'Wall dictionary'

This is a good way to help kids learn and review their vocabulary. It really helps them with the
alphabet and spelling.

Procedure
o Prepare a colourful piece of paper which can be used as a background for the wall dictionary.
o Sew 26 pockets on it (or use glue/sticky tape) and label each pocket with a letter of the
alphabet
o Ask the children to prepare sets of letter cards by writing the 26 letters on some small pieces
of paper. They put their letters into the pockets as soon as they can.
o We can use this wall dictionary at any time to practise spelling.
o For example, divide the class into three or four groups. They listen to words and then choose
letters from the pockets to spell the words.

Of course, you can make several wall dictionaries so that students can play at the same time without
fighting.
Word guessing games

The following games can be played throughout the school year but are also very useful as a round up
at the end of term. You can play them a few times. First play with the whole class and then try in
groups (good for mixed ability groups).

Guess the word (can be used for abstract nouns)

Choose five words relating to recent conversational themes. Write sets of clues to help
students guess the words. Play with whole class or teams. Use one word per lesson over five
lessons or use all words in one session as a longer game.

Example clues:

I am a noun but I am very important.

I begin with the letter ‘f’.
People in prison have lost it and want it back.
People demand it when it is taken away by dictators.
It is related to speech.
(Puzzle word = Freedom)

Coffee Pot game (a very popular game in EFL)

This game is good for practising and reviewing action verbs and adverbs.

Ask one student to leave the room then the rest of the class choose a verb e.g. type, ski, fly.

The student returns to the room and asks questions to guess the verb. The missing verb can
be substituted with coffeepot
Example questions:

Why do you coffee pot?

Where do you coffee pot?
Do you coffee pot by yourself?
Do you need any special equipment for coffee potting?
The Washing Line' - teaching clothes vocabulary

This is a good vocabulary activity to use with younger learners

To teach the names of clothes, I have my students cut a page of a newspaper in the shape of a hat,
gloves, trousers, etc. Then, using a washing line and clothes pegs, I ask my students to hang their
projects on the washing line. My students repeat the names of the clothes after me. After teaching
the vocabulary of clothes, I ask them to close their eyes while I hide some of the clothes. A few
seconds later I ask them to open their eyes and name the missing clothes and then to find them.

This activity is both very useful and enjoyable for my students.

The comparison game

In this activity, students compare the properties of different but similar words. It can take up to 90
minutes or be done quite quickly using fewer words and is designed for lower intermediate students,
though again this depends on the number and complexity of the words used.

Preparation
Prepare a collection of words which have a similar meaning or semantic field or which your students
often confuse.

Procedure

o Elicit the word 'similarity' and 'difference'. Write these two words next to each other at the top
of the board, and draw a vertical line between them - right down to the bottom of the board.
o Elicit the difference between a 'pen' and a 'pencil' as an example and put the key words on
the board in the relevant sections. You can also elicit grammatically correct sentences with
these words (e.g. "You can write with both a pen and a pencil")
o Write your pairs of words on the board: e.g.
o café - restaurant
o newspaper - magazine
o kettle - teapot
o clock - watch
o house - flat
o Tell your students to copy them down - and ask them to leave spaces on the right under the
headings 'similarities' and 'differences'.
o Divide your class into groups of three and tell each group to work with one pair of words
(allocate them so that all the pairs of words are being worked on at the same time, but by
different groups).
o Ask the students to write down as many similarities and differences as possible in note form.
o After two minutes say "Change!" - Instruct each group to work on the next pair of words.
o After each group has finished each pair of words, ask the students to regroup, so that each
new group is composed of students from different groups.
o Ask the new group to compare and edit their information - adding, deleting, and modifying
points.
o Get the whole class's attention and elicit the key similarity and difference for each pair of
words. Put these key words on the board.
o Create an example sentence using the keywords which includes a similarity and a difference
(e.g."A kettle is similar to a teapot because you put water in both, but a kettle is different
from a teapot because you put cold water in a kettle and boiling water in a teapot.")
o Split your class into pairs, and ask each pair to write a similar sentence, using their own
examples.
o Get the students to read out some of their sentences.

Why it works
Students use a variety of different faculties, for example brainstorming, short term memory, and an
analysis of their perception of everyday things.
Follow-up
Ask your students to find out the difference between more confused words, e.g. 'university' and
'college'. Give each student different pairs of words to research. These pairs of words will depend on
their ability.
Vocabulary box

A small box, such as a shoe box, is a very useful tool in the classroom - it can become a vocabulary
box. You also need some small blank cards or pieces of paper.

o At the end of each vocabulary lesson - for example 'Houses and Homes' - either you or the
students should write words from the lesson on different cards. So, you may end up with ten
words on ten cards - bedroom, kitchen, roof, window…- and these cards are then placed in
the vocabulary box. If you have time, and with better classes, you, or the students, may write
a definition of the word on the reverse of each card.
o This vocabulary box can then be used at any time to review the vocabulary studied over the
weeks.
o You could simply pick words from the box at random, give the definition and ask for the word.
This can be done as a simple team game.
o Or you may try something more active. For example, when you've had this vocabulary box for
a month or two months and there are quite a lot of cards in there, you might say to the
students 'OK, collectively I want all these cards divided into nouns, adjectives and verbs …
Go! You have three minutes'. Or, you might say 'OK I want all these cards divided into lexical
sets … Go!'. Or, you might say 'Each corner of the room is a different lexical set - that one's
furniture, that one's medicine, that one is food and that one is sport. Put the cards in the right
corner, you have one minute to do this…Go!'. Then they're all running around trying to get
their words in the right corner. This could also be done in teams, giving each team a handful
of words to sort.

This box just becomes so flexible in how you can use it. It could be at the end of the lesson. For
example 'You can't leave the classroom until you've defined two words that are in the box'.
Vocabulary boxes are fantastic and they take so little time but provide so many activities.
Five things
Divide the class in two teams. Give each team a set of slips with five (or three or two, depending on
their level) things they have to name.

o Examples:
o Name five things that move
o Name five drinks
o Name five things you would be doing if you weren't here
o Name five ways to get rich
o Name five animals.

A member of the team reads the category of things they have to name and the whole team shouts
the words.
While team A is doing this, team B have to remain in silence. Then it's team B's turn.
Time each team. The faster team is the winner.

Category game
This activity can be used as a review. Students usually get very excited.

The teacher chooses a category (animals, colors, school objects, kitchen gadgets...) and each student
has to say a word that belongs to that category.
If a student doesn't know, he / she stands up. Then, the teacher chooses another category the the
following student starts again. In the following round, the student who's standing will have another
chance. If he / she can say a word that belongs to the new category, he / she can sit down.

It's a great game for revision and to get students tuned into the lesson topic. It may also be used to
elicit from the student what they already know about a certain topic.