The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners

Principle 1. Know Your Learners

Principle 2. Create Conditions for Language Learning
Principle 3. Design High-Quality Lessons for Language Development
Principle 4. Adapt Lesson Delivery as Needed
Principle 5. Monitor and Assess Student Language Development
Principle 6. Engage and Collaborate within a Community of Practice

12 Warm-Up Games For Assessing English Fluency

1 Odd One Out

Who is it for? Mid-level to Advanced

Checking? Comprehension

What is it? Another classic ESL warm-up activity is Odd One Out. Write 4 words on a page. 3 of
them can be found in the bathroom, and one can be found in the kitchen. I bet you know
which is the odd one out. This warm-up can be done with younger learners (but not beginners)
all the way up to students with excellent English fluency. You can make the words relatable to
the new words or phonics section of the lesson. Be sure to mix words up with pictures, as both
can be used to great effect.

2 Physical Warm-Up

Who is it for? Everyone

Checking? Engagement

What is it? Our students spend a lot of time in class and studying. Sometimes they just need to
take a brain break from their usual lessons to spice it up with physical activity. If ballerinas and
football players stretch before they do their thing, students can have fun doing it, too. Use
target vocabulary and have everyone stand up. Stretch your RIGHT ARM. You can make it silly
by stretching your ears. Doing jumping jacks (great for people with a stand-up desk) and
various other activities usually lead to giggles and have the added value of keeping the teacher
more awake.

3 What is it?

Who is it for? Young students, but not new students.

Checking? Vocabulary

What is ‘What is it’? It is a simple vocabulary checker/expander. This one is well known
because you probably have done it by accident. It works best for teachers who have a lot of
easy access props or use digital effects like Manycam. A great way to use it is by staying in the
confines of a category, like animals.

4 What does your name mean?

Who is it for? Mid-level to advanced students.

Checking? Vocabulary and Creative thinking.

What is it? This is a useful warm-up to get your students to express themselves. Have them
spell their name horizontally (Chinese or English name for fun) and have them use words to
describe themselves that start with the letter. Example, for someone named Bob:

B rilliant

O riginal

B ig

5 Two Truths and a Lie

Who is it for? Mid-level to advanced students

Checking? Fluency and comprehension

What is it? This one works best when your class has multiple people. 3 is ideal as you can have
the students close their eyes and then have each open 1 at a time to assign them to tell the
truth or lie. It also works with each student having to say all 3 and then everyone guessing
which the lie is. You won’t believe some of the creative lies you’ll hear.

6 Tongue Twisters

Who is it for? Beginner to Advanced

Checking? Pronunciation

What are they? Everyone has their favorite tongue twisters. Sure, being able to say “She sells
sea shells by the seashore” is going to take a more advanced student, but even the young ones
can try out some of the simplest and funniest ones. Give “Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear” a try the
next time you have a chance. Tongue twisters help the muscles to warm up and can improve
the student’s diction.

7 20 Questions

Who is it for? Advanced students

Checking? Investigative thinking, fluency

What is it? There are many forms of this age-old game and lots of ways we can use it in class.
This one is geared more for advanced students so you can quickly assess English fluency. It is
easiest to start by pretending to be an animal. Don’t tell the students what you are. They only
get to know that you are an animal. Then they get 20 questions to narrow it down. You can
also play this game with you asking the student questions!

8 Sit Down, Stand Up

Who is it for? Beginners and Mid-level

Checking? Fluency and engagement

What is it? This is a simple game of questions that works best with a handful of students. It
also gets everyone moving and more energetic. Take turns asking questions. Any yes or no
question will do. “Do you like chocolate?” “Is your favorite color red?” Everyone that is a yes
has to stand up. Then don’t sit down until they are a no. It is simple and fun.

9 Simon Says

Who is it for? Young learners

Checking? Vocabulary and listening

What is it? Everyone knows Simon says. And as well they should. It is a fantastic exercise that
checks comprehension and actively engages students. Whether you are using body parts or
just make faces, Simons says, “Have fun.”

10 Categories

Who’s it for? Beginners to mid-level

Checking? Vocabulary

What is it? This game is a reverse of the classic A-Z game. Rather than having students come
up with something for each letter in a specific category, the students will choose one letter and
think of a word for different categories. Choose four to five different categories to begin and
students can use the first letter of their name if they like.

11 Describe the Picture

Who’s it for? Mid-level to advanced students

Checking? Fluency and creative thinking

What is it? We are all used to asking students, “What do you see?” on the title page of the
lesson. But we can take this one step further by asking students to come up with a story or
dialogue based on a picture. There are many variations which will get all students involved.
Have one student make one sentence, and then have the next student continue the story. Or
assign each student a character or person in the picture and have him or her say what that
character is thinking.

12 Keyword Storytime

Who’s it for? Everybody

Checking? Listening and engagement

What is it? In this game, students have to listen carefully for a key word while the teacher tells
a story. The teacher tells the students the word to listen for and that when they hear it, they
should raise their hands, stand up, or do another action. While telling the story, the teacher
can try to trick the students by pausing in the middle of words (if the key word was ‘today,’
you’d say ‘to–‘ pause ‘morrow’) or using words that sound similar. For advanced students, you
can even choose a word that is a homonym so students must pay attention to the context, not
just the word itself. The word should be repeated several times in the story. This takes a little
bit of preparation if you can’t think of a story on the spot, but you can be as creative and silly
as you want to be to get students laughing.

What are your favorite ESL games to check your student’s level of English fluency?

WORKING ONLINE
Building rapport with students is necessary for success in any classroom, and a significant
challenge in an online setting. We are separated by thousands of miles, not able to shake their
little hands, give them an encouraging pat on the back, or read their full body language.  We
aren’t in a controlled classroom environment, and we don’t exactly know what the situation is
like for the student on the other side of the World Wide Web connection.

How can we create a trusting and safe environment through the internet?  How do we
establish a rapport with our students? During my online teaching career with ALO7, I have
worked hard to convert my brick and mortar teaching skills into virtual teaching practices. Here
are my top teaching tips for building rapport successfully :

1. Make eye contact with the students.   

When teaching, look directly into the camera as you speak rather than directly at your
students’ images. Though it takes practice, the payoff will be worth it because your students
will feel like you are paying close attention to them. Of course, sometimes you’ll be looking at
their images to view items they show you and gauge their mood; however, the more “eye
contact” you make with your students, the better. 

2. Learn something about your students’ interests and hobbies.  

I keep a notebook for all of my classes and jot down notes whenever the students reveal
something new about themselves, whether it be a favorite video game or a new hobby. Before
class, I review my notes so I can ask the students about their recent trip to Japan, their new
baby brother or the latest novel they are reading. If the students are very young, I encourage
them to talk about their favorite food or sport and then make it a point to discuss those things
during future lessons. Don’t be shy about sharing your own interests, likes and dislikes, too.
Doing so lets your students learn something more personal about you and may inspire them to
ask you questions. For example, sharing your love of drawing and samples of your own artwork
with students may inspire your students to show you their own drawings. 
 ALO7’s Teacher Jan greeting a student.

3. Begin class with a greeting and a warm-up activity or game. 

Many of us have the tendency to follow the lesson script and clock so much that we forget to
take time to greet the students and ask them questions about their day or week. A cheerful
greeting shows the importance of the individual student to you, which establishes trust
between you and them.  Be careful not to get so caught up in the process that you forget the
individual student. Good communication between you and the student are crucial to building
rapport. There are times I get frustrated when I ask, “How are you?” and the student replies
with the expected answer of “I’m fine, and you?” For times like these, I refer to the notes I
keep to spark a more in-depth conversation, or I ask completely random questions like, “What
did you eat for dinner?” or “Which do you like better basketball or soccer?” I may also begin
class with a warm-up game such as, “20 Questions” or the “How do I feel?” to help engage
students. 

4. Be enthusiastic about your class, your students, and the lesson.

Let’s be honest,  when we teach the same course time and time again, showing excitement
about the lesson can be a big challenge. Try to look at the material through your students’ eyes
and keep the wonder of it all. If you are bored, it shows through to your students. For times
like these, I suggest switching things up by adding new games, new props, or new songs. You
can even try changing your personal home classroom or change from sitting to standing. Any
changes you make for yourself can help generate excitement, which shows through to your
students. Changes help fight the temptation for routine and help to keep lessons fresh.
Enthusiasm is contagious, and when you model it for your students, they will reflect it back to
you.
5. Don’t forget to smile.
It doesn’t matter where you are from, a smile is a universal sign of openness. To create a
healthy environment in your classroom focused on building rapport, you must remember to
smile. Relax and smile and your students will follow your lead. 
As we keep in mind our objectives as teachers, we must remember that for our students to
learn they need to respect and trust us. Building rapport with them at the beginning of each
class can create a healthy environment for respect and trust to thrive, allowing our students to
reach their maximum learning potential.

Virtual Ice-Breaker Examples

Here are a few simple virtual ice breaker ideas to try out in your team:

Take a Picture of Your Shoes

The idea for this virtual ice breaker comes from online meeting service Lucid Meetings.

Ask each team member to take a picture of their shoes and upload it ahead of your meeting.
This activity is best for video calls, but it can work on audio calls as well, as long as everyone
can see each other's pictures.

At the start of the meeting, ask each participant to discuss their choice of shoe, and the "story"
behind it. For example, one person might be wearing running shoes because they're into
sports, or someone else might wear flip flops because they love to travel.

You can vary this exercise by asking each team member to take a picture of an object on their
desk, and getting them to talk about it.

The Social Question

Ask each participant an ice breaker question. These can help to stimulate lively conversations
and even debate. Most importantly, they'll enable people to get to know each other better,
and encourage communication and team bonding.

What was your first job? What's your favorite season and why?

If there was a movie made about your

What's your favorite food/drink? life, who would play you?

What's your biggest guilty

pleasure? What do your surroundings look like?

What's your favorite place to go

on vacation? What's your favorite movie or book?

What's your favorite smell? What music do you like?

If you were an ice cream, what When I dance I look like ___ [fill in the
flavor would you be? blank].

What have you achieved this week that

Do you have any pets? you feel proud of?

What was the last movie you

watched that made you cry? What's the story behind your name?
 What's your favorite sport to Take a picture from your window and
play/watch? have people guess where you are.

Did you have any imaginary

friends when you were young? What's the weather like where you are?

Show something that's on your desk and

What's your favorite color? tell a story about it?

What new thing have you learned this

What's your biggest "pet peeve"? week?

The Time Machine

Ask the following question, to one participant at a time: "If you were able to travel through
time, either forward or backward... :

 Where would you go?

 If backward, to which time period? Why?

 If there was a person you could go back in time and meet, who would it be, and why?

 Would you just want to visit and come back, or would you stay?"

Two Lies and a Truth

The idea for this ice breaker was developed by new media consultant Joitske Hulsebosch.

Ask each team member to prepare a list of three interesting "facts" about themselves, two of
which must be made up. These could be anything, from a pet they own or a hobby they love to
a famous person they've met.

Then, get other team members to pick which of the statements is true. The team member who
receives the most incorrect votes "wins."

Key Points

Virtual ice breakers are a great way of encouraging remote teams to bond and build rapport.
They can also help to improve communication, stimulate creative thinking, build internal
networks, and introduce new recruits to their co-workers in a fun, engaging and positive way.

Before choosing which virtual ice breaker you should use. Think about who your participants
are, consider your purpose and your key goals and objectives. You'll also need to take into
account the functionality of your participants' technology, as well as any differences in time
zones and culture.

Positive interaction
Now you have planned an online activity to help you to build rapport and get to know your
learners. You want to make sure that learners interact with each other positively, so that the
activity really works!

How do you encourage and model positive interaction?

I’ve found that consistently modelling positive interaction leads to someone eventually copying
it. And then I praise that action a lot so that others slowly start doing the same thing e.g.
saying ‘Thank you for your question/answer. I really liked….’ I found some low level secondary
learners doing the same thing by the last activity of that lesson.

Tashya, Sri Lanka

First I set the rules about respecting each other and create opportunities to practise effective
social interaction. I text a message encouraging their participation and presentation of their
tasks.
Secondary teacher

You must remove anxiety from your classes. You need to create that safe, secure and inclusive
environment where everyone can contribute and no one is worried about being caught out.
Just as in face to face classes, the teacher is the role model for the behaviour you wish to see.
So the teacher must behave as they would expect every child to; be patient, be encouraging,
listen to everyone, respect everyone, say sorry if you make a mistake.

Giving feedback on collaboration and support as well as encouraging it, is also key. This can be
done in the chat box during tasks as well as at the end of class when you can compliment
learners on how well they worked together or how they helped each other as part of your end
of lesson reflection routine.

Kathryn, Jordan

Over to you

 How do you encourage your learners to interact positively?

 How do you give learners feedback if they are not interacting positively online?

Warm-Up Activities For Less Fluent ESL Students

There are so many fun ESL games for kids, but it can be difficult to find perfect warm-up
activities for children with limited English abilities. These are the children who may most
benefit from some fun warm-up activities to help boost their confidence and increase their
involvement and investment in the class. 

Even very fluent students may be reluctant to participate in warm-up activities as they have
often already had a long day of school and homework. Fatigue can be an even bigger issue for
less fluent students; however, this is when warm-up activities are even more essential. They
help to increase the energy level in the classroom and “wake students up.”¹ They can be an
excellent way for teachers to wake themselves up, as well. 
Student studying English online (Image courtesy of © Paulus Rusyanto | Dreamstime.com)

Warm-up Activities for ESL Students

 Alphabet Circle: Most students are familiar with the alphabet and can play the
“Alphabet Circle” game. While online ESL students can’t form a physical circle, they
can certainly create a virtual one and take turns thinking of a word for each letter of
the alphabet. Teachers can help by using the annotate function to write the letters and
words on the screen.

 Finish the Thought: If you’ve been struggling to get students to tell you about their
day, the “finish the thought” activity can be a great option to encourage students to
share. Begin with a sentence such as “I’m happy because…” or “Today my friend…”
and have the students finish the sentences (Dixon). 

 Song and Dance: For younger students, it can be especially helpful to have them
physically involved in the class. Encourage them to dance or lead them in the song
“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” or another song with motions.

 Draw a Picture: Drawing a picture is a great way to involve even very young or shy
students. Use the annotate function to draw a basic picture and have students guess
what you are drawing (englishclub.com). Cat, dog, flower, and snowman are great for
less fluent students. 

 Categories: This is another fun game that doesn’t require a strong understanding of

grammar. Have students take turns listing things that belong to a specific category
(englishclub.com). Animals, places, and family members are all simple categories that
are helpful to use with less fluent students. 

 Use Images to Prompt Conversation: Having students describe or identify things in a

picture is another great way to engage students who do not speak a lot of English.
Choose a picture to share virtually and have students take turns describing the image.
Prompt them to identify objects or colors in the picture, or if they are more fluent,
have them create a story from the image. This can also be an excellent opportunity to
introduce students to the game “I Spy.”

 What’s this? or What Does the Teacher Have?: For the very youngest and least familiar
with English students you may find a simple game of “What’s this?” a great way to
 start the class. Just hold up toys and objects and have students identify them. Stuffed
animals, flowers, and basic food items are obvious choices for this game. This game
can also have “themes” for different seasons or holidays. Perhaps in December, you
will want to play it with a toy Santa, a stocking, and a wrapped gift. If the students are
unfamiliar with the objects you are showing them, you can use this as an opportunity
to introduce a few new words as well.

Tips and Tricks for Less Fluent English Speakers

When doing a warm-up activity with students with limited familiarity with English, you may
need to show them an example of the types of answers you are looking for. A puppet or other
stuffed animal can be a great assistant for modeling. Ask the puppet the question first and
then have it answer. You can even use a silly voice for the puppet if you think your students
are open to a little silliness. You may also want to type the question on the screen. Some
students are more confident with written English than spoken English. This may be especially
true if the students have not met you before and are not familiar with your accent.

Not every activity is a perfect fit for every class, and even with the best strategies, you may not
get the level of engagement for which you hoped. Consider keeping notes on what English
language games were most successful for which classes and what seemed to confuse students.
While it can feel demoralizing if students don’t respond well to a warm-up activity, it doesn’t
mean the class is doomed. Put on a smile and move onto the next part of the lesson.

Warm-up activities can be a great way to start a class and increase student engagement. Even
less fluent students will be able to enjoy these ESL speaking activities. Engaging students with
these activities can help improve rapport and enthusiasm throughout the whole class.

Citations for Warm-up Activities for Less Fluent ESL Students

1 Dixon, Graham. “Warming Up: 8 Great Warmers for Any ESL Level.” Busy Teacher, March 27,
2014. https://busyteacher.org/19262-8-great-warmers-for-any-esl-level.html.