Short game to get students to organize themselves.

In this short game, students get into lines based on certain criteria. For example:

• number of US states visited
• age
• month of birth
• number of siblings
• alphabetical order by name or last name

The Health Remedies game.

This is similar to the advice game, but for health problems. You can print out images of health problems, or describe specific health problems on index cards, and have everyone provide remedies. Finding out home remedies from other cultures is always fascinating. Examples you can use: headache, ear ache, fever, bug bites, stomach ache, rash.

Play Hangman with idioms.

Here's another game that was a hit - hangman, but using idioms. Be sure to create a list of the idioms you'll use to hand out later; otherwise students will be preoccupied writing them down. I found the idioms online here; this list includes definitions also: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/

A fun conversation-stimulating game: Odd One Out

From Boggle's World ESL resources, "Odd One out" is an excellent game for mixed level groups. Students had a hard time with some of the groupings, but had enthusiastic conversations. Here is the link to the worksheet: http://bogglesworldesl.com/files/TheOddOneOutGame.doc

We played the game a little differently - each group taking turns for each grouping, and discussing the reasons as we went along.

Play charades!

We played charades the other day, using simple phrases and terms. Each student had to act out one of the phrases written on a card, and the rest of the group had to guess the action. Be sure to keep the actions simple! You can try things like: swimming, reading, driving, cooking on a stove, etc.

Bananagrams!

If you'd like to play a fun game where each student spells out words, try Bananagrams. It's a lot like Scrabble, but with very few rules, and a lot more flexibility. You don't have to track points, just the person who won each round. It's a lot of fun, and a learning opportunity.

Drawing game – this builds narrative skills.

To prepare, clip out images from magazines. Photos of people doing activities are great; I use outdoor and sports magazines often. Here's how it works:

1. Ask for a volunteer to draw the image.
2. The rest of the group describes the image to the artist.
3. Keep the group talking until the image resembles the original image.
4. Change artists per image, and keep talking!

Easy game idea using wordless books.

This is a great game when you don't have much time to prepare a longer activity, and builds narrative skills and improves vocabulary.

1. Grab a few wordless picture books and assign one to each student.
2. Spend a few minutes quietly looking through the book.
3. Have each student present the book, telling the story.

Be careful to choose books with somewhat adult graphics - avoid anything that's too simple and cute-sy. Anything by Mistumasa Anno will work well.

To find them in your library catalog, do a subject search for "stories without words".

Other good titles:

Rainstorm by Lehman: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70831107
Wilson's Magpie Magic: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37518963
Wiesner's Flotsam: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71000114

ESL Bingo - the bingo grid.

Here's a link to the bingo grid I use for ESL Bingo: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dct34n59_28dt7j48dw

Great icebreaker - the M&M game.

This is a fast and fun ice-breaker that may already be familiar to you.

Have a bowl of M&M chocolates and invite students to pick their favorites. Based on the color, students should say the following tidbits about themselves:

RED - Where are you from?

BLUE - What do you like to do for fun?

YELLOW - Tell us about your family.

BROWN - What is your favorite food?

ORANGE - How did you get here today?

GREEN - What color is your car? House?

Apples to Apples

If you have a relatively advanced group, Apples to Apples is a good game to play. The basic idea is that you have an adjective, and all players have nouns. You try to match up the "best" noun to the adjective, which of course, comes with a lot of humor and liberal licensing of choices. The dealer (who rotates) gets to vote on the best answer. This is only recommended for more advanced ESL learners, and to make sure that the competition doesn't get too fierce, and move the purpose from Conversation Club, you should make each person offer their choice up in a sentence.

Fun new states/capitals game.

This game was a hit with students this past week. You'll need a set of "Rand McNally Schoolhouse U.S. States & Capitals Flashcards And Games (Cards)", easily found at most educational resources shops, or on Amazon. Students had to choose a region and collect state cards for that region. You can also ask about each state, and learn capitals and nicknames as you go along. Or, you can have each student introduce a state. Fun!

This week's story for ESL Bingo.

I adapated this story: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0812/081208-oprah_winfrey.html - made the vocabulary a tad simpler, and added defintions. Here's a link to my version: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dct34n59_13f3fd22dd

This week's story for ESL Bingo.

I adapted this story: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0811/081117-hair_colour.html
It's a fun story that talks about the potential development of a shampoo that gets rid of greys! Anyway I adapted it with simpler vocabulary, and added definitons. Here's my version: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dct34n59_14hpndg6f7

How to play Alphabet Go-Fish!

Shuffle a deck of alphabet cards. Deal each player a set number of cards (5, 7, 10) The first player asks any other player if they have one of the letters that they have in their hand If the person has the card they hand it over, if not they say " go fish" and the person who requested the card picks one of the remaining cards from the deck. Play then moves to the next person in the circle.
When a player makes a pair, they put the cards on the table and say a complete sentence that uses the word on the card The game ends when one player runs out of cards (or you can give that player more cards to make the game last longer) The person with the most pairs at the end of the game wins. I reward each pair with a candy.

Play some RPGs!

Role playing is an excellent way to get students talking about real-life scenarios. You'll need to prepare cards with scenarios written on them - for example, buying a car at a Toyota dealer, looking for an apt, shopping at Valley fair, ordering food, ordering coffee at Starbucks. Then, the group can act out the situation together.

If you have a mixed level group, you can have the advanced students do more of the talking - for example, they can be a store clerk and the others can be customers.

How to play the "Statements of Opinion" game.

1. Write various statements of opinion on small strips of paper. For example: Dogs are better than cats. The rich should pay more taxes.
2. Have one participant read the statement and respond to it.
3. Have a discussion with pros/cons - or even a debate.

For more statements of opinion, check out this list at our Google Docs account.

How to play the "What If??" game.

This game requires some work and preparation but it can be a lot of fun and generate some heated discussions.

1. Participants pick out “what if” questions from a question jar. I print my questions and cut them into strips and curl them up in the jar. For example:
What would you do if you won the lottery? What would you do if you found a $100 bill in a library book you borrowed?
2. Each participant can also add their thoughts.
3. After answering the questions, participants can come up with their own “what if” questions and ask other participants.

For more "what if" questions check out this list; you'll need to edit out questions that won't work for your group.

How to play Liar! Liar!

This is a simple game but is best with participants that know each other fairly well; it's not as successful as as an ice-breaker.

1. Participants say three things about themselves; one of these statements should be a lie.
2. The others guess which one the lie is.
3. The participant that guesses correctly wins the game.

A neat game using a deck of cards.

Here's a neat conversation starter using a deck of cards; basically people pick cards and get assigned questions based on what they picked. Here's the link: http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Brown-TalkingCards.html