By: Nathali Colon M.

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Content

1. Just a Minute ……………………………………………………………….Page 4

2. 5-Minute Debate………………………………………………………...…..Page 5
3. 5-Seconds Rule……………………………………………………………...Page 6
4. Stop………………………………………………………………………….Page 7
5. Charades……………………………………………………………………..Page 8-14
6. Pick the Lie…………………………………………………………….…….Page 15
7. Draw a Picture, but Someone Else Is Talking……………………………….Page 16
8. Comic Strip Challenge……………………………………………………….Page 17
9. Board Race…………………………………………………………………...Page 18
10. Crossword Names…………………………………………………………….Page 19

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 Introduction

Hello! This is a guide with 10 classic activities. You can use them in class as warm
ups. Since you are the one who really know your students the most, you can adapt each
activity according to their needs. There are no straitjackets with this.

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 Just a Minute

Just a Minute is a simple activity that you can use to get your students talking 5
minutes before the presentation of the target language you want to teach in the session.

Materials:

 Markers
 Whiteboard

Procedure:

Write a bunch of general categories on the board such as jobs, hobbies, dreams,
movies or food.

Put the students into groups of four and they can number themselves 1-2-3-4. Then,
ask one of the students to stand up and throw a paper airplane at the board. Whatever word
it gets closest to is the topic for the first student.

All the number ones must talk about that topic for one minute without stopping and
if they stop or have a long pause, they have lost the challenge.

You can adjust the time limit to be higher or lower depending on the level of students
(beginner = 30 seconds, advanced = 2 minutes).

Erase the first speaking round word from the board and continue the activity with the
remaining three students except that they have different topics.

For higher-level students, you can require each group member to ask the speaker a
follow-up question at the end of each round.

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 5-Minute Debate

I have used the most this warm up activity to work with adults. In 2021, I started
using it with teenagers that have B1-B2 English level. I discovered that they really liked to
talk about controversial news or topics that were popular in the moment. I think this activity
could work for students in 4th and 5th year.

Remember, a warm up has to be done quickly, so do not have students read long
articles.

Procedure:

In pairs or small groups, have them debate the sides. You may have to assign sides if
too many agree or disagree with the premise. You may also need to scaffold with language
like, “I think _____, because _____.” “I agree with X, but _____.”

Keep your students’ personalities in mind. There are many conversation books about
topics that are quite controversial (such as abortion or the death penalty.) You want them to
practice speaking English, not get in a real fight.

“Controversial” could be anything people are likely to have a variety of opinions

about, but unlikely to have no opinion. Finish up with a quick poll to see if anyone changed
his or her mind about the topic.

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 5 Second Rule

This is a fast, funny, family board game based on a series of videos from Ellen
DeGeneres. It is a party game very similar to 30 seconds. In 30 Seconds, for example, you
have to answer five questions in 30 seconds. In 5 Second Rule, you have to give three answers
to a single question in five seconds. Easy, right?

Probably, you do not have the board or the cards to play like in the original version.
However, you can substitute the materials and use the resources you have. Here you have
some pictures below.

Original
Box

 2 packs of double sided questions cards

 5 second hourglass
Procedure:
You can click on the link below to watch a video that explain how you can play this game.
Of course, you can change the dynamic in class since you are the one that really knows your
students and their needs. You can use this game as a wrap up activity as well.
https://youtu.be/XUvK5lE4Mj4

Possible materials:
To make the cards:
Paper or cardboard paper
Markers or printer
Note: You can make your own cards and adapt them to the vocabulary or structures you are
studying in class.

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 Stop
Stop (known as Scattergories or Fight List as well) is the classic pen-and-paper trivia
word game you know. My students in high school loved to play it.

Nowadays, there is an application available on Play Store that could be a better option
to play at school, if you have internet connection, and if you and your students feel
comfortable using the app.

Stop is a simple game. Per round, you just need one letter, five categories, probably
around 60 seconds and some chances to become a trivia quiz legend in class or at least laugh
and have fun with your students before the presentation phase.

Materials for the traditional version:

Pencil
Ruler
White sheet of papers

Procedure:
 First, give the instructions. (You should establish your own dynamic. Consider the
following questions: 1. how many rounds will you have? Remember the game will
work as a way to activate and motivate your students. 2. Do you want your students
to work in pairs or individually)
 Second, ask students to design the format on a sheet of paper.
 Third, say one letter (You can choose students to say the letters as well)
 Fourth, wait for someone to say “Stop”
 Fifth, count the points
 Sixth, repeat the process (You can´t spend more than 10 minutes playing this during
the warm up phase)

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 Charades
Charades is a classic game. It requires a person to stand up in front of everyone, and
act out a book title, famous person or movie title, for example. This directly breaks the ice
and puts students outside of their comfort zone. Some students are not comfortable acting in
front of the class; however, once they realize they are moving their hands and body with
crazed facial expressions is all part of the fun, they feel less shy or introvert to participate.

Materials:

What you will need to get started:

1. pen to keep track of the scores

2. Charades phrases, either written them out yourself or you can use the word list
included below
3. Stopwatch to keep time (your phone usually has a built-in timer)

Procedure:

1. Divide the class in groups (according to the amount of students you have)
2. Choose a player to start (Think about the amount of rounds you can have for this warp
up)
3. The player thinks of a word that the others should be familiar with.
4. The player then acts the word or phrase they have chosen in front of the other players
5. The first person to guess the word or phrase gets a point for his/her group
6. Go to the next round

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Easy Charades Words Iceberg Yoga

Fish Mouse Dress

Rocket Watermelon Orange

Frozen Salad Castle

Table Horse Fire

Elbow Bee Beans

Pasta Phone Pancake

Bird Toes Flower

Desk Knife Fork

Jail Chair Butterfly

McDonald Pepper Hair

Bank Bus Lion

Volleyball Jedi Bicycle

Elephant Spiderman Donut

Hand Chocolate Lake

Foot Bear Roller blade

Pizza Helicopter Oven

Airplane Penguin Peanut

Office Knee Ship

Ankle Death Star Titanic

Moustache Pool Sloth

Index finger Raccoon Aladdin

Candy Onion Computer

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Ice cream UFO Stars

Darth Vader Superman Pie

Death Star Spaceship Butt

Pumpkin Playground Neck

Cat Dinosaur Skyscraper

Turtle Truck Water

Pear Spoon Banana

Coconut Waffle Strawberry

Stadium Bed Eagle

Bread Car Shark

Leg Moon Hospital

Hand Teeth Candle

Church Rain Grass

Wind Boat Ant

Volcano Hat Carrot

Farmer Sun Steak

Human Bowl Cow

Hockey Cake Beach

Eye KFC Dog

Glasses Earth Grapes

Train Eye brow Kiwi

Shoulder Dish Noodle

Thor Nose Cup

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Chicken Piano Chef

River Rugby Computer

Sea Heart Dream

Minions Monkey Doll

Pencil Sundae Dollhouse

Paperclip Pen Earthquake

Squirrel Book Fairy

Swim Bubblegum Exhausted

Golf Night Jaw

Soccer Snowboarding Karate

Football Fisherman Lawnmower

Basketball Laptop Moonwalk

Run Tie Miner

Baseball Fly Mower

Karate Ears Mirror

Boxing Legs Newspaper

Hockey Pens Payphone

Cricket Lips Piano

Ball Shoes Plank

Watch Kiss Piano Bench

Duck Candy Cane Pizza

Keyboard Candy Dish Plantation

Umbrella Cheer Point

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 Rabbit Bacteria Priest

Religion Motorcycle God

Salary Watch Monster

Snowman Tree Guitar

Superhero Leaning Tower of Glue

Pisa
Telephone Tarantula
Fairy
Stressful Owl
Chess Set
Toaster Notepad
Classroom
Tow Truck Coat
White House
Unhappy Bow
Canoeing
Warmth Crab
Doctor
Wedding Celery
King
Wheelie Sofa
Clown
Yoga Sneeze
Cook
Handcuffs Sundae
Police
Medium Dog leash
Charades Words Knight
Milkshake
Cell Phone Wizard
Mummy
Schoolbag Scientist
Rocket ship
Snowman Hunter
Toothpaste
Ball Queen
Pencil Case
Ferry boat Celebrity
Inchworm
Tarantula Thief
Tennis

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Socks Injury Stress

Octopus Lullaby Flock

Jeans Lace Hunter

Pants Meditation Prey

Sunglasses Mugshot Marshmallow

Stairs Mushroom Hard Charades

Words
Table tennis Noise
Parachute
Thermos Philosophy
Harry Potter
Avocado Pizza Sauce
Alien
Bakery Plankton
Wonder Woman
Best Friend Prize
Batman
Bouquet President
Toy Story
Boxing Psychologist
Iron Man
Bride Punctuality
Monday
Cake Reservoir
Tuesday
Candle Sandbox
Spiderweb
Chess Season
Curl
Closet Slacking
Wednesday
Corn Dog Stopwatch
Friday
Cricket Vacation
Weekend
Decoration Waffle
Holiday
Furnace Soft
Chicken Pox
Giant zit Hypnosis

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Sushi Conspiracy Pavillion

Skateboard Coastline Pest

Seaweed Coil Redundancy

Jellyfish Egghead Skepticism

Taxi Cab Epitaph Storefront

Vanilla Froth Unemployed

Pay cheque Drone Workaholic

Whale Dust Jello shot

Goosebumps Frost Mindfulness

Platypus Gown Firm

Amoeba Freelance

Apathetic Husband

Baggage Lawyer

Banker Lorry

Blond Living Room

Blood Lunar Rover

Beanstalk Minimalism

Body odor Neurology

Boulevard Nightgown

Blueprint Overqualified

Cargo Ship Overtime

Career Owner

Classroom Patio

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 Pick the Lie

This game can work for all levels. However, I recommend using it with students in 1st and
2nd year, so they can practice basic speaking skills. You do not need too much preparation
time for this activity. However, keep in mind that you can adapt this game taking into account
your students and their context in the classroom.

Procedure:

1. Select five or six topics people can talk about in their daily life.
2. Write the topics on the board and ask students to prepare two small paper cards. On
one card, have them write the letter T (for true) and on the other, F (for False)
3. Ask students to make pairs or groups of three. (They can work individually as well)
4. Ask students to read the topics and then write three statements (one false and two
truth) about themselves and related to some of the topics the teacher wrote on the
board.
5. Once they are ready, ask them to share their sentences and guess which one is false.
For example:
Mary: I like to eat sushi on weekends. True or false?
(Mary waits for their classmates to raise the cards)
John: I think is true
Peter: Mmmm! I don´t. I think is false because she doesn´t like to eat fish.
6. Close the activity asking two students to read their sentences, so the whole class can
participate and guess if their statements are true or false.

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 Draw a Picture, but Someone Else Is Talking

This is a fun way to practice descriptive words (big, small, long, etc). My students
laughed a lot with this activity during the warm up session. Two students sit back to back
and one person is the “talker” while the other one is the “drawer.” The person talking
describes something that they are looking at to their partner (a face, a body, a city, a monster)
and that person draws what they hear. The results are usually hilarious and fun to show to the
rest of the class.

You can use this activity with all English levels. For example, some useful functional
language that you can practice with this activity is asking for clarifications to your B1-C1
students. However, if you are teaching true beginner students you could describe something
to them and they all draw their own version of it or students could describe a picture to you
and then you draw it on the board.

Procedure:
1. Two students sit back to back but close enough to talk to each other. (For me it
worked girl with girl and boy with boy)
2. Give student A, a picture of some kind (it will be better if you use pictures about the
vocabulary or expressions you studied with the students in previous lessons) I really
like to prepare slides in Power Point and have the drawer sit with their back towards
the screen.
3. Student A describes the picture to student B who must draw it, without looking at
the original picture. Student B can ask some questions to student A to clarify if
necessary.
4. Compare the original picture with the drawing and laugh a lot!

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 Comic Strip Challenge

This is a fun activity hat is great for those students who are a little bit introverted
because it does not involve speaking but instead focuses on writing. You just need to
print out a simple comic strip with blank speech bubbles and have the students fill it
individually or in pairs. It is even better if you can find one that matches with the topic
you will teach that day. At the end of the activity, you can have your students compare
with their classmates. Also, you can elicit some volunteers to share their ideas with the
class.

Procedure:

1. Print out a comic strip paper with blank speech bubbles (one per student or one per
pair).
2. Have students fill in the comic strip
3. Students compare with a partner or another pair
4. Elicit some volunteers to share their comic strips with the class

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 Board Race

I used this warm-up activity for revising vocabulary or even grammar structures from
a lesson taught a previous class or week. It is a great way of testing what students already
know about the subject we are about to teach. I used it in classes ranging from 7-19 years old
and it worked well in all the groups. You can choose six students or more - the more, the
better.

Procedure:

1. Split the class into two teams and give each team a colored marker.
2. If you have a very large class, it may be better to split the students into teams of three
or four.
3. Draw a line down the middle of the board and write a topic at the top.
4. During a specific amount of time (assigned by the teacher), students must then write
as many words as you require related to the topic in the form of a relay race.
5. Each team wins one point for each correct word. Any words that are unreadable or
misspelled are not counted.

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 Crossword Names

To play this with your students, you will need pen and paper. This game is best played
where students are meeting for the first time. In addition, you can use it to practice a certain
type of vocabulary you previously studied in other lessons.

Procedure:

 Give pen and paper to each player in the group and ask them to write their first names
in the middle of the paper but in capitals.
 Select a topic
 Each player now has to move around, inviting others to write any of the words, they
have studied before, in the place where the first letter matches a letter on the paper.
 The player who connects the most vocabulary at a given time will be the winner.

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