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Games and activities for English learners
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Some of my charming 4th graders!
As an ESL teacher, planning a lesson is probably your biggest time consumer. Luckily, games and activities in your ESL classroom is a pertinent part of your lesson plan. About a 1/3 (and up to 1/2) of your lesson should consist of an ESL game or activity of sorts.
Get your students speaking English with each other and ensure that they have a good time while also learning English. The following games and activities are practical for any classroom, inexpensive (if not free) to prepare, easy to explain to your students, applicable in any lesson theme and guaranteed to be a success in your ESL classroom.
1) Bomb Game
This is one of the games that get the students really riled up! That can be a good thing, especially after lunch or for a class that's especially quiet. Here's what you do: Make a board that has 6-10 vertical rows and the same amount of horizontal rows. Place either points (1-5) or "bombs" in the grid and cover each one with numbered post it notes. You will also need to prepare a list of questions pertinent to the subject matter.
Divide the class into two teams and give each team an item (a stuffed animal, paddle, flashcard, etc). Choose one person from each team to compete. Ask a question and whoever raises the item first is able to answer the question. If s/he answers correctly then that person gets to choose a number. Lift the number and see how many points that team gets. If they get a bomb, they lose all their points! (You can make a double bomb where both teams lose all their points).
2. Sentence Scrabble
This game is great for advanced learners. To prepare, come up with a list of 20-25 words and print them out. Cut them up and place them in a bag. Create as many sets as needed. This game works best for groups of 3-6 people. Hand out a bag to each group. In five minutes, the students must make as many sentences as they can. The team with the most grammatically correct sentences is the winner!
Another variation of this is to say a sentence. The students must the find the words to make the sentence and glue the pieces of paper onto a sheet. Once they are finished they must hold it up. Whichever group finishes first gets a point.
3. Memorizing Game
I love this game for days when I need a rest from all that shouting kids tend to do! In order to prepare for this game, all you need to do is make a picture (either with PDF, Paint, Publisher, PPT, etc.) that has a bunch of items. The items should be from the current subject you are
teaching. Let the students look at the screen for 15-30 seconds and then remove the picture. They must write down all the objects they can remember. Whoever has the most is the winner. You can also do this with teams.
4.The Fly-Swatter Game
To prep for this, you need cards with pictures of vocabulary words in your lesson (ie. colors, numbers, objects.etc.) as well as 2-3 fly swatters. Put magnets on each of the picture cards (or Velcro) or simply place the cards on the ground. Choose two or three volunteers. Have the other students ask a question. For example, "What color is it?" or "What's this?" or "How Many?"
Respond with an answer. "It's purple!" or "It's a pencil" or "There are 5." The student who hits the correct card first is the winner. (Fly swatters are great because you can see who hit the correct card first by whose fly swatter is in the bottom!)
5. 20 Questions
Choose a word from the lesson material and give the students 1 clue. For example, "It is an animal." They must then take turns asking you simple "yes" or "no" questions. They can ask up to 20 questions to figure it out what the word is.
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