Games To Play With Esl Students

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas ESL games are games that can be used in the classroom to practice certain language points and encourage active and creative communication between your students. There are many different games created specifically for use in the English language classroom that can be found online or in any number of resource books. But we are not limited only to those games designed for the class; the majority of games that we played as children or still play as adults can be adapted and used in lessons. Whether games are co-operative or competitive, they are a great way to provide students with a goal to be achieved by using the English they have learned. “Games are fun but are not suitable for the classroom.” There is plenty of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When it comes to learning ESL, most learners associate it with memorizing spelling rules, doing countless grammar exercises, making abstract speaking topics, and translating sentences from L1 into English. In these, there is little or no listening and speaking practice involved, making English just one of the numerous boring school subjects. However, there is so much more to learning and activating the language if the fun element is involved. This doesn't only include traditional classroom games but also learning both at school and home with the usage of modern technology. Most children born in the 2000s have grown up using iPads and mobile phones, which makes them much more tech-literate even compared to the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas There are many famous games used by TEFL teachers that students know like the back of their hand. If you want to change up your online lessons and bring even more fun in your teaching, check out these seven non-trivial online ESL games to help you in every stage of the TEFL class. For this activity, you will need to prepare a digital image and share it with a student during the online class. You can find plenty of connect-the-dots worksheets on the internet. The student needs to have access to the drawing tool, so make sure the online conference program you use has this feature. Choose a picture that would accompany the lesson's topic. Ask...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Did you say games in a classroom? Is that even possible? Many people around the world cannot imagine or accept that education can be fun too. However, it is very important to motivate, entertain and vary the class activities in order to avoid class boredom. Entertainment in class is also important because it helps to establish rapport in the class (it creates a relaxed, fun and motivated environment) and it works as an evaluation tool (gives us information about the student's’ knowledge). One particularly telling definition of games was explained by Diane Ackerman, a famous American poet and essayist, who stated that “Play is our brain's favorite way of learning”. This post...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences We must up our game as ESL teachers in the 21st century – both figuratively and literally. I use games to engage students and promote learning in my classroom for a wide range of learning objectives. Below is a short list of icebreaker games that I regularly use in my classroom, and I will discuss the learning target(s) that each game aims to facilitate and deliver as well as the context in which the game is used. Since I work with high school age and adult students, the games are geared for English Language Learners in these age groups. As learning communities become more globalized and data give more information on how people learn, one major challenge I find with gamifying learning in the ESL classroom is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Anyone who has ever been in a classroom knows how much students enjoy playing games. Playing games is exciting and a great time for the students to get to know each other better as well as feel more at ease with the teacher. Consequently, a good English Teacher should know how to use games I order to achieve goals like reviewing previously learned vocabulary, enhancing spelling skills, practicing grammar points, promoting a nice and positive attitude in the classroom and many more! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xenia P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Students of all levels and ages usually like playing games in the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most everyone has a favorite game that they play over and over again. Games go further than just a simple competitive interaction between two people or teams. In a way, games teach the average person how to navigate life with two outcomes; either the joy of winning or the disappointment of losing. Although it is not necessarily bad to lose it is an inevitable outcome for each person who participates. The idea is to learn from the failure to gain experience in which you can strategize a new way to achieve victory. The act of winning is simply the reward for playing the game as it is expected to be played. The main concept of games is competition and how we as human beings are constantly competing whether we realize...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The online mode of teaching has become a primary one in the COVID-19 era. For many teachers, remote work is not easy especially due to a different approach to creating materials. If you still struggle with games and activities for your activate phase of the lesson, take a look at the following three tools that can help you to versatile your Zoom classes and make your students super happy! Yes, it’s that easy! This tool is like a magic wand for ESL teachers because it’s easy to use and very flexible in adjusting dozens of favorite games. It's not just a visual aid for delivering a presentation to an audience, in fact, Google Slides can be used as a tool to create a unique learning experience for students. All...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been teaching English to young learners in China for almost a year and I tried to make my lessons with and without flashcards. And I can say for sure, that it’s really hard to teach children (3-12 years old) if you don’t have prepared flashcards for your classes, but only an interactive whiteboard and some stuff to play games. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kelly P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I’d like to reveal a paragraph about games more deeply, because games in a classroom allow you to keep your students motivated and interested in what’s going on. Also Read: "7 Great Games for Your ESL Conversation...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas Flashcard is an indispensable tool that every teacher needs during the studying process. Regardless of the age of the students, it can be used effective equal with young learners or adults. Usually, in the ESL classes, the teacher uses flashcards when they need to teach new or review the previous vocabulary. It’s also one of the easiest ways to add some games into your lesson, cause mostly it doesn’t need special preparations. Young learners especially like flashcard games because usually it’s active games and allow them to have fun during the lesson. There are different types of flashcards, for instance, on one side could be a word or picture on another side – it's the English translation. Those types of...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas We all know what it’s like to teach a class with reluctant students who don’t want to talk. It’s like pulling teeth. However, with these 7 awesome ESL conversation activities, you can really get your students talking! For this activity, you simply use a tumbling block game such as Jenga and write 1 simple ice breaker question on each block. Before a student places a block on the stack, they must first answer the question on the block. This activity is especially great for small ESL classes or for small groups in a big class. Also Read: The 5 Best Ways To Build Rapport With Your TEFL Students First, take a few minutes to brainstorm characteristics a person might have. This could be something like “has flown in...  [Read more]

Anna Domiczek TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Preschool curriculum or lesson plan designed for English language learners should incorporate several basic and common themes. Those popular themes created for young learners will introduce students to new, interesting vocabulary words and phrases. Learning about animals, clothing, food, family, shapes, colors, numbers, or daily activities makes students deeply engaged in learning. They are discovering the world around them versus memorizing/repeating abstract words and phrases. Thanks to such theme-based lessons, English language students genuinely engage with the content being taught and make real-life connections while developing new...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Games are one of the most important components in an EFL classroom. Foreign language learning games can be considered as a framework to provide a meaningful context for language acquisition. Students can improve their understanding of written and spoken English via games, as well as learn new words, structures, pronunciation, and spelling, all while having a great deal of fun. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shiva R. Games can be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give students a break when you’re tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few minutes left to kill. There are literally hundreds,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Games are great tools to motivate students and encourage them to learn things informally. However, ESL classroom games must have a purpose and support the learning process and not distract from it. In this blog post, our ITTT TEFL expert shares seven steps to gamify your ESL classroom effectively. Before starting a game with your students, ask yourself what you want your students to achieve by the end of the game. Do you want them to learn a linguistic point or some particular behavior pattern? If you know your students' needs, then it's easier to choose an appropriate activity that will be purposeful to the learners. Also Read: Playing...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Games are a useful tool for teachers of EFL students because they help with motivation, engagement, and graceful failure (Plass 260-261). I will present a successful example of a teacher using games in an adult grammar class from Indonesia. Second, since I plan to teach online EFL students, I will present free digital games online teachers can use in their virtual classrooms. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Many professional articles have been written showing the importance of game-based learning theory for EFL students. Games have an element of ‘play’ in them, and so differ...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language. Whether you’re teaching adults or children, games will liven up your lesson and ensure that your students will leave the classroom wanting more. Games can be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give students a break when you’re tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few minutes left to kill. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of games that you can play with your students. EFL games are used to test vocabulary, practice conversing, learn tenses - the list is endless. Also read: The 5 Best TEFL Games For Adult...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I love flashcards. Honestly, I really do. For me, they are a never-ending source of games and activities. Nowadays I work as an ESL teacher in a training center and I teach mostly young learners (students from 3 to 8 years old) and I am strongly convinced that this age group may learn a foreign language only through games, entertaining activities and live communication. Therefore, I am trying to be creative and use plenty of teaching aids and props, such as IWB, OHP, whiteboard, course books, board games, balls, balloons, hoops, various arts and crafts, etc. However, I find that using flashcards is simple yet one of the most effective tools to increase my student’s vocabulary. And here are some of my favorite...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences All humans are raised with an innate love for games. Since we were all children, playing games was our pastime activity. When comes to teaching either young learners or adults, in-class games are the foundation stone of learning. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Pavlina M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching Business English (BE) to clients/adults must be a fun procedure. There are many reasons why a teacher must use games when teaching English in class regardless of students’ age or occupation. To begin with, students can learn with great easiness through the game process. New concepts or language perspectives can...  [Read more]

Shirin Sophy Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Today's pedagogical approaches put considerable emphasis upon the importance of providing students with the opportunity to have a joyful educational experience through adding enough and well-located variety to the lessons. One practical way to do so is designing and adding aimful games to your plan in order to inject positive energy into your lessons, improve the mood of your class and make your lessons stick in students' long-term memory. Since not only young learners but also grownups enjoy playing fun games while taking English lessons, teachers, therefore, are always trying to come up with games that serve this purpose. So here are some ESL game ideas that you can adapt to your...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Every students' age group is different and requires a special approach. In this blog post, our TEFL graduate suggests how to organize your work with beginners. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their experience of working in Russia. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How to design a course structure for your business English students? Our TEFL graduate shares their experience and methods. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Stories can influence language learning a lot. Our TEFL graduate considers stories...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Every students' age group is different and requires a special approach. In this blog post, our TEFL graduate suggests how to organize your work with beginners. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their experience of working in Russia. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How to design a course structure for your business English students? Our TEFL graduate shares their experience and methods. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Stories can influence language learning a lot. Our TEFL graduate considers stories...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Susan W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I am Susan and I'm 40 years female from Kenya and I have graduated with a bachelor's degree in Art in Education. I have been teaching young learners in Kenya for two years and I was invited to teach English in southern China and I am ready for the new challenge teaching abroad. I decided to do a TEFL test online so that I can acquire the Certificate and be employed as a qualified EFL teacher. I have learned a lot when studying the TEFL test and as an EFL teacher, I have come to realize that the social environment, age of different levels of students do...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas First lessons are always a little bit overwhelming because the students and teacher don’t know each other yet. That's why it’s very important to break the ice and help your ESL learners to relax. Plus, for future planning, you need to learn more about your students and their likes and dislikes. Get-to-know games are great for these purposes and work best if you play them during the first 3-5 lessons. For this activity, give your students two opposite words to choose between and ask a question “Are you more like 1 or 2?”. This way, you find out a little bit more about your students and the students also can bond among themselves. ...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences When an English speaker is traveling in the Philippines, it is not uncommon for a friendly conversation with a local to end with the local stating they have a nosebleed and escape from the conversation. In Filipino culture, nosebleeds indicate that the brain is too stressed. Although Filipinos pride themselves in being fluent in English, many are not as confident to speak it when the time requires. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Terence L. This phenomenon of foreign language speaking anxiety is not limited to just the Philippines. Anxiety is one of the vital factors when learning any foreign language. Multiple studies have shown that ESL learners struggle with the language because of the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas Hello everybody and welcome to the ITTT weekly live stream. It's Liza here and I'm super excited that this stream happens every week and we can talk about teaching and TEFL and stuff like that. So welcome and thank you for joining me. Today, we are going to talk about online ESL game design. Last week I started showing you the game I was designing, it was Monopoly. Today I'm going to show you the outcome of the game and also tell you a little bit more about online game design. Thanks a lot for letting me know that you are watching and right now please let me know at what stage of your ESL career you are at. As for me, I'm an online ESL teacher currently. I used to teach in a real classroom several years ago, but then...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Motivation provides learners with an aim and direction to follow. According to Gardner motivation is the combination of attempt and desire to obtain the aim of learning the language and favorable attitudes toward learning the language. If students are motivated they will be excited about learning and willing to work hard. Motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, is a key factor in the success of students in all stages of their education, and teachers can play an important role in providing and encouraging that motivation in their students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Saritha B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The seating...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching English to beginners is a challenge for new and experienced ESL teachers. Although with proper planning, materials, getting the students engaged and motivated in the lessons can make teaching English to beginners fun and rewarding especially when your students start to get the hang of it. It’s a great feeling to see them move from having absolutely no knowledge of English to be able to speak basic English. A few things to think about. Talking a lot is just going to waste your time and leave you frustrated. Two keep your lessons fun with as much talk time as possible for the students, allowing them to practice what they are learning in a fun environment. Always praise your students, a student who thinks...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Nobody doubts that motivated students learn better and assimilate taught contents more easily than non-motivated ones but keeping students motivated and engaged during class is one of the teachers' biggest challenges. Playing games in class, though, seems to be of great help when it comes to engaging, reinforce materials and retain the attention of students. Another positive point is that games can be used at any moment in the teaching process by any level. The usages are diverse varying from teaching to getting feedback, not to mention that having students playing games reduces drastically Teacher's Talking Time turning classes more student-centered. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kelly...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching is a creative enterprise and creating your materials is very satisfying. There are many positive reasons for a teacher to create their materials. Purposely created materials are inexpensive, tailored to specific grammar and language topics, adaptable for different language levels, specific expansions on the course resources, culturally sensitive and correct. From my perspective, among the most important reasons for creating your materials are that it adds a personal touch to your class, and it enables you to have a sense of ownership in the curriculum. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Cindy N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Are games in a classroom a good idea? There seem to be two trains of thought regarding this. Games in the classroom can be seen as being a good thing and also seen as a time-waster and something that shouldn't be used at school once a student is out of the early years of elementary school. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brandie K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. At the school, I currently work at, and with some of the schools previously, there are several native to Japan teachers who will get angry when they find out the students have played games in my English class. I have been told that it is a waste of time, something...  [Read more]