Activities for primary and secondary

1. SOME USEFUL TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES
True of false?
The students sit in two rows of chairs, one in front of the other, and they are numbered in
pairs. There are two more seats, one for TRUE and another one for FALSE. The teacher
reads a statement and then says a number. The two students that have this number (and who
belong to different teams) must run and seat in the corresponding seat. The first one (if
correct) gets a point for his/her team.
Vocabulary revision
Working in groups, you have to recall all the words that we learnt yesterday in one minute.
Only one person will write them for you, and the first group who finishes wins.
Find your partner
The teacher gives different expressions and definitions to the pupils. We must move around
and explain them to other students. If any of them has the same word, we just go snap (you
move forward and find another person)
Mumble drill
In order to practice pronunciation and memorize new vocabulary, everybody repeats the same
word, but softly and using their own time to do it. It is different to a drill, when all students
repeat the same word aloud and at the same time.
Jigsaw reading
The class is divided into two groups – A and B. Each A student gets the first half of a text,
and each B student gets the second half.
First, each student must quickly read its corresponding half of the text. They must read it
quickly, without stopping in the difficult words, just to get a rough idea of the content. They
must also answer some questions about it. The pupils should read the questions first, in order
to focus on the basic information they must look for in the text.
After answering the question individually, all A students meet and discuss their different
answers, trying to find an agreement. B students do the same.
Later, A students explain their passage to B students, and the other way round.
After that, students read the text again, but this time they do it slowly, trying to find specific
information. Then, they explain this piece of information to the other student.
Touching your ear to make the students listen
When the teacher wants us to listen to her pronunciation, she just touches her ear, so we
know that we must keep quiet and listen to her.
Role playing
The students work in groups. The teacher gives them a handout with different situations –
they will act playing their roles, using the words we have learnt in a natural dialogue
Individual silent reflection
Spend two minutes thinking individually about all the words you learnt during this week.
This is a silent activity, and it can be used to make students feel calm and relaxed at the
beginning of the session.

2. The ball
The students stand up in a circle and a ball is given to them by the teacher. The pupil who has
the ball must remember the words that they have learnt, giving a precise definition. After that,
the student throws the ball to another pupil. If they can't remember a new word, they are out.
If they are really good, the teacher can give them just 3 or 4 seconds to recall a new word, so
that the game goes on. This is a competitive activity that engages students and is very useful
in order to revise the vocabulary that has been used in the previous lessons.
Personal links
The teacher talks about her children, her favourite sports, their hobbies… she brings her
pictures and some objects that they use. She uses facts about them to prepare her lessons and
to make sentences which include the words we are working with. In order to revise the
sounds, she selected some words that are connected with her children. To make it easier for
us to remember these sentences, she also presents us some images which are connected with
them. I think it is a great way to connect her life with her teaching!
Snapping your fingers to show the stress
In order to show our students where the stress of the sentence goes, we can use clicking
snapping our fingers, and we can also write the words and point at the syllables that have the
stress.
Mimic and gestures to teach how to pronounce
The teacher uses specific signs to show the students when they must listen and when they
must talk or pronounce a certain sound.
For and against
The teacher gives every student a letter, A or B, and also shows us a certain statement.
If you are A you must write at least 3 points in favour of this position, even if you personally
disagree. If you are B you will do the same against this position.
Mushrooming group technique: We will go from talking to 2 people, to talking to 4, and then
talking to 8, and so on. This helps us to get more ideas and rely on our own position, getting
ready for the debate. In these groups we have to discuss our ideas, using polite ways to
express our disagreement.
Find the information by yourself
Instead of lecturing us about the English education system, the teacher asked us to find the
information by ourselves and to present it to the rest of the class.
Think of 6 questions (open and closed) to ask a person on the campus about education (in
pairs). You will write these questions down and we will have to use diplomatic language to
ask the person if they mind answering your questions.
Ice-breaking activities
A warmer activity, used to wake the students up. These ice-breaking activities can also be
used in the middle of a session, just to activate the pace of the lesson. They usually involve
movement and action, and they are very useful if you want to make your class more
motivating and engaging.
Follow the music
Music is playing and students move around the room. When the music stops, the students
must stop and talk to their peers. Our objective will be to elicit a specific word describing

3. them to our partners. We should confirm that our partner has correctly understood the
information, but it might not be very wise to ask 'Do you understand?'. This question is
usually answered with a 'yes' because they don't want to look silly, or because they think they
understand even if it is not the case. Instead, we should ask concept questions: specific
questions about the piece of information we have just given to them, focusing on the core
elements that define this particular word. This kind of questions might help us to know that
the other person has correctly grasped all the nuances of the word. After doing the previous
activity, each group nominates one student who will write one of these words on the board,
including its corresponding definition.
Revising what you learnt
This is a good way to check if students have memorised the relevant information we are
interested in. The teacher asks a question, and students can shout out the answer. They work
in two different teams, so each group can get points if their members are quick. It is a kind of
engaging competition that helps students to remember what they have previously learnt.
Putting the information in order
In order to get to know the different exams that students undergo during their school life, the
teacher gives us cards with the main exams. We must place the cards in the correct position
on a line that is drawn on the board, and which goes from the start to the end of educational
life. This technique could also be used with any other kind of chronological organisation of
information in a timeline. It could be great to revise, for example, the chronological order of
historical events or authors.
Symbols for marking
Instead of writing long sentences, the teacher uses a few symbols to mark activities, exercises
and exams. Instead of giving us the meaning of these symbols, the teacher asks us to guess
what they mean, and then checks what we have written. When the teacher gives the notebook
back to the students, they will have some corrections and suggestions, and also a feedback
sheet, indicating good points, suggestions for further improvement and an overall reflection
Anonymous correction
To correct language mistakes, the teacher can write them on the board, without identifying
the student who made it, so nobody feels bad and everyone can learn from the situation
Musical true and false
In order to revise the vocabulary we learnt last day, she has placed two signs on the walls:
one says TRUE, the other says FALSE. The music is playing and people are moving around.
When the music stops, the teacher will give a definition. The students who agree with it will
have to move close to the TRUE sign, and those who disagree will move close to the FALSE.
Those who think it is false, will have to explain why. Then the teacher will explain the right
meaning of the word.
Use the present!
When giving instructions it is convenient to use the present simple tense, which is simpler
and easier to understand, especially for young students with a low level of English.
I went to the shop
'I went to the shop' activity. 'I went to the shop and I bought an apple', 'I went to the shop and
I bought an apple and a pear', 'I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a pear and an

4. orange'…
For example: Working in groups, please revise all the different tests that students have to take
during their school life. You can say 'I went to school and I took my key stage 1 sats test'.
Later, 'I went to school and I took my key stage 1 sats exam and then I took my key stage 2
stas exam', and so on...
What did you learn today?
Turn to the person next to you and discuss what you have learnt today
Use a soft voice!
In order to keep students quiet, after a discussion or a teamwork activity, The teacher uses a
very soft voice tone instead of shouting. It seems to be much more effective!
Questions for the gist and questions for detailed information
When you show a video to your students, how do you prepare the activity? How do you
introduce the activity? What do you tell them before playing the video? She gives us two
minutes to discuss in our group what we usually do. We tend to explain what we are focusing
our attention on, and we can revise the specific vocabulary that might appear in the video.
You can also show a picture, to catch their interest. If we focus on a particular point they
want to learn about, they will be engaged and pay attention to the video. This is all about
personalisation, making the subject relevant and significant for the children, finding
something in their own lives that is connected with the topic we are studying in the class.
Questions for gist should be posed first, to let our students focus on the main idea presented
by the video the first time they see it. Later, they can also pay attention to specific
information. We can help our mixed ability students to find specific information with a
'jigsaw listening'. For example, we can ask the easiest questions to the weak student, and the
most difficult ones to the advanced pupils. The teacher can prepare a sheet with different
questions (some of them easy, others difficult), and we can ask the pupils to answer some of
them in pairs. The teacher can divide the classes in A students and B students. All A students,
after having discussed their questions with their corresponding partners, will have to meet the
rest of the A pupils and check that they have the correct answers. Other questions could be
answered in groups of 4-5. This means that the students will need the contribution of their
mates. This is a great way to pick up the pace of the lesson. We can also split the listening in
different part, mixing them up, and we can ask the students to put them in its correct order.
We can also ask each student to listen carefully to what one specific character says.
Silent pronunciation
In order to practice pronunciation, the teacher moves her mouth silently in front of the
students, so we can appreciate the difference between them without hearing the actual
sounds, just checking the position of lips, tongue and mouth.
Visual expressions as pronunciation hints
The teacher uses visual expressions in order to help her students remember the different
sounds. For example, the 'cow pat' sound in 'word' or the 'pout sound' in 'job' or the 'fake
smile' sound in 'yob'. This should be explained in a very exaggerated way, so that students
can really understand the difference between different pronunciations.
Arrange the words
The teacher gives each group an envelope with different words. We have to arrange them in
different columns, according to the different sounds in their pronunciation. For example: jam,

5. yam, jello, yellow, job, yob, jewel, yule, jaw, your… The teacher pronounces one of these
words, and one student in the group must hold up the corresponding card. The first team that
gives the correct answer gets a point, so this can be done as a competition.
The students can distribute the cards, giving a couple of them to each pupil so that all of them
have the opportunity to participate.
Mind mapping
Mind mapping is a technique developed by Tony Buzan. He wrote a very interesting book
called 'Mind maps for kids' In mind maps, ideas are connected and linked between them
using graphic resources. This is useful because our brain doesn't work in a linear way. As a
matter of fact, some students prefer to express the ideas included in the mind map in a linear
way, because there are different learning styles.
Use a punchy ending
How can you make a punchy ending? We can ask an open challenging question that relates to
our students' personal lives. You can also use a famous quote or something funny that tries to
explain an important point. Finishing in an unexpected point is also very effective. The main
purpose of the punchy ending is to make people remember the very last part of your
presentation.
The missing word
Students are given a card with sentences that contain a missing preposition. They will move
around the class and they will find a partner. Working in pairs, are given
Person A - What are you good…? Ask me another follow-up question about this. This second
question tries to produce a natural and spontaneous fluent conversation.
Person B - What are you afraid…? Ask me another question about this.
An alternative way to elicit the missing word
This a good exercise for revising the prepositions we have learnt. The teacher reads all the
sentences aloud, without pronouncing the preposition. The students must say it aloud.
Use pictures!
When working with little children you can tell them: 'Prepositions are words that describe
everywhere a bunny can hide'. Using pictures can be very useful. You can distribute pictures
and prepositions, so each student has to find their partner. It can be an excellent activity for
reviewing the lesson.
Don’t try to teach too many words!
How many new words are easy to learn in a single class? 6 to 8
Managing group work
You have to work in your groups. You must appoint one timekeeper, who will make sure that
you make the most of your time. When working in teams, we can distribute roles such as the
leader, the timekeeper, the scribe or the observer. The observer checks that everyone sticks to
the role. These roles are shifted from time to time, so all students have the opportunity to be
in charge of all roles.
Moving from one station to the next one
This is a very interesting activity, which involves the participation of volunteers from outside
the class. The class is divided into 4-5 groups, based on different tables. A volunteer will be

6. sitting in each of these tables with a specific activity, and he/she will tell the students what to
do. The students will have 10 minutes to complete the activity. Then, the teacher will ask
them to stop and move to the following table, where a new volunteer will present them the
next activity that they must do. It is engaging and fun, and it is a great way to offer older
students the opportunity to get engaged as volunteers, learning while they work with their
younger mates. The students are focused and well behaved, as they really enjoy this activity.
Who wants to be a millionaire?
Students are grouped in different teams of 4 members. One of the students sits on a chair,
while the other three stand behind him. The teacher asks a question, and the students on the
chair – who represent their respective teams – make a sound when they know the answer. The
quickest one will have the opportunity to answer. If he is right, he gets a point (or a certain
amount of money, according to the TV programme rank). If he is wrong, another student
from a different group can try to get the right answer. After the question, the students swap
positions, so everybody has the opportunity to participate. To make it fun, we can also
include the possibility of 'phoning a friend' or 'asking the audience'.
Objects and images linked with the teacher’s life
The teacher begins her class showing us different objects and images which are connected
with her own personal life. The activity consists in trying to guess, working in groups, which
is the topic we are going to talk about in this class. Instead of presenting it to us, The teacher
wants us to discover by ourselves what these objects represent for her. She encourages us to
guess what they are about, and she wants us to ask her questions in order to check if our
suppositions are correct or not. This is also an excellent way to practice our grammar. With
these question we not only get involved and engaged in the lesson topic, but we also get to
know detailed particulars about The teacher's life. The story behind these images is so
touching and emotive that all of us were quietly listening to her story in amazed awe!
Complex jigsaw reading
The teacher shows us different images of British politicians. Working in our groups we must
try to recall their names and political parties. After that we must place their political option
on a left-right line. This is only a guess that we must check with a jigsaw reading. Before
giving the text to the students, the teacher presents the essential vocabulary that the pupils
will need in order to answer the gist and specific questions. It is not necessary to give them
all the new words that they don't know, as this will be a good way to improve their level of
English, but they will need to know the key words. The task includes a mix-match activity –
We have the definitions and the words, and the students have to match them. As it is a guess,
they should use the modal verbs saying, for example, 'It could be..' as it would be wrong to
say 'It can be'
For the jigsaw reading, students are divided into A1, A2, B1 and B2. The teacher also gives
us two questions: one for the gist and another one for specific detail.
As have the first part, and Bs have the second one. In order to answer the gist question we
have to read the passage, and share information with their partners. Later, A1 will discuss
with B1 and A2 will discuss with B2. Each student will focus on one particular part of the
question. For example, the question for the gist is 'Which end of the political spectrum are
David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn on?' One student will focus on the first politician, and
another one on the second. After reading the text, As will share their information, and Bs will
do the same.

7. Guess the word
In order to revise the new words that we learnt today, the teacher reads the definition aloud,
and asks us to guess the corresponding word. Later, she asks us to the same activity the other
way round – one student says the word and the other gives the definition. These activities are
very useful, as children must repeat new words many different times in order to get familiar
with them.
Let another student answer the students’ questions
Is there anything else you want to ask about this topic? If there are any new questions, and
some students want to know new things, the teacher asks other students to answer them.
Use your own personal objects!
In order to use English expressions connected with art, the teacher brought several examples
of paintings and placed them in different places of the classroom. Working in pairs we must
guess which her favourite painting is and which is the painting she hates the most. But she
only tells the truth at the end of the class!
There are as many works of art as groups. Each group will have to stand in from of one
painting, and they will have to describe their feelings about it. The students should use
suitable expressions to show if they like it or dislike it, using polite ways to disagree with
opposing opinions.
Objects can be used to teach pronunciation
The teacher shows us the difference between the pronunciation of 'feet' and 'fit' using a elastic
band, which can be stretched or compressed, illustrating how to pronounce the long and short
sounds.
Find the missing half of your sentence
The teacher gives the students different sentences. Each sentence matches with another one,
forming a conversation. The students will have to find a partner whose sentence matches
his/her sentence. They are encouraged to memorize the sentences after reading them, just to
make the activity more fluent and natural, so they will have to leave the card on the table.
When they find their partner, they sit down.
Brainstorming activity
Competition – Each group will have 2 minutes to write down as many expressions we know
to express that you strongly like or dislike a painting.
Strongly like Strongly dislike
I love it
It's awesome
I adore it...
I loathe it
It's disgusting
It's hateful...
Find the most extraordinary of these expressions and say it aloud.
Complete the sentence
Working in pairs, the students must complete some sentences which are incomplete. For
example, 'This painting speaks...me' (they should include the preposition 'to') or '… leaves …
cold', which should be completed as 'It leaves me cold'

8. Anything new?
Can you raise your hand if there was something new for you in this activity?
Tongue twister chain (the rumour)
Five students stand up in a line. The first student will whisper a tongue twister to the second,
the second will whisper it to the third, and so on. But they have only one try. The last student
will say it aloud, in order to check if it was the correct tongue twister. The winner is the
group that guesses the best the original tongue twister.
3, 2, 1
Think about 3,2,1 things
3 things you learnt today
2 things you are going to try out with your host family
1thing you think that you could possibly use in your classroom in Spain
Music and imagination
The teacher plays 'The ascending of the lark', by Ralph Vaughan Williams (but it can be any
song). While listening to it we must try to answer the following questions:
1) Where do you think the story takes place?
2) Who is the main character or characters? Is it about people, animals, imaginary creatures?
3) What happens in the story? Is it something happy or sad? Can you imagin a beginning, a
middle and an end for the story?
Which is false and which is true?
We can give our students several pieces of information, later we ask them to decide which
one is false and which are correct. We can also ask our students to prepare these pieces of
information for other pupils to decide if they are right or wrong.
To gain our students' attention we can ask them to show us their pens, to clap their hands, to
stand up and sit down again… Anything that forces them to pay us their attention will work!
Back to the blackboard
A student sits back to the blackboard. The teacher writes a piece of information on the board,
and the rest of the pupils give some clues to the student in order to help him discover what
the information is about. He can ask questions to them and he has to guess what is written on
the board. It can be adapted to yes/no questions, we can use them to identify famous people
or to learn how to read emotions in other people's faces, for example
The three yes
How many of you would like… something good? We ask our students three times, to get
them ready for next activity
Ask your mates
In order to better know the rest of the students we can prepare handouts with different
questions – Our pupils will complete the question with the names of different students written
at random, and they will have to ask them in order to get information from them.
Running dictation
We write a text in a card, and the students have to run and find them in order to memorise the

9. text. This person goes back to the group and he/she has to dictate to another person who
writes. Another person will help with the spelling. Whenever the teacher claps, the person
who must run will change. There can be different cards, with different colours, that must be
read by different groups.
Blank mind maps – Create your map
In order to analyse the way in which different concepts are linked we can create blank mind
maps that the students have to complete. But we can also give the concepts to the students,
for example using flashcards, and ask them to imagine how these concepts are connected.
Find the matching word
The teacher gives the students cards with collocations- words which tend to appear together
(such as GLOBAL/WARMING, SOLAR/PANELS or FOSSIL/FUELS). This is a natural
way to learn a language, as these words tend to appear connected. The kids have to find the
other student who has the card that matches his/her own. Then we work in the class the
meaning of these concepts. The concepts can be placed by the students in a graph, showing
for example the relationship between usefulness and danger for the environment. A
discussion is held about the places that the pupils have found for these concepts.
Do you agree?
The teacher presents a controversial statement to the students, and asks them to decide if they
agree with it or not. The class is split into two different groups: those who agree and those
who disagree. A discussion is held, trying to convince the people who don't share your own
position. As part of this debate, the students can fill in a table with the pros and cons of each
possibility. The activity can also force the students to find 5 arguments to defend their
opponents position, and it could also include the corresponding rebuttals.
It is also possible to work with 'the 3 positions': My own position, my interlocutor's position
and a third, neutral position, which would be the one an external observer would have.
This activity tends to make the students feel uncomfortable, so after the debate, some time is
devoted to revise all possible positions and to make a final point. Frequently there is no right
or wrong position, so it is important to make it clear that all possible points of view could be
acceptable.
For example: 'Publisher's materials are better than materials that teachers can create
themselves'. Do you agree or disagree? Convince your partner and discuss.
Brainstorming in small groups and a massive brainstorming all together.
Each group can write their ideas in stickers, identified with a specific colour, so all teams
have the opportunity to show what they did to the rest of the class. At the end of the activity,
a massive brainstorming is carried out with all the students. This can be done in a different
way, asking individual students to get up and post their piece of information on the board, so
that we can control the activity and make sure that no information is repeated or presented
twice.
Analyse and criticise
The teacher gives a different text, object or artefact to each group. They have 10 minutes to
analyse it and criticise it.