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Murder Mystery

Players: Based on a class of 12 students but can be adapted. Take out cards if required.

According to your class size, place a card face down on a table and get your students to pick a card each.

When everyone has a card, tell your students they have to solve a murder.

The students must give actions with words to help their fellow classmates guess their part in the murder.

If a student has a card with a room written on it, they should make actions to help fellow students guess what room they are trying to describe.

The idea is for students to find out who the murderer is and have fun doing it!

The instructor must obviously decide the murder plot before the lesson and give clues to help the students throughout the game.

Example:

Plot: The victim was killed in the snooker room with an axe.

Clue 1: This room has a long table in it but you can’t eat off this kind of table.

Clue 2: This is a large sharp object.

End with a class discussion to find out what the students thought of this game. Feedback also creates an interactive classroom.

N.B. If you have a class of beginners you should go through the cards first to check understanding of the present vocabulary and then start the game. In addition the clues and plot should also be a reasonable degree simpler.

Previous to such a lesson it is also a good idea to run through additional vocabulary so that when your students come to play this game they have a good base to start from.

For example: Items in the kitchen:- Ironing board, kettle etc.

Items in the salon: Sofa, TV, CD player.

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

Murderer Victim Rope Dagger Gun Axe

Salon Kitchen Bedroom Dining Hall Bathroom Snooker Room

Famous People

Players: Based on a class of 10 students. If required take out or add cards.

Hand each student a card and have a box of props ready that can also be used for this exercise.

The idea of this game is to encourage classroom interaction and familiarize students with a part of their new culture.

Example Of Famous People:

John Travaltor Queen Elizabeth

Sylvester Stalone Marilyn Monroe

Bill Gates Mel B

Keenau Reeves Julia Roberts

James Bond Zena

Suggested Props:

Music (Significant songs to well known films)

Boxing Gloves Keyboard Black Fuzzy Wig

White Dress Long Black Overcoat Tiara

Plastic Gun Helmet & Sword

This game always creates a giggle and students are normally familiar with well-known films so it is a safe bet to use this exercise.

Ask the student to act out the person on their card and tell the other students that they have to guess who they are supposed to be. They can also use words with their actions if they want to.

N.B. We are in the business of helping ESL students to learn English language in the most effective and enjoyable way possible. Nearly every class has a quiet student that may feel uncomfortable acting in front of fellow classmates. When I have this type of personality in a class, I get the student to help out with the music or organizing props. That way he or she will still have a giggle watching the other students and also still feel very much part of the class.

A quiet student should always be encouraged but with a different approach to avoid that student feeling isolated from your class!

A happy student turns out to be a successful student!

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

The Family Tree

Print off the blank tree below and make enough copies to hand out to each of your students.

This exercise is useful for familiarizing students with the different terms and words that we use to describe our family members.

The idea is, to get each student, to fill in a family tree using the members from their own family.

Starting with, themselves at the top, they should work downwards until their tree is completed.

Get each student to explain their family tree to their fellow classmates when the whole class has finished filling in their trees.

This checks understanding of the words and terms that you are teaching them.

This exercise is good because students like talking about their family’s back home.

An example of what you want your students to achieve is below.

There is also a blank tree that can be printed off and used for your class handouts.

Professional Professions

Players: Based on a class of 10 students. Take out or add cards if required.

The point of this exercise is to get your students used to the various occupation names.

Hand out one card to each of your students and ask them to act out the profession that they have written on their card.

Also tell them that they can make their own simple props if they wish to.

For example: The student might design something that looks like a letter if he or she has postman/post women written on their card.

Tell the student that they can also use a fellow classmate as well to get their point across.

For example: If the student has the dentist card they may want to borrow a fellow student to be the patient.

It goes without saying that all these points should be explained before this exercise is undertaken.

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

The Introduction Circle

Start off right!

When you have a new set of ESL students it is important to make them feel comfortable as soon as possible.

A good way to do this is to sit all your students in a circle and get every student in the class to introduce themselves to the person sitting on their right hand side.

This normally creates some giggles and gets the whole issue of ‘embarrassment’ out of the way.

By doing this exercise all your students will realize that everyone is in the same position.

N.B. Make sure you are part of the circle and introduce yourself first. Straight away your students will realize that you are with them right from the start!

Example:

“Hello my name is Tanya and I will be your instructor for this program”.

“Pleased to meet you” (Shake their hand)

Then they should say,

“Hello my name is ……….. and I am from …………

“Pleased to meet you too”.

That student must then turn to the person on their right and go through the same process until the last student in the circle has spoken.

Introducing a new set of students to each other in the right way is the first step in the right direction!

Word Stars

Word Stars are used by many linguistic instructors and have been used many times before in ESL classrooms and word star diagrams are most useful when teaching ESL students.

This exercise helps to extend vocabulary, develop sentences and at the same time it creates an interactive classroom and get students thinking for themselves.

There is one example of a word star chart below and in addition there is a blank word star chart that can be printed off, copied and used as a class handout.

As you will observe I have used the word ‘fast’ but the center word can be anything that the instructor decides on.

When I use the word star exercise I normally separate the class into two groups so that students can collectively come up with connection words for the one, which I have given them.

In my experience word stars are great for encouraging class discussions.

Comic Strips

My comic strip idea is a very simple one really but always creates great interest among students.

The concept behind ‘comic strips’ is to get students to use their vocabulary knowledge and practice writing English at the same time as using their imagination.

Doing an exercise like this makes ESL students practice two important areas of learning English in an interesting way.

Just simply ask your students to fill in the conversation in the speech bubbles. They can write in anything that they think is going on.

When everyone has filled in their ‘imagined conversation’ get them to explain their comic strip to the rest of the class. This is bringing in yet another important area of learning English; practicing speech.

There is a prepared blank comic strip page below that you can just print off and use to photocopy and use as a classroom handout.

When you give your students freedom of mind you get better results!

Funny Regrets

Funny Regrets is an interesting way to finish up a syllabus, creates a giggle and shows ‘you’ the instructor how far that student has come on your course with both their writing abilities and their understanding of what you have taught them.

Ask your students to write about a ‘funny regret’ that they have in their life.

When all the students have finished this exercise ask them to read out what they have written to the rest of the class.

As this is a writing exercise you should remind students of the ‘TAR technique’.

T Think

A Act

R Repair

Remind them that they need to think about what they are going to write and make notes. Then they should put their notes together and write down their ‘funny regret’. Lastly they should check for any mistakes and ways of improving what they have written down.

This exercise encapsulates the course in a light moment to finish on and your students will leave their last lesson happy and in the knowledge that they learnt English on your language program.

As learning English is an ESL student’s main focus then it is important that you highlight what they have achieved.

If your students leave their final lesson with a good command of English and laughing then you have succeeded!

Student Diary’s

Whenever I start a new syllabus with a new set of students I give each of them a diary.

Why?

It shows me a students progress from beginning to end of my course.

I ask all the students in my classes to write down comments about what they thought of their lesson for that day.

I do not ask students to write down too much; just a few comments for every lesson that they take with me.

This continuous exercise serves two important purposes.

• I get to check that my students have understood the point of my lessons.

• I get good feedback on what my students think about my lessons and as I am always looking for ways to make my lessons better and I get a chance to improve too.

At the end of my courses my students often laugh when they see what their diary comments were at the start of their course because their English skills were weak. However when they read their last few diary entries they can see for themselves how far they have come.

The student then leaves with a real sense of achievement.

Chinese Whispers

Players: Based on a class of 10/12 students.

This exercise develops vocabulary, tests your student’s memories and encourages teamwork.

Before trying this exercise with your class it is often a good idea to run through some vocabulary like; bright, huge, super, giant, massive etc.

Make sure that students understand what to ‘exaggerate’ means.

Separate your students into two groups and ask them to sit in two circles.

For this game the students should be in smaller groups otherwise the last student will have too much to remember.

Once your students are seated in two circles give the first student in the circle a sentence and tell the student to add an exaggeration on the end of that sentence. Then pass that sentence on by whispering it to the next student on their right hand side.

For example:

Instructor writes down the sentence of; I know a man that has ………. Then the instructor passes it on to the first student in the circle.

The first student might then whisper; I know a man that has bright green hair and……..

The second student might say; I know a man that has bright green hair and huge feet and …………

This continues until the last student says the finished sentence out loud to the rest of the group.

This is a good exercise for testing which students have managed to convey English to one another properly or not.

The secret of language is to be able to converse clearly with one another!

The Fruit & Vegetable Stall

The fruit and vegetable game is all about testing whether or not your students know all the names of fruit and vegetables.

Put some blue tack on the back of each card and stick them all up on the wipe board and run through all the cards with the students.

After you have run through all the cards with your students tell them to turn their backs to the board and remove one of the cards off the board.

The idea of the game is to make students realize which card you have removed.

This game is not only good for a student’s memory but it also encourages teamwork in the classroom.

This same concept can be used also for an intermediate class. You just have to make up further cards with more complex vocabulary and topics.

Getting students to work together as a team is good practice for many other areas that they will come across in their lives!

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

Theme Night

Theme nights are always popular because students always enjoy introducing their cultures to their fellow classmates.

A ‘food theme night’ is always a good idea.

Ask your students to make a dish that is traditional of their country’s food, and bring it in on a certain night.

Students can then taste each other’s dishes that they have prepared.

In addition you can also ask your students to bring in some music that is also traditional of their country and play the varying styles of music throughout the evening.

It is always good to let students bring their varying cultural flavors into the class and share them with fellow classmates.

It brings a piece of where they come from into the classroom!

Shopping Lists

Players: Based on a class of 12 students.

For this game you must first run through the vocabulary listed below:-

Bread

Sugar

Tea-

Banana-

Coffee-

Apple-

Breakfast Cereal-

Biscuits-

Milk-

Cheese-

Sausages-

Candy-

Eggs-

Butter-

Foil-

Flour-

Carrots-

Pizza-

Kitchen Roll-

Salt Crisps-

Coca Cola-

Toilet Paper-

Grapes-

Cake-

Toothpaste-

Razor-

Melon-

Shampoo-

Soap-

Bleach-

Pasta-

Potatoes-

Cooking oil-

Chocolate-

Oranges-

Air Freshener-

Washing Powder-

Pepper-

Tomatoes-

Hair Spray-

Bin Liners-

Onions-

Cucumber-

De-odorant-

Orange Juice-

Ketchup-

The idea is for your students to guess what is on each others shopping lists.

They may use actions or words but they are not allowed to say the words that appear on their cards.

If they do they are out of the game.

Again it is a good idea to make students sit in a circle.

It never does any harm to create a little bit of healthy competition between your students.

A challenge makes a class more interesting!

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

Front Page News

This is a writing exercise that builds writing skills and that creates awareness of current events in different countries.

Hand each student in your class a copy of the blank front page (below) and ask them to create a front page for a newspaper in their country.

Ask your students to base the front-page on a topic that teaches fellow classmates a little about their country.

As this is a writing exercise you should remind students of the ‘TAR technique’.

T- Think

A- Act

R- Repair

Remind them that they need to think about what they are going to write and make notes. Then they should put their notes together and write down what they have prepared. Lastly they should check for any mistakes and ways of improving what they have written down.

This writing exercise normally takes up a whole hour and a half lesson so make the following lesson a class discussion. Get every student to explain their front-page news to other students and allow class members to ask each other questions relating to the news that they discuss.

This encourages ‘class debates’ and therefore makes for good speaking practice.

Students normally come up with some great front pages and use lots of pictures that they find from the Internet and take a real pride in this exercise.

Awareness in the world is an important issue to address!

Safari Bingo With A Twist

Players: Based on a class of 12 students.

Give one card to each of your students.

Elephant/ Jeep THESE MUST GO ON THE CARDS

Antelope/Tent

Lion/Mosquito Spray

Tiger/Boots

Snake/Back Pack

Ostrich/Water Flask

Flamingo/Jungle Map

Cheetah/Tour Guide

Rhinoceros/Gas lamp

Zebra/First Aid Kit

Hippopotamus/Jungle

Monkey/Matches

CREATE 2 SEP LISTS OF THESE WORDS 4 TEACHER THAT CAN BE CUT UP

Firstly two separate lists of words should be printed off and cut up and then folded over and placed into two separate bowls.

Put all the animal words into one bowl and the other words into a separate bowl and go round your class and one by one get your students to pick one of the words out from alternate bowls each time.

If the word that is called out is the word that a student has on his or her card he or she must wait till the other word is called in order to win the game.

This game idea has many other avenues to help a student learn English.

For example you can ask students questions about the animals or get them to describe one of the animals.

Example questions:

Which is the heaviest animal?

Which of these animals have feathers?

What is your favorite animal?

Which of these animals like the water?

There are many questions that can be asked to encourage students to interact with each other and start a class discussion which all goes towards improving their English skills.

The Every ‘Body’ Game

This is a game designed to help students learn the names of the various parts of the body and memorize them.

Draw an outline of a body like the one below on the wipe board.

PUT DIAGRAM OF BODY HERE!

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

CARDS HERE

Place some blue tack on the back of each card.

Hold the ‘ready made’ cards up one by one and go round your class and ask each student, in turn to stick that card on the correct part of the body that you have drawn on the wipe board.

If you are not very talented at drawing you can always print off the outline of the body that has been given as an example and transfer the outline on to the OHP (Over Head Projector).

This exercise normally creates giggles amongst beginners because quite often a student will make a mistake and try to stick one of the cards on the wrong place on the diagram. The other students find this amusing and can’t resist getting involved and shouting out where the card should really be placed.

A noisy classroom at least proves that you have your student’s attention and their participation!

New Inventions

This is an exercise to improve and further strengthen a students writing skills.

Write the topic of ‘Inventions’ on the wipe board and ask students to explain what invention they would like to create and why.

Tell them they can use pictures, information from the Internet or diagrams but they have to express their reasons for the invention clearly in writing.

As this is a writing exercise you should remind students of the ‘TAR technique’.

T- Think

A- Act

R- Repair

Remind them that they need to think about what they are going to write and make notes. Then they should put their notes together and write down what they have prepared. Lastly they should check for any mistakes and ways of improving what they have written down.

Get students to read out what they have written down to the rest of the class.

Explain to your students that the following lesson will be a discussion on what invention each student came up with.

On the following lesson ask students to comment on what they think of each other’s inventions.

Class feedback is a good way of encouraging students to help each other improve!

Postcards

Ask your students to create a postcard of their own countries.

GIVE FOR SLANTED EXAMPLE POSTCARDS HERE!

Cut up pieces of card in postcard size and hand one piece of card to each student.

Ask your students to imagine that they are sending a traditional postcard of their country to a pen friend in America or England describing their country with a short description.

This is yet another exercise that students take pride in.

It creates awareness, gives way to creativity and is good writing practice.

The Holiday Suitcases

Players: Adapt to the size of your class, if required take out some cards.

PUT A PICTURE OF TWO OPEN SUITCASES HERE!

PUT THE WORDS OF WINTER HOLIDAY & SUMMER HOLIDAY ON SUITCASES

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

Words For Cards

Winter Summer

Jumper Sun Tan Oil

Boots Sun Screen

Trousers Sandals

Socks Shorts

Sunglasses T-Shirt

Lip Balm Bikini

Scarf Beach Towel

Gloves Beach Ball

Hat Hairbrush

Ski’s Toothbrush

Toothpaste Toothpaste

Toothbrush Shampoo

Hairbrush Sunglasses

Ski Clothes Hair Gel

Ski Boots Swimming Trunks

Place a piece of blue tack on the back of each of the cards.

Print off the two pictures of open suitcases and put them onto an OHP (Overhead Projector)

Mix all the cards up and hand out two cards to each of your students.

One by one, call the students up to the board and ask them to stick their cards on the right suitcase.

This exercise always encourages full class participation and makes for a good interactive classroom!

Rooms

Players: Based on class of 12 students. Take cards out if required.

Print off the ‘ready made’ cards below on card so that they can be used again and again.

Separate class into pairs and give each pair one card for one of the rooms.

Kitchen Garage Salon

Washing Machine Tool Box Sofa

Kettle Hose Pipe Armchair

Oven Lawn Mower Video

Sink Spade & Fork Television

Cup Paint Pot Coffee Table

Plate Work Bench Music Stereo

Fridge Bicycle Fireplace

Spoon Wheelbarrow Carpet

Fork Overalls Pictures

Knife Barbecue Bookshelf

Bathroom Study Bedroom

Bath Towel Books Bed

Soap Computer Pillow

Toothpaste Desk Duvet

Shampoo Pens Bedside Lamp

Toilet Brush Stapler Pajamas

Razor Hole Punch Hairbrush

Shower Shelves Dressing Table

Bath Clock Wardrobe

Toothpaste Office Chair Clothes Hanger

Mirror Desk Lamp Bedside Cabinet

The idea of this game is to get each pair of students to make fellow classmates guess the item in the room by just giving actions. This always creates a good atmosphere and by working in pairs the students support each other even more so.

The first pair that gets their fellow classmates to say all the items that they have on the card; wins.

It is advisable to do a vocabulary lesson of all the items on the cards, a couple of lessons in advance of playing this game because it is good to check if they have remembered the items that you have previously taught them.

Rule: The students making the others guess are not allowed to use words with this game, just actions.

This game always creates a noisy classroom but the students have fun!

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