A star in the making (Get to know your teen students by creating imaginary celebrity profiles)

Students imagine being a celebrity and complete the template with their personal information

Welcome to the third activity in our series of getting-to-know-you activities for ESL classes. This activity is perfect for English learners aged 10 and up. In this activity, students will step into the shoes of a celebrity, revealing personal information through “Behind the Scenes” questions and creating their very own celebrity name and claim to fame. Get ready for a fun and creative exploration of personal interests and imagination!

Passport to success (Getting to know your primary ESL students by creating a personalised “passport”)

The passport activity. Great for lower primary ESL students. Learners just fill in their details

Are you looking for a fun and engaging activity to get to know your ESL students better? Look no further! This is the second activity in a series of three designed for different age groups. Get ready to discover your primary  students’ interests and personalize your lessons accordingly with this exciting passport activity.

Different strokes for different folks (Getting to know your teen ESL students by planning a dream weekend)

Weekend Planner Template: Fun activity for ESL students to plan their weekend. Great for secondary English learners!

Are you ready to kick off your ESL class with some exciting getting-to-know-you activities? Look no further! This is the first of a series of three engaging activities designed for primary and secondary English learners.

Flip the script (Practising question structures)

Are you ready to “flip the script” in your ESL classroom? Let’s practice question structures in a fun and engaging way!Here’s how it works:

Your guess is as good as mine (vocabulary revision part 3)

The second version of the activity(see my previous post) is just slightly different. This version can be used with any vocabulary set that you want to review or reuse, such as from a previous lesson. Let students work individually or divide them into teams and assign one, two, or three words that you would like them to reuse. Instruct the students to write a short story in three sentences incorporating the assigned words. Then, allow each team to read out their stories and have the other teams guess the words in the story.

This exercise not only reinforces students’ memory of the vocabulary but also enables them to check the meaning and understanding of the words by using them correctly in a sentence.

A perfect match (vocabulary revision part 2)

While teaching in Vietnam and Spain, I came across a fun vocabulary activity which I later modified with my own twist. It’s a great way to review or practice vocabulary. Let me introduce two versions of this activity to you.

Race against time (Vocabulary revision for young learners)

Let’s rev up our engines and get ready to race through some vocabulary words! 

This activity was introduced to me by a fellow teacher in Spain and it is not only perfect for reviewing a variety of vocabulary topics but also ideal for preparing young learners for exams.

I’m all eyes and ears (A twist on using short videos in the ESL classroom)

Do you incorporate short videos into your English class? Looking to add a fun twist to your lesson? This activity requires a bit of preparation, but it’s worth it!

Break the news (Focus on listening)

Get your English class warmed up with this engaging activity using BBC One-minute  World News. Each day, they cover four news headlines that are perfect for this exercise. I was first introduced to this activity by a fellow teacher during my time in Italy.

A bag full of surprises (Authentic conversations)

In search of another great speaking activity that is personalized and perfect for getting your ESL students to practice their speaking skills? Look no further! Today, we’ll be discussing an engaging activity where students get to share stories about personal items they carry with them every day.