Classroom Activities for English Teachers and Students (Volume 1) Page Listening Activities Song Lyrics Movie Dialog TED Talk Movie Words Movie Buzz Inside The Actors Studio 1 2 3 4 5 6 Speaking Activities 4 Corners Movie Trailers Chopstick Topics Movie Predictions Funny or Die Movie Idioms Cup Pong 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Reading Activities TV Guide Timed Reading Jigsaw Q&A Sentence Building News Article 14 15 16 17 18 19 Writing Activities Comic Strip Postcards News Report Five Senses Movie Subtitles Daily Diary 20 21 22 23 24 25
Page 1 Song Lyrics ESL Listening Activity Find a song on YouTube that your students will like. Search for the lyrics of the song online. Prepare a document with the lyrics on it. Remove some of the words and create a blank-fill activity. Song Lyrics Have students discuss their favorite songs in groups. Give the blank-fill activity of the lyrics to the students. Play the song on YouTube. Students listen and write the missing words. Play the song a second time if necessary. Lead feedback and make corrections. Review any difficult vocabulary in the lyrics.
Page 2 Movie Dialog ESL Listening Activity Find a movie scene that your students would like. Type out the dialog from the scene. You may also be able to find the script online. Print and cut out the individual lines of dialog. Make copies for the number of students in your class. Attach the paper strips with paper clips. Movie Dialog Have students discuss their favorite movie lines, quotes, and dialog from famous movies. Hand out the paper strips to the class. Play the movie scene. Students watch and listen to the scene a few times. In pairs, they should try to arrange the paper slips in the correct order based on the dialog. Lead feedback and correct the dialog sequence.
Page 3 TED Talk ESL Listening Activity Go to TED.com and find a short TED Talk. You can modify your search to find an appropriate topic and video length. Skim the transcript of the talk for any difficult vocabulary. Create a document of the words to pre-teach. Prepare questions based on the introduction of the talk. TED Talk Have students discuss the topics related to the talk. Pre-teach the difficult vocabulary. Students watch the first few minutes of the talk. Tell them to listen carefully and take notes. Ask them some of the questions that you prepared. Next, tell students to take notes and create some questions based on the next section of the talk. Play the next two or three minutes. Students take notes. Pause the video after two or three minutes. Students refer to their notes and create questions in pairs. They ask their questions to the rest of the class. Other students try to answer the questions. Lead feedback and continue the same tasks for the remainder of the TED talk.
Page 4 Movie Words ESL Listening Activity Find a scene or a series of scenes from a movie online. Try to select a movie that they would like. Watch the video and type out any vocabulary from the scene(s) that you want to teach your students. Prepare the list of words in a document. Cut out the words individually. Movie Words Students discuss their favorite movies. Pre-teach any difficult vocabulary that you prepared. Divide the students into small groups or pairs. Hand out the words that you cut out. 5 words per group should be appropriate. Play the movie. Students watch and listen carefully. If students hear any of their 5 words, they must put the word aside on their desk.
Page 5 Movie Buzz ESL Listening Activity Find a movie (or an episode from a TV show). Browse sites like YouTube or Netflix for content. Prepare some questions based on the video. The questions could relate to things like: Plot (what happened) Dialog (what someone said) Grammar Vocabulary Movie Buzz Students discuss their favorite movies and TV shows. Divide the class into teams. Play 30 seconds of the video that you prepared. Ask a series of questions based on what they watched. Students make a BUZZ sound if they know the answer. If students answer correctly, award their team a point. Complete the same tasks in 30-second intervals. The team with the most points at the end of the video wins.
Page 6 Inside the Actors Studio ESL Listening Activity Find an episode of Inside the Actors Studio online. You can choose from several episodes on YouTube. Create a question/answer handout. The handout should include the same 10 questions that the host, James Lipton, asks his guests. Leave space on the paper for students answers. Inside the Actors Studio Give your students the handout of 10 questions. Students listen and watch the end of the interview. Students write down the actor/actress s responses. Lead feedback and share the correct answers. Finally, students interview each other asking the same 10 questions that are used in the show.
Page 7 4 Corners ESL Speaking Activity Think of some discussion topics for your students. 4 Corners Draw a rough layout of your classroom on the board. Label numbers 1 to 4 in each corner of the class layout. Designate a discussion topic for each number. Assign each student in the class a number from 1 to 4. Students go to their number in the classroom. They discuss the topic for a few minutes. Lead feedback. Students go to another corner and discuss the next topic. Continue until all four topics have been discussed.
Page 8 Movie Trailers ESL Speaking Activity Create a chart on a document with different categories. The first category column should be Movie Title. For the other categories, write different headers, such as: Genre, Actors, 5-Star Rating, or Theme etc. Find some movie trailers online. You can find lots of trailers on YouTube or Apple s site. Movie Trailers Have the students discuss their favorite movies. Try to elicit different movie genres. Hand out the chart that you prepared to the students. Play one of the movie trailers and model the activity. Fill out every category on the chart, including: the movie s title, genre, actors, and star-rating etc. Play the other trailers. Students perform the same tasks. Lead feedback after watching each movie trailer.
Page 9 Chopstick Topics ESL Speaking Activity Buy a bunch of cheap wooden chopsticks. Or you can find a similar object at a dollar store. Write different topics on the ends of the chopsticks. Topics could include anything, such as: Music Travel Destinations Restaurants Sports etc. Chopstick Topics Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Take out a chopstick and read the topics on it. Model the task and discuss the topic with a student. Next, give a different chopstick to each group. Students discuss the topics on the sticks for a few minutes. Lead feedback then rotate the chopsticks. Students complete the same tasks with their new topics.
Page 10 Movie Predictions ESL Speaking Activity Find a movie or TV show that your students would like Movie Predictions Introduce the movie and its characters. Play the first 30 seconds of a scene, then pause the video. Model the task. Predict what will happen next. Unpause the video and play the remainder of the scene. Pause it again. Discuss if your predictions were correct. Play the next scene. Press pause again after 30 seconds. Students then make their own predictions. Continue the activity in this way for the rest of the movie.
Page 11 Funny or Die ESL Speaking Activity Find some content from the Funny or Die website. The 21 Best GIFS of All Time series usually works well. Create a document with two columns and several rows. On the left column, label the header GIF Description. On the right column, label the header Ranking. Funny or Die Have students discuss the funniest or strangest thing that they have watched online. Hand out the document that you prepared. Model the task. Scroll down to the first GIF. Write a description of what you just watched. Rank the first GIF from 1 to 5. Explain why you thought it was or wasn t funny. Show the other GIFs. Students do the same tasks in pairs. Lead feedback after they have watched all of the GIFs. Or you could lead feedback at different intervals. Encourage students to give explanations for their answers. At the end, the class can vote for the funniest GIF.
Page 12 Movie Idioms ESL Speaking Activity It takes some time to prepare content for this activity. Find some videos clips that have idioms in the dialog. You can find content on sites like YouTube or Netflix. Search sites like QuoDB.com for idioms in movies. Make a list of the idioms from the videos that you found. Movie Idioms Write an idiom on the board from one of the videos. Explain the literal meaning of the idiom. Model an example sentence using the idiom. Introduce the video clip that you will play. Give them some background about the characters/plot. Play the video. Students must listen for the idiom used in the dialog. They should write down the exact sentence with the idiom. Lead feedback. Write the correct sentence on the board with the idiom. Students then create their own sentences using the idiom. They can practice using it in writing and speaking. Write a new idiom on the board. Complete the same tasks with the next video clip containing the new idiom.
Page 13 Cup Pong ESL Speaking Activity Plastic or paper cups Ping pong balls Prepare some questions in English related to: your students textbook grammar vocabulary or any other language skills Cup Pong Divide the class into teams. Assign one cup per student (or team). Set up the cups and play. Students answer a question when a ball lands in their cup. Use the questions that you prepared before class. Keep track of points on the board. Adjust the game rules to suit your students.
Page 14 TV Guide ESL Reading Activity Find TV program schedule online. It should include lots of information, such as: the show titles times ratings genres etc. TV Guide Have the class discuss their favorite TV shows. Hand out the TV program guide to the students. Model the task. Ask them questions about the content. Ask about the show times, ratings, and genres etc. Next, have the students ask you similar questions. Students then perform the same tasks with a partner. Lead feedback and make any necessary corrections.
Page 15 Timed Reading ESL Reading Activity Find an article from your class s textbook or online. Make sure it matches your students reading ability. Timed Reading Have some pre-discussion about the article s topic. Pre-teach any difficult vocabulary from the text. Read the first section of the article aloud to the class. Without looking at the text, provide a brief summary. You could also talk about some specific details. Students then read the next section of the article. Assign a time limit to complete reading the section. With a partner, students try to summarize what they read. Students should try to recall the information from the section without looking back at the text. Lead feedback. Ask a student to provide a summary of the section. Ask other students some specific details. Elicit meanings of difficult vocabulary. Continue the same tasks for the remaining sections of the article.
Page 16 Jigsaw ESL Reading Activity Use an article from your class s textbook or from online. Make sure the article is long enough to divide into various sections. Separate the sections of the article. Make copies of each section. How many you make depends on the class size. Jigsaw Have the students discuss the topic related to the article. Divide the class into groups. Give each group a section of the article. The groups read their sections and prepare summaries. They could also find definitions of difficult words. Next, the groups separate and form new groups. Each new group must have 1 student from the old groups. In the new groups, every student summarizes their section. The students should take turns summarizing their sections based on the sequence of the article. For example, the students who summarized the first section of the article should go first in the new groups. They can also describe difficult vocabulary. The other group members listen and ask questions. When the activity is over, everyone should have a good understanding of the entire article and its vocabulary.
Page 17 Q&A ESL Reading Activity Find an article online that suits your students ability. Try to select an article topic that they will like. Make sure the article is long enough, so it can be divided into sections. Q&A Have a pre-discussion about the article s topic. Pre-teach any difficult vocabulary from the article. Hand out the article to the students. Model the task. Read the first section or paragraph. Ask students questions based on the section. Questions could be about specific details, main ideas, true/false questions, or opinion-based. Next, put the students into groups. Assign a section of the article for each group to read. The groups should create questions based on their section, similar to your examples. After completion, have a question and answer session. Each group takes turns asking questions to the class. The other groups can score points for answering correctly. Continue the tasks until all article sections are finished. Award the winning group with a prize (or standing ovation).
Page 18 Sentence Building ESL Reading Activity Type a list of about 10 sentences on a document. The sentences could focus on a specific verb tense or grammar point. Increase the font size. Cut out the sentences. Cut out the individual words in each sentence. Use a paper clip to keep the words together. Be careful not to mix up the sentences. Sentence Building Model one example sentence for the class. Remove a paper clip and write the words randomly on the board as they appear. Rearrange the words to form a complete sentence. Write the correct sentence on the board. Hand out the other paper-clipped words to the students. They perform the same task with their partner(s). Students mix up the words again and reattach them. Students pass the paper-clipped words to their classmates. They perform the same tasks until everyone has completed all 10 sentences. Lead feedback. Correct the sentences on the board.
Page 19 News Article ESL Reading Activity Find an interesting news article online. The article should be appropriate for your students levels. You may want to edit the article to match their ability. News Article Give a copy of the news article to the students. Read the first section of the article aloud. Model a brief one-sentence summary of what you read. Tell the students to read the next section silently. Students then create their summary sentences in pairs. Elicit a few summaries from individual students. Complete the same tasks for the remainder of the article.
Page 20 Comic Strips ESL Writing Activity Find some comic strips online (or in a newspaper). Omit all of the dialog from the characters speech bubbles. You could do this digitally if you know how to. Alternatively, just use White Out or white tape. Comic Strips Students discuss their favorite comic book characters. Hand out the edited comic strips that you prepared. Model some examples for what could be written in some of the dialog bubbles. Next, students fill in their own dialog with a partner. After completion, students read their comic strips aloud. They could also do a role play with different voices. Reward prizes for the most creative versions.
Page 21 Postcards ESL Writing Activity Create a postcard template on a document. One side should be blank. The other side should have space for writing an address and the letter portion. You could also download a sample postcard online or examples of postcard writing. Postcards Have the class discuss travel destinations. Hand out the postcard templates to the students. Tell them they are going to write a postcard to a friend. They should pretend they are in another country. On the blank side, they can draw some famous landmarks or a scene from the location. On the letter side, they should write their friend s address. You can outline proper address formats for them. You may also want to show them postcard writing samples if you prepared any before class. Next, have them write a short postcard letter to their friend. Monitor their progress as they write and offer assistance. After completion, ask a few students to read their postcard aloud to the class. Lead feedback and correct any writing errors on the board.
Page 22 News Report ESL Writing Activity Find a recent news broadcast online. Make sure it is appropriate for their level. Make note of any difficult vocabulary in the clip. News Report Before playing the video, have the class discuss something related to the news topic. Pre-teach any difficult vocabulary from the broadcast. Play the video. Students should take notes as they watch. After watching, students compare notes and discuss it. Lead feedback and ask them questions about the report. If time permits, have them write a short paragraph summarizing the news report.
Page 23 Five Senses ESL Writing Activity Buy a bunch of cheap chocolates. You could use small candies for a cheaper alternative. Provide the students with some paper. Five Senses Elicit the five human senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste Students create five columns for each sense on paper. Give every student a chocolate. Tell them not to eat it yet. For the first sight column, they must think of as many adjectives to describe the way the chocolate looks. Lead feedback and do the same for the other senses. For the last taste sense, they can eat the chocolate and think of adjectives to describe its flavor. By the end, they should have five lists of adjectives. They can then use those adjectives to write more descriptive sentences. Elicit a few examples sentences. Finally, if time permits, have the class write a descriptive paragraph about the chocolate.
Page 24 Movie Subtitles ESL Writing Activity Find a movie scene on YouTube or Netflix. The scene should have at least two characters. Make sure there is dialog. Create a document with space to enter the characters names and some blank lines for the dialog. Movie Subtitles Have students discuss their favorite movies in groups. Tell the students the characters names in the scene. You could show them still frames of each character so they know who is who. The class watches the scene with the sound off. In groups, students create dialog based on the characters body language, reactions, and gestures. The groups share their completed dialog with the class.
Page 25 Daily Diary ESL Writing Activity Diary notebooks or paper for writing Diary writing samples (optional) Daily Diary Write 3 categories on the board in columns, such as: Things I did well Things I could have done better Things I am grateful for Model an example for each category for your past week. Have students think about their past week and discuss these 3 things in pairs (or groups). Lead feedback and board some of their answers. Students should write down their own answers for the 3 categories as well. They can use these notes as an outline for their writing. Show the students the diary writing samples if you prepared any. Students then write a short diary entry about the topics that they discussed using their outlines. They can hand it in for feedback or do peer reviews.