Interesting Outdoor Activities English Teachers Can Use
Let us imagine. How if English teachers only conduct English lessons inside the class? Will the students have fun all the time? Many English teachers reflect on that so, in reality, they try to conduct English lessons not only inside the class but also outside the class. They think that conducting English lessons outside is also needed and important. Therefore, English teachers use some outdoor activities to help when teaching English. By doing so, English teachers believe that they can help their students to increase motivation. They also believe that outdoor activities can give students fun and joy. Here are some interesting activities that English teachers can use to teach English outside the class.
Table of Contents
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elizabeth T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Principles of Motivation
English teachers know that they should engage and motivate their students to speak English more often. There is an activity that can help the students to express themselves and speak bravely and loudly.
What I can do
This activity is suitable for a lesson whose topic is about ability. It is done in pairs. One student will mime and the other student guesses. One succeeds guessing, he or she should mime. They mime and guess continuously. This kind of activity will be better if it is conducted in a big open space where the students can shout freely when guessing. If it is possible, let the students in each pair stand 7-10 meters apart. Without any further, let us get started! First of all, the teacher asks the students to write what they can do and what they cannot do as much as possible in a small paper. The teacher can give examples by saying I can dance, I can jump, I cannot fly. The students have 5 minutes to think and write. After that, the teacher demonstrates how to get the activity done. To make the students understand, the teacher invites two students to come in front and practice. As soon as all students understand, they go outside and start the activity. Let the students mime and guess in 15 minutes and see how many abilities they can mention.
Also Read: The Importance of Stories For English Learning in Early Childhood
Look around and guess
This is suitable for a warmer activity. The teacher first asks the students to leave the class and explore the surroundings. While looking around, the students have to write some objects that can be described. They look around in 5 minutes. Moreover, it is better to be done in pairs. After that, the teacher divides the students into several groups. When they have gathered together in a group, they can start. Here are the steps. In each group, there should be one person describing one object that has been written. He or she is only allowed to describe the object by giving clues. Specific information is avoided. As soon as he or she finished describing, the other students look around and try to guess what the object is. Also, each student should try to describe the objects they have written previously. This part lasts for 10-15 minutes. By doing this activity, the students are supposed to mention and gain adjectival vocabularies as much as they can.
Close your eyes and move
This activity is conducted when the topic of the lesson is about directions. The aim of this activity is helping the students to give clear directions and improve their listening skills. It takes about 10-15 minutes. Before the activity starts, the teacher divides the students into some groups. Each group consists of 5-7 students depending on the number of students. Each group should have one representative whose eyes will be closed. Each representative can close their eyes using a scarf. The teacher then prepares the objects and spread them out randomly. Besides, to increase the students' motivation, the teacher should prepare interesting objects like snacks. When the objects are all spread out, the teacher then demonstrates how to play. The teacher gives some examples of giving directions like go ahead, turn left, and stop.
Also Read: How much is a TEFL course and how do I pay for it?
Once everyone is ready, the teacher asks the students to gather with their groups. The representative of the group stands in front of his or her teammates. He or she can move after his or her teammates give directions. If the representative does not listen to his or her teammates, he or she will not be able to take the objects. The rule is only one. Each representative is not allowed to put off the scarf or open their eyes. We can imagine that it will be so noisy because everyone will shout. So, both the representative and directions giver should have strategies. Each representative should know their teammates' voices, concentrate and listen to their teammates well. The teammates should also speak loudly and give clear directions for sure. When the students focus on giving directions and taking the objects, the teacher can pay attention to what the students say. The teacher can memorize mispronunciation or unclear directions stated if any.
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To conclude, English teachers can invite the students to go outside and conduct English lessons outside as well. To help the students to speak bravely and loudly, the teachers can use an outdoor activity, namely What I can do. If the teachers want to help the students to be able to describe things, Look around and guess can be used. One last activity is Close your eyes and moves, moreover, it can be used to practice giving directions and listening. Last but not least, English teachers need to let their students speak English freely outside the class.
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