This is also a great way to learn your students' names! The activities that you use in your first lessons are very important and are likely to set the tone for the rest of your classes. They answer the question. This is a good activity to complete on their own or as a class. Structured writing might not be the most exciting activity for a student, but it’s vital to the success of the English learner. ... Thousands of grab-and-go lesson plans, unit plans, discussion guides, extension activities, and other teaching ideas They will help you to reduce teacher talking time in your classes and increase the amount of time your students are doing the hard work! Here are some great ideas for activities that will brighten up any English language class. After the time is up (around 3-5 minutes is fine depending on the class size), get them to sit down. It’s so easy to get out of bed on a Friday. Split the class into two teams to add some healthy competition. If someone correctly remembers someone else's information (for example, "Namiko's birthday is September 29th") award, Encourage the students to say "Yes, that's right!" Incorporating gross motor movement—the movement and coordination of larger muscles and limbs—into instruction can be a novel and motivating way to engage students. Adverb Action: Teacher writes on the board an activity like "brush your teeth." Teaching English as a second language (ESL) is something millions of teachers do all over the world. Below are 25 interactive classroom activity ideas to bring learning to life for your students. For English language teachers, here are some enjoyable and engaging ways to help your students get to know each other better and practice speaking with confidence in the English classroom. Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language. Start your class with a catchy tune and allow students to expend some of that energy. For lower levels, use pictures instead of words and stick to Do you like …? You will … Their description may begin with statements such as: I’m male and over 6 feet tall. Even though it can be fun to actually write on that board, everyone is watching, which might lead to feelings of insecurity. Get the student or team who are guessing to come back, standing or sitting with their back facing the board. They will help you to reduce teacher talking time in your classes and increase the amount of time your students are doing the hard work! You can just focus on that relaxing fine motor movement. Individual exercises can be used in advance of group ones to help students navigate a “higher-risk” group activity and can be helpful for students who need more individual reflective time to learn. In your first lessons, it's a good idea to focus on getting to know each other, to develop rapport in the class and so you get an idea of the learners' interests and language level. #1: Running Dictation Structured writing might not be the most exciting activity for a student, but it’s vital to the success of the English learner. This can help students to activate their prior knowledge about a topic. No glue necessary – the pasta sticks itself! but you aren’t given the context in which the words will be used. Want to learn more teaching techniques and classroom activity ideas? Let’s get into the top activities for teaching ESL online. From alphabet letters and spellings to synonyms and parts of speech, these activities cover it all. Nov 14, 2020 - Explore School Counselor Central, LLC's board "Classroom Activities", followed by 7784 people on Pinterest. Students have good days and bad days, and moods can fluctuate on a dime. Download a sample bingo grid here. As well as being a teacher and teacher trainer, he is also the co-author of several series, many of which are published by OUP. For all of these activities, your learners will need cards or slips of paper equal in number to the terms you want to revise. Keeping students engaged during the summer months can be a tough proposition for ESL teachers - and not all of them are up to the challenge. Make sure everyone has successfully answered at least once. So, how to handle all this energy once it’s time to get down to business? This one simple activity incorporates reading, writing, creative thinking and encourages ownership of the language. 17 May 2016 by Oxford University Press ELT 87 Comments. For small classes, one person at a time will work, and teams will work for larger classes. Offer gentle feedback and error correction. If the game starts going slowly, give hints. Then challenge the others to remember information about other people. Discussions or Brainstorming. Works every time. Students always love these. Everything you need before you begin these vocabulary activities Material. They also include words taken from the word lists used to create these exams. Whether your classes are in person, online or somewhere in between, here are 15 active learning activities to try with your students this semester. Helen 16 December 2020 at . When collecting answers, write them on the board so they can learn the correct spelling. To play, divide your class into teams and explain that one member from each team will be blindfolded. Go stand in front of the class and say a word in English. 10 Tips for Games in the ESL Classroom From the creator of the world’s best-selling ESL board game—ten practical ideas on using games when teaching English I recently married a famous singer. We also participate in other affiliate advertising programs for products and services we believe in. ESL exercises are a controlled way to practice a particular language aspect. What about those days full of so much stress, you just can’t seem to focus on anything? Angela 15 December 2020 at . The right ESL icebreaker activities can be the perfect way to do it. Here are some ideas. Activities and games are a great way to reinforce recently taught grammar or vocabulary, give your students a break from the books, and have fun. Be part of a group presenting a drama or role-play in front of the class. Let’s get into the top activities for teaching ESL online. Ask the students to add humor to their description by using the celebrity’s mannerisms. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Sign up for our weekly blog newsletter for a chance to win a free FluentU Plus subscription (value $240), Get regular language learning tips, resources and updates, starting with the "Complete Guide to Foreign Language Immersion" e-book. Use the table below as a guide. Philip Haines is the Senior Consultant for Oxford University Press, Mexico. If they mess up, no big deal. Make a Bingo game featuring your vocabulary words. Related stories. Select a student or team to stand outside or at the other side of the room with their hands over their ears. The students will learn about each other as well as get plenty of speaking practice! You or your students choose one letter from the alphabet. Use post-it’s to create a large square with new words on it. Encourage English reading outside the classroom. She is the director of an early learning center and the mother of two of her own little learners. We all have “off” days and “on” days, sleepy days and peppy days, grumpy days and happy days, slow days and fast days. If they got a correct word that none of the other teams got, they get a point. Were I ever to meet them in person, it might be the equivalent to most people meeting The Beatles. All of these activities are best done independently to keep the tranquility flowing. Here are a few ideas for icebreaker games and activities that you can use next time you’re staring at a classroom full of new faces. I’ve always felt like this is when my students and I seem the most like a little family. Try These 15 Great Business English Activities That Your Students Will Love . Think your students wouldn’t benefit from the same sort of activity? as the rest of the teams if it should be allowed. This guide will explain both ways. Lesson plans, unit plans, and classroom resources for your teaching needs. Rows and Columns. With a new group of students who have little to no English ability, it’s important to keep it simple. For an extra element, add labels. Write the word above their head. A “Spaghetti Hero” is her answer to an easy, fun class activity for kids. Classroom Ideas. In this twist on think-pair-share, pose an open-ended question to your class and ask students to come up with their best answer. Decide your word or phrase (entire sentences are easier) and write one line for each letter. Though it may not be as fun as throwing a ball around, done correctly, it can always be engaging. The student then has the opportunity to try independently. 5 High School English Activities You’ll Want to Try ASAP. It's also helpful to write down the letters that have already been guessed so you can keep track. When their peers see how much fun it is to throw a ball around inside and all they have to do is answer a simple question, your classroom will be filled with eager hands. Add text together using their thoughts and words. We have activities for kids across various grades. To get the most bang for your proverbial buck, you can always create your own. Then, along the top, write several possible pieces of information such as birthday, favorite animal, favorite color, number of siblings, etc. Lesson 4 Turn right. The Categories Game is a lot of fun and your students may surprise you with the clever answers they come up with! If this is the case for you, there are certainly some specific resources out there to help you with this. Your students are probably just as excited about it as you are - and some of them are probably reluctant to sit attentively in a classroom when they’d rather be kicking back with a cold drink. Your student might complete the sentence like this: “Jennifer likes to swim.” Depending on the level of your students, you can either provide a number of pre-written words for them to choose from or allow them to create their own. They can shout out or raise their hands, whatever you prefer. 6–8. A. Our students experience all of these things, too. Divide the class into two teams. Then, you can decide if you are going to open up a conversation about it in your next class. Ideas for activities and games in the English language classroom. Start by having each student write their own name on a portion of a sentence strip or a card. This is especially good for young students. Top 19 ESL Speaking Activities for Adults. They relax and lose some of the anxiety that often comes with learning to read a new language. The results are something like this. A nice warmer activity for teaching English online is to choose a picture that lends itself well to the topic of the day. Questions. Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. "Jump". It seemed a lot more fun than doing normal work, and with adults this is no different. Write a category on the board. Count all of the words they've written down and award a point for a correct word with the right spelling. It works best if your students don't know each other, but it'll also work if they do. Choose any English word and start with it. I get it. One reason for their popularity is the fact that they give racing minds a chance to rest. The other team or student says a word beginning with the last letter of the previous word. After the text has been created, teacher and students read what they’ve written together, always exploring different text features (letters, sounds, punctuation). After you start the timer, the students have to take turns in their teams to write a chain of words following the last-letter rule. You can also play this if you're teaching one-to-one. One piece of paper and writing utensil for each student. They can write and erase at will. Our free e-book, Active Learning: The Perfect Pedagogy for a Digital Classroom, covers the ways that digital textbooks can re-energize a classroom and offers tried and tested tips from professors. This experience provides support from the teacher, while still promoting independence and bolstering confidence with reading and writing. These ideas work best for teenage or adult group lessons, though some can be applied to private classes as well. If a student is at a beginning level, start by having them create a picture. Add your own name at the bottom. That big whiteboard at the front of the classroom can be intimidating. It's important to be fast with this game to keep it moving! In addition, we also have over 700 interactive PDF ESL worksheets, breakout room activities and games for online English teachers to use in their classes. Many of us will remember times during school when the teacher would play a games on the board in order to keep the class interested. Other common speaking activities that I do in my English class. Perhaps it’s been one of those weeks full of assessments. Lesson 6 What time do you get up? These are best used at the end of the class session. Back To Games Menu. Want to add some excitement to the classroom? Action Race: This is a fun game using actions. You know, that game where you have to provide a certain part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) Check out the classroom activity in the picture below. Kids love to tap out words in sentences, syllables in words and rhymes. Fridays are amazing! Image via Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Enoshima and likes to read novels and play video games, especially open-world RPGs. Or, you may also want to check this out: Tips for Online ESL Teaching. Okay, so maybe it’s not a Friday and maybe your students aren’t in the best of moods. Clines are useful ways for learners to order information on a scale. Board games are self-paced, allowing students to work at the levels and paces most comfortable for them. Have a nice day mada :) . See more ideas about speaking activities, learn english, english lessons. Instead ESL activities engage in discussion and communication focused on a goal. The teacher then shows the S a card with an adverb written on it, such as "slowly". Get your students out of their seats and into action with this great language game. Student 2: I went to the shops and bought a t-shirt, a purse, and an umbrella. Counters to award points (optional; you can also write points on paper). Use pictures as visual clues to describe a range of English words with classroom pictionary. This classic paper game can also be used in the classroom. Lower-level classes will get by with animals or basic household items, whereas very high-level students can be challenged with abstract nouns or concepts. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Games are a great idea to encourage group participation. This word game can be played quickly by speaking, or you can take longer with it with higher-level groups. Get the Alphabet Order activity here. Most modern classrooms are now equipped with interactive whiteboards—the perfect medium for experimenting with interactive writing. Besides that, they’re just really fun. So much for creativity, I believe we don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Group brainstorming sessions are a great way to bring your students together to engage with whatever it is they’re learning. Every single class if possible. If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to teach English with real-world videos. You'll need a board and at least two pieces of chalk or markers. Similarly to Word Tennis, this game is completely oral. #1: Running Dictation. It can be enjoyed from a fairly low level. Practise your English and get ready for your Cambridge English exam. Liz Westwood from UK on February 07, 2019: Hangman is a popular and easy to play game, but the others are new to me. Classroom games and activities for English kids lessons. They will do all the writing. If you know a game or an activity that works well with ESL/EFL students and it is not yet listed here, please submit it. Write several types of categories on the board in a row. Once the premise of the mystery is determined, students create their own case files, evidence, and clues for their classmates to solve. The students have a few minutes (it's up to you, but around 3-5 minutes is best) to list as many words in each category as they can. Below are 25 interactive classroom activity ideas to bring learning to life for your students. Many ESL private lessons are focused on business English. All of our activities are designed around themes engaging and relevant to secondary learners and can be used to complement your school curriculum, giving students an opportunity to develop their English language and skills in motivating and enjoyable ways. I’ve created murder mystery lessons that fit really well with literature units and that focus on making inferences, writing, and using textual evidence. A warm-up activity is the best way to start off an English class. As a teacher, you’re allowed to have a bad day, too. Here are some simple ways you can get students moving and learning in the English classroom. Maybe it’s the feeling that they’re in charge of that small area. Individual whiteboards can be utilized from the security of their own cozy area, which is perfect for a low-key day. You know the rest… bingo! Lesson 2 When is your birthday? Linking lesson ideas to a conceptual framework and/or previously learned knowledge, and Transferring ideas to new situations. Basically, the concept of this game is to have students make figures (pictures of their families, for example) from pieces of boiled spaghetti. It might be generalized to “what was the most important thing you learned today”. The student who goes first tells the class one thing that they have never done. Though it may not be as fun as throwing a ball around, done correctly, it can always be engaging. Reply. Interactive writing refers to the “sharing of the pen” between teacher and student. Thank you Students are encouraged to directly follow the model of the teacher by observing what and how the teacher is writing. Brainstorming sessions. Use lots of interactive ESL games and activities. I’ve had them pull from bags of evidence, locations, and possible suspects to add another element of fun and challenge. Stand up in front of the class and speak. 1. They’re calm, but not to the point of being comatose. Classroom Activities: Sponge Ideas for Middle School Students. They’re especially great on a day when students might have a hard time focusing and just need some time to unwind and recharge. You can ask them if they still remember what they wrote down. ESL Activities and Ideas to Teach English Online. 1. What is a Lesson Plan? This is an excellent warmer for smaller groups (up to ten students). Use actions like jump, hop, clap, run etc. If you want to add a bit of an academic punch, incorporate current classroom themes and concepts. All you need to do is have boiled spaghetti, and pieces of paper. Teachers can also allow for some buffer time for late-arriving students and a minute or two to ease into the class. A basic look at what a lesson plan for English teachers is and is not Here are ESL activity and game ideas for your English lesson: Class Information Game; Categories Game Create cards featuring the visuals, and provide either a written or verbal cue that relates to the image. First, think of more obscure vocabulary, throw in some creative writing cut! So that they ’ re reviewing vocabulary, pass out magazines and allow students to finish it bit of academic. Given the context for when students can really sometimes take you by surprise with their hands over ears. 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