Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
11 Fun ESL Activities for Young Learners - TEFL Blog
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
When teaching young learners, it's important not to spend too much time on any one activity as they can soon lose interest. It is also a good idea to have activities that give younger learners the chance to move about and use the boundless energy they have at that age. Below we present a list of short activities suitable for young and very young learners of English.
Listen to this blog post:
What's the Time Mr. Wolf?
Telephone
Basketball
Volleyball
Bingo
Can you …?
I Spy
Odd One Out
Stand Up Please
Mastermind
Blindfold Obstacle Course
Are you ready to teach English abroad?
Related Articles:
Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials!
This is a good activity for practicing time with small classes. Clear a space in the center of... [Read more]
Helpful and Fun Outdoor ESL Activities - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
What outdoor activities can help to teach English? I would like to say that there are plenty of outdoor activities that are effective to teach English. However, many teachers prefer indoor activities rather than outdoor, as they think that it might distract the students. Nonetheless, outdoor activities can increase their motivation for learning. Also, it helps to decrease their stress level, as they do not have to stay in the classroom as usual.
Freewriting time
Flashcard game
'Stand up if you've ever' game
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarosh Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
The teacher... [Read more]
7 Fun Activities for Teaching Vocabulary in the ESL Classroom - TEFL Blog
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
You will find the web full of ideas for teaching vocabulary and, although most of them are undoubtedly good activities, some are only suited to a particular level. Here are some tried and tested activities that can be adapted to suit any level of student and a variety of class sizes.
Listen to this blog post:
1. Hot seat
2. Beat the clock
3. Crosswords
4. Board games
5. Slow Pictionary
6. Vocabulary tennis
7. Pelmanism ("Concentration")
Are you ready to teach English abroad?
Related Articles:
Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials!
This is a great activity that can be used as a warm-up at the beginning of a class, or as a game at the end of a lesson. It's suitable for any class size over 4 students and requires minimal... [Read more]
Five Fun ESL Activities Every Teacher Should Know - TEFL Blog
Federico Riva
Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas
The following activities may be adapted for use as warmers, engage activities, structured practice or free practice style activities. They may also be adapted for level and age.
Watch the video about this topic
Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language?
Related Articles:
Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials!
The first one is really simple but can be one of the best activities to improve grammar. Some students even at the higher levels are lacking automatic habits, which are really important for grammatical skill. Basically this activity is a grammar drill and it is supposed to be used as a warmer or as an ice-breaker activity. The main objective is to help your students automate some grammatical... [Read more]
5 Fun ESL Activities For Interactive Online Lessons - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Online ESL Activities: Are you an online English teacher? Do you want your students to enjoy and have fun? Then, this live stream is for you! Our TEFL/TESOL expert, Liza, will share five interactive activities that you will be able to use at your next class. Great news that these games will suit any age group and level. Don't miss! #TEFL#BestTEFL #TeachEnglishOnline 00:00-00:48 Mic was off 00:48-01:00 Intro Are you ready to teach English abroad or online? Click here and get started today: bit.ly/37gs5vO What is TEFL Certification? Where is it valid: bit.ly/36ma2Fg Check out our wide range of TEFL Courses: bit.ly/3ltqt73 Teach English online from anywhere you want: bit.ly/3ltqEPL
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Top-5 Fun Flashcard Activities - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Flashcards can be great tools for eliciting vocabulary, but teachers should not overlook the numerous other uses for these great tools. Flashcard games can add excitement to young learners' classes. The following activities are aimed to drill the vocabulary in the second study phase of the lesson, after the elicitation of vocabulary.
1. Game for liars
2. Get on the other side of the bridge
3. Memory challenge
4. Keyword race
5. More for listening skills
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kiyomi Ann H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
The liar game is a flashcard activity that can be used to... [Read more]
Simple Flashcard Activities to Have Fun During the Class - TEFL Blog
Federico Riva
Teaching Ideas
Throughout this course, my favorite units have been the ones that teach us how to lead an effective lesson and have a fun classroom environment. I love all the suggestions and teaching ideas they give, and it excites me to think about using those for my future lessons. For that reason, I chose the topic of five activities with flashcards. This essay will be a perfect opportunity for me to delve further into my favorite part of this class and plan some fun things to do. When I move abroad I plan on teaching young children, mainly kindergarten-aged, so my five activities will be geared towards young learners. They need way more energy, fun, and excitement in their lessons than teenage or adult learners because their attention spans are so short, so I tried to... [Read more]
Easter Activities for ESL - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
Here are four fun Easter activities for ESL students.
Grab this printable ESL worksheet with four Easter-themed activities for your ESL students.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
How Can Reading Influence Language Acquisition? - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Language acquisition is a process that engages different skills and is therefore influenced by them. Reading, which is among the four main language skills, is considered to be influential in this process in many ways. In my opinion, it is one of the best contributors to the journey of learning a new language and although its advantages seem to be exclusive to reading comprehension, it involves other skills to a high degree as well.
Reading Resources
Benefits of Reading
Speaking Skills
Reading as a Way to Master Speaking
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Faezeh C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of... [Read more]
Bunny Reading Comprehension Easter Worksheet - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
Here is a fun Easter-themed reading comprehension exercise for your ESL students.
Have your students read the Easter story and answer the questions below.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
My Day Reading Comprehension - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This worksheet is designed to practice vocabulary and reading comprehension on daily activities.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Santa is on Holiday - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a reading comprehension about Santa's summer holiday. The worksheet includes a text and different activities to follow.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Winter Clothes Worksheet - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun ESL worksheet about winter clothes with listening reading, speaking tasks.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Halloween Facts Worksheet - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a worksheet to learn facts about Halloween. It is a reading task and there also are some activities to check the pupils' reading comprehension. The students also can learn about the origins of Halloween and how the Ancient Celtics used to celebrate it.
Here are the exercises for after the reading:
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
How to Teach Reading to Young ESL Students - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
As a part of receptive skills, reading is so important that children start to read both English and Chinese books at the very beginning of their lives. Reading is a beneficial way to learn English well, especially for young learners. They can accumulate more and more vocabulary as well as the way native speakers communicate with each other by reading various kinds of books. As we all know reading a good book just like talking with a great author.
Personal Teaching Experience
Reading Techniques
Parents' Help
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xiangnan G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Here I... [Read more]
4 Activities for Teaching Future Tenses in the ESL Classroom - TEFL Blog
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
In a previous post, we looked at various teaching ideas for future simple and here we're going to describe some fun ideas for teaching three other future tenses. There are a wide variety of usages for future tenses and it's always important to make sure your activities focus on the usages that you've taught in your lesson. For example, future continuous can be used to talk about an ongoing action at a point in the future, a fixed future event, polite enquiries or to predict the future or the present. Predicting the present is one that students often have trouble conceptualizing, so we might as well start from there.
Listen to this blog post:
Predicting the present
Ongoing action at a point in the future
Expected achievements at a point in the future... [Read more]
Thanksgiving Day Reading Comprehension - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun reading comprehension and vocabulary worksheet about Thanksgiving.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Halloween Reading Comprehension - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun reading comprehension for your EFL students this Halloween.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Halloween Reading Comprehension III - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun reading comprehension for your EFL students this Halloween.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Halloween Reading Comprehension II - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun reading comprehension for your EFL students this Halloween.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Technology and You Reading Comprehension - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a reading comprehension worksheet about technology for ESL students.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
7 Activities for Teaching Reported Speech in the ESL Classroom - TEFL Blog
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
When teaching reported speech the potential for mistakes, errors, and the general difficulty is enormous due to the number of changes that are made with verb tenses, patterns, pronouns, questions, time expressions etc.. It's important to cover the subject slowly with lots of verbal practice at every opportunity. There are plenty of standard 'change the direct speech to reported speech' activities, but your students will soon tire of these if you overuse them. Here are some ideas which have worked well in the EFL classroom and will give your students a good amount of talk time in a variety of ways.
Listen to this blog post:
The Go-Between Game
The Lying Game
Pelmanism ("Concentration")
Guess Who
Reported Speech "Tennis"
Who Asked What?
Find Someone... [Read more]
Enhancing ESL Reading Lessons: Strategies and Materials for Effective Learning - TEFL Blog
Federico Riva
TEFL Information Alumni Experiences
Reading comprehension is a crucial skill for ESL (English as a Second Language) students to develop. As teachers, it is essential to select appropriate resources and employ effective techniques to maximize the benefits of reading activities in the classroom. In this blog post, we will explore various types of reading materials, discuss strategies to improve reading comprehension skills, and highlight the importance of integrating discussions into the learning process.
Types of Reading Materials
Authentic Materials:
Non-Authentic Materials:
Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension Skills
Skimming and Scanning:
Summarizing:
Predicting:
Discussing:
Conclusion
Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language?
Related Articles:... [Read more]
The Mayflower Thanksgiving Reading Comprehension - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This Mayflower reading comprehension passage is the perfect activity to do with your ESL students this Thanksgiving.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
10+ Activities for Teaching English Winter Camp - TEFL Blog
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
Having to organize and hold a winter camp is a daunting task, especially for new teachers who haven't done it before. For these kinds of English camps, teachers typically create up to 10 lesson plans for the duration of the camp. Winter camps can last anywhere between one week to a month or even longer. The main goal of an English camp is to have a fun and memorable time with the students while practicing their English.
Listen to this blog post:
It's all About Fun… and Props!
Making Sock Snowmen!
Making Christmas or New Year's Cards
Have Handouts Ready
Powerpoint/Computer Games
Board Games
When Your School Doesn't Have a Budget or Supplies
Are you ready to teach English abroad?
Related Articles:
Check out what our course grads say in our many video... [Read more]
Animal Reading Comprehension - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun worksheet for reading comprehension. The students read the two texts and answer questions about the animals.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
How Reading Nourishes the World - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
One of the most valuable human attributes is imagination. An active and healthy imagination can be inspired by many things. One of the most significant inspirations behind a lively imagination is reading. Alternatively, an image can contribute to valuable characteristics, such as bravery, dignity, and leadership. Reading can introduce people to comprehension, vocabulary, new places, languages, cultures, ideas, perspectives, information, words, and sentences. Speaking and reading are great ways to learn new words of another language, as well as learn how to structure those new words in a sentence.
Reading in childhood
Teenage reading
Reading in adulthood
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by... [Read more]
Outdoor Activities for Better Language Acquisition Process - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
'Teacher, Can we please have a class outdoors?' this question was asked by a lot of my students, and 'No' was my typical answer. Why do students want to have an outdoor session? Is it really useful? What outdoor activities could be done to help when teaching English? These questions ran through my mind every time one of my students asked me to have a class outdoors. So, I decided to find answers to these questions.
Reasons to have classes outdoors
Choice of activities
World around us
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ahmed A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Why teach outside at all? It is... [Read more]
Speaking Activity: Conversation Cards about Books - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
Using speaking cards is a great way to encourage conversations among ESL learners. The cards act as guides to give the students a direction in their conversations. Below you will find conversation cards about books and reading for your ESL classroom.
Let's take a look at all of the questions and possible answers.
Possible answer: I recently finished reading the first book of the Outlander series. It's a fantastic book about an English woman from 1945 who travels back in time to Scotland in 1745. The story is very compelling and the characters' personalities are very well thought-through.
Possible answer: One of my favorite books is "The Da Vinci Code" written by Dan Brown. Even though it is a fictional story, Dan... [Read more]
Last posts written by Linda from: 12
Linda is a passionate traveler, language learner and TEFL teacher. After spending some time teaching in China, she moved to Korea in 2015. She now calls South Korea her home.
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
Schools are starting again and students and teachers flock back to the classroom. Check out these simple and powerful back-to-school ideas and your students will surely remember this first lesson of yours for a long time!
Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
As an ESL teacher, getting your students talking can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish. English learners often lack the necessary confidence to speak openly and freely in English. The following activities are perfect for getting your students out of their shells! Here are 7 go-to activities for your ESL conversation... [Read more]