Vocabulary Memory Game

Here is a fun game for students to practice vocabulary.  It also shows them how to use memory techniques to improve their vocabulary.

Write a list of words on paper or the whiteboard.  The words can be anything you like, but they should contain the same number of letters (3, 4, 5, etc.).

Give the students 2 minutes to remember the list of words.

Cover up the list and have the students write out as many as they can remember.

This is really just a memory game, but it can be used with target vocabulary if needed.

It's lots of fun, and it can fill in 5 minutes of a lesson any time.

ESL Vocabulary Ideas

The Most Important Verbs

Get

Movies

Just

The Most Important English Verbs - ESL Vocabulary Ideas

A great activity for students of any level is a debate about the most important English verbs.

This helps them think about how verbs are used in different ways.

Here are the instructions:

Place students in groups and ask them to make a list of the 20 most important English Verbs. Tell them to be prepared to justify their answers. This works best if they think of 30 and then narrow down their lists.

Remind students about the importance of auxiliaries (can, have, go), phrasal verbs (get, check, turn), and verbs with multiple meanings (get, let).

After the groups have made their lists, write them on the board to compare. For each verb that only one group has, be sure to make them explain why they believe it should be in the top 20.

Examples:
"Have" is important because it is used for an auxiliary and possession.

"Put" is important because it has its original meaning plus many phrasal verbs. (put on, put up, etc,)

For beginners, this exercise can introduce basic verbs. For more advanced students, this activity provides them with a better awareness of the verbs in English and how they are used.

ESL Word Games

ESL students need to develop their vocabulary as they progress. But drills and worksheets can get boring. Why not add some word games to your classes? These ESL word games will add some fun while students improve their vocabulary skills.

Word Creation
Print a big word on the board. It could be almost anything, but the more letters the better. Students must form as many words as they can using only the letters in the word. The students who come up with the most correct words are the winners.

Example: basketball

Possible words: tall, ask, bat, ball, etc.

This is a good one for a 5-minute break, or at the end of class.


Word Board
Make a letter matrix and have students find words that must connect in any way. Bigger matrices provide more word combinations.

A - C - L
J - I - K
M - S - N
R - A - B

Example: milk, link


Do you have any other word games?