Helpful and Fun Outdoor ESL Activities
What outdoor activities can help to teach English? I would like to say that there are plenty of outdoor activities that are effective to teach English. However, many teachers prefer indoor activities rather than outdoor, as they think that it might distract the students. Nonetheless, outdoor activities can increase their motivation for learning. Also, it helps to decrease their stress level, as they do not have to stay in the classroom as usual.
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarosh Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Freewriting time
The teacher should take the students to park or garden, where they can absorb the freshness of the season and the beauty of nature that surrounds them. After that, the teacher should let them observe the surroundings, and ask them to describe what they saw or ask them to write a letter to future self, and in the letter, they should include their feeling, what they saw and how was the weather. Furthermore, the teacher should tell them what tense they should use to write a letter, for instance, present tense, it can help them to practice different tenses and teachers can also figure out how well they know about the tense. Also, this activity can improve their writing skills and helps the students to capture this memorable moment.
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Flashcard game
The teacher should prepare different types of animal flashcards, such as chameleon, bird, cat and so on, and place it on the floor. After that, ask students to sit in a circle as it helps develop a positive relationship between students, each time ask two students to come out to play the game. After that, the teacher should say the characteristic or adjective that describes the animal, such as it changes the color, fur, etc, and students should jump on the card that they think is correct. Similarly, the teacher can also design a vocab flashcard, what students have to do is the same as above, they have to jump on the card that has the opposite meaning of the vocab that teacher said. It helps to commit the new idea to memory, and also it teaches new vocabulary in a really fun way.
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'Stand up if you've ever' game
This game is best to teach present perfect tense. In this game, students will have to sit in a circle. After that, the teacher should demonstrate the game first by using an example, for instance, stand up if you've ever cheated on an exam. After the demonstration, ask the students to think of five experiences, and each time ask one student to stand at the center, and ask the students if they have ever experienced something, and the students who have experienced it should stand up. However, the rule is that students must use the present perfect tense or else it does not count. This activity is to practice present perfect tense and can also establish rapport as students are sharing their life experiences.
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In conclusion, freewriting, flashcard games and stand up if you've ever game is really helpful to teach English. These activities will not only improve their writing skills or teach them more vocabulary but will also keep students engaged and establish rapport. Therefore, the teacher should also plan outdoor activities for students more frequently.
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