classroom graffiti set up four chart paper stations around the room with the following titles conflicts character traits settings and themes break the class into four groups and have each group go to one of the stations the group members work together to graffitiate the page with potential conflicts character traits settings and themes that could emerge in a fictional story then have them circulate to the next station and repeat the process when they are done have each student select one character trait one conflict one setting and a theme from the graffitied pages to develop a unique narrative if students are lower level you can use different stations like characters actions objects and descriptive words ask the Oracle every player has to write one question which they want the Oracle to answer at the top of the page now every writer has to pass their papers to the person on their left that student has to write the answer to the question now the writers have to conceal the question written at the top portion by folding it and then pass it on to the person on their left this step is tricky but interesting every writer has to write a possible question after reading the previous answer they see in the paper the same rounds continue till the bottom of the page and end with an answer all the writers unfold their papers to read their original question the answers they've received and everything in between a how-to paragraph for aliens students have to write clear instructions for an alien to impersonate them for example write clear instructions for the alien on how to go to school in the morning the alien should be able to impersonate you exactly without getting caught this assignment asks students to think over something that is second nature to them they must break down actions and describe them students must not only think about what they do but how they do it you can use your own video but as an example I'll use the this one it's from Coca-Cola and it displays the differences between today's life and the past by showing a grandfather and grandson's life side by side first put the students into Pairs and then they watch the video then ask them questions start easy what's your favorite drink what did you see in the video what differences were there how is your life different from your grandparents then watch it again each pair should write down the differences they see students construct sentences give them an example sentence in the past people brought their lunch to work today people buy lunch finally tell the students to apply some of the ideas from the board to write an essay on how life has changed encourage them to use examples from their own lives in their writing the aim is for students to write about a single chosen object in this exercise we use a cube to ask six kinds of questions about an item to help them describe it each question gives students a different way to look at an idea or object the answers generate lots of information which helps students add depth and detail to their writing describe what is the idea what does the object look like describe it with words about the senses compare is it similar to something else contrast how is it different from others what makes it unique analyze divide the whole thing into smaller parts apply how can it be used who uses it what can we learn from it and argue what do you think about it is it good is it bad right or wrong yes or no explain your decisions with reasons in two link paragraphs write about two seasons explain which season you like the most and which season you like the least in order to help students write fully developed paragraphs have them think of all the things they can write about what do they do during summer but not winter what is the weather like remind students to appeal to the reader's senses hand each student a sheet of paper ask them to write a story from the top then play music and tell students to write according to the mood of the music African drumming Pop Star Wars theme classical whatever works for you they write any story they want when you stop the music they pass the paper to the person next to them who reads it and then continues the story the longer this activity lasts the more time they will need to read the story so I suggest you limit each story to five or six turns otherwise it gets too long play an association game with your students tell them a word and ask them to create an association chain for it for example airport travel holidays fun party night Moon space and so on each word should be connected to the last but there doesn't need to be a General theme to it ask the students to write a story using all of their own words writer reports about a real event give students a newspaper let them share it in a group and pick a new story to write about they can rewrite an article in their own words although this might lead to a bit of plagiarism or write it from another perspective like if it's a sport they do it from a player's point of view or they can write a letter to the editor later you can even let the students present their reports in front of class and answer questions about the material questions on a topic visit the attititch website to get 20 questions on 50 different topics 10 for your students and 10 for you take turns asking each other these questions I put the link in the description below shiritori you and your student take turns saying words but the catch is that every following word should start with the last data of the previous word bus stake key yellow continue around and around until someone makes a mistake compound words choose three to five compound words with the same stem and write them on the board or screen without their stem ask your student to figure out what the stem is paste egg brush the stem would be tooth or ball man board the stem snow here are some more that you can use two minute presentation write down random topics on paper strips or use a randomizing wheel after picking a topic the student has one minute to prepare and two minutes to do a speech on the topic remind them not to write a whole script but rather focus on the structure and vocabulary they want to use this is great practice for public speaking in the future younger Learners have a show and tell session ask them to bring his or her favorite toy book or stuffed animal and they have to tell you about it make sure to teach them soft skills like body language and vocal tips to improve their presenting ability mixed up questions it's always good to start the class with a question write a good one on the board but mix up the word order then challenge students to reconstruct the question and then discuss it in pairs or small groups most item you have the ever expensive what's bought alternatively write a question on the board but this time scramble the letters of each word A to Z game give students a theme jobs things you take on holiday food write the letters a to z on the board the students must race to write an appropriate word next to each letter of the alphabet name tin have students think of 10 items that fit particular criteria jobs where you have to wear a universe for sports that are played with a ball foods that contain egg animals that lay eggs I am bitter start off by explaining the concept of one upmanship that some people always like to appear to be more interesting or Superior to others in their company tell the student a relatively mundane story about something that happened recently and invite the student to tell a similar story but to top it in some way yesterday I overslept and was five minutes late to class the student can say that's nothing I overslept and was an hour late an hour I overslept a whole day this is a really fun exercise to get their creativity flowing a day in my life you and your student create a fictitious schedule of each other's lives it doesn't need to be realistic from 8 to 12 Swimming with Sharks one to five training with the Real Madrid Football Club 6 robbing a museum once you you're done the other person has to ask questions until they figure out what they are doing at that time am I in a dangerous place am I underwater shopping game both a teacher and student take some time to create their own snack shop make a list of items to sell and price them realistically each person gets twenty dollars to visit the other shop to buy whatever they want for more advanced students Shoppers have the option of negotiating the price secret is the object of this activity is to answer questions without using the letter s you and your student come up with five questions each that you can ask one another take turns to ask and answer the question whoever says an s first in their answer loses photographs take turns to share a personal photograph and explain what's going on you can also ask follow-up questions to each other an alternative activity is to find photographs online your student has to describe the photograph and you can discuss whether the picture is good or bad you can even give a personal rating this is great for practicing prepositions of where things are on a photograph dice conversation starters make a six-sided die that the students can use write a topic on each side the topics can include things like Hobbies television time sleep music interview with verbs you and your student both pick a different celebrity then write down 10 verbs take turns to interview one another but you must include these verbs in the questions decide when did you decide hate what do you hate love who loves you the most debate write down 10 different debatable topics on slips of paper or use the randomizing wheel take turns to pick a topic choose a side of the argument to support and share its merits the other person now has to give their own counter arguments to defend the other side depending on your students level personality and cultural background you can discuss anything from plastic surgery to drug addiction negotiation in our daily lives we often have to negotiate with other people explain how it is done with your student ask them for some examples where they have had to negotiate in their lives now practice these scenarios with your student parents and children homework dinner bedtime pocket money household chores staying at a friend's house birthday presents sentence chains start telling a story with your student take turns to add a sentence to the story and see where it takes you it's a good way to practice conditional Clauses fortunately unfortunately a super simple game no resources required and a minimum of just two players one person says a sentence beginning with fortunately and the next person has to begin the next sentence with an unfortunately fortunately it was Saturday and Mr Dinosaur could sleep until 10 am unfortunately his neighbors woke him up they were having a water fight fortunately they invited Mr Dinosaur to play with him see how long you can keep it up Word ladder in this activity a word must be transformed step by step into a Target word to illustrate this idea write the word run on the board and explain that the target word is fit for each turn only one letter can be changed see if your student can find a valid sequence together Run fun fin fit most words pick a long word like apologize dictionary or September take a minute to create as many words from that word using its letters do it with your student and see who can find the most words longest word write a topical word on the board or screen for example winter your student has to think of a new long word for each of its letters waterfall industrious nausea terrified empty retailer compete with your student give a point to whoever has a longer word per letter Agony and find some common problems people write to an Agony and section of a magazine you can find examples for Young Learners teenagers or specific to your students career ask what advice your student would give to that person share a similar problem they might have faced and discuss alternative Solutions what's the missing word find a group of compound words or collocations which share a common word bedroom bathroom living room classroom showroom give the students one of the words or collocation parts such as bed and have them guess the missing part add to the list by writing bear living class until they successfully guess the word scatter sheets are a great way to review vocabulary introduce a theme and get your students talking brainstorm words connected to a theme the seaside London marketing and so on write all these words on a sheet or on the board once you have 20 words take turns to pick a word and describe it once correctly guessed by the other person Circle it and it's the other person's turn to explain one of the random words teacher robot pretend you're a robot and can be controlled by the voice commands of your students ask them to direct you to do simple tasks such as making a sandwich cooking an egg try and use relia to make it more fun it's great for practicing imperative forms such as use move do or time word connectors such as before after when Spot the Difference for younger Learners Spot the Difference is a fun five minute game find examples on the internet ask students to describe what they see then find the differences make it into a speaking activity by encouraging your students to answer in full sentences using prepositions where relevant role play games great for keeping a younger student entertained and learning English a role play game is a fantastic way to practice those all-important functional language skills the phrases we use for our day-to-day interactions ordering food going to the doctor traveling problems guess the news story collect photos from news stories across the world let your student guess what it is about and what their headline would be then you can discuss the actual article and what they think about it post it Mania bring a pack of Post-it notes to the lesson or if they are online ask a younger student to use some if they have give them a word to write down then go and place it on the said word do this until you have labeled many things in their area think of someone you and your student both make a list of 10 people you both know it could be Dad Mom celebrities switch papers now pick a person from their list they have to ask questions to figure out who you picked once they get it right it's their turn to pick from your list and you to question them dinner party on your whiteboard write the names of any celebrities or well-known characters these could include the pope Justin Bieber a sumo wrestler Hello Kitty Harry Potter Tarzan a dinosaur you or whoever the Hot Topic is that we you could also ask your students to call out different celebrities they would like to use once you've written down all these names tell the students that these celebrities and characters are going to have a dinner party and it's up to them to decide who will sit where I am hosting a party for these people they are having a party because I am the host I need to put them next to each other they have to arrange the guests around a table giving reasons why they Place certain guests next to each other I want you to decide who will sit where who all said where and I want you to say why so for example you can say I am number six and Ed Sheeran is number seven we can talk to each other because we both like baseball maybe these two don't like each other so they have to sit there and I want you to write the names who will sit where with your partner quickly talk and decide once all the teams are done they can do a presentation where they explain why they have decided on their particular seating arrangements okay ladies start off and explain to us why they're sitting there okay once it is early because early like likes likes cameras shows a lot Ariana Grande sit here's because she used English use English and they took excellent yes and the sale is it here because she wants took a picture with janonyo and it put the story's Instagram story and Sally likes you just too excellent very nice so when you do a presentation or speech always either look or if you're talking to someone here open up like this ladies next up and Ariana Grande is pretty so they are centered sitting in the center in this Korea name is so their name is safe so sit next to each other yes we won't meet you just so Sarah next to you and Alice across yes yes thank you Victor gloss the teacher tells an interesting story to the students and they have to memorize it you can read a story from a book or tell them an exciting experience from your own life next place them in pairs or groups and let them retell the story using their own words after that you can break them up and make new groups and they have to retell the story in those groups a good idea is to record yourself when you tell the story the first time then replay the original version at the end this is a fun activity because students practice their listening skills and they learn how to substitute different words while keeping the meaning intact as a follow-up students can tell a story to a partner and that partner has to retell it to a new group what's different split the class into two teams then line them up to face each other tell them to inspect the other team and make sure they notice all the details then in one team turns around while the other team changes things about themselves they can trade places exchange jackets untie their shoes undo some buttons switch their watches from one wrist to the other whatever noticeable changes they can make once the other group turns around they have to spot all the changes they can see count how many they've gotten right and then see how many they've missed then the teams switch the team that noticed the most changes wins anagram an anagram is a word or phrase that is formed by rearranging the letters of a word to construct a different word or phrase students have to find as many words as possible from the letters of a word or phrase you write on the board split the class into a few groups depending on the size each group picks a writer then write a long word or phrase on the board students have to make up new words using the letters of the word or phrase each writer takes a whiteboard marker to record the answers their team shouts out teams may not use the same words the group with the most unique words at the end of the activity wins for example I love my teacher possible words creatively achieve a Alchemy Cheerio Army Cola come Mayo you can give extra points for longer words Small Talk start by writing some topics for conversation on the board sport movies weekend travel Portugal these are only as an example to give students a place to start from then place two pairs of students into a group of four the first pair decides on a topic and the other pair has to discuss it with each other for one minute the pair that picked the topic must make notes of the discussion in order to report back to the rest of class you can change the amount of time depending on the level of your students this is a great activity because you don't need to prepare anything and the Learners pick the topics this setup could be used with any number of students a pair can decide topics for each other or if you have an odd class three Shooters can take turns picking topics for one another things in common first place the students into pairs or small groups then give them some time to discover interesting things they have in common with their partner or Partners they can talk about their Hobbies experiences places they've been to things they've done things about their lives their families and so on students must find at least three interesting things they have in common once they are done let them share their similarities with the class this is a good activity because we should celebrate the things we have in common and not just focus on our differences countdown students close their eyes and count down from 20 to 1 but only one person at a time can call out the next number so they can count 2019 18 17. but when two students say a number at the same time they have to to restart the starting number can be equal to the number of students in class once they say a number they are done and may open their eyes categories starting with the chosen letter students have to think of words in different categories categories is a fun activity that can easily keep individual students occupied but I prefer using it with pairs of students to improve teamwork and camaraderie after placing Learners in pairs Pick 5 to 10 categories and write them on the board each team copies the categories on a sheet of paper then pick a random letter students have to write a word for each category starting with the letter for example the letters c they have to think of words starting with the letter c for the given categories country China animal cat vegetable cucumber only unique answers score points challenging students to think outside the box in my book 100 no prep classroom activities you can find 60 different topics for categories I placed it in the description below expanding sentences write a simple sentence on the board then one by one ask students to add words phrases or Clauses to the sentence so it gradually expands and becomes more complex for example Eric is a teacher my brother Eric is a teacher my younger brother Eric is a teacher my younger brother Eric is a teacher in South Korea who loves sweets my younger brother Eric is a science teacher in South Korea who loves sweets but lost all his teeth now that you've modeled the activity place the students in groups to create their own sentences you can give them a starter sentence or they can make their own and afterwards share their expansions who's the leader this is a simple but fun game to begin pick a student in class to be the detective once the dictator active has left the room the class selects another student to be the leader which they have to copy when the detective student comes back into class he or she has to ask the class some questions to find out who the leader is while he or she is asking questions and looking around the class has to copy exactly what the leader is doing if the leader crosses his legs the rest of the class has to follow if he raises his hands while the detective isn't looking the class should follow they secretly imitate the moves the leader makes to confuse the detective other students can fake making moves to hide the class leader 10 memory games that improve active memory there are a number of benefits for students when they play memory games it sharpens memory skills increases focus and concentration reviews material and increases motivation in this video I will say 10 memory activities for school action memory let's start with a fun one write the numbers one to nine on the board with a corresponding action for each number for example one is left step two right step three turn four left arm right arm down and up turn left turn right make a heart you can use whatever action you want start slowly and call the numbers one two five six three the students have to do the corresponding action if a student makes a mistake they sit down the winner becomes the next one to call out the numbers instead of the teacher Total Recall having a good memory isn't just about how much you can remember it's also about improving your ability to recall what you're trying to remember and like with any skill you should practice to improve it here are a few variations of Total Recall activities in the description below I put an image with 25 different objects you can print it out or show it to your learners on a monitor let them look at it for 30 seconds then take it away let them write down everything they've seen it's also fun to get the students to work in pairs memory maze you could also draw a grid of dots on the board let your students copy it on a piece of paper and then put down their pencils draw a path connecting the dots together once you give the signal they have have to copy the exact path you traced students can also play with a partner where they have to take turns to draw and copy a pair Memory Match or pairs the purpose of this game is to find a set of cards lay them out students take turns to reveal two cards if they match the student keeps them if not turn them back around the student who finds the most peers is the winner if you don't have pair cards use a deck of playing cards sequence Master by practicing the skills of putting things in order improves memory Place five random items in the sequence students try to remember the sequence before you cover it up now go around class with them naming the sequence if it's too easy increase the number of items you can also do it with a deck of cards see how far they can go without making a mistake sequencing can also be done with coins if you have different coins lay them out and the student has to reorganize them in the correct sequence make a word list keep one as the master file get your students to cut out individual words show them the master list for 30 seconds then they have to rearrange the list in front of them Victor gloss tell the students a story they have to retell it in a circle it challenges them to get the gist or big picture instead of focusing on every small detail an example of this is a trip to the market write a story about a trip to the market include all the food items you bought then read the story to class and see how many items they remember students can also sit in a circle and tell a story each one adding a sentence or detail so the first student starts by giving one sentence the second one repeats the first sentence and adds their own first you can play with everyone correcting one another but the version I like is where no one is allowed to help it's fine if they make small mistakes see how the story evolves it could be a good idea to place a limit on how many times the story is allowed to go around the circle you can also do this with categories students go around and repeat a fruit adding their own see how many they can say before making a mistake apple apple banana apple banana strawberry apple banana mango eyewitness have you ever been an eyewitness to a crime is your memory of the crime the same as other people's recollection here is a way to explore eyewitness memory plan to have someone a teacher or another student come into your class let's call this person x x should plan on doing several things in class such as change the time on the clock take a book and put it in a bag erase the chalkboard close a window talk to someone about something before X comes into the room have all the students working or reading at their desks when X comes into the room most of the students will be curious about what he or she is doing after X leaves the room have the students write down all the things that happen you can do this immediately after leaves or sometime later once everyone has finished writing find out what everyone remembers and what they did not what details do they recall what did X wear how long was X in the room what book did X take who did X talk to what did X say you may even ask some leading questions to influence memory for example if x was not wearing a hat ask what color hat was X wearing let students write down what they saw compare how everyone's memory was the same and different group memory tell the students to take a good look around the room then ask them to leave and line up outside for a couple of minutes without looking inside the class you move or swap things around class remember to take a note of what you moved perhaps make it a nice round number like 10 things once the students return ask them to tell you what 10 things have been changed in class this is also something you can do with two teams one team leaves and the other stays inside to change things one person on a team is allowed to change one thing in class it should be something noticeable the second team returns and tries to find all the things that have been changed team switch the team that has found the most changes wins A variation is where both teams face one another team one turns around and team two changes things about their appearance undo buttons swap jackets take off a shoe team one then turns around and tries to notice how many changes the opposing team had made false memories sometimes your brain makes up its own memories try to implant a memory by asking people to remember the words on list one wait for about five minutes then probe their memory by asking them which words on list two are also on list one did they say book was on list one no only pencil and school were on list one you can also try it with these words only pillow and dream were on list one make up your own lists and see how you can create a false memory memory Master memory Master quizzes students on what they see students stare at a picture in a magazine or a children's book for 60 seconds after time is up quiz the students about what they can remember for example if the picture was an ad for food you might ask what foods are in the picture how many of each time what colors did they see the winner is the player with the best memory the memory Master solo games here are some memory games you can teach your students to play on their own to improve their working memories say the alphabet backwards spell your full name backwards memorize four details of people you see in public for example let's say someone is wearing a black hat has blonde hair a triangular ring a green sweater make a list grocery items things to do or anything else that comes to mind and memorize it and our or so later see how many of the items you can recall speaking ofless making of words students know is vital to improving memory students can make lists of anything boy names starting with b girl names starting with M all the fruits they know words that mean small all the breeds of dogs this is similar to the Scattergories game you can watch next three phase charades each student has to write a different word on five slips of paper it can be any word noun name thing but it has to be something that everybody is supposed to know for the slips in half and add them all into a bowl or hat they will reuse the slips for three phases so tell them not to tear or destroy the slips when they take them out then divide the students into small teams they will place your raids in three phases phase one one member from each group gets one minute to explain the slips of paper in the bowl after one minute it's the next group's turn continue until all the slips are taken out and change explaining students with each turn then each team counts up how many words they got correct it doesn't matter if it's a word someone wrote down it's the luck of the draw return all the slips back into the bowl or hat phase two one member from a group has to explain as many slips as possible in one minute but this time they may only use a single word if they accidentally use more than one word they fail and it's the next team's turn if their group doesn't guess correctly they may not pass and take a new slip tough luck phase three one member from each group has to explain the slips from the ball but only use actions no words each team gets one minute and they continue until all the slips are taken at the end of the activity tally up the scores from all three phases to find the winning team vocabulary Cowboy duel select two students to come to the front of class and each one a flash card or paper with vocabulary on it they should place it against their chests without looking at it then the two students stand back to back with their flashcards held against their chests the words also facing forward the teacher counts down three two one and turn both students then spin around and show their flashcards to their opponent the first one to read the other's flashcard wins The Duel Make it Fun by telling the students to dramatically die if they lose you can split the class into teams each winner gets a point for their team the team with the most points wins draw a card playing card games can be used in many ways but in this case students talk about daily activities to learn everyday actions first take a normal deck of playing cards next write 13 daily actions or household chores on the Whiteboard 13 for each card in a suit from number two to Ace you can write things like brush your teeth get dressed do the washing hand up laundry sweep the floor wash the dishes make the bed take out trash take a shower cook dinners eat dinner walk the dog to end designate Each corner of the classroom a different suit that corner is hot and that's the kitchen that's diamonds and that's outside Spade is the bedroom and Club the bathroom spread the cards on a table in the middle of class students have to pick up a card and then go and act out the activity in the correct Corner ask students to tell you what they are doing the Ace of clubs I'm walking the dog in the bathroom wow that's very strange make a list students have to think of eight essential items that are needed for some situations or items you can write it on the board take some suggestions from your students for example a suitcase for a three-day trip a fridge a picnic a survival kit going on a date a beach doing a presentation a school bag going hiking things for a baby then in small groups they've got to think of eight essential things needed for that item or activity for example if the item is a handbag what are eight things a woman needs in her handbag her wallet driver's license lipstick hand cream candy money and wet tissues or if it's a situation like going for a job interview do research on the company dress formally take a resume take a notepad arrive early be polite answer questions confidently once the groups are done let each group give feedback and compare draw a monster pick two students they go to the Whiteboard to draw a monster according to what the rest of the class tells them guide the class by asking questions about the monsters how many eyes does it have how many arms how many legs is it hairy does it have spots is it tall is it short big small let them select the color and draw the monster according to the class's suggestions making it a collaborative monster then place your students into smaller groups which picks one of the monsters they need to give it a name and create more information about it what is it e where does it live what is it scared of they should make a fun backstory for the monster warn them not to get too graphic however since it's a friendly monster group storytelling split the class us into groups of four students write a sentence on the board for example there was an old lady living in a house in the forest with her granddaughter each student then describes a different part of the story The first student describes the old lady who is she what does she look like what does she do student B describes the house what does the house look like how many rooms is it big or small student C describes the forest is it a big Forest is it dark are they flowers or animals student D describes the granddaughter what is her name what does she look like what is her personality like what does she do at the house then continue with the story one day a young man knocks at the door they have to finish the story each student adding one sentence until it's complete when it's finished place all the students into new groups where they have to retell the story they have created with their old group Hot Seat in this activity teams must explain words to their friends taking turn chance to sit in the hot seat facing them this team exercise is very popular with younger learners but can get Rowdy if not controlled remind them that points will be deducted if they shout too loudly play students into teams and put a chair for each team in the front of class facing the students these chairs are the hot seats the teacher then writes vocabulary words on the board which teams have to explain to those in the hot seats who have to guess what the word is you can either use the same word for each team or give them different words the first one to guess the correct answer gets a point rotate team members so that everyone gets a chance I like giving the students one word per team member then it's a race to see which team can finish first dinner party who sits where this activity comes from cave the Rev a teacher who often shares ideas on our live stream every Sunday at 1pm GMT for for this activity places students into groups of three or four and each group a blank A4 paper on your whiteboard write the names of any celebrities or well-known characters these could include the pope Justin Bieber a sumo wrestler Hello Kitty Harry Potter Tarzan a dinosaur u-007 or whoever is a Hot Topic that week you can also ask your students to call out different celebrities they would like to use once you've written down all these names tell the students that the celebrities and characters are going to have a dinner party and it's up to them to decide who will sit where they have to arrange their celebrities around the table giving reasons why they Place certain guests next to each other you can also draw a circle or table on the board with numbers all around so students can easily write where the characters will be seated they should be mindful of what the guests will be a able to talk about why some will enjoy each other's company and why others should sit far away from one another once all the teams are done they will have to explain why they have decided on their particular seating arrangement if things were different this activity gets the students to think out of the box to create an alternate history for a famous person place the students into groups then they have to think of a celebrity they know and write a list of what that celebrity has achieved in their life it could be a sports star a singer a politician anyone that's really famous walk around and make sure that each group thinks of a different person once all the groups are done let them report back to class about their celebrity and his or her accomplishments write the names on the board so that you can see who they've picked the second part of their activity is for each group to think of an alternative history for for each celebrity what would have happened if something different took place in their lives or if they didn't achieve something note that not every alternate history has to end in disaster they could just have become something else when all the groups are done they report back give a reward for the most creative or well-explained history make sure that each student in a group gets a chance to explain something about their celebrities alternate history interview with verbs this activity trains students to use different vocabulary in an engaging way they choose a famous person they would like to interview and the person doesn't necessarily have to be alive advise them to choose someone they admire or know a lot about so that they have more material to talk about place the students in pairs the one is the celebrity and the other one the interviewer write 20 verbs on the Whiteboard they must each then use at least 10 of these verbs to create questions for their partner for example decide when did you decide hate what do you hate who loves you the most what can you offer us what do you prefer between why did you move who won can you continue with what did you buy for can you wait for it did you consider how did you change these are only example questions students must create their own mayor don't vote for me explain that you're going to have a mock election for mayor in your classroom but it's a job nobody wants each student must convince their group and the class that they should not be mayor and they should give reasons why so let your students think of all the reasons why they shouldn't be voted for as mayor it can be something like I'm very lazy so you don't want to pick me I've got the worst handwriting I would be a powerful dictator and I would take your lunch money whatever reasons they can come up with let them write it down and then they have to share it with the class or in smaller groups this is the opposite of the deserted island activity I explained in another video where students have to explain why they have to stay on the island in this activity they should give reasons why they shouldn't be picked if you have a large class put the students into smaller groups where they have to explain to the rest of the group in one or two minutes why they shouldn't get picked then go around the group once they are done they should vote on who should be mayor the losers in all the groups then come to the front of class they explain again why they shouldn't get picked as mayor and then the class votes it's a fun activity because students don't have to take themselves seriously try it in your class Jeopardy instead of answering questions like a normal quiz show students have to answer in the form of a question each card has a word with a point value you create five categories and each category has five answers or questions with harder cards as a higher point value you can create your own categories related to whatever topic you are teaching that week or you can use this one I have found for you place a student into groups each group gets a chance to pick a question turn the card over or write the answer on the spot the group gets a chance to answer in question form if they make a mistake or cannot answer the other groups have a chance to try so capitals London what is the capital of London cheetah what is the fastest land animal Sushi what is the national dish of Japan this is a great game that you can use with a variety of categories and it's all up to you Labyrinth write words on the board with start and finish on opposite sides pair students up or create groups each turn they get to say one word if they are right they can continue if they make a mistake they go back to the start that way this game stays competitive throughout cat bear oh sorry wrong you need to go back cat rain friend oh sorry you need to go back students love this game the first team to reach the end wins it takes zero effort but can help students learn vocabulary and practice reading or just waste some time timeline from the start of human civilization we remember some of the most famous people and inventions using this timeline worksheet students arrange the timeline according to their birth date and their invention here first practice with your students draw a timeline on the board January to December then ask your students their birthdays write it on the board at the correct date explain to your students that they now have to complete the timelines first the timeline for famous people and then the timeline for inventions hand them these worksheets and in pairs all groups let them fill in where they think these dates go from earliest to oldest go through the correct order of the history timelines for example paper was invented 1300 years earlier than the printing press the teacher then helps Everyone by giving them the correct answers you can continue and ask the students other questions about the people or the inventions what did Alexander the Great do what is he famous for what is Albert Einstein famous for what do we use the printing press for why was it so important I've shared the file and correct order in the description below next let students create their own timeline it could be about a celebrity themselves their school country or a company Einstein's riddle Einstein's riddle is a challenging detective style activity where students have to use logic to solve the nationality pet drink color and hobby of each home owner it's been accredited to Einstein and it's said that only two percent of people can solve of it in their heads luckily for you I put the worksheet in the description below using logic they figure out who lives where what they drink their pet their color and their house for example the Norwegian lives in the first house the owner in the middle drinks milk students continue until they complete the whole worksheet this activity works for students of most ages and usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete once a student is done tell them to turn their papers over and continue other work without giving their answers away after most of the students are done you can go through the answers by asking the class multi-purpose items first show the class an object any object next give them a couple of minutes to think of all the different uses for that item after about five or six minutes the teacher asks students to share what they have come up with for example you can use a 4 look to eat food to comb your hair open cans mix ingredients clean pans not so bad for a simple fall the multi-purpose items activity encourages creativity and it's fun to hear what they come up with once they are done Place students in groups each student gets an item they have to sell to the rest of the group first do an example so that they have something to work with Rhyme Time place your students into groups next hand out the rhyme time activity sheet now bring out your stopwatch and get your students to think of as many Rhymes as possible for each group finally the group with the most Rhymes wins then each student should create their own individual poem using the rhyme words time spine work core you can also teach them about rhyming patterns first and show them how poems are created Pictionary students can draw or words or phrases so put the students into two or three groups give each group a word and then students take turns to go to the front draw the word and then their friends have to guess what it means draw an idiom cool as a cucumber hold your horses kick the bucket I put a list of common idioms in the description below with their meanings cut them out and separate them from the meanings next give them to your students a student picks up one of the idioms and draws it the other students have to guess what it is after they get it right or if they give up ask them to guess the meaning we did this at a Korean language exchange I attended English speakers would draw Korean idioms and then guess the meaning and Koreans would then draw the English ones we would guess them and then explain the meaning to them it's a great activity and a useful way for your students to learn about English idioms so a student picks up a card cool as a cucumber they draw it out just like Pictionary and the other students have to kind of figure it out and guess once they get it right they can guess what it means you can also take the idioms and the meanings and mix them up and then try and figure out which idiom goes with which meaning my superhero each student has to draw their own superhero give that Superhero a name strengths and weaknesses after they've done that they can share their superhero to class this is an easy activity all you need is a piece of paper and the students to draw and use their own creativity to create a superhero these superheroes can also be used in future activities perhaps like an Avengers meet up where you tell students to group up and they've got to create a story that they role play or you can use it for creative writing where students have to write their own story it's also fun because I know a few students would like to be villains instead hangman hangman has been a fundamental game in teaching English students have to guess a word or phrase you create a number of dashes equal to the number of letters in the word or phrase students then have to guess letters of the alphabet if it appears you write it in at the correct Dash if they make a mistake you start drawing a hand man you start with a head and then the body the arms and the legs this has been a Mainstay for many teachers because it's a quick and easy game to play with your students and they understand it well they also don't want the man to be hanged the idea behind hangman and can be a bit gruesome so here are some Alternatives that you can use instead what about disappearing snowman draw a snowman on the board and each time a student gets a letter wrong then part of the Snowman melts until there's nothing left or you can try the mouse and cheese game where the mouse is trying to make it up the stairs to some cheese you can come up with your own variation but make it fun and challenging for your students house tree Sun animal water psychological test tell your students to draw a picture in the picture there should be a house a tree a sun an animal and water do an example for them or show them an example of what it should look like give them five minutes to finish once they are done next tell your students that actually psychologists use this as a psychological test for their patients because when we draw we use our emotions and our personalities so each item actually represents something in their lives you are the house the way that the house is shaped the roof the windows the door the walls if they're strong it shows what you are like as a person and perhaps you can take that first picture and explain to the students how you would analyze yourself the tree is your mom what is your relationship with your mom the the branches how big it is is it close or far away from the house son is your dad how close is your relationship it's big or small is it bright does it look friendly does it look scary whatever animal it is is connected to their friends how do they see their friends water represents money or career how do they see themselves work with money if it's a big lake if it's a if it's a fast stream how can they analyze it this is obviously just for fun and tell your students that tell them this is just a fun way to kind of analyze their personalities once they are all done with their pictures you want to take their pictures and then redistribute them to the class oh yeah by the way tell them not to write their names on the paper so that the person who gets their picture doesn't know whose it is then give the class A couple of minutes to kind of look at the paper and then psychoanalyze it once they are done put them into groups and they explain what they think the person is like you can reveal the artist for each picture and then also talk about whether they think that the picture reflects their personality 100 conversation topics I put a file in the description below join the email list and you get it for free students can do these in pairs or in groups each person picks a question and asks their partner first you have to prepare the students by doing an example so ask a question and draw answers from your learners let's say the topic is breakfast is the most important meal of the day you would start by asking what some traditional breakfast foods are or what do your students eat for breakfast these days many families skip breakfast don't they think it was perhaps good for families to come together before starting their day it's always funny when you watch an American movie or TV show the mom creates this huge breakfast only for the dad to rush in and say oh there's no time we're late he grabs a piece of toast everybody in the car and then everybody rushes out without eating any of the food except for the toast my mom would have killed us if we left so much food on the table you get your students in a conversational Mood by asking them these questions also remember to practice conversational skills by asking them follow-up questions or getting them to share their opinions with class they should make up their minds and be able to explain their reasoning distribute the paper with the conversational questions to the groups and let them practice it with each other when they are done they should give you some feedback on what they talked about it also helps if you give them a number of topics they have to cover and an amount of time for example you can say I want you to do at least five different topics 6 and it should take 10 minutes that way they know how much they should cover and they can't just give answers for too short or go on for too long when they are done they have to give feedback on what they talked about this is important because it shows students that they have to practice and remember what they talked about so you can either ask them what they discussed or learned about a partner or get them to do one of the conversations in front of class once done talking about the topics get your students to practice debates by taking opposite sides of an argument this is a great way for your students to practice speaking they use this thing when we have a sleep toothbrush now have a sleep you're sleeping in this place this big bed nice hot seat students have to explain a list of words to their partner I want you to explain to Jackson and you can explain if he doesn't understand pass but you've got one minute okay are you ready three two one and start this is nice next um you can go like this [Music] big TV big TV [Music] you can also do it in groups where one student sits in the hot seat and their group explains the words to them pick one card and explain to him it is we use them we go to bed oh go to sleep OH Close what is on the ebook we use this thing when we half asleep toothbrush now have a sleep you're sleeping in this place this bed nice the students can take turns to be in the hot seat and explain all the words or cards to their Partners you can see who gets the most answers correctly in five or so minutes I am good at this subject Matt yes good this is Teachers a boy teacher and blue blue daily routine of my photo friend find a large magazine photo of people at work next write a simple daily timeline model for the class by selecting a photo and describing the daily routine of your photo friend each learner picks a photo friend give them time to write down an action their friend does during that time place the students into Pairs and they describe the daily life of their photo friend movie lines pick a short high interest level appropriate scene from a movie or TV show and write down a few key lines of dialogue ask students to read the selected lines and assist them with the intonation stress and meaning play the scene once ask them to listen to the lines ask additional questions about the setting the situation and the emotions of the characters play the tape a second time stopping after each model line to discuss the pronunciation stress and intonation now ask the students to say the selected lines just like the actors once they are confident let them practice the scene with a partner to act it out the essentials write down some topics or situations on the board ask students to write down eight items that are related to the topic or are required for the situation for example write down handbag what are eight things a woman needs in her handbag or if it's a situation like going to a job interview now write down a few ideas on the board and place the students into groups for example packing a suitcase for a three-day trip going on a date going to the beach doing a presentation interview with verbs student students choose a famous person they want to interview I tell students to choose someone they admire or know a lot about because then they'll have more material to talk about give each student a list of 10 to 15 verbs instead of asking the normal interview type questions they have to use these verbs to create questions for their partner decide when did you decide hate what do you hate love offer prefer what do you prefer between move win continue buy weight consider change surveys surveys are when students have a list of questions they have to ask one another they walk around class and ask one question per partner that way they interact with many different students and get to know each other if you need questions I wrote a book with 1 000 questions for English learn owners I also have a free Word document with 250 conversation starters and a questions board game that you can get when you join the etiqued email list describe a picture find a large picture of a specific setting a city a park a kitchen and several people engaged in a variety of activities show the picture to the entire class and ask each student to say something different about what is happening get the students to talk about the people what activities they're doing or make comments about the setting what do they see after you have modeled the activity Place students into small groups and hand each group a different picture now they have to write down as many things they can say about the picture as possible a follow-up activity could be to create a role play one minute speeches first teach your students how to structure a speech or presentation they have to have an introduction where they talk about what they're going to speak about the body maybe three topics they want to talk about the conclusion where they can do a quick review and thank the audience and then a call to action telling the audience to do something ask your students to give you more topics for one minute speeches write them on the board and then each student should pick one by limiting it to one minute it takes pressure off of the students to talk a lot they lack time which also means that they have to speak quickly which increases their fluency there are two alternate activities that you can do when it comes to giving speeches expert activity each student picks something they are very good at and teaches the class how to do it step by step it could be anything like fishing playing a computer game studying playing piano because they are talking about the strength they gain confidence by teaching others and also share something about themselves another similar activity is to get students to talk about a topic for two minutes their partner has to retell the story in 90 seconds and the third student in one minute and then 30 seconds just the facts find a level appropriate text in a newspaper or online make sure that it includes a lot of information write a question sheet for the text with five to ten questions pre-teach any necessary key vocabulary before handing out the questions sheet read the text aloud at a natural pace for Learners to get the main idea read the text aloud a second time while Learners listen and write down the answers read the text aloud a third time for Learners to check their answers number 10 expanding sentences write a simple sentence on the board ask student is to add a word a phrase or a clause to the sentence to gradually expand and become more complex for example Eric is a teacher my brother Eric is a teacher my younger brother Eric is a teacher my younger brother Eric is a teacher in South Korea my younger brother Eric is a teacher in South Korea who loves sweets my younger brother Eric is a science teacher in South Korea who loves sweets but lost his teeth now that you've modeled the activity place the students in groups and they create their own sentences let them share it with the class after flying game first ask the student some normal questions what's your name where are you from what's your favorite color we will play The Lying Game The Line Game then show them examples of how to lie if I ask you what is your name you have to lie you have to say my name is Superman I like reading books no I like swimming on the moon play students in pairs and they have to ask each other questions and the other person has to lie let's try it again what's your name glowing [Music] Nintendo really what's your name name is Crystal Crystal what is your favorite animal my favorite animal is Fox yes okay my favorite animal is a fox what's your name [Music] okay Crystal what is your favorite what is your favorite food [Music] soup okay not bad what's your name so is one okay where [Music] in space and finally what's your name uh Jayden what is your best friend it can be an animal it can be a book my best friend is a what my best friend is a friend is the pastor I'm just a fun way to trick the students is by telling them that you will ask them five questions and they have to lie with each one so pick a student and say okay I'm going to ask you five questions or what color is the sky it's red how many eyes do I have you have five eyes how tall am I you are 700 feet tall what number are we on again and they like then they have to lie sometimes they say oh we had number 1000 you're like oh you've played this game before and then they usually forget they play about the game and they say no I haven't and then you say papa got you on the last one line up ask your students to line up next to a wall they then have to arrange themselves according to whatever you tell them for example you can tell them I want you to rearrange yourself according to your height I want you to change from short to tall so short this side tall this side change foreign another rule is alphabetically according to your names if it's a that side if it's Z that sides your English name is okay English name hmm what we've got three crystals so your name is and your name is Karina Karina you're before Chloe then and Crystal Crystal over there according to your birthdays my birthday is March 18. I want you to ask your friend when is your birthday when is your birthday and then I want you to stand from January to December my birthday is April 18th not bad August 15th my birthday is December 28th 28 and you're 16. you have to change oh guys you have to ask questions your telephone numbers what is your phone number zero one zero what is the next number four okay four eight what is your number five three five three six and seven good one zero eight nine eight nine zero one zero excellent okay what take picture what Instagram story Instagram okay okay charades is an ESL staple activity students have to act out words while their friend guesses a fun way to do it is in three turns I want you to write down anything it can be a banana it can be a food it can be a table it can be a person but it should be something everybody knows the first round students pick up a slip and explains it to a partner the partner gets it right they keep the slip they do that for one minute and then it's the other team's turn We Are teams you will explain to your partner for one minute we will take turns so one two three four okay so turn one they can explain the words use up all the slips of paper and then put it back into the Hat turn two is only acting no words so they act out the words and then see how many answers they get round two I want you to act out the word so it will be easy because you know all the answers [Music] lemon potato tomato tomato [Laughter] what is turn three by now all the students know what the slips of paper are by turn three they can only use one word to try and describe a slip the team with the most points at the end wins the final round you can only say one word flute whatever subject wow [Music] English three two one and go flower power places students in groups for each group draw a flower on the board Place letters in each flower and in the petals students then get one minute to write down as many words as they can using those letters after a minute they stop and then count up how many points they have for that flower teams then switch flowers so that each team gets a chance to write down for a different flower if you have too many students in class pair them up give each a paper which they have to use to write the words down let them cycle through the flowers for example teams one two and three use flower one when all the teams have completed the words tally up the scores and you can give a point for each word or likes categories only distribute points for Unique words I will give you one minute I want you to write down as many words maybe I will give you two minutes two minutes with your partner using these words I want you to write as many words as you can okay I will give you two minutes are you ready three two one and go one time's up high come in okay and stop okay excellent okay everyone take a seat quickly take a seat because can I quickly borrow Emma let's see this one no M can't use M Apple no owl sit no I so you have to use everything here let's see this one what is this one oh here we go tap tap is okay stop T no e sat is okay good then here what is this one uh Dean A N Tan sure put I think the one I showed you was maybe plants you know p-l-a-n-t right okay ladies son right you can also say nose yeah or you can say Rose okay but uh store I think is also very good spelling tic-tac-toe draw a big tic-tac-toe grid on the board make two teams and assign a board Market to each one person from each team comes to the front of class give them a word to spell first one to write it out correctly gets to place an X or an O each team only gets either three O's or three X's once they've placed all three each round after that they place it in a new spot until someone wins spelling word relay here is an energetic spelling game to play with large classes divide the students into teams each team stand in a line in front of the board hold up a flash card or picture of the word you want the teams to spell the First Student in each team runs to the board and writes the first letter of the word good the student then runs back to their team and tags the next person who runs back to the board and writes the next letter and so on if a student makes a mistake the next student can correct it but they cannot write another letter the first team to spell the word correctly scores a point play several rounds the team with the most points at the end of the game wins back draw arrange the class into teams of equal size have the teams sit down in rows facing the board there are two actions that the students need to know before playing the game tapping the shoulder means to repeat the spelling nodding the head means okay continue show a different word with the same number of letters to the students at the back of each row that student draws the word letter by letter on the back of the person in front of them if the student in front of them him knows the letter they can nod their head if they are unsure they can tap their shoulder so that the student can rewrite the letter on their back this continues until the word is complete then the next student draws the word onto the back of the person in front of them when the word reaches the person at the front of the line the student stands up and writes it on the board the first team to spell their word correctly scores a point the student at the front then moves to the back and everyone moves up one Space the game continues with a new word and so on make sure that each student gets a chance to write the final word on the board blind speed Spell divide the students into four teams invite one player from each team to come to the front of class give each player a marker or talk and have them put on a blindfold you can perhaps use a face mask to put over their eyes have teammates stand the players a meter two away from the board say a word you want the players to write out the players then have to find their way to the board and race to spell the word as quickly as they can you can also have the players spin around a few times beforehand and have their teammates direct them to the board the first player to spell the word correctly in a readable format scores three points for their team the second player scores two points and the third player scores one point a new player from each team comes to the front and the game continues with a new word continue the game until everyone has had a chance to play the team with the most points at the end of the game wins for higher level students you can give them sentences to write spelling bee little kids can participate in a spelling bee game without the pressure of competition this Elementary spelling game is for Young Learners one student is the B and buzzers around the room room while the other students chant buzz buzz spelling bee you can't sting me the B stops behind the desk and the teacher gives that student a word to spell if the B spells it correctly he or she sits down and the new student is the B if the b gets it wrong the whole class spells the word out together continue until every student has had a chance to spell for all the students a spelling bee is a classic game to review words from vocabulary lists divide your class into two teams and let them line up give one word at a time to each student alternating teams if the student spells the word correctly she goes to the end of the line until a turn comes up again if she spells the word incorrectly she sits down the last team standing wins students who are eliminated must play along by writing out each new word it called Invisible Man split the class into two or three teams draw a stickman for each call out a word for the first member of the team to spell if they spell it correctly they may erase one body part from the other team's stick person then call a word for the next team continue until only one team Stickman is left teams can also challenge one another by asking them to spell out a word they can create their own list of words so that you don't have to they call out a word for the other team to spell group spelling students stand in a circle one student says a word going around the circle each student adds a letter to spell the word whoever makes a mistake sits down you can also do something similar with a ball students sit in a circle toss it to a learner who calls out a word then tosses it to another student to spell that student finishes and tosses to someone else word jump write words on paper plates call out a word and the first student to step on that word wins you can also Place paper plates on the ground with letters on call out a word and a student hops on the letters to spell it out like Hopscotch spelling Bingo students write out 10 words write the alphabet on the word each time you cross out a letter students cross out that letter on the word in their list the first person to have all their words crossed out wins I will steal the first question at the zoo what is your favorite animal I steal the easy question the questions board game it is important for students to practice asking and answering questions in English to make it easier here is a questions board game Learners take turns asking questions if they are a group of four one rolls a die to land on a topic and the other three have to formulate and ask them questions make sure to review how to make questions by looking at who what where why when how much and so on we'll roll the dice okay now let's say for example I throw three one two three pets now each person has to ask me a question about pets so for example um when did you get a pet why do you want a pet where did you see a pit what pet do you want uh who do you know with a pet how much does a pet cost how long have you had a pet what's your pet's name or any questions remember to tell them to take notes because you will ask them questions about their Partners during feedback vacation okay so I can ask um when is your next vacation when is your next vacation July 10 to 22nd yes so it starts July 22nd where will you go in vacation very nice where will you go during the vacation I have expectations okay that makes it difficult for her how long [Music] do you know how long it is so it's July 22nd until August 31st 30 11 17. ah okay so you can say it's until August 17th what will you do during the vacation I don't know I don't know really is there something you want to buy is there anything you want to buy if if I gave you one hundred thousand one so ship money I gave you soup money what would you buy a house no it's just for one hundred thousand one Simon says the most famous tpr Total Physical response game is definitely Simon says it is simple to play and students enjoy competing to be the last one standing in addition it allows them to move around practice listening to instructions and learn new vocabulary how does Simon Says work the teacher calls out and performs an action the students then have to copy however students must only perform the action if it's preceded by the phrase Simon Says which adds fun to this listening activity students learn new vocabulary and instructions by physically acting it out so you can say for example Simon Says touch your nose and all the students have to touch their noses touch your ear if they move to touch their ear they are out you have to say Simon Says before that start off slow and then increase the speed so that more students fall out you want to try and trick them to do the action without you saying Simon says so go faster and faster here are some things that you can consider to make Simon says even better methodical Simon Says Simon Says touch your nose Simon Says touch your ears Simon Says rub your head Simon Says jump up you're out instead of randomly calling out actions teachers should be methodical in their approach using Total Physical response getting the students to act out you can start with some basic actions Simon Says bend your knees Simon Says walk in one place Simon Says close your eyes these are good for practicing commands learning body parts and motor skills in my book 100 no prep activities I give a list of 100 Simon Says activities you can do with your students you can see it in the description below do everyday tasks Simon Says wash your hands Simon Says pet the cat Simon Says write in your book there are countless possibilities try to incorporate whatever topic you are doing in class that that day pretend things don't need to be real students can have great fun by acting out imaginary situation Simon Says paint in the sky Simon Says blow bubbles Simon Says fly like Superman emotions Simon says you are sad Simon says you are happy Simon says it's your birthday add adjectives objects and people Simon Says run slowly Simon Says quickly sit down Simon Says move your friend's book add possessives add this that there here Simon Says pick up your bag Simon Says ride a bike Simon says look there look up gotcha use colors numbers and sizes Simon Says raise four fingers Simon says show me a blue pen Simon says show me your little finger animals and sounds Simon says eat like a monkey Simon says moo like a cow Simon Says wag your tail like a dog or you can use the alphabet Simon Says touch something starting with the letter A he's doing the first thing to make money she starts basking group storytelling it's exactly what it sounds like taking turns students have to tell a story Advanced students can go around in a circle and add details to the story with intermediate students you should guide them through the story and give them elements to focus on a long long time ago there was a lady living in a forest and she had a she had a house what is the lady's name and what does she look like there was a lady in a forest and her name was Ali what does she look like huh monkey that sounds very nice okay Ellie lives in the forest she looks like a monkey what does she wear what is she wearing t-shirt she's wearing a t-shirt what color what a white T-shirt in the forest there is a monster what does he look like is he big is he small small okay how small is he like a small dog small as me as small as an ant okay how many eyes one eye how many legs and what else does he have two horns wow does he have a mouth no mouth what does the forest look like is it big and friendly is it dark does it have flowers does it have many trees there is a lot of tree yeah [Music] fruit the trees have fruit what kind of fruit cherry cherry cherry okay Ellie lives in her house what does the house look like in the forest very small very small how many rooms one room anything special about the house anything interesting place but the house has legs how many legs two four wow everybody has four legs does Ali have four legs okay the house has four legs now Ali has a problem what is Ali's problem don't have any money she doesn't have money she doesn't have money okay she doesn't have money so what does she do she's doing the first thing to make money she starts busking once the students have completed their stories in their groups place them in new groups where they will retell the story they created in their old group to the new Learners I want you to write down six questions you will interview six different people and ask them one question right so you ask your friend hi what is your name write down your friend's name and then you ask the question and write in their answers you can ask any question what's your favorite food what's your hobby where are you from what did you do for summer vacation where's your hometown what's your favorite music so some ideas when is your birthday when is your favorite day of the year tell me about your family what is your favorite clothing what is your perfect weekend your perfect holiday what is your favorite movie favorite music what celebrity do you like what singer do you like what music do you listen to what makes you happy write down six questions you can write the full sentence or you could just write down food or you can just write down celebrity do you have a pet what is your favorite weather or season where do you want to travel to in the future I want you to tell me about one friend so you can save a Ritz Hobby is okay um remember this apostrophe s means that it belongs to someone so you can say Eric's hobby is Eric's favorite thing is okay let's see let's start this side excellent nice you could just say like Eric's Momo Momo favorite food is pizza good oh the essentials the essentials is a great ESL activity for the students to think about things and explain themselves you give them a situation or item and they have to think of eight essential things needed some of the ideas could include a suitcase for a three-day trip a fridge a picnic a survival kit going on a date going to the beach doing a presentation what's in a school bag going hiking things for a baby in your school bag what do you have in your school bag one thing what is what do you have in your bag notebook what do you have in your bag in your school bag pencil case well done for example if the item is a handbag what are eight things a woman needs in her handbag they could say uh her wallet or driver's license lipstick hand cream candy money wet tissues or if it's a situation like going on a job interview do research on the company dress formally take a resume take a notepad arrive early be polite answer questions confidently with your partner I want you to write down so team boys team girls team I want you to write down as many I will give you two minutes I want you to write down in your fridge what is fridge fridge what is fridge in your fridge what is in your fridge quickly write down what is in your fridge foreign [Music] it's yellow but what is that what is that what is in the burger what is this oh what about this one so we've got tomato we've got lettuce what is this the yellow three two one and stop okay let's see how many how many do you have one two three four five four five six seven eight nine ten eleven to every thirty thirteen thirteen thirty six wow gentlemen well done

Channel: Etacude English Teachers

Views: 14,249

Keywords: teacher, teach english, how to be a teacher, how to teach english, english learning, esl teacher, english teacher, efl teacher, speaking english, classroom games, english games, teaching english abroad, classroom management, classroom management strategies, how to be a good teacher, back to school, classroom activities, top 200 classroom activities, top 100 classroom games, best classroom games, classroom games for kids, classroom games for students

Id: osyhhILcpZY

Length: 167min 14sec (10034 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 01 2023