ESL Survival Task

This is a fun activity for a conversation or speaking class. It usually takes about an hour. The task is for students to work in teams to create the best winter survival plan.  

Students are divided into 2 or 3 teams. The teacher explains the survival situation, which is listed below.These activities follow the introduction:

1.  Teams rank items in order of importance for survival.

2.  Teams choose items from the list one by one. Each time an item is chosen, it is removed from the list and unavailable to other teams.  

3.  After the items are all chosen, teams create a survival plan.

4.  Teams present their plans to the group.

5.  Other teams are allowed to ask questions and raise problems with the plan.

6.  After all groups have presented, teacher chooses the group most likely to survive.

Situation

You are on a plane that crashes in Northern Ontario more than 300 km from civilization. Luckily, you and your friends all survive but now face the challenge of getting out of the forest and into safety. Considering the location, the temperature is well below freezing and there is a large amount of snow. After you look through the plane you compile a list of all the supplies that are still available. The list is as follows:

Compass
Map
Rope
Matches
Alcohol
Large tarp
Survival meal replacement bars
An axe
Snow shoes
Pots and pans
Knife
3 winter jackets
Gasoline
First aid kit
Flares
Bottles of water
Metal siding from the plane
A sled
A rifle
Blankets


You and your group must first decide what will be your plan of action. Will you try and travel to safety or wait to be rescued? Consider this before you decide which of the resources you will choose. Rank the objects in order of importance from 1 to 21.

ESL Card Games

A deck of cards is a key resource in any ESL class. You can use it for so many different games and activities. 

Apart from teacher-planned activities, the classic card games work well too. These card games work best in the ESL class. 

Go Fish

I was playing cards with the students the other day, and I remembered the old game, Go Fish. It turned out to be a great game for my beginners and gave them lots of chances to practice basic questions with "do".

For those of you that don't know the game:

Each player is dealt 5-9 cards depending on the number of players. The rest of the cards are spread out face down in the middle of the table. This pile acts as the fish pond.

When players have two of the same card, they throw the pair away. As they continue to throw pairs away, the first person to get rid of all their cards wins.

The first player may ask any other player for a card. As an example,

"Do you have any 10s?"
"Yes I do." (passes the 10 to the first player)

or,
"No, I don't. Go fish" (The first player chooses a card from the fish pond)

The game continues to the left with all the players asking for cards.

Again, this is a great review of questions with do. Make sure the students are actually asking the questions.

War

War is a simple game, but it gives students a nice chance to work on comparative or superlative adjectives. All you need to do is add in a little speaking component. 

Here are the instructions.

Deal all the cards. They can't look at the cards they have. Without looking, each person places a card face up in the middle. The person with the highest card takes the pile of cards. The winner is the person with the most cards.

To add in the comparative work, make students give statement before they can take the cards.

• "7 is higher than 4"
• "10 is the highest."

Teach Me a Card Game

There are many traditional card games in different countries. Students really enjoy teaching those games to their classmates. You can make a whole activity from it, or just have one student teach a card game at the end of class. 

It is great to share different cultures, and something different than food and festivals is always welcome. In a mono-lingual class, you could do some research on card games form other places.


These are some fun card games for an ESL class. Do you like to play any other card games?

That's My Seat - ESL Games

This is a fun game to play to fill in some time. 

It can also be used as an icebreaker, where students can practice each other's names.

This game is best played with 6, 8, or 10 people. Even numbers are key, so join in if you have to. Students are put in two teams and sit in chairs in a circle. Leave one empty chair.

Half the chairs are designated as the winning chairs. It is easiest to put these chairs in a straight row so it is clear which are the winning chairs. The team that gets all its members sitting in those chairs wins.

First, write down each students name on a piece of paper and place the papers in a hat. Each student selects a name randomly. It is OK if they get their own names. Players sit in the chairs in a circle alternating by teams. (e.g. girl, boy, girl, boy, etc.)

To begin, and with each new turn, the person to the left of the empty seat says a name. They may say any name except the one on their paper. Whoever has that name on the paper must move to the empty seat. The person to the left of the new empty seat now says a name and the game continues.

After a few turns, students should begin to remember who has each name on their papers. By remembering the names, they can begin to use strategy to move teammates and opponents around the chairs trying to get their team in the winning chairs.

This is a memory and strategy game. Students love it because it is challenging and works as a team builder. 

Questions Practice Activity

ESL students usually struggle to ask questions. They may be able to use sentences in many verb tenses, but can't ask proper questions.

ESL teachers need to spend lots of time helping students ask and answer questions. This questions activity will help with that.

The activity itself is very simple:

Write a statement on the board, like this example:

• I went to a party last night.

The students must create questions based on that statement.
Examples: 

• Where was the party?
• Who did you go with?
• What time did the party start?

This activity can also be played as a game. The first student (or team) that comes up with 3 perfect questions wins a point. You will be surprised how your students can't easily create grammatically perfect questions.

This activity is nice to practice questions for any target language. For example, take a look at these different statements and how they can be used to focus on the target language.

• I went to a party yesterday. (simple past)
• I usually eat breakfast. (routine, simple present)
• I can play many musical instruments. (can)
• I have never visited France. (present perfect)

As you can see, there are an unlimited number of ways to use this game. While it is ideal for beginners, it helps students at all levels formulate questions.

Let's take a look at one more example.

Statement: I ate too much last night.

Questions: 
What did you eat?
Why did you eat too much?
Did you eat candy?

You will be surprised how challenging it is for your students to create questions like this. This is especially true when they are working in groups or when they are creating the questions in speaking.

Enjoy the game!

ESL Games

ESL classrooms are always more interactive and engaging with a few games. 

ESL teachers should always have some games ready to go, whether to fill a few minutes or to fill a whole class.

These games are some of my favourites. I can always count on them for a fun time and improved learning.

Enjoy the list!


Number Games

Party Games

ESL Board Games

Student Bingo

Game Shows

That's My Seat

Email Chain Letter Activity

This activity is an effective way to help students practice the three main sections of an email:

• Lead Paragraph
• Body Paragraph (Details)
• Closing Paragraph (Call to Action)

In this writing exercise, students write different sections of the email collaboratively. Here are the steps for this writing exercise.


1.  Write out enough email situations for each student in the class.
Examples:

• You need to cancel a meeting with your boss.
• You need to order printer ink.

2.  Each student starts on a different situation by writing the greeting.


3.  Students pass their papers to the left and continue to write the next section of the email they receive.


4.  The teacher monitors progress and determines when students pass the papers.


5.  After 6 passes (greeting, opening, body, call to action, complimentary closing, editing) the activity is finished.


6.  The teacher can take up the work in a number of ways depending on the number of students and time restraints. 

The reason this activity works is because it is fast, interactive, and collaborative.  Students share ideas and work together.  It is much more dynamic than simply having students write email independently.

Boggle - ESL Board Games

Boggle is one of the most popular word games in North America.

In this game, a number of dice are used, but the dice have letters instead of numbers. When the dice are shaken and played, a grid of 16 letters is presented to the player. With these letters, the player must make words from the connected letters. The letters can be connected horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.

For ESL, this game is wonderful for vocabulary practice. It also enhances creative thinking.  

I play a similar game on the whiteboard. In this game, I write a grid of random letters and have the students create words by connecting letters.

For reviews and product information, check out more about Boggle.

Taboo - ESL Board Games

Taboo is one of the most famous party games ever made. It is a word guessing game that is normally played in partners or teams.

The game is quite simple. Players try to guess a word on a card as their teammate uses verbal clues to give them hints. The only restriction is the player can't say any words from a list on the card. Here is an example card:







For this card, the player can't say the 5 words but must get her team to guess the word "watch".

This board game is perfect for ESL classes because it forces students to communicate. The fast pace also creates situations where students must think quickly, much like the real world. It also models a common speaking situation: one person has information and must explain it to another person, also known as an information gap.

If you are interested in the actual board game, you can click here:

Taboo


However, Taboo is a game you can make quite easily with paper and pens. It is also fun to have the students create the cards. It helps them practice vocabulary by creating the 5 words that are "taboo".

For more party game ideas in the ESL class, check out this page:

ESL Party Games

Catchphrase - ESL Board Games

Catchphrase is a popular party game, good for adults or families. The game is played in teams. It is similar to Taboo or Charades.

The object of the game is to score the most points for your team. The game consists of an electronic device that you load cards into. On the cards are hundreds of words. The player can say anything to get his or her team to guess the word on the card. When the teams guesses, the device is passed along to the next team and a new word is displayed. Players must think fast because when the time runs out, the team holding the device gives a point to the other team. In this regard, it is like hot potato.

This game is great for an ESL class because it makes students think quickly and use their speaking skills to communicate with their team. The speed and pressure of the game and the ticking device increases the need for proper vocabulary and pronunciation.

Like any party game, Catchphrase works well in the ESL class. Simply getting the students to speak and have fun at the same time is an accomplishment in itself. This game will allow you to do that. Plus, the endless cards and words mean the game never gets old. Young students will also like using the machine, especially as it ticks away like a time-bomb and goes off when the time is up.

For more information, product reviews, or to buy this game, check out Catchphrase at Amazon.

Games for Should

Here are some excellent games to practice the word "should". 

"Should" is used to give advice. These games allow students a chance to give and receive advice.


The Tourist and The Tour Guide


This is a role-play that works well when it is presented to the class.

In this activity, students work in pairs to create a dialogue. One student is a tourist in the other student's city. The tourist must ask questions, and the tour guide must give advice.

For example:


A: You should visit the Eiffel Tower.
B: Really? Should I go up the Tower?
A: Oh yes. You should definitely go up. It costs about $15, but it is worth it.
B: And what about The Louvre?
A: You should definitely go to the Louvre. In fact, you should try and go on a Sunday because it is cheaper. And when you are there, you should try and see the Mona Lisa.

Now, this dialogue can be used in a number of ways.

Presentation
The students can work together and practice the dialogue to present it to the class. This has a few advantages. First, they will focus on accuracy
They will certainly be writing things down, and probably want to read from a script.

Fluid Pairs
For a more informal take on this activity, you can simply have the students moving around the class talking to different people about their cities.



Advice Contest
In this activity the students are placed in pairs or groups of 3. The object of the game is to be the team who gives the best advice.

The teacher starts by saying a problem. Each team brainstorms ideas for advice. Then each group says its advice.

For example,

Teacher: I lost my keys.

Group A: You should call the police.
Group B: You should ask your friends.
Group C: You should put a classified ad in the newspaper.
Group D: You should look for them in your house.

Then the teacher awards one point for the best suggestion.

The teacher continues the game by giving new problems.

I like this game because it allows the students to brainstorm multiple idea and choose the best. It is wonderful to see the partners listing 4-6 suggestions to each other, and using the proper grammar structure the whole time.


Things

Things is a board game marketed to adults. It is designed as a party game. You can see the game here:

The Game of Things

In this game, the teacher says a problem, and the students write a suggestion on a piece of paper.

Example: You should exercise in the morning.
You should use your credit car less often.

The teacher collects the pieces of paper from the students and mixes them up. He/she then reads the suggestions in random order. Read it a second time so the students can remember them.

Then, each student takes a turn guessing who wrote each suggestion.

For example:

"I think Ricardo wrote, you should exercise in the morning."

If the student is correct, 3 things happen:

The student gets a point
The student continues guessing
The person whose suggestions was guessed is eliminated.

If the student does not guess correctly, the next student takes a turn. Remember: when a student guesses incorrectly, he or she is not eliminated from the game. You can only be eliminated when your suggestion is guessed.

After half of the suggestions have been guessed, the teacher reads the remaining papers again.

The person who is eliminated first takes the first turn in the next round.

This game is a fun way to get your students to produce written sentences with the targeted language, which in this case is "should". 

ESL Game Shows

Television game shows can make for some of the best ESL classroom activities. 

Here is a list of my favourite game shows to use in class. I am not going to explain the games too much, so I will assume you have a basic knowledge of how they are played. If not, you can find more information on each game in the comments.

Family Feud

This one works well because the topics are limitless, and you can adjust them for your needs. Most of the time I simply invent the top 4 answers and give them a point value. The joke with my students is that they eventually realize the answers are not from what 100 people say, and just what I made up, which leads to "We asked what one ESL teacher thinks...."

Works best with two teams of about 3-7.

Deal or No Deal

This one doesn't really help to practice a lot of English skills, but the students sure do love it. All you need to do is predetermine where the money values are out of 10 boxes. 

I secretly write down the numbers 1-10, and then write a money value beside it. Students can work in teams to choose the number of the box that I have on the board. As the different values are eliminated I stop and offer them a sum, which they can take or continue playing. The teams are in competition to see who can win the most money.

Works best with two teams of 4-5.

Jeopardy

This one is perhaps the best for practicing grammar. First, the answers always have to be in the form of a question, which gets them practicing questions right away. 

Second, each category can be a different grammar topic, like verb tenses. Or, you can simply play with trivia questions, and let the students focus more on having fun and structuring their answers as questions.

Works best with around 5-10.

Wheel of Fortune

Still the classic vocabulary building game, that also helps with spelling. This game is essentially just a more advanced version of Hangman, but if you have more time it is lots of fun. Just make sure you have the right number of blank spaces on the board, because it's a disaster when the word doesn't fit.

Works best with 5-10, but can be played with larger numbers.

These four games make for lots of fun in class. They can be played with an extra 10-15 minutes at the end of the lesson, or a whole session can be dedicated to playing them.

Does anyone else have any other ideas about game shows that work well in the ESL class? I'm still trying to work out how to play The Price is Right, but I can't seem to find where I can buy a Plinko board....

ESL Factory Task

This is a team building exercise that works well for an ESL classroom. It gets students to work together, and it creates a good discussion.

Students are put into teams of about 3-6. These teams pretend to run a factory. The purpose of the game is to be the most successful factory.

What the factories make is entirely up to the teacher. I like a simple activity of making houses out of cards. They place three cards on their edges to make the shape of a capital I. Think of it as the beginning of a card house. 

I have also seen it with making boats out of paper, or other paper folding activities. I have also used blocks and called them towers. Essentially, the product needs to be something a little bit difficult to make, but something that eventually everyone can do.

Taking my example of card houses:

• Start the teams off with a bankroll of $50 - $100.
• There are 3 rounds of 1, 2, and 3 minutes.
• Each round, the students work in teams to make as many houses as possible.
• At the end of the round, I pay them $5 for each house they have built. (hypothetically of course)

Now the part that makes them think and discuss:

• Each card costs them $1. Therefore, they make a $2 profit for each house. However, they can’t return the cards they didn’t use. So, they need to discuss at the beginning of the round how many cards they think they should buy from me, the supplier.

An example:

Group 1 buys 27 cards, thinking they will make 9 houses. That costs them $27. I take $27 away from their initial $50 for a total of $23. After 2 minutes they have made 7 houses. I pay them 7 X $5 = $35. They made a profit of $8. They now have a total of $58. Then they discuss how many cards they want for round two, which has a different time.

There are many variations to this game that simply take a little creativity from the teacher. Some include:

• Making them pay for table space (ie factories)
• Making them pay wages per each round. (Each team member might not be able to build)
• Raising and lowering costs and prices

I really like this game for something a little fun, and a break from the ESL focused games. It is also wonderful for team building.

More advanced students can learn about words like profit margin, supplier, etc.

ESL Food Activities

Food is one of my favourite themes in the ESL classroom. Everyone can relate to food and has some opinion about the topic. 

Talking about food, nutrition, and cooking is a great way to get the students interested. These games tasks and activities work well in a class about food.

Iron Chef

Iron Chef was a famous cooking show that had two contestants in a cooking challenge. It can be adapted to the classroom for a fun activity.

Write the categories of food on the board. Decide with the students what foods from each category you would need for a good kitchen.

Place students in groups of 3 – 4. The teams take turns choosing the foods from the board until all the foods have been eliminated. With the foods they have chosen the teams plan together to make a full meal, with appetizer, salad, soup, main, desert, and drinks. They then present each course of their meal to the class and teacher can later decide on a winner in each category and overall.

Traditional Recipes

The students can either discuss or present traditional recipes from thier countries. They enjoy telling the class about the food and why it is famous. Also, explaining the recipe is a great way to review giving directions.

Food Labels

Food labels provide a great vocabulary activity. Explain to the students the meaning of calories, carbohydrates, protein, etc.
Using their own food products, students can analyze the labels and discuss the similarities and differences.

Canada Food Guide

The Canada Food Guide is a great tool to teach vocabulary. Read the guide wih your students and be sure to discuss the meanings of words like dairy, meat and alternatives, fruits and vegebtables, and grain. This guide also leads to a great discussion of eating healthy and how to make good food choices.

Listening

With the explosion of the Food Network and cooking on television, there is plenty of material to show the students for listening exercises. One option is to show a video of someone cooking something and have the students write down the steps. An Internet video on a specific food can give you a chance to ask them comprehension questions.

Country Role-Play Activity

In this activity students work in groups to form imaginary countries. There are a variety of activities that can be implemented depending on the students’ levels.

In groups, students invent a country. In the first activity, they create a name, slogan, and flag. In a small presentation, students tell the class a little about their country and their flag. Encourage students to discuss what their country is famous for, including food, sports, entertainment, or other things.

List a number of natural resources on the board that the groups must discuss and rank by importance to their country.

Examples: Oceans, Lakes/Rivers, Fertile Land, Mountains, Mines, Deserts, Volcanoes, Jungle, Snow, Forests.

The groups then have a mock draft to pick an equal number of resources for each country. With those resources, the students must plan their countries. 

They can then give presentations that talk about how they will incorporate their resources into the economy, energy, and tourism. The groups can be divided to focus on each topic. For example, a group with jungles might talk about jungle tourism, or research and present food products found in a jungle. 

Be sure that each group does not use the other countries’ resources. A good example of this is oceans. Students who present on tourism always want to talk about beach resorts, but don’t let them if their country does not have oceans as a resource. This forces them to be creative with what they have.

Other games I like to play with this theme include inventing a national anthem, traditional dance, or national sport. With the use of classroom material, the countries can also have an architectural contest. World trivia can become a contest for which country has the best international relations. If your students are children and you have the space, an Olympics is always popular.

ESL Number Games

ESL students need to learn numbers. And that can be a real challenge for the teacher. 

Apart from drilling, what can you do? Why not try some of these games. They can help students practice numbers while having fun.
 
Ping Pong
Students sit in a circle and count in turn one number at a time.

Rules:
Multiples of 5 are replaced by the word PING
Multiples of 11 are replaced by the word PONG

The idea is to try and go quickly. Each student must avoid making a mistake and being eliminated. It looks like this:


1, 2, 3, 4, PING, 6, 7, 8, 9, PING, PONG, 12, 13, etc…

The goal is to get to 55: Ping Pong.

Counting Cooperation
Students lower their heads and must collectively count from 1 up to a specific number. The number is the amount of students in the class. Anyone can say the next number, but if two students say the same number at the same time, the class must start again at number 1. After failing for a few times, allow the students to develop strategies. For example, count by rows, alphabetically, etc.


21
This game works well in partners. Students count up by 1 or 2 numbers at a time from 1 to 21. They alternate turns and the winner is the person who says 21. The students will begin to see the strategy of when to count up 1 or 2.


Quick Draw
Students form pairs and play this game like paper, rock, scissors. Students hold 0-10 fingers up behind their back. On the count of three they show the fingers to their partner. The first person to correctly say the sum of both people’s fingers is the winner.



Tweet

Role Play Games

Role-play games are one of the most popular activities in an ESL classroom. They give students the opportunity to use English in near-authentic situations.

The following list of games ask students to take on a role to complete some sort of task:

Welcome to the Party

One person is the host of a party. Every guest that arrives must act out a certain characteristic or be a famous person. The host only has a short time to guess the character or characteristic before the next person arrives.

Who Am I???

Type up a list of between 15-20 names of current famous people, e.g.: "Madonna", "Tom Cruise", etc. and cut into slips of paper approx. 1 1/2 " by 3". Pin a slip of paper onto each student's back. Students circulate and ask each other Yes or No questions about the person's name pinned to their backs until they guess who they "are". Elizabeth, Vancouver, BC, Canada
write the name of famous people on post it notes and each student puts one on their forehead or back. As the students go around asking questions

Mock Restaurant

Students take pretend to be waiters/waitresses, customers, managers, host/hostesses, etc. They role play through a full restaurant experience which may include reservations, discussing a menu and ordering, complaints, paying a bill, tipping, etc. Student can rotate so that they all practice each role.

ESL Party Games

Classic party games can be easily adapted to the classroom and make for excellent conversation activities. 

Some of the best known party games are fun ways to get your class talking as well as learning.

Taboo
Taboo has been a popular party game for years. You can play this just like the original game, where the player has a card with one word on the top. Below are four words they are not allowed to say.

Example:

Apple

Fruit
Pie
Red
Round

The player must get the team to guess the word on top of the card. Now, the Taboo game itself is much too hard for ESL students. But you can have them make their own cards.

Get students to think of a noun and write it on top of the card. Then they write four words they can think of that the players can't say. It works better having them create their own cards because they have to think about vocabulary and related words.


Catchphrase
Catch Phrase! is a popular party game for adults and families. The idea is to get your team to guess the word as quickly as possible and then pass the next word to the other team.

This game can be adapted to play in an ESL class. The teacher writes out all the vocabulary words on small pieces of paper. The pieces of paper are placed in a box, cup, etc.

Students play in two teams and sit in a circle alternating players from each team. The teacher starts a timer that can’t be seen by the students. The first student takes a word from the box and tries to get his team (only his team) to guess that word. The student can say anything they wish except rhyming words, letters, or spelling. They also can’t act out the word.

When the team guesses the word the student passes the box to the next person (who will be on the opposite team). The box goes around the circle until the timer is finished. Whichever team is holding the box (still guessing) loses a point.


Things
The Game of Things is a popular party game sold by Hasbro. The object of the game is to guess what each person has said.

For parties, the game is enjoyable because people often write silly or funny comments that get a laugh out of everyone. It is also a good game to judge how well you know your friends.

In an ESL classroom, this game can be wonderful. This is a game that can be easily adapted, and you don't really need the actual board game. Here are the rules:

One person becomes the judge and says a statement starting with "things". For example,

• Things to not do on a first date.
• Things that make your husband/wife angry.

Everyone else writes an answer on a small piece of paper. The judge collects all the papers and reads them twice.

Then the players take turns trying to guess who said what. For example,

"I think Tom said be late for dinner."

If the person is correct, three things happen:

• They get a point
• They guess again
• The person whose idea was guessed is eliminated for that round.

If they are wrong, the next person tries. The round continues until only one person remains. Then pick a new judge and start another round.

For an ESL class, this game can work very well. It can be used to focus on target language as in these examples:

• Things you usually do
• Things you did on the weekend

For a good example of altering the topics, see my post on games for should.


These games are three of my favourites and have always given me great results in the classroom. The idea is to have fun and learn at the same time.

ESL Student Bingo

Student Bingo is a good game for ESL students to get to know each other. 

It works well in the first week of a new program, or when new students join an existing class. Here are the instructions to this popular icebreaker.
Students create a grid on a piece of paper. 3 by 3 works well. Inside each box, students write a statement, like some of these examples:

• Has a sister
• Likes baseball

Students then mingle around the room speaking with others. They need to fill in the squares with the name of someone who fits the statement. So, for example:

• Plays the piano: Yuri

The statements can change depending on the level and target language. One that works well is present perfect for experiences:

• Has been to Europe
• Has never been to the United States

The first student to fill in all the squares wins. The only rule is you can only use a person's name once. Don't forget to yell BINGO!