ICE BREAKERS Icebreakers for beginner classes 1 Getting to know names and something else: Im Andrew I like stories.

You are Julia and you like old Italian towns. Repeat round circle. 2 This activity is based on lining up the sts. Sts say, Whats your name? And then try to stand in alphabetical order. You can introduce the sound of the alphabet and follow it up afterwards. Also: When is your birthday? Which is your favorite month? Which is your favourite time of the day? 3 Brainstorm all the words the students know which are also English words onto the board. Commonly heard in Hungary where I live, are: Hello. Auto. Circle. One ball. Say, Im Andrew! and throw the ball. That person says, Youre Andrew and Im Tibor and throws the ball to another st. etc. When the names are familiar: Im Andrew and youre Tibor. 4. If I were... I would be... Give out cards to students with one or two sentences using this structure If I were... I would be.... Theyll have 1-2 minutes to think of an answer. When theyve done that, get them standing and in pairs or small groups theyll have to read out and explain to their partner(s) their answers. When you clap, they change partners. Feedback with whole class at the end. Put one sentence for you on the board and do it yourself first so students can get a hang of it. Some possible sentences: If I were an animal, I would be... If I were a fruit/food/vegetable, I would be... If I were a country/state, I would be... If I were a color, I would be... If I were famous, I would be ... Variation - they write down their answers and give you back the paper. You mix them up and distribute to students who have to try to guess who wrote it. 5. Yes / No / Maybe-Not much Write these three words on different sheets of paper big enough so ss can see them from a certain distance. Stick them on the walls as far as possible from each other. Get students standing up in the middle of the classroom. Tell them youre going to read some questions and they must stand next to the suitable answer for them. Read out first question. When students are placed, ask one from each group some follow-up question (or to make it more fast paced only ask one student varying the groups on the next questions). Then put them back in the

middle and ask the second question and so on. Variation: Select a student to answer and ask other students to make the follow-up questions. Example of questions for intermediate students: Did you have vacation? Did something really good happen to you this year? Warmers for beginners 1 One balloon is thrown upbefore someone hits it they must call out a word from a vocabulary topic or absolute beginners any English word. Or for elementary A calls out a verb in base form and B calls out the past tense form and then can hit the balloon. (Lindstromberg 1.3) 2 Circle. Pass on a sound, a word, a phrase with a meaningful delivery must be passed on exactly. Comment on meanings of differenceshow impt it is to listen carefully 3 Proverbs can be learned in each lesson and at every level. They are satisfying at beginner level because it is a big thing learned. Perhaps begin with a mother tongue proverb and look for an equivalent in English. Or choose one yourself and justify it. Ensure its meaningapply it to everyday experience. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Rome wasnt built in a day. Experience is the best teacher. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Dont judge a book by its cover. A change is as good as a rest. Never say die. 4 Sts mill about and as they pass each other they point to something they can say an English word for and say it. After some time they tap each other on the arm and point to a thing and give the wrong word to tease the other person. (Lindstromberg Longman 1.3) .. Warmers for elementary 1 Touch something green. Pat something black. (Lindstromberg 1.4) 2 Jog! Jog! Also: pat, touch, tap, stroke, tickle, slap, scratch (Learned from Nick Owen) 3 Circle. Each student chooses one word from a lexical set. One person in the middle with a rolled up newspaper. He/she says one of the words. The student with that word must immediately say another word from the group or get hit on the head with the newspaper. (Lindstromberg 1.5) 4 Each st thinks of an adjective to describe how they feel. They all stand

up. You call out adjectives until they all sit down. Eg happy, tired, sad, energetic, hungry, thirsty, full, sleepy You could begin by brainstorming all the ones they know. (Lindstromberg 2.5) 5 Sticky labels or cellotapeseveral per student. Sts write the word for anything in the room they can name and add their own name. At the same time the sts rush around the room labelling everything they can. At the end of two minutes inspect the labels and reject any misspellings etc. The st with the most accurate labels wins. Correct the misspellings etc. The sts keep their labels and learn the words. (Lindstromberg Longman 1.4) 6 Sts call out questions to you to which your honest answer is Yes. If it is No then the st must ask another question. Incorrect questions you cover your ears and the others help him/her to get it right. (Lindstromberg Longman 1.18) 7 Jumble the furniture in the room. Pairs. A eyes closed. B directs A round the room by speaking. Give useful phrases on the board. Be careful. Stop. Turn left/right. 8 Pairs. Discuss what is in common, what is different. Then take it in turns to say to the class: I am a man. You are a woman. We both have dogs. 9 Three sentences starting with I You We. Can also be used following a discussion. 10 Class. Any object from someones pocketsee how many different things can be said about it. Look for opportunities to extend their range. .. Warmers for intermediate and advanced 1 Each st. is a computer linked up together. Give the first word a word eg LIFE. The first computer says the word, the second adds a word and the third, etc. They continue to make a sentenceone word at a time. Other words are: work, holidays, money, men, women,(Lindstromberg 1.8) 2 Give each st a word/phrase slip of paper eg Yesterday. / No, I hate it! Each student must ask questions of another st in order to make them say the phrase which is on the questioners slip. (Lindstromberg 2.3) 3 Sts write down ten things that they think about cats. They read to each other. They tell the whole group of some of the surprising things. Other subjects are: 10 things that have happened in your life 10 things that you would like to see in your lifetime 10 things you can do. (see Lindstromberg 2.6) 4 You say, Choose a letter between A and Z. You write it on the board.

Give me nouns beginning with that letter. You write them. Pairseach of you take one word and talk about it for 3 minutes. (Lindstromberg Longman 1.7) 5 You think of a possible newspaper headline for something that happened to you since you last saw the class eg Teacher no longer a menace! Sts ask questions to find out what happened. (I learned how to stop on my roller blades!) The students then invent a headline for something that happened to them and then work in pairs. (Lindstromberg Longman 1.9) 6 Sts stand in the middle of the room. You say, Two words: waterfall and lake. Go to that end of the room if you feel like a waterfall and that end of the room if you feel like a lake. Then sts choose one st from the other side of the room and ask why they chose their word. Conversation Games for Intermediate ESL Lessons The Story Game The story game is best played while sitting in a circle. Someone (either the teacher or a brave volunteer) starts off the story after the group has decided on the basics: theme, setting, etc. The story then progresses around the circle as each person adds a sentence to the story. The Newspaper Headline Activity This activity can either be a fun activity independent of a lesson or part of the main lesson. The teacher gives students a few crazy newspaper headlines, either from real newspapers or from his or her own imagination. Ads by Google Brain Training Games Improve memory with scientifically designed brain exercises. www.lumosity.com Looking for Write English Well? Find Write English Well on Facebook. Sign Up Free Now! www.Facebook.com Students must then, in groups, come up with a short article (at least one paragraph) for one of the headlines. Then, these groups can brainstorm again to come up with their own crazy headlines and read them aloud to the class as though they are a newsboy trying to sell sensational papers. Healthy Competition: A Teamwork Activity Divide the students into small groups (small groups are often more conducive to conversation than a large, full-class discussion). Have each team work together on some sort of game, puzzle, or riddle. The puzzle

could be something like a fill-in-the-blank or crossword, or it could be a figure-out-what-this-idiom-could-mean game. The teams, after finding solutions, must then present their results to the class. Whichever team gets their puzzle correct wins. To add excitement to the game, limit the students' working time to five or ten minutes. Read This Next

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Vocabulary-Building Skits Explain that the students are going to play an improvisation game and be actors for the day. Divide them into groups of two, three, or four, depending on the size of the class. Give each student two slips of paper, and have them write a word (noun, proper noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.) on each slip. Collect the papers and redistribute them. Each group must perform a skit, with the setting, subject, and all other conditions to be decided by everyone else in the class. During the skit, the group must use all of the words they have been given. This is a fun game that can bring about a lot of laughs in the classroom. Tried-and-True ESL Lesson Games and Activities The old standbys also work for groups of intermediate students of English: Hangman, Twenty Questions, and I Spy are just a few of them. (When playing Hangman, use more challenging words that the students may have recently learned.) These games are best used when there is extra time in the class, and students usually enjoy them as long as they do not get overused. Most of these activities can be used to fill an entire lesson, and games such as Twenty Questions can serve as a great end-of-class filler activity when the planned lesson ends a few minutes early. All of the above games and activities are good ways to encourage intermediate students of English to speak in the classroom. Consistent use of conversation activities can help them become more comfortable speaking the language outside the classroom as well.

Read more at Suite101: Conversation Games for Intermediate ESL Lessons: Educational Activities for English as a Second Language Classes | Suite101.com http://suzanne-swartz.suite101.com/conversation-games-forintermediate-esl-lessons-a148691#ixzz1o58hHO87