ESL GAMES for teachers and students

1st LETTER WORDS• Teacher writes a letter on the board • Teams write a word that starts with that letter • Hold up the word and say it • Every round is longer words and more points... 1s

1st LETTER WORDS

• Teacher writes a letter on the board

• Teams write a word that starts with that letter

• Hold up the word and say it

• Every round is longer words and more points

1st SOUNDS

• Teacher writes a letter on the board

• Teams write a word that starts with that letter

• Hold up the word and say it

• Every round is longer words and more points

ALPHABET SCULPTURES

• The teacher will shout out a letter

• The team to form that letter with their bodies gets

a point

• The team can form the letter standing or on the floor

Alphabet Relay Race

• 2 teams race from their desks to write 1 word for every letter of the alphabet

• Games can be open or based on the lesson

• Only the student with the marker can stand up

• For younger students:

• 2 teams race to write the alphabet in order

• RELAY RACE - A race between two or more teams, in

which each team member runs in only a set of

the race and is then replaced by another member of

the team. 

• 1 student has the story/ 1 student has questions /

1 student will run and relay the information

• 1 Student acts out a vocabulary word (s)

• Groups guess the word(s)

• No speaking allowed

• Questions will be taped on the board for each

team

• 1 team member must run to the questions and

grab them with chopsticks

• Bring the questions back to your team and answer them

• After each answer, bring it to the teacher to check

• The team to answer all of the questions 1st wins the game

CLUSTERS (Numbers Lessons)

• When the song plays, students run/dance around the room

• When the song stops, the teacher will yell out a number and the students must get into groups of that number

• The students without enough in their group are out

Differences AND/OR Description

• Picture

• Show a picture of a couple of people or things and have the groups describe the differences between them

• Video Clip

• Show a short clip (preferably an action sequence) with lots

of things happening and within the context

• Have students describe what just happened in the clip

write the answer to the question

• After the student writes the answer, they must hit the board and say it out loud

• The class below you will know you are playing

• Teams will be given a set amount of money

• For each question, they choose how much they want to bet/risk

• The teams that answer correctly take the sum of the gambled money

FIND SOMEONE WHO

• Go around the room with a list of hobbies/actions/daily routines and ask the questions

• First students to finish their list of “?”’s wins the round/game

• Teacher stands at the front of the room

• Students must answer a question or spell a vocab word for points

• After the answer, students get a chance(s) to kick/throw a ball at the teacher

JUMP THE LINE

• There is a piece of tape in the middle of the class

• Students for each team will line up on the tape

• Students must keep their eyes closed

• The teacher holds a flashcard/says a

sentence/asks a question

• If it is TRUE, students jump to the RIGHT

• If it is FALSE, students jump to the LEFT

Lip Sync

• Watch a silent video clip a few times

• Groups plan out a dialogue

• Groups act out the dialogue

• Best group wins

• Every student in class will be placed in a circle

and given a number

• On the board will be a list of topics

• The teacher will call a number and say a topic

• The numbers that are next to that number must say a word from that topic before the other

student

• The slowest of the 2 students is out of the game

• As the game goes on, students must pay attention

to what numbers are next to them

MAKE A SENTENCE

• Topics will be displayed for the students to look at

• For each team, a student will be selected to make

a sentence with a topic that the teacher chooses

• The student has 12 seconds to make a sentence

• In later rounds, the time will be reduced and the points will increase

MEMORY BUZZ

• Students will be in a circle and start building a sentence

• “In the class, there is a clock.”

• The next student will say the same sentence, but add more to it.

• “In the class, there is a clock, and a desk.”

• This will go on until a student makes a mistake.

• This game can also be played with single words

On My Back

• Line up the students in teams and have them face the front

• Show 1 student on each team the target vocab

Students use their finger to write the word on the back

of the student in front of them.

• The next student draws on the next student and so on

• The student at the front of each line then writes the

letter on the board.

• For younger students:

line and have them use their finger to draw the letter on the back of the student in front

• The class will be separated into teams

• 1 student from a team will come up to the front and be shown a word from the teacher

• The student must draw a picture(s) to show the class what the word is

• The team to guess the word 1st gets a point

RUN AND GET IT

• Divide the class into two teams and have them stand

in two lines facing each other

• Assign each team member a number from one to four

• Place a few flashcards in the middle of the two teams

• Call a number and a flashcard, e.g "Student three -

Running Dictation

• Place sentences from assigned text around the room

• Students work in teams, 1 Reader and 1 Writer

• The writer stays at the other side of the room while the reader runs and reads/remember the sentences

• The team with the least mistakes wins

• Write a selection of letters on the board

• Students have to make up as many words as possible from the given letters

• Model one or two examples on the board

• Time limit on the rounds

Shiri Tori

• The teacher starts with a word

• Each student must add a word that begins with

the last letter of the word just spoken e.g egg-girl-lion-neck-etc

apple-• The game goes around until someone forgets

• That person is out of the game and the next round starts