Try some of these fun, no-prep games to help your teach English to young or beginner level students.
You’ll learn the 13 rules which help you to teach ESL effectively, together with info on how to become an ESL teacher in no time.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Let's face it, when planning weekly lessons, having a few "go-to" activities on deck can make the task of planning much easier. These are not just "fillers," but tried and true activities that are meaningful, fun and effective at building language. Here are three weekly language building activities that do NOT require planning time. 1- Weekend Update/Weekend Plans This is an awesome activity for beginning and intermediate English learners to build speaking and writing skills. Weekend Update (WU) is usually a Monday activity, and Weekend Plans (WP), a Friday activity. For my beginners, who I see everyday, I do both. For some of my groups, who I meet with only a few times a week, I'll pick one or the other. Weekend Update - I want to know what my students did over the weekend, and I want them to practice oral language using past tense verbs. Once I ask the question, "What did you do this past weekend?" or "What did you do over the weekend?" students take turns answering the question. I provide a sentence starter for my beginners. Then, I repeat their sentence back to them using correct grammar, and help with any basic vocabulary, as needed. Next, I write their sentence on the board. Lastly, they copy their sentence into their notebook. I like to write each student's response in a different color marker so that they can easily distinguish between the sentences on the board. Depending on a student's level of language proficiency, I might ask clarifying questions in order to get a few more details from him or her. I want to push them to use more language, if they are able. Weekend Plans - It's the same concept as Weekend Update, but with this activity I want to know what plans they have for the weekend, or what is something they would like to do over the weekend. I also want them to practice oral language using future tense. So the process is the same as WU, just done towards the end of the week, usually on Thursday or Friday. My students really love this activity; and I'd better not forget to put it in my plans, otherwise they WILL let me know! So as a warm up activity or a closing activity, simply write WU or WP in your plan book and know that 7-10 minutes is going to be this fun and engaging weekly activity. *As my students' language skills progress, I like to find ways to challenge them. For example, after everyone has shared their update or plans, I'll ask students to tell me what one of their classmates did over the weekend, or what one of their classmates plan is for the weekend. NOW we are practicing listening and reading skills PLUS using appropriate pronouns! There are lots of ways to modify this activity to either simplify or to challenge students! As a bonus, this activity is a great way to build relationships. You get to know your students better, and as you share things about your weekends, they get to know you too:) 2- Restate the Question Students need to be able to restate a question, or a prompt, when responding either orally or in writing. This is especially important for their annual language assessments (WIDA ACCESS). For this activity, the objective is put the question in the answer. This will require some modeling at first. Once a week, I incorporate a 10 minute Restate the Question (RQ) activity into my weekly plans. I change it up from time to time, so that students stay engaged. (For groups that I see less often, it may be a quick 5 minute activity.) Here are a few examples of how I incorporate it. Oral Activity- I use activity cards. I place the cards in the middle of the table, and either I'll pick up and read the question, or I'll have them do it. Then, they take turns responding to their card, being sure to restate the question or prompt in their responses. My students love this activity too! When it's time to put away the cards, they often ask to "play" a little longer. Writing Activity - Give students a question or prompt, either printed out or written on the board. If printed out, I have my students glue it into their notebooks. Then have them respond in writing. Afterwards, I ask students to share their responses. This is a designated weekly activity when we purposefully focus on building this skill, however, this skill is informally practiced throughout the week. Click HERE for "Restate the Question" cards. What if students don't yet have enough language? Start with very basic questions. What's your name? My name is _______. Do you like pizza? Yes, I like pizza. Or... No, I do not like pizza. How old are you? I am ____ years old. Where are you from? I am from _____. Using sentence frames is another great way to give beginners the practice they need. For example: Question: What is the problem in the story? Sentence Frame: The problem in the story is _________________. Question: What did the story remind you of? Sentence Frame: The story reminded me of __________________. Restating the question is an important skill. This past year I made time for it in my weekly plans and I saw great progress with my students. 3- Daily Language Review I use this resource a lot with my beginners and intermediate level students. It's a daily activity, most days, so I know that 5 minutes will include this "warm-up" style activity. Although there is no planning involved, there is some printing. But that's OK. I spend 15 minutes a week printing out what I need, then I cut and staple. That's it! I'm ready for the week! The student pages are a half page booklet with 5 days worth of activities, usually only about 4 or 5 short questions per day. Since my students are learning the basic concepts of English grammar, writing mechanics and spelling, we do this activity together. We walk through it as a group and we talk about it. I often use it as a jumping off point for skills that need more attention. I can either go more in depth right then, or take note that I need a lesson on a particular skill for a future lesson. It has a little bit of everything, and it helps to expose my students to many of the skills they'll need as their English progresses. As the year goes on, I may have them do parts of it by themselves, like "Fix the Sentence" before going over it whole group, but for the most part this activity is heavily supported by the teacher. Full disclosure, I don't get to this everyday. If we have a lot to do in other areas, this might get pushed to the side, but students will often ask me if they can try to do it on their own in their general education classroom. Of course I say YES!!! I love it when they ask me that question! *********************************************** My students enjoy all three of these activities, they really do. I can honestly say that each one has proven to be fun, engaging and effective in building my students' language skills. These are my go-to weekly activities that I do not need to plan for; and you can bet that they will be in my lesson plan book. I simply write WU, WP, RQ and DLR on the days, and for the groups, that I want them, and that's it! It makes planning out my whole week, for all of my groups, much easier. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Learn about some of the differences between teaching phonics to ELLs and native English speakers. Also discover some new resources.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Whether you’re trying to eliminate tons of prep time, save paper, or support ELL students in distance learning, using digital vocabulary units can be extremely helpful activities for ELL newcomers. These digital units target reading,
Beat the overwhelm of teaching an absolute beginner with this downloadable checklist
Check out the following ESL lesson plans and lesson plan templates to get your teaching on in style! It's English teaching made easy!
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Twelve topics with prompting words to speak on. Thank you!!! - ESL worksheets
Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!
FUN ESL Lesson plans on many topics. All the lesson plans on this page come complete with all the games, activities, and materials you need. All for FREE.
Do you have a newcomer student in your classroom? Here are some strategies for supporting newcomer ELLs in their elementary classroom...
It is a worksheet to revise past simple. - ESL worksheets
Check out our these ESL comparative and superlative games and activities, along with worksheets, online practice, example questions and more.
Learn three simple things you need to teach your ESL beginners right away. These include variations of introductions, classroom surroundings and basic needs
Games are a great way to keep students engaged. Check out this list of games to use with your ELLs to help them improve their vocabulary.
I desperately needed some fun, hands-on and engaging resources to practice indefinite articles with my pupils. I tried to think of printables and hands on activities that I like the most. I wanted to help children to practice the articles in a different and entertaining way. I think I hit the spot with Indefinite Articles A&An Packet. Clip cards - Studies show that students learn best when learning is active, when they are engaged in hands-on classroom games and activities, and involved in what they are learning. The children use a clothespin to pick the picture that begins with a vowel. Then they flip the card over to see if they have chosen the correct answers. These self correcting cards are highly engaging and motivating! To make the cards you simply: - cut around the edge, - fold in half - and glue. You can laminate them if you like. Flip books - Students have lots of fun reading their flip books over and over again. For this activity all you need to do is to cut out the rectangles. Arrange the pages one on top of the other and staple them to the base. The top rectangle will form the base for the flip book so make sure that it is left intact. “I Have Who Has” game (my favorite) This is an easy-to-play game that is a great way to practice essential language concepts with the whole class. As students match up the answers on their cards with questions on other students' cards, they get valuable practice with vocabulary and listening skills. Cut out the cards. You can laminate them or stick them on colorful cardboard. Hand out a card to each student. Some students may need to have 2 or more depending upon how many children are in your classroom. It is important to use all the cards in a set. Choose a student to go first, and have her read her : “I have __” sentence aloud. This student will then read the question at the bottom of their card – 'Who has ___?' Then the student with the card that answers the question responds. Every card in the set is connected to a card before it and a card after it. To keep the game moving at a quick pace, all students need to pay attention to every question that's asked. Play continues in this fashion until all of the cards have been played. The game will end with the same student who started. Share this Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Another everyday dialogue and exercise. - ESL worksheets
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Level: This is suited to B1 but can be used with extra support at A2+ level or as revision with B2- level students. Time: 1 hr + (depending on level, and conversation development). This 'Make & Do Collocations' lesson starts with an introduction to the general rules for when to use make or do in collocations. Students then focus on common categories which use make or do before moving on to some practice exercises. Next, the lesson looks at some make and do collocations which don't obviously follow the category rules. In the next phase of the lesson, the students will learn some further uses of do in collocations. Finally, they are given lots of opportunity to consolidate and practice what they have learned by asking and answering questions featuring the phrases. The lesson ends with a quick revision section. We have a teacher's copy (including teacher's notes, a pronunciation guide and an answer key) and a student version which you can email to your class for online lessons. For best results when printing our PDFs, open and print them through Adobe Acrobat. https://get.adobe.com/reader/
2 pages - 5 exercises. This worksheet is created to practise 0,1,2 conditionals. There are 5 different exercises. The main and characteristic parts of the sentences are highlighted so the students can understand how we make conditionals of this type. There are some exercises on each conditionals, and there are also some mixed sentences exercises - ESL worksheets
Sts fill in the correct relative pronoun. Ana :-)) - ESL worksheets
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
