ESL Group Work Activities - Archives

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

6 Fun Activities Exhausted ESL Teachers Will Appreciate At The End Of The Term

I have one more week of teaching ahead of me. Three more weeks of work. There is more paperwork now than actual teaching. The kids can smell the summer holidays in the air and it shows. The teachers can barely hide how exhausted they are.

And it’s hot. Scorching hot. No AC in the building and my brain is shutting off. All I can see is myself on the beach, sipping a gin&tonic. But the kids still need to be educated. Motivated. Engaged. Entertained.

The perfect time for some fun speaking activities. Group work. Games. Anything. It’s too hot to be creative. I am thankful for any useful activity I can find so I put together a couple of fun ESL activities that I’m using these days. The kids are happy. My head didn’t explode. Win-win.

1. Balderdash

This activity is based on a popular board game. It is a more fun variation of a dictionary game I sometimes play with my students. They get a couple of difficult words and have to invent fake definitions. This game is the most popular among my kids.

2. The holiday maze

You can make any topic into a maze activity. I like this holiday maze by TeachingEnglish. Makes everyone long for the summer break even more.

3. Murder mystery

This is a great activity even for larger groups(7-11). The victim is a cranky English teacher so the students will certainly enjoy it.

4. Taboo

This one is still popular. Revising vocabulary is always a good idea. There are plenty of different topics you can choose from. You can try our free games on the topic of Media or Business. Other topics include Health and Food.

5. Scrabble

Whether it’s the online version or the actual board game, Scrabble is always a good choice.

6. Questionnaires and surveys

The best thing about these fun ESL activities is that the variations are endless. You can either find some or have your students create their own. It’s more fun and they also learn more. Just give them a topic, have them write 10 questions and after that, they circle the class and interview as many classmates as possible. Finally, they inform the class about the results. Topics may include Environment, Hobbies, Books, Travel, Science, History, Media, Celebrities.

You can also find some interesting ideas in this article from Lessons Plan Digger, which inspired me to write this list.

For even more communicative activities, click below.