how do you warm up an english class

Warm-Up Activities for English Class

• 1 Journal The most common, and most easily implemented, English class warm-up is a journal. ...
• 2 Mysterious Object Descriptions Get students into the mood to learn by challenging them. ...
• 3 Part-of-Speech Challenge Begin class with a part-of-speech review. ...
• 4 Picture Description Present students with interesting picture prompts and ask them to describe the events shown in the image. ...

Full Answer

What is the best way to Warm-Up ESL students?

This is a simple ESL warm-up activity that includes a lot of movement. You can use it when your students enter the physical or virtual classroom for the first time. They won’t know each other yet, so starting the lesson by introducing each other with their names is a good idea.

Why are warm-ups important in the English classroom?

ESL warm-up activities are essential in the English classroom. Students may be tired or have other things on their minds and diving straight into a textbook or grammar explanation can be quite jarring.With a good warmer you can put your students into English mode; attentive, interested and ready to participate.

What are the best warm-ups for your TEFL classes?

So, the i-to-i TEFL team has put together their favourite warm-ups for your English lessons that will keep your class interested in the lesson and help with their English learning. 1. Tongue Twisters Throw in a few ‘start of lesson’ tongue twisters to encourage the improvement of your English classes’ speech.

How can warm-ups and icebreakers help ESL students?

For example, warm-ups can help if your students are tired from school or work, are stressed or preoccupied with personal problems, or come to class either overly excited or tired. ESL warm-up activities and icebreakers can also be used in the middle of the lesson if your students need a break.

How do you warm-up English?

ESL warm-up activities for kidsStrike a pose. This is a simple ESL warm-up activity that includes a lot of movement. ... Charades. Students take turns acting out a word provided by you while their classmates try to guess what it is. ... Question time. ... We are fun, fantastic friends! ... All about me.

How do you warm-up students in class?

Reading time: 4 minutes.Mind Warm-up Session at the beginning of the class.Use physical movement to get the Kids Warmed-up and Focused.Quick write-ups and student's reflection.Question and Answer sessions.Gamification and activity-based learning.Occasional quiz and Puzzle card sessions.Storytelling and video sessions.More items...•

What should a warm-up lesson include?

Warm up Procedure:Welcoming. Greet the students by name as they enter the classroom and gesture for them to sit down. ... Name Tags. ... Greetings:Sing "Hello Song" or a review song. ... Read a Classroom Reader again. ... Homework check. ... Do "Exercise Routine" activity.

What is an example of a warm-up activity?

Some other examples of warm-up exercises are leg bends, leg swings, shoulder/ arm circles, jumping jacks, jumping rope, lunges, squats, walking or a slow jog, yoga, torso twists, standing side bends, lateral shuffle, butt kickers, knee bends, and ankle circles.

How can I make English lessons fun?

Here's how to make learning English fun for your students:Get to know your student. Set a target or a goal. ... Make the lesson interactive by using props and telling stories.Be mindful of body language and play with the tone of your voice.Reward the student and play games.Don't take it so seriously. Have fun!

What are the 3 types of warm-up?

They are:The general warm up;Static stretching;The sports specific warm up; and.Dynamic stretching.

What are some warm-up questions?

Best Icebreaker Questions for MeetingsWhat sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics?Who is the better businessman or business woman and why? ... What was the worst job you ever had?You can have anyone fictional as your imaginary friend, who do you choose and why?What would your superpower be and why?More items...•

How do you begin a lesson?

Five Ways to Start Your LessonsStart with a Video. Everyone loves a good video, especially kids. ... Start with an Object. Another way to get your students wondering about a topic is to show them objects related to the content. ... Start with a Question. ... Start with Movement. ... Start with a Mistake.

How do you wrap an ESL class?

1:253:39WRAP UP - 1MN ESL TIP by Mike's Home ESL teaching tips - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipI will see you next class goodbye everybody goodbye see you bye bye all right Mike let's go I'll payMoreI will see you next class goodbye everybody goodbye see you bye bye all right Mike let's go I'll pay you a drink.

How do you make a warm-up fun?

Types of Warm-Up ExercisesArm Circles or Swings: Hold arms outstretched from shoulders and turn in small circles, then increase the size of the circles. ... Butt Kicks: While jogging, try to "kick" your rear end or thigh with each step. ... Dancing: Let kids make up their own moves to music they like.More items...•

What is warm-up in language class?

A language warm-up is a simple language task that helps you and your students to recall, review, and introduce information. Usually you'll want to use this task to begin your class, but you can also use it to shift gears to a new topic or language focus midway through the class session.

What is warm-up in teaching?

A warm up activity is a short, fun game which a teacher or trainer can use with students. The purpose of a warm up is to: • encourage the students • wake them up – first thing in the morning and after lunch people are often a little sleepy • prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds and/or their bodies.

What are warm-up questions?

Best Icebreaker Questions for MeetingsWhat sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics?Who is the better businessman or business woman and why? ... What was the worst job you ever had?You can have anyone fictional as your imaginary friend, who do you choose and why?What would your superpower be and why?More items...•

How do you introduce a topic to students?

Five Ways to Start Your LessonsStart with a Video. Everyone loves a good video, especially kids. ... Start with an Object. Another way to get your students wondering about a topic is to show them objects related to the content. ... Start with a Question. ... Start with Movement. ... Start with a Mistake.

Why warm-up activities are important?

A good warm-up before a workout dilates your blood vessels, ensuring that your muscles are well supplied with oxygen. It also raises your muscles' temperature for optimal flexibility and efficiency. By slowly raising your heart rate, the warm-up also helps minimize stress on your heart.

What is an ESL warm up?

ESL warm-up activities, no matter for which age, level, or group size, lead up to a fun, successful, meaningful lesson that your students will get more out of. Warm-ups give your students a chance to use the English they’ve learned so far, to review, and to experiment with new expressions — plus, they’re loads of fun!

When to use ESL warm up activities?

ESL warm-up activities and icebreakers can also be used in the middle of the lesson if your students need a break. If you notice that students are no longer paying attention, are bored or tired, or just need a respite from difficult content, pull out a warm-up activity in the middle of class to get things back on track!

Why are ESL warm-up activities important?

When starting a language lesson, it is important for you as the teacher to get your students into the right mindset first. This applies to all ages and levels. ESL warm-up activities for adults may differ a little from ESL games and activities for kids and teens, but they are of the same importance.

Why are warm ups important in ESL?

ESL warm-up activities for online classes are especially important because you need to keep your students engaged in front of their computer monitor for quite some time. Throwing in some quick and easy ESL games for teaching online every once in a while does just the trick.

What to do when students are tired in the classroom?

Considerate towards your students’ emotional/physical state when they enter the classroom (for example, if students are tired, use a warm-up with movement to energize them)

How to get students to ask questions?

This can be as simple as “Food” or more complex, such as “Your favorite memory.” Put students into pairs and have them interview their partner by creating questions related to the topic. They can ask as many questions as they can within one minute, and then their partner has one minute to ask them questions. After the time is up, put students into new pairs and repeat as time allows.

Why do we do warm ups?

Until students are focused, they’re not going to retain new information. Warm-ups provide a way to refocus students’ attention. For example, warm-ups can help if your students are tired from school or work, are stressed or preoccupied with personal problems, or come to class either overly excited or tired.

Why are warm ups important?

Warm ups are important to create a good environment in your class and to make students feel comfortable with the topic. They are classified in 4 different kinds: Icebreakers : The term “icebreaker” comes from “break the ice,” which in turn comes from special ships called “icebreakers” that are designed to break up ice in the arctic regions.

What is a good beginning for a lesson?

A good beginning can set the tone of the lesson and get students alert and relaxed. Warmers can review language from previous classes or they can introduce new topics, ideas and language items. Here you have a page that will help you with some examples: Warming Up the English Class.

1. Tongue Twisters

Throw in a few ‘start of lesson’ tongue twisters to encourage the improvement of your English classes’ speech. They help by strengthening and stretching the muscles involved leading to clearer pronunciations and speech patterns. This is perfect for starting and ending, a vocabulary lesson.

2. Hangman

A little gruesome, however, this old but gold English game has many educational benefits when it comes to improving English. It is a great way to engage the mind before an intense English lesson without complete mindlessness. Playing this word game can help increase the student’s English vocabulary, recognise word patterns, and spelling quirks.

3. Simon Says

Simon says is great for warming up young learners for their English lesson. It encourages their development in listening comprehension and their vocabulary; particularly the use of past tense verbs if you plan to discuss the actions after each round. This may sound something like “first, I tapped my head and then I touched my nose”.

4. Buzz-in Quizzes

Jog your English classes’ memory with a quiz based on what the previous lesson was about. This will help you to identify any gaps or areas that you may need to cover again or in more depth.

5. Word Jumbles

Everybody loves a little competition, no matter the age. Splitting your English class and giving them a cut-up sentence each to put back together in the correct order helps to work on grammar, word order, spelling, reading, and writing skills. Remember to adjust the difficulty level appropriate to your class level.

Why do we need warm ups in ESL?

ESL warm-up activities are essential in the English classroom. Students may be tired or have other things on their minds and diving straight into a textbook or grammar explanation can be quite jarring. With a good warmer you can put your students into English mode; attentive, interested and ready to participate. A warmer can also serve to review language from a previous lesson or prime the class for a new topic.

How to encourage students to talk?

Sometimes students just want a chance to talk and express themselves in an unstructured way and it’s a good idea to encourage this. Spin the marker pen and whoever it points to can dictate the conversation, ask questions, suggest the topic, etc. Spin the marker again when you feel the conversation has run its course. I find this activity works best when students are sitting in a small circle not too far apart.

How to practice can and can't?

This is a great way to practise can & can’t. Ask the class to think of one thing they can do which nobody else in the class can do. For example a student could ask the class, can you count to ten in Chinese? You could turn it into a knock-out competition – playing until there is one person left standing.

How to start a class with a question?

It’s always good to start the class with a question. Write a good one on the board but mix up the word order, then challenge students to reconstruct the question and then discuss it in pairs or small groups. For example: most item you have the ever expensive what’s bought?

How to introduce a theme to a lesson?

Write a list of two or three questions on the board which introduce the theme of the lesson. For example, if you are going to talk about books, you could write: What’s your favourite book? What was the last book you read? What kind of books do you prefer? etc. Give the students 5-10 minutes to discuss the questions and then have students report back to the class.

What should students do after dictating the letter strings?

After dictating the letter strings, students should attempt to form the questions and then discuss and report back to class.

Can you use warm up activities as filler?

Here is a list of warm-up activities you can use which don’t require any preparation. Most of them can, of course, also be used as filler activities if you find yourself a few minutes short at the end of the lesson.

How many minutes should a lesson be warm?

Every lesson needs a warmer and there are few that go by that don’t have an odd five or ten minutes that need filling with something to keep your students on their toes or to give the class a change of pace.

How to start a class that only meets once or twice a week?

A great way to start a class that only meets once or twice a week is to board some simple headlines about major current news stories ( Reds Take Trophy, New Planet Discovered, Cat Stuck Up Tree – whatever you think your students will have been following), along with some vocabulary that students might need to talk about those stories. In pairs, students first match the vocabulary items with the stories and then tell each other what they know about them. You can input language such as “Did you read about…?”, “Have you seen what’s been happening in…?” or “I heard that X has X’d again.”

Why do we do warm ups in English?

Rather than sitting down and piling up the grammar exercises, warm-up activities can help English students see the language in a more positive way.

How to play ESL game with two people?

You can play this ESL game with two partners. Show one person in each pair a picture with a lot of detail in it. Then the student has to describe the picture to their partner in 30 seconds. Their partner has to draw the picture based on the description. The team with the closest matching picture wins.

What are some games that can be played with ESL students?

One of the simplest games you can play with ESL students from beginner to advanced is picture prompt.

What topics can students choose from?

Students can be given some topics to choose from, such as movies, sports, hobbies, or perhaps a particular tense to focus on.

How long do you have to speak about a word prompt?

Students are given a word prompt and have to speak about it for no more than twenty seconds. The other students in their pair or group will act like radio hosts and interview them.

Is expressing yourself before class a lesson?

In some cases, it may not be related to a lesson at all and simply involve students expressing themselves before class begins or while doing another creative exercise.

Should students be encouraged to answer their own questions?

Rather than answering the teacher’s questions, the student should be encouraged to prepare their own questions.