ESL Activities
Ideas for activities and games in the English language classroom
10 Tips for Games in the ESL Classroom
From the creator of the world’s best-selling ESL board game—ten practical ideas on using games when teaching English
On Using Games in the ESL Classroom
Matt Errey looks at competitive versus co-operative games, and healthy versus unhealthy competition
ESL Activity Sheets (PDF)
Free downloadable and printable two-page activity sheets that encourage students to practise their English skills both alone and working with a partner. Each student activity sheet comes with one page of teacher's notes giving clear directions and answers.
- Grammar Activity Sheets - with teacher's notes
- Vocabulary Activity Sheets - with teacher's notes
Mixed-level ESL Activities
Ideas for ESL activities that you can adapt and use at different levels:
ESL Activities by Level
These ESL ideas and activities are mainly appropriate for the following levels:
Elementary level
- Authentic Cooking Experience
Imperatives used for instructions; vocabulary for food and cooking; adverbs of sequence - Animal Adventures
- Beat the Teacher
Objective: lesson revision - Ring-a-Word
- Typical Day
- Noun Game
Practises: Vocabulary - Odd-One-Out
Practises: Vocabulary - Vocabulary Cards
Practises: Vocabulary - When You Turn Off the Light
Practises: Vocabulary for giving directions - Songs for All
Practises: Vocabulary - Hello Bingo!
Practises: Speaking - Secret Code
Practises: Speaking, Socialising - Verbs and Tenses
Practises: Sentence building, Syntax - What am I Wearing?
Practises: Vocabulary
Pre-intermediate level
Intermediate level
- Driverless Cars Coming Soon
Practises: Reading, Speaking - Consonant Or Vowel
- Improvisations
- Delivering a Persuasive Speech
Practises: Speaking Skills and Body Language - Alternative Assessment
Practises: Vocabulary - Book Cover
Practises: Reading, Expression - Categories
Practises: Vocabulary - Controversial Statements
Practises: Speaking - Distractors
Practises: Questions (and Patience!) - Reading Comprehension
Practises: Reading Comprehension - Saint Valentine's Day
Practises: Listening, Speaking, Writing
Upper-intermediate level
Activities which may be a success in a Californian encounter group are unlikely to work in the majority of ESL/EFL contexts.Nick Gadd