You have to admit: playing games to get the class warmed up before the start of the lesson is something necessary once in a while, especially when you want to do a lesson recap. There are literally hundreds of games that you and your students may play together, but the ESL games are really considered to be the greatest ones. This is because they can be used to test vocabulary, learn tenses, or practice speaking.
We’ve compiled a mini-guide with the top 3 best ESL activities and games you can totally try out now. Check out the first part of ESL games and activities here!
1. Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie
“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” That’s a common phrase, but not so much in this scenario, though, because you have no choice except to lie.
Call My Bluff is a fantastic game for students to use to hone their public speaking abilities; however, you should set aside some time after the game to discuss any errors that may have been made by the students while playing the game. To get the best possible results, be sure to follow these steps:
1. On the whiteboard, write down three claims about yourself; two of them should be false, and one of them should be accurate
2. Let your pupils question you about each assertion, and then have them guess which one is true; be as serious as you possibly can (no laughing!)
3. The kids have a chance to win if they make the right guess
4. At this point, allow the pupils some time to compose their own version of “two truths and one lie”
5. Put them in teams of two and have them play again, this time using their list, with the player who was randomly assigned to them
6. Bring the entire class back together, and as a review, have each student share one new fact that they discovered about one of the other students; how fun!
2. Hangman
This popular game is a favorite among students of all ages, particularly younger kids. This game is a cool warm-up before the beginning of class to get the or for five minutes at the end of class. Take note of the following instructions:
1. Decide on an interesting word; next write the number of letters on the board, including dashes to represent how many letters there are in the word
2. Ask your students for a letter; if it happens to fit, put it in all of the right spaces
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all of the letters in the word have been used
4. If the letter is not found in the word, write it down to the side of the page, and then start sketching a picture of a guy hanging from a rope
5. Proceed until either the students correctly guess the word (in which case they win) or you finish drawing the graphic (in which case you win)
3. The Clown (Mime)
Students may put their knowledge of tenses and verbs to good use by participating in some of the coolest miming activities. This game may be played by anyone of any age, including adults that tend to get bored too quickly! So without further ado, let’s have a look at the rules:
1. Select a few activities, such as sketching or skiing, and write them down on slips of paper before placing them in a bag
2. Separate the students into groups of two or three
3. Have a pupil from each group come up to the front of the room, and have one of those students pick an activity from the bag
4. Have each student perform the motion for their respective group using only their mime
5. The team that is the first to yell out the proper response will get one point
6. Continue doing this until each and every kid has mimed at least one different action
