Completion Competition

Beforehand, write down all the answers to a set of exercises in small pieces of paper (one piece of paper per answer). Make enough sets for each group of 3 -5 students (depending on the size of your class).

Then put a basket or hat in the middle of the room (where you can see it clearly).

Tell the student you'll read a random sentence, and they need to find the paper that contains the answer to fill the "blank" of the sentence you're reading.

The first group to put the correct answer into the basket or hat wins a point.

After the game, you can either get them to work on the exercise again (now that they can read the sentences), or assign it for homework as review.

(This is very good for their listening skills, too).

Grab the bell

Purpose: oral practice, accuracy.


1. Divide students into groups of about 4.

2. Place a bell (or some other easy-to grab object) in the center of the room. The reason I like the bell is that it makes noise, so it's clear who is holding it.

3. Have a set of sentences or exercises ready. Give each student, or each group, a copy.

4. Call out a random sentence (for example, "exercise 2, sentence 3"). (Alternative: this can also be done with brief listening tracks, which students listen to and try to remember)

5. Someone from each group must memorize it and grab the bell before he/she can say it to you. It he/she says it correctly, the team earns points.

Note: Let students know that, in each team, the same person cannot participate twice in a row. This will give others in the team the chance to participate.

oral sentence completion

This activity works well for exercises where students have to complete sentences with their own ideas, such as:

• comparatives and superlatives: ..... is not as interesting as ...
• conditionals: If I were older, ...
• present perfect: I have always wanted to .../ I have never... before

Instructions:

1. You should have a series (about 15- 20 or more, depending on your number of students) of sentences (cues) ready. Put it up on an overhead, or give each student (or each pair of students) a copy.
2. Divide students into groups of no more than 6 people.
3. Have a timer ready.
4. Each group will stand up front, and will have 3o seconds to say as many sentences as they can. Two conditions apply: The same person cannot say two sentences in a row - he/she must give the chance to other members of the group. Secondly, they must produce the sentences in the order in which they are given; they cannot choose their cues.
5. Give one point for each correct sentence.
6. After 30 seconds, the next group comes up and continues producing sentences where the previous group left off.

Livening up the coursebook - musical ball

This is a good way to give weaker students enough time to complete an exercise, while adding an element of fun to the stronger students who usually have to wait for their slower classmates. It's brought a lot of laughs to my class.

1. Have your class sit in a circle, each with their books/worshsheets ready.
2. One of the students gets a soft ball, and starts passing it around while you play music. Meanwhile, all the students should be working on their exercise/worksheet.
3. When you stop the music, whoever has the ball will call out the answer to the first exercise/question.
4. Then the ball starts going around again, until the music stops and whoever has the ball this time calls out the answer to the next question.

Bring me... (comparatives and superlatives)

This has worked as a good warmup activity for reviewing comparatives and superlatives (assuming that students have already studied it sometime before). It really brings energy to the class.

Divide students into groups. Then tell them that the first group to bring the objects you ask for, will win points.
You can say sentences such as the following:

"Bring me the thickest dictionary"
"Bring me the messiest folder."
"Bring me the whitest shoes."
"Bring me a cell phone which is bigger than mine."
"Bring me a watch which is smaller than mine."

Review activity - Your number participates

1. Divide students into groups of no more than 6. Students in each group will get a number from 1-6 (if there's less than 6 students, give each student two numbers, or make the last number/s to be "all"). Give one slate (or large piece of paper) to each group.

2. Have a transparency with sentences ready (this can be used to review any topic - vocab or grammar). Show each sentence/ question one at a time, after rolling the die.

3. Roll a die. If, for example, it rolls to 3, only the "number 3"students from each group can write the answer on the slate/ paper. Their group members can help, but cannot write on the slate.

4. The group which shows their written answer first, wins a point (it can be measured in points, or the group can get candy, or whatever.

Possible idea: If there's an odd number of students, get one to be your "referee", a neutral person who decides which group presented the answer first, as it's hard to be doing all that leading at one time. Students themselves can take turns rolling the die, or your referee can do it.

VARIATION:

Have the transparency, and one transparency marker at hand. When the die gets rolled, the students with that number can (once they've decided on the answer) rush to write the answer on the transparency. There will be fun scrambles when students try to grab the marker first. (Of course, this can only be done with respectful students!)

I found this activity in an e-book called "Best ESL Practices". Unfortunately I can't find the reference right now, but as soon as I do, I will give full credit to the authors.

Livening up the coursebook

Activity 1:

I learnt this one from my students. It's a good way to brighten up a coursebook exercise. Simply copy the exercise, mount it on cardboard, and cut it up like a jigzaw puzzle. That way, before students can complete the exercise, they have to put the pieces together and have a little fun.


Activity 2:

No time to plan for today? No problem as long as each student has a book (or worksheet)! Simply sit them in a circle, and get them to complete an exercise- but every minute (or less), blow a whistle or ring a bell, and they have to pass their book on to the person on their left- at the same time, they get a book from the person on their right. They then continue where the last person left off.
This way, all students will probably finish at around the same time, and the activity brings a lot of laughs.

NB: Make sure each student has a lead pencil - some students get very upset by having someone else mess up their books!


Activity 3:

This one might sound really dumb, and I don't recommend it to happen often, but sometimes teachers have those days in which there's no inspiration... In that case, choose an exercise from your coursebook, and divide your students in groups of 2 or 3.

Beforehand, for each group, make little papers with the exercise numbers on them: 1a, 1b, 1c...

Then the students work in groups, but don't follow the order of the exercise. Rather, they draw a paper (e.g. 2.c) and complete that sentence first. Then they draw another paper (e.g. 1.b) and complete that one.

Activity 4:

1. Divide the class into 3 or 4 groups (depending on the size of your board). Also, divide the board and assign a section of the board for each group.

2. Tell Ss that they will complete exercise so-and-so on the board, but only one student from each group can go up to the board at a time (one student, one sentence). If that person makes a mistake, the next student who goes up can correct it.

3. The objective is to see which team finishes first. Points can be assigned by giving 1 (or 1000!) points for each correct sentence, plus giving 2 (or 2000) points to the team which finished first, and 1 (or 1000) points to the team which finished second).


Activity 5:

If a worksheet or coursebook exercise has either/or answers, make students stand up if it's one answer, and sit down if it's the other- or any other type of action that's appropriate for your group.

ESL Football

Instructions here:

http://www.esljunction.com/esl_games/football-print.html

I have used this in small groups (with one or two players per team, plus a referee): Each group gets a board and ball; the referee gets a list of questions, plus answer key, and monitors whether the teams are answering the questions correctly. This way, you can have three or four small groups playing independently, and you can walk around helping them.

Wheel Drill

Do your students never study outside of class? This helps them drill each other and be drilled, working with different partners every time.

1. On the board, write down the items you're working on with your class (it could be verbs that take gerunds and/or infinitives, or vocab items). Make sure all the answers (classifications, definitions, whatever it is you want them to know) are visible on the board.

2. Make Ss form two rows: one row with its back to the board, another row facing the board. At the same time, both rows should be facing each other. You need an even number of Ss for this, so if the number is uneven, the teacher can join in!

3. Once Ss are seated and facing each other, the one who can see the board starts drilling his/her partner who cannot see the board. Every minute or so, the T can blow a whistle or ring a bell, and Ss move on to the next seat, and start working with a new partner (or, instead of the next seat, they could move two seats up, or the T could vary it every time).

Find someone who (gerunds and infinitives)

1. SS first complete the blank spaces with either a gerund or infinitive form of the verb in brackets (as appropriate)
2. SS walk around asking questions based on the paper, to find a person who fits each item. When they find that person, they write the person's name next to the item. The first person to finish the whole questionnaire (or 9 items- up to the teacher) wins.

Find someone who...

- refuses _________ (eat) dinner at the cafeteria
- needs __________ (write) an email this afternoon
- forgot __________ (do) their homework last week
- remembered ________ (do) their whomework this week
- enjoys __________ (speak) English
- expects _________ (be) at home this summer
- is planning ________ (study) ESL next semester
- wants ________ (learn) to play a new sport
- intends _________ (work) in their country after finishing college
- has offered ___________ (help) someone this week
- has quit __________ (eat) a certain type of food (for example, meat)

What has he been doing?

This game helps to practice the meaning of present perfect continuous as "an activity which was in progress until very recently - we can still see the results"). You need to have explained this aspect of the present perfect continuous before you do this activity.

1. Divide the class into two groups.
2. A student from one group picks a card (see examples below) and tries to get his/her group to guess what's in the card by speaking and/or acting it out. They need to answer the question "What has he/she been doing?" For example, if the card says "You've been holding a cat", the student can say, "Oh! Look at all these hairs on my shirt!" and pretend to wipe them off. NOTE: The student must make clear what HAS JUST BEEN HAPPENING, not what IS happening, i.e., the CONSEQUENCE/RESULT of the action on the card. So, even if the group guesses what's on the card, don't give points if the student does not represent the result, because the meaning is not being conveyed properly.
3. Give a time limit to each card (no more than one minute). For each card, the team has up to three tries to get it right: if they get it right the first time, they win 10 points. If they get it right with a second try, it's 5 points. A third try is only 1 point.
4. After SS have guessed (or not) their card, a SS from the other team comes up and does the same.
5. Game ends when there are no more cards. The team with the most points wins.

SAMPLE CARDS:

• You've been talking to your boyfriend/girlfriend.
• You've been travelling for many hours.
• You've been watching videos/TV.
• You've been practicing in the language lab.
• You've been working under the hot sun.
• You've been playing video games.
• You've been carrying something heavy.
• You've been holding a cat.
• You've been travelling on a bad road.
• You've been playing with a small child.
• You've been washing dishes.
• You've been having a nightmare.
• You've been laughing.
• You've been swimming.
• You've been reading.
• You've been cooking.
• You've been hearing a dog barking for two hours.
• You've been singing.
• You've been running.
• You've been eating very spicy food.
• You've been crying.
• You've been painting your house.
• You've been doing exercise.
• You've been cleaning your room.
• You've been shopping.
• You've been working on the computer for many hours.
• You've been listening to very funny jokes.
• You've been standing in line for a long time.
• You've been studying grammar for three hours.

Created by Marlise, 2009

Bingo

Ok, so this is not a very original activity, but it works!

VERSION 1:

1. Make boards of 9 squares for every two students, and randomly write vocab items and/or grammatical items (for example, irregular past tense verbs). Make each board different.

2. Give each pair of SS pieces of coloured paper which can cover up each word.

3. T calls out a definition (if the focus is vocabulary) or an infinitive verb (if the topic is irregular past). SS cover up the word which corresponds to what the teacher said. (It's ok if the Ss call out the answer- it helps them and their classmates confirm whether they're right. It's also good revision).

4. The first group to get a row of three words covered is the winner.

5. For a new round, make groups change boards.

VERSION 2:

Instead of seeing who gets three covered words in a row, see who can cover the whole board first!

VERSION 3:

Instead of 9 squares, make it 16!

• You can also get a student to give the cue.

Woman throws away million-dollar mattress

This article can be used for introducing the past perfect.

1. SS read it as a class, individually or in groups, or T reads it aloud (up to T).

2. Discuss vocabulary and details of the article. (This article elicited a lot of participation from the class I used it with. I guess they find money issues interesting!)

3. Use it as a springboard for presenting the past perfect and its meaning:

"When she realized her mistake, the mattress had already been taken away."

"She threw it away because she forgot that her mother had hidden money inside it."

(I really wonder what happened after that? I hope she found it! Haven't heard anything on the news yet though).



From Times Online
June 10, 2009

Woman throws away million-dollar mattress

Philippe Naughton

An Israeli woman who bought her elderly mother a new mattress threw out the old one unaware that it had $1 million hidden inside it.
Israeli newspapers reported today that the woman was left scrabbling through landfill sites in an, as yet, fruitless search for the mattress which contained her mother's life savings.
The woman, identified only as Anat, a resident of Tel Aviv, told Army Radio that she bought the mattress on Monday as a surprise for her mother and got rid of the other one without telling her. When she realised her mistake she rushed outside to look for the mattress but found it had already been taken by the rubbish collectors. Subsequent searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a picture of the woman searching through refuse at a dump in southern Israel.
Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told the radio station that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared “totally desperate”, but the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tonnes of rubbish arriving at the site every day.
Mr Borba said that he increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay. For her part, Anat is displaying an admirable stoicism. “People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad,” she said.

Time Line

This game can help SS understand the relationship and time frame between the different verb tenses.

1. For the T, make a list of sentences such as the following (use sentences that match the structures your class is learning- but I find this helps them be a little less confused with past perfect, present perfect, simple past and past continuous especially) (sorry, I was pressed with time and couldn't come up with more interesting sentences. Next time! If you do, please send them and I'll give you credit!)

1. She closed the window, but the insects had already come in.
2. The insects wanted to come in, but they couldn’t because she had closed the window.
3. When he arrived in class, the class had already started.
4. She knew because someone had already told her.
5. I told her something that she had never heard before.
6. I’m bored because I have already studied this topic.
7. I was bored because I had already studied this topic.
8. The window is closed, but the insects have already come in.
9. The insects can’t come in because I’ve closed the window.
10. I’ve been eating. That’s why I feel so full!
11. I was eating when the rain started.
12. It’s been raining for three hours! I wish it would stop.
13. It’s going to rain.
14. We’ve been studying verb tenses in grammar class.
15. While we were playing, someone did something funny.
16. While we were studying verb tenses, it started to rain.
17. While I was eating, an insect came in.
18. Before eating I had already closed the window.

1. Divide your students into groups of about 3.
2. Write only the infinitive verb forms of each clause, on half and a4-size paper. Make enough copies for each of your groups. (e.g. for sentence one, write "close the window" on one paper and "come in" on another). NOTE: there are many sentences which use "start to rain". For each group, make only one such card. They won't need more, as once they use it, they'll return it to the pile again.
3. Give each group a long strip of cardboard with an arrow on one end, to simulate a time line.
4. Spread all the "clause cards" in the center of the classroom, on the floor. Station the groups with their time lines around the clause cards.
5. T reads out the first sentence, and SS find the clauses and place them on the time line. The first group to do this correctly wins 1 point (or 10 000 points!).

VARIATION:

1. SS can then use the clauses to make their own sentence combinations and quiz their classmates.
2. SS can place the clauses randomly on the time line and see what sentences they come up with (this can be done by sticking them on the board).

Phrasal Verb Cards

These help to review SS' knowledge of phrasal verbs ("come out"), - or adjectives/verbs that take specific prepositions ("afraid of"/ "comply with").

ACTIVITY 1:

1. Make cards of about 7 x 10 cm. On each card, write (with thick marker) a verb particle or a preposition.
2. Divide SS into groups (of up to four people). Give each group a name or number.
3. Place cards in the middle of the room, and get SS to stand around (not too close!). They don't need to be standing close to a teammate.
4. T calls out a synonym for a given phrasal verb (e.g. "leave" for "go away"). SS have to find the preposition ONLY ("away"). The first group to show the preposition to the T wins a point (or 10 000 points - up to you!).
5. Tell you class beforehand how many round of this you'll have. At the end of it, count points.

ACTIVITY 2:

Same as activity 1, but instead of SS picking out the preposition, they pick out the verb particle.

ACTIVITY 3:

Another option is to have enough copies of the cards for each group, and in a far end of the room, to place a basket or hat for each group. The first group to put in both verb particle and preposition into their basket wins x points.

ACTIVITY 4:

SS put cards upside down, forming a neat square, and play memory - the SS who finds two cards which can form a phrasal verb studied in class, can keep them for points and have another turn.

ACTIVITY 5:

Give each SS one set of cards. In twos, SS play "snap":

1. Each Ss holds their cards in one hand in a pile, with cards facing downwards.

2. With the other hand they take hold of the first card in their pile, and together count "1, 2, 3"

3. On the count of three, both SS place their card, facing upwards, on the desk/floor, next to each other.

4. If the cards are not identical (i.e., if they show different words), SS simply count "1, 2, 3" again, and place the next card on top of the previous one.

5. If the cards are identical (i.e., if both have the same word), the first student to yell "snap!" and cover both piles with his/her hand wins all those cards.

6. The game ends when all the cards have found an "owner". The SS with the most cards wins

VARIATION:

These games can be played with any vocabulary item, one card being the actual word, and the other being a definition, a picture, phonetic script, or whatever the teacher's imagination can come up with.

Have you ever

This is one that a colleague taught me. It's great for bringing life back to a sagging class, and brings a lot of laughs. It's also good for making students focus on accurate language, while giving them a chance to be creative.

1. Students (SS) place their chairs in a circle (no desks!). The teacher (T) also joins the circle, but standing- no chair for the teacher.

2. T thinks of a phrase which starts with "have you ever..." (Have you ever lost the keys to your house?" "Have you ever ridden on an elephant?").

3. Anyone who has ever done that has to stand and find a new chair to sit on. Those who haven't done the action can just remain in their seats. Of course, there will always be one person without a chair, so that person has to come up with a "have you ever" phrase.

4. The game can be played until T sees that SS have revived and are ready for the next activity.

VARIATIONS:

1. Instead of "have you ever...", you can opt for "Are you going to...?" to talk about plans.

2. You could also use this game to practice constructions with gerunds and infinitives, although students find it harder to concentrate on getting all the gerunds, infinitives and auxiliaries in place, and this might make the activity drag ("do you like to cook?" "Are you tired of studying grammar?").

Home-made Group Skits

This activity can be used to review vocabulary, grammar, or speaking functions. I've found that most of my groups have enjoyed this activity.

1. Divide students into groups of 4 or 5.
2. Tell them they have to come up with a 5-minute skit (or whatever time slot you want to give them) in which they have to include x amount of words (I usually say around 12) from their vocabulary list, or x instances of the grammar they've been learning.
3. Students work during one period, discussing their ideas and writing up their script.
4. For the next period, they present their skit (they'll usually need more time, so they'll have to meet after class and keep practicing their English!)

Possible grading guide (for high-intermediate level)

(Grade 0-3 points for each item)

1. A wide variety of props for scenery was used (at least 3 types)
2. The presentation included a large amount of the vocabulary/grammar covered in class.
3. The vocabulary was always appropriate
4. The correct forms of words were always used
5. No grammatical errors
6. Pronunciation very clear and understandable
7. Speaking always audible to audience
8. Speaking very fluent
9. Never read from the script
10. Message always clear

Total points: 30

World's heaviest man

1. Ask the students how much the heaviest person in the world might weigh, if it could be a man or woman, or which country he/she might be from. You could even discuss how overweight people are treated in your country (or think of any other lead-in that won't offend any of your students)
2. Get the students, as a class, in groups or individually, to read this story (if you like, you can read it to them, too).
3. Go through unknown vocabulary
4. This article lends itself to practicing conditionals. You could give sentence cues below and ask students to complete them:
5. As a follow-up, you can get students to look on the Internet for more information on this man, since this article is from 2008. Has he been able to reach his goals? Another possible follow-up could be to read/discuss/write about obesity or any other health issue, or even about prejudice.

Sentence Cues:

1. If Manuel hadn't tried to lose weight, ______________________

2. If he loses more weight, _______________________________

3. If Manuel decides to have a wedding cake, __________________

4.If Manuel's girlfriend hadn't encouraged him, _________________

5. If his girlfriend ever breaks up with him, ____________________

6. If Manuel is able to walk again, ___________________________

Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0810/081003-weight_loss.html

World’s heaviest man plans to marry

Love conquers all. This is certainly so for the former heaviest man in the world. Mexican Manuel Uribe used to be the world’s most overweight person. He was in the Guinness Book of Records in 2006 after breaking the human weight record. Special weighing scales showed he weighed 560kg. He was so enormous he could not leave his room. He spent his whole life living on his bed, eating huge meals and watching TV. He decided enough was enough and that he wanted to change his life. He also wanted to marry his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis. Uribe went on a crash diet and lost almost half his body weight. He lost a whopping 250kg and has slimmed down to a lighter 310kg. He still has a long way to go before he can once again lead a normal life.
The secret to 43-year-old Uribe’s success is his love for his fiancée Claudia. The two plan to marry on October 26 in his hometown of Monterrey. Manuel said he owed a lot to the love of his life. He said she encouraged and supported him non-stop to lose weight. After they got engaged two years ago, Uribe promised Claudia he would get into better shape for their wedding day. He went on a diet called the Zone Diet, a special combination of carbohydrates and proteins. His diet was created and supervised by a team of weight loss and obesity specialists. He is still too big to walk on his own and said his dream is to be able to walk again. Manuel told reporters that he will have a big wedding, but the reception would have a “low-calorie banquet”. He added this meant no wedding cake for him.

More Precious than Silver

More Precious than Silver

I. As you listen to the song, fill in the missing words to complete these comparisons.

Lord, You are ______ precious ______ silver
Lord, You are ______ costly ______ gold
Lord, You are ______ beautiful _____ silver
And nothing I desire compares with you.

II. Number the verses (sentences) in order as you listen to the song.

_____ Who can judge the worth of who You are?
_____ Who can count the blessings of loving You?
_____ Who can say just how great You are?
_____ Who can weigh the value of knowing You?


III. This stanza is not in the song, but try to write the comparative form of the adjectives in brackets.

Lord, Your love is _________________ (high) mountains.
Lord, Your love is ________________ (deep) than seas.
Lord, Your love encompasses the nations.
And yet, You live right here inside of me!

Passive Voice Race Game

Source: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/ael/all/publications/MALC_ESL/writing/Passive%20Voice/Passive%20Voice%20Race%20Game.htm

Procedure:

Try this activity after having worked on using passive voice in other assignments.

1. Copy the attached pages.

2. Fill in the blank spaces with the names of some of your students.

3. Copy on to coloured paper or cardstock and cut the sentences into strips.

4. Divide the class into teams.

5. This game is played in rounds. For each round, give every team one strip.

6. Students work together to change the active voice sentence to passive.

7. One member of the group races to the board and rewrites the sentence in the passive--if possible. (Almost all the sentences can be changed to passive; there are just a few that can't-- to throw a wrench into the activity.)

8. You check the sentences with the class and keep track of each team's points on the board.

Scoring is as follows:

· Grammatically perfect sentences are worth 5 points.

· An incorrect passive voice sentence is worth 0 points.

· Subtract one point for every other type of grammatical mistake.


Lesson Extension


1. Discuss and correct errors together.

2. Discuss which sentences cannot be changed and why.

3. Discuss use of passive voice and why it might be used.



Follow-up / Transfer Activities:

This activity can be done to reinforce a number of other grammar points such as changing the verb tenses, changing vocabulary choices, adding or deleting connectors…..etc.


Sample Sentences:

1. Scientists observed the tigers for six days.
2. Esther is investigating a new theory.
3. When we walked into the classroom, the teacher had already given the assignment.
4. Some teachers cleaned up the teachers’ room.
5. I think Su and Tin will finish all the food.
6. Maggy made the som tum.
7. Juju’s cat ate the fish.
8. Our discovery will surprise the world.
9. Someone will tell us by this time next week.
10. Many people visit Dreamworld every year.
11. Wanida and Jaruwan have washed the dishes.
12. Someone has poisoned Marlise’s dinner.
13. What happened to you last night?
14. The girls rented some movies.
15. Rinbi will complete her degree in two years’ time.
16. Ekapoom could not fall asleep.
17. A lot of beautiful girls followed Po.
18. Argentina will win the next World Cup!!
19. Tonya ate Wichai’s lunch.
20. The police dragged Miss Doris away.
21. Pray was making all the pictures.
22. Sirinda gave the whole class some presents.
23. Derald is organizing the trip.
24. Paola wears this dress.