Optional activities for English Language Classes Content

Optional activities for English Language Classes

Content • Warm-up • Ice-breaking • Vocabulary • Speaking • Listening • Writing

Warm-up Hangman In case you've never played, here's a quick rundown. Think of a word and write the number of letters on the board using dashes to show many letters there are. Ask students to suggest a letter. If it appears in the word, write it in all of the correct spaces. If the letter does not appear in the word, write it off to the side and begin drawing the image of a hanging man. Continue until the students guess the word correctly (they win) or you complete the diagram (you win).

Warm-up Simon Says Stand in front of the class (you are Simon for the duration of this game). Do an action and say Simon Says [action]. The students must copy what you do. Repeat this process choosing different actions - you can be as silly as you like and the sillier you are the more the children will love you for it. Then do an action but this time say only the action and omit ‘Simon Says’. Whoever does the action this time is out and must sit down. The winner is the last student standing. To make it harder, speed up the actions. Reward children for good behavior by allowing them to play the part of Simon.

Warm-up What is in the picture? Teacher explains or describes the thing in picture before showing it, and ask them to guess.

Warm-up Write ‘WEATHER’ on the board and ask them to find new words from the letters as many as possible. (you will get surprised. )

Warm-up How much does it cost? In pairs, have students decide on a business, such as a restaurant, shoe store, hotdog stand, coat store, etc. They should each make a list of what they sell and how much each item costs. (Aim for five to six items each. ) Then the students form new pairs and practice asking and answering what each other sells and how much the items cost.

Warm-up Do you like sushi? In groups of three or four, students ask each other about their food likes and dislikes. Students should keep asking until they find a food that no one in the group likes. Have a representative from each group write that food or dish on the board. See if there is a food or dish that the entire class dislikes.

Warm-up This morning I…. Students can practice the simple past by saying what time they got up, what they ate for breakfast, and how they got to school or work. On the board, write down what time you got up, what you ate for breakfast, and how you got to school. Make sentences with each and ask the students to repeat. Then do a chain activity by having the next student repeat your answers, then supply his or her own, and so on. For example: This morning, I got up at 7: 00. I ate cereal. I drove to school. Next Student: The teacher got up at 7: 00, s/he ate cereal, and s/he drove to school. I got up at 6: 30, I ate scrambled eggs, and I took the bus to school.

Ice-breaking Truth and a lie Ask your students to create 3 sentences about themselves. Two of them suppose to be true and the one is the lie. Make them guess which one is the lie. P. S. This is game is also good for speaking

Ice-breaking Tell me… This is very tricky game, can be used only once. You need toilet paper or fake money. Ask students to take as much papermoney as they want. after that they count pieces and tell each other about themselves as many facts (sentences) as many items they have in hand. This game can be also used as the vocabulary revision

Ice-breaking Teeth Begin this fun icebreaker with everyone sitting in a circle. Have each player choose a fruit or vegetable. The fun part of this game is that they will be saying the name of their fruit or vegetable without showing teeth; they must speak with their lips over their teeth. The first player says their chosen fruit or veggie two times and then another player’s fruit or veggie twice.

Ice-breaking Grandma Steps The host or leader chooses one person to be Grandma (Grandpa) and face a wall. The rest of the players start on the opposite side of the room and attempt to sneak up on Grandma (Grandpa) and tap a shoulder. However, they cannot be caught doing so and Grandma (Grandpa) may turn around at any time. If a person is caught moving and pointed out, they must return to the start. No one can move while being watched. If a player manages to tap Grandma’s (Grandpa’s) shoulder, he or she takes their place facing the wall and the game starts over.

Bring Back My Bonny A short, fun icebreaker, this only takes about five minutes. Have the kids sit in a large circle with the leader in the middle. The leader explains that every time he says a word beginning with the letter B, the group members are to stand if seated, and sit down if standing. Once the leader is sure everyone understands, he sings, “Bring Back My Bonny. ” My Bonny lies over the ocean. My Bonny lies over the sea. My Bonny lies over the ocean. Oh, bring back my Bonny to me. Bring back, bring back my Bonny to me, to me. Bring back, bring back, oh, bring back my Bonny to me. Anyone who messes up is “out” and the last kid remaining is the winner.

Speaking We are similar! Divide class into small groups. Instruct each team to talk amongst themselves and find out at least 6 things that every single group member has in common with the other members.

speaking Crazy job interview Give your student a task to create imaginary job “Crazy Scientist”, “Superhero”, “Topmodel” etc. Let them write it in the small pieces of paper. Mix the tags. Give students names of the jobs, start interview. To make it more fun give them time to prepare at home.

speaking Presentation The best way to make students talk – is to let them talk about things they like. It can be anything: starting from their favorite book or movie to hobbies and countries they would like to visit. Give them task to prepare presentation “ 5 minutes nonstop talking”. To help themselves they are allowed to make slides in Power Point or draw pictures on board.

speaking Celebrity Interview Game Obvious. Your student pretend they are a celebrity. You interview them by asking different questions.

speaking • If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get? • If you were an animal, what would you be and why? • Who is your hero? (a parent, a celebrity, an influential person in one’s life) • If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why • Name one of your favorite things about someone in your family. • If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be… • What’s your favorite thing to do? • If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be and why? • What’s your favorite cartoon character, and why?

speaking Tall tales Each person will tell three sentences of a story and end with the word “suddenly…" The next person will then have to pick up the story and add three sentences of their own.

speaking Who am I? Before your group arrives, prepare sticky nametags with the names of famous people (or any other people that EVERYONE in the group will know). Stick the tag to players forehead. Make them guess who they are by asking question that can be answered YES or NO. if YES keep asking. If NO turn goes to next player. For example, you can write: SUPERMAN SPONGE BOB HARRY POTTER BATMAN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JUSTIN BIEBER MICKEY MOUSE

Vocabulary Letters salad Write previous class key vocabulary on the board with mixed letters ask students to guess or correct the word.

vocabulary Vocabulary crossword Write main word of the Unit on the board. Make students to create crosswords. Father Aunt grand. Mother cous. In unc. Le bab. Y

vocabulary Repeat and add more Ask students to make a circle, tell a sentence to the first person (I have got a hat/ I can dance/ potato and so on) then let them to repeat your sentence and add some more to the end. (I’ve got a hat, I’ve got a coat. . / I can dance, I can sing/ potato, tomato) Go on until someone confused and leaves the game, the last person wins.

vocabulary Last letter Write the letter on the board. Make students to write next word on the last letter of previous one. Try to use learning Unit vocabulary ONLY banana – apricot – tangerine – eggplant – tomato - onion

vocabulary Make a list Divide students into two (or more) teams. Give each team one minute to list as many words as possible from the current unit on a piece of paper. The team with the most words wins.

vocabulary Crocodile One student comes to board and gets a word of the current Unit. They have to show or give definitions of it without saying the word itself. Student that first correctly guesses the word is up to show the next one.

vocabulary Categories The teacher announces a category and students select the words that go into that category. Possible categories include: Nouns Verbs Adjectives Emotional words Temporal words Put the words in alphabetical order Words with three syllables Words with prefixes or suffixes

Listening Draw a story Students listen to a story that teachers reads or makes up. They can draw separate characters or scenes of the story. The same thing can be used with adjectives (emotions)or new vocabulary (fruits vegies and so on)

listening Blindfold walk This is really fun. Teach: go forward, go backwards, (3) steps, turn right / left. Then place a blindfold on a student and direct him/her around the room to eventually pick up a flashcard or object (e. g. “Go forward 3 steps, turn right, go forward 5 steps, now go backwards 2 steps, turn left, etc. ). Finally, have students work in pairs – one blindfolded and one giving directions.

listening Homophones These are words like leave/live, fill/feel, tree/three, fit/feet, etc… So here’s a great game you can play. Have a set of cards printed out with these troublesome words. Divide the class into two teams. Students take turns. You place the two cards on the desk in front of them: live and leave. Say one of the words out loud: live. If the student chooses the right card, the team gets 2 points. Now, if the student is unsure, he/she may choose to request “an example”, i. e. the word used in a sentence: I live a few blocks from here. If the student chooses the right card in this case, the team gets 1 point.

listening • To, two, too • There, their, they’re • Your/you’re • By/buy/bye • Here/hear • Peace/piece • Whole/hole • Stare/stair • Know/no

listening Letter Sounds Scavenger Hunt This game is best for beginners who need work on their vocabulary. It involves running around, so pull this one out when your students are restless. To play, call out a letter. Students must run to find an object that begins with that letter sound. The first person to find it must hold the object up and call out the name. If they’re correct, you’ll call out another letter. If they’re wrong, the round continues.

listening Five Things I Did Today A simple yet funny game, this one requires students to go around the room listing five things they have done today. The catch is that they can’t repeat anything that someone has already said. Start this game with your weakest students, since it does get tough toward the end.

listening Pass the Message Take one student out of the room and give them a phrase to repeat. That student then enters the room and whispers the message to the next person. This continues until everyone has heard the message. The last person should write what they heard on the board.

listening Fruit Salad Assign each student one of three or four fruits that you write on the board. These can be anything from apples and oranges to pineapple, papaya or watermelon. Have everyone set up their chairs in a circle or a line and call out a fruit. If you say “grapes, ” then all the grapes stand up and change seats. Keep calling out fruit and having the students switch spots. When you call “fruit salad, ” everyone must get up and change places. You can also use any of Unit vocabulary for this game. Family members, Colors and so on.

Writing Time capsule This is very interesting and fun way of making students to write short or long essays. You may designate any time limits. For example, they may write letter to themselves and read it after a week or a month and correct their own mistakes.

writing Minisaga One of the best ways to encourage creativity and develop student’s writing skills. Minisaga’s composition is based on strict rules. It has to contain 50 words, no less - no more. And the last sentence must twist the whole story upside down.

writing Diary It is good way of everyday writing practice. Make your students to write the diary, arrange the quantity of words per day and give extra points for those who writes more.

writing Whatsapp chat How to practice English in everyday life? By chatting with friends, of course. Create chatroom in Whatsapp (or any other messenger apps) and discuss everything with your students in English.

writing Letter to celebrity (friend, etc) It will be even more fun, when you really send those letters through postoffice. Ask your students to write letter to their idol or any celebrity they like. Help them to correct the letter and find address in internet.

writing Creative writing activity Ask the students to draw the face of a person in the top right-hand corner of the page. Once they've done this ask them to give the person a name. Then on the top left of the page ask them to write five adjectives to describe the person's appearance. Next ask them to write five more adjectives to describe the person's character. After they've done this ask the students to write three things that the person likes doing. Then ask them to write who the person lives with. In this way they build up a character profile for the person they are going to write about.

writing Improving paragraph writing First, ask your students to provide sample paragraphs (introduction, body paragraphs, or conclusion), or choose paragraphs from their last essay that they wrote for the class. Second, study these samples carefully and try to give comments on two or three problems within one paragraph. Next, design a handout in which there is a copy of the paragraph with a table including two columns, comments and examples. Leave the "examples" column blank. Put your comments for the chosen paragraphs in the comments column. For example, 'Wrong word - register' or 'use a conjunction here' or 'spelling' or 'poor topic sentence'… In class give out the handouts and ask students to work in pairs to find examples to support the comments made by the teacher.

Thank You For more details contact Marzhan +77003030692 m. ashlyaeva@advancecenter. kz