Warmers- part 1 -

If you have few minutes spare, or need an exciting opener for your class or to make sts talk, take a
look at them. One of them can be useful and change your class today.

Aims:

-To introduce a theme -to provide humor

-to wait for late arrivals -to provide oral fluency practice
-To wake sts up -to finish the lesson on a light note
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WARMERS

 The long sentence game

Start the sentence by saying “Yesterday I got up early” Nominate a st who repeats what you
said and then adds another activity, e.g. “Yesterday I got up early and had a shower” They
nominate the next st who repeats it and adds another activity and so on. The game
continues round the class but if they repeat an activity or forget the sentence, they’re out,
and the rest can continue. You can use different sentences depending on what you want to
practice. Have fun!

 Who is it?

Sts play in groups (boys vs. Girls/red vs. Green stars). One st describes someone in the
class/ someone famous/someone in the institute/etc, etc to the other sts. The one who
guesses who it is describes his or her mysterious person. The rest has to ask only yes/no
question. (e.g Is she tall?- Has this person come to our class today?-etc.) You can practice all the
tenses in its interrogative form. If you want to make it shorter you can use Wh- questions. Good
Luck!

 Jump the line

One half of the classroom is SOME, the other half ANY. Read some sentences from a
grammar lesson on countable and uncountable nouns aloud, omitting some or any. Sts
listen and move to the correct side of the room. Any st who moves the wrong way or the last
st to move has to sit out. Continue until there is winner. Alternatively, sts could stand up for
some and sit down for any. Great if you have smaller classes and very nice sts. Enjoy!

 Anagrams

Put anagrams for words (related to the topic you want to practice) on the board:
-NABD (band)
-MUMREDR (drummer)
-RAPDAE (parade)
Sts work out the anagrams and then use each word in a sentence. You can ask them to say
sentences of more than 10 words, or with relative clauses, etc; or even to make up a short funny
story with it. (It depends on their level). Very nice to review the voc. if we continue with the same
unit.
  Taboo

Divide the class into two groups. One st from each group comes to the front of the class and
sits down with their back to the board. Write a word on the board, e.g. camera, and three
‘taboo’ words e.g. film, photo, animation. Groups define and describe the word to their team
member at the front but they cannot use the ‘taboo’ words in their definitions. The first st
to guess the word wins a point for their group. You can organize your class so every st takes a
turn to say a sentence. Fantastic to practice voc. And saying sentences using whatever they know.

 Predicting the future

Write the following question on the board:

DO YOU THINK YOU’LL EVER....?
-get married to a foreigner?
-visit Brazil?
-Live in another country?
-Be famous?
In pairs, sts ask their partner about the future using the question and the experiences on
the board. Then they report the most interesting predictions back to the class. If you want
them to speak more, add more crazy experiences.

 Word association

Divide sts into groups of three or four. St 1 thinks of a word from the (previous) unit or
lesson, e.g. suitcase.
St 2 has to say a word associated with suitcase, e.g. travel.
St 3 has to say a word associated with travel e.g. train and so on...
Sts can challenge each other to explain their word associations. Or the group with more words
wins. Or it can be done with the whole class not in groups. Enjoy! You’ll be surprised to see how
much they know!

 Who wants to be a millionaire

Divide the class into two groups. As in the game show, one st is the contestant and the rest
are the audience. Ask the student a language question, giving four possible answers to
choose from (e.g. which one is the correct preposition for the verb Think? At-of-in-on). The
st can ‘phone a friend’ of his-her group but he will not receive the whole points. You can
prepare ten questions and each class invite a different student. It needs preparation but it’s worth.

 Story time

In groups, give sts 5 or 10 words they have learnt recently. Or write many words on the
board. Set a five-minute time limit to make up a story with the given words or with as many
words as possible. Sts tell the class their story. Hold a class vote or invite someone into your
class to decide which story is the best.

 Rhythmic thinking

Sts stand up. Starting with the st on the far left and then one after the other, each st says the
name of a food or drink, for example. If they can’t think of another one that has been said
before, then they sit down and he/she is out of the game. Set a rhythm by asking them to
clap their hands. Each st has five claps to say a word. You can practice many groups of words
(colours, animals, clothe items, means of transport, adjectives, toys, etc.) Have fun with them!!
  A place I’d like to visit

Give sts clues about a place you would like to visit, but haven’t yet, e.g. There’s a lot of
water. You can see great art there.(Answer: Venice)
Ask sts to think of their own example and 10 clues, for example (depending on the level)
They read their clues to another st (maybe from another group) who has to try to guess the
place.

EXTRA WARMERS

1. Persuade each other that their favourite colour, animal, film, etc. Is more important, better, etc.
2. Spot the difference. 2 pictures – the same but with a few differences. Without looking at each other’s,
describe and find the differences.
3. Mini-role plays.
4. Correct the mistakes. List of sentences and students correct the wrong ones.
5. Write message on partner’s back with finger.
6. Collocations. Sort out which are right/wrong e.g. high person, tall building, Happy Birthday.
7. Cut up story/conversation – put in order.
8. Match headlines and articles.
9. Call my bluff – give three definitions of a word & guess which is right.
10. 20 questions – give whether it is animal, vegetable or mineral & sts guess what it is in only twenty
questions.
11. Train compartment. Each student has sentence. Must use it naturally in conversation without others
noticing.
12. Weekend. 5 words from each student to describe weekend. A different student tells class what other
did. Original student verifies.
13. Interpretation of pictures, doodles.
14. Mime a complaint, as a guest, in a hotel (‘Hotel Receptionist’). Rest of the class are the receptionist. E.g.
‘The sheets are dirty and you’ve found four cockroaches’.
15. Put words into lexical groups.
16. Different uses. Students think of as many different uses for different objects e.g. a brick.
17. Test each other on vocab. From previous class/week. Could mime them.
18. Picture dictation. One describes a picture & the other draws.
19. Mime an idiom. E.g. ‘to pull somebody’s leg’
20. Picture composition cut up. Each student has one picture. Without showing each other, discuss pictures
and put in order.

I hope they can be useful in your classes...