Warm up one word or two

Jumping right into an English lesson is
difficult for some learners. The quiet concentration necessary in an English
class differs greatly from the raucous movement that usually occurs in the
hallways. Upon arrival in class, students need to adjust to this vastly
different environment and get into the learning mode. English teachers can help
their students accomplish this goal by beginning their classes with simple warm
ups. These engaging activities allow students to ease into English and prepare
to delve into complex topics of study.
1. Board brush

Put Ss into two
groups and split the board into two halves. Write on one side A-M and on the
other N-Z. One group has to think of countries starting with one set of
letters. One student from each group comes to the board and writes a country.
They then pass the pen/chalk to  the next student in their group who writes
another country. Continue until everyone has  had a turn or the groups have run
out of ideas. Rub out any countries written in L1 and correct spelling of other
countries where necessary. Allow Ss to make a written record of the countries now
written on the board which will ensure that all Ss are starting at a more even
level of knowledge than they would have done without the activity.

2.Find the
similarities and differences

Put students into
pairs. Tell them to try to find five things that they have in common using the
structures: I am…(I am a boy. I am 16.Iam Polish .I am a student.) and
My…is/are(My mum is a teacher. My bag is black.)This is also a good way to
encourage peer teaching as stronger Ss will make sentences that they will have
to explain or translate for their partner. Allow 2 minutes for students to try
to find similarities, it doesn’t matter if they can’t think of five. Now join
the pairs up into groups of four. Ss now have to repeat the process but this
time using We are…or Our…is/are. Finally, elicit differences found in
open class, e.g. I’m 15. He is 16. Our mothers are teachers. Their
mothers work in a bank.

3.Throw the
questions

Ss write two
questions using the verbs to be which they could ask to other Ss in the class.
One should be an open question and one a yes/no question. If possible,
arrange Ss in a circle or at least have sitting so that they are facing as many
other Ss as possible. Nominate one student to start. They choose a second
student to ask a question to. At the same time they throw a ball or piece of
screwed up paper. The second student has to catch the ball and answer the
questions correctly. They then ask one of their questions to a different
student. Continue the activity until all Ss have asked and answered at least
one question.

4.Anagram race

This would be best
if it were done on scrap paper so that Ss had their notebooks closed. As an
alternative, ask Ss to turn to a clean page in their notebooks and tell them
not to look back at their notes. Dictate family members but as anagrams and Ss,
working alone, write down the letters as you dictate them, e.g. ioucsn (cousin)
tgaurdhe (daughter), peenhw (nephew), ceine (niece).
As soon Ss can’t refer back to their notes for this activity or it will be too
easy.  

5.Journal

The most common, and most easily implemented, English class
warm-up is a journal. Teachers can easily implement journal writing by providing
students with a spiral notebook or other bound writing piece. The teacher can
place journal prompts on the board daily, or simply ask the students to write
about events that are occurring in their life at that time. To ensure that
journals are effective, teachers should set a time frame for response and
clearly communicate their length and content requirements to students.

6. Mysterious Object Descriptions

Get students into the mood to learn by challenging them. Start off
class by presenting students with an object that is not easily identifiable.
Visit your local hardware store or a rummage sale and pick up some old or
abnormal objects such as plumbing fixtures or antique machines. Ask students to
start class by describing the object in as much detail as possible and
hypothesizing a potential use for the object in question. After students have
made their guesses, show the object’s true purpose to your students.

7.Part-of-Speech Challenge

Begin class with a part-of-speech review. Copy a passage out of a
textbook or class novel and give it to students as they enter the class. Once
class begins, instruct students to highlight or circle a set part of speech in
the passage. You could, for example, ask them to circle any nouns they find.
After students have had the opportunity to seek out the assigned part of
speech, go over the answers, allowing them to mark any words that they missed.

8.Tennis

Put Ss into two
groups or, in a large class, into an even number of groups. One group starts by
saying a city, the next must return with the country that city is in and the
first group must finish the rally by saying the nationality. If there are any
err6ors or hesita66tions, the point is lost. the second group then continues
with a new city. If possible, do this in two groups so that you are able to
effectively monitor and correct.

9.Whose is it?

All Ss write down
a telephone number on two pieces of paper (the same number on each). They keep
one copy and you collect in the other. Re-distribute the numbers and make sure
no-one has their own. Ss have to find out whose number they have by mingling
and asking: Is your number …? The other student either answers Yes,
it is. or says: No, my number is… As the game goes on, Ss may
remember numbers and be able to say: No, that’s … ‘s number:

10.Board race

Put Ss into two
groups. Choose one person from each group and read out a phrase from the
previous lesson. Ss must decide whether it should take in, on or at.
The first person to write the correct word on the board, wins a point. The two
Ss then change places with another student from their group for the next turn.
Examples:

(at) a party,
school, home, a barbecue

(on) holiday, my
left, my right

(in) the garden,
the middle, the photo, a classroom

11. I’m sorry, I
have a cold

Ss write down one
question asking permission to do something. Put Ss into groups of five or six.
Each student in turn has to mime their question because they have a bad cold
and have lost their voice.  When the other Ss have guessed, the next student
acts out their question. Monitor and check that Ss are using grammatically
correct English when guessing what the question is. When finished, elicit some
of the most interesting questions in open class.

12.Mixed up
messages

Write a postcard
on the board as below:

Dear
(1)____________________,

We are staying in
(2)____________. It is a/an

(3)_____________city
and the weather is

(4)_____________.
This morning we went to

(5)_____________and
(6)______________,

Tomorrow we are
going to (7) ______________.

Lots of love…

Put Ss into six
groups and number them 1-6, to correspond to the numbers on a dice. Each group
has to think of a word or phrase that could go into each gap (tell Ss that
number 6 should be an activity not another place).

When Ss are ready,
they choose one student from their group. The student from group 1 comes to the
front and reads the postcard on the board. When they get to a gap, they throw a
dice and, depending what number is shown, they ask the corresponding group for
their word and write this in correct place on the board. This may lead to some
strange postcards, e.g. We are staying in Rome .Yesterday we went to
Buckingham Palace and saw the animals. Repeat the process with a student
from the others groups.

13. Stop!

Put Ss into pairs.
Tell Ss that you are going to give them some tasks and, as soon as they have
completed them, they should shout stop! If they have got the correct
answer, they win a point, e.g. Name two things you can travel by beginning with
the letter “C”. Ss shout stop! as soon as they can think of these.
Elicit the answers and then give the next task: Name four places where you
can stay on holidays. Name three things you would pack for a camping holiday.

14. Define and
predict.

Have these words
written on individual slips of paper: climate, weather; hotter; drier; cleaner;
bigger; air pollution, water pollution, energy, plants, grow, population,
survive, endangered. Ss work in seven groups and each group has two words which
they have to think of definitions for. Ss should have an English monolingual
dictionary to help them if possible. When ready, Ss form new groups of seven so
that one person from each of the original groups is now in a game together. Ss
take it in turns to define their words and the other Ss have to guess what the
words is. When finished, Ss work together in their groups of seven to try to
guess what the lesson will be about and what each of the words will refer to,
e.g. We think it will be about the environment. Hotter – the world is
getting hotter because of global warming. Elicit ideas and then allow Ss to
open their books to check.  

15 .Optimist or
pessimist?

Dictate some questions
to Ss who work alone to write their predictions, e.g. How much money do you
think you will earn? How long will the Earth survive? What mark
out of 100 will you get in your next English exam? What age will you get
married?

Either as a whole
class or, if numbers are too large, in smaller groups, Ss have to ask each
other these questions and stand in order according to how they answered them,
i.e. they start with the question about money and have to order themselves from
the most optimistic (the person who thinks they will earn the most) to the most
pessimistic (the person who thinks they will earn the least). When they are
ready, ask Ss how much they think they willearn and what jobs they think they
will have. It is meant to be a light-hearted activity so don’t worry if their
answers aren’t entirely serious. Repeat the process with the other questions.

16.Mutual
dictation.

Tell Ss to draw a
simple map of their country and, at each compass point (N, S, E, W, NE, NW, SE,
SW) to draw a symbol representing the weather in that area. Ss should try to
use a variety of weather types, even if it is highly unrealistic. Ss then draw
a second, empty map and join up pairs. One student dictates the weather in
their country and the other tries to draw the correct symbols in the correct
places on their empty map. When finished, Ss swap roles and finally compare
what the drew with the original pictures.

17. Nonsense poem.

Tell Ss you are
going to read them two lines of poetry which contain several made up words. Ss
must try to work out what part of speech they are. Dictate the words, brillig,
slithy, tove, gyre, gimble, wabe. Read the poem and elicit the parts of speech:
Twas (it was) brilling (adj) and the slithy (adj) toves (n) did gyre (v) and
gimble (v) in the wabe (n). Now tell Ss close their eyes while you read the
poem again. They should try to get a picture in their minds of what the words
mean. Ss then discuss their ideas in groups of four and finally in open class.
(this poemis from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.)

18. Random
connections.

Ss need about
three small pieces of paper each. On these they write a country, city, river,
mountain or place in city, e.g. street, one word on each piece of paper . Once
Ss have done this, collect them all in. On the board, write on/in/of. Now put
Ss into groups of 4-5. One group choose one of the three words. Pick o8ut a
piece of paper at random and read it to Ss. They have to make a true sentence
about the place you read out using the preposition they have chosen, e.g. if
they chose in and the place in London, they could say London is in England.
   If they chose on they might say London is on the River Thames. If
they chose of they could say London is in the southeast of England. If
other groups think the sentence is grammatically or factually false, they can
try to correct it. Repeat the process with the other groups in turn.

19. What did I
say?

Tell Ss you are
going to dictate some sentences to them. They should finish the sentences so
that they are true for them, noting down only their own word or phrase not what
you read out. Make short pauses between the sentences to let Ss make up their
mind.

If I leave my
country, I will move to … I get annoyed about …I hate waiting for…Our school
suffers from … When I go out, people sometimes stare at… I hope doctors find a
cure for … On holiday, I made friends with …

Ss compare answers
in groups of four, then try to recreate what you read out. Elicit full sentences
and check the prepositions.

 20. Sales pitch

Elicit five of the
best places to visit in the Ss own country. These could be cities, seaside
resorts, mountain resorts, etc. Now split the class into five groups and give
each group one of the five places. Each group has to prepare a presentation to
show that their place is the best place to spend a holiday. Remind them structures:
It’s really peaceful/dramatic. What I like about it is
the natural beauty. It’s the kind of place where you can relax. It’s
the most unspoilt place I’ve ever been to. When finished, each group in
turn comes to the front of the class and Ss vote on which place (apart from
their own) sounded the most attractive.

21. Onion ring (if space allows,
otherwise, a traditional mingling)

Tell Ss to write
one question on any aspect of sport that they like, e.g. Do you like
watching the Olympics? Do you play for a team? Do you like playing sports at
school? How often do you go cycling? In an onion ring, Ss stand in two
circles, one inside the other. Each person in the inner circles faces one
student in the outer circle. Ss ask and answer each other’s questions and then
Ss in the inside circle move round one place each. Those on the outside stay
where they are so  that  Ss are now facing a different student. Ss ask and
answer again and the process is repeated until Ss on the inside have returned
to their starting point.

22. Board
pelmanism

This requires you
to make two sets of words on card, big enough to be seen by everyone in the
room. One set should be nine Past Simple forms and the other should be the
corresponding nine Past Participles. Example words: saw, gave, took, did,
knew, forgot, drank, ate, began; seen, given, taken, done, known, forgotten,
drunk, eaten, begun.

Stick these to the
board, with the words hidden, in two  sets  of  three columns and three rows,
the Past Simple forms on the left and the Past Participles on the right. Ss
work in two groups. The first group chooses one word from group 1 and one from
group 2(e.g. row 2, column 1 and row 3  column  2). Turn these over so that Ss
can see the two words. If they are from the same verb, give them tj the group
who guessed them. If not, turn them back so that the words are hidden again.
The idea is for Ss to remember where words are and make pairs so the group
which concentrates hardest has the best chance of winning. When Ss have found
all nine pairs, see who won, collect in the pieces of card and re-elicit all
nine verbs, past forms and Past Participles.

23. Draw it!

Tell Ss they have
2 minutes to draw a picture. It can be of anything they like but there must be
people in it and as many activities as they can show in 2 minutes .The
pictures  should not be drawn very carefully, simple stick figures will
suffice. After 2 minutes, put students into pairs, making sure they haven’t
seen each others pictures. One student covers their picture and takes a clean
piece of paper. The other describes their picture and the first student has to
draw what is described. When finished the Ss swap roles and finally  show each
other their pictures to see how well they  were able to draw from the
description  given.  

 24. Parts of
speech

Dictate sentences
to Ss and ask them to say what part of speech certain words are. Ss work in
small groups and put their hands up as soon as they know. Award a point for
each correct answer. Example sentences: They create (v) (a lot
of problems. He is famous for his creativity (n). Prices in the shops
have been reduced (v). The reduction (n) wasn’t very big. He is a
researcher (n). I’m very annoyed (adj). It’s not terrible but
it’s an annoyance (n).  We didn’t expect (v) to see you so soon.
He didn’t live up to our expectations (n). There have been a lot of improvements
(n) lately. The city is improving (v) all the time.

25. How many?

Ask a Present
Perfect question using have you ever … which is interesting and unusual
but which may also be answered yes by some Ss and no by others. Have
you ever ridden a camel? Now put Ss into two groups. Each group must think
of five similar questions. When they have thought of the five questions, they decide
together how many of the other group they think will say yes to each
question. They give you the five questions written down with their guess next
to each one. Read out the questions and Ss raise their hands if they have done
the things asked about. Make a note of the actual number saying yes and
tell Ss whose guesses were the closest.

26. Anonymous advice

Each student
thinks of a question to ask for a suggestion, e.g. about holidays, study,
clothes. They write this on a piece of paper. Collect them all in and
redistribute so that Ss don’t  know whose question they have. If Ss have their
own question, you should change it with someone else’s. Ss now write a
suggestion in response to the question written. Collect them in again and
redistribute once more. Ss add a second suggestion. Finally, place the papers
on a desk and allow Ss to come and find theirs and read what the suggestions
were.

27. Crazy signs

Talk to students
about street signs that show what you must do(e.g. Stop), those that tell you
what you mustn’t do(e.g. a speed limit sign means  you mustn’t go faster) and
those that tell you what should or shouldn’t do(e.g. a bumpy road sign means
that you should drive more slowly).

Now put the
students into groups of 4-5.Each group chooses a different place, e.g. school,
swimming pool, cinema .The  groups draw four signs that don’t actually exist but
could be used in their place, e. g .No singing in class. The four signs
must represent must, mustn’t, should, shouldn’t. When finished, groups
swap papers and try to work out what the four signs represent. They write four
sentences and then hand these back to original group to see if they are correct
in their guesses or not. Elicit some of the rules and advice in open class.

 28. What is the
verb?

Put the students
into six groups. Give each group a verb/verbs on a slip of paper: turn
on/off, put on/take off, down load, print out, put in/take out, click on. Make
sure that no other groups know what verb they have. Each group must think of as
many nouns as possible that their verb(s) could collocate with. Each group then
reads out their nouns, one at a time, and the other groups have to guess what
the verb is.

However, the other
groups only have one guess each so must decide whether to guess early or wait
and risk another group guessing first.

29.That’s not
mine!

Collect a pen from
each person in the class and place them on a desk, preferably in the centre of
the room where everyone can see them.

Nominate one
student to come to the desk. Pick up a pen (not that student’s) and ask: Is
this yours? Elicit the answer: No, mine is …(plus a comparative
form) newer/cleaner/ darker. Whatever they answer, choose a pen which
could be theirs and ask again. The student either replies: Yes, it is.
or they must give another comparative sentence but using a different
comparative adjective. Keep going until the student has his/her pen .That
student now nominates a second student to come to the  front .The first student
plays your role, the new student has to make comparative sentences to  identify
their pen. Keep going until all the pens have been returned or you think that
enough practice has been had.

30. Alien game.

Tell Ss you are an
alien from a different planet. You speak very good English but don’t know much
about the Earth. Start by introducing yourself and elicit from Ss that they
should ask if they can help: Hello, can I help you? Say yes and
ask Ss about a simple thing, e.g. What  is a school? Ss give a definition and,
whatever they answer (e.g. It’s a place where students go to learn.) ask: What
do you mean by…( e.g. students)? The class  give a new definition
and, again, ask question using: What do you mean by…? Next time,
deliberately mishear the students and ask: I’m sorry, did you say…? Finally,
tell Ss that should offer to do something to make it easier to understand, e.g.
 Shall I take you to my school? I can take you to my school if you like.

Re-elicit the
questions you  asked  and  they asked  and put Ss into pairs to do the same
thing with a different noun. Finally, nominate one pair to act out their
conversation in open class.

Looking for a nice warm-up activity to introduce some vocabulary and get your students talking in English? Try out some samples.

Make the most words

Write a topical vocabulary item on the board. In twos or threes, students make as many new words from it as they can. Use longish seed words such as apologise, dictionary or September. Score teams a point per word and award a bonus point for the longest.

Make the longest words

Write a topical target word vertically down the board, for example, WINTER. In twos or threes, students attempt to come up with the longest word that begins with each letter. Give teams a point per word and a bonus point for the longest.

Waterfall Industrious Nausea Terrified Empty Retailer

What does your name mean?

Using a dictionary, google or any other resource, students find and write down an appropriate adjective that begins with each letter of their first name. For example:

Flirtatious, Relaxed, Extrovert, Desirable

Mixed-up sentence

Write a sentence on the board but mix up the word order, then challenge students to reconstruct the original sentence. For example:

morning hadn’t eaten wish that döner kebab I at this 5am

Mixed-up sentence (anagram variation)

Write a sentence on the board but this time scramble the letters of each word. For example:

hwy ddint’ I dusty draher ta vieyunrsit?

What do you know about bananas?

Set a five-minute time limit and in groups have students think up and write down as many facts as they can about bananas (or cats, Belgium, David Beckham, etc.). One point should be given for each true sentence.

How many sounds can you hear?

Students sit in silence for two minutes and write down every sound that they hear. Let them compare their lists with their neighbours before seeing who has the longest list?

The A to Z game

Give students a theme, for example, jobs, things you take on holiday, food. Write the letters A to Z on the board. Teams of students must race to write an appropriate word next to each letter on the board.

Things to do with a potato

Produce a potato (if that’s not possible, introduce the concept of a potato). Ask students to come up with a list of as many unconventional uses for it as they can. For example paperweight, weapon, pen holder, smartphone dock. The longest list wins the potato.

Odd one out

Give the students a couple of examples to guess, then get students to come up with their own ideas. Here are some examples:

apple, peach, banana, tomato – a banana doesn’t have seeds strawberry, branch, bowling ball, boat, iceberg – bowling balls don’t float window, river, envelope, client, oregano – client doesn’t begin and end with the same letter comb, champagne, knife, plum – the word plum doesn’t contain any silent letters

Note: There can be more than one correct answer

Name ten

Have students think of 10 items that fit particular criteria. For example:

• Jobs where you have to wear a uniform
• English football clubs
• Sports that are played with a ball
• Foods that contain egg
• Animals that lay eggs
• Three letter parts of the body – eye, arm, leg, hip, ear, toe jaw, rib, lip, gum

Two truths and a lie

An ESL classroom staple. Write or dictate three sentences about yourself. Two statements should be true and one false, for example:

I used to be an air steward I can ride a unicycle My favourite food is sushi

Now invite students to discuss in pairs which statement they think is the lie. Ask each pair which statement they think is untrue and have them explain why. Reveal your answer, and ask students to come up with three sentences about themselves. I find students need quite a lot of time (at least five minutes) to come up with three ideas. If some students are still short of a sentence or two, start the game anyway, and they can finish their statements during play. Check students’ statements and then have them take it in turns to read them out to the class. In each case, the other students have to guess which is the untrue statement.

Mastermind (AKA Bulls & Cows, Jotto)

Based on the code-breaking board game where players have to deduce the order of 4 coloured pegs which the other player had hidden behind a plastic guard. It’s slightly complicated to grasp but fun when you get the hang of it.

Think of a four letter word and write XXXX on the board, each X represents one of the letters of your word.

Invite the first student to guess what the word is.

Start a new line underneath your original XXXX. If the first letter in the student’s word is the same as the first letter in your word put a ✓ in the first position. If the first letter is not the same as the first letter in your word but is contained somewhere in your word put a half-tick /. If the first letter of the student’s word is not contained anywhere your word put an X.

In the following example, the teacher chooses the word FIRE.

XXXX XXXX – COAT X/XX – BEST X✓X✓ – HIKE /✓X✓ – RIDE ✓✓✓✓ – FIRE

A word of warning. Stick to 4 or 5 letter words. It’s much more difficult to guess longer words and it can also be tricky trying to mark each guess.

When students are familiar with the game you can get them to come and put their own words on the board.

I’m going on a picnic and I’m taking a …

This is a guess the rule type game. Think of a rule which governs which items can be taken on a picnic, for example, it must be six letters long, or it must start with a vowel. In this example, the rule is that the word must be an uncountable noun.

Teacher: I’m going on a picnic and I’m taking milk. Student A: I’m going on a picnic and I’m taking eggs. Teacher: No, you can’t take eggs. Student B: Can I take orange juice? Teacher: Yes, you can take orange juice. Etc.

Continue until students guess the rule. If they’re not making any progress, continue to add further items you would take e.g. love, information, air (the choices don’t have to make sense within the picnic scenario). Invite the students alone or in pairs to come up with their own rules and let them run the game.

Find more:

Engaging ESL Warm-ups and Fillers: Over 30 Creative Ways to Kickstart Your Class

Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение

Республики Крым

«Евпаторийская санаторная школа-интернат»

Доклад

«Использование “warming—up activities” – залог успеха современного урока?!

Подготовила

учитель английского языка

Т.Г.Новикова

«Учиться надо так, чтобы получать удовольствие» — эти слова являются важным педагогическим принципом обучения английскому языку в школе, а для детей — их основным девизом учения. Любая деятельность должна быть мотивирующей, наполненной смыслом, приносящей удовольствие от проделанной работы, иначе, она окажется бесполезной. Поэтому, планируя свои уроки, занятия внеурочной деятельности, я всегда стараюсь следовать правилу «3 S-s: Surprise, Satisfaction, Success».

Представим себе, что урок – произведение, а автор – Вы. Чтобы написанное Вами с трепетом и любовью произведение было прочитано, «прожито», принесло читателям эффект удивления, удовольствие, заставило почувствовать себя маленьким победителем, главным героем, необходимо написать захватывающее начало. Открыв книгу, прочитав предисловие, первую главу, мы уже точно знаем, будем читать дальше или нет… На уроке все происходит точно так же. От того, как начнет учитель урок, какие приемы использует, сможет ли заинтересовать учащихся, зависит весь дальнейший ход занятия. А ведь очень часто значимость именно начала урока недооценивается. Чаще всего урок английского начинается с традиционного рапорта дежурного о готовности класса к уроку, информации об отсутствующих, выяснении даты и обсуждении погоды за окном. Способствует ли подобное начало урока тому, что учащиеся вовлекаются в процесс иноязычного общения? Весьма сомнительно. А ведь мы помним о том, что формируется иноязычная коммуникативная компетенция! То есть мы должны создать такие условия, когда бы учащимся захотелось обсудить проблему, «запущенную» нами, поспорить и т.д. Хотелось бы Вам обсуждать погоду за окном изо дня в день??? Становится очевидным, что нужно начинать урок с таких упражнений, которые совершенно ненавязчиво заставят учащегося говорить, и его желание высказаться или обсудить проблему будет его внутренним мотивом, а не внешним, навязанным учителем. О необходимости подобных упражнений писал в своей статье Е.И. Пассов – старший преподаватель Витебского института им. С.М. Кирова: «Уверенность ученика в том, что он обязательно получит спасательный круг – вопрос, приводит к тому, что, ученик, во-первых, приспосабливается со временем отвечать на вопрос, легко перестраивая слова, часто даже не задумываясь над смыслом сказанного, во-вторых, не побуждает учащихся к самостоятельному высказыванию, не воображает его речевой готовностью, не прививает желания высказываться. Научить этому чрезвычайно трудно, но столь же важно.

Необходимо ещё отметить, что у человека, который сидит и ждёт, что ему надо ответить на вопрос, который будет вот-вот задан, совершенно иная психологическая настроенность, чем у того, кто сам, не по причинам, побудившим из вне, т.е. путём вопроса, а, так сказать, по внутреннему побуждению, например, из-за интереса, который вызвало у него сообщение собеседника, из-за желания возразить ему т.п.; примет участие в разговоре».

И такие упражнения есть! Зарубежные методисты называют их «warm – up activities (warming up)». Упражнения «warm – up» — это короткие по времени и не требующие особой подготовки упражнения, способствующие формированию психолого-педагогического климата на уроках иностранного языка, помогающие преподавателю установить межличностный контакт с детьми, позволяющие повторить лексический и грамматический материал, определённый учителем. На русский язык мы переводим название как «разогревающие» упражнения, то есть подготовительные к основной части урока. Однако, использовать подобные упражнения можно на любом этапе, если это не нарушает хода урока и их использование целесообразно.

В своей работе я часто обращаюсь к подобным упражнениям, провожу их чаще всего в игровой форме, поскольку работаю с младшими школьниками, для которых игровая деятельность все еще остается ведущей, хотя время от времени считаю уместным начать урок и с обсуждения погоды за окошком.

Я использую различные виды упражнений “warming up”, в зависимости от атмосферы в классе, настроя учащихся. Одни из них направлены на работу со стеснительными, робкими учащимися, которые не обладают достаточным словарным запасом, боятся монологических высказываний. Guessing and speculating games – эти игры полезны для пытливого ума учащегося и для учеников с ограниченным словарным запасом.

1. Ребусы:

S (supper) L (long)

PER

2) Мечта удава:

На пятнах удава написан английский алфавит с пропущенными буквами, из которых учащимся необходимо составить зашифрованное слово. Зашифровать можно, например, ключевое слово, относящееся к теме урока.

3) Волшебный мешочек («Magic Box»):

Эту игру я использую при изучении темы «Животные». Несколько игрушечных животных кладутся в мешок. Один из учащихся (водящий) на ощупь пытается отгадать, что это, не называя вслух своего предположения. Учащиеся должны догадаться, что это за животное, задавая общие вопросы на английском языке.

Например: Is it big? Is it soft?

Memory games направлены на развитие и тренировку различных видов памяти.

1. Снежный ком:

Эта игра знакома всем, использовать ее можно как при изучении лексики, так и при работе с определенными грамматическими конструкциями, временами. Я использую ее при изучении времени Past Simple. Первый человек говорит, что он делал вчера. Второй повторяет фразу первого и добавляет свою. Таким образом, последнему учащемуся приходится рассказывать целую историю. Так как группы небольшие, это задание не бывает «затянутым» и не успевает наскучить. Все увлеченно следят за речью своих одноклассников, чтобы уловить момент, когда они что-либо перепутают в рассказе. Иногда таким же образом мы описываем смешные картинки, составляя коллективный рассказ.

3. Story games: используются для развития творческих способностей и применяются на среднем и чаще старшем этапе обучения.

1) Построй историю:

На доске рисуется предмет и к нему добавляются некоторые детали, а рисующий человек должен сохранять молчание. После чего группы учащихся составляют историю по получившейся картинке на доске.

Вариант 1. Можно попросить разных учеников добавлять детали к основному рисунку.

2) Согласования:

Каждый ученик получает полоску бумаги и пишет то, что от него требуется.

Например:

1. . . . . . . . (а man’s name) met

2. . . . . . . . (a woman’s name) atin

3. . . . . . . . (a place)

4. He said . . . . . . .

5. She said . . . . . . .

6. And so they . . . . . . .

3) Построй историю – 2:

Учащимся выдаются несколько иллюстраций, которые дети выстраивают в логическом порядке. Затем в парах, группах или индивидуально придумывают историю в соответствии с данными иллюстрациями. После чего заслушиваются все придуманные истории, и выбирается самая лучшая.

Вариант 1. Учащиеся разбиваются на три группы. Им выдаются иллюстрации, по которым составляются истории. После этого участники разных групп меняются местами и уже в новых группах обсуждают придуманные истории, вносят коррективы, а затем выступают с получившейся у них историей.

4) Вставь свое слово:

Учитель говорит предложение. Например: “Once upon a time there lived a man”. Ученик добавляет свое предложение, второй добавляет свое и т.д. до тех пор, пока очередь не дойдет до последнего.

Примечания: если история не будет завершена на последнем ученике, то он ее завершает, не смотря на то, сколько предложений он должен сказать.

Вариант 1. На доску прикрепляется иллюстрация (на любую тему), и дети должны придумать историю, говоря по два предложения каждый. Ученики могут говорить не по очереди и не сразу два предложения.

Примечания: Если история не завершена, то последний ученик должен завершить ее, сказав как и все два предложения.

Вариант 2. Учитель говорит одно слово, ученик добавляет свое, второй – свое и т.д. в итоге должно получиться целое предложение.

Примечания: Содержание предложения может быть забавным и юмористическим. Слова, составляющие предложения лучше записывать на доске. Предложений может быть несколько.

4. Matching games:

1) Бинго:

PIECE	POUND	PAY	A BIT
FAT	CUT	WRAP	BEEF
PORK	COST	PRICE	TIE
TOWEL	WOOL	STORE	WOOL

Учитель читает данные слова на русском языке, а ученики закрывают их эквиваленты на английском у себя в карточках. Должно остаться одно какое-либо лишнее слово. Выигрывает тот, кто закончит быстрее.

Вариант 1. Правила те же, но учитель вписывает в карточки слова на русском, а слова читает на английском.

Вариант 2. Учитель выдает учащимся карточки размером 5*5 клеточек, в которых нарисованы какие-либо картинки или же написаны слова. В середине уже закрыто слово. Водящий называет слова в различном порядке на языке противоположном языку, на котором написаны слова. Дети закрывают их эквиваленты у себя в карточках. Выигрывает тот, у кого будут закрыты слова в одной линии, проходящей через центральное, закрытое слово.

2) Пазлы:

Класс делится на группы, пары и каждая получает задания: паззл с написанными на кусочках словами и лист со списком этих же слов, но без перевода. Ученики собирают пазл, одновременно с этим переводят слова и записывают их на выданный им ранее лист бумаги.

3) Мозаика — паззл:

Необходимо переставить правые части мозаики так, чтобы получилась целая картинка, а затем получится и зашифрованное слово.

Примечание: Зашифрованным словом в данном паззле может быть название темы урока, приветствие (если это в начале урока) или же, наоборот, благодарность за работу на уроке и т.д.

4) Кто что наденет:

В центр доски прикрепляется человечек, вырезанный из бумаги, и одежда. Доска разделяется на четыре части, где подписываются времена года. Ученики должны соотнести виды одежды с каким-либо сезоном и прикрепить ее в нужную часть доски, а так же объяснить свой выбор на языке.

5) Стайка медуз:

Нужно переписать буквы в кружочки, на которые указывают медузы, и сверху в низ прочитать получившееся слово.

Примечание: С помощью этого упражнения можно вводить тему урока.

6) Соедини:

На доске слева пишутся в столбик слова на английском языке. Справа пишутся их эквиваленты на русском языке, но вперемежку. Ученикам необходимо соединить английское слово и его перевод.

Вариант 1. Ученикам может быть предложено соединить английское слово, его транскрипцию и перевод.

Вариант 2. Ученикам предлагается задание соединить иллюстрации с английскими словами

7) Сколько время?

Каждой цифре на циферблате соответствует определенная буква. Внизу указывается время, в соответствии с которым ученики должны вписать в пропуски буквы, чтобы получить зашифрованное слово.

Заполни пропуски:

На доске написаны слова, в которых пропущены некоторые буквы. Ученикам необходимо вставить в пропуски буквы, но при этом также составить с тем или иным словом предложение.

5. Finding games:

1) Найди того, кто…:

Ученики получают карточки с заданием (каждый индивидуально) найти того кто. В течение 1-2 минут они опрашивают друг друга и после подводят итоги проделанной работы.

Список примерных заданий:

Find someone who…

• Was born in the same month as you?

• Has the same number of brothers as you?

• Has the same favorite colour as you? …

2) Найди страничку:

На доске написаны слова и ученики должны найти их в словаре и записать страницы расположения слов в словаре. Преподаватель делает то же самое. Через 2-3 минуты проверяется задание.

Вариант 1. можно дать слова на английском языке, ученикам необходимо найти их русский эквивалент.

Вариант 2. нужно подобрать к данным словам синонимы/антонимы на английском же языке.

Вариант 3. подобрать к слову на ИЯ синонимы/антонимы, но на русском языке.

6. Grouping games:

Для большинства упражнений необходимо разделить класс на группы или пары. Для большинства упражнений деление – это наиболее подходящий способ в ситуациях с плохим знанием друг друга или для выработки нового стимула. Процесс выполнения этих упражнений одинаков. Каждый ученик получает небольшой кусочек информации, написанный на карточке, и находит партнера, у которого есть сходный по смыслу материал. Во время выполнения задания учащиеся не должны показывать, что у них написано, нарисовано на карточках. Дети должны спрашивать друг друга, задавать вопросы, отвечать на них, но только на английском языке.

Для деления на пары:

1) Составь пословицу:

Составив пословицу, учащиеся должны проиллюстрировать ее, а остальные отгадать.

Например:

• A new broom / sweeps clean.

• Easy come / easy go.

• Love me / love my dog.

• Every dog / has his day.

2) Составь предложение:

Выполнение аналогично предыдущему заданию.

3) Найди пару:

Составление пар из одинаковых рисунков.

4) Составь слово:

Слова, состоящие из шести букв, пишутся таким образом, чтобы три буквы были на одной карточке, а три – на другой.

Например:

MET

HOD

5) Составь название кинофильма:

HIGH

MOON

6) Знаменитые люди:

WILLIAM

SHAKESPEARE

7) Сложные слова:

BUTTER

FLY

Для деления на группы:

Объедини по смыслу:

Means of transportation.

CAR

LORRY

BUS

BICYCLE

9) Составь мини диалог:

Например:

• Would you like some coffee?

• Yes, please.

• With milk and sugar?

• Just sugar. Two spoons, please.

7. Music games:

Для данных упражнений необходимо иметь аудио-магнитофон и кассету с записью мелодий разных стилей и направлений.

Проиграть запись предварительно задав ученикам вопросы. Например:

• Какой цвет вы представляете, слушая тот или иной музыкальный отрывок? Почему?

• Опишите человека, которого вы представляете?

• Какие чувства и эмоции вызывает у вас та или иная мелодия?

• Составьте мини рассказ о данной мелодии?

8. Relaxing games:

1) Выбор картинок:

Учащимся предлагается выбрать иллюстрацию, соответствующую, по их мнению, изучаемой в данный момент теме. Затем все варианты обсуждаются классом.

Вариант 1. Выполняется индивидуально. Для этого надо 2-3 комплекта иллюстраций, в каждом столько изображений сколько учеников в классе. Тематика различна. Иллюстрации раскладываются на столе, и каждый ученик выбирает себе понравившуюся и не понравившуюся картинку и объясняет свой выбор.

Вариант 2. Работа в парах/группах. На доске размещены 10-15 пронумерованных иллюстраций, ученики выбирают картинку, вызывающую положительные или отрицательные эмоции и объясняют свой выбор.

2) Саймон говорит:

Ученики должны выполнять только те команды, которые начинаются со слов: “Simon says…” После 3-4 минут подводятся итоги: выигрывает тот, кто правильно будет выполнять все команды.

3) Рыбалка:

Для этого нужна «удочка» и «рыбки». На рыбках учитель пишет слова, ученики по очереди «забрасывают удочку» и «ловят рыбку». Учащийся должен перевести все слова, написанные на пойманных им рыбах. Непереведенные слова он кладет обратно. Выигрывает тот, у кого больше пойманных рыбок. Игра может проводиться в группах, парах и индивидуально.

Примечания: удочку можно сделать при помощи небольшой палочки и магнита. Слова объединяются в соответствие с несколькими темами.

4) Крестики-нолики:

На доске чертится поле размером 3*3 клеточки, и вписываются туда слова определенной тематики. Ученики делятся на две команды. Сделав ход, каждая команда составляет предложение с тем словом, которое находится в выбранной ими клетке. Правила такие же, как и в настоящей игре «крестики-нолики».

Вариант 1. Можно попросить учеников называть преподавателю слова, которые он будет вписывать в поля.

Warm-up Activities for an English Club

20 Questions
One person thinks of an object (person, place, or thing). Everyone takes turns asking yes/no questions until someone can guess correctly (or until 20 questions are asked). The difficult part is that you cannot ask «wh» questions!
Example: PINEAPPLE. Does it talk? No. Does it make life easier? No. Do you eat it? Yes. Is it something you would eat for dinner? No. Etc…
If someone makes a mistake in forming the question, other club members can help turn it into a proper question.

Can’t Say Yes or No
In this game everyone is given a certain number of coins or squares of paper (about 10). Everyone moves around the room starting conversations and asking each other questions. The only rule is that you cannot say the words YES or NO. If you accidentally say one of these words, you have to give a coin or square to the person who you said it to. Try to trick each other by asking questions that you would almost always answer with a yes or no. Think of other ways to trick your friends. Sometimes asking two quick questions in a row works well. (Especially tag questions: Are you new here? This is your first time in America, isn’t it?). This game is a great way to practise using small talk and to add variety to your vocabulary. It also makes everyone laugh.

Fact or Fiction
In this game, one person tells a short story about themselves or someone they know or heard about. Usually it is something funny or crazy. It can be a true story, or something made up.
Example: Josh tells a story about his Uncle Leo who sleeps in the nude. One day Uncle Leo was sleepwalking and he went outside and took his dog for a walk. The next door neighbour was coming home late from work and saw him! She called the police and he got arrested for being naked in public.
Everyone around the room has to say whether they think Josh’s story is fact (true) or fiction (made up). Josh reveals the truth when everyone has guessed. Members can take turns telling a story.

Chain Fairytale
This is a fun writing warm-up. Everyone has a piece of paper and writes the first sentence or two to start a fairytale (not one that already exists).
Example: Once upon a time there was a frog that had no legs. He wanted to get married, but there were no female legless frogs in the land.
After one minute the leader will say «SWITCH». At this time the writers have to put down their pens and pass the papers. They cannot finish their sentences. Then, the next writers will continue the story. After about ten minutes you will have as many silly stories to read as you have club members. The leader should warn the writers that they will soon have to wrap-up the story during the last two minutes so that each story has a conclusion. Read all of the stories out loud for a good laugh. You can extend this activity by trying to edit each other’s writing and spelling errors.

Draw the Picture
In this activity members split up into pairs or small groups. One person looks at a scene from a magazine or book (the leader should cut out enough pictures, or bring in enough magazines for the club). The other person has a pencil and a blank piece of paper. The person with the picture will try to describe everything he sees to the drawer. This is good practice for using prepositions of place. When the describer is finished, compare the drawings to the real thing! Whose is the closest to the original?

Categories
For this game, one person thinks of a category, such as MOVIES. In a circle, everyone must take a turn thinking of a Movie title (in English of course). If someone takes too long to give an answer (the leader should count to five) then that person is out and a new category begins. If someone gives an answer that doesn’t make sense or is incorrect, he is also out of the game. For example, if the category is VEGETABLES and someone says «banana» that person is out. The game continues until only one person is left!

Who am I?
In this game, the leader prepares cards with famous people’s names on them. The leader tapes one card on the back of each member. Then everyone pretends they are at a party and asks each other questions to find out their own identities. When someone guesses their own name correctly, the name-tag gets taped to their front and they continue to chat with the party guests until everyone is wearing the nametag on the front.

Jeopardy
In this game, which is based on the famous gameshow Jeopardy, everyone writes down ten answers to questions about themselves. After writing down the answers, people have to form pairs or small groups and try to find out what the questions are.
Example: (answer = purple) «What is your favorite colour?» «Blue.» «What colour do you hate?» «Green.» «What colour is your underwear?» «Purple!» You can stop at three guesses if you want, or keep going until someone in the club can guess the question.

Hot Seat
In this game, the club is split up into two teams. One member from each team sits facing the group. The leader holds up a word (or writes it on the board if you are in a classroom) for all of the team members to see except for the two players in the hot seats. The teams must try to get the person in the hot seat to guess the word or phrase. The first person to guess correctly gets to stand up and a new member from their team takes the hot seat. The person on the other team has to remain in the hot seat until she gets an answer first. You can keep score or just play for fun. This game can also be played in pairs. One pair member closes their eyes while the leader shows the word to the other pair members. The first pair to get the word right gets a point. Warning! This is a loud game because people tend to get excited and yell!

Broken Telephone
This is a listening and pronunciation activity that always gets people laughing. The leader first must think of a sentence or phrase and whisper it to the person beside her. That person will then whisper what she heard to the next person. Each person can only say, «Can you please repeat that?» one time. When the message reaches the end of the chain that person must speak out loud. Oftentimes the message will be completely different when it reaches the end. Try to find out where the chain broke! In a big group you can send the message two ways and find out which team comes closest to the real message. (A famous example is the army message that started as «Send reinforcements, we’re going to advance» and ended as «Send three and fourpence, we’re going to a dance.»)

What’s warm-up in general? As Wiki states it’s a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity. As a person who has been doing sport all my life, I do support the idea that a warm-up stage is crucial both in sport and a language. We always compare languages and sport, hence we shouldn’t skip this important stage. So, today I am going to share some points on how to create warm-up activities for Advanced level students.

Here were discussed warm-up ideas.

To remember, advanced students are demanding, quick at on-spot decisions, and need high engaging activities.

Warm muscles

Starting your lesson, you begin a conversation or small talk depending on your student’s mood, activity, tune, and overall atmosphere. I usually start with the weather talk exchange, plunging slowly into morning/day/evening activity, results/plans or sharing recent news or news from my life pinpointing students’ ones.

Increase heart rate

While preparing my warm-up activities, I think of goals I set.

I tailor the activity or create a set of activities for all the students but use them differently taking into account students’ needs:

Grammar suffers

Create a mind-map and ask your students to share info with you, giving their life examples based on the patterns:

You can also give them the constructions from the previous lesson to refresh prior knowledge:

Wants to be up-to-date

Use 1-minute news or One-Minute Read to let the conversation flow and help your students tune to the lesson (Intermediate-Advanced)

Lacks creativity

Vocab recycling is my biggest concern, moreover, if we talk about advanced learners as it’s very challenging for them to move from one stage to another quickly, hence at the beginning of the lesson, I can use our slide What I can do to recycle words and boost creativity:

If you don’t work for Skyeng and use other textbooks, they do also contain infoboxes with Wordlist that you can use. How? It depends what you plan to practice: ask your student

1) to create all types of questions with these words;

2) to make a funny/sad/silly short story based on the target vocabulary; 3) to give definitions to each word (usual/ sarcastic/ humorous);

It will serve as a nice warm-up, revision, and tuning-to-a-new-lesson activity.

A bit of Poetry

For poetic souls and not only, for those who aim at enriching their vocabulary in no time.

To enrich my students with beautiful and advanced vocabulary, I sometimes select some literary pieces:

— limericks to have fun or PUN on words:)

— tongue twisters to polish pronunciation

— various poems to revise words on the topic and have a short philosophical discussion

— brainyquote.com to warm up and lead in the topic

Idioms and collocations

Give your advanced learner 5-6 idioms to ponder on or create a list and upload it for them to discuss. Idioms will enable their contextual guess.

Categories

Categories games are engaging. For example, if you study the Business English topic connected with Advertising, you can boost things:

Task-oriented

You can ask your IELTS/TOEFL/USE/MUSE-oriented student to comment on the exam structure just to recycle the skeleton of the exam:

Anyway, it doesn’t matter what you choose — I am sure it’ll be beneficial to your students.