2. 15 SECONDS OF ME
Allow each student 15 seconds to tell you as
many things as they can about themselves.
Students get a point for each new piece of
information (name, birthday, city, country,
nationality, family, pets, favourites or anything
else that comes to mind). The person with the
most points wins the game.
N.B. This is a great game to use as an ice-
breaker with older students since it can be a
challenge to get them talking.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
3. INTERESTING TECHNIQUES FOR
TEACHING ENGLISH AS A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL)
Nazaru Cristina,
“Ion Creanga” SPU
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
4. ACTIVITIES FOR PRACTISING SPEAKING AND LISTENING
Story Telling
interactive story-telling
continue the story
Information Gaps
gapped texts
split crosswords
Dictations
dictation races
broken telephone
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
5. INTERACTIVE STORY-TELLING
Variation I
Divide the students into pairs and tell them a
story. At certain points in the story pause and
ask them to discuss with their partners - to
decide what a character who has just been
introduced looks like or what the place where
the story takes place is like, to decide what a
character is thinking about, what is going to
happen next etc. After the students have had
time to discuss in pairs, ask for their ideas,
choose the version which fits the story (or if
there isn't one provide the correct one) and
then go on with the story.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
6. Variation II
Chose a set of words or pictures that are
somehow connected with the story you are
going to tell. Begin the story and stop at a
certain point, show a word/picture and elicit a
student to continue it by using the word/
picture. Go on with other words/pictures.
When the story goes too strange continue
yourself as closer as possible to the original
and let the students go on again.
N.B. For more amusement choose words or
pictures that do not fit together and let the
story go crazy.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
7. Variation III (involving Total Physical
Response)
This is suitable mostly for young learners.
Chose a short story that contains lots of
action verbs that listeners may follow.
Introduce the verbs as a pre-reading activity
miming the actions and ask the students to
repeat after you. Explain that they have to
perform the actions when they hear the verb.
Begin reading and make a short pause after
each verb to give time for learners to do the
activity.
N.B. Mind you have a lot of space for moving in
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
8. MAKE UP AN INTERACTIVE STORY
Dictate the first line of a different story to
each of several groups. They have a few
minutes to continue the story, and then pass
their piece of paper to the next group, who
read the story so far and add the next part.
Carry on until the stories reach their original
groups, who then conclude and read out the
stories.
Variation II. For more amusing results, suggest
the same beginning for all groups. Each
group write their ideas for a limited period of
time, then fold the paper and pass it to the
next group. When th
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
9. CONTINUE THE STORY
Make up a set of sequenced questions that
will help students to continue the story.
Divide the class into small groups and read
the beginning of the story. Ask the groups to
continue it by answering the questions they
have. Elicit a student from each group to
read their stories and choose the best one.
N.B. You may use this as an alternative to the
usual “continue the story” tasks from your
textbooks.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
10. INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES
In Information Gap activities each student has
information that the other student doesn't
have. Students work in pairs or groups and
have to ask/answer questions to find out the
missing information and complete their part
of the task.
▪ Gapped texts ▪ Spot the
difference
▪ Split crosswords ▪ Describe and
draw
▪ Info-gap Summer Training School for ▪ Jigsaw readings
charts Novice Teachers
11. DICTATION RACES
Students split into groups of three with one
piece of paper and will alternate as
speaker/writer. Teacher goes to a far corner of
the room or out in the hall. In turns one speaker
from each group join the teacher who clearly
dictates a message repeating it twice. The first
speakers run to their writers and dictate the
message, while the second speakers join the
teacher for the next piece of information. The
second speakers run to their groups in which
the first speakers are now the writers while the
writers become the third speakers.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
12. Variation II
With a focus on reading, rather than listening,
post the entire texts in some far corners of the
class equidistant from as many groups as
possible. Students run in turns to the text and
try to memorize chunks of it, passing them on to
the writers.
Variation III
Instead of full texts you may divide them into small
messages that you post in different places, so
that students have to collect the pieces of
information, sequence them in the correct order
and then pass on the messages to the writers..
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
13. PASS IT ON (BROKEN TELEPHONE DICTATION)
Choose or write one paragraph of about 5-6 sentences
based on language your students have studied recently.
Type each paragraph on two separate pieces of paper. On
one sheet type the complete sentences, on the other type
the same sentences in the same order, but with blanks in
each sentence. You will need one copy of each paper for
each team.
Divide the class into teams of about 5 or 6 students.
Have each team sit in straight rows, one student behind
another. Give the paper with the complete sentences to
the first student on each team. Give the paper with the
sentences that contain blanks to the last student on each
team. When the teacher says "Go," the first student in
each team reads one sentence at a time to the second
student, who remembers the sentence and passes it on to
the third student, who tells the fourth student, etc. The
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
14. ACTIVITIES FOCUSING ON VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR
Word Games
taboo words
anagrams
missing letters
a jigsaw problem
definition racers
memory games
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
15. TABOO WORDS
Before class, create several index cards. On each
card write one word in a large font, and underneath
write 2-3 related words in a smaller font. The goal is
for students to get their teammates to guess the
circled word. They can say anything they like to try to
make them guess, except for the words written on the
card.
Variation I You can divide the class into groups of two,
where partners explain the words to each other,
alternating roles. Each group will have the same
number of chances for defining words and the team
with most guesses wins.
Variation II. Elicit a student to explain one word each
time and let the rest guess it. The student who
guesses more words isSchool for Novice Teachers
Summer Training the winnerю
16. ANAGRAMS
An anagram is a type of word play, the result
of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase
to produce a new word or phrase, using all
the original letters exactly once; for example
cheater can be rearranged into teacher.
You can create your anagrams yourself, or
you can find them on the net, grouped
according to topics, with picture or text hints,
or even may use special softs to make
anagrams online.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
18. If you want to drive you need a driving
silence.
One of the worst things to do is to teach
somebody playing cards.
Look! That man is cutting his bread.
Could you borrow me your life?
Pass me the last shaker, please.
Memoirs of A Geisha is a film about relation
culture.
She was marching in her red stain dress.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
19. MISSING LETTERS
Fill in the missing
letters.
1. not day _IGHT
2. “8” _IGHT
3. scare __IGHT__
4. noun of _IGHT
“see” _IGHT
5. heaviness _IGHT_
6. “80’ __IGHT
7. noun of _IGHT
“high” __IGHT
8. may _IGHT
9. not dark Training School for Novice Teachers
Summer
20. 1. go to a class __TEN_
2. Table of _______ ___TEN__
3. past part. of “eat” __TEN
4. scared _____TEN__
5. a baby cat ___TEN
6. pay attention to a ___TEN
sound __TEN
7. frequently ___TEN_
8. act as if ___TEN
9. not fresh anymore ___TEN__
10. having a subject and an for Novice Teachers
Summer Training School
21. MISSING LETTERS
Fill in missing letters and say these five times
fast
1. _he _ells _ea _hells on the _ea _hore.
2. _liver _rdered _ily _range _ysters.
3. _ive _at _lat _ish _lapped.
4. _on _an _ound the _oman _uins.
5. _nn _nd _ndy's _nniversaries _re in
_pril.
6. _rincess _atty’s _retty _ainting is _erfect.
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
23. ACTIVITIES FOCUSING ON VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR
Grammar games
what’s my question?
snap it (memory game)
sentence race
Board games
round the board
easy money
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
24. OTHER INTERESTING TIPS
Dictionary and alphabet games
let’s have fun with the alphabet
dictionary quizzes and races
the Super Teacher Alphabet Race
Summer Training School for Novice Teachers
