Do you like to include games in your ESL classes?
No doubt your students love playing them. The following ten games are the top voted print and go games by busy teachers like yourself. They cover a variety to topics including verb tenses, vocabulary, and sentence structures; one is sure to be perfect for your ESL class. Take a look and see which one (or ones) works best for you and your students. Then simply print and play today.
Make Your Life Easier with These Games
In this game, students complete sentences written in the conditional tense to move toward the finish line. You will need one die and one copy of the game for each group of three or four students who will play in addition to place markers for each student. Students roll the die and move forward that many spaces. They must then complete the conditional sentence grammatically. If a student finishes the sentence correctly, he stays on that space. If he makes a mistake, he must return to his previous place on the game board. The first to the finish wins.
This game was designed for business English students at the upper intermediate level, but you can modify it for lower levels by writing your own situation cards. You will need one print out, one die, and playing pieces for every group of three or four students who will play the game. Players roll a die and move that number of spaces. They then draw a card which either requires them to apologize, ask for help, or have a social conversation in the work place. They will have to read the situation description and then role play with their fellow players. It’s a race to the finish, and the first one there wins.
In this game, students compete to reach the finish by answering questions about the home and the furniture in it. You will need game pieces, one die, and one copy of the board game for every group of three or four students who will be playing. This simple game has students answer questions in the present tense while it reviews vocabulary of the home. It is most appropriate for beginning level students.
This fun dash for the finish line depends on your students’ knowledge of food related vocabulary and their ability to answer questions in the present tense. To play, print off one game set (one board plus twenty verb cards) for each group of three or four students who will play. Each group will also need a standard six sided die and game pieces to mark their places on the board. Students roll and advance the correct number of spaces. They must then either answer a question related to food or demonstrate knowledge of a food related verb (either acting it out or using it appropriately in a sentence). Any students who have learned or are learning food related vocabulary will enjoy this game.
This game is simple: students listen to clues and guess which job those clues are describing. What isn’t so simple is making sure you guess the right job at the right time. The more clues you need to guess, the fewer points you score, but you can only guess each job one time during the game. Students must listen carefully and think about what they hear so as not to receive a penalty later in the game.
In this game, students race to supply the correct question word and question to the given answer – Jeopardy style. Divide your class into at least two groups, and give each group a set of question words. Place a chair at the front of the room. Read an answer to your class. One student from each group then races to the chair with the correct question word. As written, the questions test knowledge of the simple past tense, but they can easily be modified to test the tense of your choice.
This worksheet highlights sixteen different occupations with humorous illustrations. Divide your class into two teams, and set one person from each team up at a drawing station (either your front board or an easel). Have one student choose an occupation from a hat or assign an occupation to them, and then have students race to illustrate the occupation for their team. Both players draw at the same time, and it’s a competition to see which team can correctly guess the occupation first. The team that does scores a point, and each team sends up a new illustrator for the next round. Play until you have gone through all the occupations. Then follow up with two print and go written exercises that review those sixteen occupations.
In this game, students take turns asking their classmates about twenty-four leisure activities including playing guitar, riding a bicycle, writing letters, and having a party. Their classmates then answer the questions using an adverb of frequency – never, rarely, sometimes, often, usually, and always. To play the game, divide your class into groups of four to six students, and give each student a print out of the cards. Students lay the cards, face down, in front of them and take turns choosing a card and then asking another player the question on the card. Each set of cards also comes with an explanation of each adverb of frequency which students can use as a reference when they answer the questions. A correct answer scores one point. When all the cards are gone, the player with the most points wins.
This simple board game is designed for beginning students just learning to use the verb to be. You will need one print out for every three to four students as well as a standard die and place markers for each group. Students roll and move to a space where they are given the subject and instructions to make an affirmative, negative, or interrogative sentence using the verb to be. It is a fun way to review the different aspects of to be sentences and also gives you a chance to assess your students’ oral proficiency with the verb and different sentence structures.
This board game is simple in concept. Students roll a die, move that many spaces, and then make a sentence with the irregular verb on that space. The game is great for beginning level students who are learning the simple and progressive tenses. It also works for intermediate and advanced students who are learning the perfect and perfect progressive tenses. Simple tell your students which tense you want their sentence to be in. This way, the game is easily modified to fit the exact needs of your students, and you don’t have to do any work to customize the game board. Just print out one game board for every group of two to four students who will be playing, and see how well they can form sentences in the target tense with the irregular verbs. If you like, modify the game even further and have students form negative or interrogative sentences as well.
On your marks, get set, go! Now it’s your turn to play and then vote for your favorite English games. Click on like or share on Facebook to cast your vote for your favorite Busy Teacher games or leave a comment below.