ideas for english language coursework

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• How to Make Your Coursework as Good as It Can Possibly Be

Many GCSE and A-level subjects are assessed in part by coursework in addition to exams, meaning that the mark you receive for coursework contributes to your overall grade. Many students prefer coursework, because it’s a chance to showcase your academic abilities away from the high-pressured environment of the exam room, making it ideal for those who don’t perform to the best of their abilities in exams. However, the time you have available for coursework, in contrast with the time constraints of the exam room, can lull some students into a false sense of security. Coursework is arguably just as challenging as exams, just in different ways – and, given the fact that you have more time, much higher standards are expected of you in coursework than in exams. Careful planning and research are needed for successful coursework, as well as strong data-gathering and essay-writing skills. In this article, we look at how to produce excellent coursework, from planning to proofreading. This information might also be useful to you if you’re planning on attending an Oxford Summer School this summer.

What is coursework?

GCSE and A-level coursework typically takes the form of an extended essay or project. Its objectives vary from one subject to another, but there’s usually an emphasis on the student conducting independent research into a topic of their own choice. Thus coursework often takes the form of some sort of investigation; it may, therefore, help to have your ‘detective’ hat on as you explore, investigate and analyse your topic. You can usually work on your coursework at home, though it’s sometimes completed under controlled conditions through sessions at school. To give you a better idea of how coursework varies from one subject to another, here are some examples:

• English – English coursework usually takes the form of an extended essay with a title of your choice. You’re usually given a choice of themes and/or texts to explore, and you could choose a format such as a comparison between a set text and another one.
• Geography – Geography coursework usually focuses on the gathering, reporting and interpretation of data designed to answer a particular geographical question. You could investigate usage of a shopping centre, for example, or look at erosion on a particular beach.
• Sciences – coursework for science subjects often takes the form of a scientific project or experiment that you conduct and report on yourself.

Before you start work on your coursework, it’s essential that you have a thorough understanding of the rules. Failing to conform to the rules – inadvertently or not – may result in your coursework (or possibly even your entire qualification) being disqualified, so it’s a serious matter.

• No plagiarism – this is particularly dangerous given the ready availability of relevant information on the internet these days. Make sure everything is in your own words; you’ll need to sign a declaration stating that it’s your own original work.
• There’s only so much help your teacher can give you . They can provide guidance on what you need to include, and on what the examiners will be looking for. You can ask them questions, but they’ll usually only be able to check through your first draft once and offer broad hints on updating it.
• Check the word count , and stick to it. Find out whether footnotes, appendices and bibliographies are included in the word count.
• Check what topics you’re allowed to do your coursework on; if there’s an exam on this topic, you’ll almost certainly have to choose a different one for your coursework.

Choose your topic wisely

Ideally, choose something you’re genuinely interested in, as your enthusiasm will come across and you’ll find it more enjoyable to write. If there’s something you’ve been working on for the course so far that you’ve particularly enjoyed, you may be able to focus more on this as part of your coursework. For science coursework, you’ll need to choose something to investigate that you can measure, change and control; it should be what’s called a ‘fair test’, meaning that you have to acknowledge all the controls you use in the experiment and why. Try not to pick a topic for which the scope is too vast, as you’ll struggle to research it properly and you’re unlikely to do it justice, and it’ll be hard to keep within the word limit. Ask your teachers for some guidance on choosing your topic if you’re not sure what to write about; they might even tell you a bit about what previous students have done to give you some inspiration.

Plan how long it’s going to take

Never leave your coursework until the last minute, even if this is your normal approach to essays and it usually works for you. Make sure you understand when the deadlines are, including time for submitting a first draft for comments from your teacher. Then schedule blocks of time for working on it, allowing plenty of time before the deadline to cater for any unexpected delays. Allow ample time for making corrections based on teacher feedback on your first draft, and keep some time aside before the deadline for final editing and proofreading. Because actual deadlines are few and far between, you’ll need to take responsibility for the writing process and impose some deadlines on yourself to ensure it’s finished in time. Write down your deadlines on a calendar, with the coursework broken into stages and dates assigned to each, by which time each task should be complete. You can base your stages on the next few points in this article – research and data gathering, a structure plan for the piece of work, writing up, and so on.

Conducting your research and gathering data

As coursework is primarily a research exercise, the research phase is crucial, so don’t be tempted to skimp on it and go straight to writing up. Use as many different resources as you can to gather data: books, journals, newspapers, television, radio, the internet and anything else you think might be relevant. For science and Geography coursework, you’ll need to base your work on a hypothesis, so the research stage should start by coming up with at least one hypothesis, otherwise your research will lack direction. The research phase for some subjects may involve site visits for gathering data, so allow plenty of time for this, particularly if you need your parents to drive you somewhere to do so. If it’s a scientific experiment you’re conducting for your coursework, you’ll need to pay careful attention to planning the experiment using rigorous scientific methods (also noting what Health and Safety precautions you are taking), as well as reading up on the background and theory so that you have an idea of what to expect from the outcome of your experiment. In the research stage, make notes about what you expect to happen, so that you can later compare your expectations with what actually did happen. The experiment itself also forms part of the research and data-gathering stage for your science coursework; in the write-up stage, which we come onto shortly, you analyse and write up the results.

Plan your structure

Once you’ve completed your research, the process of writing up begins. Before you get down to the actual writing, however, it’s advisable to write a plan for how you’re going to structure it – essentially an essay plan for English coursework and other subjects for which the coursework is based on an extended essay. It’ll look slightly different from an essay plan for science subjects and others that revolve around project work, but the principle is the same: plan out what order you’re going to present your information in. For big projects, this is particularly important, because with a lot of information to convey, you risk being disorganised and waffling.

Writing up your project

For any coursework, but particularly coursework based around an extended essay, you’ll need to perfect your essay-writing abilities. For science coursework, writing up your project also involves data analysis, as you interpret the results of your experiment and work your notes into formal scientific language. Follow the links below to find lots more useful advice on writing great essays.

• How to write dazzlingly brilliant essays
• How to write more original essays
• Techniques from creative writing that can improve your essays

When you’re writing up, it’s important to find a place where you can work quietly, without distractions that could cause you to make careless errors. You wouldn’t want noise or distractions when you were in an exam room, so treat your coursework with the same reverence.

Supporting materials and images

For some subjects, namely the sciences and Geography, it would be appropriate to include images, graphs, charts, tables and so on in your coursework. For example, for Geography coursework, your extra material could include annotated images and maps of the site you’re talking about, plus tables, graphs and charts. An appendix could then detail your raw data; if, for example, your coursework focused on the results of a survey, you could put the raw survey responses in an appendix and provide summaries and analysis in the main body of the coursework.

Footnotes and bibliography

As we said earlier, it’s important that you always use your own words in your coursework to avoid the possibility of falling foul of plagiarism rules. However, it’s acceptable to quote from another source, as you would in any piece of academic writing, but you must make sure that you state where it is from and use quotation marks to show that it’s a quote from somewhere else. The best way of citing another work is to use a footnote; word processors will allow you to insert one, and it just puts a little number at the end of the sentence and another in the footer of the document, into which you put the name of the author and work, and the page within that work that the quote can be found. At the end of your piece of work, include a bibliography that includes a list of every external source you’ve used in the creation of your coursework. Stick to a set formula when including books. A common format is: Author Surname, Initial. (Date) – Title of Book , page number For example: Lewis, C.S. (1960) – Studies in Words , p. 45 When you get to university, you’ll be expected to include footnotes and bibliographies in all your essays, so it’s a good habit to get into and coursework gives you good practice at it.

The final pre-submission check

Having completed a first draft, received feedback from your teacher, and honed your work into a finished piece of coursework, have a final check through it before you send off your coursework for submission.

• Sense check : have a read through your completed piece of work and check that it all makes sense. Make sure you haven’t contradicted yourself anywhere, or repeated yourself, or laboured the point. If there are any facts that you may have meant to look up to double check their accuracy, do so now.
• Word count : ensure that the completed work falls within the word count, and double check whether the bibliography should be included in the word count. If you’ve exceeded it, you’ll need to work through the piece and tighten up your writing, omitting unnecessary information, reordering sentences so that they use fewer words, and so on.
• Proofread : check your spelling and grammar, and ensure that there are no typos. Don’t just use the spellcheck – go through it with a fine toothcomb, manually, and if you can, ask someone to read through it for you to see if they spot anything you haven’t.
• Formatting : check that you’ve included page numbers, and that the font and line spacing is consistent throughout the work. Ensure that the font is plain and easy to read, such as Arial or Times New Roman.
• Bibliography : check that you’ve included everything, that the format is the same for all sources mentioned, and that the right information is included for each.

Once this stage is complete, you’re ready to submit your coursework along with your declaration that it’s entirely your own work. Get ready for a feeling of immense satisfaction when you finally send off your hard work!

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25 Awesome Story Ideas for Creative Writing for GCSE English Language

by melaniewp | Jun 23, 2013 | Creative Writing , English Language Exam , GCSE , IGCSE , Writing | 0 comments

ALL ABOUT CHARACTER

[1] Old man loses his last picture of himself with his long dead wife. This could link to ‘Long Distance’ by Tony Harrison. Trying to find it, he goes through her things. This is one for flashback. He discovers secrets, or that she has left him a series of letters/notes for after her death. Start this when he realises he’s lost the picture.

[3]  A woman’s (or man’s) jealousy of her (or his) best friend takes over their life . Could link to ‘Othello’ or ‘Medusa’. Think about why. Start this when the woman is with her friend in a frenzy of jealousy…

[4]  A model who has always been obsessed with her looks has acid splashed in her face and is disfigured. Could link to ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’, or ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath. Start this with her looking in the mirror then opening her front door… By the way, this story is true. The woman in the picture is called Katie Piper .

[5]  Fear of heights : nine year old with family who are in visiting a famous tall tower for the first time. The rest of her family want to go up the tower, but if the child won’t go up, someone will have to stay behind with them. Start this at the foot of the tower…

Want more ideas? Get a complete set plus a teaching scheme with model essays and all resources on my TES Resources shop  here .

[6]  Small child really wants cake but has been forbidden from taking it down from the shelf. Start this story with the child lusting after the cake, which you should describe – baking, decorating etc – in delicious detail. [ read a short, very funny version of this here ]

[7]  A man is obsessed with a woman who does not love him back (or the other way round) . Could link to ‘Havisham’ by Carol Ann Duffy, ‘Give’ or ‘Alaska’ by Simon Armitage or  ‘The River God’ by Stevie Smith . Start this when he realises she doesn’t love him back or when he decides to do something about it – get a haircut, stop eating raw onions, go to the gym, pretend that he also loves ‘horoscopes’ and ‘shopping’…

[8] Dangerous Ambition (links to Macbeth). Want the lead role in the school play (or to be head girl/boy)? What will you do to get it? Start this when you realise the lead is up for grabs but you’re not the first choice.

Racing Car driver (motorcross, road or drag racer) is up against his old teammate, now his main rival. Driver needs to win this one or it’s the end of his career. He sees that one of the mechanics on his  rival’s car has fixed something up wrong. What does he do?

[9]  Jealous woman (or man) chases husband (wife) to find out where they’re going. Could link to ‘Medusa’, ‘Havisham’, or ‘Othello’. Start this story when they decide to chase / follow. Use flashback, or recollection to explain why.

[10] Small child really wants to go to another child’s birthday party but there’s a problem. He has to go to his dad’s that weekend/hasn’t been invited/has to go to the dentist instead. How does he deal with or solve it? Start this story at the moment where the child realises he can’t go. [ read a short, hilarious one here ] III Lost

[11]  An old man, who has never cooked or cleaned for himself, has just got home after his wife died (of old age, in hospital). You could link this to ‘Old Age Gets Up’ by Ted Hughes. Now he has to try to do housework – cook, etc. Could be comic / tragic.

[12]  You go for a forest walk (e.g. on a Geography trip or DofE) with someone you don’t like much from school and get lost.  Could link to Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’, ‘Storm in the Black Forest’ by D.H. Lawrence or ‘Wind’ by Ted Hughes. Start this story just before the main character begins to suspect they are lost. Start funny, ends up scary as it starts to go dark. Get describing words for a forest story here .

[13] Parent-Child:  In a busy town centre, a mother loses her child who has previously been annoying her . Link this to ‘Mother A Distance Greater…’ by Simon Armitage, ‘Catrin’ by Gillian Clarke or ‘My Father Thought it Bloody Queer’. Start this with the child’s tantrum, mother’s thoughts then quickly move to realising the child is gone.

[14]  World famous BMXer (or other sports person, footballer, skateboarder, surfer) is in a car crash – or other accident – and loses his leg. Will he ever ride again?  This can link to ‘Out, Out-‘ by Robert Frost. For more on the guy in the photo see this video . Start this story when he wakes up in a hospital bed.

[15] A bsent father returns trying to spend time with his kids. How do they react to seeing him after so long? [this idea is done beautifully in the story, ‘Compass and Torch’ in the AQA anthology Sunlight on the Grass]. You could also link this to ‘Follower’ by Seamus Heaney. Start this when the re’s a knock at the front door.

[16]  You win a million pounds on the lottery. Everyone you know wants some. What would you buy? Friendships are ruined. Then you are robbed… Start this when you check your bank balance and there are sooooo many noughts at the end it looks like a bank malfunction. IV Coming of Age

[17]  Death of a pet. Ferociously funny, very short story about a girl and a fish [ here ]. Start this when you find the pet… dead, or just before. You can use flashback – when you first got the pet, etc.

[18]  Learning a secret you wish you’d never found out – e.g. finding texts on your dad’s mobile from his girlfriend while your parents are still married – or learning that your mum is planning to secretly leave your dad. Start this when you’re just idly messing with the parent’s phone or laptop.

[19]  falling in love for the first time , as in Romeo and Juliet. Start this when they see each other or their first proper meeting. Link this to ‘Sonnet 18 Shall I Compare Thee’, ‘Sonnet 116 Let Me Not’, ‘Quickdraw’ or ‘Hour’, by Carol Ann Duffy or ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell.

[20]  The first time you have to do a really disgusting piece of housework / cook a meal for yourself and how you tackle it. Start this when you realise that no one else is going to do this foul job except you. Read a description of cooking a meal here .

V The Chase / Monsters

[21]  You’re camping with your friend in the woods. Then you hear a noise outside (wolves, person, etc). Start this as you’re getting settled to go to sleep – then you hear snuffling (or whatever). Read Bill Bryson’s hilarious account of this exact event, and also an account of surviving a bear attack from the OCR exam paper here.

[22]  You have something someone else wants – gold, diamonds etc. They chase you to get it. You choose the landscape: city, ruined derelict warehouses, Brazil, forest, cliffs etc. Start this at the moment you realise someone is following you. You can link this to the final chapter of Lord of the Flies .

[23]  You are the last surviving human after the zombie/vampire apocalypse. Now they have found you. This is the plot of ‘I Am Legend’. You can link this to Edwin Muir’s post-apocalyptic poem ‘Horses’, ‘Wind’ by Ted Hughes or the final chapter of Lord of the Flies . Start this at the moment you (or the main character) realises someone is coming towards your hiding place.

[24]  The King is a tyrant who has killed your family. Now you will take revenge . Start this story as you are just about to go through the city walls.

[25]  You wake up and discover you have been turned into a giant insect. How does your family react? This is the plot of Kafka’s Metamorphosis. Read this here . Start at the point you wake up, and gradually realise what has happened.

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AS and A-level English Language

• Specification
• Planning resources
• Teaching resources
• Assessment resources

Introduction

• Specification at a glance
• 3.1 Language and the individual
• 3.2 Language varieties
• 4.1 Language, the individual and society
• 4.2 Language diversity and change

4.3 Language in action

• Scheme of assessment
• Non-exam assessment administration (A-level only)
• General administration

The aim of this area of study is to allow students to explore and analyse language data independently and develop and reflect upon their own writing expertise.

It requires students to carry out two different kinds of individual research:

• a language investigation (2,000 words excluding data)
• a piece of original writing and commentary (750 words each).

Students can choose to pursue a study of spoken, written or multimodal data, or a mixture of text types, demonstrating knowledge in areas of individual interest.

In preparation for this, students need to study how to:

• identify an appropriate investigation topic and research questions
• select and apply a methodology for data collection and analysis
• work in greater depth and with greater range
• transcribe spoken data where appropriate
• use language concepts and ideas
• evaluate and draw conclusions on the findings of the investigation
• present findings in an appropriate and accessible way
• reference reading materials correctly
• evaluate the structures and conventions of a variety of genres
• plan, draft and redraft as part of the writing process
• reflect on the writing process using methods of language analysis.

Language Investigation

Students may choose to pursue an area of individual interest. For example, this might include studies of:

• representations of different individuals, social groups or nationalities
• regional dialect
• gendered talk
• the language of new communication technologies
• children’s language use
• norms and variations in usages of different kinds
• the language of the media
• code switching and mixing between English and other languages
• the language of different occupations or pastimes
• historical changes in English over time.

Students are not obliged to restrict themselves to those areas that are formally taught, as the basis of the investigation is the value of student-led enquiry supported by open learning. Therefore, any area seen by supervising teachers as yielding interesting questions about language in use may be chosen. Students can ask a number of fruitful questions, which can be generated by questions such as the following:

• A genre-based investigation: what are the distinctive features of this type of language use?
• A function/use-based investigation: what is the language used to do?
• An attitudes-based investigation: how do people feel about this language?
• A user-based investigation: who uses this type of language?

Students will need to decide what kind of data they collect:

• spoken language
• written language
• multimodal language
• word lists (ie lists of new words etc)
• attitudes to language
• uses of language
• views about language.

Underpinning this piece of research is the challenge that, in consultation with their supervising teacher, students should collect their own data as the basis of their study, as well as select their own approach for analysis.

Investigations need a specific focus, for example:

• the writing of two children aged 8
• features of the Devon dialect, based on a survey
• the language of wedding ceremonies from two different cultures
• the language of teachers’ reports
• the language used in three different advertisements for a particular product
• how stories are told in a particular comic
• how travel guides represent a particular community
• the language of sports commentary
• how turntaking works in real-time writing online
• language patterns in the names of shops.

The list above is neither definitive nor prescriptive.

The investigation should contain the following sections:

• brief discussion of the reasons for choosing the investigation focus
• what the investigation is trying to find out (aims).

Methodology

• an evaluative account of how the data was collected and organised for analysis
• approaches to analysis.
• analysis and interpretation of the findings, responding to the aim of the investigation
• critical consideration of relevant concepts and issues surrounding the topic area
• analysis of the contextual influences upon the data collected.
• interpretation of the findings of the investigation linked to the aim/focus of the investigation.
• a list of all sources used (paper and web-based).
• clean copies of the collected data
• evidence to support quantitative approaches.

Original writing

Students will produce one piece of original writing based on one of the following three areas:

• The Power of Persuasion
• The Power of Storytelling
• The Power of Information

and one accompanying commentary.

In preparation for the writing, students will study a range of style models before selecting and analysing one style model in detail. Students will select their own style model in consultation with their supervising teacher. Students will then use this research to inform their own piece of original writing.

The commentary will allow the student to consider and evaluate the style model, the writing process and the effectiveness of the final piece of writing.

The folder submitted should contain:

• a piece of original writing
• an annotated style model
• a reflective commentary
• references (paper and web-based).

Examples of pieces of writing students could consider:

The power of persuasion

• a piece of investigative journalism
• a speech delivered on a controversial topic
• a letter to an MP.

The power of storytelling

• a short story
• an extract from a biography
• a dramatic monologue.

The power of information

• a piece of travel journalism
• a blog focusing on social issues
• a piece of local history.

Methods of language analysis

Both the investigation and original writing will have a distinctive approach to analysis that is shaped by the particular needs of the research pathway or theme chosen. However, underlying any analysis will be coverage of some relevant aspects of the language levels, as follows:

• phonetics, phonology and prosodics: how speech sounds and effects are articulated and analysed
• graphology: the visual aspects of textual design and appearance
• lexis and semantics: the vocabulary of English, including social and historical variation
• grammar, including morphology: the structural patterns and shapes of English at sentence, clause, phrase and word level
• pragmatics: the contextual aspects of language use
• discourse: extended stretches of communication occurring in different genres, modes and contexts.

ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

in Activities for Adults · Activities for Kids

Teaching English Online: Fun ESL Online Game and Activity Ideas

If you’re teaching English online and are looking for some activities, lesson plan ideas, and other resources, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for everything you need to know to teach English online and ESL lessons online!

E SL Activities and Ideas to Teach English Online

Let’s get into the top activities for teaching ESL online and English teaching ideas for teaching on the Internet. Or, you may also want to check this out: Tips for Online ESL Teaching.

#1: Picture Prompt ESL Warm-Up

A nice warmer activity for teaching English online is to choose a picture that lends itself well to the topic of the day. This can help students to activate their prior knowledge about a topic. Depending on the level, there are various things you can get students to do:

• Say words of things they see
• Make predictions about what will happen next
• Relate what they see to their own experiences
• Make sentences based on the picture
• Answer some simple questions

#2: Flashcard Sentences for Teaching English Online

I LOVE to use flashcards when teaching English online. There are just so many things you can do with them but the simplest thing is to use them as a vocabulary review. Or, take it one step further and get students to make a sentence with the word that they see.

Another option to show students two flashcards and have them make a sentence using a comparative adjective. Or, one card and then using a superlative. The possibilities are endless! Check this out: ESL Flashcard Sentences.

#3: Retell the Story Speaking Fluency Activity

If you ask your students what they want to improve, many of them will say that they want to speak fluently. This is a great goal. However, it can be difficult to get them to just “speak faster.”

This is one activity designed to work on fluency. The student has to tell a story of some kind for 1.5 minutes. Then, they have to tell it again with all the same information but it only 1 minute. Then, it gets reduced again to 30 seconds. Find out more here: ESL Speaking Fluency Activity .

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#4: Breaking News English

If you’re an English teacher, whether online or in the classroom, then you’re going to need to know about Breaking News English ! It’s some serious English teaching gold and one of the top options for listening passages or reading articles. They come in a variety of different levels too.

Not just that though. All of that material comes along with entire lesson plans that you can literally just print off and take to class. It really is that easy to have better online ESL classes if you check out this site.

#5: Role Plays and Teaching English Online

If your student has specific reasons for learning English such as traveling or talking with patients or customers in English, then you may want to consider doing some role-plays. For example, you could be the patient while the doctor interviews you, or a customer who is phoning to place on order.

Doing this with your student will give them some serious confidence to be able to go out into the real world and do the same thing. Find out more here: ESL Role-Plays.

#6: English Writing Fluency Practice

If your students want to improve their writing skills, it’s easy to focus on accuracy. However, fluency in writing is a little bit more difficult.

However, one exercise you can do this is this one, either for a few minutes in class or as a homework assignment:

How to Write More Quickly in English .

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#7: Use an ESL Textbook

There are three schools of thought when it comes to teaching English online:

• Using materials provided by the platform you’re working on (sometimes mandatory)
• Piece together materials from various websites and books
• Follow an ESL textbook from start to finish

The third option certainly has some merit if the student’s goal is to improve their general English ability and not for some very specific purpose. This is because following through a textbook series will cover new grammar and vocabulary in an organized fashion and also provide lots of opportunities for practicing a variety of skills.

#8: Ideas for Food and Drink Vocabulary

#9: Film English

If your students are into movies, then you may want to check out Film English when planning your ESL online classes. There is a wealth of material here and it would be easy to plan an entire course based on this website!

Not only are the movie choices interesting and suitable for a variety of different levels but the lesson plans are robust and contain a variety of different exercises.

#10: What are you Cooking?

This is a fun activity that’s perfect if you’re talking about food. The way it works is that you give each other a list of ingredients and then you have to plan a 3-course meal with it. It’s a friendly competition to see who can produce the best menu!

Sounds fun? Try it out here: What are you Cooking ESL Activity .

#11: English for Specific Purposes (English Proficiency Tests)

In my experience, many of the students I’ve taught online have the goal of improving a score on a certain English proficiency test whether that’s TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or something else. If this is the case, it can be useful to spend some time helping them with their general English abilities, but then also spend time working on the specific skills required for that exam.

In general, these exams do measure English proficiency. However, if you’re not familiar with the test format, you won’t do that well, no matter how good at English you are! Here’s some advice for this specific exam: TOEIC Speaking Test Samples.

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#12: Just a Minute Speaking Warm-Up

A nice warmer activity, if you teach ESL online, is Just a Minute. Consider doing this at the start of every class together! And of course, you can do it as well and your student can listen and ask some follow-up questions.

Want to know more about this activity that will help improve speaking fluency? Find out all the details: Just a Minute ESL Speaking Activity.

#13: Story Timeline ESL Reading Activity

One of my favorite things to do when teaching English online is to read a short story or novel together with my students. I generally assign a chapter or two for homework and then in class, we can discuss it together.

There are a number of post-reading activities to consider using in order to get the most value out of this. Here’s one of them that tests reading comprehension by getting students to put the events from the story in the correct order. Find out more here:

Story Timeline Reading Activity .

#14: British Council Learning English

You’ll definitely want to check out the British Council for some lesson planning resources. This section is designed for English learners and it is certainly possible for students to use this for independent study. However, there is lots of good stuff there to use in classes as well, covering all the skills and other things too like business English.

#15: Dialogue Substitution

#16: Current Events Presentation

If your student has to regularly make presentations as part of their job, then you may want to consider having them do a presentation project. In this case, students have to pick a topic that’s been in the news lately and then talk about various things related to that.

Sounds like something you want to try out? Find out how to do it here: ESL Current Events Presentation .

#17: Making some Predictions

People love to make predictions about the future! It’s been happening as long as humans have been on the Earth. I find this to be a very interesting topic for teaching English online as well, and of course, it lends itself very well to using future tense verbs.

Here are some of the best ideas for this: ESL Making Predictions Activities .

Activities to teach ESL online

#18: Business English Vocabulary

If you teach businesswomen or men, then consider teaching them some business vocabulary, including phrases, expressions and idioms. Here are some dialogues that contain more than 300 of them in American English:

• 128 Pages - 11/25/2020 (Publication Date)

#19: More Ideas for Teaching English Online

Check out this podcast episode from Let’s Talk TEFL with Shannon Felt:

#20: Sentence Building Activities

In my experience teaching English, spending some time working on sentence structure has never been wasted time. This is often something that students struggle with, but mastering this important skill can make a huge difference in their writing and speaking.

There are lots of games and activities to help with this. Check them out here: ESL Sentence Building Activities .

#21: Speaking Fluency Activity

#22: Choose your Own Adventure Writing Activity

Choose your Own Adventure is a fun and engaging ESL writing activity to try out with your online students. It’s ideal for doing as homework, with groups of students or 1-1 with the teacher. I’ve used it successfully with children, teenagers, and adults.

Try it out today: Choose your Own Adventure English Writing Activity .

#23: Technology ESL Lesson Plan

If you want to have an interesting discussion with your online student about a topic that’s relevant to just about everyone, consider using this one about technology. It contains everything you need to talk about this topic for 1-1.5 hours or so and is engaging.

I think you’ll find it as interesting as your student does! Check it out here:

ESL Technology Lesson Plan .

If you’re looking to level up your use of tech in the classroom, be sure to have a look here:

Technology in ESL Classrooms .

#24: Five Senses ESL Vocabulary Activity

This is a very versatile vocabulary activity that can be done through either speaking or writing. Find a common object to show your students such as a carrot or chocolate bar. I generally prefer food so that students can also use the “taste” sense.

Then, students have to think of words that describe that object which falls under the five senses. It can be done through either speaking or writing. Find out more information about it here:

#25: Conditionals ESL Activities

In English, conditionals are often used to express things like future possibilities or what might have happened in the past. They are a little bit tricky in terms of grammar which is why I like to focus on them for at least once class a semester, even with more advanced students. Plus, this grammatical point often leads to some interesting discussions. More details here:

Conditionals ESL Activities .

#26: English Idioms and Phrases

Check out this lesson plan, Best of Both Worlds if your student wants to improve their vocabulary, particularly idioms and phrases. If you like it, consider checking out the book where you can find 30 of this style of TEFL lesson plan.

• 70 Pages - 11/07/2020 (Publication Date)

#27: Business English Pod

If you teach business English online, then this should be your #1 stop! Business English Pod is heavy on the listening but covers all the other skills reasonably well and focuses on things that business students will find relevant. For example, telephone conversations, negotiations, business emails, etc.

There is a paid version of this site but in general, I’ve found that the free version is useful enough for my needs. However, if you teach online business English exclusively, then consider the upgrade.

#28: Prepositions of Place Memory Quiz

Try out this simple online game with your students:

#29: Teaching ESL With Movies

For ESL lessons online, I love to use some movie or TV clips. They are a nice lead-in to just about any kind of vocabulary or grammar lesson, as long as you choose the right clip! Most students really enjoy TV shows and movies, so why not bring them into the classroom too?

Find out more about having some fun with movies in an ESL lesson online:

Teaching English with Film .

#30: Dictogloss

#31: Talking about Controversial Questions

I love to talk about interesting things with my students! A nice activity, if you teach a class online, is to have students prepare for, and then have a small debate with their classmates. The key is choosing a controversial topic that’ll generate a lot of discussions. Here are some ideas:

Controversial Debate Topics .

Pointless Debate Topic Ideas .

#32: TEFL Warm-Up Activities

#33: ESL Short Stories

If students want to work on reading comprehension, one of my favourite ways to do that is to use some short stories. It can be a little bit difficult to find interesting stories at an appropriate level though. Not to worry! Here is one of my favourite resources for intermediate-level short stories for English learners:

ESL Short Stories .

#34: Odd One Out

#35: Scatter Sheets for English Learners

If you’re looking for a simple solution for your online classes, then you’ll definitely want to consider these vocab sheets for intermediate or advanced level students. The students can pick up the e-version of the book on Amazon for a couple of dollars and then you can discuss a lesson per class. Find out more here:

Scatter Sheets English Learners .

#36: Twenty Questions

#37: I’m Going on a Picnic

Try out this simple warmer or time-filler activity for all ages and levels:

I’m Going on a Picnic .

Teaching ESL Online FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about ESL lessons online. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

How can I teach ESL online?

There are a number of companies where you can teach ESL online. Some of the most popular ones include Vipkids, DaDa, Qkids, Gogokid, 51 Talk, and English Hunt.

How do I plan an English lesson online?

To plan an English lesson online, you’ll need to include the following:

• A clear objective of what students will be able to accomplish
• Key vocabulary or grammar
• A context to use these words or grammar
• Controlled practice
• Free practice
• Review or homework assignment

Is teaching English online a good job?

Teaching English online is a good job for people who want to fund travel or hate the 9-5 cubicle job. There are no health benefits in most cases, but you do have a large degree of flexibility over your own schedule and some companies pay quite well.

How can I make online lessons more fun?

Teaching online lessons can be quite challenging but they can certainly be fun. Some ideas to consider are asking the student what topics they’re interested in, using props, videos or other engaging things. Also, make sure to spend some time lesson planning and have a clear objective for each online lesson.

What is an online lesson?

An online lesson is a very popular and effective way to learn just about anything. The teacher and student(s) are connected through a video platform and can talk with each other. This is different from the pre-recorded lessons that don’t happen in real-time.

How can I teach English online with no experience?

Although it’s easier to get a job teaching English online with experience, there are some companies that only require a Bachelor’s degree. Some companies to consider include Cambly, Palfish, Lingoda, Open English, Verbling, and iTalki.

Did you like these Activities and Games for Teaching ESL Online? 

Yes? Thought so. Then you’re going to love this book you can find over on Amazon: 101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online . The key to better classes that help you retain students is a variety of engaging and interesting activities and this book will help you do that in style with your online students via Skype, Zoom, or another platform.

You can find the book in both digital and print formats. I recommend keeping a copy on the bookshelf in your office to use as a handy reference guide for planning lessons. Or, take the e-version with you on any device for some serious lesson planning on the go.

Either way, it’ll help improve your online teaching so be sure to pick up a copy on Amazon today:

Tips for Teaching ESL Online Lessons

Teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) online requires its own set of strategies to ensure effective learning and engagement. Here are some tips to make your online ESL teaching successful:

Technical Preparation

• Familiarize yourself with the online platform you’ll be using for teaching.
• Ensure your equipment (computer, webcam, microphone) is in good working condition.
• Have a reliable internet connection to avoid disruptions during the lesson.

Engaging Content for ESL Online Lessons

• Use multimedia resources such as videos, interactive quizzes, and online games to keep lessons dynamic.
• Incorporate real-world materials like news articles, podcasts, and videos to expose students to authentic language use.

Clear Instructions

• Provide clear and concise instructions for activities, assignments, and tasks.
• Check for understanding before moving on to ensure students know what’s expected of them.

Interactive Activities

• Plan activities that encourage active participation, such as discussions, role-plays, and collaborative projects.
• Use breakout rooms for pair or small group work to simulate real-life conversational situations.

Visual Aids in ESL Online Lessons

• Utilize visual aids like slides, images, and diagrams to enhance explanations and make concepts more understandable.

Variety of Skills

• Balance activities that target all language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
• Incorporate activities that focus on pronunciation and intonation.

Time Management

• Keep track of time during the lesson to ensure all planned activities are covered.
• Plan for breaks if the lesson is longer to maintain student focus.

Personal Connection

• Build rapport by engaging in small talk and showing genuine interest in your students’ lives during ESL lessons online.
• Use their names and refer back to previous lessons to make the experience more personalized.

Adaptable Lesson Plans for Online ESL lessons

• Be prepared to adapt your lesson plan based on students’ responses, questions, and needs.
• Have backup activities in case some activities finish early or take longer than expected.

Feedback and Error Correction

• Provide constructive feedback on both content and language use during online ESL lessons.
• Balance error correction with positive reinforcement to maintain students’ confidence.

Engage with Technology

• Use digital tools like interactive whiteboards, screen sharing, and annotation features to enhance your teaching.

Feedback and Adaptation During ESL Lessons Online

• Regularly ask for feedback from your students about their experience and adjust your teaching methods accordingly.

Have your Say about Teaching English Online

Do you have any tips or tricks, activity recommendations, or resources to teach English online that you’d like to share with us? Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy online ESL teachers, like yourself, find this useful teaching resource.

Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook TikTok Pinterest Instagram

I can#t find the example of the activity “Find the reference” which is mentioned in your book, can you give a hint, please?

Mona Schobesberger

Great tips, thank you!! :)

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I wrote this piece for my 2019 English Language A-Level, for the language investigation part of the coursework on the AQA exam board. After grading and moderation it recieved 50/50 marks. I was also awarded my sixth forms Dylan-Thomas award for it. It is an investigation into the differences in language used by defence and prosecution lawyers within the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. I was advised to post it on here as an examplar for how to structure an investigation and what to potentially include to recieve a top grade.

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StoryLearning

Learn A Language Through Stories

40 Amazing Conversational English Topics To Kick-Start Discussions In English

Would you like to have conversations in English but don’t know what to talk about?

Don’t panic. 

In this post, I’ll share some of the best conversational English topics that you can discuss with native speakers, teachers, or other learners.

Asking and answering questions is key to having an enjoyable conversation in English. So you’ll find some example questions that you can use for each of these conversational English topics.

These will help you practise your conversational skills and connect with others, so you can improve your speaking and learn from other people too.

Let’s check out these 40 conversational English topics!

1. Travel And Tourism

Discussing travel experiences is a great way to practice English. You can describe places, activities, and cultures. You can talk about holidays, places that you’ve visited and would like to visit. And don’t forget to ask for travel recommendations for your next trip!

• What's your favourite place that you've travelled to?
• I’d like to go to___________. Have you ever been there?
• What are your top 3 countries that you’d like to visit?

2. Food And Cuisine

We all love food, don’t we? Talking about food is a universal topic and can lead to discussions about cultures and traditions.

• What’s your favourite restaurant?
• What’s a typical dish from your country that I should I try?
• In my country, we have a typical dish called________. Have you ever tried it? 

There's music you hate, music you love and music you don’t care about. Talk about it. You can learn a lot about someone's personality and interests, and you might even discover some new artists that you’ll love.

• Do you like Ed Sheeran? 
• What music do you not like?
• Can you play a musical instrument?

4. Movies And TV Shows

Humans love stories because we think in stories. Movies and TV series tell stories so these make the perfect topic for conversation, especially if you’re a movie enthusiast. TV shows are also worth discussing.

• Have you ever watched ________?
• Can you recommend some great TV series?
• Who’s your favorite movie star?

5. Education

Don’t tell me you’ve always liked going to school. This could be a great topic of discussion because you might have some great stories to tell about this topic.

• Tell me about your first day in school.
• How many hours of English do students have?
• Did you / do you like going to school?

Everyone has a hobby. For example, I love learning languages, as you probably know!. I can talk to you about this for hours and I bet you love discussing your hobbies too.

• What do you like to do in your free time?
• What are your hobbies and passions?
• Do you have any hobbies that are unique to your culture?

I love my family and I hope you love yours too. Let’s have a conversation about it.

• Would you like to start a family one day?
• How big is your family?
• How do you spend time with your family members?

Maybe you’re a football fan or a tennis player. Or maybe you don’t do sport but you like watching it on TV. A friend of mine can talk about his favourite football team all night. Can you do that too?

• Are you into sports at all?
• What sports are people crazy about in your country?
• Do you prefer watching sports or doing sports?

9. Technology

Technology is everywhere and we all have our own opinions about it. Some people hate it, some people are addicted to it. This is why technology is a topic that can make anyone talk.

• What’s your relationship with technology?
• Will the world be dominated by robots one day?
• What are the disadvantages of technology?

We’ve all read at least one book in our life and you don’t need to be an avid reader to discuss books (although here at StoryLearning we're a bunch of book lovers!).

By the way, if you like reading, check out these book recommendations for English learners.

• Please give me some book recommendations. 
• Do you ever read books in English?
• What book changed your life?

11. Fashion

I have a friend who dislikes the world of fashion but when he buys a new pair of shoes, he’s always keen to talk about them. So, it doesn’t matter if you don’t follow fashion trends. You can always talk about the clothes you like wearing.

• What’s the latest fashion item you bought?
• Do you follow any fashion influencers?
• Who’s your favourite fashion designer?

12. Environment

We should do more to protect our planet. So why not start talking about how we could pollute less?

• Do you think you live in a “green” area?
• What do you think of environmental activists like Greta Thunberg?
• How “green” are you?

13. Culture And Customs

Traditions, celebrations, national events, religion, special days. You can talk about culture and customs for hours.

• Have you ever experienced culture shock?
• What’s your favourite national holiday?
• How is your culture unique?

14. Career And Work

This is a topic that is relevant to most adult learners of English. You can talk about jobs you’ve done, jobs you wouldn’t like to do, and weird jobs that are unique to your country.

• Have you ever had a mean boss?
• Is there a job you wouldn’t like to do?
• Is it easy to find a job where you live?

15. Health And Fitness

I bet you care about your health. I care about mine a lot! So let’s have a conversation about what we do to stay healthy. Be careful though. Asking about someone else’s health might not be polite in some cultures.

• Do you think diets are useful or not?
• What do you usually eat?
• How much do you exercise?

16. Personal Growth And Development

Personal growth and development is a motivational and inspiring topic. Once I even discovered something new about myself simply by talking about this topic.

• What are your life goals?
• What do you do to develop as a person?
• Do you think helping others makes us grow?

17. Teachers

I'm sure you disliked some of the teachers you had but you also have a teacher that has a special place in your heart. Discussing teachers can bring back lovely memories.

• Who's the best/worst teacher you've ever had? 
• Would you rather learn from a young teacher or an older teacher?
• Do you think we could learn without teachers?

18. Weekends

People spend their weekends in different ways and weekends are always good topics for conversation. This is especially true at the beginning and end of the working week!

• What was the best and worst part of your weekend?
• What's your ideal weekend like?
• How do people spend weekends in your country?

19. News And Current Events

There’s always something newsworthy that you can talk about. I talk about current news events all the time and this is a conversation topic that will never die.

Questions: 

• What's an interesting news story you've recently heard? 
• What topics are often discussed in the news in your country?
• Do you think it’s essential to watch the news every day?

20. Life Experiences

This is a great topic to practice the present perfect in English !

Questions :

• Have you ever seen__________?
• Have you ever eaten______________?
• Have you ever played ______________?

21. Favourite People 

This topic can include any people (celebrities, writers, athletes, singers, etc.).

• Who’s your favourite writer?
• Who’s your favourite footballer?
• Who’s your favourite movie director?
• Who’s your least favourite artist?
• Who’s your least favourite chef?

A great topic to practise vocabulary for furniture and objects around the house.

• Which room is the most important for you in your home?
• What would your ideal house be like?
• Do you prefer to live in a big or a small house?

23. English

Speak in English about English so you can improve your English. It sounds like a slogan, but it’s true!

• What’s your favourite English word and why?
• Do you have any English learning strategies?
• What’s your favourite website to learn English?

Nobody knows what will happen in the future, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t talk about it. It’s also a great topic to practise future forms.

• What life plans do you have for the future?
• Do you think humans will still be around in 1000 years?
• How do you see yourself in 5 years?

25. Would You Rather…?

This is a question that can get anyone to talk. You can make it fun or serious, up to you. Here are some possibilities.

• Would you rather travel to the past or the future?
• Would you rather have a dog or a cat?
• Would you rather have more money or more free time?

25. If You Could…?

This is one of my favourite questions. It can be adapted to any topic and it’s especially useful if you want to practise the English conditional tense .

• If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
• If you could travel back in time, what era would you visit?
• If you could learn any new skill overnight, what would it be?

26. Friends

A light topic that's useful to practise vocabulary around personality, relationships and activities. You can use it to make new friends too!

• Do you make friends easily?
• What do you like doing with your friends?
• What things should friends never do?

I have many apps and I can tell you my top three favourite apps that I like using and why. I’m sure you can do that too. By the way, if you want to learn English with apps, here are the 20 best apps to learn English.

• What is your favourite app on your phone and why?
• What is an app that you use frequently, but you feel like not many people know about?
• Have you ever developed your own app? If yes, what was it and if not, what kind of app would you like to develop?

28. Social Media

I have a friend who’s on every social media platform that exists. He would be a great conversation partner for this topic!

• How do you use social media in your daily life and which platforms do you use the most?
• What do you think are the positive and negative effects of social media on our society?
• How has social media impacted your personal relationships and connections with others?

29. Personality

We all know what we’re like so we naturally have something to say about our personality. This might be a little hard though because we don’t normally do it, but talking about your own personality can help you discover new things about yourself too.

And it’s the perfect topic to practise advanced English vocabulary to describe characters and personality traits.

• How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
• How do you think your personality has changed or evolved over time?
• Are there any aspects of your personality that you would like to change?

30. Emotions

Simply asking “How do you feel today?” might be all you need to have a great conversion. But here are more questions that you could use to talk about emotions.

• What is one thing that always makes you feel better when you're feeling sad or stressed?
• How do you deal with difficult emotions like anger or frustration?
• What makes you feel bored?

Once I talked with a friend about what loved about his city and he made me fall in love with it too. I think this is a good reason why we should talk about cities.

• What’s your favourite city and why?
• Is your city safe?
• What do you love about your city?

This is a personal topic that can help you make a deeper connection with the person you’re discussing it with.

• What is something that scares you, and why do you think you feel that way?
• Have you ever faced a fear and overcome it? How did you do it?
• How do you typically react when you're feeling afraid or anxious?

33. Weather

This is probably one of the most popular conversational English topics. Don’t talk about it for too long though. Some people don’t find it very interesting!

• What's your favourite season and why?
• What's your favorite type of weather, and why do you like it?
• Do you prefer sunny or rainy weather, and why?

This is a controversial topic. A friend of mine always talks about aliens because he believes in them. I’m not sure, but I don’t mind talking about them.

• Do you believe in aliens?
• Have you ever seen a UFO?
• What do you think aliens might look like?

Telling jokes is an art and you might know some jokes in your first language. Can you tell them in English? 

Here’s one: I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder!

• Do you have a joke that you always tell people? 
• Have you ever heard a joke that you didn't find funny, but others around you did? 
• What jokes do you not like?

36. Stereotypes

Stereotypes are often based on false assumptions about certain groups of people. If you talk about them, you might discover why these ideas are not correct. This is a topic that can really help you build an open mind.

• What is a stereotype that you have heard about your country? 
• Have you ever been a victim of a stereotype?

37. Animals And Pets

This is a topic that anyone who has a pet would love talking about!

• Do you have any pets? If not, would you like to have one?
• What's your favorite type of pet?
• Have you ever had a funny or interesting experience with a pet?

What do you think of when you think of “art”? A friend of mine can’t think of anything but paintings. But there are many forms of art that you can talk about: music, sculptures, literature, theaters, and many others. Oh, and you don’t need to be an artist to have a conversation about art.

• What is your favourite type of art?
• Have you ever created any art yourself?
• What do you think makes art valuable or important in our society?

Not everyone is into cars, but if you meet someone who likes them, you might have a never-ending conversation with them!

• What car do you own?
• What’s your favourite type of car?
• Do you like car racing?

40. Childhood

I could spend entire nights telling you about my childhood memories. Is it the same for you?

• What is your earliest childhood memory?
• Did you have any favorite childhood toys or games? 
• Did you have any childhood heroes?

Conversational English Topics To Kick-Start Discussions

What do you think of these conversational English topics? Do they make you feel like you want to go out there and have conversations? 

Having conversations in English can open a whole new world of opportunities. 

So, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and start talking. 

The more you talk, the more you will learn, and the more doors will open up for you!

If you need a little bit more help to start speaking, check out these common English phrases to sound more natural when you speak.

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39 Fun ESL Games and Activities for an Exciting English Classroom

Getting playful with the English language is a great way to push your students’ creativity and show them how useful their knowledge really is.

And the best way to do that is with fun ESL games for the classroom!

There’s nothing like a room full of friendly competition and laughter to make learning more fun.

Read on below for 39 ESL group activities that will get your students engaged and practicing their English. We’ll also discuss grouping strategies for effective gameplay.

ESL Vocabulary and Spelling Games

1. vocabulary showcase game show, 2. how’s yours, 3. fly swat, 4. shiritori showdown, 6. jeopardy, 7. backdraw, esl listening games, 10. flash art, 11. find someone who…, 12. telephone, 13. song puzzle, esl games for communication and teamwork, 14. question volley, 15. my name is x, and i like x, 16. reporter, 17. secrets, 18. find a partner, 19. what sweet treat am i, esl speaking games, 20. who am i what am i, 21. question master, 22. time trials, 23. balloon truth or dare, 24. word warm ups, 25. mayor (a.k.a. don’t vote for me), 26. reading race, 27. i took a trip to the usa, esl games for creative thinking, 28. storytelling memory game, 29. two truths and a lie, 30. funny papers, 31. dictionary, 32. oral storytelling, 33. written storytelling, esl grammar games, 34. would you rather, 35. conjugation pyramid, 36. tic-tac-toe, 37. shootin’ hoops, 38. hot potato, 39. word chain, 4 ways to group your students, group by varying skill levels, group by same skill level, group by same first language, group by different first languages, why esl games are an essential part of the classroom.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Best for: Big groups; communication

In the Vocabulary Showcase Game Show, students will learn new words through firsthand communication. Students must explain the chosen word to their teammate without saying the word.

All you need is a whiteboard, a timer and a list of vocab words that students already have a fairly good grasp on.

How to play:  

• Review the vocabulary words if needed or desired.
• Divide the class into two teams. Team A will choose their first contestant to start the game.
• Student A from Team A will stand with their back to the whiteboard.
• The teacher writes a vocabulary word on the board and starts the clock. Two minutes per word is best practice in order to get multiple students involved.
• Once the clock starts, Team A will do their best to describe the vocabulary word. They cannot use the word or spell it out.
• If Student A guesses the correct word, Team A gets a point.
• Switch. Now Team B will send up their first member to guess a new vocabulary word. Same rules apply.
• At the end, the team with the most points wins.

Best for: Small groups; beginners

This ESL game will have students guess the object everyone is talking about by asking the eponymous question: “How’s yours?”

You don’t need anything to play this game, though it may be helpful to have some slightly more challenging words to offer your students if they’re struggling as the game leader.

• Select a student to go first (or ask for a volunteer).
• This player is sent into the hall or somewhere out of earshot.
• The teacher will be game leader first. Pick a body part, type of clothing, common person or common object and inform your students of the secret word. Possibilities might include: shoes, mouth, car, mother, teacher or ring.
• The first player comes back into the room.
• The player’s goal now is to figure out what the secret word is by asking each student, “How’s yours?” Each student should respond in just two or three words. Remind them—no pointing!
• Once the first player has an answer from each student, they must guess what the object is. Use points or rewards as desired.
• Continue by having the first player become the game leader; a new student will go into the hall and be the guesser.

Tip: Pick the shy students early so they can play more confidently after they’ve been the guesser.

The secret word is “teeth.”

When the player asks their question (“How’s yours?”), students might respond:

Best for: End of the lesson; practicing synonyms/antonyms/homonyms

This fun ESL game is a race to the board! Students will compete to be the first to find the answer and swat it with their fly swatter.

You’ll need two fly swatters, PowerPoint and a projector. You can substitute the PowerPoint/projector combo for a simple whiteboard, but just know you’ll probably have to do some rewriting throughout the game. It also helps to prepare your questions ahead of time.

• Using PowerPoint, prepare a slide with vocabulary words scattered everywhere.
• Split the class into two teams.
• If needed, inform students they can only swat one word on their turn to make sure they really think about their answer.
• In turns, each team sends up one person to the board. They are each given a fly swatter.
• Read a question/definition aloud. The first student to swat the answer on the board wins the round!

Feel free to ask the same question more than once (repetition is part of the learning process!).

Best for: Warm ups; quick thinking

The word shiritori is Japanese for “chicken’s behind.” Each student will use the last letter of the previous word to make a new one. If the timer goes off—you’re out!

It can be played in any sized group, and the only thing you need is a timer.

• Choose a student to start the game.
• Enter the time on the timer, perhaps 1-2 minutes depending on the class. Begin.
• The chosen student starts the game by saying any word they’d like.
• The next student has to say a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word.
• Play continues until the timer goes off.
• The student who failed to think of a word may have to write on the board, or elimination can continue each round until there’s one winner.

(Teacher sets the timer to 30 seconds.)

Teacher: I’ll start. Mois t .

Student 1: Umm… T owe l .

Student 2: Hmm… L ik e .

Student 3: Like. Like. Like. Umm…

(Timer beeps. Student 3 is out.)

Best for: All lesson types

Hangman is an oldie but a goodie. Students must guess the letters of the alphabet to figure out a word or phrase before the hangman’s drawing is complete.

All you need is paper and pencils—or just a whiteboard if you want to play as a class. Let students take turns picking the word and drawing the blanks. Encourage using new vocabulary words so they can practice spelling.

(I found the original drawing inappropriate for younger students, so I usually drew my stick figure on the plank of a ship over a sea of monsters. As a bonus, students loved being chosen to draw one of the sea monsters on the board before the game began!)

• The leader draws the setup and the blanks for the chosen word or phrase.
• Students take turns guessing letters of the alphabet to fill in the blanks. Correct guesses are written into place in the blanks. For each incorrect guess, the leader adds one body part of the “hangman” to the drawing.
• If the guessers get the correct word first, they win. If the picture of the person is completed first, the leader wins.
• Switch out the leader and play again!

For extra fun, watch a video clip first, then play Hangman using only words from the clip. And for extra practice, at the end of each round, ask students to talk about the definition of the uncovered word or try to use it in a sentence.

Best for: Big groups; comprehensive review; critical thinking; speaking skills; teamwork

Jeopardy is another classic English classroom game that helps students build their confidence. You’ll set it up just like the TV show: a big board with answers and points, where students will need to provide the missing question.

For Jeopardy, you’ll need PowerPoint or an internet connection with an online jeopardy board, plus a projector.

• Prepare a jeopardy board with questions on the chosen subject matter. You can do this on PowerPoint with a premade template , or use Jeopardy Labs  for easy set up.
• Assign point values that align with the difficulty of each question to ensure a fair distribution of points. Don’t forget to include a “Daily Double” for extra fun!
• In class, split the students into even groups of four, five or six. Adjust the number according to the number of students in the classroom. For the ideal playing situation, there should be 4-6 groups.
• After the class has been split into groups, the first group chooses a subject and point value.
• Read the corresponding question aloud. Anyone in class can raise their hand to answer the question.
• The first hand up gets to answer. If they’re right, their group receives the points and gets to pick the next question. If they’re wrong, subtract the points from that team; another group gets a chance to answer.
• The group with the most points at the end of the game wins!  

Note: You may want to select a spokesperson for each group to keep chaos to a minimum. Rotate the spokesperson every few turns so everyone gets the opportunity to speak.

Best for: Big groups; all lesson types; spelling and vocabulary skills

Backdraw is one of the most popular games in classrooms and works for any level. In this game, the students aren’t allowed to talk.

• Put the students into equal teams and line them up facing the blackboard. All the students must face the blackboard and cannot turn around.
• Inform the students that they cannot speak during the game, or their team is out.
• Give a word to the last student in each team (the student furthest from the blackboard). Usually, it’s best to write the word down and have them read it, so nobody can overhear it.
• When the teacher tells them to begin, the last student must silently write the word on the back of the student in front of them. Once they’re done, the next student then writes the word they “felt” on the student in front of them. This continues until the first student has the word.
• The first student goes to the blackboard and writes the word, spelled correctly.
• The first team to complete the task correctly is the winner.

Best for:  Big groups; teambuilding; from beginner to advanced students 

This game focuses heavily on spelling and team skills, and it’s a great way to cement the difficult words on your vocabulary list.

• Divide the students into teams. The number of teams doesn’t matter.
• Approach the first team and give them a word to spell. The following steps should be conducted with each team, one at a time. The other students may listen, or practice silently spelling the words, but there shouldn’t be talking from the other teams.
• The first student on the team may only give the first letter.
• The next student says the second letter, and so on.
• Once the word is complete, the next student must repeat the whole word, to signal they’re done spelling.
• Each correctly spelled word earns the team a point.

This game can also be made more or less challenging by choosing higher or lower level words. Also, for more advanced students, they can be asked to spell the word backward.

Best for: Beginners; big groups; pronunciation practice

This game is an excellent way to use physical activity in the classroom while also engaging the brain in language learning.

• Line up the students in the front of the classroom. If you have a large classroom, have them line up in groups of six students at one time. While each group of six students plays, the other students are encouraged to watch and be engaged in the game.
• Assign each student a different word. Encourage them to repeat the word back to you.
• Now the game begins. The teacher (or a designated higher-level student) must say one word at a time.
• The student who is assigned that word must repeat it back and do a squat right away. A deep squat means they hold their arms out in front of them and bend their knees until the thigh bones are horizontal.
• If the student forgets, says the word incorrectly or is extremely late, they’re out and must sit down.

This game can be made more challenging by having the teacher speak faster, or having the students say and spell the word.

Best for: Creative students; reading comprehension practice

You’ll give your students scenarios in English and let them create quick interpretations through drawing. This ESL game offers a break from tough topics and traditional book learning.

For this game, you need plenty of paper and drawing materials like colored pencils, markers or crayons.

• Decide whether you want to work on students’ listening comprehension, reading comprehension or both.
• Say a scenario out loud or write it on the board.
• Students will transcribe or copy the scenario on a piece of paper.
• Give students an allotted amount of time to draw out the scenario on their paper.
• At the end of the session, students may present their drawings. You may also have them vote on their favorite piece for each scenario.

Note: You may only have time to do one or two Flash Art scenarios per session.

Examples:  

• There is a man running in a park. He is being chased by a dog.
• A mother and daughter are baking cupcakes.
• Many cars are stuck in traffic due to rain.

Best for: Big groups

Students must be quick to listen and comprehend the spoken statement, or they’ll end up in the middle where they’ll have to come up with the next statement themselves.

The teacher can have a prepared list of “Finds,” or students can make up their own in this fun ESL game.

• Have everybody begin in a big circle.
• The teacher calls out something like: “Find someone who… is wearing glasses.”
• Everyone runs to grab the hand of a person wearing glasses. Assuming each student has two hands, only two people can be partnered with each glasses wearer.
• Whoever is left without a hand to hold stands in the middle.
• Select a student in the middle to call the next statement.

The possibilities are endless! Students can find someone who:

• is wearing red.
• has words on their shirt.
• can curl their tongue.

Best for: Big groups; speaking skills; pronunciation practice

Telephone is another classic. Students will whisper a given phrase down the line. The last person will announce the likely convoluted sentence to the class for everyone’s amusement.

This ESL game is easy to play—no materials needed!

• Have all of the students sit or stand in a straight line or a circle.
• Make up a phrase or sentence and whisper it in the first student’s ear.
• That student then whispers the phrase to the next person, and so on and so forth.
• If a student would like the phrase repeated to them, they can say “Operator!” This can only be done once per person.
• The last person to hear the phrase will repeat it out loud. It’s always funny to see how different the phrase turns out!

To make this game competitive, split the class into two teams and see who gets closest to the original phrase.

Best for: Small groups; sentence order review; listening practice; speaking skills

Song Puzzle is a fun ESL classroom game that will get your students jamming along to music. You’ll play a song while they arrange the lyrics in the proper order.

To set up this game, select an appropriate song (if you have young students, check out this resource for some suggestions). Print a copy of the lyrics for each small group in your class. Cut each one into strips to create a complete set of lyrics for each group.

• Make sure all your materials are prepared before class begins (the song is printed and cut into strips, and you have enough sets for each group).
• Separate students into small groups of two or three. Give each group a complete set of lyric strips.
• Play the song. Groups will try to organize the lyrics into the correct order.
• Continue replaying the song until a team is done. Check the order of their lyrics.
• The first group to organize the lyrics correctly wins.
• Continue playing until all groups have figured out the correct order of the lyrics.
• Use the lyrics to sing the song aloud as a class!

Depending on the song you choose, you can use the lyrics to teach a specific set of vocabulary or a grammar concept. For example, check out this list of songs with passive voice in the lyrics !

Best for: Big groups; speaking skills

In Question Volley, students will ask and answer questions on the spot to boost their confidence in responding to questions naturally and quickly.

All you need for this fun ESL game is a small ball! For added fun, you can always change up what you’re tossing around: a potato, a soccer ball, a frisbee, etc.

• Tell students the topic so questions remain relevant.
• Teacher starts! Have a student toss you the ball and ask you a relevant question.
• Answer the question.
• Toss the ball to a different student. Ask them a question.
• They will answer, and then pass to another student and ask them a question.
• Continue passing, asking and responding until everyone’s had a turn.

Make sure to encourage quick questions and answers to give this a real-life feel.

If your lesson topic is sports, some questions might be:

• What sports do you play?
• What sports do you like to watch?
• Who is your favorite athlete?

For more example questions, try this resource —and check out our dedicated post on ESL movie activities . 

Best for: Combining with a vocabulary lesson; big groups; speaking skills; memory recall

Students will introduce themselves and something they enjoy. Depending on the level of your class, they may learn introductions, transitive verbs and first- and third-person sentence structures.

You don’t need anything for this game, but note that the more randomly you call on students, the more likely they’ll pay attention to others’ responses instead of counting how many more turns until they have to participate.

For beginners:

• Sit in a circle with your class.
• Introduce yourself using this format: “My name is X, and I like X.” For example: “My name is Mr. Smith, and I like to read.”
• Have the next student introduce themself using the same format.
• Continue until every student has had a turn.

For more advanced students, include memory recall. Ask students to introduce themselves and the previous student. That is: “His/her name is X, and he/she likes X. My name is X, and I like X.”

The most advanced way to play this game is to include questions, like so:

• Pick a student, either the next in a circle or at random.
• Ask them: “What’s your name? What do you like?” and let them respond.
• Introduce them in the format: “His/her name is X, and he/she likes X.”
• That student will now choose a classmate and ask them the questions.
• The student who asked the questions must introduce their classmate using the answers provided.
• Continue until each student has asked questions and introduced someone.

Best for: Listening comprehension; conversation practice; speaking/writing skills

In Reporter, students will ask their partner questions in the form of an interview. You may ask them to present or submit their partner’s response in writing.

If you choose to focus on writing practice, you’ll need paper and pencils. Otherwise, simply have some sample interview questions prepared to get the class started with this game.

• Brainstorm questions for 5-10 minutes, either individually or as a class.
• Have students pair up.
• During an allotted amount of time, students will ask their partner questions.
• Students may need to write the responses, take brief notes or simply try to remember the answers.
• After the time is up, switch the role of reporter and interviewee.
• At the end, students may present their partners to the rest of the class using the answers provided during game time. Or, students can hand in their interview notes.

You can also turn this into a more elaborate game by assigning the interviews as homework.

In that case, have students present their partners to the class without giving the identity of the partner. The class has to guess who the person is based on the presentation.

Best for: Quiet/lethargic classes

Students will use questioning skills to work out whose secret they know. Get them moving around the room and chatting with this fun ESL classroom game.

You’ll need some slips of paper and something to hold them in—a hat or a small bowl will do nicely.

• Ask each student to write down a secret on a piece of paper. Check that the secrets are written down correctly, but don’t betray students’ secrets to their classmates!
• Have each student fold their paper and put it in a hat.
• Each student will then draw a secret from the hat.
• Once each student has a secret, they will walk around the classroom asking other students questions to find out whose secret they have. They can’t directly say what’s on the paper!

The secret says, “I have five cats.”

The person holding the secret might ask a classmate:

• Do you like animals?
• How many animals live in your house?

Best for: Big groups; speaking skills; combining with a vocabulary lesson

In this ESL game, you’ll give students a category. They’ll write their favorite thing in that category on a piece of paper. Then they’ll search for someone who wrote the same thing—without actually using any of the words they wrote down!

All you need for this one is some small pieces of paper.

• Decide the topic (books, food, movies, etc.). Make sure it’s something that students can talk about in some detail.
• Each student writes down their favorite book (or food, movie, etc.) on a piece of paper and hides it in their pocket or textbook.
• Without using the words they’ve written down, students then go around the room, asking their classmates questions.
• Students who think they’ve found a classmate with the same answer can sit.
• Once everyone’s discovered a partner or once the allotted time is up, students reveal their papers to each other.

To make sure this game is working as intended, the teacher must moderate effectively. Walk the room to ensure students are practicing proper English. Correct them as needed based on topics you’ve covered in class.

Best for: Beginner and intermediate students; speaking practice

Students will take turns asking questions to figure out what sweet treat they are in this fun ESL classroom game.

For this one, you’ll need tape and as many kinds of candy as you have students in class (so, 10 students means 10 different types of candy). Make sure it’s candy they’re familiar with.

• Tape a candy wrapper to each student’s back.
• Put the students in a circle.
• Tell students how many questions they can ask before they’ll need to make a guess, and decide what will happen if they get it right/wrong (points, guess again, player is out, etc.).
• Select someone to go first.
• The first player stands up and turns around so everyone can see their candy wrapper.
• The player can ask the group yes or no questions to get clues about their candy.
• After the set number of questions, the player must guess.
• Continue until all sweet treats have been guessed and revealed.

The standing player might ask some of the following questions:

• Does it taste like strawberries?
• Does it have chocolate?

Best for: Advanced students; practicing asking questions

This is a slightly more advanced version of the “What Sweet Treat Am I?” activity. It can be modified to include writing if you ask the students to create the cards, rather than doing it yourself.

How to play:

• Before beginning the activity, you may want to brainstorm the types of questions that will help students figure out their cards. 
• Using sticky notes or index cards, list common household or school-related objects on each one.
• Have each student pick a card without looking at what it says.
• Have them stick it to his or her own forehead.
• Students then ask their fellow students yes or no questions in order to figure out what their card says. 

For more advanced students, cards can list literary characters, book titles or even idioms. Another option is to keep all of the cards related to one theme, like health words, clothing, colors or even slang.

Best for: Experienced speakers; creative thinking

Question Master helps your students figure out what to ask in a given situation. Set up the scenario and let them ask away!

All you need for this game is a timer. Any amount of people is good, but note that this ESL game works best with more experienced speakers who are comfortable creating sentences on the fly.

• Choose a scenario for the class, like at a café, at the airport, or even on a date.
• Set the timer. Begin.
• Each student must ask a question relevant to the scenario. Encourage creativity with this one!
• Continue until the timer goes off. The student is out or the game is over.

(Teacher sets the timer to a minute and thirty seconds.)

Teacher: Okay, the scenario is at a shop. Go!

Student 1: How much is this?

Student 2: Do you accept credit cards?

Best for: Individual students

Instead of racing against others, students are trying to get their own personal best time for English speaking. They’re aiming for speed and  precision.

While you could do this with an ESL class, it’s particularly helpful for individual learners. You’ll just need a topic and a timer that starts from zero.

• Select something for the student to read/say. This could be anything! A passage in a book, a set of statements, etc.
• Start the clock from zero once the student starts reading/speaking.
• When the student is done, stop the timer.
• Tell the student their time.
• Give them tips on how to improve their speaking speed.
• Have them practice, either in class or out, until they get to a more natural time.

Teacher: Okay, tell me your name, age, where you’re from, and what you do. Ready? Go! (Starts timer.)

Student: My name is… (continues talking)

(Teacher stops the timer when the student finishes.)

Best for: Outgoing students

This is a slight twist on the classic truth or dare. Inside balloons are truths (personal questions) and dares (silly actions), which students must complete in front of the class.

You’ll need balloons (at least enough for each student in the class) and slips of paper, as well as truths and dares. Feel free to adapt statements using vocabulary and grammar suitable for the level you’re teaching.

• On slips of paper, write student-friendly dares and questions. Make sure they’re things that most students would be willing to do and answer.
• Put each slip of paper inside a balloon and blow it up. You may want to color code (red balloons = dares, blue balloons = truths), or let it be random.
• Scatter the paper-filled balloons around the room.
• Select a student to go first. They will pick a balloon and pop it, then read their truth or dare aloud before completing it.
• Continue having students choose a balloon, pop it, read the prompt and complete the task until everyone has gone.

A small tip: You may want to start with your more outgoing students. But don’t let your shy students be last either–try to call them out around the middle to help manage their anxiety.

For some possible dares, you might write:

• Do a popular dance.
• Sing a class song by yourself.
• Pretend like you’re riding a horse.
• Snore or snort.

And for some possible truths, you might write:

• What did you look like when you were 10 years old?
• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
• When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Best for: Warm ups; grammar review; creative thinking

In Word Warm Ups, students will attempt to use the given English concept in a sentence before time runs out.

You’ll need a timer. If the timer is your phone and you don’t want it passed around the room, you’ll also need a small ball or another easily passable item.

• Set the rules for sentence structure. For example, students must make sentences using “should/shouldn’t.”
• Enter a designated time on the timer. Begin the clock and hand the timer/ball to the first student.
• The first student makes a sentence using the grammar construct, then passes the timer/ball to another student.
• Students continue making sentences and passing the timer/ball until the timer goes off.
• You can make additional consequences as desired for the student holding the timer/ball when it goes off.

Teacher: Okay, so sentences using the phrase, “even though.” Go!

Student 1: Hmm… I like Canada even though it’s very cold.

Student 2: Okay. Even though she’s only 30, she’s too old for me.

Student 3: Hmm, I… umm. Even though, umm…

(Timer goes off. Student 3 is out.)

Best for: Advanced students; speech-giving practice

Mayor requires both higher English ability and an appreciation of irony. If your class has both, this game may get shy students to take risks and even be a bit silly. Students will run to NOT become mayor.

No materials are needed. Note that you may want to lower the intensity for your shy students by having everyone stand at their desk to speak rather than the front of the classroom.

• Explain that you’re going to have a mock election for mayor in your classroom, but it’s a job nobody wants. Each student must convince the class that they should NOT be mayor and why.
• You may need to go first to show the possibilities.
• Select the first student to give their speech. You can set a time limit so no one speaks too much or too little.
• Continue until each student has given their speech.
• The winner is the one who comes up with the best reason not to be mayor, which can be decided by vote. It’s an election, after all!

“I would hate to be mayor. Do not vote for me. I do not like to be around smelly, old citizens. Children are noisy. Who cares about education?”

Best for: Reading class; small groups; reading speed; pronunciation practice

This English classroom game will have students race against the clock to finish the reading passage. The key is that they must do so with no mistakes.

You’ll need a timer and reading material to play, so this game is especially great if your class has a reading text they’re working through. 

• Provide students with the reading passage you want them to practice. Make sure everyone’s on the correct page.
• Set the time and begin the timer.
• Each student will attempt to read the next sentence (or the whole passage) perfectly .
• If they mispronounce a word or rush through a sentence, correct them. They must start again from the beginning.
• Once they’ve read the given part with no mistakes, it’s the next student’s turn.
• The student who’s reading when the timer goes off is out!

(Teacher sets the timer to two minutes.)

Teacher: Okay, reading race, page 7. Ready? Go!

Student 1: (Reads passage perfectly)

Student 2: (Reads passage but has an error with pronunciation)

Teacher: (Tells student correct pronunciation) Sorry, reread!

Student 2: (Reads passage perfectly)

Student 3: (Reading but struggling a bit)

(Timer goes off. Student 3 seems to be having some trouble with these games! They’re out.)

Best for: Big groups; listening skills; memory recall 

This speaking game  puts an emphasis on listening , focus and memory-building skills while also encouraging students to recall vocabulary.

• Teach the students the speech they must learn for every turn in the game: “I took a trip to the USA, and with me I took…”
• The first student says the sentence, and names an object starting with an “A.” For example, “…and with me I took an apple.”
• The next student must repeat the first word, then add a word that starts with a “B.” For example, “…and with me I took an apple and a banana.”
• Every following student must repeat every word previously said, and add a word starting with the next letter of the alphabet. For example, “…and with me I took an apple, a banana, and a cat.”
• The game continues until a word cannot be named or a word is forgotten.

This is a very flexible game that can be adapted to any classroom. First, be specific on wanting students to use articles and the word “and” before the last word. Also, you can give the classroom a category to follow, such as asking them to name animals or foods.

Best for: Speaking skills; memory recall; vocabulary building; sentence structure review

Together, the class will tell a story out loud by finishing each others’ sentences in this ESL game.

Smaller groups make this game easier, while larger groups will really test students’ memories. No materials needed!

• Begin by sitting in a circle.
• The first person (this can be you, but it doesn’t have to be) starts the story with a fragment, such as: “It was a dark and stormy night…”
• The next person in the circle must repeat what the first person said and  add a phrase of their own.
• Continue going around the circle until someone messes up. You can start over, prompt them or something else.
• In the end, you could have students write down the story. Or write it on a poster board and hang it up in your classroom for students to remember and get a good laugh!

Teacher: It was a dark and stormy night…

Student 1: It was a dark and stormy night and no one was around.

Student 2: It was a dark and stormy night and no one was around. Suddenly, there was the sound of…

Best for: The first class; advanced students; speaking/writing skills; conversation practice

In this game, each student will present three statements about themselves—two are true, and one is false. Their classmates must ask questions in order to determine which statement is the lie.

Two Truths and a Lie only requires a whiteboard (or anything you can write on).

• Ensure the class understands the meaning of both “truth” and “lie.”
• You’ll go first as an example. On the board, write two truths and one lie about yourself.
• Tell the class that one of the statements on the board is not true .
• Students may ask you non-specific questions about what you wrote. You may want to give a question limit to raise the stakes of the game.
• Once the questioning is over, students will write down which statement they believe to be the lie.
• You can ask them to share their guesses and why they came to that conclusion.
• Reveal the lie!
• Select a student to take your place. The game repeats until everyone has had a turn.

One statement says: “I enjoy running every morning.”

Students may ask things like:

• What kind of running shoes do you have?
• What time do you begin your run?

Best for: Writing practice; collaboration; pair or small group play

Funny Papers is a fun ESL game where students are asked to fill in the blank speech bubbles of a comic strip.

Using the Sunday funny papers or some blank comic strips online , white out the text of each character’s speech bubbles or dialogue boxes. Make enough copies for your class.

• Give your students an example. Show them the comic strip and ask what they think is happening in the scene. Write some of their responses in the speech or thought bubbles above each character.
• Now, split the class into groups for the activity.
• Hand out the comic strips and let each group create their own Funny Paper.
• Visit each group to offer insight and answer questions they may have.
• Once the comics are complete, students can present them to the class.

Best for: Any level; speaking skills; writing skills

If you know the game Balderdash , you’ll recognize Dictionary. One team member will lead the way. Players will guess the definition of a difficult word, and a judge will decide their favorite answer. In the end, someone wins a treat!

You’ll need dictionaries or vocabulary lists (with definitions) for this game. You’ll also need sticky notes for each group and some prize candy.

• Split the class into groups of five or six students.
• Give each group a packet of sticky notes and a dictionary/vocab list.
• For each group, select a leader and a judge. (Tip: Try picking the shyest students to steer the groups first.)
• The leader finds a word in the dictionary/on the list that they do not believe anyone else knows. The leader writes the correct definition of the word on the sticky note.
• The leader spells the word out loud, and everyone except the judge writes it down on their own sticky note.
• Everyone except the leader and judge will now make up their own definition of the word and write it on their sticky note as well. The students can come up with a silly definition, try to guess the correct definition or try to fool the judge with something that sounds convincing.
• The leader collects the definitions and gives them to the judge.
• The judge reads each definition out loud. (If your judge has a flair for the dramatic, all the better!)
• After reading all the definitions, the judge decides which one they like best. The player who wrote it gets a piece of candy.
• The roles switch. The judge becomes the leader and a new judge is selected.
• Keep playing until every student has had a chance to be both the judge and the leader.

The leader picks the word “sundry.” She spells it out for the players.

The leader writes the correct definition on her note (“miscellaneous”).

One player thinks about the literal meaning and writes: “wet clothes left outside.”

Another player guesses: “popcorn.”

Another player decides to be silly and writes: “lying to your teacher.”

The leader mixes up the definitions and hands them to the judge. The judge reads each definition out loud, and everyone has a good laugh.

The judge decides she likes the “wet clothes left outside” definition. The player who wrote this gets the candy and then the leader explains that the correct definition is “miscellaneous.”

Best for: Listening comprehension; speaking practice

Students have to be able to follow along with the story, listening closely to what the people before them just said, and they have to think critically to build a correct sentence of their own.

For beginning ESL students, consider speaking sentences out loud yourself and asking them to add one word at a time. They could even draw or hold up pictures to add to the story.

• Have students sit in a circle. Begin telling a story by speaking one sentence aloud.
• The student on your left should add to the story by speaking a second sentence aloud.
• The student to his or her left should speak the next sentence aloud, and so on. 
• Keep the story going around the circle one sentence at a time until it comes to a logical conclusion.

Remind students that each sentence should build on the one before it.

It’s easy for students to add in something offbeat or random to try to be silly, but the goal of this lesson is to create a logical story. One way to keep the story on track might be to record it. 

Best for: Working as a team; writing practice

This is a bit like a word association game, but requires that the students expand on that to create a story.

For more advanced students, consider assigning topics that require students to discuss customs or cultural norms, like privacy, personal space, hygiene or dining.

How to play: 

• Divide the class into small groups.
• Each group gets to choose three random words from a bag and must incorporate each word into a short story. 
• Depending on your students’ level, you can assign specific numbers of characters, amount of dialogue, length, etc. to be included in the story.
• At the end of the lesson, groups can take turns reading stories aloud.
• For increased participation and extra practice with speaking, you can ask the students who are listening to the story to comment on their classmates’ work. For beginning students, sentence starters like, “I liked….” or “what did you mean by…?” can be helpful to encourage feedback.

Both the written storytelling and the small group discussion that follows are valuable practice time. Together, they’ll help students practice written and spoken English in one swoop. 

Best for:  Making learning conditionals fun and and lively

This classic sleepover and bus trip game, ideal for getting participants to know more about each other, can be a perfect giggle-inducing grammar game to reinforce recent lessons. The game is simple enough, driven by straightforward questions and answers.

The main use for this game in the ESL classroom is to practice using conditionals and discussing hypothetical situations ( would  you):

Would you rather  get stung by a bee  or  bit by a spider?

Would you rather  dance in front of ten thousand people  or  in front of the President of the United States?

How to Play:

• Put students in pairs or play as a class.
• Provide questions on handouts.
• Let students answer the questions and make corrections if needed.

Example: “Sara, how many of your classmates would rather  dance in front of the President of the United States?” Then this student must tell you how many people chose this option in her group or in the class.

Best for:  Learning verb conjugations

Similar to blackboard race, the conjugation pyramid is a race-to-win classic that is beloved by language students everywhere. Set this one up for the very end of class when there are a few minutes remaining—this will really get the pressure cooking.

• Draw a pyramid on either side of the board and break it up into blocks—kind of like a food pyramid, but with as many blocks as there are rounds in the game. So, if you want to go 10 rounds, draw 10 blocks in each pyramid.
• Then you’ll give your students a verb and a person (first person singular, second person plural) and they will have to run to the board and conjugate the verb into each tense accordingly. 
• Depending on the skill level of your students and what you’d like to practice, you can also choose a tense and have students conjugate the entire verb chart for that tense. The student who gets the conjugations right wins their team a block in the pyramid!
• When a student wins a pyramid block, fill in that block with chalk or marker to indicate the progress.
• The first team with enough blocks to build their whole pyramid wins!

Best for:  Learning parts of speech

• Draw up the grid for tic-tac-toe on the board.
• Divide students up into two teams.
• Fill in each square of the grid with a part of speech you want students to practice. What exactly you choose to include here is totally flexible, and depends on what lessons you’d like to reinforce. If you’re studying verb conjugation in the present tense, for example, fill in the grid with verbs in their infinitive forms.
• The first team goes by choosing a square from the tic-tac-toe grid. They have to figure out, as a group, how to properly conjugate that verb.
• If they get the answer right, then they claim that square of the grid. If they get the answer wrong, then they lose their turn.
• Keep playing until one team scores a tic-tac-toe!

Best for:  Getting students physical as they reinforce grammar lessons

Go down to the school’s gymnasium, playground or set up a makeshift basketball hoop in the classroom. You can manage this without damaging school property by simply setting up a hula hoop or other plastic ring as the “hoop” and by playing with a small inflatable or foam ball.

• Break the students into two groups or have them play individually against the rest of their classmates.
• There are two ways to go about playing this one. Before being allowed to take a shot, each student must either:
• Answer a question with the appropriate featured grammar pattern.
• Create a basic statement using the featured grammar pattern.
• If the student gets their answer or statement wrong or doesn’t phrase it properly, they won’t get to take a shot.
• If the student passes this part of the game, they get to take a shot. If they score, they get 2 points. If they don’t score but got the question right, they get 1 point.

Best for:  Encouraging quick thinking about grammar points

• Use a foam or inflatable ball, and start up a fast-paced round or two of hot potato.
• The objective, of course, is to pass the ball around in a circle as fast as possible.
• Before passing the ball to the next student, the student holding the ball must show off their English grammar skills.
• When a student catches the ball, they must quickly think up a word that fits your given criteria, spit it out and pass the ball before the allotted time runs out.
• This is super flexible and can be adjusted to practice virtually any bit of grammar you’ve recently introduced or would like to review.

Example: Tell students learning the present tense that they must each say  one verb conjugated in the present tense, using first person singular or “I form.”  Each student will then have to say something like, “I run,” “I dance” or “I cry.” The ball gets passed around and around, with students being eliminated whenever they draw blanks or conjugate their verbs wrong.

For easier games, give each student 6-8 seconds. For harder, faster paced games, give students 2-3 seconds. You can also start slower and gradually increase the pace of the game as it progresses.

Best for:  Thinking quickly and creatively

• Start the class off by giving them a word which fits your desired theme.
• Restrict them to only certain parts of speech, such as nouns or verbs. For an extra challenging session, limit the words to certain moods and tenses. 
• The student who starts off the game will have to think of a word that begins with the last letter of the word you provided.
• If you’re practicing nouns and say “food,” then the student could say “dog” or “dish.” If you’re practicing with adjectives and started with “beautiful,” then the next student might say “lazy” or “loud.” 
• Go around the classroom playing this way and eliminating students who can’t think up words quickly enough.

You’ve got your pockets full of group ideas that work in class. But believe it or not, how you group your students might be more important than the actual activities you do.

But what’s the secret to grouping students the right way?

Here are four ways you can put your students together and why you might choose to group them each particular way.

Did you know that even native speakers change the way they talk based on who they’re talking to and that person’s language use? It’s part of the feedback mechanism of the brain and why you might acquire a bit of a Southern accent when talking to your friend from Alabama or why you might start dropping final g’s if you hang out in New York for any length of time.

Because when you group lower level students with higher level students, they’ll automatically and subconsciously improve their English usage just by hearing and talking to more advanced students . Crazy, isn’t it?

While a more advanced student will likely speak more like their lower level student partner, too, they aren’t losing out on the deal.  We learn more when we teach . And when you group advanced students with lower level students, they’ll learn by teaching the other members of their group even if they don’t realize what’s happening. If you have a mixed level class, don’t despair. Your students can learn as much from each other as they do from you when they’re in these types of groups.

While students can learn a lot by working with classmates at different language skill levels, that isn’t always the way you want to partner up your students. Sometimes mixed level groups can be dominated by advanced speakers and beginning students can get lost in the mix.

Not so when your groups are selected for their similar language proficiency.

In a group of all beginners, someone will have to speak up, and that means your lower level students will be talking more in class. In your group of all advanced students, everyone may want to drive the conversation. That means the members of that group will have to work on their discourse skills like taking turns speaking and using  active listening . If you have students who dominate the conversation in class, this might be the right type of group for you.

Have you ever heard that grouping students with others who speak the same first language is taboo? Forget about it. Your students will actually be able to help each other in very unique ways when they’re grouped with others that speak the same first language.

More advanced students understand the specific language struggles faced by beginning students and can help them through struggles that they themselves have already overcome. Your advanced students can also explain using their native language which is a great advantage when you’ve tried everything to communicate to your students and they still aren’t getting what you’re trying to say.

Grouping by the same first language is also an advantage when you’re discussing some sensitive topics, those that might hit a cultural hot button. While not every speaker of a language comes from the same culture, many do, and if you’re afraid of cultural flare-ups because of a certain topic, try grouping your students this way to minimize the drama that might otherwise come up.

Have I convinced you that grouping by the same native language is a good thing? Well, stop it. At least sometimes. Because mixed L1 groups are useful to students in other ways. When all the members of a group speak different first languages, they’ll all be forced to speak English in order to work together.

This is particularly useful if you have students that just won’t speak in English because they always have the chance to speak their first language. A mixed L1 group also gives your students the chance to experience different accents in English and as a result improve their listening skills. Culture can also come into play in these groups. By talking with people from different areas of the world, your students can develop a better appreciation for each other and their home cultures. It’s a great way to learn about people around the globe along with their traditions.

ESL games are as versatile as they are fun! They’re also a super important part of your lesson plans. Here’s why:

• They’re invaluable for building on your presentation (the first part of your PPP lesson plan ).
• They’ll help your students cultivate essential skills, both directly and organically.
• They’ll often get your students up and moving, which helps get the brain working.
• They’ll help your students internalize grammar and vocabulary through usage.
• They’ll aid the development of students’ English listening, reading, speaking, writing and thinking skills.
• They’ll improve your students’ communication, collaboration skills and confidence.
• They’re usually active —great for both classes that need somewhere to direct their energy and classes that need to kick it up a notch.
• They can be used at any time during class: as a beginning warm-up, as an end-of-class time-filler or in the middle as the bulk of your lesson.

Games can be implemented alongside any other teaching tools as well.

They’re useful during difficult or frustrating lessons to supplement traditional book learning time. They can also be used in conjunction with videos to keep your classes engaged from start to finish.

For level-appropriate videos with helpful tools, the FluentU  language learning program uses authentic clips made by native speakers to teach your students English.

The clips are organized by content and level, so you can ensure they’re the right amount of challenging for your class. The videos also have interactive subtitles, so students can hover over a word to see its definition or click on it for more information, including example sentences and contextual notes.

As the teacher, you can assign FluentU videos for homework, track student progress and create vocabulary lists for students to review with the digital flashcard feature. Then in class, you can practice the vocabulary together using one of the games listed above.

Working some fun ESL classroom games into your lesson plans every week creates an atmosphere of enthusiastic learning. Your students will have a blast while working on their English skills!

From artistic creativity to comedic scenarios, your students can experience English in a whole new way through these games. Even grammar can be exciting with games !

So, get started with these fun ESL games and bring learning to life!

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Expect Unexpected Engagement When you try Hexagonal Thinking in ELA

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25 Creative Project Ideas for ELA

• August 21, 2017

For many students, creative projects drive the most learning. The project pulls together their interests and skills with the material, and engagement happens.

Projects make a huge difference in any curriculum.

When I look back on my experience as a student, creative projects are the highlight of every year going all the way back to 4th grade (my leaf collection!). As a teacher, I try to build them into almost every unit.

If you’ve been wanting to do more creative projects, but you’re stuck for ways to get started, this post is for you. I’m going to share five different categories of projects to help you find inspiration. If you need a quick fix of project-based inspiration, I’ve created a printable checklist of thirty-two project ideas within these five categories. Print it out and put it by your computer and it’ll be a LONG time before you run out of ideas! Subscribe below and I’ll send it right along.

#1: Projects based on Modern Media  My school once got rid of sophomore honors English and history.  Students could pursue the honors distinction by completing a portfolio of interdisciplinary projects instead.

Our teaching team needed to invent these projects and roll them out every couple of months. Our first was to have the students do a radio show like This American Life. They chose themes related to our curriculum, each recording an introduction, interviews, stories, and a conclusion. Then they mixed all this with music to produce a podcast. The results were phenomenal.

There are many more ways you could use podcasts.

Students in groups could create a podcast in which they interview guests who are characters from a novel.

You could have students go out and interview people in the real world about topics they care about.

You could come up with an interdisciplinary task, like creating a podcast about the school robotics team or maker space, featuring information, background and interviews that allow students to dive into STEM topics through humanities skills.

Another great way to use modern media as the basis of a project is through video creation. You could start a class Youtube channel covering modern news from the student perspective, then let students create videos every couple of months on a major recent happening. The videos should include commentary, interviews, and related storytelling.

Ask students to create two minute versions of the novel you are reading, either through cartoon animation or short acted scenes.

Participate in a collaborative project with students in another country, producing a video as a class that explores your city and its people and sharing it with your partners, then responding to theirs.

Perhaps your students would enjoy drawing up storyboards for the Netflix version of your latest novel. Or writing a television series proposal they might present to PBS. You get the idea. Once you’re rolling, there are hundreds of ways students could explore material with real depth through the medium of modern media.

#2 Festival Projects Who doesn’t love it when their hard work is truly celebrated? There are many ways to create a festival-based final project.

Have students present creative free choice reading projects at a reading festival. Invite younger students who could use inspiration in their reading choices. Play music. Have food. It doesn’t take much preparation to pull off an engaging festival for your students. Let them help; they’ll buy in more and it’ll be less work for you.

Or make the creation of the festival itself the project. Maybe you’d like to do a transcendentalism festival for a local elementary school. Have students in groups plan activities, make food, create posters, postcards, and booklets to share with the younger kids. Put a pair of students in charge of leading a nature hike and another pair in charge of contacting local news media with a press kit and follow-up materials from the festival itself. Revel in the joy success will bring your students.

Performances lend themselves well to festivals too. Perhaps your students are going to write and act mini one-act plays. Any way you could gather everyone together from all your sections on a Thursday night, inviting parents and administrators to join you? Maybe everyone in your class is going to memorize a poem, could they perform them in the school garden after watching slam poetry clips chosen by the class while your ambiance committee serves smoothies? (I love putting students in committees. They seem to love it too.)

When students have created something outstanding, a festival can simply be a way for them to showcase their work.

Say, for example, you’ve had your students create innovative apps designed to solve the problems of literary characters ( one of my own favorite projects ). Let them present the apps at a class innovation fair, similar to a science fair but with a bookish flavor. Either have students take it in turns to wander or answer questions in front of their displays, or give everyone two minutes with the smart board behind them to present their apps as videos, Prezis, Powerpoints, or powerful speeches.

Thinking about ways to give students an authentic audience and a memorable day amps up engagement so much. I find that festivals get everyone excited, every time.

#3 Interdisciplinary Projects The world is getting more interdisciplinary all the time. If a student wants to be known for great cooking, it’s a good idea for him to be able to take good photos, make videos, write blog posts and run social media if he hopes to write a cookbook someday. Entrepreneurs must be good not only at whatever they hope to build a business around but also at all things media and marketing. Athletes must manage their personal brands and communicate with the news. Historians better be ready to broadcast live for their museum’s Facebook page.

Providing students with ways to mix and match what they are passionate about from multiple disciplines sets them up to be happier later on.

Let’s imagine a project or two you could do with colleagues in several departments at your school.

Art: Ask an art teacher if he or she would consider hosting a gallery show in your school’s display area with work from your students. Then bring the art teacher in as a guest speaker as you introduce a project to represent the nature of one character from a novel through an artistic medium. Imagine a gallery featuring short videos, paintings, drawings, photo essays, murals, and sculptures expressing the nature of Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter or Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Have students write up reflective analysis papers demonstrating how their work represents their careful character analysis, and display these to accompany the art.

History : Talk to a history teacher about some of the important themes of the history curriculum in the year you teach. Choose one major theme and share it with students. Have students begin hunting for news articles, headlines, and images from modern media that connect current events and trends with this powerful theme from their history study. Get permission to create a giant collage somewhere in your school space. Have every student write a paper connecting ten things they find on the wall to the theme, and choose the best to publish and display by the collage for the whole school to read.

Math : Ask students to interview math faculty about exciting math-based careers. Then have them create a newspaper called “Why Math is Cool” to publish and share with younger kids who find math a struggle. Send them out in pairs to research the topics and create elements of the newspaper – comic strips, columns, infographics, articles, advice columns, etc.

When you do an interdisciplinary project, you not only engage your students but you understand them better as students. More interdisciplinary connections may naturally arise, and your newly strengthened relationship with your colleague in another department can only help.

#4 Inhabit a School Space Again, this project provides that all-important piece, the authentic audience. When students know they will be creating a project that many people will see, it makes a big difference to their motivation.

Perhaps your students could exhibit final projects in the school office. Perhaps the culmination of a free choice reading unit could be the creation of a huge book display with recommendation blurbs in the library.

Maybe poetry slam winners could perform as part of a school assembly or at a parent night. Or a photography class could shoot photos of your class performance of Death of a Salesman to display in the entryway of the school.

Is there a dark ugly wall somewhere in your building waiting to be filled with a collage of great literary quotations? Or a mural featuring three important themes from great American novels?

Inhabiting a school space connects your classroom to the community and the community to your classroom.

Image Credit to cheapsurfgear.com

#5 Take part in a Contest or Challenge

If authentic audience is king, competition is queen. Both have great power for motivation, like it or not. Engaging students in the writing process by taking part in a challenge or participating in a competition is an easy win.

Why not try NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) with your students this year? Can you imagine the feeling of accomplishment that would come with writing a novel as a teenager?

Or build a unit around submitting to a national essay contest ( here’s a list of great ones ) or one in your community.

You could even start a youth writing contest in your city and make your students the judges. What a lesson in good writing it would be to create a rubric and discuss the finalists to determine what pieces are the best! Similarly, you could start a website to publish student writing and make your students the editors and the public relations managers. ___

I hope you’ve found some inspiration for your next project. To borrow a line from Pringles chips, “once you start, you can’t stop!”  

Wish your students could dive into podcasting but wary of the tech? Let me give you the tips, trick, and (easy) tools you need to help students succeed with this engaging, relevant medium. Join over 5,000 other creative teachers when you sign up for Camp Creative: The Easy Roadmap to Student Podcasting. It’s a free three day PD with every resource and tutorial linked straight to your inbox – no need to try to slot a live session into your (very) busy schedule. 

Click here to learn more and sign up.

I’ll help you find the creative ELA strategies that will light up your classroom. Get ready for joyful teaching!

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If you’re looking for a fun group project for 4 or more kids, wacky abstract word art activity is just the ticket. Offering  writing practice  and grammar review, this isn’t your average art project.

Kids practice building sentences with different parts of speech, then create paintings of the silly mad-lib sentences they come up with. In an unexpected fun twist, at the end they get to rip up their paintings and arrange them into wild and unique abstract collages.

Autobiographies

In this fun project, you ask the students to detail their life history in an interesting tone. To avoid monotone, ask them to only include those events in life which they consider adventurous or unforgettable. 

Ask them to highlight emotions rather than timeline. 

You can add a twist to the exercise by asking them to write their ideal future life in an epilogue.

This project will focus on verbal communication skills. 

Ask the students to select a book or excerpt from a book to read. You can assign a genre to keep the communication streamlined. 

Students can take turns to give a short review of their reading together with their viewpoints about it. They can talk about the moral values of the characters or change endings or events to discuss if the plot becomes more entertaining with these changes. 

Check out these ideas on how to run a successful Book Club !

Class Magazine

This is a perfect project for all classes in middle and high school. You can take it to the next level by asking the whole school to start a competition for the best class magazine. 

You can ask your class to select a theme of environmental, health, literary, or societal topic. 

Then ask them to gather all skills; idea-generation, writing, design, and presentation. You will get the most benefits if you make it mandatory for every student to produce content for one page of the magazine. (You can include the advertisement activity within the activity of class magazine.)

Comic Strip 

This is another extensive project that will not only win the hearts of your students but also allow you to assess their creative capabilities. 

Ask them to illustrate interesting events from their lives, or imagination, in the form of comic strips. 

ALSO READ: SPEAKING ACTIVITIES FOR ANY LANGUAGE CLASS

This activity is similar to the comic activity given above. The only difference is the increased detail that is required in drama writing. An absence of images adds the obligation on the students to describe scenes and expressions. 

Again, students can describe any life event from their reality or imagination. 

You can later ask the students to act on the best dramas to improve their verbal and non-verbal communication. 

Paper Mache Activity

In this messy yet super fun project, students make paper mache futuristic Earths or other imaginary planets as described in science fiction.

This was my cross-curricular activity based off of our Literature reading of  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?  and a unit topic in English about the environment and recycling. Of course, you can do paper mache for any lesson or unit that you have!

This article gives you the step-by-step instruction on how to do paper mache in the classroom!

Editorial/ Fan Letter

Editorial is one of English project ideas most suitable for high-schoolers while fan letters work for learners from all English expertise levels. 

Ask your high-schoolers to analyze a societal issue that is close to their heart. Next, they need to define the problem from the viewpoint of aggrieved parties. Ask them to write out the problem and get it published in a local or national newspaper. 

(Be ready to proofread and edit the piece before they send it to relevant personnel.)

Younger students can write fan letters to their best actors, authors, and singers. 

This is another English project which will combine societal, and practical, understanding with English learning. In this project, the students will learn problem-solving skills. 

Ask them to understand a societal or scientific problem. Once they have understood and defined this issue, they have to provide a solution to this problem. 

In the end, they have to present their solution together with the need which gave rise to it in front of the class. (You may want them to include a video presentation with visual effects .)

This activity is one of my students’ favorite s not only because it’s fun but also because it facilitates their learning. I tried this project on two literature readings I had before (The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe) and both achieved the same fantastic end.

In this project, students are tasked to illustrate the setting or a specific part of the book in the form of a three-dimensional miniature scene. Students will pick a favorite scene from the story they are reading and decide how they want to represent it using the materials given (above) and a variety of design strategies.

This writing exercise contains the most fun among all the given projects. You will excite their creativity as well as their inner critic.

Start by inquiring about the literary work which fascinates or inspires them most. 

Ask them if they can add humor to that piece. Let them edit a single character or scene or if they want they can give a humorous outlook to the whole plot. 

Fables 

This open-ended English writing project will ask the students to select one event in their life. This event should be intriguing as well as contain a life lesson. 

Then, they have to retell this piece in third person pronoun. Ask them to keep the tone conversational as well as engaging. 

In the end, ask them to write a conclusive moral of the story. 

POPULAR: 5 Project-based Learning for High School English

Self-Portrait Project

These self-portrait ideas were part of a short project that went really with my middle school ESL class so I thought I’d share them with you.

My students were able to come up with three products in one activity: a mind map, a self-portrait and an essay. The unit topic was about “Identity” or “Personality” but I guess this will work for general descriptive adjectives lesson as well. 

Charts 

If you want to include futuristic touch to your English lessons, include a thing or two from STEM subjects. One great way is to ask them to explain or detail a mathematical chart. (You can come up with variations in this original plan. For example, you can ask future businessmen to interpret graphics related to market studies.)

See, if they have enough vocabulary and concepts to comprehend and convey the message to their fellows. 

Fictional Pen-Pals

Just like fan letters, this activity asks the students to write letters to their favorite characters in fictional and non-fictional worlds. 

Ask them to pinpoint the era, region, settings they like most in a given novel or historical account. Next, they would show interest in one of its characters and the reason for this interest. 

In the end, they need to write a letter to this character praising or advising him/her regarding his/her role in the piece. (You can reply on behalf of that character if you think the point made by the student inspires further dialogue.) 

Book Trailer Project

Book Trailer Project  is a digital storytelling activity for middle school or high school students after they finish reading a book. Students need to take the key idea from the book to create a short video that persuades people to check out a book they have read.

Doing the book trailer project requires students to summarize, synthesize and analyze the book and put that analysis in their trailer. Furthermore, having students create book trailers is a great way to incorporate  technology in the classroom  and encourage reading. Thus, book trailer project is a great alternative to boring book report assignments, and can easily be done individually or in groups.

So these are some of creative English project ideas you can use in your English class to prompt your students to express their creativity and language skills. These are fun, practical, and learning-inducing. 

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20+ Great Business English Topics and Lesson Activities

For Business English students, it’s important that ESL lessons are based on the needs of their day-to-day work.

They want to practice situations taken from their professional environment, and discuss real-life Business English topics.

Some are: making phone calls, being able to hold and carry on conversations, speaking with colleagues, preparing and giving presentations, or negotiations. 

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Coming up with creative activities and finding good topics for your lessons can be tough and time-consuming.

The Business English activities in this post will save you time and effort in making quality content for your lessons.

About the Business English Topics And Activities

Topic: airbnb business travel, topic: commuting to work, topic: big business (amazon, coca-cola, netflix, etc.), topic: artificial intelligence and future technology, topic: music, bonus activity.

Lessons including well-designed activities will prepare your students for their professional lives and give them the necessary skills and vocabulary needed to communicate effectively in English.

The 20 activity suggestions you’ll find in this post relate to the topics of business travel, commuting to work, big business, artificial intelligence, technology, and music.

The activities you can do on these business English topics are from specific lesson plans based on videos , which come equipped with a range of different printable Business English worksheets , conversation topics, speaking exercises, listening activities, and writing exercises for adults.

Below are some examples of activities from these lessons that can help your Business English students improve their communication skills.

Airbnb has been expanding their services to open up the market for business travelers.

They are simplifying the process of booking and launched some tools which automatically organize your business trip expenses. This new business travel program is coming out strong.

• Phone Calling
• Writing Accommodation Descriptions
• Leaving Reviews
• Mobile App Concepts
• Debate With Hotel Owner
• Comparing and Contrasting

This topic works especially great with Business English lessons in the real estate, hospitality, or mobile app industries, but also in general for any businessmen or women who have to travel for their jobs.

This is an especially engaging Business English topic for a few reasons: it’s controversial (hotel owners aren’t happy about AirBnB) and it’s a hot topic (more and more people are choosing Airbnb over hotels).

Airbnb is a relatively new global powerhouse, revolutionizing the hospitality industry the same way that Uber revolutionized the taxi industry.

Activity: Phone Calling

Put students in pairs or a group. Assign each student a different role from the roles below, or they can choose one.

Students have to imagine that they are Airbnb hosts who just hosted:

• A small group of middle-aged business travelers
• A small group of young adult party travelers
• A small family of 4 with young children
• An individual traveler who came with his dog

Students then ‘call’ their ‘friends’ (another student in the class) to either leave a voicemail or talk about the experience (or complain about the experience!).

They should describe how the experience was as the host for these types of travelers:

• What was different about hosting each of their stays?
• Was it positive or negative and why?
• Did anything good, bad, surprising, or unusual happen during their stay?

You could even have them imagine what could be a positive and negative experience for hosting these types of travelers.

You could even get a bit more creative with this one by assigning a pair of students a role from the list above, and they have to call the ‘host’ (their partner) and ask them questions or make special requests about their stay, e.g:

• Am I allowed to bring my dog to your property?
• Is there a nice cafe in the area where I can bring my laptop to do work?
• We have a baby who cries a lot during the night. Will this bother you?

Even though with Airbnb, you would probably just message the host online, but in this case, you can make it a phone call to practice speaking.

Activity: Writing Accommodation or Property Descriptions & Reviews

Students work with a partner or group and imagine they are Airbnb hosts offering a special, exotic, or unique type of accommodation rental.

They should discuss and agree on the type of home rental they have to offer, where in the world it is, and create their own online listing for this rental on Airbnb.

In the listing, they should explain what type of rental it is, the location, the check-in and check-out procedure, a description and special features of the accommodation, and other housing details and rules.

Make students offer something different or special about their property – something they wouldn’t get somewhere else. Remember, they want to sell the experience!

Students then present their accommodation profile description to the other students in the class and then give their listing to another student or group.

The other student or group then makes a detailed review for that listing, imagining they actually stayed there.

Activity: Creating Mobile App Concepts in the Sharing Economy

Put students in pairs and give them a list of other mobile apps in the sharing economy.

• Neighborgoods

Based on the name of the app, students have to discuss and explain what they imagine the concept of the app to be and how it works.

After students work together for a couple of minutes, go around the class and ask them to report their answers. If they’re not able to imagine what it might be, you can just tell them.

Ask them questions like:

• Would this type of app be useful for you? Why or why not?
• Which app from this list would help you the most?

Try to create an in-depth class discussion about all of these apps.

For the apps listed above specifically, you can discuss things like:

• If parking is a problem for your students (JustPark)
• What they do with their dog when they go on a trip (DogVacay)
• If they would be interested to drive with a stranger for many hours (BlaBla Car)
• If they’ve ever eaten at someone’s home, from another country or culture (HomeDine)

Then, students can either work with the same or different partners to create their own concept for a mobile app in the sharing economy.

They should focus on things like:

• The special features of the app
• What problem it solves / Why it’s a good idea
• How it works
• What problems could happen when people use your app

An alternative to this one is I’ve also had students imagine that they were the founders of Airbnb, and they have to come up with their own detailed story behind the establishment of the company, which turned out to be a fun activity.

Activity: Debate Between AirBnB Representative and Hotel Owner

Put students in pairs or two small groups and they prepare for a debate.

One student or group takes the position of an AirBnB company representative and the other takes the position of a Hotel Owner.

Each side must prepare, defend, and present their positions to the other groups, presenting information about…

• Why they believe their accommodation service is better (at least 3 advantages of your service) Students must talk about the top reasons to stay in a hotel over Airbnb, or vice versa.
• If you think Airbnb should be legal or illegal and why (obviously the AirBnB rep will say it should be legal and the hotel owner will say it should be illegal)
• The positive impact your service has on society and the economy
• What actual people and guests have said about your accommodation services

You can refer to this article to help students talk about Airbnb versus hotels  if they are having trouble coming up with ideas.

Your role as the teacher will be the moderator during the debate – generating follow-up questions for the students or groups when they present their sides. Keep the debate clean and flowing smoothly.

Activity: Comparing and Contrasting (Hotels vs. AirBnB or Uber vs. Taxi)

If for any reason you don’t want to make this an official ‘debate,’ another thing you could do is just make it a general, in-depth class discussion, conversation, or compare & contrast about the advantages and disadvantages of staying in Airbnb in comparison with hotels.

Make sure students talk about their own experiences.

Transition the discussion to the conflict between Uber and Taxi, because they are facing a similar conflict for similar reasons.

If your students enjoyed the discussion about AirBnB and hotels, an interesting follow-up lesson topic for you might be about a  businessman who is building hotels designed for outer space .

Many businessmen and women in the modern world have to commute for hours and hours per week to their jobs or for work purposes. Sitting in the car or public transit like this can really have a negative impact on one’s overall lifestyle.

• Telling a Story
• Commenting on YouTube
• Expressing Frustrations or Complaining
• Talking About Lifestyle & Daily Routines

The reason this topic works so well in Business ESL lessons is that it reaches such a wide spectrum of people.

Everyone who has a job as an employee in a company, a school, a factory, etc has a unique situation. All Business English students usually have a lot to say about their experience commuting (or home office if they have that privilege!).

Activity: Telling a Story

Students work in pairs.

Student A: This student imagines that he/she spends a lot of time commuting and is very pessimistic about the situation.

This student believes that they have the worst commute in the world. Describe the situation in detail. The student should complain about it as much as possible and why they hate it so much.

They should take notes on:

• Where you live
• Your daily routine
• Where you go to work
• What’s so bad about the commute / What are the conditions of the commute
• How commuting makes you feel

The student then has to tell one negative story that they have had during their commute.

Student B: This student imagines that they spend a lot of time commuting but is very optimistic about the situation.

This student loves the situation that they have. They should discuss and explain in detail why they have the best commute in the world, talk about it as much as possible and why they enjoy it.

Also, they take notes on:

They tell one positive story that they’ve had during your commute.

After the students write notes for their roles (give them a few minutes), have them describe their situations to their partner.

They should listen to their partner’s situation carefully because they should then report the details of their partner’s situation back to the class!

Activity: Commenting on YouTube

At the beginning of the video, the reporter complains about her long daily routine and commute, and then she says to the audience:

“Before you go and post that comment telling me to ‘move closer’, you need to see that I’m not the only person doing this.”

In pairs, students should come up with a response that the following type of people would write or say to the reporter in the YouTube comments section, e.g:

• What could be a rude response to that statement in the comment section of the video?
• What could be an empathetic response to that statement in the comment section of the video?
• What could be a funny response to that statement in the comment section of the video?

Another activity you could do is give students some imaginary comments to that video, and then the students have to write responses to these imaginary comments. You can make it a speaking or writing activity.

For example, here are a few possible comments to that video:

Comment #1:

“Americans are completely crazy and lazy. You drive these huge cars to work and in  reality , you don’t need to. Look at the Netherlands and Denmark – they have very efficient bicycle transport systems and bicycles are much more environmental. It’s stupid to drive everywhere.”

Comment #2:

“The best solution to this problem is self-driving cars. Our tax money should go more to support the production of self-driving cars. That way when people commute they can do productive things.  The solution to public transit is getting better wifi connections on the subways and buses.”

You can instruct one student to write a response which agrees with each comment, and the other student to write a response which disagrees with each comment, something along those lines.

Activity: Expressing Frustrations & Complaining

Put students in pairs, or in two groups. You’ll distribute to each student pair or group two cards which read:

• A: Riding on public transport
• B: Driving in a car

Students must work together to come up with a list of all the things that frustrate them, annoy them, stress them out, or make them angry while (1) riding on public transport and (2) driving a car.

The group which comes up with the most things in the time limit (3 minutes should be good) wins.

This activity usually works really well because everyone gets angry, stressed, frustrated, etc. at some point while driving a car or riding public transportation.

A lot of good vocabulary can also come out of this one. You can even teach a couple of fun phrasal verbs related to driving when you talk about this topic:

• Cut (someone) off  – “I hate when I’m driving and someone cuts me off and then I have to slam on my brakes.”
• Pull (someone) over  – “I hate when I’m driving only a little bit above the speed limit and a police officer pulls me over.”
• Freak out  – “I hate driving with my father. He always drives aggressively and freaks out about small things.”
• Run over  – “I hate when I run over a nail or a sharp object and my tire goes flat.”
• Hold (someone) up  – “I hate when traffic holds me up and makes me late for work.”

You can use this activity for teaching students other terminology that is useful for expressing complaints or frustrations:

• I get frustrated when…
• I get all stressed out when…
• It gets me so worked up when…
• It pisses me off when…
• I totally freak out when…
• I lose my mind when…
• It drives me nuts when…

Have students then use these expressions to talk about their frustrations commuting or about their job in general.

Activity: Talking About Lifestyle, Commuting, and Employment Situations

Spending hours commuting and then hours at the office has become so integrated into the modern working world that it can have quite a profound impact on our quality of life and lifestyle, which is why it’s good to talk about in a language lesson.

Here’s an activity you can do that will give your students a good opportunity to talk about their lifestyle, commute, and employment situation.

It’s also simple, easy to prepare, and generates quality conversation.

Print a number of statements on cards and give them to the students or write them on the whiteboard in class.

Put students in pairs or groups. Have them discuss if they think the following statements are generally true or false and why:

• People are generally happier if they travel to work by car instead of public transportation.
• In the USA, people generally commute to work or school by train or bus.
• 10 days of paid vacation per year is fair from an employer.
• Regular exercise helps people deal with stress from work.
• People are more productive if they have a 4-day working week instead of 5.

Put students in pairs or groups. Have them discuss if the following statements are true or false for them personally and have them explain why:

• There is a positive working atmosphere at my job.
• I am satisfied with my work-life balance.
• Every day I eat a balanced and healthy breakfast before work.
• When I commute to work I try to be productive on the way.
• I prefer working from home rather than going to an office.
• I spend too much time at work socializing with my colleagues.

Speaking about daily routines is also a great activity if you’d like to focus on the present simple as a grammar point for your lesson.

Using big companies and corporations as a topic in your Business English lessons is practical for obvious reasons and you can make it fun too for your students.

It’s especially great to use big business as a topic if you actually have adult students who work in big companies, but they’re also applicable topics for students who have their own business or who work in smaller companies.

• History & Fun Facts
• Developing a Product
• Making Slogans
• Analyzing the Impact of Technology on Jobs

Activity: History & Fun Facts About Big Companies

As a lead-in or warm-up exercise to a lesson about big business, you can search and find some fun or interesting facts or history about the companies.

One quick activity you could do to lead to a topic is a simple fill-in-the-blank that looks something like this:

Below are 5 interesting facts about Amazon. Let the students fill in the blanks with words that they think fit.

• The founder Jeff Bazos wanted to name the company Amazon which has products from ‘A to Z’ symbolizing a large size, just like the Amazon ________________________ .
• Amazon.com started as a bookstore in Jeff Bazos’ ________________________ .
• The combined ________________________ of Amazon’s warehouses is enough to hold more water than 10,000 Olympic pools.
• Today Amazon has more than 350,000 ________________________ .
• One of Amazon’s first offices had a ________________________ which employees would  ring every time a sale was made.

Below are 5 interesting facts about Coca-Cola. Fill in the blanks with words that you think fit.

• The Coca-Cola ________________________ is recognized by 94% of the world’s population.
• The word “cola” is derived from the kola ________________________ , which contains caffeine and can have medicinal value.
• Coca-Cola can be a good ________________________ for insect bites on your skin.
• Coca-Cola spends more money on ________________________ than Microsoft and Apple combined.
• A few people once tried to sell the Coca-Cola ________________________ to Pepsi, but they were reported to the FBI.

A fun activity you can follow up with this one is instruct students to research any big business they have in mind and search for some fun facts about that company or the story behind how it started.

If they can’t think of one, you can give them  a list of the biggest or most well-known companies  in the world.

Have them give a few-minute presentation in the following lesson about the start or history of the company and a few fun facts about it. This is also good for developing presentation skills for adults in English.

They can use the questions below to help them give their presentation:

• Who started the company and when? How did the idea originate?
• What were some important moments in the company’s history?
• What are some of the company’s most successful products or services? Describe them in detail.
• What’s special or different about this company compared to the competitors?
• What are some fun facts about your company?

Activity: Developing a Product

Amazon launched a prototype store called ‘Amazon Go’ in December of 2017 – it’s a type of grocery store where you can go shopping and add things to your virtual cart so that you don’t have to wait in line or check out.

You add the products to your shopping cart and you can just leave the store, and Amazon will automatically charge your account.

They have developed other types of products and services over the years that have been successful, such as the Amazon Kindle (E-Reader) and Amazon Echo (voice-controlled smart speaker/personal assistant).

In this activity, what you do is have students work together on product development for Amazon or for another big company.

Students work with a partner or group. They imagine to be product developers for Amazon and create two of their own products, or services provided and sold by Amazon.

They should discuss and create names for the products or services, which industry the products or services are in, and then write a description for each explaining how it works, what problem it solves, what’s so special about it, as well as what problems they have experienced in the development.

It can be a special kind of mobile app, tech gadget, clothing item, or something else.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be from Amazon. You can have students choose another company.

One way you could get your students to come up with a good idea is instruct them to think of some brands that they generally buy, and then brainstorm what products they think would be cool to have from those brands.

Or you can have them think of some problems or frustrations they have in their daily life and what product or service would solve those problems for them. In the case of Amazon Go, the problem was that people hate waiting in lines at supermarkets.

Remind students that it doesn’t have to be realistic, it can be something imaginary.

Most of your students who will do this activity probably haven’t developed a product before. Keep it basic, simple, and fun, and it should go ok.

You just want students to be creative and work together to make something special.

One time I had a group who made a personal assistant who did all of his presentations for him because he hated public speaking, which I thought was pretty funny.

Students should then present their new product to the other students or groups.

Activity: Making Slogans

This is a straightforward activity and easy to assign and it works great with any student who is in marketing. Students also tend to have fun with it.

Basically, all you need to do is assign students to make a slogan for whatever company or brand you’re discussing.

One thing I’ve done to make it interesting and add a little twist to it is to have students make a list of good and bad slogans for one company.

That one has definitely brought a couple laughs to the lesson, especially for the bad slogans.

Here are a few examples I’ve gotten from students for bad company slogans for Coca-Cola:

• “Feed your sugar addiction.”
• “Put on the big pounds.”
• “Teeth are overrated.”

Anyway, give them some examples of some real slogans that have already existed for the brand before they make their own.

A few actual ones for Coca-Cola are:

• “Open Happiness”
• “Life Tastes Good.”
• “Taste the Feeling.”

The advantage of having students make their own slogan or quote is that it lets student use creativity. When students have to think creatively, they’re forced to use important vocabulary terms and language structures in a special kind of way.

In any case, have your students share and present their slogans and quotes to the other students in the class.

Another great type of ESL group activities are information gap activities. Get 10 ideas here.

Activity: Analyzing the Impact of Technology on Jobs

Another great theme and activity that comes from a discussion about companies like Amazon, is analyzing the impact of technology on jobs.

That’s one big criticism of concepts like Amazon Go that I’ve discussed with my students. The more jobs that robots do for us, the more jobs they take away from humans (Amazon Go takes jobs away from cashiers).

One activity you could do on this is to have students brainstorm and come up with two more jobs, companies, or businesses that have been taken over or lost to technological advances.

Students should specify the name or type of the technology, which industry it is in, and three general impacts of this technology (can be positive or negative impacts).

Two examples I remember hearing from students was about VHS and video rental stores being lost to online streaming services like Netflix, and driving jobs being lost to self-driving cars.

Technology : Online streaming

Industry : Entertainment

• It put VHS video rental stores out of business
• It makes people lazier because they don’t go to the video store anymore
• Illegal online pirating of films and TV becomes easier

Technology : Self-driving cars

Industry : Automotive

• Less need for delivery drivers, truckers, and taxis
• Fewer accidents on the road because machines are more precise than humans
• People can focus on other things in the car if they don’t have to concentrate on driving

You can give these examples to your students if they don’t think of them.

You can also give students the task of coming up with two jobs where it could be very difficult for technology to take over. Which jobs do you think technology couldn’t do in the future? Students should specify why it would be difficult to take over these jobs using this technology.

Doing an ESL lesson activity about the impact of technology on jobs leads us to the next point: Artificial intelligence and future technology, which has its feet in many industries and certainly draws interest from Business English students.

• Interview With a Humanoid Robot
• Making a Sci-Fi Film Plot
• Forming Opinions

This topic works especially great with Business English lessons in the IT or programming industry, but also in general for any businessmen or women who use technology regularly for their jobs.

This is an especially engaging Business English topic for a few reasons – it can get a little dark (a humanoid robot which can communicate freaks people out a bit!) and it’s also relevant – artificial intelligence and machine learning is making its way into a lot of industries, products, and software these days.

It’s interesting when the stuff that used to be sci-fi stuff turns into reality, and that’s what you want to focus on in your Business English lessons.

Activity: Interview With a Humanoid Robot

Watch the video about Sophia the robot with your students.

Basically, what students do is make an interview with her.

Sophia the robot makes for a great English lesson, period. Students are usually quite intrigued by “her” and there are so many different directions you can take this lesson.

After watching the video, instruct each student to create and write five extra questions that they would want to ask Sophia. (Questions which are not in the video interview).

After they are finished making their questions, they ask their partner the questions they made. Students then answer their partner’s questions from the perspective of Sophia the robot.

Here are some words or topics students could either use in their questions or use just as general topics to help them make their questions:

After a student answers each question, their partner should try to ask a follow-up question or two – a question you ask on the spot based on the answer you get.

Explain the concept of a follow-up question to your students and show them examples:

Original question : “What emotions do you feel?”

Answer : “I feel curious.”

Follow-up question : “Why do you feel curious?”

Answer : “I feel curious because I want to know why I was created and why I’m different than normal humans.”

Follow up question : “Can you imagine why you were created?”

Having students ask follow-up questions is great practice for developing interview and conversational skills because they have to think on their feet without time to prepare.

Activity: Making a Sci-Fi Film Plot

Watch the sci-fi short film about ‘Sight Systems’ which forecasts the evolution of ‘Google Glasses’ and Virtual Reality (which are also great topics to discuss in your Business English lessons).

After you watch the video with your students, a fun activity you could have your students do is to imagine that they are directors creating the next scenes to the short film they just watched about Sight Systems.

They should work in pairs and discuss and write what the next five scenes will be. Have them describe the scenes in detail and explain what happens in each scene.

Students then share what they came up with the other students in the class.

After this, put the students back together and they should come up with a short plot for a similar type of short film that they saw.

The plot must focus on the dangers of future technology. Alternatively, you could give them the option of creating a movie plot focusing on the bright sides of technology.

Activity: Forming Opinions and Interview Quotes

This activity can actually be applied to a range of different topics.

Put the students in pairs and have them imagine to be speaking from the perspective of the following companies or people.

Students have to make an opinion from the standpoint of each company or person.

• Gas Company
• Electric Car Company
• Solar Panel Company
• Environmental Activist
• Auto Technician
• Car Consumer

For the people above, you could have students imagine they were interviewed about their thoughts on electric charging highways.

What do they think about electric highways? Do they support or oppose them? Let them explain their opinion.

Then they have to agree on what would be the most important quote or statement from that interview.

Give students some  useful phrases for expressing opinions  to help them make their opinions or quotes, which are at least three sentences long and they explain their opinion.

You could give students an ideal example quote from an interview with an Environmental Activist:

“In the long-term, electric charging highways will be a great solution for decreasing pollution because it promotes the consumption and usage of electric vehicles, which are much better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles. However, in the short-term, electric charging highways could produce a negative impact on the environment because of the intense construction work that will be needed to create these highways all across the country. Therefore, I see a positive long-term effect and a negative short-term effect.”

You want your students to form something similar for each of the roles, then students should present the opinions or quotes they made together to the rest of the class.

Doing ESL lesson activities about music is fun and there’s a lot of different directions you can take this topic in a lesson.

Music is also a big business with all of the jobs in music production, sound technology, festivals, online streaming services like Spotify, and these days even vinyl is making a comeback.

• Organizing an Event
• Making a Business Plan
• Giving a Presentation

This topic works especially great with Business English lessons in the music industry, but also in general for any businessmen or women who use are interested in music.

This is an especially engaging Business English topic for a few reasons – people love music and it’s a big part of life for many people.

Activity: Organizing an Event

Have students work with a partner. They should imagine they are event organizers and are planning a festival concept for next summer.

They want to make it even better than the Belgian festival “Tomorrowland” and the most luxurious festival in the world.

What luxuries will there be? What special things can be added, implemented, planned, organized, or done in order to create a better festival experience for the guests?

Students should discuss these points together. They can use the discussion questions below to help them:

• What special luxuries, things, offers, products, facilities, and features you will provide?
• What will be different about the campsite? How will you make it better than Dreamville?
• Describe the atmosphere. What’s unique about the stages and performances?
• Describe the security concept. How will you make the event safe and what are the policies?

Students should then give a presentation about their festival concept to the other groups and describe in as much detail as possible what the festival will be like.

After hearing from the other groups, students can discuss which festival concept was the best and why and give advice about what might help their festival to be better.

Activity: Making a Business Plan

Students work together with a partner or group. They imagine that they are opening a vinyl store in their town. They must make a business plan and a to-do list.

Watch the video “Czech businessman leads vinyl revival” here.

They can answer these questions in their business plan:

• What is the name of your vinyl shop?
• Other than vinyls, what will you need to get started?
• How will your vinyl shop stand out from the competition?
• Describe what kind of theme or atmosphere the shop would have. How would you decorate the shop/front window?
• Describe your ideal kind of customer or target market.
• Describe your ideal kind of employee or shop assistant.
• What could be some clever ways to advertise your shop?
• What will be the biggest challenges of opening the shop?

Students can then present their business plan to the other students in the class.

Activity: Giving a Presentation

Students work with a partner or group. They imagine they are giving a presentation to a group of vinyl fanatics.

They should choose from one of the topics below they’d like to do a presentation about, or they can also make their own topic.

They should prepare and give a one-minute presentation to the other groups on their chosen topic.

Even if they don’t know much about the topic, you can just instruct them to be as creative as possible and come up with some interesting things to talk about.

Here are the topics they can choose from:

• How to create a sustainable future for vinyl
• The guide to shopping for and listening to vinyl like a pro
• The future of music
• Why the age of vinyl in the 70s beats today’s digital age
• The steps to starting up a successful vinyl shop

You can have students do research on the internet if they have access.

You can also give students the choice to also come up with their own idea for a presentation, anything in the music sector. It doesn’t have to be specifically related to vinyls.

The most important thing is that students have a structure for their presentation, have researched important information about it, and teach the class something interesting.

You can also have students include one of each of the following things in their presentation:

• A problem (Music has become too digital in modern ages.)
• A statistic or fact (Over 7.6 million vinyls were sold in the US in 2018.)
• An opinion (We believe that vinyls will continue to be popular for years.)
• A quote (Zdenek Pelc said, “If people like something, they need something touchable.”)

This one last bonus activity you could do will help your students develop the skills they need for business and professional reasons.

Have them give a “show and tell” presentation or just simply talk about three gadgets, tools, products, services, etc they’ve bought in the recent past related to one of their personal interests.

Have the students teach the class either how to use this product or service, how it works, why they bought it, what the features are, what problem it solves for them, etc.

Here are some actual examples from my students, which you can show your students to give them an idea of what you’re looking for:

• A new running watch
• A subscription to Netflix
• A Nintendo NES Classic Edition
• A new bicycle helmet
• A portable speaker

All of these activities referenced are meant to be engaging for your adult students in Business English lessons, but the most effective way to do them is with the full lesson plans via the links above.

Watching the videos with your students should generate extra discussion and give you extra content to work with.

Find more resources and ideas for your ESL lessons here.

3 thoughts on “20+ Great Business English Topics and Lesson Activities”

Brilliant content. Relevant topics and articles with comprehensive structural lesson plans. Thank you.

Practicing the business English lessons in he student life can be very helpful in longer run. This helps in the proper development of the individual for professional world. Thanks so much for sharing this!

This sight seems to be very good. Complete lessons for a teacher like me. Thank you so much for sharing it free of charge.

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