fun - EFL Ideas

NEW: 12 Back to School Games That Foster Teamwork and Learning

As the new school year starts and the corridors buzz with the excitement of a fresh academic journey, educators everywhere are looking for innovative ways to motivate their students, spark their passion for learning, and create a dynamic classroom vibe. When it comes to achieving these goals, back to school games are a brilliant solution that seamlessly blends the thrill of fun with the magic of learning!

And guess what? We’ve got something pretty cool up our sleeves – a bunch of back to school games that mix the thrill of fun with the magic of learning! These action-packed activities aren’t just about having a good time; they’re tools that weave teamwork, spark conversations, and light up a love for languages. So, hold on tight because we’re about to dig into a treasure trove of fantastic games that are about to kick-start your school year in style!

In education, games are more than just play – they’re like secret ingredients that blend together teamwork, chatter, creativity, and even some serious thinking.

Back to school games aren’t just limited to physical engagement; they stretch your imagination and language skills too, such as swapping treasures in ‘The Trading Game’ or weaving memory threads in ‘The Memory Web.

These activities are like a recipe that combines a pinch of teamwork, a dash of collaboration, and a sprinkle of language magic. How about joining forces to solve a puzzle in the ‘Collaborative Puzzle Challenge’ or conjuring up a wacky story in the ‘Group Storytelling Relay’? These games aren’t just flexing your muscles; they’re like a workout for your language skills, as you swap ideas, connect words, and unravel mysteries.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or stepping into the teaching world for the first time, these back to school games are like a treasure chest of opportunities at your fingertips.

So, let’s dive into each game and watch your classroom buzz with energy, creativity, and a bunch of grinning faces. Get ready for a splash of laughter, smart thinking, and the art of working together – all while setting the stage for an amazing school year ahead!”

1. The Trading Game

Objective: To encourage collaboration, negotiation, and communication.

Materials: Various small objects or items (e.g., pens, erasers, stickers)

Instructions: Distribute one object to each student as they enter the classroom. Explain that the goal of the game is to trade their object with others and end up with an object they value the most. Students must negotiate trades with their classmates by communicating their preferences. Set a time limit (e.g., 10-15 minutes) for trading. After the time is up, ask students to share the object they ended up with and why they chose it.

2. The Memory Web

Objective: To help students remember each other’s names and build connections.

Instructions: Form a circle with the students. The first student introduces themselves, saying their name and a fun fact about themselves. The second student introduces themselves and repeats the name and fact of the first student before sharing their own. This pattern continues around the circle, with each student repeating the names and facts of the previous students before adding their own. By the end of the activity, each student will have repeated and heard all the names and facts in the circle.

3. Collaborative Puzzle Challenge

Objective: To encourage collaboration and problem-solving skills.

Materials: Jigsaw puzzle pieces (one per student), a complete jigsaw puzzle

Instructions: Distribute one puzzle piece to each student. Explain that the goal is to complete the puzzle together as a class. Students must find their matching piece by finding the student with the adjacent piece. Once all students are connected, assemble the complete puzzle.

4. Human Bingo Icebreaker

Objective: To help students learn interesting facts about their classmates and break the ice.

Instructions: Create bingo cards with empty squares, each containing a unique statement or fact (e.g., Has visited another country, Can play a musical instrument, Loves pizza). Distribute the bingo cards to students and provide them with markers. Instruct students to mingle and find classmates who match the statements in the bingo squares. Once a student finds someone who fits a statement, they ask that classmate to sign or initial the square. The goal is to complete a row, column, or diagonal by finding classmates for the statements. Celebrate the first student to achieve bingo and learn interesting facts about each other.

5. Word Association Circle

Objective: To stimulate vocabulary recall and encourage quick thinking.

Instructions: Have students form a circle. Start with one student who says a word (e.g., “apple”). The next student must quickly say a word that is associated with the previous word (e.g., “fruit”). Continue around the circle with each student providing an associated word.

6. Group Drawing Challenge

Objective: To foster creativity, cooperation, and communication.

Materials: Large sheets of paper, markers or colored pencils

Instructions: Divide students into groups of 3-4. Each group starts with a blank sheet of paper and a marker. The first student starts by drawing a simple shape or line on the paper. Pass the paper to the next student, who adds to the drawing. Continue passing and adding to the drawing until all students in the group have contributed.

7. Story Starters Relay

Objective: To enhance creativity, cooperation, and storytelling abilities.

Instructions: Prepare a list of story starters (sentences that initiate a story). Divide students into teams and line them up. The first student in each line receives a story starter and must start telling a story based on it. After a short time (e.g., 30 seconds), the teacher signals for students to pass the story starter to the next team member. Each student adds a sentence to continue the story. The last student in each line concludes the story and shares it with the class.

8. Circle of Compliments

Objective: To boost self-esteem and promote positive interactions.

Instructions: Have students stand in a circle. Explain that each student will give a genuine compliment to the person on their right. The compliments should focus on positive traits, skills, or qualities. Continue until each student has given and received a compliment.

9. Tower of Support

Objective: To foster collaboration and physical teamwork.

Instructions: Divide students into teams. Provide each team with newspapers and tape. Instruct teams to build the tallest tower using only newspapers and tape. The catch: the tower must support an empty plastic cup at the top. Set a time limit for the challenge. Test the stability of the towers by placing cups on top.

10. Emoji Charades

Objective: To promote non-verbal communication and creativity.

Instructions: Create a list of emojis representing different actions, emotions, or objects. Divide students into teams. One student from each team selects an emoji and acts it out without speaking. The team members must guess the correct emoji within a time limit. Rotate players within the team for each round.

11. Name Chain Reaction

Objective: To practice name recall and concentration.

Instructions: Have students stand in a circle. The first student says their name aloud and performs a simple action (e.g., claps hands). The second student repeats the first student’s name and action and adds their own. Continue around the circle, with each student reciting all previous names and actions before adding their own. See if the group can maintain the chain without mistakes.

12. Group Memory Game:

Objective: To improve memory and team coordination.

Instructions: Prepare a tray with a selection of small objects (e.g., pencil, eraser, coin, paperclip). Display the tray to students for a brief period (e.g., 30 seconds). Cover the tray and give each team a piece of paper. Teams write down as many objects as they remember from the tray. The team with the most correct objects wins.

End of Year Activities and Games : No-prep, Easy to Print

It’s June, the most wonderful month. For students, but mostly for teachers. We really need that break. Here are a couple of end of school activities that will help with that,

But before you start sipping that cocktail by the pool, have some fun with your students if you can. In some countries, students returned to school at the beginning of June to wrap things up. Use the last couple of days to connect with your students and enjoy your time together. Here are some quick and simple end of year activities and games for ESL classes.

No-prep end of school activities

Picture dictation

Students work in pairs. One has a picture (any picture from a textbook, their own photos on phone, whatever) and describes the picture to their partner who has to draw the picture as accurately as possible. Entertaining activity for future artists.

Picture description

A variation of the previous activity. Students choose a couple of photos(appropriate) from their phones and describe it to each other. Works great as a quick warm-up.

Write a survey

Tell the students to each write 10 questions for a class survey. Give them a topic (summer holidays, hobbies, habits, future, etc). When they have written the questions let them survey each other and report their results at the end of the lesson. They love to talk about themselves! Who doesn’t, right?

Dictionary game

Tell the students to use a dictionary(an app, online, or paper) and find a couple of words they don’t know. For each of the words they need to write down the original definition of the word and make up two more definitions that are false. Thy then work in groups of three or four and read their definitions to their classmates who have to guess the right definition. They get a point for every correct guess. This is a fun guessing game that is also great for learning new vocabulary.

Draw a giraffe

This is another activity for aspiring artists. Two students sit with their backs to each other. Each will have a paper and a pencil/pen. Their task is to draw a giraffe or any other animal or an object, but each of them has to draw only a half of the final image. They can’t see what the other one is drawing so they have to communicate, how to draw it. It’s a lot of fun and the students can have an exhibition of the finished drawings and comment on them.

Plan a holiday trip

Put the students in pairs and tell them they have to plan a trip for the summer. They have to plan the whole itinerary and come with a budget for that trip. Hiking in the French Alps? A cruise in the Caribbean? Everything is possible!

Guess who I am

You’ll need a self-stick pad and a pen. Put the students in groups of four. They will write a name of a famous person or literary character(on anything else) on the self-stick note and stick it onto the forehead of a person sitting next to them so nobody know what is written there. They have to ask yes/no questions to guess the personality. A classic!

*Prince William plays post-it note game on charity visit. Source: The Telegraph*

Mini presentations

Give each student two slips of paper. Tell them to write down a topic they would like to discuss. When they are done, take ale the slips of paper, put them in a bin or a hat and have students each draw a slip. Tell them that they will have to give a short presentation on the topic. Give them 2 minutes to think about the topic, then put them in group of four. They will have each five minutes to present their topic. If there is time at the end of the lesson, have them ask follow up questions.

Print and play end of school activities

One minute talk

This is a very simple, no-prep activity. In pairs, students give each other a topic to talk about and they have to talk uninterrupted for a minute. It is more difficult than it sounds, especially with topics such as egg yolks, armpit hair o or shoe laces. If your students lack imagination, you can use these ideas: One Minute Talk Cards.

Role plays

Role-plays are fun, educational, great for shy students, creative, fun, and did I mention fun? You can create your own, look for some online or download these:

Role-plays about nature and the environment

Negotiation role-plays based on real life situations

Balderdash

Balderdash is a word bluffing game in which you write definitions for weird words. The definitions may or may not be correct. You will find more about the game and a free PDF in this link.

Discussion questions

Another classic activity. If you don’t want to waste time googling, you can download this 120 Conversation Starters activity.

Picture description

I’ve mention no-prep picture description activities above, for this activity you can download my free PDF resources:

Picture Prompts for Speaking

Creative Storytelling

Stories with a twist

This activity is a cross of telling a story, inventing your own and acting. I use famous stories with three or more characters so the kids can work in small groups. Then I assign the story and let them draw a card with a specific genre. You can download the activity with my stories here or prepare your own, using stories well known in your culture.

Stories with a Twist

Dominoes

A fun game of vocabulary dominoes. Students can work individually, in pairs or in teams. Great for vocabulary revision.

Travel Dominoes

Places Dominoes

Online end of school activities

Jeopardylabs

Everybody knows Jeopardy. So far, I was able to find any grammar or vocabulary revision quiz I needed. Lots of quizzes on many topics, but beware as the quality varies. You can create your own Jeopardy quiz and you can also assign your students a topic and let them create their own quiz to test their classmates’ knowledge.

Baamboozle

I use this site mostly with my younger learners as it doesn’t have many higher level grammar or vocabulary quizzes.
My tip: put your students in teams (max number of teams is 4), choose a quiz and let them play the Classic mode with the power up, it’s much more fun!

Quizizz

My favorite online quiz tool can be used to assign homework (this works great) or do solo practice. Very useful during lockdown, but also anytime. Assigning homework online in just a few clicks? The system checks it? The students see and track their progress? It gamiefies the learning process? What’s not to love!

Kahoot

If you don’t know Kahoot, you should definitely start using it. Right now! Kahoot is widely popular and it’s good to know that its creators made Premium available for free for the rest of the academic year. Try it out!

The Game Gal

Here you can find plenty of simple, family-friendly games. I mostly use the Word Generator for charades, pictionary and other games. The great thing is I only need my laptop and I project the words on the whiteboard, so the students don’t need computers.

ESL Taboo Cards: Printable Vocabulary Activity

Are you looking for a stimulating and entertaining method to increase your vocabulary and communication abilities in English? Take a look our ESL taboo card games below!

ESL Taboo is a frequently played game that’s designed for teams of two or more players. The goal is to get your teammates to guess a particular word or phrase without uttering a series of taboo words or phrases that are closely linked to the target word. For instance, if the target word is “banana,” the taboo words could be “fruit,” “yellow,” and “peel.”

Using ESL taboo cards in your classroom is an excellent method to stimulate your students’ minds and broaden their vocabulary range. It’s also an ideal opportunity to develop communication skills like expressing ideas with clarity, actively listening to others, and providing feedback.

To play, split your class into teams and give each group a pack of taboo cards. One member of each team draws a card and attempts to get their teammates to guess the target word without using any of the taboo words or phrases. If their teammates guess correctly, the team earns a point. If they use a taboo word or phrase, the other team earns a point.

ESL taboo cards can be used to practice various topics and themes, such as food, travel, hobbies, and more. You can also generate your own cards based on your class’s specific needs and interests.

So why not add a dash of spice to your ESL classes with a game of Taboo? It’s an amusing, effective, and engaging way to improve your students’ English language abilities while having fun in the process. And who knows, you might even learn a few new words and phrases yourself.

Here are our favorite taboo games:

Science&Techology NEW!

Food

Health

Nature and Environment

Other vocabulary activities:

ESL Vocabulary Quizzes and Games

ESL/EFL Vocabulary Activity: Travel Compound Nouns Dominoes

ESL Game Compound Nouns Dominoes: Town and Countryside

15 Back to School Activities: Icebreakers, Warm-ups, and Energizers

Fun and easy-to-use back to school activities

1) Learn your students’ names

New class, new faces, new names – a mess. This back to school activity has saved me multiple times. You can learn 30 new names in minutes, kids have fun and they painlessly learn new adjectives. Start by explaining how difficult it is for teachers to learn students’ names and that you need their help. At the end of the activity let them test you- they will be thrilled. Students need to introduce themselves by an adjective that starts with the same letter as their first name. You start by giving an example: My name is Al, so I am Artistic Al. The first student has to repeat your name after you – You are Artistic Al, and add their own – I am Hilarious Hannah. The second student repeats the previous names and adds their own, and so on. At the end of the round, ask the first student(who had the easiest task) to say all the names backward. Finally, say all their names quickly(with or without the adjectives). Congrats, you’ve learned your new students’ names!

2) Oh, really?

Put the students in pairs and tell them they will have a conversation. The first student has to start with a short sentence, like this:

Student 1: I play tennis.

The other student responds: Oh, really?, and adds extra information( a word or a phrase).

So it should be like this: Oh, really? I play tennis every day.

Student 1 continues: Oh, really? I play tennis every day with Serena Williams.

Student 2 responds: Oh, really? I play tennis every day with Serena Williams in Monaco.

Student 1 responds: Oh, really? I play tennis every day with Serena Williams in Monaco while feeding dolphins.

And so on. Can they keep up?

The student who will form the longest grammatically correct (and at least a little bit coherent) answer wins.

3) Questionnaire

Have your students write a questionnaire. Chose a subject(summer holiday, school, hobbies, general personality questions) or let them decide. After that, students circulate the classroom and ask their questions. They should talk to 4-5 people. When they finish, ask them to share any interesting answers, it usually leads to lively discussions.

Unfinished sentences ESL speaking activity is great for revising grammar, as a warm-up or a conversation starter.

It can be used with groups of various sizes as well as in one to one classes.

4) Unfinished sentences

Unfinished sentences ESL speaking activity is great for revising grammar, as a warm-up or a conversation starter. It’s a perfect back to school activity.

It can be used with groups of various sizes as well as in one to one classes.

Finish the sentence. Tell your story.

1. I was very surprised when__________________________________________________.

2. What I value most about my friends is_____________________________________.

3. I really regret_______________________________________________________________.

4. One of my favourite childhood memories is_______________________________.

5. I could never_______________________________________________________________

5) Find someone who

You can easily find tons of these worksheets online or just put together a couple of ideas.

Find somebody

-who doesn’t like chocolate.
-who is vegan.
-who has a tattoo.
-who speaks more than 2 languages.
-who’s never flown before.
-who wants to be famous.
-who has a special talent.

6) Vocabulary race

This is probably more suitable for younger kids. Put them into two teams, divide the board into two sections, give them a topic and let them run a relay with the marker to write as many words on the topic they know.

7) Get physical- Gordian knot

This activity doesn’t involve any language practice but it is great for kids who don’t know each other, to break the ice and create a positive atmosphere. It also shows you how the students communicate, who is a natural leader and how they deal with problems, so it’s quite useful.

You need an even number of students for this. The students stand in a tight circle. Tell them to close their eyes. Then they put their left hand in front of them and try to grab any free hand they can find. Eyes still closed. Repeat the same with the right hand. Eyes open. They should be intertwined – hence the Gordian knot. Without letting any hand go, they should untangle the knot and form a circle. Sometimes there are two or three smaller circles when they grabbed a hand right next to them. That’s ok, they will work it out after a couple of attempts.

8) Conversation questions

This speaking activity contains 50 ESL conversation questions for teenagers and adult learners. (16+, B1+). It is best for small groups or as a pair-work.

Conversation questions

9) One minute talk

This is a very simple, no-prep activity. In pairs, students give each other a topic to talk about and they have to talk uninterrupted for a minute. It is more difficult than it sounds, especially with dry topics such as door, socks, or air. If your students lack imagination, you can use these ideas: One Minute Talk Cards.

10) What do they have in common?

This is mostly an activity you can use with new students, but it can be also used in larger classes where the students don’t know each other that well. Put students who don’t know (or don’t know well) each other into pairs and tell them to find out 3-5 things they have in common and 1-2 things they don’t have in common. Let them talk to more people. After that, discuss with the whole class what surprising or interesting things they’ve found out about their classmates.

11) Online quizzes

If your students like technology, you can use some fun interactive activities. You can find a list of 10 great sites here: 10 Websites To Make Your Lessons More Engaging And Fun.

12) Hypothetical questions

These conversation questions are more suitable for more advanced students as the questions are hypothetical, so it requires a knowledge of conditionals and a certain level of creativity. These can be also used for online classes.

Click here.

13) Vocabulary: taboo

A timeless classic! If you have time, you can make your own, if not try these:

Media/Entertainment Taboo Cards,
Travel/Holiday Vocabulary Cards
Health Taboo Cards
Food Taboo Cards.

14) Get them to know each other

A timer, fifteen questions and a lot of fun. A classroom appropriate variation of speed dating. Arrange the desks so that two students sit at one desk facing each other. Give each a set of “speed dating” questions. You can download a set here. Set a timer for a couple of minutes, and when the time’s up one student moves and another sits in their place.

15) Mini presentations

ESL conversation topics for intermediate and upper intermediate students. You can use the slideshow and share your screen on Zoom or other app when teaching online. Just click on the full screen option in the top right corner of the slideshow.

Click here.

More ideas for back to school activities

Storytelling Cards: Imaginative Speaking and Writing Activity

I’ve decided that you deserve a little treat. Read on and find all about it. It’s almost Christmas after all and you’ve been working hard.

We love stories. We have always loved them.

When our ancestors sat by the fire they told stories of mighty warriors, immortal gods, or wicked witches.

Stories are fascinating. And they are a powerful teaching tool.

This storytelling activity will save you tons of prepping time!

Storytelling Cards can be used as a fun and imaginative speaking activity for groups or for creative writing assignments.

There are thousands of possible variations and no two stories will be the same. The recommended level of English is A2-B1 and it is suitable for students aged 12+.

With Storytelling Cards they will be able to create hundreds of wonderful stories.

The aim of the game is to tell(or write) a story using the prompts on the cards. There are five types of cards:

12 Character cards
12 Activity cards
12 Object cards
12 Place cards
12 Problem cards

I’ve mentioned a treat before, haven’t I? Well, you deserve one. So here you go. You can get the Storytelling Cards with a 25% discount.

Click below to reveal the discount code. The code is valid until December 24th.

[spbcta_sc id=1]

Other resources:

Improvisation Cards: ESL Speaking Activity

ESL Speaking Activity: Conversation Cards

Fluent English: Effective Tips on How To Speak Fluently

ESL/EFL Speaking Activity: Role Play Debate

12 ESL Negotiation Role-plays: Real-life situations

ESL Reported Speech Speaking Activity: Gossip

ESL Video Lesson Based on Netflix Docuseries “The Mind, Explained”

Modal verbs: Use, Examples, and Conversation Questions

20 Fun Discussion Questions for (Not Only) the ESL Classroom

I don’t know about your corner of the world, but here in Central Europe summer has arrived with full force. It’s scorching hot. I finally understand the 3-hour siesta they have in some countries. Who would want to move, or think in this heat? So I cut my students some slack, we play scrabble and have fun. The testing is over, the school term ends in a few days, field trips have been canceled because of Covid-19, there is not much left to do. And did I mention it’s boiling hot and our building doesn’t have AC? Right, so let’s have som fun.

This speaking activity contains 25 fun ESL discussion questions for teenagers and adult learners. (16+, B1+). It is best for small groups or as a pair-work.

The slideshow can be used as a resource for online teaching, just share your screen on Zoom or other app when teaching online. Click on the full screen option in the top right corner of the slideshow and your whole group can discuss or if you want to use the activity in smaller groups, assign your students into breakout rooms and send them the PDF with the discussion questions before your lesson. During the lesson, pop into the breakout rooms to listen in and observe.

Slideshow

[h5p id=”18″]

1. What’s the closest thing to real magic?

2 .Who is the messiest person you know?

3. What will finally break the internet?

4. What’s the most useless talent you have?

5. Where is the worst smelling place you’ve been?

6. What celebrity would you rate as a perfect 10?

7. What’s a body part that you wouldn’t mind losing?

8. What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?

9. Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life?

10. What are the best and worst purchases you’ve ever made?

1. If you had to change your name, what would your new name be, and why would you choose that name?

2. What are some things that sound like compliments but are actually insults?

3. What’s your biggest screw up in the kitchen?

4. What’s the worst commercial you’ve recently seen? Why is it so bad?

5. What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done?

6. When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?

7. What elements of pop culture will be forever tied in your mind to your childhood?

8. If you could know the absolute and total truth to one question, what question would you ask?

9. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?

10 .What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing?

20 Fun Questions to Discuss in the ESL ClassroomDownload

The questions for this activity are used with the kind permission of C.B. Daniels of Conversation Starters World.

Other ESL resources:

Conversation Starters: 30 Interesting Conversation Questions Not Only For ESL Students

Conversation Questions Gerunds and Infinitives: ESL Speaking Activity

30 Hypothetical Conversation Questions for ESL Students

Conversation Questions Gerunds and Infinitives: ESL Speaking Activity

ESL Exam Speaking Picture Description and Questions

Quiz: Which Teacher Are You? Do You Teach Like Einstein or Montessori?

Is your teaching style or personality similar to one of the famous teachers? Let’s find out!

[h5p id=”13″]

Which famous teacher are you? Share your results with your friends!

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was an Italian educator and originator of the educational system that bears her name. The Montessori system is based on belief in the creative potential of children, their drive to learn, and the right of each child to be treated as an individual.

Anne Sullivan

Anne Sullivan was an American teacher of Helen Keller, widely recognized for her achievement in educating to a high level a person without sight, hearing, or normal speech.

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was an American writer, trailblazer and teacher noted for her examination of Black experience (particularly Black female experience) within the Black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis was an Irish-born scholar, novelist and teacher. His works of greatest lasting fame may be The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven children’s books that have become classics of fantasy literature.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born physicist who, before he got famous, struggled to find a job as a teacher. In 1908, he was hired as a lecturer at the University of Bern. A year after he got the position of a lecturer at the University of Bern, he was appointed to the position of associate professor of physics at the University of Zurich.
He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

Try also:

ESL Fun Culture Quizzes

Engaging Online Teaching: ESL Activities and Games

Online ESL Video Lesson : Can Sci-fi Predict the Future?

ESL Video Lesson Based on Netflix Docuseries “The Mind, Explained”

Other resoources:

English Speaking Practice: 20 Conversation Topics

Conversation Starters: 30 Interesting Conversation Questions Not Only For ESL Students

30 Hypothetical Conversation Questions for ESL Students

12 ESL Negotiation Role-plays: Real-life situations

ESL Speaking Activity: Conversation Cards

Engaging Online Teaching: ESL Activities and Games

Here are a couple of ideas for online teaching ESL activities and games that can be assigned to students so they can work independently as well as used during your video meeting.

1. Artist in your own home

Students have to take 10 photos of anything they consider beautiful. You can even assign a topic, e.g. envirnment, nature, fashion, architecture, food. They can edit it in any program if they want, create a collage, anything. Ideally they create a PDF booklet with the 10 photos and a description of each photo. You can share the best photos/booklets on school website/social media.

2. Scavenger hunt

It’s a shame I haven’t know Flippity until recently, but never mind, better late than never. Flippity is a site which allows you to change Goggle Spreadsheets in to funny little games, including Scavenger Hunt. It’s really easy, you download/make a copy of a chosen template, change the information into whatever you want, save, publish a share the link to your students.

3. Research&Survey

Assign the students a topic which they will have to research online using reliable sources.They will also have to create a survey and collect data on the topic (they could conduct online interviews with classmates, friends, share the survey on social media, etc). After that they will report their findings in the medium of their choice( an article, a report, a presentation, an infographic, a poster, a video, etc.)

4. Create a Kahoot quiz

Why should you do all the hard work? Have your students create their own Kahoot quizzes. Whatever grammar or vocabulary they are learning at the moment can be reviewed painlessly. The best thing is, they will learn twice. First time, when they create their quiz, and second time when they play their classmates’ quizzes. You can choose one or two quizzes to be played online for the whole group via Zoom or any other software you are using. Assign the rest of the quizzes to be played as a challenge.

5. Quizlet

Quizlet needs no introduction, but besides using it for independent student work, you could also use it for your Zoom classes. I use it to create discussion questions or speaking prompts so I can easily share it on my screen. Students always see only one question/prompt, so they focus more. It’s super easy to prepare and when you are pressed for time, you can use a couple of my discussion sets on different topics.

Other resources

Online ESL Video Lesson : Can Sci-fi Predict the Future?

TEDtalk Video ESL Lesson Plan: What Makes Something Go Viral

TED Talk ESL Video Lesson Plan: How To Grow New Brain Cells

Digital and Online Teaching Resources for Teachers Who Teach English from Home

Balderdash: ESL Speaking Game

Balderdash is a word bluffing game in which you write definitions for weird words. The definitions may or may not be correct.

The ESL variation of the game is played very similarly. The PDF which you can download below, contains words that are balderdash, or nonsense. At least they seem to be. They are actually real words that sound silly. Each word has a real definition, the students will have to come up with two more definitions and the bluffing will begin.

If you like the game and would like to play the original, there are plenty of the game versions on Amazon. This one is the original Game. Or you can try this One.

How I played the game with my students:

Put the students in groups of three or four.
Give them the words that you cut into cards.
Each student draws a card.
They will read the true definition of the word and make up two more definitions which are not true.
They read three definitions of the word and the other students guess which definition is correct.
The student who guesses the correct definition gets a point.

ESL Game: Balderdash

Argle-bargle — (adj) copious but meaningless talk or writing

Bibble — (v) to drink often; to eat and/or drink noisily

Yarborough — (n) hand of cards containing no card above a nine

Ratoon — (n) a small shoot growing from the root of a plant

Ulotrichous — (adj) having wooly or crispy hair

Bumfuzzle — (adj) confused, perplexed

Cabotage — (n) coastal navigation; the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders

Widdershins — (adj) a left-handed or contrary direction; counterclockwise

Poppycock — (n) nonsense

Discombobulate — (v) to disconcert of confuse

Salopettes — (n) high-waisted skiing pants with shoulder straps

Blatherskite — (n) a person who talks at great length without making much sense

Taradiddle — (n) pretentious nonsense

Finifugal — (adj) afraid of finishing anything

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15 Words That Came From Literature: Did You Know Their Origin?

How well-read are you?

These fifteen words can be traced to various literary work. How many of them did you read?

Check out this infographic from Visually to find more about their origin.

From Visually.