1.

Introduce me:
This activity is a great way to start a class of adult learners who are not
complete beginners. Split them up into pairs and have them take turns asking
each other questions. You should have some prompts written down on the
board or on a handout, and they should be suitable to their level. For example,
beginner-intermediate students should have a list of questions, like:

Where do you live?

What do you do?
Where do you work?
Etc.
More advanced students, may be simply given areas to investigate, like:

Education
Family
Work
Leisure activities and hobbies
Etc.
Example: Who am I..???? Ask the CORRECT question
1234
John London Blue Sukhumwit Rd
5678
The Beach 13 Years 10 Years Football
9 10 11 12
Steak&Eggs 183cms Honda Yes, I am
13 14
Pop Yes, I can

Be the Teacher
Age/Level: Any

Time: 40 minutes

Players: Individual

Aim: To write and respond to questions about the teacher

Preparation: None

Here is a fun icebreaker to play with a new class of students. This activity is an entertaining
and intriguing way to introduce yourself to the class. It also provides the students with a chance
to write and respond to a variety of questions.
Before doing the activity, dont give the students any information about yourself.
Procedure
Begin by asking the students to write three to five questions that they would like to ask you, the
teacher. The questions can be about anything they want to know about you, as long as they
arent too personal.
If you have a large class, ask them to write three questions. If it is a small class, ask them to
write five.
While the students are writing the questions, write up the students names on the board.
When the students are ready with their questions, ask a student to come to the front of the
class. Tell the student and class that the student will now play the role of you as the teacher.
The student will then guess the answers to three or five questions asked by a classmate. So,
the student at the front of the class is attempting to answer the questions as the teacher.
Its important not reveal how the activity works until the students have written all their questions
as this may affect the questions the students write.
While the student is answering the questions, the real teacher keeps score. The student scores
one point for a correct or close enough answer and an X for any incorrect answers. If the
student scores an X, the classmate asking the question should also mark an X next to their
question.
The students take it in turns to be the teacher and guess the answers to their classmates
questions until each student has answered three to five questions.
At the end of the activity, ask the students to re-ask any questions that were left unanswered
and this time you can give them the real answer.
Be the Teacher.PDF

The Name Game

Age/Level: Young learners

Time: 10-15 minutes

Players: 2 teams

Preparation: None

Aim: To get to know other students' names

Try this ESL introduction game on the first day of class. This game helps young learners get to
know each other in a fun and imaginative way.

Procedure

Arrange the students into two teams and sit them in two circles.
The first student begins by saying their name, e.g. I'm Tom.
Then, the first student passes a ball to the second student.
The second student continues, e.g. He's Tom, and I'm Kate.

The second student passes the ball to the following student.

The next student continues, e.g. He's Tom. She's Kate, and I'm Amiko.
This continues until all the names have been said.
The first team to finish wins a point.
You can carry on the game with other personal information.

Hot seats
Age/Level: Elementary and above

Time: 20 minutes

Players: 2 teams

Preparation:

None
Aim: To describe words to a classmate
This is one of the best ESL describing games out there. It is an excellent vocabulary game to
play at the start of class. It also makes a great activity for revising vocabulary.
Procedure
Commence the game by separating the class into two teams.

Place two chairs facing away from the board at the front of the class.
Get one student from each team to sit on the chairs facing their team and having their backs to
the board.
These chairs are the hot seats.
The teacher should have a list of words he/she wishes to revise.
The teacher writes a word from their list clearly on the board.
The team members describe the word, using definitions, synonyms, etc. to their teammate who
is in the hot seat.
The students in the hot seats, listen to their teammates and try to guess the word.
The first student to say the word gets to change places with someone else in their team. This
wins the team one point.
The other team has to keep the same player in the hot seat until he/she answers correctly first.
Then, the teacher writes the next word, etc.