1. Name of activity Skill Procedure
Can't say 'yes' or
'no' Speaking
students mingle and are not allowed to say 'yes' or 'no'. If they do, they take a seat. The last one
standing is the winner.
Coat of arms speaking
students design a shield divided into four sections. They write something about themselves in each
one e.g. hobbies, home town, favourite subject, family. They mingle and find someone who has two
things the same as them. Can be extended to guessing game
Fruit salad listening/speaking
The classic game of swapping seats i.e. change places if you are wearing glasses etc. One person
is left standing and has to say the next sentence
Onion rings speaking
concentric circles rotate and discuss different topics with each new partner. Can be used for
learning names at start
Role plays
speaking/listening/writ
ing
sts prepare half sentences for different locations e.g. in a shop: 'Can I help you?
Yes, I'm looking for a shirt'. The sentence halves are distributed and sts find their partner, then
prepare to continue the conversation as a role play. The class listens and guesses where they are,
their relationship etc.
Where am I? speaking
give one st in a small group the name of a place e.g. in the library, on a bus etc. The others guess
where they are - answers can only be 'yes' or 'no' e.g. is it a nice place? Is it outside? Can you talk?
etc
What's my job?
Give sts pictures of different jobs and they have to guess each others' jobs by asking yes/no
questions e.g. is it good money? Do you have to get up early etc
Vocab games
Board slap - Run
and touch the vocab
item
kinaeshetic vocab
learning game
Teacher says/mouths items of vocab (can be flashcards stuck around room or realia i.e. desk, chair
etc. Each team delegates one member each time to run and touch the item. First one to touch gets
a point for their team. First team to get 5 points wins.
Backs to the board
or 'taboo' team game
The classic team game of guessing a word mimed/acted/explained by your team without being able
to look round at the board.
Call my bluff small groups/teams
demonstrate the game e.g. A sandal is: a. something you wear on your head b. use in the kitchen to
hold hot pans c. wear on your feet. Then get sts to find difficult words and test each other
See Reward pre-int activity 24 True &
false definitions
Spelling bee
small groups/whole
class
In small groups, learners pass round a piece of paper and add words to a list (any word
connected to TEFL). Each word must begin with the last letter of the previous word
e.g. TEFL, language, English, Have etc. Do the same thing
Spelling race
Spelling race: 2 teams, one has red pen, one blue. Each team forms a line. 2 minute time limit –
teams take it in turns to write any word connected to TEFL then pass the pen to the person behind
them and join the back of the queue (words can be in any order, not following from last letter).
Trainer checks the spelling and decides which team has
won
Mime a sentence
small groups, can be
done as team game
Make a sentence including one word from the current topic. e.g. students love games, just show
your partner 3 spaces __________ ______________ ____________ mime & guess
Anagrams Show sts anagrams of words from current topic then get them to make more for each other
Mouthed dictations speaking/pron
mouth the words of a sentence to sts then get them to write it up on the board. Get sts to do the
same with each other with sentences they have made
Jumbled dictations speaking/writing
dictate the words of a sentence in jumbled order then sts put it together. Get them to do the same in
pairs

2. Telephone
2 lines. Sts whisper a sentence (once only) to the person next to them and send it to the front. The
last team member writes it on the board
DIY jumbled
sentences
Ask students to choose a nice long sentence from one of their grammar exercises in the coursebook
or workbook.Tell them to take a piece of paper and rip it up into as many pieces as there are words
in the sentence.They then write one word on each piece of paper. Tell them to mix up the pieces of
paper on their desk.They then move over one place so that they are sitting in another student’s
chair in front of a new jumbled sentence.Tell them they have a time limit (30 seconds or 1 minute) to
put the pieces of paper in the correct order and make the sentence.When they finish, they can
check with the student who made the sentence if they are correct.Variation:
To make it extra difficult, ask each student when making the sentence
to add another piece of paper with an extra word that doesn’t fit into
the sentence. The other student has to reorder the sentence and spot the
'intruder' word.
From onestop:
http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/
minimal-resources/grammar/minimal-
resources-diy-grammar/146553.article
Role play mingle
Tell pairs of students they need two small pieces of paper.Ask students to write a two line dialogue
using the target structure.They can take something from the coursebook if they like, or invent it
themselves.They must write one part of the dialogue on one bit of paper and the other part of the
dialogue on the other.Circulate and check a few to make sure that they are correct.Collect all the
papers and redistribute them.Ss must find the other half of their dialogue, then continue it, then read
it out for the class
Spin a sentence
Make a circle. One player stands in the centre, spins round with eyes closed, points at someone,
chooses a word (can be on any topic they have been studying) and calls out a
number (3,4,5 or 6). The person she is pointing at has to make a sentence using that number of
words, which must include the word.
Walking warmer
Students get up and walk around (preferably with music playing in the background). When the
music stops / teacher claps hands, they have to stand back to back to the person nearest to them
and try to remember exactly what they are wearing e.g. colour of clothes, shoes/boots/checked/
striped/ shirt etc. Repeat the activity 2 or 3 times. Can be extended by students describing someone
without saying their name and others have to guess e.g. she is average height, average build, she is
wearing a shirt, she has dark hair, she is wearing stylish shoes.
Thornbury grammar
http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/minimal-resources/grammar/minimal-resources-photocopy-
free-grammar-practice/146563.article
Pron http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Dalton-Pronunciation.html
Drills http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun11/ex.htm
Functions - Polite
requests http://eltnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/teaching-polite-requests-part-two.html
Writing http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/writing-activities
Misc http://eltnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/esl-activities-with-little-preparation.html