As teachers, there are many different factors that must be considered when planning a lesson. These include learning objectives, assessment of the students, lesson progression and the conclusion.
While taking all these features of a lesson into account is important, after eight years of teaching toddlers, primary students, tweens, teens and adults, I have realised that the beginning and end of the lesson are crucial to helping students retain information and making them feel more comfortable and safe in the learning environment.
In this article, I will show you five fun classroom warm-up activities to try out in class today!
Why use warm-up activities for an English lesson?
Let’s reflect on how to start the lesson. Teacher’s books may come in handy if you are unsure about where to start. Most of the time, however, these ideas are not interesting enough for my specific students and their interests. Jumping into the grammar in the student’s book is something that I am not keen on doing, and students definitely will not be motivated either.
Research shows that when fun is involved, the pupils are involved, too. I want to keep my students engaged in the classroom. How about you?
What are the benefits of using warm-up activities?
There are three main reasons why I love using classroom warm-up activities to start off my lessons. The first one is that using the English language comes more naturally as many activities require a bit of improvisation or creation. Secondly, students are engaged and motivated as they get to play with the language (don’t worry, they are learning too!), and last but not least, every student is included no matter how extroverted or introverted they are.
5 fun classroom warm-up activities
There are a myriad of ways to start a lesson. How about using a video, a song, or a question? Have you ever thought about using an object to make a lesson memorable? Here are a few ways I use the following strategies to better engage with students from the very beginning of the lesson.
1. Wordle
Many students may be familiar with this online game in which you have to guess a five-letter word that changes daily. The word is the same for all players and you have six chances to guess the word. After you make a guess there are three possibilities and you will see that the colour of the tiles will change:
If the tile turns green it means that the letter is in the correct place in the word. If it turns yellow, this means that the letter is in the word but unfortunately not in the correct place. Finally, if it turns grey the letter is not in the word.
You could play the daily game online with your students, or search for a “wordle generator” to create your own five-letter-word game. That way, you can revise the previous words taught in class and give your students a challenge.
2 . Show and tell
This is a great way to make students do presentations in a low-pressure way and can be done at the beginning or end of the class, or even at the end of the term. Assign a topic and ask the students to bring an object or a picture to class. Holding something in their hands will make them feel less nervous and more self-confident. They will do a 1 or 2-minute presentation about their object, depending on the size of the group. Encourage the class to ask follow-up questions to show their interest, and make the presenter more comfortable.
This activity can be adapted to all ages and levels. Some suggestions for show-and-tell ideas include: a family picture, your favourite book, a house tour video, a picture of your room, a memory from a trip, a magnet you bought on holiday, your favourite clothing item, your favourite board game, baby pictures, etc. This is a fabulous low-prep speaking and listening activity that helps students to learn more about their peers.
3. Name ten
This simple game can be done at either the beginning or end of the class. Students can work in pairs or ideally in small groups. Give each group a piece of paper and a pencil. Say a category and students try to write as many words as possible that match the category. The first group to finish with the highest number of words will win the round, if the words are correct!
An alternative challenge is if different groups have the same word listed, it doesn’t count for any of the teams. But if they have been original enough and write a word no one else has written, they would score a point. For example, if there are three teams: A, B, and C and the category is “ red object” and groups A and B have strawberry, this word doesn’t give them points. If only group C wrote ladybird, then they would score one point.
Some example categories which I have tried in the classroom include: ball sports, fun things to do on Saturday, green fruits and vegetables, red objects, animals that lay eggs, or things you have in your bedroom.
4. The fly swatter game
This is one of my favourites as it really energises the class. It can be easily adapted and all skills can be used. You will need a set of cards and some fly swatters, or rolled-up pieces of newspaper works as well as a substitute. Prepare the cards with short physical descriptions.
Divide the class according to the number of fly swatters that you have. Stick the cards on the board and give all the students a couple of minutes to read them. One person from each group will come to the front to represent their group. Show these students a picture and they have to swat the description that fits best. This activity can be done the other way around in which the cards are pictures of people and the teacher (or another student) describes one of the pictures, and the students who are at the front need to swat the images. You can start with a very general hint and make it more obvious as the round progresses. It is up to the students if they want to risk and swat their guess before the answer is obvious.
5. Brainbox
Brainbox is a fun card game that tests memory and observation. It consists of a set of 55 cards with pictures on one side and questions related to those images on the other side.
This game can be easily adapted in the English class using flash cards or posters you may have in your classroom. First of all, create a large pile of flashcards or posters – they can be ones left from previous years or about random themes, but this is exactly what we want. Ideally, they represent a situation and not a single object, otherwise it could be difficult to elicit enough language from students.
Prepare 5–6 questions considering the target vocabulary or grammatical structures you want your students to practise. Show students one flash card for 10 seconds, and then ask them the questions. If you are using large posters, you can extend the time according to the complexity of the image. This activity can be done in pairs, groups or as a whole class. Once they know the dynamic of the activity, students themselves can write the questions to test each other.
Final thoughts
Starting or finishing a lesson is just as important as all the things you do in between. It creates the mood and draws your students in, and helps set the tone for the day.
In addition to warm-up and cool-down games, young learners will benefit from stirrer and settler activities, and if you’re specifically teaching the present simple, be sure to check out these 6 dynamic activities to keep learners engaged.
What other great warm-up or cool-down activities have you tried that worked well? Share your ideas and comments with other teachers looking for inspiration!