1: Warm up games with Total Physical Response (get up and move)
The best way to start your ESL class is with a warm up game. Warm up games in can come in all shapes and sizes. A lot of these games should include physical , that way children are interacting and using language with physical movement. This is a great way to have all the children involved with learning while warming up their brains for the upcoming lesson.
Warm up games can be tailored to whatever lesson you are teaching your class at that time and can expand depending on learning level.
How to play
Playing warm up games using total physical response can be played in many ways but the main game I like to play is get up and move. All the students will stand in front of their desks or form a circle. The teacher will call out a vocabulary word and the students will have to act it out. You can also play the reverse side of this the teacher can act out a vocabulary word and the students have to say what the teacher is acting out.
Examples:
Using basic knowledge in language: The teacher will call out words such as: Stand up Sit down Open your book Close your book Pencil Crayon Rubber
The students will act out actions to these words or will hold up their objects of what vocabulary word the teacher is using.
Using routine in language: The teacher will call out words such as: Good morning Good night Yawn Shower Brush your teeth Brush your hair Wash your hands
The students will act out actions to these words or say the words to the vocabulary card the teacher is using.
How this ESL classroom game teaches English
Get up and move is a great way to teach English because it is using total physical response and getting the students not only moving but thinking. Students are using both the left and right side of their brains and the more fun they are having the easier it is to remember vocabulary words.
2. Musical Chairs
Musical Chairs is one of my favourite ESL classroom games that can be tailored to whatever topic or lesson is being taught.
How to play
The teacher will make a circle of chairs in the middle of the room, I often like to use 5-7 chairs at a time. Stick vocabulary cards on the back of each chair. This can be words or pictures. Play music, when the music stops all the children have to find a chair, the last student to sit has to say what is on the back of their char.
Pick an English song your class has been practicing and use that to stop and play the music, this is reinforcement of what you have already been learning in the classroom. You can also find a list of recommended nursery rhymes and songs for beginners .
If you have a large English class, have the students alternate by changing kids when the last one to sit in their chair has answered their question.
Example
Use the alphabet or numbers and have the students say what is on the back of their chair. Those who are advanced learners or if you want to make the game more challenging, you can have the students tell you what letter or number comes before and after.
Use animals or colors and have the students say what is on the back of their chair. Those who are advanced learners or if you want to make the game more challenging you can have the students make animal noises, act out the animal and find the color that’s on the back of their chair in the room.
How this ESL classroom game teaches English Musical chairs is a great way to reinforce vocabulary words the classroom is working on. It also makes English more fun and is used as a memory game for students. The background music is an excellent way to use classroom language in a subconscious way for the student as well.
3. Passing the ball
How to play
The teacher will put the students in a circle or place them all around the room. The teacher will start by throwing the ball to a student and asking them a question or showing them a picture of a word that the classroom is learning. Then the students have to throw the ball to each other and ask questions, repeat words, show flashcards or act out actions for the next student to answer.
Examples
Asking questions: Using basic questions such as: How old are you? How are you? What is your name? What letter is this? What number is this?
The students will go around answering and asking each other questions.
Using Categories: The teacher will pick a topic (clothes) the students will throw the ball and say an item of clothing, that student that caught the ball has to find, point and say the item of clothing that the other student said.
How this ESL classroom game teaches English Passing the ball teaches students to pronounce and use language they have been practicing in class. Learning how to ask and answer questions as
nguon VI OLET
