Not sure how to warm up your ESL class? well stay tuned because today I'm
giving you three new warm-up activities that you can try in your class tomorrow.
Hi I'm Jema Perry and welcome to Mooncake. For the past eight years I've been
working and living in China as a teacher manager and recruiter. So if you're
teaching ESL abroad make sure you subscribe below and hit that
notification bell for weekly ESL teaching tips. The warm-up. One of the
most vital parts of any English lesson. The warm-up is the first five minutes of
class where we get students engaged and ready for their English lesson.
Activities need to be fun, they need to get students attention, and they need to
be easy and simple. By the end of this video you're going to have three new
warm-up ideas to try out in your classroom tomorrow. So let's get straight
into it and talk about the first game: Yes-N.o
For this activity all you're going to need are some board markers and some
flashcards of previously taught vocabulary. Now, to get started you're
going to position the class in a semi circle. You're going use that board
marker to write the word 'Yes' on one side of the board and 'No' on the other. Finally,
you're going to draw a line right down the middle. Next you're going to have students
stand up and line up facing the center of the board. Now, if you're working with
a large class or if your classroom is quite small, then you can
just have five or six students come up at one time. Next, you're going to show
students a flashcard of a previously taught vocabulary word and ask them a
yes/no question related to it. So depending on your students level you can
make this question as simple or as complicated as you like. For example, a
simple question might be "Is this car blue?" Next, students then jump to either
the yes side of the board or the no side of the board depending on their answer.
Now, it's really important at this point that you have students say their answer
out loud. For lower level students you can just simply have them say the word
'yes' or the word 'no', but for slightly advanced students they should be saying
sentences. For example: "Yes it's blue" or "No it's not blue" You can then change the
flash card to another vocabulary word and go again. Keep going until the whole
class is ready to start their lesson. So, remember as you're going through this
process you should be using TPR and chants to help students stay engaged and
remember the language quickly. If you're not sure how to use TPR in your
classroom then make sure you check out my video on TPR linked below.
Next up is a fun drilling game that I like to call 'Speed'. Now, for this game all
you're going to need are some flashcards of previously taught vocabulary, which
you're going to stick on the board behind you. Once again we're going to position the
class in a semi-circle with you the teacher next to the board. Next you're
going to ask two students to come to the front and stand in front of the board.
Now there are two ways of playing this game, one way that focuses on students
speaking skills and another way that focuses on their listening. If you'd like
to focus on students speaking skills you're going to point to one of the
flashcards on the board. The two students in the middle then need to say that word
out loud as quickly as possible. The fastest student to do so correctly stays
in the middle. The other student returns to their seat. Another student then
stands up and you go again. If you prefer to work on students listening skills
then instead of pointing at a word on the board you're going to say that word
out loud. Students then need to hear it and go and touch that flashcard as
quickly as possible. Once again the fastest to do so
correctly stays in the middle whereas the other student returns to their seat.
Again, another student comes up and we repeat the process once more. What
makes this game fun is the speed at which you play it. So once students are
familiar with how to play the game make sure you're switching those players as
quickly as possible. This third activity is aimed at younger
students that might not be ready for competitive classroom games. In this
activity we're going to use a very simple tune. Let me know
in the comments below if you know where that tune is from. Next you're going to put
your hands out in front of you and wave while saying hello
and then quickly putting them behind you and saying bye-bye. You can do this
several times as the younger students love this kind of silly interaction. Now
that you have students attention you can choose a theme such as body parts and
say the chant whilst doing an action. For example "Nose, nose, touch your nose. Nose,
nose, touch your nose. Nose, nose, touch your nose, touch your nose with me. Hands,
hands, clap your hands. Hands, hands, clap your hands, hands, hands, clap your hands,
clap your hands with me." Note how big my actions are and how slowly I'm singing
and chanting the song. If you wanted to move away from body parts you can then
also review animals: "Fly, fly, like a bird" or transportation: "Drive, drive, drive my
car." So there you have it, three fun and easy warm-up activities for your ESL
classroom. If you like this video let me know by giving it a thumbs up and by
sharing with your fellow teachers.If you found it helpful, let me know by
commenting the word 'helpful' in the comments below. That's it for this video
thanks so much for watching. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and
notification button for more weekly ESL teaching tips fromMooncake.
Yeah English! Yeah English! Yeah English! Yeah English time!