WARMING-UP THE

ENGLISH CLASS
Warm ups, lead-ins, ice-
breakers, energizers and
time fillers are activities
used by teachers to
create a positive
atmosphere for learning.
There are, however,
 A warm-up stage is a preparatory
stage which helps the students
feel relaxed and also sets a
WARM-UP positive mood for learning
ACTIVITIES
(Rushidi, 2013). According to
Robertson & Acklam (2000) “warm
up is a short activity for the
beginning of lesson” (p.30).
 Kay (1995) claims that warm ups
are different types of activities

WARM-UP which help the students begin to

ACTIVITIES think in English, review previously
introduced materials and become
interested in the lesson (as cited
in Velandia, 2008, p. 11).
 Lassche (2005) defines that for
language learning lesson a warm-
up stage is the “initial orientation”

WARM-UP (p. 83). So, a warm up activity is

ACTIVITIES used to start a class with an
interesting task to help the
students be comfortable in
classroom setting and to help
 As the word itself implies, a lead-in is
meant to lead students into the
lesson. Its main purpose is to set the

LEAD- mood for what is to come next, to

INS arouse students’ curiosity about the

topic and motivate them to want to
learn more. It is supposed to provide
a meaningful and authentic context
for language learning.
 Cognitively speaking, it has the
purpose of tapping into students’ prior
knowledge about the topic that is
going to be addressed so as to link

LEAD- new information to information

INS already stored in the brain,

maximizing long-term learning. A
lead-in should also be used to relate
the topic of the lesson to students’
personal experiences, favoring long-
 Lead-ins can come in different
formats and a whole range of
techniques and resources can be
used, such as discussions, role-plays,
LEAD- mind maps, games, videos, songs,
INS pictures, comic strips, ads, surveys,
drawings, you name it. It’s also
important to vary your lead-in
techniques so as to arouse students’
 An ice-breaker is a (quick) activity
which is used at the beginning of a
course or a lesson to help the
ICE-
students and teacher get to know
BREAKER
S each other. In order to complete an
ice-breaker task, learners must talk
to each other. Ice-breakers should be
enjoyable and fun.
 Energizers are classroom-based
activities that integrate physical
activity (PA) with academic concepts.
ENERGIZER It is an evidence-based intervention
S proven to increase student physical
activity levels. Including physically
active lessons in the day provides
another learning opportunity for
 A time filler is an activity that occupies
time which would otherwise be wasted.
When teachers have a few extra
minutes to spare and they don’t want
TIME the classroom to erupt in chaos, then
FILLERS they need to use classroom
management to be prepared to fill time.
Sometimes things just happen and the
lesson finishes early, so teachers use
classroom management to keep
DISCUSSION
TIME!
1. How can a warm-up activity motivate
students? 
 
2. Why should a warm-up activity have a
purpose? What could
happen with a purposeless warm-up
activity? 

3. Why does a warm-up activity have to catch

students’ attention? 

4. What is the place of a warm-up activity in