Larry Slater

Do you have several solid colored sock-balls? Have each team place the balls into different shapes that are drawn on the ground, say square, circle, etc. Place a solid colored sock-ball in each shape. Tell the students they must hop (or jump or crawl) to a shape and pick up the colored sock. The difficulty [...]

Give two teams one word that you want them to learn. Each player is to say the word and then throw the sock-ball to a person on the other team. That person must repeat the word and then toss the sock-ball back to another person on the first team. For people who cannot repeat the [...]

Do you want to add some physical fitness to English learning? Try this one on for size. Fill a couple of plastic sandwich bags full of sand. Stuff these into the toes of a long tube sock and then tie off its end. You now have a very soft dumb-bell. The soft dumb-bells can be [...]

Here’s another interesting way to emphasize the different parts of the human body. Divide the group up into teams. Give each team a sock-ball and line them up. Then call out a name of the body, such as “head”. The first person is to balance the sock-ball on their head. Now is where the fun [...]

Set up several items that you want the kids to learn the names of, say cup, pot, pan, trashcan, bowl, etc. Place a number of these items on the floor in front of them. Now break up the kids into teams and place them behind a line some distance from the items. Give the first [...]

While each card has their items arranged differently, there should be two cards for each number. Have these pairs mixed up and then the students must match them up while saying which cards they are trying to match.

Place ten cards out and take one card out of the ten. Have a student hide their eyes while you take the one card away. When they are told to look they must tell you which card is missing.

Glue a certain number of items to a playing card. This card will then represent the number that the items add up to. Make cards with a different number of items while arranging the items differently on each card.

Place the cards face down on the table. As one card is turned up the student must think of another word that starts with the same sound. Or, upon picking up a card, the student must think about a word that rhymes with the card. You could also reverse the play by playing with the [...]

Some English words have similar sounds but entirely different meanings. Hat and cat. Sink and mink. Cape and cap. Etc. Make up picture cards of some of these pairs and place them out in a 4 by 4 square. Now the teacher asks which is the first and which is the second of the pairs. [...]

Show a card to a team. Have the team create a sentence from it. If the sentence is a good sentence then the team gets a point. If it is not then they lose a point.

Place your cards face down on a table. Have a student turn over three cards. With these three cards the student has to create a sentence. If the student can make a complete sentence then they keep the cards. If the student can’t make a sentence then the cards are placed face down on the [...]

This is a more advanced game and requires some preparation. First either makes up cards with new vocabulary words on them or use special ready-made cards. Lay these cards out in front of you. Now start to make up a story using the words on the cards. Write up the story on a large sheet [...]

If you thought it was hard for one student to follow directions, what will it be like for two to do it together? Place two blindfolded students into one hoop. Have them hold the hoop around them. The other students must then instruct them to move together to a certain spot. The hitch is that [...]

Lay out several hula-hoops on the floor. Give several verbs to each team. Each student on the team is to hop into the first hoop and act out the first verb. The student then hops into the next hoop and acts out the next verb and so on. Judges will determine if they have acted [...]

Having one team choose a word and then telling the other team a word that rhymes with the chosen word play this game. For example: if the chosen word is ‘hot’, then the word given to the other team could be ‘pot’. The other team would have several guesses to discover the chosen word. If [...]

Simulate a telephone conversation. Use an old telephone to give it some theater. Choose two students as talkers. On the board have pictures that represent what one of the talkers must talk about. The other talker must respond accordingly. The number of pictures determines the length of the conversation. To make it very interesting, both [...]

Here’s one that will help in teaching words that rhyme. As you say words such as rule and mule, slap your hands against your thighs and then clap them together. This creates a one-two beat. As in the example: ru-le, mu-le, etc. This same beat can be used with three syllable words where you stomp [...]

The teacher says two sentences and a student must determine whether they were the same or different. Make sure you say the sentences in as exactly the same way as possible.
“You are big.”
“You are big.”
The same.
“I am tall.”
“I am small.”
Different. So don’t just use sentences but also use minimal pairs as well. (Example: Leaf – [...]

Two teams are used. A student from one team is instructed to touch or point to an object and ask “What’s this?” or “What’s that?” The student next to them must answer by making a complete sentence like: “It’s a clock.” or “It’s your watch.” If the student is wrong than a point is taken [...]

Collect a number of items that can be put up for sale. Place a price tag of a certain number. You use buttons for currency. A is worth two buttons. A crayon is worth 1 and a piece of paper is worth 3 buttons, etc. Give the students a certain number of buttons to purchase [...]

Try to count everything as you touch it. Count the buttons on a shirt as you touch them. Count paper clips as you put them into a box. Every time you see a number have the student say the word for that number. If there are a number of items of anything, count them as [...]

Make a clock by fastening clock hands onto a paper plate using a string. Add numbers to the clock, preferably 3,6,9,12. Now list a daily schedule that the student keeps. Show the time on the clock. For a digital readout, just write out the time before the event. Example: 7:30 – Breakfast. 8:00 – Go [...]

Teach a word and teach its opposite at the same time. If you are trying to teach ‘up’ then also teach ‘down’. Left then right. Open then close. Short than tall and so on.

Both you and a student have a toy car. As you roll the car along the table or floor or wall or whatever, make up a commentary of where you are and how the car is going. (Example: The car going fast. The car is under the table. The car is beside Tom.) The student [...]

Each student whispers a simple thing for the next student to do. For example: Smile, Sit down, Stand up, touch you head, etc. The student must then act out the directions.

Make up a scrapbook with each page dedicated to one letter. On the page collect and paste pictures of things that begin with that letter. Select pictures that only begin with the simple sound and not the compound sound, i.e. sail and not shell.

Letters represent sounds but this may not be easy for a student to understand. Have the student give their name. As you say the name have the student think of which letters makes the correct sounds. You can have letters such as those furnished with scrabble or other games. Have the letters laid out face [...]

Not everything is viewed from the side. Think of something that everyone knows the name of; let’s say a tree. Draw two pictures of a tree on two cards; one picture is your standard side view the other may be one from above the tree. Now show the students first the card with the view [...]

Get a large manila envelope and a piece of cardboard that just fits into it. Find a large picture of just one item that will fit on the cardboard and paste it on. Put the cardboard in the envelope. When you are in front of the class, begin to pull out the picture in stages. [...]

As you go around the room, have each student ask a question of the student next to him. The only words they can’t use is yes or no or maybe. For example:
Q. “Are you hungry?”
A. “I am hungry.”
Q. “Do you like hamburger?”
A. “I like hamburger.”

While this is not a competitive game, it is a very useful way to teach What, Where, When, How and Why. These words will cover a lot of the questions your students will ask in their usage of English.
Start our by asking your students simple questions. These can be answered with one word such as:
“What [...]

How can you teach a student sounds? Well, here’s a very useful game to do just that. The teacher says a word and then asks a student what sound the word started with (or ended with or what sound is in the middle of the word). The student gets one chance and receives a point [...]

Collect ten small objects from the students and place them in a box. As you put them in the box, have the class see them and say what they are. Put your hand into the box and grab hold of one object but do not show it to the class.
Teacher: “What do I have in [...]

Hold up pictures that exemplify a single concept; something like running or swimming. Make up a simple sentence about the picture and tell it to the class. If it is true then the class will repeat the sentence back to you. Here you as the teacher can compete against the class. If the class repeats [...]

As you are leaning the names of the body parts, this little ‘art project’ might be fun to do. A large piece of paper is folded into fifths. The teacher tells the first student to draw a head on the paper. The next student is told to draw hair, the next eyes, the next a [...]

Over, under, right, left. Here’s a fun way to teach these direction words. Divide the kids into teams. Have them form a line. Give the first person a ball of some kind, the bigger the better. Now instruct them that they are to pass the ball to the person behind them. They are to do [...]

While this activity takes up a lot of space, it is truly a total learning experience. Divide the group into teams. Have each team decide upon a letter or number. Then have them lie on the ground and create the letter or number with their bodies. They can grab onto each others wrists and ankles. [...]

Get some very cheap paper (newsprint) and a marker. Set the kids down and have them think of a word that says something about their school using the letters of the alphabet. (Example: Average school (not the greatest to use for your school but it works), Bad school, Cool school, etc.). You can use other [...]

To help understand certain words such as over, around, on, etc. try making up a sentence that would use the word but actually leaves out the word. Instead make a gesture that communicates the missing word. For example:
Sentence
Gesture
He is _______ the car.
My cat is ______ the pillow. Move your hand under the desk.
Pat your hand [...]

Each student makes a gesture to ask a question. Here you don’t use words but actions. An example would be if the student were hungry they would rub their stomach. If they were sick they would grab their head and look sick. Since gestures are easy they can be used in the first steps in [...]

Get out nine carpet squares or pillows and set them out in three rows of three. The boys can be the X’s and the girls can be the O’s. This game has many possibilities depending on what you want to emphasize. The squares can be of different colors and the kids have to call out [...]

Place one square on the ground and another some distance from it. Break up the group into several teams with each team having their own pair of squares. The object is for each student to perform an action while saying the correct English word for that action. The first student is instructed to start at [...]

This is a variation on Bingo for ten players or less. You need two identical decks of cards. From one deck five cards are dealt out to each player. The dealer then takes the other deck and calls out one card at a time. As each card is called out, the students look through their [...]

Now here’s a card game that can have as many as 13 players. Deal out four cards to each player. Having not looked at any of their cards, the first player begins by saying, “I see . . .” and they turn over one of their cards. As they turn the card over, everyone must [...]

To play this game you will need a deck of cards. Spread out the deck face down. Try to make sure the cards do not overlap. The first player turns over two cards. As each card is turned over, the value or name of the card is said out loud. If they match, (i.e. are [...]

Here are numbers that will produce ’some’ of the letters of a noun. The object is to come up with the missing letters to make the correct word. You could put all these in one list or use them in your own game of finding the objects in a room.

7738_00_
_3507_
_70845_1
1-_14
700_5_00_
[...]

31 times 11 times 11 equals a small island. (isle)
3 to the ninth power plus 35,495 equals what is married life. (bliss)
5,016 times 11 plus 2,542 equals what comes at the first of the month. (bills)
1,000 plus 852.8667 times 2 equals the bottom of your shoe. (heel, sole)
851 squared minus [...]

Here is some fun with names and numbers. See if you can come up with your own equations to get these numbers.
77383517 – Lise Bell
73451814 – Hi Bishel
51773717 – Lil Ellis
55347718 – Bill Hess
77140808 – Bobo Hill
33731573 – Elsie Lee
77145173 – Eli Shill
73805808 – Bob Sobel
70531770 – Ollie Sol
This can be an interesting way to [...]

The equations can be written out in symbol form or given in spoken ‘English’ form; whichever you think will be most beneficial for your group.

The square root of 196 equals a greeting. (hi)
44 times 70 equals a musical instrument. (oboe)
52,043 divided by 71 equals a sea creature. (eel)
30,000 minus 2,457,433 times 2 equals [...]