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    Top5ESLWritingGames 1

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    Top5ESLWritingGames 1

    Uploaded by

    Emilia Grabowska
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    Top5ESLWritingGames-1

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    3 views5 pages

    Top5ESLWritingGames 1

    Uploaded by

    Emilia Grabowska

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    of 5

    TOP 5 ESL Writing Games

    Original content from Jackie Bolen, from​


    My Life! Teaching in a Korean University

    1. Boggle

    Skills: Writing

    Materials: “Boggle” grid on PowerPoint, whiteboard or paper

    You've probably played the word game Boggle before. You have to shake up the letters and then you

    have a certain amount of time to make some words with connecting letters. You can also play it with

    your students but you don't need the actual Boggle game. Simply make up a grid on the whiteboard,

    PowerPoint or on a piece of paper. I make a 6x6 one and put some obvious words in like colors or

    animals. Then, students go in pairs and have to make as many words as possible that are 4+ letters.

    You can give a bonus for longer words if you like. At the end, students count up how many points

    they have, you can double­check for any errors and then award a small prize to the winning team.

    Procedure:

    1.Prepare a “Boggle” grid.

    2.Students go in pairs and try to make as many words as possible with 4+ letters. You cannot use the

    same letter in a single square twice within a single word.

    3.Students add up points. The teacher checks answers of the top 2 or 3 teams and declares a winner.

    ***If you teach small groups of less than 6 students, it might be worth investing in the real Boggle

    game. You can get the ​


    “Super Big Boggle” game on Amazon​
    for less than $20.
    o r p t s a

    e a i e t f

    b k n e r i

    a d r g o r

    c o t l s e

    k f h m a n

    Some possible words from this board:

    green, pink, rake, back, fire, fires, fast, road, rose

    Like this activity? It’s from this book: ​


    39 ESL Warm­Ups: For Teenagers and Adults

    2. Alphabet Race

    Skills: Writing
    Time: 5 Minutes
    Level: Beginner to Intermediate
    Materials: Nothing
    This is a simple game you can play for a warm­up when your students already know a lot of the
    vocabulary about the topic. Put the students in pairs and they have to write the alphabet vertically on
    a piece of paper, one letter per line. Then you can give them a topic. For example: "Words to describe
    a city." B­Busy, E­Exciting. My rule is that they only need one word per letter.

    Give the students 3 or 4 minutes, collect the papers, check for the inappropriate answers, add up the
    points and you have a winner!
    If you have a small class, you could only award a point if nobody else in the class has that word in
    order to encourage creativity.

    3. Comic Strip Challenge


    Skills: Writing/reading

    Materials: Comic Strip printouts

    This is a fun warm­up that is great for those students who are a little bit introverted because it doesn't

    involve speaking but instead focuses on writing. Print out a simple blank comic strip and have the

    students fill it in individually or in pairs. It's best if you can find one that matches the topic for that day,

    such as emotions, hobbies, dating, etc. Then you can have students compare with a partner or

    another pair and finally you can elicit some volunteers to share their ideas with the class.

    Procedure:

    1.Print out a blank comic strip paper (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.

    4. Running Dictation
    Skills: Writing/listening/speaking/reading
    Time: 15 minutes
    Level: Beginner to Advanced
    Materials: The “dictation” + some way to attach it to the walls or board.

    This is one of my favorite 4­skills activities which covers reading, writing, listening and speaking.
    These are kind of the “holy­grail” of ESL teaching and if you find a good one, make use of it!

    Make up a story or conversation a few sentences long (less than ten). Put each single sentence on a
    strip of paper. Put these around the classroom in various locations. The students will be in teams of
    two. One person is the reader and one is the writer. The reader gets up and reads a bit of the
    passage and comes and tells it to the writer. They go back to remember more of it and so on and so
    on. At the end, the students have to put the passage or conversation in order. When they're done, I'll
    check their writing and if there aren't many mistakes, that team is the winner. How many mistakes you
    allow depends on the level of your students. Tell your students before the activity starts that yelling is
    not allowed, or they will be disqualified.

    Here are 2 examples of running dictations I've used in the past.

    Around the house​


    ­ Intermediate Level
    Introduce Yourself​
    ­ Beginner Level

    Procedure:

    1. Prepare a simple story or conversation and put each sentence on a single strip of paper.

    2. Put the papers around the classroom on the wall.

    3. Divide the students into teams of two­one writer and one reader.

    4. The reader stands up and reads the paper, then goes back to the writer and tells what they read to
    the writer, who must write it.

    5. The reader continues going until all sentences are complete.

    6. The two students put the story or conversation in the correct order.

    5. Unscramble the Sentence or Conversation

    Skills: Reading, writing


    Time: 10 minutes
    Level: Beginner­Intermediate
    Materials Required: Whiteboard or Powerpoint
    Put up a “Mixed­Up” conversation or a few unrelated sentences on the board. The students then to have turn
    them into coherent English. It’s an excellent way to review grammar concepts.

    Original content from Jackie Bolen: ​


    My Life! Teaching in a Korean University

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