This document lists and describes 10 low-cost teaching tools: scissors, timers, a call bell, pizza box lids, dice, colored markers, sticky putty, modeling clay, playing cards, and Javvy. These tools can be used in various ways to manage the classroom, engage students in fun activities with little preparation, and promote student creativity. All of the tools are affordable options for supporting student learning.

1. Ten Great
Low-Cost
Teaching
Tools

2. Teaching tools are generic used as
resources. The teachers can use
them to deliver instructions. These
tools can support students learning
and increase their success. Ideally,
the teaching tools will be tailored
to the content in which they are
being used. Teaching tools come in
many shapes and sizes, but they all
have in common the ability to
support students learning.
Teaching tools can be expensive, however;
there are low-cost tools that are cheap,
portable, and generally available around the
world.

3. We want to share with you Ten Great Low-Cost
Teaching Tools that can be employed in various ways:
to manage the classroom better, to jump into fun
activities with little or no preparation, or to promote
student-created art and materials. All of these
teaching tools are affordable.
•Scissors (and scratch paper)
•Timers
•Call bell
•Pizza box lids
•Dice
•Colores markers
•Sticky putty
•Modeling clay
•Playing cards
•Javvy

4. Scissors (and
scratch paper)
The dynamic power of scissors resides in
how they can transform a single piece of
scratch paper

6. Timers
From the beginning of a task, students
should have an idea how much time
they are allotted to complete it, whether
working alone in the grammar
workbook or in groups on some
creative project.
Providing time limits can change the
mood of an activity too, and perhaps
even how effectively students work.
Hourglass
Wind-up
egg timer

8. Usually, the teacher relies on his or her voice to get
attention. The problem is, the teacher’s voice has
many different functions, so learners are not
guaranteed to immediately recognize a call for
attention, or to start and stop an activity.
The trick is to have a distinct sound that signifies
START and STOP. Start working. Stop working.
Therefore, the call bell is an useful tool to catch the
students attention.

10. Pizza Box Lids
Teachers can create different board games on the pizza
box lids. The games can be based on speaking and
critical-thinking tasks.
Once students get the hang of playing board games, they
will have fun creating their own. Just hand them a blank
box and colored markers. Pizza lids make great canvases
for student-designed advertisements, posters, or
sequential art or comic strips.

12. With them you can create dozens,
actually hundreds of activities on
the spot.
As a springboard for speaking or
writing, for instance, you can ask
the students to build sentences
with the modal auxiliary, with
verbs; in addition, they can create
stories from the dice.

14. Students can use
markers to make
decorative
nametags,
posters, board
games, birthday
cards, or dice
games.
With nothing more than
markers, papers, and
creative planning,
students can combine art
and language in comic
strips or sequential art.
The finished pieces,
which can be posted in a
gallery .

16. • This clay-like adhesive sticks things
together such as papers to walls,
windows, or desks.
• It can be recycled, used again and again.
• It is amazing the number of other ways a
little sticky putty can help hold all the
colored markers onto slanted desks, to
post labels for learning areas within the
classroom, to stick nametags to desks, or
to hold down papers or posters.

17. Teachers can
use clay in
small amounts
for shaping and
molding tasks.
Try a “dic-clay-tion,” like a
dictation, except instead of
writing the word for the
object that you say aloud
(e.g., house, glass, face, dog)
students are allowed 30
seconds (use your timer!) to
mold a clay representation
of the word.

19. Playing cards can be adapted
for hundreds of efficient
language learning games.
However, their biggest value in
the classroom, for me, is in
forming groups. Cards can
divide learners neatly into pairs,
groups, or a number of other
student formations.

21. Javvy (pronounced HAH-
vee) is a small gray
stuffed animal.
He likes to be tossed from
student to student,
designating who gets to
speak (in the same way
many teachers use a
ball). He helps present
new language,
illustrating verbs.
During activities and
group work, Javvy likes
to circulate around and
make comments, and
these comments are
always different from
what I would say. So in
essence, he is an extra
native speaker.