Associations

1. Prepare a pile of smallish pictures depicting objects, animals, scenes. You can use simple drawings; but color photographs cut out of mag...

Whose is this?

1. The teacher asks up to 10 students to lend him something: a scarf, a pair of gloves, 2 books, a bag, pen, shoe, etc. He then chooses 1 or...

Find the pair

1. Prepare some two-line dialogues with each line on a separate card. 2. Distribute the cards. 3. First student reads the line on his card. ...

Oh!

1. Give the students a series of exclamations ('Oh!', 'Ah!', 'Great!', etc.), and ask them what they think has just ...

Adjectives and nouns

1. Students suggest adjective-noun phrases, for example, 'a black cat', 'an expert doctor', etc. Contribute some yourself. A...

What am I doing?

1. Tell the students that you are going to imagine yourself being somewhere else and doing something else. 2. Students try to guess, e.g. Yo...

Sensory styles

1. Write down on the blackboard: 0 = can't at all; 1 = hardly; 2 = pretty good; 3 = easily.2. Tell the students that you are going to te...

Guess who?

1. Give each of your students a piece of paper and ask them to write four facts about themselves. These can be anything they choose, e.g. I ...

Words my neighbor knows

1. Divide the class into pairs. The partners must not communicate at this stage.2. Ask each student to write a list of ten words which their...

Guessing mimes

1. Teacher tells a student a simple instruction, for example: You are watching tennis,2. The student mimes this. The teacher then asks a ser...

Turn out somebody's pockets

1. Ask each student to list the contents of the pockets or handbag of an imaginary person: they should list 10-12 objects.2. Get them to exc...

What letter is after

1. Divide the students in two teams.2. Ask each team questions like: What is the letter before Z or What is the letter after I?3. The team t...

Paparazzi

1. Write on the board the following: Where they were... What did they do... What happened then...2. Give each pair of students two cards. As...

Me before

1. Ask the students to write 5 things on a piece of paper that they did between the ages of 10 and 15. If you are teaching younger people ge...

Adjective match

1. The teacher thinks of an adjective; the aim is for the class to guess it. The teacher gives as a prompt a noun which the adjective could ...

Erasing words

1. Write on the board about ten words which are difficult to spell, and give the class a minute to 'photograph' them. 2. Point to on...

Numbers

1. The class is divided in two teams. On the right and left side of the blackboard equal sets of numbers are written. 2. Teacher calls out n...

May I...?

1. Ask the student to write some questions to you about their rights at the lesson. Ex.: May I smoke at the lesson?2. Answer the questions: ...

Tail to head

1. Student A thinks of a word and says it; 2. Student B has to find a word beginning with the last sound of Student A's word, e.g. edge ...

Retelling

1. Divide the class in two teams. Two students from each team are judges. They get lists with a story and go to another team. 2. All the mem...

Hidden sentence

1. The class is divided in two teams. Each team sends a representative to sit in front of the class.2. Each of them gets a card with a sente...

I say, you said, he said

1. The students work in groups of three. One person (A) tells about an incident in his or her life (a recent event, or a particularly intere...

I have been studying here...

1. Ask each student to write in their notebook four to six (true) facts about themselves in the present progressive tense; for example: I am...

Wrangling

1. Choose a dialogue consisting of two short sentences expressing disagreement. E.g.: - The answer is no! - But why?2. Allow students to imp...

Turn out your pockets

1. Ask the students to list some or all of the objects in their handbags/wallets/pockets: ask the class to write their lists clearly.2. When...

Theme music

1. Play the class a recording of classical music, chosen according to your own taste, and tell them this is the theme music of a movie. Can ...

What might you do with it?

1. One or two students stand with their backs to the board; they are the guessers. 2. You write on the board the name of a well-known househ...

Who is the quickest

1. Take a paragraph from a book you study and second hand watch. 2. Ask each student to read the paragraph as quick as possible.

Alibi

1. Select a scene and time for a crime say, a bank robbery, at a well-known bank in the middle of town, at 11 o'clock yesterday. 2. Two ...

Match the adjectives

1. Write three adjectives on the board, e.g. important, dangerous, heavy. 2. Ask the students to suggest things which could be described by ...

Others do it for me

1. Ask students round the class these questions: When? Why? Why not? Do you like to cook for yourself? Do you like to be cooked for? Do you ...

Lie detector

1. One of the students leaves the classroom. The rest of the class prepares questions to him. 2. When he or she comes in they ask him their ...

Writing as another

1. Put the students into groups of 4 and then ask them to write individually a sentence about something they did in the past, for example as...

What have I been doing?

1. The teacher explains that the students have to guess what the teacher has been doing from a description of his appearance. The activity i...

How many things can you think of that...?

1. In groups, students try to think of and note down as many things as they can that fit a given definition and that they know in English. F...

How are you really?

1. Explain that student doesn’t learn anything from conventional exchange, as: "How are you? - Fine." 2. Ask them to rate their st...

Cooperative story

1. Give each student a large blank sheet of paper, and the title of a story, which should include the names of a hero and heroine - say Clif...

Draw and describe

1. Silently draw a simple picture of a small house in the centre of the blackboard. Pass the chalk to a student, and indicate that they shou...

Silent story

1. A student recalls a story that happened to him. 2. He or she displays it before the class without saying a word. 3. Next student tries to...

Recall the plot

1. Tell the students about a film you have seen or a book you have read recently: recount the plot briefly, in the present simple. Get one o...

Experiences I haven't had

1. Give the students these two patterns: I've never / I haven't yet2. Head the left hand side of board: Good experience I haven'...

My names

1. Using the pattern: I'm / I was / I used to be called... by... when... and tell the students half a dozen names you are or have been k...

Detectives

1. One volunteer is the detective and goes outside. You give a coin to one of the students in the class to hide on their person - he or she ...

Future-telling

1. Tell the students the following themes: Romance; Money; Work; Family; Home; Leisure.2. Ask each student is to write on separate cards thr...

Predicting achievements

1. Tell the students to invent for themselves an extremely successful future career in whatever field they like. Give them a minute or two t...

Family modals

1. As homework ask students to collect oft-repeated parental utterances. 2. If they are school students living at home ask them to bring a s...

Your students' rules

1. Ask the students to imagine themselves as teachers.2. Tell them to write 5 rules they would want their students to obey.

Analogies

1. Ask students to create examples upon these models: Rabbit's tail (part of smth.); Uncle's aunt (possession)2. One student should ...

Oral close

1. Read a story or prose passage, which can be from your course book. 2. Stop occasionally before a key word and get the students to guess w...

Short story writing

1. Each learner writes the title and first three sentences of his short story on a sheet of paper. 2. Then he or she passes the sheet to the...

Silent speech

1. In order to focus on pronunciation and the contribution of mouth movement, list on the board words, which will illustrate the various sou...

Five favourite words

1. Students look through their exercise books and select from the words that they have recently learned five words that they particularly li...

Debates

1. The class is divided in two teams. One team prepares list of advantages, another - disadvantages.2. Propositions for brainstorming advant...

Then and now

1. Discuss with students how they remember their childhood. Happier and freer than now? Or the opposite? Then ask them to write down four li...

Commentary

1. Choose a group of two or three 'storytellers'. These can be swapped during the course of the activity to give everyone a chance t...