Group Work - EFL Ideas

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.

10 No-Prep and Low-Prep Fun ESL Christmas Activities

It’s the time of the year again!

I’m slowly getting into the Christmas mood, and nothing says Christmas more than music. Although I love listening to festive music mostly when I’m wrapping presents, planning a holiday lesson isn’t that bad either.

So grab a cup of tea or mulled wine, enjoy the music and let the creative juices flow. Or try these ESL Christmas activities.

Secret Santa

You know how this works, don’t you? Every student will become a Secret Santa to a classmate whose name they draw. The catch- they will not give each other sweets or other small gifts. The gifts these Secret Santas will be giving are a personalized poem or a short story for the lucky recipient.

Baked Goods Party

If possible, have the students bake something at home and take pictures of the process. The next day, everyone will bring what they baked and the students will take turns describing what and how they baked it. Think of it as a show and tell Christmas Edition. Plus, there will be sharing and tasting.

Charity Auction

Let the students choose a charity they want to contribute to. The next day, they will bring stuff they don’t need or don’t use for the auction. Decide on the starting price and minimum bid. Each student will describe the product they are selling. The students love outbidding each other and the will learn about helping others.

Christmas Taboo

Taboo is a classic vocabulary activity. You can download the Christmas version below.

Christmas Taboo Cards

Christmas Traditions Presentations

Each student chooses a country and will prepare a presentation about the Christmas traditions of the chosen country (or any major holiday if the country doesn’t celebrate Christmas)

Christmas Movie and Discussion

Why not watch a short Christmas movie? Or download our Advent Activity Calendar for even more activity ideas.

Advent Activity Calendar

Christmas Songs Complete the Lyrics

Find a couple of popular Christmas songs, copy the lyrics, erase some words and you’ll have a nice Christmas listening activity. And an earworm!

Christmas Charades

Prepare small slips of paper
Put the students into groups of three or four
Let them write vocabulary related to Christmas on the slips of paper(or use the Christmas taboo cards)
The groups exchange the vocabulary piles
In groups, they take turns and draw one paper slip at a time. They have to act out the word or expression for the group to guess

Bucket List

Depending on the age of your students, tell them to think about the things they would like to achieve by a certain age( 15,18,25,30). Have them write a list containing ten things they want to achieve, do, experience before that certain age. When they complete the list, put them into groups of three to discuss their choices.

Christmas Postcards

Cut drawing paper into postcard-sized pieces. Students first draw a Christmas postcard and then write a short holiday greeting to a member of their family or a friend. They’ve probably never written a postcard before. If you want, you can arrange for the postcards to be sent. It will be a nice Christmas surprise.

I hope you liked these ESL Christmas activities. Share your favorite ideas in the comments!

Christmas Vocabulary: ESL Taboo Cards

Another set of popular vocabulary game based on Taboo. This time, Christmas vocabulary. You know the drill, download, print, cut, and let your students have some fun while learning.

Download here>>>>>christmas-forbidden-words1

While you plan your holiday activities, enjoy this timeless classic.

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Other Forbidden Words card sets:

Travel/Holiday Vocabulary Cards

Media/Entertainment Vocabulary Card Game Based on Taboo.

Business English Vocabulary Card Game | Forbidden Words

Other resources:

Taboo Card Games

10 No-Prep and Low-Prep Fun ESL Christmas Activities

Storytelling Card Game

Last Days ESL Activities and Games : No-prep, Easy to Print

Negotiation Role-plays

Advent Calendar for ESL Students: 24 Ideas To Make Your Lesson Even More Fun!

Who doesn’t like Christmas?

This is my twist on a traditional advent calendar.

You will need a Christmas stocking, 24 slips of paper and your creativity!

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

50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teens and Adults

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

This activity contains 50 questions and a YouTube video, so students can practice listening to real language and you can also play the game from the video with your students in your classroom. Scroll down for the ESL conversation questions activity, and the video.

The slideshow can be used as a resource for online teaching, just share your screen on Zoom or another 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 conversation questions before your lesson. During the lesson, pop into the breakout rooms to listen in and observe.

Slideshow

[h5p id=”14″]

50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teens and Adults

1. You have to save the world tomorrow, who’s in your team?

2. What is your favorite summertime memory? Why?

3. Who do you think impacted your personality the most? Why?

4. What is your go-to skill in a talent show?

5. When was the last time you did something new?

6. What are you passionate about?

7. What makes you laugh the most?

8. What is best about being an adult?

9. What is best about being a teenager?

10. What is your favorite smell?

11. When was the last time you cried because you laughed too hard?

12. What are you most self-conscious about?

13. If you had 24 hours to live what would you do?

14. What have you started that you didn’t finish? Why?

15. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

16. Road trip or flying?

17. What is your favorite childhood memory?

18. Who is the one person you can always count on?

19. Sunset or Sunrise?

20. What quote would you tattoo on yourself and where?

**Want more speaking resources? Try these role-play activities.**

21. What inspires you?

22. What always makes you smile?

23. If you could be any character (book/movie/TV) who would it be?

24. What accomplishment of yours are you most proud of?

25. Where would you live for a year if money were no object?

26. What is your go-to karaoke song?

27. Star Wars or Star Trek…or neither?

28. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

29. If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

30. Do you believe people can truly change?

31. What problem are you currently grappling with?

32. What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

33. What is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

34. Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up?

35. Name something that is completely overrated.

36. Is it better to be loved or to love?

37. If you had to choose only one, love or money?

38. What do you miss the most about being a kid?

39. Who do you wish you could get back into contact with?

40. What is the kindest thing you’ve ever done for someone else?

41. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

42. What makes you feel really alive?

43. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

44. What are you thankful for at this very moment?

45. Would you rather be in space or under the sea?

46. What is your favorite family tradition?

47. Where do you want to be in 10 years?

48. What would your friends be surprised you like to do?

49. When was the last time you gazed at the stars?

50. What is the one meal you never get tired of eating?

50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teenagers and AdultsDownload

Watch a video where teens agree/disagree with various statements

In this video, teens express how strongly they agree/disagree with different statements. The statement appears on screen and students indicate their responses by stepping into lanes representing how they feel about the questions. Some of the students are then asked to explain their answers.

You can pause the video after every question and ask your students to answer it one by one, or you can play the variation of the game in your classroom.

Other resources to practice speaking:

ESL Exam Speaking Picture Description and Questions

ESL Conversation Topics: 12 Mini Presentations

Conversation Questions: Present Perfect and Past Simple

Balderdash: ESL Speaking Game

Unfinished Sentences ESL Speaking Activity

ESL Reported Speech Speaking Activity: Gossip

Other:

ExamLabs

How to Spot Fake News: ESL Lesson Plan

This fake news lesson plan is based on one of the fabulous teaching resources created by EAVI. EAVI is a non-profit organization based in Brussels. They work to empower individuals to be active, engaged citizens in today’s increasingly challenging media environment.

When teaching news and media vocabulary, one has a great opportunity to teach critical thinking. The online world is full of disinformation, hoaxes, and fake news. We have the power to equip our students not only with language skills but also critical thinking skills.

Critical thinking with students means that they can take information and analyze it, draw conclusions, form and defend opinions with data to back it up, reflect on their work, and approach problems in a systematic way.

In this lesson plan, students will:

research information
determine the importance of arguments
evaluate arguments
solve problems
cooperate
critically reflect on their own assumptions and beliefs

I recommend this activity for older students(16+), after teaching media and news vocabulary.

Fake news lesson plan

Warm-up

Introduce the topic of fake news and hoaxes by a group discussion. You could ask these questions:

What is a hoax?
What is fake news?
What hoaxes have you read about, seen online, shared?
How did you know it wasn’t true?
What can you do if you are not sure that the information is true?
Can hoaxes and fake news be dangerous? Why?

Put students into groups of 2 or 3
Distribute copies of the Le sson Plan and Beyond the Headlines Poster to students.
Students then analyze their content according to each of the 20 points and 1 bonus question using online search tools to investigate(I let students use their mobile phones/laptops, or they can use the school computers)
When they have finished, ask each group to present their content and their findings in front of the class and write their final score on the board
Compare the lowest and highest scores the groups received and discuss how everyone came to their own conclusions about their content

FAKE NEWS?

Scientists agree that global warming is a hoax
Russia claims it can wipe out the US Navy with an electronic bomb.
Putin issues arrest warrant for financial terrorist George Soros.
A passenger was allowed onto a flight after airport security confiscated his bomb.
The US government has confirmed that cannabis can kill cancer cells.
Professor Boyle believes that coronavirus is a biowarfare weapon, genetically modified for killing people.

Lesson Plan Download

Beyond the Headlines Poster Download

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

ESL-Game-Balderdash Download

Improvisation Cards: ESL Speaking Activity

This is a very simple improvisation ESL activity that promotes speaking and helps develop improvisation skills and creativity.

Print the worksheet and cut the cards. There are two types of cards: unfinished sentences/questions, and crazy/funny/unusual objects.
Put the cards into two separate piles.
Put the students into pairs or groups and give each pair/group both piles.
Students take turns and draw a card first from the sentence pile and then from the object pile. They create a statement, question or a speaking prompt.
Set a time limit( from one to five minutes, depending on the level of the group)
When the student successfully speaks for the set amount of time, they keep their cards.
The student with the highest number of cards is the winner.

Download the Improvisation Cards ESL Speaking Activity below. PDF for easy printing.

What is your opinion on_____________?	What would happen if_________________ hit your house at night?
I really like____________ because……….	Have you ever heard of______. No? So, listen…
I will tell you something about________________.	I can’t imagine my life without_________________.
What do I think about________________? Well,…	The only thing I’ve ever wanted was ____________because….
I’m really afraid of_____________because…..	I love____________________.
I hate____________________.	Our planet will be destroyed by___________.
The only thing that can save our planet is_____________.	Have you seen that movie about__________? No? It was………….
_______________is my favourite music group.	I’m an expert on____________________.
Once I stole____________.	I woke up in the middle of the night and saw____________.

very hairy dwarfs	slime balls
monkey brains	talking dogs
unicorns	intelectual penguins
Daenerys Targaryen	my parent’s clones
Billie Eilish	snakes and spider
dirty toes	giant meatballs
singing flamingos	joking pandas
shy polar bears	time machine
mad scientists	sneezing dinosaurs
vegan cavemen	toothless sharks
dancing dragons	Viking Gods

Improvisation Cards ESL Speaking Activity Download

ESL Reported Speech Speaking Activity: Gossip

This is a fun ESL/EFL reported speech speaking activity which I like to throw in when the students start to feel tired and bored by the theory and dull practice exercises.

It is a great activity to energize them while practising reported speech in the most natural way – gossiping. Not prep and a lot of fun.

Let’s gossip!

Ask students if they like to gossip. Most of them do.
Ask them to tell you some of the latest gossips they’ve heard. They’ll get excited, so keep it short.
Explain that they are going to play a game of gossip. Tell them to prepare a gossip (it’s best not to use real gossip as someone might get offended). It can be about celebrities, friends, classmates, teachers(that’s one of the favourites).
Give each student a copy of the worksheet and explain that they will talk to each other and gossip. Every time they hear a new gossip they write down the name of the person who told them and the gossip itself.
Allow them to gossip for 10-15 minutes, depending on the class size.
When they get back to their seats, tell them to report the gossips they’ve heard into the reported gossip column.
When they are ready, ask them to report the gossips they’ve heard.
Be prepared to hear some shocking news!

Esl Reported Speech Speaking Activity: Gossip Download

You might also like:

ESL Speaking Activity: Conversation Cards

ESL Speaking Activity: Conditional Discussion Questions

ESL/EFL Speaking Activity: Role Play Debate

Ridiculous Holiday Complaints: Reading And Speaking(Role-play) ESL Lesson Plan