Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
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]
Name 3 Things Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is the perfect board game to play as a time filler activity for your ESL class. Your students take turns rolling the die and naming three things around the topic on the board.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Tefl reviews - Classroom Management For Teaching English As A Foreign Language Writing On The Board - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
One of the major ideas here when writing on the board, is that we need to be aware that whenever we're using the board to write down information, we should not be talking and whenever we are talking we should not be writing on the board. This will inevitably lead to what's known as dead time when nothing is being said as we're putting information on the board. This dead time is not a problem but we can actually minimize it by using a number of techniques. We could use pre-prepared material. So we put information onto large pieces of paper and then instead of writing on the board, we actually stick those materials onto the board as we go through the class. Another idea is to actually ask students to write on the board for you. Another thing is that we could actually put work up onto... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Tefl Video Idioms/white Elephant - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
The idiom "white elephant" refers to an expensive item that is costly to maintain, for example: Shortly after Tanya inherited her aunt's castle, it turned out to be a white elephant she could not afford. The phrase originates from a long time ago when white elephants where regarded as precious and even holy in Asia, especially in Thailand. When the king was displeased with someone, he would gift them a white elephant as the upkeeping would likely ruin them.
Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each... [Read more]
11 Activities for Young Learners ▷ Infographic - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
The activities listed below are a combination of ideas that are physically and/or mentally stimulating. Games such as ‘What’s The Time Mr. Wolf?’, ‘Basketball’, ‘Volleyball’, ‘Can You …?’, ‘Stand Up Please’ and ‘Blindfold Obstacle Course’ all encourage the students to use English while moving about. They are great for getting the students using English while expending their energy in positive ways.
Activities such as ‘Odd One Out’ and ‘Mastermind’ are mentally stimulating and are excellent ways for the students to use and think about the language creatively. The majority of these ideas have a competitive element to make them more exciting and they can be completed in a short amount of time to ensure students don’t get bored by the end of the... [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]
5 Activities With Flashcards to Boost Your ESA Strategy - TEFL Blog
Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
5 activities with flashcards it's one way to make a class more interesting especially when teaching kids.
1. Missing card
2. Jump over
3. Tower building
4. Sit on the flashcard
5. Pass the flashcard
6. Hide and seek
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Related Articles:
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Manling Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
This activity you will have to teach first the words and make sure the kids know the words and when they see the picture they can be able to identify what it is, so what you have to do is spread all the flashcards on the floor and tell them to look carefully if possible you can read with them the words one... [Read more]
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]
My Favorites Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This board game is a great way to get to know each other a little bit more and have fun at the same time.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Christmas Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This Christmas board game is the perfect game to play in your ESL classroom to practice the present simple and present continuous tense.
Create a sentence, affirmative, negative, or a question, with the prompts in either present simple or present continuous tense, depending on the time word. Then answer the question with your own ideas. If a person isn't specified, use anyone you'd like.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
All About Me Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun board game with 'All About Me' related questions for intermediate and advanced students. This is a great way to get to know them at the beginning of a course.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[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]
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]
Days and Months Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun ESL board game to practice the days and the months in English.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Days of the Week Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This board game will help your students revise and practice the days of the week. You can have them work in pairs/groups, throw the dice and say the name of the week.
If you have a small group of students, you can play this game with the whole class - it's also great for online lessons. If you have a bigger class, it's best to split up your students into pairs or small groups and have them play among them.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Use a Word Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun board game where the students have to make a sentence with the word they land on.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Time Expressions Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun board game to practice time expressions and prepositions of time. Your students talk in pairs about the topics on the sheet. Each student places their counter on one of the "start" squares and then move forward by one square at a time talking about the topic using the appropriate time expressions.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
ESL Articles Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
In this fun articles board game, students review 'a', 'an' and 'the' by completing true or false statements and talking about various topics for 30 seconds.
In this free articles board game, students review a, an and the by completing true or false statements and talking about various topics for 30 seconds. Give each group of three or four a copy of the game board, a dice and counters. The players then take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board.
When a player lands on a 'True or false?' square, they complete the statement with the correct article (a, an, or the) and read it to the group. If the player is able to do this correctly, they score a point. If not, they must move back to their... [Read more]
Summer Holiday Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun conversation board game to speak about summer holidays with your ESL students.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[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]
Comparatives Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a great board game activity to practice building comparatives in English.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Verbs Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun board game to practice verbs. You can modify this to all different kinds of tenses or grammar patterns.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Was/Were Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This fun activity helps your students practice the verb to be in the past simple by playing a board game where they give true or false answers to questions.
Give each group of three or four a copy of the game board, a set of true or false cards, a dice and counters. The students shuffle the cards and place them face down in a pile next to the game board. The players then take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board. When a player lands on a square, they pick up a true or false card from the pile and look at it, without showing it to anyone. The player then answers the question on the square using was or were by giving either true or false information as indicated on the card. Next, the other... [Read more]
Canada Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
Here's a fun ESL board game about Canada. Students answer questions, describe the pictures, or give the English word for the thing/activity in the picture.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
How did you feel...? Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This board game focuses on adjectives to describe feelings. Students practice describing how they felt the last time certain things happened to them.
Give each pair of students a copy of the game board, a dice and two counters. The students take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board. When a student lands on a square, their partner asks them the 'How did you feel...?' question on the square, e.g. 'How did you feel the last time you had a difficult test?' The student then answers the question by describing how they felt the last time the thing happened to them. Their partner should then ask the student follow-up questions to continue the conversation and gain more information. The first student to... [Read more]
Animals Board Game - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun board game about animals. Your ESL students work in pairs or groups, they throw a die and need to name different types of animals.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Daily Activities Worksheet - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This worksheet is designed to practice some common daily actions. There are 28 pictures and students must match them with the correct actions.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Daily Routine Activities - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
This is a fun worksheet to practice talking about daily routines in English.
Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!
[Read more]
Mastering Grammar: Dynamic Approaches and Engaging Activities for Language Learners - TEFL Blog
Federico Riva
Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences
In this insightful blog post, we'll explore the essence of grammar, examining various approaches to its teaching, offering a comprehensive understanding of this linguistic foundation.
What is Grammar?
Preparation
Grammar Practice Activities and Games
Grammar Quiz
Memory test
Miming an action
Ready to teach English as a Foreign Language?
Related Articles:
Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials!
For decades, mastering grammar stood pivotal in students' perception of language learning. However, contemporary perspectives vary widely on what constitutes essential learning for learners and the most effective teaching methodologies.
Here are some key questions concerning teaching grammar:
Prepare some... [Read more]
Interesting Outdoor Activities English Teachers Can Use - TEFL Blog
Federico Riva
Teaching Ideas
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.
Principles of Motivation
What I can do
Look around and... [Read more]