fun activities

Silent viewing 1
 The students watch a section of video with the volume turned down. They have to describe the situation and imagine and predict what is being said.

Silent viewing 2
With the screen turned away from the class, students take it in turn to watch a section of video with the sound turned down. The student has to describe what is going on for benefit of the class. This is a very challenging but productive and rewarding exercise. It’s important to choose the video carefully. For higher level classes a scene with lots of action is appropriate. For lower levels, a scene with less action but more opportunity for description is suitable. This activity can also be done in pair s, with half the class describing for a partner before they swap places.

‘Blind’ viewing
In this activity, the students hear the scene but the screen is turned away from them. They have to predict and describe what they think can be seen. After some discussion the scene is played with the screen turned to the class.

What happens next The teacher shows the students a scene and uses the pause control to stop the tape at various points. The students try to predict what is about to happen or what is going to be said. If a teacher has access to a video camera then a further dimension can be added to the class. As with recording the students voices, the video can be used as a monitoring tool. What I think is most useful for me is to use it for feedback purposes, actually recording the students themselves. I think it’s useful for the students and the teacher. From my point of view as a teacher, I find that it helps a lot to have a second chance to see what the students actually said. It’s very hard when you’re listening to the students doing a debate or a discussion or a role play to simultaneously follow the debate and try to pick up things that you’d like to focus on at the same time. Sue Garton, teacher of academic English at the Palma Uni veristy, Mallorca - Teaching With Technology, Programme 4 As well as a tool for monitoring the students, the video camera can be used to create actual programmes. As a role play, get the students to make their own programmes, such as talk shows and advertisements. If the students are allowed to have control of the camera, then this becomes a very student-centred activity. It gives the class the opportunity to be

Warmers Warmers are short activities for the beginning of lessons. They engage the students and get them using English from the start. There are many different kinds of warmers. Here are a few ideas:

Spot the difference This is an activity where the students are divided into two groups, A and B. All the ‘A’ students are given one picture and all the ‘B’ students are given the same picture but with a certain number of differences. These kinds of pictures can be found in many resource books and often as quizzes in newspapers and magazines. If none of these is available you can always make simple drawings yourself. Students are then put into A/B pairs. Tell them that they must not show their picture to their partner, but that they must describe their pictures to each other to find a certain number of differences. Give a time limit of about five minutes. This activity is very student-centred and can be used to practise and revise the use of prepositions of place, the grammar of description as well as any vocabulary topic you choose, if you have a suitable picture. Students are then put into A/B pairs. Tell them that they must not show their picture to their partner, but that they must describe their pictures to each other to find a certain number of differences. Give a time limit of about five minutes. This activity is very student-centred and can be used to practise and revise the use of prepositions of place, the grammar of description as well as any vocabulary topic you choose, if you have a suitable picture.

Describe and draw
Put the students into A/B pairs. Give student ‘A’ a picture. That student now describes his picture to student ‘B’ who tries to draw what his or her partner describes. ‘A’ should not show his picture, but ‘B’ can ask questions to help. The pictures should not be too difficult to describe and should contain objects and shapes that the students have the vocabulary for. After a few minutes, let the pairs compare the original picture with ‘B’s drawing. Then change over and give student ‘B’ a picture to describe for ‘A’. Again, after a few minutes let them compare. This is a challenging but enjoyable exercise which can provide practice for a wide range of vocabulary and structure.

Hot seat
Hot seat is a vocabulary quiz for teams. First the teacher needs to prepare a list of words and expressions. These should be vocabulary items that the students have studied. A c t iv i t i e s A B Split the class into groups of about seven or eight students. For each group, put one chair, or ‘hot seat’ at the front of the class, facing away from the board. Ask for one member of each group to come up and sit in a ‘hot seat’ in front of their group. When they are all seated - with their backs to the board remember - the teacher writes one of the words or expressions on the board. The other students in the teams can see the word but they can’t say it. They have to describe it, or give examples, or opposites, or synonyms, anything they can think of to help their team mate in the ‘hot seat’ to guess it as quickly as possible. The first ‘hot seat’ student to say the correct word or expression wins a point for their team. Then, ask a different student from each team to come up and then continue as before until you have completed your vocabulary list. The competitive element of this activity really engages the students, but be warned - it can be rather noisy!


All change
All change is a physical activity that can be used to practise a wide range of structures and vocabulary. Ideally, you will be able to put a circle of seats in your classroom. The circle should have the same number of seats as there are students. The teacher stands in the middle of the circle and the students sit around the outside. The teacher tells them to ‘Change seats if ...’. The way the sentence ends depends on the particular grammar or vocabulary area the teacher wants to practise. For example, if you wanted to practise food vocabulary - ‘Change seats if you like chocolate’. Then all the students who do like chocolate have to stand up and find a different seat as quickly as possible. While they are doing this, the teacher quickly leaves the circle and takes away one of the chairs. Then, when everyone has tried to find a new seat there will be one student who is left standing in the middle. This student then has to make a new ‘Change seats if ...’ sentence. And so the activity continues. The physical and competiti ve nature of this activity is engaging for students and can really get a class started well at the beginning of a day. Remember though, don’t let it go on for too long. Three or four minutes should be enough.

Find someone who This is a ‘mingle’ activity which again can be used to practice a range of vocabulary and structure. It is also a particularly good exercise to use with groups who are just starting or maybe don’t know each other very well. The teacher needs to prepare a questionnaire. For example, here are some questions which could be used to practice the present perfect: Find someone who ... ... has been to England. ... has eaten Japanese food. . .. has read a book in English. ... has won a competition. ... has lived in another country.

CREATIVE CLOSURE ACTIVITIES

1. Snowstorm

Students write down what they learned on a piece of scratch paper and wad it up. Given a signal, they throw their paper snowballs in the air. Then each learner picks up a nearby response and reads it aloud.

2. High-Five Hustle

Ask students to stand up, raise their hands and high-five a peer -- their short-term hustle buddy. When there are no hands left, ask a question for them to discuss. Solicit answers. Then play "Do the Hustle" as a signal for them to raise their hands and high-five a different partner for the next question. (Source: Gretchen Bridgers)

3. Parent Hotline

Give students an interesting question about the lesson without further discussion. Email their guardians the answer so that the topic can be discussed over dinner.

4. Two-Dollar Summary

Kids write a two-dollar (or more) summary of the lesson. Each word is worth ten cents. For extra scaffolding, ask students to include specific words in their statement. (Source (PDF): Ann Lewis and Aleta Thompson)

5. Paper Slide

On paper, small groups sketch and write what they learned. Then team representatives line up and, one and a time, slide their work under a video camera while quickly summarizing what was learned. The camera doesn't stop recording until each representative has completed his or her summary.

6. DJ Summary

Learners write what they learned in the form of a favorite song. Offer extra praise if they sing.

7. Gallery Walk

On chart paper, small groups of students write and draw what they learned. After the completed works are attached to the classroom walls, others students affix Stickies to the posters to extend on the ideas, add questions, or offer praise.

8. Sequence It

Students can quickly create timelines with Timetoast to represent the sequence of a plot or historical events.

9. Low-Stakes Quizzes

Give a short quiz using technologies like Socrative, BubbleSheet, GoSoapBox, or Google Forms. Alternatively, have students write down three quiz questions (to ask at the beginning of the next class).

10. Cover It

Have kids sketch a book cover. The title is the class topic. The author is the student. A short celebrity endorsement or blurb should summarize and articulate the lesson's benefits.

11. Question Stems

Have students write questions about the lesson on cards, using question stems framed around Bloom's Taxonomy. Have students exchange cards and answer the question they have acquired.

12. So What?

Kids answer the following prompts:

• What takeaways from the lesson will be important to know three years from now?
• Why?

13. Dramatize It

Have students dramatize a real-life application of a skill.

14. Beat the Clock

Ask a question. Give students ten seconds to confer with peers before you call on a random student to answer. Repeat.

15. Find a First-Grade Student

Have kids orally describe a concept, procedure, or skill in terms so simple that a child in first grade would get it.

16. Review It

Direct kids to raise their hands if they can answer your questions. Classmates agree (thumbs up) or disagree (thumbs down) with the response.

17. CliffsNotes, Jr.

Have kids create a cheat sheet of information that would be useful for a quiz on the day's topic. (Source (PDF): Ann Sipe, "40 Ways to Leave a Lesson")

18. Students I Learned From the Most

Kids write notes to peers describing what they learned from them during class discussions.

19. Elevator Pitch

Ask students to summarize the main idea in under 60 seconds to another student acting as a well-known personality who works in your discipline. After summarizing, students should identify why the famous person might find the idea significant.

20. Simile Me

Have students complete the following sentence: "The [concept, skill, word] is like _______ because _______."

21. Exit Ticket Folder

Ask students to write their name, what they learned, and any lingering questions on a blank card or "ticket." Before they leave class, direct them to deposit their exit tickets in a folder or bin labeled either "Got It," "More Practice, Please," or "I Need Some Help!" -- whichever label best represents their relationship to the day's content. (Source: Erika Savage)

22. Out-the-Door Activity

After writing down the learning outcome, ask students to take a card, circle one of the following options, and return the card to you before they leave:

• Stop (I'm totally confused.)
• Go (I'm ready to move on.)
• Proceed with caution (I could use some clarification on . . .)

Download the PDF cards for this exercise. (Source: Eduscapes)

These 22 strategies can be effectively altered or blended. And they are great opportunities to correct, clarify, and celebrate.

Do you use a closure activity that's not on this list? Please share it in the comments.