ESL Classroom Games
Maintaining a high level of interest throughout the English Second Language class time.
There are times of the day when special
activities such as ESL classroom games are very appropriate. Although
the daily school timetable varies from country to country, it is usual
for children aged five to nine to have a playtime break during the
morning. They stop for lunch around noon and return to class for a
time during the afternoon. Regardless of the schedule, many will likely
be able to stay on task until the first break but there will be some
who sit and dream and others who disturb their friends. The class time
directly after the morning break is good learning time. It�s a good
time for the teacher to introduce the more difficult parts of the
program. The last half hour before lunch, however, is a tired, very
low energy time, a time when ESL classroom games can help. The afternoon
follows a similar pattern to the two morning periods.
We can assume that in most countries the
school day has about three low energy times that everyone feels:
children feel it �teachers feel it. It doesn�t matter if you are teaching
the same children in an ESL class all day or if you are seeing them
for a short period of time in an English Foreign Language class in
their home country. These low energy times are the most challenging
for teachers. ESL classroom
games can help teachers and students learn through these times.
For children who are beginning to speak English, here is an ESL classroom
game that you can prepare. Find pictures of things you have been talking
about in the program you are using or in a magazine. Cut them out and
you are ready to play!
ESL Classroom Games
ESL Classroom Game 1
Give each student a small piece of paper.
Hold up one picture and ask one child to name it. (You might want to
review the names of all the pictures you are going to hold up before
you start.) If the child is right, let them have the picture on their
desk for the duration of the game and stamp their small piece of paper
with a picture or draw a star on it. If the student is wrong then put
the picture behind the others in the pile. Continue with the other pictures.
Pay particular attention to the children who are insecure. Ask them about
pictures that you think they will know. As they gain confidence they�ll
be more successful. Sometime the fear of making a mistake overwhelms
them. Another approach is to have the children answer in pairs. A good
follow-up activity for this esl classroom game is to give each child
one of the pictures and have them draw it on their small piece of paper
and print its name under it.
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ESL Classroom Game 2
Give one or two pictures plus a small piece of paper to each student. They should all be given the same number of pictures. They are to listen while you say a sentence about one of the pictures. The student who has the right picture holds it up and gets a stamp or star on their paper of book. This can be followed by having them draw the picture on their small piece of paper and print a sentence or word about it.
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Pictures for ESL Classroom Games
Click For A Large Size Printable Copy
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