Tag: EFL

Bean Boozled in ESL Classroom: A Funny Way to Warm Up, Engage And Motivate Your Students.

Who doesn’t like jelly beans? Most kids love them. Why not use that love for them in your classroom?

I’m sure most of you know the naughty version of Jelly Beans- Bean Boozled. It is a game which features a spin wheel and 14 different flavours of the jelly beans. 7 of the flavours are weird and wild and quite disgusting, especially rotten egg or dog food, others are more or less harmless, like toothpaste and lawn clippings. The other 7 flavours are regular jelly beans: peach, coconut, lime, etc.

The fun thing is, the seven regular flavour look identical to the other seven disgusting flavours. Can you tell them apart? You spin the wheel, which shows you what colour you have to eat. Will it be tasty lime or lawn clippings?

So far, it sounds fun, but what can you do with this game at your ESL/EFL lessons?

Plenty of things. I used it for the first time as an icebreaker in September, during that first lesson when everyone feels awkward and uncomfortable. I prepared a set of quiz questions, mine was general knowledge but you can make it anything you want: tenses, vocabulary, spelling, etc.

I asked a student a question and when they didn’t answer correctly they had to spin the wheel and eat a jelly bean. It was exciting because they didn’t know what flavour they would get, so they tried to answer correctly as the game progressed, hence the motivation.

You can use it as an energizer when your students seem in need of a little excitement and fun. It can be used at the end of the lesson as a filler, or as a form of a reward after a difficult test. You can also hack the spin wheel and add different questions to each section. If the student answers correctly, they don’t have to eat the jelly (or they can, if they want to risk it). If they can’t answer the question correctly, they have to eat the jelly.

My favourite way how to use it is to let them write the questions, and I mostly use it for vocabulary revision. I prepare vocabulary cards on certain topic and each of the cards contains the word which they need to explain and colour of the jelly bean.

They spin the wheel, and if they can’t explain the word they have to eat the bean of the matching colour. Which can be delicious or quite sickening. Just make sure the kids are ok with this kind of game and have some tissues ready, some spitting may occur!

Other games and speaking activities:

28 Conversation Starters

Role plays- Travel

 

 

Online Vocabulary Activity With Pictures.

I want to share with you a fun activity which I found on the website of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It is called Name That Thing, and that is exactly what you do. They show you a picture of an everyday object or a part of it and you have to choose the correct word. Sometimes, the object is not that familiar, like for example flying buttress. 

You will have 15 seconds to guess each word and the faster you are the higher the points. The game is a lot of fun and a great way how to learn new vocabulary.

There are also many other games, quizzes, crosswords, and puzzles. Have fun!

Some more vocabulary activities for ESL students  >>>Travel/Holiday Vocabulary Cards, Media/Entertainment Vocabulary Card Game Based on Taboo, Business English Vocabulary Card Game | Forbidden Words,

Business English Vocabulary Card Game | Forbidden Words

Forbidden Words is a game card activity based on Taboo. The aim of the game is to explain given words, but without those words that you would most likely use because those are taboo – that means, you can’t use them. The simplicity of this game allows for endless variations and you can use it to teach any vocabulary you wish. This is a Business English Vocabulary game for adults and teenagers.

This version contains 27 cards, each with 5 words, which gives you together 105 words you can use for teaching or revision with your students.

Each card contains one keyword (the word you have to explain) and 4 forbidden words which may not be used when explaining the keyword. If it is too difficult to explain the keyword without using forbidden words, you can allow your students to use one or more of the forbidden words.

Download  >>>> Business Vocabulary Card Game I Forbidden Words

Download Travel card game >>>>Travel&Holidays

Download Media card game >>>>Media Card Game

28 ESL/EFL Conversation Starters to Spark Conversation

There are not enough conversation questions in the resource universe to satisfy the needs of an average EFL/ESL teacher. We need more, more! Especially, when you teach one-on-one, the search for good questions can be excruciating.

I put together 28 questions which can help the conversation to get going. Some of them are closed questions, they can be answered by yes or no, but it should be made clear before you start the activity that the students are not allowed to do that.

I suggest that they talk about each question for about 2 minutes, and only after that time the teacher can ask follow-up questions.

Some of the questions can be viewed as a bit controversial, so I recommend you use them with adults or older students.

Download >>>28 Conversation Starters

You can also try my other speaking activity >>>> Role plays- Travel

Make Game Quizzes For ESL Lessons

My younger students are very competitive and playful, and I love that about them. It is great to see that they are engaged and immersed in the activity, that they are having fun; and that they don’t even realise they are learning.

I am always in need of new resources, games, flash cards, you name it! Sometimes, I make my own, you can download them here: Media Card Game, Restaurant Menu Pair Work,  Travel&Holidays Card Game, Role plays- Travel. Another time, I happily turn to many online resources an ESL teacher can use. The one I recently used to revise reported speech, is Jeopardy Labs. It is an online template builder which allows you to build customised jeopardy (or a basic quiz game) template. It has a very simple, intuitive editor and when you have no time to build your own, you can browse games created by other people.  I got tons of results when I searched for reported speech and there are plenty of quizzes on other subjects, too!

I haven’t written the best part yet; you can create up to 12 teams, you can download the game and play it later directly from your web browser (so no internet needed for playing the game), it counts the points automatically (you just click the green plus button, or red minus button). Each game has 5 categories and from 100 to 500 points which you can assign according to the question difficulty. It has a clean, simple design, it is absolutely easy to use and I love it. Try it too and let me know what you think!

Media/Entertainment Vocabulary Card Game Based on Taboo.

 

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts 3 Board Games You Can Use In The Classroom, I love using games with my students and Taboo style cards are one of my favourite ways of revising vocabulary.

The last downloadable pdf worksheet covered Travel&Holidays for Intermediate and Upper Intermediate students. This time I needed some media and movie vocabulary cards to use with my younger students as part of a pre-test revision. I created a downloadable, easy to use PDFworksheet. Just download, print, cut and you are ready to go!

Every word has 3 forbidden words and if it is too difficult to explain the word without using those, you can allow your students to use one or more of the forbidden words. Download the PDF version of the game for free here:

Media Card Game

 

ESL Role Play Worksheet: Travel/Holidays

There is no such thing as enough role play activities and worksheets! I’ve recently gone over Travel vocabulary with my Intermediate and Upper Intermediate students and I love doing these speaking activities at the end of the lesson.

In my previous article, I included my own version of the Taboo card game on the topic of Travel/Holidays. This ESL role play worksheet  contains 5 role-playing dialogues dealing with various issues you may experience during your holiday. Just cut the cards and you are ready to go.

ESL Role-play Worksheet: Travel

A1: You are a receptionist of a 5* hotel. You are very polite and you can deal with annoyed guests. Try to calm down the guest and solve any issues they have. Try to avoid calling the manager.

B1: You are a wealthy businessman staying at a 5* hotel. You are used to quality service and luxury, but this hotel doesn’t offer it. The room is too small, staff is rude, AC is noisy. You want to talk to the manager.

A2: You rent out a flat on Airbnb, and you have been a very popular host so far. Now you have guests who are unhappy about many things. They want to leave and a refund. Persuade them to stay.

B2: You have used Airbnb before and you never experienced any problems. This time you are very unhappy. The flat is far from the sea, far from the centre, it doesn’t have a balcony and hot water isn’t working.You want to leave and a full refund.

A3: You work in a travel agency. Help your clients to chose an ideal holiday. Ask about their budget, preferences, and expectations. Offer advice, suggest different options. Try to persuade them to try an active, adventurous holiday.

B3: You are planning a holiday. Visit a travel agency and ask for help. Describe your ideal holiday, express your wishes, and ask about all the details. You want to relax, sunbathe and read books.

A4: You are a waiter in a local restaurant in an exotic destination. You serve traditional food which your customers don’t know. Explain what the food contains, talk about the ingredients, preparation, texture, etc.

B4: You are on a holiday in an exotic destination. You want to try some traditional food in a local restaurant, but the menu is not in English. Ask the waiter for advice. Find as much about the food as you can.

A5: You sell traditional handmade products on a local market. Praise your products, explain how they are made, if they have any functions or serve only as a decoration. Set your price high and try to sell at best price.

B5: You are visiting a local market, looking for gifts for you and your family. You like handmade, eco-friendly products. Ask a lot of questions and haggle the price down.

Download the PDF>>>>>Role plays- Travel

3 Board Games You Can Use In The Classroom.

I love playing games. My students love playing games. You can learn a lot by playing games and it is so much fun. It is a total win-win and what is best, it doesn’t require any preparation. You just grab the game and off you go, revising vocabulary, improving communication skills, fostering team spirit and mostly, enjoying it. What’s not to like?

Here are some board games I use with my students and I also included a PDF worksheet of my own game that my students love to play. You will find it at the end of this article and you can download it for free. You’re welcome!

1. Scrabble

The classic which never fails. Best played in groups of four, kids, teenagers, adults love this game. Simple rules, competitiveness and lots of words! You can also find Scrabble app on the App Store or  Google Play.

2. OrganATTACK

This is a new medical-themed card game which was created by Nick Seluk, the author of my favourite The Awkward Yeti webcomic. I liked the game so much that I even backed it on Kickstarter! It looks great, the organ cards are super cute and hilarious, the game itself is fun and easy to learn. Your aim is to remove your opponent’s organ before they remove yours. It is perfect for learning and revising medical-related vocabulary.

3. Taboo

Taboo is an excellent card game to learn and revise vocabulary, to practise speaking, train your brain to think fast and to be creative. The aim of the game is to explain given words, but without those words that you would most likely use because those are taboo – that means, you can’t use them. The simplicity of this game allows for endless variations and you can use it to teach any vocabulary you wish.

My version of the game covers Travel/Holidays, for Intermediate and Upper Intermediate students. Every word has 4 or 5 forbidden words and if it is too difficult to explain the word without using those, you can allow your students to use one or more of the forbidden words. Download the PDF version of the game for free here: Forbidden Words! Game. You can also try other topics such as:

Media/Entertainment Vocabulary Card Game Based on Taboo.

Business English Vocabulary Card Game | Forbidden Words

ESL Vocabulary Activity Based on Taboo: Food

ESL Vocabulary Activity. Forbidden Words: Health

Have fun!

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