Speaking activity ideas for ESL classes by Citizens of Hope

EXAMPLE: Doodles about "Your Favorite Meal"

CitizensTESOL — 2021-01-16 23:23:56 UTC

Students draw a doodle and then have to interpret the doodle or drawing.

Here is a fun example: You can make this a "Draw, Pair, Share" activity by having students draw a picture of their favorite meal, including a "main dish", at least one "side dish", and a drink. Then have them describe their drawing to their partner. Then have each student describe their partner's drawing to the rest of the class.

RESOURCE: Fun Activities for Teaching English (Updated Version)

CitizensTESOL — 2021-01-18 16:52:00 UTC

For a list of popular activities that you can use for your PPP lesson, check out our helpful guide called "Fun Activities for Teaching English"

bit.ly/tesol--fun-activities

How do people recognize birds?

joybielenberg — 2021-01-20 23:38:48 UTC

Ss will be able to state descriptive sentences using language appropriate for their level of English that help identify the birds. (speaking)

“Tic-Tac-Toe”

E: Play “Tic-Tac-Toe” Ask for an accurate sentence for each bird

Get into 2 Teams (“X” and “O”), explain the rules if needed: Teams take turns saying a sentence using one of the bird names and an identifying feature. Before you begin, challenge your class by erasing the written bird names, but leave the photos on the board. Sample Sentences:

The bald eagle builds huge nests.
The bald eagle builds huge nests in the top of trees.
The barn owl has a face like a valentine.
The Great Blue Heron’s neck makes an S when it flies.
The Great Blue Heron appears to live near water.
The Western Tanager sings.
The hummingbird likes flowers.
The hummingbird can hover while eating.
The hummingbird has a long beak.

A: Do this activity as a class.

S: Write down a few of the Ss’ sentences on the board, and repeat them aloud as a class.

“Dialogue”

E: The following written conversation uses the same vocabulary and sentence structure that we have practiced speaking. Have students get into pairs and take turns reading the dialogue to each other multiple times. Have both students practice the dialogue as student A and student B.

Student A: One way to tell birds apart is by color.

Student B: Yes. Stellar’s Jays are blue and Western Tanagers are yellow. Another way is by what they eat.

Student A: Eagles eat meat and hummingbirds eat flower sugar (nectar). Birds build nests in different places.

Student B: Bald Eagles build large nests on the top of big trees. Chickadees live in little holes in trees.

A: Do this activity as a class.
S: Ask students to add 2 lines to the dialogue, orally
Note: I've only included one picture.

Show and Tell

awisse25 — 2021-02-03 04:58:19 UTC

Students can be asked to bring to school an object to show and tell about. This is lots of fun because students will often bring in something that’s meaningful to them or which gives them pride. That means they’ll have plenty to talk about! Encourage students to ask questions about each other’s objects.

Instead of having students bring their own objects, you could provide a picture of the item on the internet or provide an object of your own and ask them to try to explain what they think it is and what its purpose is. Another option is to bring in pictures for them to talk about. This could be discussed with a partner or in a group, before presenting ideas in front of the whole class.

Generate a stronger discussion and keep things flowing by asking students open-ended questions.

Luis Molinas ('Dead or alive' speaking activity)

2021-02-05 11:06:58 UTC

This activity is very simple:

Ask the students to mention 3 people that are dead or alive that they would like to meet, and explain why.

Teacher would show with a picture who are the people he would like to meet and share why, after that the students will do the same.

I Have Never...:

awisse25 — 2021-02-23 07:43:24 UTC

All students in the class should start this activity holding five fingers in the air (you can use less fingers to do this more quickly). The student who goes first tells the class one thing that they have never done. The students who have done that activity should put a finger down, and tell the class a story about this activity. A student is out of the game when all of their fingers are down.

Describe Their Nation/State

graemephenderson — 2021-03-20 20:15:51 UTC

Every student will describe to their partner three things that make their nation or state unique (if they're from the U.S.). Then the partner tells the class the three things that stand out as unique. If any other students from (especially) other countries have similarities, they raise their hands up and the similarities are explained.

Giving Directions

tomwrowland — 2021-03-29 17:31:12 UTC

In my spanish class in high school we were given a streetview map with several different destinations and starting points. In Spanish, we had to describe how to get from la casa to for example, la biblioteca. I think this is a great activity for any language learner! I also like the idea of guiding a partner through an obstacle course using words like left and right.

Talk About Your Weekend

santosabel2 — 2021-05-17 21:33:48 UTC

This activity is great for a Monday warm up and even to review past tense or introduce new vocabulary.

- Split the class into pairs.

- Students need to discuss their weekend with their partner.

- Use only English!

Teacher should be observant with this type of activity. Keep an eye on each student’s talk time.

If you are finding some students are much more talkative than their partners, maybe set a time limit for how long each student can talk for before switching. This ensures that everyone gets a fair chance to practice.

Speaking Activity with Solarium Cards

cjkennedy4626 — 2021-05-21 02:55:17 UTC

1. Have students get in groups of 2-3. Each picks a card that describes how their life feels currently. Each student takes their turn describing the picture and how/why it applies to their current situation.

or

2. Pick a card and create a story to share with a partner.

Who’s Telling the Truth?

rclavagnier — 2021-05-26 03:55:12 UTC

This is a great icebreaker game for a class room, and can be adjusted based on language levels.

1. Have each student write three facts about themselves that nobody in the class knows on a piece of paper. Make sure each student includes their name on the top of the page.
2. Collect the sheets of paper and bring three students to the front of the room.
3. Read aloud one of the facts that is true for one of these three students.

All three claim that the fact is theirs, and the class then proceeds to question them in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying. Each student is allowed to ask one question to one of the three students. After a round of questioning, the students guess who is telling the truth.

English Corner

elizandrah — 2021-07-02 06:07:59 UTC

There is a type of speaking activity that I really enjoy to do with my students. But I would recommend to do with Intermediary Levels and up.

The activity is called English Corner and this is the step by step in how to prepare and run:

Preparation:
1. First you pic a topic you guys are going to be talking about.
2. Write down a bunch of questions around this topic - for ministry purposes you can even add some questions to let them answer what they think about God, etc (questions related to the topic, of course). There are websites you can find a lot of questions about specific topics as well (friends, favorite foods, Have you ever, happiness, etc).
http://iteslj.org/questions/
3. Once you wrote down/printed these questions you should cut them separately, fold and put in a bucket - so the students don't pick the question they want to answer (they can be sneaky ;-))

In Class:
1. Get them to seat in a circle.
2. Get a bottle and spin the bottle in the middle of the circle.
3. Whoever is seating in front of the bottom of the bottle should pick a question from inside the bucket.
4. Whoever is seating in front of the lid of the bottle should answer that question.
5. Depending on the subject it can even generate a little discussion inside the classroom.

It is a very fun activity and my students really enjoy every time I do with them.

Descriptive Drawing Activity

2021-07-12 04:51:57 UTC

Pair up the students and give each student a picture, placing it face down so partners cannot see each other’s cards. They must describe the picture for their partner to draw.

RESOURCE: Interactive Speaking Stations

CitizensTESOL — 2021-08-12 07:32:36 UTC

Here are some fun activities that you can facilitate in your classroom to get your students practicing their speaking skills. You can facilitate these activities in a "learning station" format, or you can adapt them as normal activities to be facilitated with the entire class instead.

Guess in 10

maryred — 2021-08-31 17:13:23 UTC

Guess in 10

As a class, in groups, or in pairs one person chooses a "Guess in 10" game card and looks at it, not showing others.
There is an animal on each card along with a picture of the animal and what the animal eats, where it lives, and more details in order to answer questions correctly. Each round begins when the person holding the card reads two clues written at the top of the card about the animal.

The students who cannot see what is on the card take turns asking questions one at a time, to try and guess the animal. The student holding the animal card uses yes or no to answer the other student's questions.

If the animal is correctly guessed using 10 questions or less, or if the animal is not guessed in 10 questions, that round is over and another student draws a card and continues the game.

Tara: Speaking activity: Sequencing Activity Photos

PetrovaFossil — 2021-08-31 22:51:01 UTC

In this activity, students are given a series of pictures for a task. One example might be washing dishes. Pictures of sudsy water might be mixed with a picture of someone tying on an apron. I am posting a picture of assembling a hamburger. The students get into pairs or small groups. They need to reorder the pictures to put them in the proper sequence. Students can then tell each other how to do this task, using the pictures as visual aids. After they have practiced, they can try to remove the pictures, to try to "tell the story" of how to perform a task without the pictures. It is good to practice using vocabulary such as, "first," "second," and "third." Alternately, students can practice using terms such as, "first," "then," "next," and "finally."

Speaking Activity: Find Correct House

barbarapinkley — 2021-09-10 22:28:05 UTC

Materials: Each student pair will have a copy of the above page of 6 houses. If online, the teacher will put this picture page on Screen Share so all students can see it
Directions: Student A will secretly choose one of the 6 pictures. Student B will try to guess which picture St A chose by asking questions that can be answered with Yes/No. Question format: Does your house have a ________? After identifying St A's house, St B will choose a different house for St A to try to guess. This is a good speaking activity even for beginners. More advanced students could be timed to see which pair could complete the activity the quickest.

Juanita: Speaking Activity: Tray Memory Game

jkajperson — 2021-09-30 22:23:54 UTC

Put 10-15 items on a tray that fit in the same category. Category Examples: toys, men's toiletries, women's toiletries ,baking tools, garden tools, food items, building tools, medicines, types of rocks, stems or parts of plants, classroom tools, etc.
Once you have items on tray out of students' sight cover the tray of items with a cloth.
E- Explain to the students they will have ONE MINUTE to look at tray and then it will be covered. Then each student will have a couple minutes to write what he/she saw.
A-Show the tray for about a minute. Then students write what they saw. When time is up the teacher or student can write items on board. See who remembered the most. Everyone gets a small treat. Winner gets two!
A-Then in groups of 2 or 3 they can decide the category name for the tray. They are all______. Then in their small groups (at this point you could reassign groups of 2 or 3) have them discuss individual items or category. How would I use this/these item/items? When would I use this/these item/items? Have I ever used this/these item/items? Where could I buy this/these item/items? Who might buy this/these item/items?
S-Have students vote on their favorite category or item in a category. Then as they are ready to leave tell "why" that item is their favorite.
One could also put 2 categories of items on a tray and after listing all items on board in first activity then students could sort items and name categories in second activity.
Materials: paper, pens, tray, at least 20 items to make 2 trays of categories, cloth to cover tray, white board, a timer, allergy free treat.

Speaking Activity

zulywmusic — 2021-10-18 11:21:01 UTC

- The teacher choose a short YouTube video (not longer than 5 minutes) and we watch it without sound. If the video has a sound, you have to mute the video.

- You watch the video ones all together and while you watch, students have to take notes of what they see.

- After that the teacher will play the video a second time and this time the students have to narrate the video.

*This is a fun activity because the students come up with interesting and funny stories.

*This activity gives us as teachers the opportunity to work on different things (fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation).

*Something that a teacher can do to help the students is to record the students when they present it and send it later to the student, so they can hear themselves speaking.

Speaking activity: at the bakery

mirjamvanwijk — 2021-11-26 22:51:35 UTC

This is an activity that I did when I was in high school. For this activity you have to pretend that your classroom is a real life bakery. Students can pretend they are the customers, or that they are the bakers. This creates a resemblance of a real situation. I like this activity because you can change it to whatever real life situation you want to practice. It can also be at the restaurant, the pharmacy or the doctors office. This activity can also help to make your students more comfortable if they are in that real life situation. the activity is completely adaptable to the age and level of your students, and you can make it as short or as long as you like. You can also use some realia for this activity, like cookies and pastries in a bakery, a menu in a restaurant etc. You just need to have fun with it and play aorund!

Giving Directions- Speaking Activity (Amanda Poil)

2021-12-07 23:28:44 UTC

This an information gap activity done in pairs. Student A asks "how do I get to the_____" and student B has the information and gives the appropriate directions and Student A can then fill in the blanks with the correct names. Student B then takes a turn asking and filling in the blanks.

“Show & Tell”

ChristieAwesome — 2021-12-22 07:47:06 UTC

While this is often thought to be a simple & fun activity only for elementary school I have used this in settings even with seniors and found the activity to be very successful to get to know one another more and also for each person to get a chance to speak.

Have each person in the class bring something to show to the class and tell everyone about. It could be a keepsake, something they created, a family heirloom (or photo of precious, fragile or very large items). It could be part of a collection that the person has or a food that they made and want to share. Really anything.

Set a time limit that they have to stay within. It is possible to have a class of show & tell and everyone shares the same day. Or it is also fun to have one or two people share at the start or end of each class until everyone has had a turn.

Speaking Activity:

gracenicole725 — 2022-02-28 00:13:46 UTC

This activity is called "story time". You can also create many other fun names for it, but this one is probably the most simple. So you (as the teacher) will bring in several pictures. The type of pictures you bring may vary depending on skill level and the classes current vocab. Generally, scenes of people doing life are good, animals are good. You want a picture where something is happening. One could be a family seated around a dinner table and another could be two dogs napping etc. Depending on your size of group you will split them up into smaller groups. Three to five is probably ideal, with five being the maximum for sake of time. Give each person in the group a turn to grab a picture from the few they were given and tell the story. This is a great activity because there's a bit of a catch (beginners may slide on this one if they're unable to at this point), they have to tell you what happened right before the picture WAS taken, what IS happening now in the picture, and then what WILL happen next. It's a super great activity to stir up their own creativity and practice speaking in the past, present and future tense.

Blind Man in the Maze

jaelclaybaugh — 2022-03-03 21:10:24 UTC

For this activity, the students will break up into pairs at their tables and one of the two will put on a blindfold. Next, the teacher will pass out markers to the blindfolded students and a paper maze (like the one shown above) to each pair. The student who isn't blindfolded has to direct his/her partner through the maze using their directional vocabulary: turn right, turn left, forward, back, etc..

The blindfolded student has to listen to their partner's directions as they draw on the maze. The team who correctly draws their way to the end of the maze first wins!

What are the differences

christopheramoreland — 2022-03-14 14:34:32 UTC

Similar to finding connections, you can find what the differences are between each object. Putting up multiple pictures of things that are different even in a small way would get the students to think of how to describe that picture.

You could have a couple of different pictures and ask each student for one difference between the paired pictures. This particular picture would be great for an animal lesson. The lizard is small and green and the elephant is large and purple. Or more advanced, the elephant is a mammal and the lizard is a reptile.

Conversation wheel

angelashieldsrose — 2022-03-21 18:35:01 UTC

I first saw a wooden conversation wheel at a game store, it was made for campfires. So I looked up one online and the great thing is that you can use an app like this or online resource in your classroom and it is super simple. Have the student spin a real wheel or a virtual one and answer the question.

The Secret Person

jauritat — 2022-04-18 16:34:21 UTC

This is the perfect activity for studying questions in the past tense. Have students think of Advanced people and write down when he was born/ where he was from/why he was famous/how did he die/one more interesting thing. Then, collect the papers and play a secret person game. You can go around the class, from group to group giving one hint at a time. After each hint, the team gets a guess. If incorrect, give the next hint to the next team

My favorite breakfast (purple api and pastel)

jauritat — 2022-04-18 18:46:52 UTC

Api morado (purple api) is made from purple corn. . It’s thick and hearty and can be served hot. Customarily we accompany api with a savoury with cheese called "pastel" o with fried bread. We spice the purple corn mash with cinnamon, cloves, and orange zest, then sweeten the mixture with sugar.

I like people- ESL Speaking activity

jessycafeiteira1 — 2022-04-19 16:16:56 UTC

1. Students sit on chairs in a circle, leaving a space in the circle for the teacher to stand.

2. First, they’re asked to listen to statements that the teacher makes and stand if it applies to them, such as: “I like people who are wearing black shoes,” “I like people who have long hair,” etc.

3. Next, the teacher asks standing students to change places with someone else who’s standing.

4. Now it becomes a game. The teacher makes a statement, students referred to must stand and quickly swap places. When the students move around, the teacher quickly sits in someone’s spot, forcing them to become the teacher.

5. The students quickly get into the swing of this game. Generally, they’ll quickly notice a “cheating” classmate who hasn’t stood up when they should have, and they’ll also eagerly encourage a shy student who finds himself standing in the gap with no ideas.

font: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-speaking-activities-for-adults/

Speaking Activity [Make your own Meal]

ywamangelboston — 2022-04-19 16:19:27 UTC

The teacher break the students in to pairs, and explains that today you and your partner are going to cook a meal for yourself , but only with the ingredients that we have at present like Eggs, Spinach, Onion, Tomato, Potato, Milk, coffee, tea, dipping sauce, salt, oil, sugar.
Discuss with your partner for 5 minutes and get to the plan with....what you are going to make, how you are going to make, what ingredients that you would to use for your meal and so on.
Then present your meal and the recipe with your class as a group presentation.
This activity would help the students to get talking in simpler sentences and even descriptive sentences, and it will bring out many words and phrases from within themselves to get each other understand and also to present their meal idea in their class.

Catch my ball and speak! (Speaking activity)

jinnysings — 2022-04-19 16:27:09 UTC

This activity is called " Catch my ball and speak!". I named it
It's very good to do before the class with all English Levels.
This is the step by step in how to do this activity.

1. Teacher gets a soft ball. All the students stand up from the chair and they can stand in a circle.
2. Teacher can throw the ball to a student and then ask a question like " What makes you happy?
3. The student who gets the ball can answer the question.
4. And the student throws the ball somebody who doesn't get the chance and all students should receive the ball and answer their own ideas.
* For beginner level, the teacher can write 20 WH-questions on the board before this activity so students can be ready to do this.

I used this activity in my TESOL class their responds were so good!
This activity helps to speak to them to talk about certain topic and all the classmates could get to know about the student well.

Show and Tell

marliemichal — 2022-05-22 02:47:38 UTC

This activity can be done as a "get to know you" game or can be modified to use for different teaching topics. For now, I would use it as a "get to know you game". The teacher will tell the students in advance to bring an object to share with the class. Each student will have the opportunity to stand in front of the class and share with the class about their object. This can be as simple as "This is my object..." or to add more "This is my object.. I brought this object because..."
This can be a common activity within the class, and the students can bring a different object to class every time there is a show and tell time.

Desert Island Activity

heatherfehr13 — 2022-05-31 20:37:53 UTC

In this activity each student will get a piece of paper and a pen. They are allowed to draw any item. Then all the students pass their papers to the teacher and the teach redistributes the papers, so each student gets someone else's drawing. Then the teacher will explain that they are all stranded on a deserted island and only half of the class can survive. The only thing each student will have on the island is what is drawn on the paper they have. The goal for each student is to convince the class that they should survive on the island based on that item.

Show and Tell

annaostland — 2022-07-31 00:14:12 UTC

In this activity, the teacher will have to grab different objects beforehand that can be described with all different kinds of vocabulary. The teacher gives the students some time to choose an object and look at it, then one by one (or in groups for larger classes) the students share a few things about their object.

Speaking activity-2 people

ronniebyrley — 2022-08-11 20:11:36 UTC

For this activity, students will need to think of two people.
The first person is the person who has had the most direct influence on their life like a mentor or parent. And then have them explain how and why this person has impacted their life.

The second person would be a famous person who they would want to sit down for coffee/tea with. And then have the Ss share what questions they would ask this person. And why they choose this person.

Podcast

jessicaisliving — 2023-02-15 12:16:54 UTC

I would use this for my more advanced students.

They would get into small groups. No more than 4.

They would record a "podcast" about living in their new country (Iceland for example) and they would discuss what it's like living in Iceland compared to their home nation.

I would provide questions for them to answer that would be about politics, food, weather etc. Each student would pick one topic and discuss what it's like in Iceland compared to what it's like in their home nation.

Is the weather similar? Do you play similar sports? Do you struggle with the food in Iceland? Etc.

If my students are highly advanced - I would have them discuss even more in depth topics.

"Have you experienced prejudice while living in Iceland?"

"Do you feel you're at a disadvantage for not having an Icelandic name?"

"How can we combat xenophobia and bring forth hope and acceptance?"

I would like to discuss real life issues that we foreigners have experienced. I would want the "podcast" to be open and invoke hope.

I think this would be my ultimate long term goal with advanced students.

Story telling!

2023-03-21 08:27:08 UTC

This activity can be adjusted to any kind of group of students.
The idea is for them to retell bible stories, since some of my students are missionaries as well, they will enjoy this activity, but you might need to adjust this activity to your specific group.

So… we retell Bible stories using objects they can find. If possible they can leave the classroom.. it’ll be like a treasure hunt, trying to find as many objects that connect somehow to the story as possible.

It’ll be good for them and for other students to memorize some vocabulary as well.

psantosvicente — 2023-03-21 08:34:41 UTC

The idea is for the students to retell Bible stories, since some of my students are Christians they will enjoy this activity, but you might need to adjust this activity to your specific group.
So… we retell Bible stories using objects they can find. If possible they can leave the classroom… it’ll be like a treasure hunt, trying to find as many objects that connect somehow to the story as possible.
It’ll be good for them and for other students to memorize some vocabulary as well.

Show and Tell

jpatnott — 2023-04-14 01:11:56 UTC

I really like the "show and tell" activity. Before reading the article I found online at FluetU I had not realized how many different ways this activity could work:

-The traditional way- having students bring in an object to show the class and tell about it; other students in the class are encouraged to ask questions of the presenting student.

-Less traditional way: the teacher could provide an object to each student and they have to try to explain what it is and its purpose; teachers could also provide pictures for students to talk about in front of class (this could also be done in pairs/groups before presenting)

Book Introduction

elisakimberly7 — 2023-05-19 22:17:45 UTC

I actually encountered this activity in my German literature classroom growing up, but I think it is a great idea for the ESL classroom.

Each student gets to pick their favorite book. No matter how long or short or which language it was written in.
They each then think about and prepare 5 realia related to the storyline of the book.
(Some drawings on paper are also allowed)

The students then take turns to have small oral presentations telling their classmates about their books, connecting each item they brought to the story.

Super helpful for students that are worried about speaking "freely" infront of the class, because it gives a structure and orientation to each presentation. It also provides something to follow along for the listeners, and helps overcome some vocabulary gaps.

Taboo

maditdavis01 — 2023-06-21 04:26:45 UTC

This game can be adjusted depending on the speaking level the students are in. It's a group game that can have teams, but doesn't have to.
I would set up chairs in a circle to play this game.
One player has a card that has four words. The first word is the "secret word." The player with the card has to try to get other players to guess what the secret word is. They can't say the secret word, but they have to use other words to describe the secret word.
(Optional, depending on the students level.) The other three words on the card are the most obvious words you would use to describe the secret word. These are called "taboo" words. The card holder cannot use these words when describing the secret word. Other players from teams or from around the circle guess the secret word.
This is a fun, low key game that could involve vocabulary from what the class has been studying, or a review game for the overall course.

Two Trruths and a Lie

SGorrill — 2023-08-30 17:59:19 UTC

Students have a sheet of paper to record notes to speak from, although these will be as minimal or as detailed as the student needs. Each student will come up with three things about themselves. Two of the statements must be true about who they are, what they have done, etc. While the third thing must be completely made up. Students will jot down a few notes to help them when they present to the class. Students will take turns stating the three ideas with the rest of the class. The other classmates then ask follow up questions and see if they can figure out which one is the lie. An extension for this activity would be to have each person describe each of the two truths from their life and why they said the lie. This can be used as an ice-breaker as well as an activity to promote both speaking and listening skills.

Telephone

gottasophia — 2023-10-09 22:35:52 UTC

Telephone is a very simple game that gets every student involved. Gather students in a circle, close enough to whisper in their neighbors ear just by leaning over. To start the game, have the Teacher come up with a word, phrase, or sentence (depending on level). The teacher will whisper in in the first students ear and it will get passed along all the way around the circle until it gets back to the teacher. The last student will then say that word, phrase, or sentence out loud. The next round a student student can start and a different student will have to speak out loud at the end. In this activity every student has to practice speaking (and pronunciation is key in this activity!).

I utilized this game a lot while in Thailand teaching English! The kids think we are just playing a game when really we are practicing our English!

Skits - ISABELLA HOPSON

2024-04-29 19:16:41 UTC

For this activity you will need to collect different random items such as a shoe, bandana, hair product, etc. You will split the students up into teams and make sure each group has at least three of the random items. The students will then create a short skit using the products given to them and act it out in front of the class.

This gives the students an opportunity to get creative and step outside their comfort zones!

I Spy

emmabmiller02 — 2024-05-02 17:07:57 UTC

Each student gets a turn being the person to pick an object. The student looks around the room and picks an object i.e., a poster, someone's jewelry or t-shirt, a notebook, etc.. Then they say "I spy with my little eye something... and say the color of the object i.e., blue. The rest of the students then look for blue things and guess them until someone guesses the object that the student chose. You can play it either that the person who guessed the object gets to go next, or you can have your students go in a specific order. This allows for students to use their vocabulary by naming objects and helps them to learn the names of colors. This activity can be done as a whole class and is fun and doable for beginners, as well as more advanced students.

Cultural Presentations

maria_hopper — 2024-06-01 23:29:08 UTC

As a language learner in Spanish, my teacher had us do individual oral presentations to practice speaking. During this unit, our teacher focused on teaching us different cultural items- in this case, Spanish art and artists. As our final presentation, we had to recreate a painting of the Hispanic artist we were assigned and dress up like them for our presentation. Following this, we gave a 5-8 presentation in the target language giving background on the artist's life and work.

Another activity that my Spanish teacher had us do more frequently was news reports. Every student presented twice every eight weeks and was asked to give a presentation to the class in Spanish (L2) about a news event in a Spanish-speaking country. The presentation was only 2-3 minutes and was meant as a practice for speaking.

Desert Island Activity

shoafgrace — 2024-06-02 21:28:13 UTC

One speaking activity that I found online was called, Desert Island. In this activity, each student will get a paper slip and can draw any item. Once they have drawn their item, the teacher will collect them and pass them out again. The goal is for the students to get someone else's drawing. Next, the teacher can explain that they're on a deserted island and their item is what they have to survive. The students have to convince the class that they can survive with that item. I found this activity on Edutopia.com along with many other great speaking activities, check it out!

Describe and Draw

20hippl — 2024-06-19 14:59:46 UTC

The students will be divided up into pairs, then instruct one member of each pair to draw a picture that they keep hidden from the other member. The drawer must then describe their drawing to their partner who must try to draw the same image themselves without looking at the original image. The drawer also has to stay away from telling their partner exactly what it is. This is a fun way to help students practice their abilities to describe various items in English.

Speed Chatting

parsafathi50 — 2024-08-20 22:17:52 UTC

Objective: Improve speaking fluency, build confidence, and encourage spontaneous conversation.

Duration: 20-30 minutes

Arrange the classroom with chairs facing each other in pairs. If you have an odd number of students, you can participate as well. Prepare a timer (you can use your phone or a classroom clock).

Introduction : Explain to the students that they will have quick conversations with different partners.

Give each pair of students a conversation prompt. These could be simple questions like:

"What is your favorite food and why?"
"Describe your weekend plans."

Set the timer for 2-3 minutes for each conversation.

After the timer goes off, have one side of the pairs rotate to a new partner, while the other side stays in place.

Give them a new prompt and start the timer again.

Round 2: Freestyle Chat

For the last few rounds, remove the prompts and encourage students to talk about whatever they like. This allows for more natural conversation.

Rotate partners every 2-3 minutes as before.

Wrap-Up:

Bring the class together and ask a few students to share something interesting they learned about their classmates.
Provide feedback on their speaking.

Professional Amnesia (Leslie Drury)

lesliedrury — 2024-10-29 23:55:10 UTC

Tonight my teaching partner Faith and I are teaching an ESL lesson on jobs/professions. We aren't planning to do the following activity, but maybe we will use it for a future review lesson.

On the backs of each person we would put the name of a profession and then students would need to ask yes or no questions to guess the profession. If they guess too soon we could give them another job title!

'I'm going on holiday' activity

cameronadams2 — 2024-10-30 00:32:04 UTC

The students are going on holiday! But not exactly. Students will choose a brochure of holiday destinations that will have a short paragraph about the destination and information about activities and hotels with costs.

Students will be paired up and will talk about their holiday like they are meeting in a cafe. Such as why did they choose their destination, what hotel and accommodation did they choose & why and the costs.

This would be aimed at intermediate to advanced level. Students will also have prompts on the whiteboard to help their conversations flow if needed.

Things in a Bag

faithyrobison — 2024-10-30 17:27:20 UTC

You will have random items in a bag or a box. These could be anything based on your lesson for that day. Toy animals, fake groceries, art supplies, or different action figures. A student will come up and pick something out of the bag but makes sure that no one else can see what it is. The student then must describe the object to the class in hopes that another student can guess what it is correctly! It's a fun way to get students talking and using descriptive words. They WANT their classmates to get the answer correct!

Parade of Monstrous Creatures

gb36classic — 2024-10-30 23:38:10 UTC

It is Halloween season. I will have the class feel free to dress up in their Halloween outfits when they arrive in class. Photos of monsters or Halloween items will be demonstrated in the classroom. I will first present to the class a picture and a brief tale of a YoKai (monstrous creatures prevalent in Japan’s folklore). Next, each student tells a monstrous story to the class. If any student doesn’t feel comfortable talking about monsters, he or she can share a folk story from his/her hometown. During each storytelling, classmates and the teacher can ask questions about the story and take notes on the presenter's English skills. The feedback on English will be shared to the whole class following the completion of storytelling session without naming the specific presenter. This will be a speaking performance activity for ESL students with elementary/intermediate English skills during the Halloween season.

Telephone

TimThurston — 2024-11-05 22:17:27 UTC

T will get the Ss in a circle and give the Ss a different word or phrase depending on the Ss learning level. Ss will have to practice their listening and comprehension skills, while also repeating what they think they heard to the next student. I envision this activity reflecting what the T will be teaching on. For example, if the lesson was on transportation give a word or phrase that is directly related to vehicles or traveling. I always enjoyed this activity as a Ss and think it is a great way to get everyone involved and it is always funny to hear what the final results were.

The Awkward Apology

heidi589 — 2025-01-07 22:40:21 UTC

Start by dividing students into groups of 2 or 3 and give each group a card with an awkward or embarrassing situation (card can include a picture or illustration too). Explain to the students that they are going to practice giving creative or funny apologies for the awkward situation. The students should pay attention to their tone of voice and expression while doing this activity. Partners in the group can brainstorm to come up with the apology together and then practice giving the apology to each other.

ENGLISH 8

lol

chingona1 — 2025-04-30 16:30:30 UTC

jayleen a N#gga

2025-04-30 16:31:51 UTC

that not real me I'm jayleen that a fake me

2025-04-30 16:34:22 UTC

um

2025-04-30 18:27:13 UTC

I'm that n3gga

2025-04-30 18:27:13 UTC

I'm that n3gga

smfh

chingona1 — 2025-04-30 20:03:49 UTC

who u miss

2025-04-30 21:30:29 UTC

um

chingona1 — 2025-04-30 21:58:47 UTC

hi

2025-04-30 23:06:58 UTC

LOL

2025-04-30 23:32:11 UTC

jayleen is lesbian

2025-05-01 00:46:14 UTC

smfh at jayleen

2025-05-01 00:46:39 UTC

jayleen like girls

2025-05-01 00:46:48 UTC

bro stop

chingona1 — 2025-05-01 02:17:23 UTC

I swear to life jayleen annoying I just ask a question then the 🤬 do too much and put on private annoying @ss kid

2025-05-01 02:18:03 UTC

Jayleen annoying

2025-05-01 02:26:16 UTC

jayleen lifeless

2025-05-01 02:26:30 UTC

jayleen useless

2025-05-01 02:26:37 UTC

jayleen cant spell for 🤬

2025-05-01 02:26:47 UTC

🤬 this 🤬

chingona1 — 2025-05-01 02:43:10 UTC

whoo up

2025-05-23 15:00:24 UTC

2025-05-30 23:55:42 UTC

2025-05-30 23:57:18 UTC

2025-05-30 23:57:19 UTC

2025-05-30 23:57:50 UTC

https://meet.jit.si/TheFuckMeeting

2025-05-30 23:57:50 UTC

Plan a Trip

clairebassett14 — 2025-05-31 18:13:56 UTC

Students will pair up and pick a place they want to travel. They will then do some research (if possible) and create a three day itinerary, detailing how they will get to this place and what they will do there. Once the trip is planned, students will create a slideshow of where they chose and present it to the class in English! My French teacher would have us do something similar and it was very helpful understand and use the language!

jcorreia29 — 2025-11-04 23:09:05 UTC