fun english activities for high school students pdf

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42 Engaging English Activities For High School

December 27, 2023 // by Jill Webb

Are you an English teacher looking for learning games and activities to help enliven your English language arts teaching? We know that sometimes teenage students can easily lose interest. So, don’t be a boring teacher—bring a few unique ideas into your lessons to keep them invested! Below is a list of fun and creative activities for high school students. It includes a variety of English language learning experiences—from poetry to writing and more! If you’re ready to engage your students while helping them increase their language skills, read on!

1. Paint Chip Poetry

This is a fun activity that’s easy to understand and set up. This game will challenge your students to use paint names to create beautiful pieces of poetry. A mix of paint chips, poetry prompts, and “variation cards” to keep things interesting makes for a unique way for your kids to experiment with words and poetry. It’s also great to add to your classroom party game stash!

Learn More: Amazon

2. Figurative Language Challenge

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You already know that nothing beats repetition when it comes to helping your high schoolers grasp new concepts—but coming up with new ways to practice concepts can be time-consuming! This bundle includes simple challenges to get your students practicing different types of figurative language; it includes metaphors, similes, alliteration, and more. Editable worksheets and slides review the concepts for your learners—then, they task them with developing their own examples. These activities are great for inclusion classes because they work in stations.

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

3. Six-Word Memoirs

This writing activity sounds simple but is deceptively challenging: writing six-word memoirs. Explain to your students that briefer writing demands greater attention to each word. Then, reinforce this lesson by having them each write their own memoir—in only six words! This activity is an innovative writing challenge, a hands-on introduction to memoirs, and a surefire way to get to know your teens and help them connect with each other. Plus, you can display their final creations along with corresponding images of their choosing.

Learn More: Six-Word Memoirs

4. The Break-Up Letter

Need a clever and relatable creative writing exercise ? Try this letter-writing activity with a hilarious twist. Rather than write a typical letter, your students will be asked to write a break-up letter! These printable prompts are a perfect way to get your teens thinking about how well they explain themselves in their writing.

Learn More: Presto Plans

5. Pop Sonnets

Here’s a fun way to fill some extra time with your teens—while also reinforcing their understanding of Shakespearean language. This clever book is full of familiar pop songs—rewritten the way Shakespeare might have penned them! “Translating” lyrics they already know will help your high schoolers practice and better grasp the language in Shakespeare’s plays.

6. Listening Skills

We all know it’s important to teach young kids how to listen; it can be easy to forget that your high schoolers still need guidance and practice to be good listeners! Be sure to emphasize this essential school and life skill with your teens—this blog post gives some concrete, tangible ways to teach and encourage active listening skills. Challenge your students to honestly complete a self-assessment of their own listening skills. Then, use these exercises to work together to improve their scores!

Learn More: The Secondary English Coffee Shop

7. Reading Bingo

A lot of the activities on this list are about class and group work—but there’s no getting around the value of good old-fashioned independent reading. Gamify your teens’ reading by distributing Bingo cards. Then, offer a prize for the first student to read all the books on the card or in a certain pattern! All you need to do is edit the cards to match your readers’ level and let the competition begin!

Learn More: Spark Creativity

8. Poetry Slam

Poetry can get a bad rap in high school—help your students get more engaged by making sure they know it’s not all love poems and sonnets! A poetry slam is an ideal way to expose your teens to a new medium. Inviting your high schoolers to perform their works for the class helps build their confidence and gives them a voice. You’ll be surprised when you see the smooth-talking skills of your kids!

Learn More: Teacher of Vision

9. Truth or Dare Grammar

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If you need an easy lesson plan to review grammar, look no further. This fun game for your teenage learners will help get them invested in grammatical skills! You—and your kids—already know how to play truth or dare. This editable version is grammar-themed and school-appropriate. It’s a perfect activity to pull out at the end of the day when you still want to reinforce your kids’ learning.

10. Book Spine Poems

Have you heard of book spine poetry? It’s exactly what it sounds like; your students can arrange the text they find on book spines to craft surprisingly insightful poems! All you really need is a collection of books, but these simple worksheets will help your kids organize their work without having to carry around a stack of books. If you don’t have enough books on hand for everyone, never fear—turn this into an online game and allow them to “hunt” for titles online!

11. Soccer Ball Questions

You don’t need to be in the hot seat with questioning skills when teaching a lesson! Make one of these Socratic soccer balls—just add question prompts to a regular soccer ball. When it’s time to get your teens to practice their Socratic questioning skills, all you need to do is have them roll the ball and pose a question based on the first prompt they see.

Learn More: Building Bo o k Love

12. Black-Out Poetry

Here’s another great activity for your lower-intermediate learners—this black-out activity will challenge your students to use a page of a book to create a poem by blacking out specific words. Surprisingly, the rigid constraints are a creative way to help your teens who may struggle to find inspiration or with writer’s block. If you have early finishers, ask them to find fun images to pair with their fresh poem.

Learn More: Arapahoe Libraries

13. Review Game

A quiz challenge is a great way to review all the material for key lessons. In this fun game your learners will play a “Let’s Make a Deal” game—based on the popular game show. You’ll act as the game show host and make deals with the teams. This downloadable resource includes editable elements so you can customize the game and prizes for your own classroom.

Learn More: The Hungry Teacher Blog

14. Balderdash

fun english activities for high school students pdf

Balderdash is a class board game for a reason. This small-group game will get your high schoolers laughing as they try to trick each other with made-up definitions for uncommon words. It’s a fun, unexpected way to teach new vocabulary while getting your students thinking critically and creatively! You can use a regular version of the game or just create your own using online resources.

Learn More: Boardgame Geek

16. NYT Crossword

A classic—and much beloved—game in the US is the New York Times daily crossword! Did you know there’s also a student version? Printing off one of the puzzles is a great, no-prep language exercise for your more advanced English classes.

Learn More: The New York Times

17. Inklewriter

Inklewriter is an innovative tool that can be used to get your students working individually on their creative writing. The free app makes use of interactive writing—sort of like a classic Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story made high-tech. The prompts and questions will guide your teens while still challenging them to flex their creative muscles as they create their own unique stories.

Learn More: Inkle Writer

18. Book Raffle

A book raffle tradition will help to get your lower-level class invested in reading—especially if your students don’t have many of their own books. All you’ll be doing is inviting your kids to compete for the chance to read specific books; creating excitement around a fundamental language activity in the process—independent reading! To get started, simply select a few books—they can be new or ones already in your class—and introduce them all to your learners. Then, your readers can enter their names in draws to win reading rights to their favorites. Once you have a few book raffles under your belt, feel free to modify the process to make it work for you and your teens!

Learn More: Brown Bag Teacher

19. Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are a classic classroom tool to jumpstart creative writing. Provide your students with this list of enticing prompts that are sure to help them produce literary genius. To get them started, you can let them pick their own from the list or assign them at random. Either way, you’ll have a low-prep way to get great results from your high school writers.

Learn More: Small World

20. Vocab-Zee

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This language-themed twist on the classic game of Yahtzee is a great rainy-day activity or sub plan for your class. Put your students in groups and provide them with copies of the game instructions. Then, they’ll take turns rolling the dice and performing vocabulary-based actions based on their roll.

Learn More: Go Sadlier

21. Body Biographies

Help your pupils become masters of character analysis by assigning these eye-catching body biographies. Prompt your young writers to examine the different characteristics of each character—both tangible and intangible—and use them to create a character analysis. The visual aspect of the posters makes this activity more engaging than a written description and encourages your kids to search for different elements of character roles in the text. Not only will your students love doing this, but you’ll also be able to display their body biographies for reference.

Learn More: Study All Knight

22. Podcast Pairings

Consider pairing relevant literary podcasts with your classroom texts/discussions. Introducing a different medium into your teaching toolbox is an excellent way to change up your methods and better engage auditory learners. These podcasts are sure to give your students different perspectives on the topics and ideas that are introduced and discussed in your classroom texts.

Learn More: Building Book Love

23. Keyhole Book Scene

This is a clever visual way to emphasize the importance of different characters’ points of view. Having your students create a keyhole book scene gives you the opportunity to check your students’ understanding and comprehension of a story. Ask your learners to illustrate a scene from one of the texts they are reading—from the perspective of someone looking into the room through a keyhole. You can base the assignment on a specific character’s point of view or let your kids choose the perspective themselves. They should be encouraged to include different text elements and imagery to show what exactly the specific book scene “looked like” in their minds.

Learn More: The Room Mom

24. Crime Stories

Engaging Secondary Students with Crime Stories Blog COVER.jpg

Have you ever considered engaging your high school literacy students with creepy crime stories? Your teens can pick a real-life criminal and use their investigative skills to determine motives and other crime components. Then, have them choose a medium—blog, podcast, research paper, etc.—to present their perspective. The real-world aspect makes these narratives particularly compelling—and your learners will be so engaged in the crimes that they won’t realize how much hard work and learning they’re actually doing!

Learn More: Besp o ke ELA

25. Song Lyrics to Teach Paraphrasing

What teenager doesn’t love music? Here’s a great way to use this to your advantage! Print off lyrics to popular songs that your students will love. Then, challenge your kids to go through the lyrics and attempt to paraphrase what the song is saying, using their own words. This will help them get a better understanding of what their favorite songs are about as well as give them practice in their rewording skills.

Learn More: Mondays Made Easy

27. Selfie Fingerprint Poem

Great Ideas And Tips For Teaching Poetry. Poetry reveals many aspects of life that they may not get to experience or witness first hand. Poetry may speak some ‘truth’ about how others live and that helps build empathy with our students. Read on for 6 ways you can set your students interest ablaze for poetry! Grades 4-12 | Middle School ELA | High School English

Poetry can be a tricky topic to introduce—and a particularly hard one to get your high schoolers excited about. With this fun fingerprint poem, your students can use colors and stanzas to create a poem that represents themselves and is as unique as their fingerprints. This is a great way to get your students excited about introducing themselves and things that they consider to be important.

29. Funny Short Story Study

Looking for something to break up the heavier literary units you have planned this year? This diverse bundle of hilarious short stories is perfect for teaching your students short and sweet literary concepts such as sarcasm, irony, foreshadowing, etc.

Learn More: Hopefully Home

30. Thought Bubble

Do your students need help delving into the thoughts of the characters you’re reading about? This simple thought bubble exercise will get your high schoolers engaged in deeper-level thinking. All they have to do is imagine what a character in a book, a short story, or even an image is thinking. Then, they can write it in a thought bubble on a sticky note. Getting into the habit of considering characters’ inner thoughts will encourage your readers to pay more attention to the text and make stronger connections with the stories.

Learn More: The Thinker Builder

31. Escape Rooms

Make learning fun for your high school English students by incorporating escape room activities in your classroom! You can download an escape room kit online that incorporates concepts from books your students are reading in class—or design your own! An escape room is an interactive way to encourage teamwork among your kids and enhance their understanding and application of the texts you’ve covered.

Learn More: Teach Nouvelle

33. The What If Game

The what if game is sure to get your students’ creative juices flowing! This group activity is fun and easy to set up. You’ll start by dividing your learners into groups of four to five, giving every group three cups—one for characters, one for settings, and one for actions. The groups will begin by brainstorming examples for each category and placing them in the cups. Then the real fun begins! Have your kids take turns drawing papers, one from each cup, and combining them in “What if?” questions. The last step is to use their what if question as a story prompt, being sure to fully explore the character, setting, and action they’ve drawn. Your high schoolers will enjoy the mix of group brainstorming and individual writing—and produce their own literary masterpieces in no time!

Learn More: Bespoke Classroom

34. Hexagonal Thinking

Hexagonal thinking is another dynamic group brainstorming activity—and a great way to help your students think critically about texts and make broader connections. After reading through a story with your class, separate your students into groups. Then, give each group a series of blank paper hexagons and have them fill in various themes, characters, quotes, and even simple drawings. Once they’re done, task your kids with working together to arrange the hexagons in a web—in a layout based on logical connections between the cards.

Learn More: Now Spark Creativity

35. Mock Trials

Help your students examine a text through mock trials. After reading through a story, pick a student to be the prosecutor (or a group of students to be a team of prosecutors) and a student to be the defendant (or team of defendants). Give your kids time and tips for drafting their arguments, and then select a jury from their classmates. When everyone is ready, it’s time for the trial! You can be the judge, critiquing your students’ logic and powers of persuasion. Your teens will have so much fun playing their roles that they won’t even notice the preparation and research involved!

Learn More: Now Spark Creativity

36. Graphic Essay

Looking to shake up your students’ essays? Graphic essays are a clever way to introduce visual elements into a traditional writing assignment. Your students will use pictures and symbols to convey certain portions of the story. It’s a helpful way to engage visual learners and encourage all your kids to think and express themselves in new ways. They’ll appreciate the chance to inject their work with their own creativity—and the break from normal essay writing!

Learn More: Living in the Layers

37. Elements of Fiction Stations

the basic elements of fiction for middle school

Get your class up and moving around the room with these informative stations that teach the basic elements of fiction. At each station, your learners will delve deeper into elements of fiction such as setting, conflict, characters, point of view, and plot structure. You can have your kids visit these stations during certain time periods or even different class periods.

Learn More: Hey Natayle

38. Figurative Language Tasting

Pinterest Pin for blog post: How to Host a Figurative Language Tasting

Who doesn’t love to eat tasty snacks while learning? Get your students actively involved in your delicious and savory lesson using a few snacks. Explain to your kids that the objective of this lesson is to practice using different figurative language elements to describe both the taste and feelings of snacks. Then, let the fun begin! Distribute the snacks to your young gourmets—along with prompts that challenge them to describe the tastes using various types of figurative language. It’s sure to help your high schoolers develop a taste for descriptive writing!

Learn More: It’s Lit Teaching

39. Explode the Moment

Are your kids having trouble expanding their thoughts and ideas during writing time? With this activity, your students will be challenged to expand or “explode” the moment they are writing about. For example, if your learner writes “The park was fun,” they’ll be prompted to explain the entire moment at the park, using sensory imagery. This is a relatable method to encourage your high schoolers to consider the “who, what, where, when” portions of their writing.

Learn More: Raise the Bar Reading

40. Figurative Language Sort

Even though this activity was created with younger children in mind, that doesn’t mean your high school students won’t be engaged and excited to participate. You’ll need to prepare for this activity by collecting some interesting pictures and writing sentences about them using different types of figurative language that you’ve studied in class. To begin, give your high schoolers (individually or in a small group) one of the pictures, along with the related sentences. Then, task them with categorizing the sentences based on the type of figurative language. Lastly, encourage those who finish quickly to come up with their own examples for each category!

Learn More: Teaching with a Mountain View

41. Movement in the Classroom

One way to make learning especially memorable for your students—and re-energize them if they need it—is to get them moving and actively participating in the engaging lesson. This doesn’t have to be complicated or require a lot of prep; you can find simple ways to add movement to work you’re already doing. For example, don’t just give your high schoolers a list of discussion questions; print out the questions and place them around your classroom. This will get your kids up and moving as they talk to each other!

Learn More: Building Book Love

42. Literary Puzzle Pieces

Sometimes a simple visual can give your students a new perspective on their work. Help them understand literary themes by comparing them to jigsaw puzzles—drive the point home by having them create their own paper puzzle pieces as they discuss the themes in your texts. First, put your high schoolers in small groups and give each group large paper puzzle pieces. Explain that each puzzle piece represents an element in your book; as they fill in the pieces they’ll be “solving the puzzle” of understanding your text. You can use this activity in different ways depending on the needs of your class, combining group discussion with independent work. It’s an ideal, hands-on discussion prompt to help your kids better grasp the subject material.

Learn More: Learning in Room 213

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15 Fun Poetry Activities for High School

April 8, 2019 // by Lindsay Ann // 3 Comments

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High School Students + Fun Poetry Activities

If you’re an English teacher, looking for fun poetry activities for high school or middle school students, I’ve got you covered. I’m opening up my poetry toolbox and sharing some of my favorite (and most successful) poetry games and activities! Whether you’re looking for a stand-alone lesson or something more, there’s something here for everyone.

Pop Sonnets

The creation of pop sonnets is one of my favorite poetry activities to use in conjunction with the reading of a Shakespearean play, but it can be used as a stand-alone lesson. The hook is that modern-day songs have been turned into Shakespearean sonnets. You can study one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and ask students to modernize it. Then, work in reverse by re-working a modern-day song as a sonnet. Or, just use this as a “hook” to help students feel more comfortable with Shakespearean language. Take a look and thank me later.

Songs as Poetry

Studying modern-day songs is a great way to teach about figurative language and poetic devices while studying poetry. Try reading the lyrics, but omitting or re-writing the metaphors and talking about the change in message/meaning. Look for examples of imperfect rhyme in one of Eminem’s cleaner songs. Study poems as paired texts . Analyze lines from a famous soundtrack. Ask students to bring in their favorite songs and discuss. So. Many. Options!

Here are 12 great songs to analyze if you aren’t sure where to start:

“Across the Universe” by the Beatles
“Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
“Blank Space” by Taylor Swift
“Chasing Pavements” by Adele
“Infinity” by Mariah Carey
“Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes
“Counting Stars” by One Republic
“It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons
“Imagine” by John Lennon
“Mad World” by Gary Jules
“Zombie” by The Cranberries
“Letter to Me” by Brad Paisley

Slam Poetry

Students need to know that poetry is not dead. It’s living. It’s breathing. It’s storytelling. It’s cool. In April, my classes come alive with the magic of slam poetry as students become authors and performers. They re-discover wonder and learn to let down their guard. They learn that there is intersectionality between their story and the stories of others. They are appreciated. They appreciate others. When I use this fun poetry activity for high school students , my classroom really becomes a true community.

Grab my slam poetry “mini” unit to get your students started with slam poetry!

Not sure which slam poems are school-appropriate and engaging? Here are 40 of my favorite slam poems !

Paint Chip Poetry

This poetry writing activity is FREE if you’re willing to grab some paint chips from your local hardware store, preferably ones with multiple colors in one. Or, Amazon sells an awesome paint chip poetry “game.”

Have students use one of the color names as the title for a poem.
Have students write poems in stanzas, using each of the color names as inspiration.
Have students use all of the color names somewhere in a poem.
Have students choose two contrasting colors and make a poem of contrasts.
Have students choose two complimentary colors and make a poem.
Have students choose a color and write an identity poem.

Blackout Poetry

This is an oldie, but goodie poetry writing exercise for high school students. Copy a page or two from a whole class novel. Or better yet, choose a completely divergent text, maybe a science textbook or page from a dictionary. Students string together words on the page to form a poem, and black-out the rest of the words. If they want to go above and beyond, they can create an original illustration to accompany their blackout poem.

Book Spine Poetry

Take your students to the library (or have them browse a site like Goodreads) and challenge them to create poems from book titles. Each title becomes a line in the poem. An optional challenge: have students choose (or randomly draw) a theme, and their poem has to relate to their chosen theme. If you’re looking for some FREE templates, I’ve got you covered: Click Here ! I created these templates as a quick fun poetry activity for high school sophomores after my librarian told me that having my classes pull so many books would be a pain to re-shelve.

Poetry Tasting

A lot of teachers are loving my reading progressive dinner stations . Poems are short and accessible texts that always rock when used with this activity.

Here are some options for poetry stations, a fun group poetry activity:

Choose a certain kind of poem or a certain poetic movement to explore at ALL the stations, i.e. the ghazal or Imagist poetry.
Choose different kinds of poems or movements to explore at each station.
Choose poems related to ONE thematic idea.
Choose poems written by teenagers.
Choose “famous” poems.
Choose slam poems.

Poetry Transformations

If you’re studying word choice and tone in poetry, why not have students transform a poem, switching from one tone to another? Then, have students write a reflection analyzing why they made 4-5 important changes.

Found Poems

This poetry activity is exactly what it sounds like. Have students choose / cut-out words from magazines to form “found” poems. Or, have students listen to a TED talk or story, writing down a certain # of words they hear. Then, ask them to use these words + ones of their own to write an original poem.

Easter Egg Poems

If ’tis the season, you might as well use those plastic easter eggs you may have lying around. Put “poetry inspiration” in each egg. At the very least, I suggest a word or phrase. If you want to go “all-in,” create a combination of the items below:

Random household objects, i.e. a piece of string, a bead
Newspaper/magazine clippings
Words/phrases
Famous first lines
A “mentor” poem, copied and folded up

Tell students that their challenge is to write a poem inspired by these objects. Or, if you prefer, have students incorporate words / ideas from each object in their poem.

Favorite Poem Project

If you’ve never seen the site “ Favorite Poem Project ,” I suggest checking it out as a poetry unit resource. The site’s goal is to interview a variety of different people about their “favorite poems.” In each short video, an individual shares a personal connection to his/her poem and reads the poem out loud.

After being a fan of this site for some time, I decided to have my students make their own “favorite poem” videos . They explored, chose a poem that they liked “best,” and created videos on Flipgrid discussing their thoughts about the poem and reading it aloud. These videos were then viewed by classmates. Everyone enjoyed this a lot!

Metaphor Dice

Poems as Mentor Texts

Using mentor texts for writing is a powerful strategy for poetry instruction, yet one that I find myself “skipping” because there isn’t time. I have to remind myself to “make” the time because it’s important. If we’re going to spend time analyzing texts, it only makes sense to have students try to use those writing moves in their own writing. After all, students should be writing frequently, and not always for an assessment grade.

Here are 12 great mentor poems if you’re not sure where to start:

“ We Real Cool ” by Gwendolyn Brooks
“ Montauk ” by Sarah Kay
“ This is Just to Say ” by William Carlos Williams
“ Mother to Son ” by Langston Hughes
“ My Father’s Hats ” by Mark Irwin
“ Chicago ” by Carl Sandburg
“ Entrance ” by Dana Gioia
“ My Father is an Oyster ” by Clint Smith
“ If ” by Rudyard Kipling
“ Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market ” by Pablo Neruda
“ The Bean Eaters ” by Gwendolyn Brooks
“ The Summer I Was Sixteen ” by Geraldine Connolly
“ Where I’m From ” by George Ella Lyon (As a bonus, students can submit their poems to the “I am From” project. ) p.s. If you’re looking for ready-to-use templates, here you go !

Magnetic Poetry

A fun activity to fill extra class time, or just for fun: magnetic poetry . Give each student (or pairs of students) a handful of magnetic poetry pieces. See what they come up with. Take pictures and display around the room.

Interactive Poetry Bulletin Board

Sort of like magnetic poetry, but with a twist, it’s fun to set-up an interactive bulletin board as a fun poetry activity for high school students to try before or after class. You can do this in several different ways.

Poem of the day + a “feel-o-meter” for students to rate the poem on a scale from “mild sauce” to “hot sauce.” You can have students use push pins to vote.
Large scale magnetic poetry + a bulletin board becomes “push pin poetry.” You choose the words. Students move them around to form poems.

Hey, if you loved this post, I want to be sure you’ve had the chance to grab a FREE copy of my guide to stream l ined grading . I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m over the moon to be able to share with you some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm.

Click on the link above or the image below to get started!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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Reader Interactions

[…] Dice: I wrote about this game in my previous blog post about poetry fun, but couldn’t pass by another opportunity to give it a […]

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[…] Teach your high schoolers to annotate using poetry. Have fun with magnetic poetry online! Incorporate art, theatre, or music with black-out poetry, songs as poetry, or poetry slams. Celebrate Robert Frost’s birthday […]

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Blog Lit Language Arts Activities 9 12 4C284B73B1B0834026B992B9Ac93D6Bd 4C284B73B1B0834026B992B9Ac93D6Bd 4C284B73B1B0834026B992B9Ac93D6Bd

Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 10: Write Two-Sentence Stories and More

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Forgotten Stories of the Oregon Trail: Writing History

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High schoolers can sharpen their writing skills with activities including a reflective essay on the past school year and a playlist for a book they read.

June 2, 2020

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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 8: Synthesize Information and More

For this week's activities, students can create a how-to video, use research to defend their stance on an issue, and respond to summer writing prompts.

May 26, 2020

Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 7: Memorize and Recite a Poem and More

With these downloadable activities, high schoolers will memorize and recite a poem, take notes as they read a novel, and memorialize a book in memes.

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25 High School English Activities You’ll Want To Try Right Away

Think outside the box.

Examples of high school English activities, including teen slang summary of the Crucible and grab bag of objects to personify.

Engaging middle and high schoolers can sometimes be tricky. How many times have you planned (what you think is) a cool and exciting lesson, only to walk away feeling pretty bummed and discouraged when your hip activity is a bust? Believe me, I get it. I’ve tried English activities for high school that I am positive (most) of my kids will love and appreciate. I’ve attempted to make English relevant and fresh. I’ve even tried to choose vehicles like social media that fit into their lives. As I plan, I often think, “Man, I would have loved having this kind of stuff when I was in school!”

Sometimes, my efforts fall flat. Other times, I hit a home run. After a lot of trial and error, I’ve finally figured out some techniques that consistently work. Here are my favorite English activities for high school.

1. Pretend you are an alien from another planet

As an alien, you don’t understand human emotions. Ask students to explain what happiness is to alien you. They will try to use other emotions to explain happiness, so you will need to kindly remind them that you don’t understand those. Someone will figure out that what you are looking for is figurative language (e.g., happiness is a Diet Coke at 11:30), and then, mission accomplished. This is one of my favorite mini-lessons to do because when I start class with “I am an alien from another planet …,” some give me weird looks, but most don’t even flinch because they’ve already witnessed enough of my shenanigans to think it may be true.

Try it: Alien From Another Planet Activity at TPT

2. Embrace the season and let it dictate your unit

Short stories with photos written by students

I change things up every year, but most recently I created a unit around “Spooky Season.” We read “spooky” stories and watched suspenseful short videos to evaluate how authors and storytellers employ devices that heighten the suspense for the audience. In these high school English activities, we analyzed theme and character development and compared different mediums all under the umbrella of Spooky October. As always, what works for my school and grade level may not work for everyone, but some of my students’ favorite spooky short stories were “Lamb to the Slaughter” and “The Landlady.”

3. Write your own spooky story

Bags labelled characters/suspects, location/scene of the crime, and props

After reading from our mentor texts and learning how to create suspense, we write fictional narratives that will haunt your nightmares … just kidding—I wanted to add a bit of drama. They pull from grab bags I create of different character names, setting ideas, and props they can use to create their own terrifying tale.

Try it: Spooky Story Starters at TPT

4. Turn everyone into a poet with blackout poetry

Two examples of blackout poetry on desk.

Thanks to Austin Kleon , poetry is cool and accessible. If you haven’t heard of blackout poetry already, it’s created by taking a newspaper or loose book pages that can no longer be repaired and creating a poem using certain words on the page. Then, you black out the rest. I’ve done this every year and have changed my approach each time. Sometimes I give students free rein and let the words speak to them, and sometimes I’ll give them a specific topic I’d like them to create a poem around. I love to see 25 different variations of “courage” through poetry.

Try it: Blackout Poetry at We Are Teachers

5. Use emojis in class

Emojis drawn on a whiteboard with labels

When teaching a complex concept like symbolism, use symbols that are already part of students’ daily life. Assign each small group a word or theme and then have them choose an emoji to symbolize that message. Have kids sketch them out on the board and explain why they chose that symbol, or turn it into a full-on art project and display them around the room.

Try it: More Fun Ideas for Teaching With Emojis at We Are Teachers

6. Go hunting for mechanics, usage, and grammar errors

Doing a quick search of these kinds of fails on the internet will provide you with a great deal of content. You can turn those fails into a slideshow while the class finds the errors and corrects them, or you can assign a few to each small group to tackle.

7. What’s better than a one-pager?

The name speaks for itself here. There are so many variations of one-pager assignments that you could do, but the one that I like is to use one-page as a blank canvas for them to demonstrate their understanding of developing theme and symbolism. They sketch out symbols and images that are significant to the book they are reading and include text evidence to support their inferences and takeaways.

Try it: One-Pager Template at TPT

8. Play reviewsical chairs

When I first started teaching and was looking for solidarity, understanding, and inspiration, I found love,teach . In one of her blog posts, she suggested playing reviewsical chairs to prepare for a test. It is like musical chairs, but you review. When the music stops, someone is without a chair and they have to challenge someone else for their chair by answering a review question correctly. This is a fan favorite in middle and high school.

9. Play the flyswatter game

I love a fun review game. This one requires you to put up answers around the room (e.g., character names, dates, themes, symbols, storytelling devices, etc.). Then, you divide the class up into two teams. Have them send two representatives up to the front and arm them with flyswatters. I normally tape off a box that they have to stand in while I read the question. Then, the first person to hit the correct answer with their flyswatter wins the point. This game is intense and so fun! Make sure you move any book bags or obstacles that may be tripping hazards (for me this is just air).

10. Listen to podcasts and discuss them together

Not all teenagers are familiar with podcasts, but it’s a great way to introduce lessons in an interesting way. And so far, my students have reported really enjoying them. In fact, I’ve even had students come back and tell me they’ve continued to listen to a podcast series on their own after we’ve concluded our lesson.

Podcasts encourage students to be actively engaged, because the information being shared must be processed and visualized by the students as it’s being said. I usually prepare questions for them to answer as they listen, and then facilitate a discussion afterward. In my classroom, this sometimes leads to mildly heated debates, which is a learning experience in and of itself.

Try it: List of Educational Podcasts at We Are Teachers

11. Introduce “chapter chats”

Loose sheets of paper with writing on them

My students love being in charge of leading “chapter chats” in small groups. By encouraging them to be leaders in discussing specific book chapters, they take ownership in a whole new way. I’ve really enjoyed watching my kids come up with thoughtful questions, bring food to connect to something that happened in the text, and even create fun games that encourage their classmates to recall information from the chapter. Chapter chats are great high school English activities to assess those speaking and listening standards while also making them read critically because they are in charge of facilitating the discussion.

Try it: Chapter Chats at TPT

12. Let your students be podcasters

Last year, I finally decided to let my students create their own podcasts. I’ve wanted to do this for years but logistically was not sure how to execute. It took a lot of planning on the front end of the assignment and organizing where to find places for them to record (makeshift sound booths), but we did it! They had to pitch their topics and get a red, green, or yellow light. Then, they had to research, cite evidence, write a script, and finally produce their own podcasts. We listened to the episodes and answered questions on the “listening guide” that they created. I loved this assignment and will definitely do it again.

13. Throw parties with a purpose

We just finished reading The Great Gatsby , and since throwing lavish parties was Gatsby’s thing, we threw our own 1920s soiree. I divided my students into small groups to do research on their assigned topic (historically accurate fashions, refreshments, ambiance, guest list, etc.) and then deliver presentations. The students were responsible for assigning each other parts, complete with instructions on how to dress and what food or beverage to bring. They even provided each participant with a lexicon (specific vocabulary) to use at the party. This assignment was fun, and it also covered many standards, which is a win-win for me!

14. Give speeches as characters

Envelope with words speeches for speech unit

After watching a number of TED Talks and studying what contributed to an effective performance, my students wrote and delivered speeches of their own. They drew prompts for characters with different occupations giving different types of speeches (e.g., Beyoncé giving a Grammy acceptance speech). I found that my students were much more confident and comfortable speaking when given permission to act like someone else. This activity was a hands-down favorite event for my eighth grade students. Those speaking and listening standards can be tough to master, and high school English activities like this helped us get there.

15. Read, solve, and create murder mysteries

Envelope with words murder mystery and papers

My students in both middle and high school love true crime. I’ve created murder mystery activities for high school English that fit really well with literature units and that focus on making inferences, writing, and using textual evidence. Once the premise of the mystery is determined, students create their own case files, evidence, and clues for their classmates to solve. I’ve had them pull from bags of evidence, locations, and possible suspects to add another element of fun and challenge. It’s simple, but they really like pulling things from mystery bags. This activity is also an excellent support for students who struggle with finding a starting point.

16. Read children’s books

I know many high school and middle school teachers who use children’s literature in their classrooms to introduce literary devices. Inspired by Ludacris , I once rapped Llama Llama Red Pajama in my creative writing class before I had students write children’s books of their own. I am sure there is footage of this out there living sneakily on someone’s camera roll, but thankfully, it hasn’t surfaced.

Try it: Famous Children’s Books at We Are Teachers

17. Use magazine clippings for found poetry

Magazine clippings pasted on paper to make a poem

Give students some scissors and a stack of magazines, newspapers, or books to look through. Have them cut out words and phrases they like and then arrange them into their own unique work of poetry.

18. Perform plays

Just this week, one of my sophomore students asked me what we were going to be reading next. We just finished 12 Angry Men . She said she wanted to do another play. Then, another student chimed in and agreed. Plays are appealing for many reasons. Plays allow us to study literature without having to tackle the entire length of a novel. Plays allow students to become characters and perform. Plays invite students to let out their inner thespian. My students take on roles and commit to them.

19. Pique interest by doing First Chapter Friday

It may seem uncomfortable reading aloud to your secondary students, but I am telling you, they still enjoy it! Read an exciting first chapter from books that you hope they pick up and read on their own. First Chapter Fridays are especially great activities for high school English if you have an expansive library of books for them to choose from.

Try it: First Chapter Fridays at We Are Teachers

20. Have them create SNL -style satirical sketches

When I teach my students satire and parody, I show them examples of school-appropriate satire. Then, we discuss why it is satire. After we get the hang of it, I have them write and perform them. I also happen to have a weird collection of wigs and costumes in my room that may help them get into character. Funny wigs are always an asset!

21. Write a summary of what they are reading incorporating teen slang

Crucible book next to sheet of paper with a teen slang version of the book printed on it.

My juniors are reading The Crucible and the language can be tricky for them. After a long weekend, I was worried they would forget what we read so I decided at 1 a.m. to write a Gen-Z summary of Acts 1 & 2. They may have called me cringey and told me to burn my paper but it made them laugh and they understood it so it was a W (as the kids say.) Afterwards, I thought it would be a fun assignment to have them write the same style of summary for Acts 3 & 4. It forces them to go through and truly understand the dynamic relationships in the play and how the events are unfolding. Then, they get to flex on everyone with a summary that slaps.

Try it: Teen Slang Every Teacher Should Know at We Are Teachers

22. To build background knowledge, create fun stations

High school English classroom set up with station activities.

At the beginning of a short story or a novel, give your students the background knowledge they need by setting up stations for them to visit. When I had planned for my students to read Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, we had some ground to cover before diving in. I set up stations that gave background information on who Poe was, what Carnival was, information about the Catacombs, vocabulary that they’d encounter and need to know, and finally questions that focused on heavy topics they’d see dealt with in the story.

Some of these stations were videos they watched that were posted as QR codes, some were articles they had to read, and some were discussion questions they chatted about and then wrote down their consensus. To make it vibey, I added dollar-store battery-operated candles, scattered plastic skulls around, and turned down the lights with a spooky playlist playing.

23. Get them talking and thinking by using anticipation guides

Anticipation Guide worksheet on desk with blue pen.

An easy way to get your students excited about the next story you’re going to read is to have them complete an anticipation guide. This is a great way to preview the topics that will point to themes in the story they’re about to read. It’s also a great way to start some good discussions before getting into the text. They’ll have a better idea of what they’re supposed to be taking away from the literature if you guide them in a way that’s engaging before reading. My favorite anticipation guide is from The Most Dangerous Game. I teach at a school where hunting is very popular so when we go over the questions, I’ll have them sit or stand if they agree and then each side will share their explanations as to why they chose what they did.

24. To teach figurative language, create a weird grab bag

White paper bag filled with objects to describe with personifcation.

When my students struggle with figurative language, I put them into groups of three or four. Then I throw weird things in a bag, and one member of their group chooses an object from the bag. Once they pull out their fake mouse or rubber duck or whatever item they’ve selected, they have to write a few sentences using personification that is inspired by the object they grab. Then, they choose their favorite sentence and write it on the board for the class to see. We’ll then go through everyone’s sentences to check to make sure we’re using personification correctly and to inspire creativity! If they can write incredible sentences using personification about an Expo Marker, they can definitely challenge themselves in their own writing.

25. For all the Swifties out there, analyze Taylor Swift

Print out of Taylor Swift song lyrics with notes analyzing them.

Will there be haters? Yes. Be prepared to shut them down swiftly. In my poetry unit, we analyzed “All Too Well.” Taylor Swift is an incredible songwriter. Her songs are an English teacher’s dream. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t speak for all English teachers but any and all Swifty English teachers will agree. You can choose other music too! We’ve also analyzed Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

If you liked these activities for high school English, check out these 10 Playful Tricks To Engage High School Students .

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Finding English activities for high school that engage and excite your students can be a challenge! Here are five that should do the trick.

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Fun English Activities for High School Students

Trent Lorcher
Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

Reading Activities for High School

Learn about these fun English activities for high school students

High School Reading Activities

These reading activities focus on skills and comprehension and work with just about any piece of literature. Assessing Individual Comprehension in a Group Setting One of the difficulties when reading as a class is individual assessment during reading. This fun activity engages students and allows for individual assessment. Individual white boards work best, although large slices of paper work in a bind.

Give each student a small dry erase board and a marker (give explicit instructions for when marker use is appropriate).
At strategic points during the story, stop and ask a question.
Instruct students to write their answers on their dry erase board.
When all are finished, tell everyone to hold their boards in the air. You can also go row-by-row.
Other options include students writing their own question or comment, writing a one sentence summary of a particular passage, or drawing a specific scene.
In many cases, student answers and questions will spark classroom discussion.
Tally points and make it into a game.

Increasing Student Engagement Before, During, and After Reading Another problem for extended group reading time is keeping students engaged. Here’s an activity that should help.

Assign students into pairs (the quickest way is to match each student in one row with a student in the adjacent row).
At certain points in the story, instruct students to stand up and face their partner.
One student is partner A and the other is partner B. This activity is more fun when you assign each partner a name from the selection you’re reading. For example, the student with longer hair is Juliet; the other is Romeo. Kissing, however, is prohibited.
Instruct partner A to tell partner B everything he or she knows about _____________; or instruct partner B to explain to partner A what just happened in the story; or instruct partners A and B to have 2-minute conversation acting like characters from the story. The options are endless.

Getting Students to Share Their Opinions about Reading Sharing thoughts and ideas about literature with the class can be intimidating for high school students. However, sharing in a small group of peers is significantly less intimidating. This activity will get students thinking critically without fear of embarrassment.

Assign a set of questions. The questions should require high-level thinking and an answer of 3-5 sentences. You may want to display a rubric delineating your expectations.
Listen to students whine and complain while inwardly giggling.
Put students in groups of four.
Instruct students to answer questions as a group. Emphasize quality over quantity. In other words, four really good answers will get a higher score than six OK answers. This will encourage group discussion instead of divide and conquer.

Additional Activities

Class Debate - Pick an issue or character from the story and have a debate. Be sure to set the ground rules first.
Graphic Organizers - There’s a reading graphic organizer to help students practice just about any skill–compare/contrast, decision-making, cause and effect, problem/solution, summarizing, chronology, making predictions , for example.
Construct a Test - Tell students to make a multiple choice quiz over a reading selection. Tell them to focus on higher level thought.
Create a Crossword Puzzle - Read a book. Make a puzzle. This is a great reading review activity.
Make a Movie Poster - This forces the students to make connections to their world. They are, for example, forced to picture the story’s characters in order to match them up with a modern day movie star.
Create Poetry

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Do you have any other fun English activities for high school students? Please share yours in the comments section below. Image by Jonny Lindner from Pixabay

This post is part of the series: Mini-lessons to Improve Reading Skills

Emphasize skills with these reading skills mini-lessons.

Two Mini Lessons on Cause and Effect in Reading
A Mini Lesson on Making Predictions in Reading
Lesson Plan on Using Context Clues to Understand Nonsense Words

English Basics

Fun Activities For English Class High School

Looking for fun activities for English class high school? Try playing Pictionary, a Classroom scavenger hunt, or a group story! In fact, these ideas are guaranteed to keep students engaged. Just make sure you have enough time to try all of them! There are countless ways to have fun while learning English. Here are some ideas to get you started. And if none of them work for you, here are some more that will make your class a hit!

Group story

If you’re looking for fun activities for English class high school students, you’ve come to the right place. These games can help your students practice their grammar and parts of speech. “Mad Libs” is an example of a game that tests students’ knowledge of grammar. The blank sentences of the story are actually parts of speech and synonyms, so students must choose the right words to complete the story.

A classic English class activity is the Classroom Scavenger Hunt, which can be adapted to suit any high school English class. Before starting a Scavenger Hunt, however, you will need to do some pre-planning. First, you will need to know the procedures and expectations of your classroom. Once you have these in place, you can create worksheets that contain questions about each label. Ten or more labels can make a great scavenger hunt. In addition to being fun for students, a Scavenger Hunt is an excellent way to review classroom procedures.

Another fun activity for your English class high school students is a 3 Things Writing Activity. You’ll need to have each student choose three things and describe them to their partner. You can make the activity silly or use the day of the week to tie in with the topic. For example, you can write an alien with a big square head and seven arms, and four tiny eyes on its head. This activity will help students develop their writing skills and critical thinking skills while having fun.

A similar activity is the Assassin Game, where one student is seated in the middle of a circle. Then, the other students in the circle have to guess which student sticks their tongue out. The student who correctly answers the question wins, while the student who fails to guess the answer has to switch places with the seated student. While the Assassin Game is a popular one, it can be tricky to keep students interested for long.

An interactive activity can be useful for improving speaking skills. Often, students find the monotony of the daily lecture or activity boring. To make the class more exciting and lively, assign fun activities for the students. These activities can be played in teams and can even be peer graded. This can be especially useful if the students have a desire to travel. However, it may not be a good idea to do these activities without a teacher’s approval.

Another game that requires students to use their vocabulary is the impromptu speaking exercise. In this game, students are divided into two teams. They each select a number. In the first round, the students have to answer the statement with no preparation. The goal is to stay as clear as possible for 45 seconds, while the other team listens for hesitations and grammatical or vocabulary mistakes. Correcting mistakes earns them a point. Another activity is the desert island game. The students must describe what they find on the island and describe it to their teammates. The last person standing is the winner.

Classroom scavenger hunt

A classroom scavenger hunt is a fun way to review material and get students moving. The scavenger hunt requires students to look for clues in a room and write the answer. The students will have fun completing the puzzles and earn points for the teacher as well! To create a classroom scavenger hunt, use photos of faculty members or old yearbooks.

Divide the class into teams. Assign captains to each team, divide the class into teams. Assign each team a clue to find the treasure chest, and have students work together to identify the object. Make sure the children understand they are not supposed to collect the treasure but rather identify it with a partner. It’s not essential to have a large number of each item; they are meant to be fun!

Another classroom scavenger hunt is the alphabet scavenger hunt. For this type of scavenger hunt, students have to search for items beginning with the letter of their choice. To make the game more challenging, call out random alphabet letters. Once students have found the letters, they have to write the items in big letters and hang them on their designated walls. They must return to their seats when the timer rings.

A classroom scavenger hunt for English class is a fun way to introduce new vocabulary. The students can search for new words in context as they try to locate them. For more creative ideas, visit Education World for free printable scavenger hunt lists for high school and grade schools. You can also adapt the scavenger hunts to the needs of your students. So, whether you are teaching English class high school students or middle school students, make the activity fun and memorable!

Another great idea is to have a winter scavenger hunt. The students will love scavenger hunts during the winter months. They’ll be glad to get outside. And they’ll love the beautiful scenery. Another great idea is to go out during recess with the hunt. Encourage students to compete with each other to find all the items in the least amount of time.

Another option is to plant words in their assignments or orally directed tasks. Try to find as many as 15 of the same words as possible. This way, students can help each other out naturally. A great way to do this is to use an icebreaker by encouraging students to give compliments to one another. And once they are done, they’ll be ready for the next level. When they’ve gotten the hang of it, they’ll have a good time learning about their peers.

When used as a fun activity in an English class, Pictionary can be a great way to teach vocabulary. The game is based on a point system, where teams earn points for correctly drawing a word and defining, illustrating, and connecting it to other course content. Students should adjust the rules of the game for different age groups and artistic levels. Students can also generate a list of vocabulary terms that challenge them and choose words that are challenging for them to learn.

To play Pictionary as a fun activity for an English class high school, students should prepare a sheet of paper with six columns. At the top of each column, students should write the word they wish to draw. Then, they should pass the colored marker to the next team member, who will then write the word. The remaining students will try to guess the word. For fun, students can make a list of vocabulary words that relate to the topic.

Pictionary is a fun game for all students and can be used for different age groups. Young children, teenagers, and adults alike enjoy playing this game. Using the game in an English class high school is an excellent way to reinforce vocabulary and improve students’ memory skills. Using a set of Pictionary cards and a board, teachers can create a classroom activity that incorporates vocabulary and other skills.

The game can also be used to teach prepositions of movement. It is best played in a small group of five or six students, so that each team is tested on its vocabulary. For the best results, prepare the game beforehand by providing 20 common items. You can also use backpack items that are commonly found in the classroom to create a fun game. However, you should remember to keep the game quiet and monitor students closely.

To play Pictionary as a fun activity for an English class high school, students can divide themselves into teams. The aim of the game is to guess a word within three minutes. Correct answers earn points, and the team with the most points wins. Once students have mastered the game, they’ll be begging their teachers to play it again. With enough time, the game can be repeated as many times as necessary.

Another way to introduce Pictionary to your students is by making a game that tests their drawing ability. Students can practice their skills in drawing while they’re learning vocabulary in the classroom. Pictionary can also be a great way to introduce the concept of critical thinking in an English class. In addition to playing the game, students can also use it to encourage creativity. When paired in a group, the students can practice their writing and communication skills by creating stories that engage the class.

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14 Creative English Activities for Teenagers Guaranteed to Get Them Pumped to Learn

Life is pretty complicated for teenagers, even without throwing English classes into the mix.

That’s why it’s so important for English educators to keep lessons for teens engaging and motivating .

Wondering how to do that?

I’ve been an ESL teacher for many years and these are 14 of my favorite English activities to get teenage students listening and chatting in the classroom.

They’re guaranteed to keep your students excited about class!

Online Activities

1. best for classroom quizzes: kahoot, 2. best for authentic content: fluentu, 3. best for digital flashcards: quizlet, 4. best for vocabulary definitions: knoword, group activities, 5. best guessing game: interview with the stars, 6. best for physical movement: grab the ball, 7. best fun musical activity: lyrics jigsaw, 8. best question and answer practice: i mustache you a question, 9. best for parts of speech: mad libs, 10. best word association game: apples to apples, 11. best for material review: jeopardy, 12. best discussion-based activity: werewolf, one-on-one activities, 13. best for vocabulary and spelling: board games, 14. best for creative writing: person, place, action.

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Level: All levels

Focus: Vocabulary, spelling, grammar and review

Price: Limited free version available, paid plans from $19/month

In a nutshell, Kahoot! is a program for creating quizzes to play learning games with your class.

To get started with this addictive game, I recommend signing up and exploring the platform a little bit. This will allow you to get familiar with the layout of the site and practice creating your own Kahoot! quiz.

You can also choose from a massive selection of pre-made quizzes to make your lesson planning a little easier. However, I personally love to create my own quizzes because you can add images and videos, and make them more relevant to what your students are currently learning.

The Kahoot! experience is very similar to a fully personalized game show. After setting up the screen if you’re doing a live class or joining a video conference with the students, the teacher (or game show host, if you will) presents the game on their screen.

Students see the questions on the teacher’s screen, then enter their answers on their devices, using a PIN code that connects them to the game session. Scores are then tallied in real-time on the teacher’s game show screen.

By concluding the class with a game of Kahoot! I can summarize the lesson, finish on a fun note and reward good behavior.

Focus: Vocabulary and listening comprehension

Price: $299 per year for a minimum of 10 users (teachers and students)

The FluentU program includes quizzes, flashcards, a robust video library and more—all based on authentic video content. That means students can learn with English-language vlogs, movie clips, trailers, funny commercials and more.

To use FluentU for teenage learners, I recommend browsing the video library for content you know your adolescent or younger students would enjoy. You can do this by keeping an ear to the ground to stay up to date with the latest YouTubers, video games and films that they’re interested in.

You can assign specific videos or flashcard decks for your students to study, and can track their progress. Or you can let them choose the content that interests them and allow for a completely self-guided learning experience.

Every word is clearly defined, so all students have to do is hover their mouse over a word (or tap, on mobile devices) to get a definition, memorable image, example sentences and part of speech.

If they want to study the word later, they can add it to their vocab list right from the video player. After each video, students are tested on their understanding of key words from the content they just watched.

The best part of this kind of video learning is that it’s addictive: Students can easily go down the rabbit hole of content. All videos are followed by additional recommendations, so it’s easy to click from one video to another.

Videos can also be filtered by level, type and topic, making it easy to consume the kind of content that interests each individual student.

Finally, each vocabulary word (or phrase) has video examples of it in use—so if they want to see the word in use in another context, they can easily hop over to the next video that features it.

Focus: Vocabulary building

Price: $35.99 per year with 30-day free trial

Flashcards are undoubtedly one of the most popular and trusted methods of learning vocabulary in another language.

They’re like bread and butter for an ESL teacher and can be a fantastic tool to introduce and summarize English vocabulary, grammar rules and more.

On the Quizlet website, learning with flashcards is relatively straightforward. After signing up, you’ll have access to millions of flashcard “packs,” which are pre-made and cover the standard subject areas in a high school curriculum.

Be aware, however, that these flashcards are user-made and answers should be thoroughly checked before you share the quizzes with your students. Of course, you also have the option of creating your own flashcards to target particular learning areas.

In addition, you can tweak the flashcards to make them more teenage or kid-friendly and save your packs for later use. One way you might do this is by creating packs on video game vocabulary or YouTube phrases, for example.

You can also set up a Quizlet live game, which is similar to Kahoot!, discussed above.

After creating your custom flashcard deck, you can invite your students to a round of Quizlet to add a little bit of competition to the classroom. I’ve found this to be an excellent motivator, and it can really help bring students out of their shells.

Level: Intermediate to advanced

Focus: Vocabulary building and word definitions

Price: Free for a basic account, $45 per year for a pro account

I promise you one thing: Once your students start playing Knoword, it’ll be nearly impossible to get them to stop.

The strength of the online game Knoword lies in its simplicity. Students can get started with this game almost immediately and practice their reading, vocabulary and spelling.

Basically, the program will provide random word definitions and students must type the missing words as quickly as possible.

To use this game for teenage learners, I recommend that you give them a class code and pit students against each other for some healthy competition. You’ll also have the option to assign individual tasks and track the student’s progress.

Similar to Quizlet above, there are many pre-existing packs based on the school subject or you can play the main vocabulary definition game . You can also create your own customizable learning packs should you want to test your students on a specific area or make the coolest exam ever.

The main vocabulary game can be challenging, which is why this is recommended for intermediate students and above.

Level: Intermediate and up

Focus: Speaking and question forming

I’m always on the lookout for new twists on classic ESL games to give students an activity they haven’t done before. This game is somewhat similar to the popular game “20 Questions,” only with a few slight changes, making it extra fun.

The teacher will put the names of famous people or characters into a container. These names can be real, fictional cartoons or any characters you can think of (as long as the students know who it is).

Students will then draw out names and must assume the character. Instruct the students to answer the questions as if they were really that person or character.

If you’re teaching a lower-level class, you can model with an example and write some sample questions on the board to prompt the students. You can also do the question and answer one by one by having students come up to the front of the class one at a time.

If the students are slightly more advanced, I like to do a kind of “cocktail party” style approach where the students will mingle throughout the room and ask each other questions. Just make sure you move around the classroom and check that the students are practicing their English.

At the end of the party, students can do a vote-style assessment of who they think each of their fellow classmates is.

Level: Beginner and up

Focus: Listening

If I had to choose one “tool” for the rest of my ESL teaching career, it’d have to be a ball.

From introductory activities to summary games, you can incorporate a ball into almost any activity. Plus, I’m a big believer in action and movement in an ESL classroom.

For this group game, you’ll need a ball (or several) and some space. This game works great outdoors in a big open grassy area.

After placing the students into groups, they’ll then be equally spaced away from the ball in two teams. Of course, you can also play one-on-one, depending on the amount of space and number of balls you have!

The teacher will make a true or false statement. This statement can be an English-related statement, such as the word happy is an adjective or a statement related to skills you have been teaching in class.

If the statement is true, the students must rush to grab the ball before their classmates, but if it’s false, they must leave it be. Students or teams will receive a point every time they correctly snatch the ball before the others on the true statement. However, they’ll lose a point if they grab the ball on a false statement.

For a smaller (and possibly safer) version, you can play at the student’s desks with a small ball or object to snatch.

Level: Beginner and up

Focus: Listening, language structure and team collaboration

This is a go-to activity to create a fun atmosphere in the classroom. That being said, it does require a little bit of preparation.

Start by choosing some popular songs with clear singing and simple lyrics. Contemporary music and pop songs are always good choices, especially songs that your students might have heard before.

Next, print the lyrics on either one large page or smaller pages, depending on the size of the class. The next step is to cut the lyrics into lines and mix them up before handing them to your class or groups.

Inform the students that they’ll be putting the lyrics back together again in the correct order . You can also turn the activity into a competition to see who can put the “jigsaw” together the fastest.

What I especially like about the game is when the students catch themselves singing along to the lyrics. It’s like a sudden realization that they know more English than they think!

Focus: Speaking and listening

For this activity, all you need is a stick, some paper, pens and chatty students.

After cutting out a mustache and taping or pasting it to a stick, have the students pass the mustache around until you say stop (or play music and pause it to stop). Whoever’s holding the mustache under their nose gets to ask the class a question. Students take turns answering and then passing around the mustache.

Questions can be as simple as “What’s your favorite color?” or as complex as ethical debate prompts. You can write a few sample questions on the board to get things going.

If your class is usually shy, you can introduce this activity the day before and have them prep some questions as homework.

Of course, you can replace the mustache with any item if you’d prefer students to just hold an item in their hands rather than putting it up to their faces. Grab a ball from the “Grab the Ball” activity, for instance, and pass it around!

If your students aspire to travel the world or move to an English-speaking country, this is a fantastic way to practice listening comprehension and asking/responding to questions.

This game can sharpen communication skills, preparing students for a job interview or coffee with an English-speaking friend.

Level: Lower intermediate and up

Focus: Writing, listening and speaking

If you ever had a ton of fun with “Mad Libs” around a campfire, why not share that fun with your ESL students? This game tests their knowledge of grammar and parts of speech, and the results are hilarious.

Here’s how it works: Each “Mad Libs” story has blank words for you to fill in, usually parts of speech (you’ll be choosing nouns, adjectives, emotions, places, etc.) and you only get to read the full story after you’ve picked your words.

Writing.com has pages upon pages of “Mad Libs” puzzles that are great for teens. Or, if you’re tech-savvy, you can download an app onto your classroom device. The official “Mad Libs” app can be found on the Apple store.

Then just sit down with your students and go around the table asking for nouns, verbs, adjectives and more. For ways to get your students more involved, have them write the words down themselves or spell them out for you.

With more advanced students, you can even encourage them to write their own stories, then remove a certain number of words for their classmates to fill in.

Once your students get into it, they might start cracking up with the hilarious stories that come up!

Focus: Reading, speaking

This game is a great way to go more in-depth with parts of speech by doing word association using adjectives. And you can either buy your own box online or you can make your own cards that focus on the vocabulary you’ve been teaching in class. Genius!

You’ll want a group of three or more students to play this game with. Cards are split into two types: green for adjectives and red for nouns. Students get seven red cards and then one green card is put into the middle by the “judge,” who rotates each round.

Students then choose a red card from their hand that they feel fits the green card best, and place it face-down on the table. Once everyone’s made a choice, the judge reads all the cards out loud and decides which is the best of the bunch.

The winner of that round gets to keep the green card. Whoever has the most green cards at the end of the game is the winner.

You can mix “Apples to Apples” up a bit by playing opposites (they put in the card that least fits the adjective) or change things up completely by giving them several green adjective cards and one red noun card with the objective of matching a variety of adjectives to that noun.

“Apples to Apples” can also be a great way to get your more advanced speakers debating. For example, go around the table and ask whether the students agree with the winning card that the judge picked, or justify their own card choice for that turn.

Focus: Listening, speaking

It was the first day of classes, and I’d gotten my first group of teenagers. Our books hadn’t yet arrived. What did I do? I came up with a “Jeopardy” board.

As I found out, “Jeopardy” is a great way to review old information that may have been tucked away during the summer. Besides this, it’s also a great way to check student comprehension in a fun way.

Not to mention that the possibilities for quiz categories are endless. Some “Jeopardy” categories you might use include US vs. UK English, the present tense or superlatives. It’s a game that is easily customizable based on your classroom needs.

You can go into easier categories for lower students or harder ones to really challenge your advanced class.

There are several ways you can make this game, including both analog and digital versions. If you’d like more tips on how to create your own “Jeopardy” game for your classroom, check out our more in-depth instructions here .

For websites that have pre-made digital “Jeopardy” templates which also allow you to make your own, you can also check out Factile and JeopardyLabs .

Level: Advanced

Focus: Speaking, listening

The party game Werewolf gives a twist on your everyday role-playing exercise with a focus on discussion. Your teens will have to focus on banding together to either beat the Werewolf or outsmart all the others.

There are different variations of this role-playing game, but the most basic one has one moderator (in this case, the teacher) and a werewolf, while the rest of the players are villagers.

Werewolf has “daytime” and “nighttime” phases. During the nighttime phase, everyone closes their eyes. The moderator asks the player with the werewolf role to open their eyes. The werewolf silently selects a villager to “kill” by pointing, then closes their eyes. No talking is allowed during this phase!

Once a villager has been selected, the moderator begins the daytime phase by asking everyone to open their eyes. The moderator now spins a tale about a werewolf attack in the night, and announces which villager has been “killed.”

Students must now discuss who they think the werewolf is, while the person with the werewolf role must try to throw attention away from themselves. This phase requires some smooth talking skills and clear communication!

At the end of the discussion phase, the villagers eliminate one player, who they think is the werewolf. If they’re wrong, the game continues for another round. If they’re right, the game ends.

Focus: Speaking, reading, listening

There are tons of board games you can play one-on-one with teenage students. They’re great for sparking English communication in a fun environment.

“Guess Who” is perfect for those who are learning to talk about features and characteristics. You can even go beyond how a person looks and work on what a person does. For example, you could print out a page of people in their work environments and your student can ask, “Do they wear a uniform?”
“Scrabble” is also a classic game that teens enjoy. You can use the game to focus on vocabulary and spelling. If you get bored playing the old-fashioned way, you can tweak the rules. For example, allowing your student to choose one letter in any word on the board can be a fun way to get them thinking outside the box.
For more vocabulary, you can always play “Word Battleship.” The gameplay is the same as regular “Battleship,” except instead of using boats you use letters to form words. It’s a great way to review words and focus on spelling, especially when the student is making their own board.

Focus: Writing and reading

A lot of teenage students really dislike writing. However, some are more enthusiastic about the idea if you give them the freedom to write what they want.

While the list of possibilities for creative writing exercises can seem endless, one of my favorite games that my private students really enjoy is called “Person, Place, Action.”

The student is given nine pieces of paper. On three of them, they write a person, on another three they write a place and on the final three they write some sort of action.

These can vary from short answers to long answers. Lower intermediate students could write “runs a race” for one of their actions, while a more advanced student could elaborate with “runs a race through the desert during the hottest day on record.”

These sheets of paper are then folded and sorted into their categories, and then the student picks one from each category. The student then unfolds their paper and writes a story with the given prompt.

I generally join in with writing on nine slips of paper with my student to give them more variety, and you can get some pretty wacky results with a little bit of brainstorming.

These activities are sure to inspire your students to love the English language and encourage them to strive for fluency. They won’t even realize all the learning they’re doing while having so much fun!

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ESL Activities

ESL Games, Activities, Lesson Plans, Jobs & More

in Icebreakers + Warm-Ups · Listening · Speaking

ESL Activities for Teenagers | Fun Games for Teens English Learners

If you’re looking for some of the best ESL games and activities for teens, then you’re in the right place. Keep on reading for everything you need to know about ESL activities for teenagers to make your English classes even better.

ESL activities for teenagers

Boring ESL activities=bored students. Avoid this by mixing it up with these fun, interesting games and activities to do with your teens. Check out my top picks for ESL games for teens that can help to create a positive language learning environment.

129 ESL Games and Activities For Teens: Fun and Interactive Ideas for the English Classroom...

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Bolen, Jackie (Author)
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273 Pages - 09/27/2023 (Publication Date)

Fun ESL Activities for Teenagers

If you’re looking for some fresh, new ideas for your English classes, check out these ESL games for teens. They’re guaranteed to be fun, engaging, and interesting. These fun ESL games for teenagers cover a wide range of skills, from speaking to writing to listening and reading, and many of them cover more than one skill at a time. Your students will love your classes if you use some of these learning games for teens!

Try out some of these activities and games for teenagers today. Oh yeah, and these ESL activities for teenagers will also work for any foreign language teaching. Even more ideas here: Fun activities for middle school students .

#1 Team Games for Teenagers: Running Dictation 4-Skills ESL Activity

If you’re looking for an active, 4-skills ESL activity that teenagers will love, look no further than running dictation! It’s competitive, fast-paced and students always demand to play it again. Running dictation is the perfect ESL activity for a case of the Monday morning or Friday afternoon blues. It’s guaranteed to get a bit of energy and excitement back into your classes.

The basic way it works is that there are sentences (from a dialogue or story) around your class. You can make your own, or find some articles related to your topic in the textbook you’re using or on the Internet.

One student has to read it, memorize as much as they can, and then come dictate it to their partner who writes it down. At the end, the team has to put the sentences in the correct order.

This is a very good activity for intermediate language learners, although can also work for high beginners or advanced. The main requirements are basic reading and writing skills.

Including all four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) within a single activity is the kind of like the holy grail of language teaching. This one is one of the best for doing that well.

In addition, there aren’t that many writing games for teens (or kids or adults too). They are just harder to design and make them fun. However, running dictation does have a serious writing element to it, which makes it a nice choice for a writing game.

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...

#2 Communication Games for Teens: Board Games for ESL Students

Board games are one of my favorites for teenagers because they can be tailored to any grammar or vocabulary point that you’re teaching. They’re also extremely student-centered when played in small groups of 3-4 students. Make sure you bring in a little prize of some kind for the winner in each group to add a small element of competition.

The best part about board games is that they’re very easy to design yourself. Once you have a template down, it takes only about 10 minutes to produce a board game for just about any vocabulary set or grammar point. You can also find some materials for board games in a teacher’s resource book for the textbook you’re using.

#3: Apples to Apples ESL Vocabulary Game

One of my favorite vocabulary games for ESL students is Apples to Apples . You can make your own decks of cards to suit any level or target vocabulary. Get the students to help you out—they’ll have fun doing it, and will also enjoy playing it all the more! Kids love this one too.

Or, you can check out Apples to Apples Junior on Amazon if you want to use it as a party game.

Have some fun with your students while they practice English vocabulary. You can teach new words, or students can have fun while working the language themselves. I know which one I’ll choose every single time.

ESL for teens : Make it more fun with a game like this one. It’s also one of my top picks for team games for teenagers.

Classroom Games for Teenagers

#4 ESL Activities for Teenagers: Password

This is one of the best ESL vocabulary activities for teenagers because it’s challenging. You can play password with the entire class, but it’s best in smaller classes of 10 or fewer in order to increase student talking time.

Or course, if you have a large class, you can break it up into smaller groups to play this as well.

#5: Concentration ESL or EFL Memory Game

Concentration is one of my favorite ESL games for teenagers because it’s an excellent way to calm a rowdy class. You won’t believe how quiet your students will be when playing this one! A sign of a good activity is when the majority of the students are focusing deeply on it, and this one is one of the best.

It’s adaptable for all levels and ages, including young children, up to high school, and adults.

Concentration is played in groups of 3-4 students and doesn’t require a lot of talking. I use it mostly for matching vocabulary words with definitions, but you can adapt it to suit lots of other stuff as well. The best part about this one is that you can adapt it for any age, or level of students.

For higher-level students, you can match the word to definition, opposites, or problem and advice. These are just a few examples so get creative!

Oh yeah, it’s one of the best memory games I can think of. Not only does it challenge the brain, but it helps our students remember English vocabulary as well. After all, students should be doing the hard work, not you!

And this simple activity is a favorite of many of my teenage students. It also lends itself well to holiday-themed classes. Check out this article for even more ideas: Christmas Activities for ESL Students .

Try out one of the best learning games for teenagers today.

49 ESL Conversation Games & Activities: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want to Have Better...

146 Pages - 06/18/2020 (Publication Date)

#6: Surveys for ESL Students

If you ask your students what they want to get out of your class, they’ll often say they want to speak English better. Surveys are an excellent way to help them do that.

With big classes of adults, surveys are one of my go-to ESL classroom activities because they’re student-centered, engaging, and cover all 4 skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking). They are still an excellent ESL activity for teenagers, but you need to judge whether or not they’re mature enough to do it.

Most classes are, but be sure to set the ground rules before you set your students loose to do the activity. I usually say the following:

Talking only 1-1 and not in groups of three or more.
The goal is not to finish first. The goal is to have lots of mini-conversations in English with a lot of different people.
Speak only in English. The goal is not to finish quickly! The goal is to practice speaking English.
Also, write down notes about the answers in English only. Remember that the goal is language learning, not simply to get it done as quickly as possible.
Only take notes for the answers. You don’t need to write detailed sentences.

The bottom line? ESL surveys are amazing and I hope that all teachers are using them in their classes!

#7 ESL For Teenagers: Vocabulary Auction

Try out vocabulary auction if you’re looking to introduce an element of competition into your classes. Your students will have so much fun that they’ll forget that they’re learning English at the same time! If you want to review new terms or words that students have been learning, this should be your go-to activity.

It can take a while to get this ESL vocabulary activity organized and it’s certainly not one to prepare in the few minutes before class is starting. However, it’s worth it, especially if you teach multiple sections of the same class because your students will love it!

Seriously, it’s one of the most exciting classes of the whole year. It’s a top pick for an ESL classroom game so try it out today with your students! But, it’s best for 13 and up. It’s definitely one of the best learning games for teens so be sure to give it a try.

#8 Charades: One of the Best Interaction Games for Teenagers

If you’re having a party day, charades make an excellent ESL activity for teenagers. It’s really fun and also a great way to review vocabulary. You can build your own words or phrases, or get the students to help you out with it.

The way I get students to help is to go in groups of 3-4, look through their textbooks (only what we’ve studied together), and choose 10 vocabulary words that were new to them. Then, collect the papers and compile your own master list to play with from there.

Then, put students into teams and have some fun with this ESL vocabulary game. The team with the most points wins. It’s one of my favorite classroom games for teens.

Alternatively, you could have students do the simple version of this with a partner for a quick lead-in or warm-up. For example, they have to describe a room in a house to a partner who guesses what it is.

For example, “This is where you cook food and eat.”

Answer: Kitchen.

“This is where you stay at night time.”

Answer: Bedroom.

#9 ESL for Teens: English Central Videos

Teenagers love videos, but it can be hard to find ones easy enough for your teenage English learners on YouTube. Check out English Central for help in finding ones that are the right level for you. It’s one of the best online resources for your English classes.

You can do so many things in your ESL lesson when using videos! Discussion, comprehension question, a focus on grammar or vocabulary, etc. Get creative because the sky is the limit. It’s English teaching made easy!

There is a huge range of fun ESL topics covered as well. You can find videos about: friends, jobs, school life, movies, dates, family , trips, etc.

#10: Discussion Topics

#11 Learning Activities for Teenagers: Conversation Starters

I know I promised to give you 10 of the best ESL games for teens, but here’s an extra one! These conversation starters work well for teenagers or adults, but you should only use them with high intermediate or advanced students. Beginners usually don’t have the English grammar or vocabulary necessary to talk about one of these questions for more than 10 or 20 seconds.

You can check them out here: https://eslspeaking.org/conversation-starters-adults/

For a more extended activity related to this, have students work in pairs to plan a day walking around their city. For example, would they go to a park or museum? What food would they recommend eating? Then, each group can do a quick presentation to the class and the rest of you can follow along with them!

Another good one is what students see when they walk to school. Encourage them to dig a little bit deeper below the surface. Are there any ways that they go where they can see something a bit out of the ordinary? Do they walk with friends or alone?

#12: Interactive Games for Teenagers

I’m ALL about interaction in my classes. I mean between myself and the students if fewer than 5 people in the class. Or, between students, if it’s a bigger class.

It’s through interacting that people get better at languages. It’s for this reason that I carefully design my games and activities so that they facilitate this.

Check out some of my top ideas for fun activities for teenagers here: Interactive ESL Games and Activities .

#13: Fun Things to with Teenagers on the First Day of Class

#14 Fun Activities for Teens: Drawing a Picture, ESL Speaking Style

Another fun English activity for teenagers is drawing a picture, but with a twist. The way it works is that one student is looking at a picture of something (something like an alien usually works well). Then, they have to describe it to their partner, in English but the one who is drawing can’t see the picture.

They may have to say things like:

The alien has a very big, square head.
It has 7 arms, coming out from all around the body.
There are 4, small eyes at the top of the head.

In the end, you can compare pictures with the class and the results are usually hilarious.

A quick tip: Choose something silly, and not a real person in the class. If you do this, someone will almost always end up feeling insulted!

More details about this warm-up activity for teenagers here: Drawing a Picture, ESL Speaking Style .

67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...

279 Pages - 07/12/2020 (Publication Date)

#15: ESL Whiteboard Games

I don’t know what it is, but most students seem to love writing on the whiteboard. Teens of course are no exception! The good news is that there are a ton of fun whiteboard activities you can try out with your students. Think relay races, error correction, flyswatter games, and more.

Here are some of our top picks:

ESL Whiteboard Activities .

#16: A-Z Alphabet Game

Try out this quick warmer activity if your students have studied the topic of the day before. It’s ideal for helping to activate prior knowledge before jumping into the heart of your lesson. For example, even before teaching the unit, most teenage students will know lots of vocabulary for things like jobs, weather, animals, etc.

The way this game works is that in pairs, students write the alphabet down on a piece of paper. Then, they have to think of a word that starts with each letter according to a certain topic. For example, jobs.

A = astronaut

F = firefighter

The key is to just allow one job for each letter and also that not all letters need to be filled in. The winner is the team with the most words done at the end of 2-3 minutes. You can find out more information right here:

A-Z ESL Warmer .

#17: Jigsaw Activities

#18: Postcard English Writing Activity

If you can get your hands on a bunch of blank postcards for cheap, then consider this simple but fun writing activity that works well for beginners, intermediates, or more advanced learners. Check out all the details about it right here:

Postcards ESL Writing Activity .

#19: 3 Things

If you want to have some fun with English writing with teens, then consider 3 Things. The way it works is that students choose three things for their partner. They can be totally random and unrelated. Then, their partner has to write a story that connects them all together, but it can be silly.

Learn more here: 3 Things English Writing Activity .

#20: ESL Games for Teenagers

Even more fun ideas here:

#21: Me Too!

This is a simple TEFL speaking and listening activity that requires nothing in the way of preparation or materials. Sounds like some ESL teaching gold, right? It is. It’s also a nice choice to use as a day of the week activity .

The way it works is that each person says a fact about themselves to see which of their classmates has it in common with them. Learn more about how it all works right here:

Me Too! ESL Activity .

#22: Presentations

Group presentations in English can be a fun task-based learning project for teenage students and it’s a nice break for you! They’re ideal for language learning because they offer some serious speaking and listening practice.

Okay, so they’re not really in the category of “fun activities.” However, they can be quite a useful exercise and it’s for this reason that I like to include at least once per semester for most of my classes. Although you might get some initial groans when first telling your students about this, they usually don’t mind in the end so push through the initial resistance!

You’ll get the best results if you give students plenty of support and instruction on how to give an effective presentation. The key to this one is allowing lots of preparation time in class, as well as giving detailed feedback throughout the process.

39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...

81 Pages - 06/22/2021 (Publication Date)

Also, be sure to make your expectations clear so that you get the best results. For example, are students…

Allowed to read from a paper?
Able to have a wall of text on the PowerPoint?
Allowed to have one person in the group do all the talking?

As you can see, it’s worth it to think through your instructions clearly before getting started with this.

Oh yeah, you can turn this into more of an interactive activity if you require the people listening to do something. Perhaps you can put the students into groups of 4 and each group has to ask 1 follow-up question. Or, you may want to consider peer grading. It’s not exactly a presentation game for class…but it’s kind of fun!

If you teach ESL online , you may want to consider this activity. It’s a nice way for students to work on their speaking skills in a huge way.

#23: Sentence Building Activities

Time spent on making better English sentences is never wasted time! It’s key to English writing and speaking and the good news is that it doesn’t have to be super boring. Check out some of the recommendations here:

ESL Sentence Structure Activities .

#24: ESL Food and Drink Activity Ideas

#25: TV ESL Lesson Plan

If you want to get your teens talking, then choose a topic that is relevant to them! Chances are that most of them watch at least a few different TV shows which makes this a perfect topic.

The even better news is that you can use this complete lesson plan that includes a warm-up, conversation questions, vocabulary, and writing prompts. It’s ideal for intermediate-advanced teenage learners and takes 1-2 hours.,

If you’re looking for something to just print off and take to class with you, then don’t pass up this resource. Have a look here:

TV ESL Lesson Plan .

#26: Word Challenge

A fun relay race type of game that’s heavy on the spelling and listening skills is word challenge. The way it works is that you can say a vocabulary word and students race to spell it correctly on the whiteboard. Simple but fun! Learn more about how to play it here:

ESL Spelling Word Challenge .

39 ESL Icebreakers: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want to Start their English Classes Off...

54 Pages - 11/10/2015 (Publication Date)

#27: Word Association

This is a nice warmer activity that helps students activate prior knowledge that they have about a topic. It’s basically a mind map of vocabulary words about a certain topic that students can make with a partner or small group, or you can do it together as an entire class as well. Find out all the details:

Word Association ESL Warmer.

#28: Twenty Questions

#29: Man/Woman on the Street Interviews

Check out this interview-style activity that’s heavy on the questions forms, as well as listening and speaking. It’s the perfect way to elicit some opinions from your teenagers about current events or controversial topics. It can be easily adapted for big or small classes and works for a short, or long amount of time.

You’ll certainly want to try out this extremely versatile ESL activity for teenagers (it works for kids or adults too!). Find out more here:

Man/Woman on the Street.

#30: ESL Conversation Questions

1005 ESL Conversation Questions: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want to Have...

86 Pages - 07/02/2020 (Publication Date)

If you teach conversation, free-talking, or speaking classes, then I’m sure you’re always looking for good sources of questions. Sure, you can make your own or find them on the Internet but that takes time. The better solution is to just copy some, take them to class, and let your students get to talking. Here is my favourite source:

ESL Conversation Questions.

#31: Show and Tell

I love to use show and tell in my classes! It’s a fun activity for all ages. If you have a large class, consider doing 1-2 students a class as a nice warm-up activity. Find out more about it:

#32: Current Events Lesson Plan

A nice activity for intermediate or advanced students is to talk about current events. Here’s a complete lesson plan for current events that contains the following:

Warm-up question
Vocabulary challenge
Idioms and phrases
Conversation questions
Writing prompts

Have a look here:

Current Events ESL Lesson Plan.

#33: Dictogloss

Try out this challenging listening and speaking or writing ESL activity with your teens today. The way it works is that you find a passage to read out (or write your own). Put students into pairs and then read it at a faster than normal pace. Students take notes to try to recreate what they heard with their partners.

Then, read it out again and students add more to it. Finally, they compare what they have with the original version. Want to give it a try?

ESL Dictogloss Activity .

#34: Use a TEFL Warm-Up

#35: ESL Daily Schedule Activities

A nice topic for teenagers is about daily schedules. Depending on sleep schedules and how strict parents are, I find that they can vary widely even in a small class. Here are some of the best activities for talking about this:

ESL Daily Schedule Activities.

#36: More Idea for Teaching English to Teens

#37: saint patrick’s day esl classroom games.

A nice holiday to celebrate with teens is St. Patty’s Day. There’s an interesting history, plus some fun, current-day traditions. It also makes a nice break from the usual stuff in ESL textbooks! Here are some of my creative ideas for how to plan this kind of lesson:

ESL Saint Patrick’s Day .

#38: Five Senses

#39: ESL Role Playing Activity

A nice activity for beginners is this role-play one. It’s a great way to get students to practice speaking and having conversations but it doesn’t require students to have a lot of language skills. There are a variety of topics, ideas and situations that you can use this activity for. Find out all the details:

Role Play Topics and Ideas .

#40: Dialogue Substitution

#41: Scatter Sheets ESL

If you want an easy solution for TEFL lesson plans for teens, then look no further than these scatter sheets. They are all-in-one lessons that you can just print off and take to class. They’re ideal for high-beginners to low-intermediates. Find out more about them here:

ESL Scatter Sheets .

#42: Teaching Conditionals

A nice activity for teens is to teach them how to use conditionals. They are useful for a variety of situations and what teenager doesn’t want to learn how to express themselves? Have a look here for my recommendations:

Teaching the 1st conditional

How to teach the 3rd conditional

#43: All About Me Activities

Help students get to know each other with some of these fun ideas:

All About Me .

#44: Hot Potato

#45: ESL Feelings Activities

It’s never wasted time to teach teens about how to express their emotions. Check out some of my favourite TEFL games and activities to do just that:

ESL Feelings Activities .

#46: Round Robin Story Writing

Have a look at this fun speaking/listening or writing activity that’s ideal for teenagers:

Round Robin Story Writing .

#47: Fun Ideas for the Last Day of Class

There are so many great things you can do with teens on the last day. Have a look here for some of my favourite ideas:

Last Day of School Games .

#48: Speaking Fluency Activity

#49: There Is/There Are Activities for Teenagers

There is and there are. They are key concepts for all English learners to master and they can get a little bit tricky when you take into account things like uncountable nouns. Have a look at my favourite review games and activities for teaching them:

There is/there are ESL .

#50: Fun Guessing Games

There are lots of fun guess games that you can do with teens. They love the element of mystery to it! Have a look here for some of my top recommendations:

Guessing Games .

More Ideas for Games and Activities for Teenagers

101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults is a new book from Jackie Bolen and Jennifer Booker Smith that’s now available on Amazon. It’s designed to make life easy for teachers!

The key to a better English class is a variety of engaging, interesting, and fun activities and games. But, it can be difficult to come up with fresh ones for each class, especially if you see the same group of students a couple of times a week over the course of a semester. However, with more than 100, you certainly won’t be at a loss for some new things to try out in your classes.

Here’s how 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers will help you:

On the fence about whether or not this book is right for you? Here are just a few of the reasons why you might consider picking it up:

Save time lesson planning

Maybe you’re tired of wading around the junk on the Internet to find some ESL games or activities that you can actually use in your classes. We were too! That’s why we wrote this book. Just open it up, go to the section you’re looking for (4-skills, listening + speaking, writing, reading, or warm-ups/icebreakers) and find quality ESL activities that are easy on the prep.

You’ll find a brief description of the activity so that you can get the big picture. Then you’ll find the step by step instructions for how to set up and do the activity in your class. Finally, there are some helpful teaching tips so that you can make the activity even better and also avoid some of the common things that can go wrong.

Your students will love them too and will definitely appreciate the variety in your classes. And, you can have more time to do the stuff you really like to do! No more wasting time lesson planning ever again. There are enough ESL games and activities to last you an entire year or more!

If you teach private classes, these activities will keep your students coming back for more! Fresh and interesting? That’s some ESL gold right there, isn’t it?

Stuck in a rut?

Do you do the same things over and over again in your classes? You’re probably so bored with them and I’m sure your students are too. Make things interesting and fresh with some new ESL games and activities. The students will love your classes (and you too!). No more sleeping at the back of your class for your students!

Make your lessons student-centred

The activities and games in 101 ESL Activities are all student-centred so you can put the focus back on your students. The only way to get good at a language is to practice it! Help your students learn English effectively by using an ESL activity in this book. We guarantee that they’ll be speaking, listening, writing, or reading English like stars!

Want to Check it Out?

148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)

Saving time lesson planning, getting unstuck out of your rut, making your lessons student-centred sound good to you? It sounds really good to us! Seriously, it is and if this book doesn’t make your ESL classes better, then get in touch and we’ll happily refund your money.

That’s why we wrote the book. It’s the one that we wish we had years ago when we first started our teaching careers. I wasted so much time searching around the Internet for a fun activity I could use in my class. Avoid this same mistake and get your copy today.

It’s really easy to get 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults on Amazon by downloading the free Kindle reading app. This book belongs on every single ESL teacher’s personal bookshelf.

Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office as a handy reference guide for when you plan your lessons. Or, you can take the book with you on your phone or tablet for easy lesson planning at your favourite coffee shop.

Click the link below to get the book on Amazon today. But, only if you want to get yourself some ESL lesson planning awesome in your life.

Tips for Teaching Teens

When you teach English to middle school or high school students, it can be quite challenging. However, here are a few tips to make sure your classes go as smoothly as possible.

Use General Feedback

Teens usually don’t like it when you point out their behaviour, either good or bad in front of the whole class. Praise, or scold a group or the entire class rather than an individual.

Don’t Put Students on the Spot

This can often end in disaster! Instead, you can:

Ask for volunteers to give an answer (it works best if you give some incentive for doing so)
Require that each group give an answer instead of an individual
Tell a student during the practice time that you’re going to call on them during them to answer the question in front of the class so they have a bit of time to prepare something

Small-Group Interactions

Be sensitive about partners and small groups and who ends up working with who. It’s best not to make random partners, but it’s fine to do with groups of 4 or 5 for example.

Also, be on the lookout for mean spirited behaviour and clamp down on it hard so that everyone can have an enjoyable class experience.

Use Routines

Most people like it when they know what they can expect so have some routines. For example:

Check or hand in homework
Warm-up activity
Work on 2-3 pages from the book in partners
Small group activity or class game
Assigning of homework

You can also make routines for things like handing out worksheets, collecting papers, making groups, marking homework, etc. so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single time.

Start your class off on the right foot by setting up routines so that students know exactly what they can expect.

39 Awesome 1-1 ESL Activities: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want to Have Engaging,...

55 Pages - 01/19/2016 (Publication Date)

Get Feedback from Students

I’ll sometimes put these questions (as a bonus point) on a quiz or test a few weeks into the semester:

“What do you like best about the class so far?”

“Is there an activity in this class that you don’t like doing?”

You’ll often get some illuminating answers. Take the feedback seriously, especially if you see the same thing over and over again. Maybe the students hate doing dictation, or they LOVE your board games. You won’t really know until you ask them.

Be Sensitive About Groups and Pairs

With university students or adults, you can put students into pairs without really thinking too much about it. Usually, they’re reasonably happy to work with just about anyone.

However, with kids, it’s usually more complicated, especially in middle school. Usually, the boys won’t want to work with the girls and vice-versa.

Although I generally like to mix things up with partners or groups to keep things fresh, with teens? I’ll usually let them sit with who they want. Or, I’ll assign groups of 3-4 students at the beginning of the course and they’ll stay with that group until the end.

Only 1 Person Talking During Group Activities for Teenagers

If there’s one rule that I’m very serious about in my classroom, it’s this one. There is only ONE person talking at a time. That applies to me, or if a student is giving a presentation or answering a question. Or, if we’re doing a game or activity that requires listening.

I often find that I have to come down very hard on this at the beginning of the semester, but that it gets much easier as the course goes on when the students know I’m very serious about this.

ESL Activities for Teenagers: Use a Variety of Them

I’m sure you know this already, but the key to interesting, engaging classes for middle or high school students is a variety of things to do. Use different games and activities for each class.

As a general rule, I try not to repeat them more than once a month to keep things fresh.

Where Can I Find ESL Lesson Plans for Teenagers?

Are you looking for some lesson plans for your teenage students? Then you’ll want to check out some of our favorite recommendations right here that will work with teens around the world:

Lesson Plans for Intermediate/Advanced Students

The Ultimate ESL Lesson Planning Guide

How to Plan an ESL Reading Lesson

ESL Games for Teens FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about teaching English to teens. Here are the answers to some of the most common ones.

How can I make English lessons for teens interesting?

There are a number of ways that you can make English lessons for teens more interesting:

Use a variety of games and activities
Don’t repeat topics
Allow students some choice for things like groups, topics, etc.
Use technology
Focus on interactive lessons
Have some fun
Take English outside the classroom whenever possible
Use interesting textbooks
Find some authentic materials

What are language games in English?

Language games are useful for helping motivate students to make and sustain efforts in learning a new language. They are motivating, encourage communication and interaction, and finally, bring some fun into the English classroom.

How can I give teens choices in my classroom?

If you’re giving homework like a written essay, for example, let them choose from a list of topics. Or, if they’re doing a speech, allow them to choose just about anything as long as they check with you first before starting.

For a group project, give them guidelines and recommendations but don’t micromanage how they get it done. As long as the final result is what you’re looking for, it doesn’t matter how your students get there. Their process may be different from yours, but that’s okay.

What are some common challenges when teaching ESL to teens?

Some common challenges when teaching ESL to teens include dealing with varied language proficiency levels, managing behavioral issues, addressing teenage distractions, and motivating reluctant learners.

How can I address different language proficiency levels in a teen ESL class?

To address different language proficiency levels in a teen ESL class, you can differentiate instruction by providing varied tasks and materials based on individual needs, offering extra support or extension activities, and promoting peer collaboration and assistance.

What are some effective assessment strategies for assessing teens’ progress in ESL?

Some effective assessment strategies for assessing teens’ progress in ESL include using a variety of assessment methods such as presentations, projects, written assignments, and oral interviews, providing constructive feedback, and involving students in self-assessment and reflection.

How can I promote speaking and communication skills in teen ESL learners?

To promote speaking and communication skills in teen ESL learners, you can provide ample opportunities for speaking practice through discussions, debates, role-plays, and presentations. Encouraging participation, active listening, and providing constructive feedback also contribute to their development.

Have your say about the best ESL Games for Teens!

Do you have any go-to activities for teenagers who are English learners? Do you have any ideas for making your lessons for teenagers more interesting? Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about teaching English.

Also be sure to share this on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. This will help other teachers, like yourself find this useful teaching resource guide.

Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including Business English Vocabulary Builder and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook Pinterest TikTok LinkedIn Instagram

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12 Fun ESL Speaking Activities for Teens or Adults

Every language teacher knows that speaking is a core skill to teach and practice, but sometimes it can be challenging coming up with creative or engaging ESL speaking activities and games. You can use them to improve the community feeling inside the classroom , too.

Let’s dive into nine quick, easy, and fun ESL speaking activities for teenagers and adults you can integrate into your lessons or use in speaking clubs.

They are designed to be high-quality and enjoyable – and mostly suitable for online lessons, too.

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They don’t need much preparation, but will get your students talking and help them to hone their conversational skills without even thinking about it.

ESL Speaking Activities for teens and adults

1. Interview Pop

2. word racing, 3. guess who or what i am, 4. would you rather…, 5. how-to presentation, 6. living memory, 7. video talk, 8. talk about your weekend, 9. timed discussion, 10. debating club, 11. taboo words, 12. story chain.

Student level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced Type of Lesson: Group or Individual

This is a great one for students to have fun and be creative. Put students in pairs, or you could also carry this one out in a one-one lesson.

Students choose one person they want to interview. It can be anybody of their choice, and the person doesn’t necessarily have to be alive still.

I tell students to choose someone they know a lot about or who they admire because then they’ll have more material to talk about when the speaking part of the activity comes around.

Give each student a list of ten to fifteen verbs. (Can be the same list or different) See the example:

Each student has to choose five verbs from their list.

They make a different question using one of their five verbs in each question; these questions are made for the person they want to interview.

Each question will have a different verb.

For example, let’s say a student chooses Barack Obama. They have to make five interview questions for Barack Obama, each question using a different verb from their list.

Here are some examples:

How did you decide you want to become president?
Did you want to continue being president after your term finished?
What did you love about being the president?
What would you change about the USA?
What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment as president?

While I usually just come up with the verbs myself, you can also find some verb lists online, along with a list of people for your students to choose from.

While the students are making their questions, go through the class and help students fix the grammatical mistakes.

This is a great activity if you are practicing question formation as a grammar topic with your students.

The students then give their partner the questions that they wrote and then assume the role of the person they wanted to interview, while their partner asks them the questions they just made.

So this means that each student answers the questions from the perspective of the person they wanted to interview, as their partner asks them the questions.

Go around and listen for mistakes.

You could also then have students report to the class the person their partner chose and how they responded to the questions.

Student level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced Type of Lesson: Group

A very interactive and high-energy ESL speaking activity. Many students get so into it and excited that they won’t even notice they are speaking in a foreign language and won’t even have time to think about making mistakes.

All you need to prepare for the game is to write down 15-20 vocabulary terms you want to practice with your students, each term is written on a different small slip of paper. Give a stack of these slips to each group.

You can also let the students write down the vocabulary (for example on the last topic they’ve learned) but then some words might be double and they also might not think of the words you want them to practice.

Divide your students into groups of three or four and explain the rules of the game.

One player from the first group starts. This student then has one minute to explain or define as many words written on their slips to their own group as they can, without saying the word they have on the card.

They want their group to guess as many words as possible in one minute.

Each time the members of the group guess a word, they put the card down, which gets them a point, and then they take a new card and repeat the same thing.

Once the minute is over, the next group takes their turn.

After the minute is up, each group counts their points and the group with the most points wins that round.

If you have time to play more rounds, after all, words are guessed, put them back in the basket and let them play again, although this time they can only use one word to explain the word on the card, for example, a synonym or a word they associate with the word on the card.

An example might be that if the word on the card is ‘handcuff’ then they say the word ‘police’ and the other students have to guess the word ‘handcuff’.

Students only get one guess. Once a student guesses, the student must move on to the next card, whether the word was guessed correctly or not.

In the last round, they act out or pantomime the words on their cards.

Here’s a list with even more fun ESL vocabulary games for adults and kids.

While there are many other good vocabulary-charades type games that can be done with both younger and older students, this one has been my favorite.

Student level: Pre-Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate Type of Lesson: Group

This is a very simple but effective activity with no preparation needed and can be played in two versions.

It’s usually more suitable for lower-level students but can also be used in intermediate or upper-intermediate students, especially for the other variation of the activity described below.

In version one, one student thinks of a person – it could be someone in the class or a famous person, someone that everyone is likely to know – and the rest of the class asks them yes or no questions about the person until they can guess who it is.

The student who guesses the person with the least amount of questions wins.

In version two, one student goes in front of the door, while the rest of the class decides on a person. Then the student comes back in and has to ask the class yes or no questions until they can guess who the person is.

Another variation of this game is to put students in groups and describe themselves from the perspective of an object, and the other students must guess what that object is in the quickest time possible.

Each student in the group writes down an object and then speaks from the perspective of that object as if they were actually that object.

For example, if one student chooses ‘handcuffs’ they would say something like:

“The police put me around somebody’s wrists when they break the law.”
“I have two round rings with chains connected them.”
“I am on a person on their way to prison.”

Students shouldn’t do any gesturing or acting on this one because that will give it away. The student who is able to guess the most objects correctly wins.

The reason I like this one more is that the students have to get a little bit more creative about expressing their ideas and they also tend to have more fun with this one.

Student level: Intermediate to Advanced Type of Lesson: Group or Individual

This is a great way to practice ‘would’ in the conditional form.

There’s a lot of different ways you can organize this one. One of the easiest ways is to just come up with some of your own ideas (5-10 should be enough), type them out, and cut them up into cards.

Go around the class and have a student draw a card, read it aloud, and then call on another student to answer it.

The goal is to make the “Would you rather” questions funny, crazy, interesting, or controversial. Think about what kind of questions you think would be fun to discuss if you were learning a foreign language.

Bookmark our list of 110 “would you rather” questions, and you will never run out of great questions to discuss.

Here are a few examples:

Would you rather give up your mobile phone or your pet?
Would you rather have $50,000 that is legal or $150,000 that is illegal?
Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the most intelligent?
Would you rather have your first child when you are 19 years old or when you are 45?

As stated before, you can make up your own. If you are doing a specific topic for your lesson, then you can try to make them as closely related to the topic as possible.

For example, if the topic for your lesson is Meet the World’s Oldest Ice Hockey Player , then you might want to prepare some ‘would you rather’ questions about age or about hockey:

Would you rather stop aging at 17 or 35?
Would you rather date someone ten years older or ten younger?
Would you rather be a famous football player or a famous hockey player?

Give each group or pair of students the same card and have each of them state their opinion about the topic on the card.

You can give them a few minutes to take notes on their opinion and what they want to say before starting. Then students go around and say their opinion and support their argument.

This is one is sure to bring some good conversations and even laughs in your class.

You can also teach phrases on how to express opinions, such as:

“In my opinion…”
“I believe that…”
“In my eyes…”
“From my point of view…”

In addition to this, you could also assign students to make their own “Would you rather…” topics for the class or other groups. Make sure they keep them appropriate!

Help facilitate the conversations and ask follow-up questions while students are speaking.

This activity is great for a number of reasons: it’s simple to assign and explain, effective for students to develop speaking, and fun because it’s on a topic they’re interested in.

It’s also practical because they’re teaching the class how to do something or how something works.

Basically, all you need to do for ESL speaking activities like this one is have students choose some topic. It can be any appropriate topic according to their wishes.

Then they give a five-minute presentation on that How-to topic.

In order to get students cooperating together, you could also put them in pairs and have them decide on and organize the speech together.

Here are some of the ones my students have done before and they turned out to be great:

How to cook [a food]
How to play [a sport]
How to travel cheap
How to do a magic trick
How to live healthily

There are some great tips you can share with your students on giving a presentation in a foreign language.

Have students prepare the speech at home or during the lesson, and then have them present their topic during the next lesson.

You could take notes on their speaking or pronunciation mistakes while they present and go over them after the presentation.

Student level: Pre-Intermediate Type of Lesson: Group

This is a game based on the classic board game “memory” designed for lower-level students.

Two students go out of the room (Student A and Student B). The rest of the class gets together in pairs.

If you have an uneven number of students, one group can be in three.

Each pair chooses a word according to the learning objective.

For example, if your students are learning about food, then in pairs they will mutually agree on a meal or a food they both like. Then the two students come back into the classroom and these two students play against each other to gain points.

To gain points, Student A starts off and asks any student in the class “What do you like eating?” and that student answers “I like eating…”, and then Student A asks another student what they like to eat.

If the second student likes the same thing, then Student A gets one point. Then Student B goes and tries to match the pairs based on the food they mutually chose together.

This is a fun game to practice vocabulary and simple phrases.

You can make the game more interactive if students make gestures and movement demonstrating the type of food. For example, they gesture peeling a banana if the food they chose is ‘banana’.

6 thoughts on “12 Fun ESL Speaking Activities for Teens or Adults”

Thank you so much! Some of the suggestions I have already used with my students, but I did get new tips too! will try them out.

Great ideas to get my hgh school students speaking. Thanks so much

Great… These activities are really interesting ones and are helping me a lot. Thank You So Much for Uploading….

Great activities! Greeting from Mexico.

Thank you! This is very clearly written with a lot of additional ideas. Useful! :)

Thanks so much for sharing. Lots of new ideas for me.

High School Worksheets

The 9th-12th grade band materials support student learning for students at the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade levels. Many items can be used to teach basic skills that will be necessary for ninth through twelfth graders to master reading, writing, and spelling skills. Locating materials by grade band can help you with students who are progressing more quickly than their grade level with their skills mastery, but it can also help with students who are still working on the core skills from a previous grade, as well as a mixed classroom of multiple learners. Below are free, printable worksheets, which are ready to be used or duplicated for home or classroom.

Narrator’s Point of View Flow Chart

This flowchart helps students identify the correct point of view. They answer “yes” and “no” questions to identify the correct point of view.

Spot It: Unnecessary Words

Practice identifying unnecessary words with this printable worksheet on editing and proofing. Students will be asked to read through a series of sentences and circle the ones that contain unnecessary words. This activity is great for use both at home and in the classroom.

Active Voice: Which One?

Students will practice identifying active voice with this printable verbs activity. This worksheet asks students to read through the given sentences and circle the number of each sentence that is in active voice. Ideal for 8th – 10th grade, but can be used where felt appropriate. This activity can be used both at home and in the classroom by parents, teachers, or students.

Charles Dickens Visits America

In 1842 Charles Dickens was probably the most famous English language author in the world. In this year he visited America. Students read about the trip and answer the questions.

Charles Dickens: David Copperfield and His Aunt

Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, published in 1849, is one of his most famous works. Students read the passage and answer questions.

Circle It! Correct Punctuation

Students will practice identifying correctly used punctuation in this printable activity. They will be asked to read through the given sentences and circle the number of the sentences that have correct punctuation. Ideal for 6th – 12th grade, but can be used where needed.

Correcting Dangling Modifiers

Now it’s time to correct the dangling modifiers in sentences!

Correcting Misplaced Modifiers

Your student will correct the misplaced modifiers in this worksheet.

Edgar Allan Poe and the Fall of the House of Usher

In this activity, students read a passage from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and write what they think the underlined words mean.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Oval Portrait

In this activity, students read a passage from Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story “The Oval Portrait” and answer questions.

Elegy for Lincoln: Walt Whitman’s Poem

In this activity, students read a “O Captain! My Captain!” about Abraham Lincoln and his death. Students then answer questions about the poem.

Explaining Oxymorons

This oxymoron worksheet is awfully good!

Figurative Language: Find the Hyperbole

This hyperbole worksheet is the best ever!

Find the Misplaced Modifiers

See if you can identify the other misplaced modifiers in this printable grammar worksheet. This grammar activity for middle school students is great for improving reading and writing skills. While it is ideal for 7th – 9th grade, it can be used where needed. This misplaced modifiers activity is perfect for both parents and teachers to use in the classroom or at home.

Higher Grades KWL Chart Template

KWL charts are helpful tools to teach students how to approach problem solving. This template is designed for students in middle school and high school.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

This activity helps students develop a strong thesis statement for their essays by providing practice writing sample statements.

How to Write an Introduction: Bridge Building Activity

This activity is designed to help students learn about writing introductions through a fun bridge building activity to join the lead noun card and thesis statement card.

How to Write an Introduction: Different Leads

This is a fun, creative activity where students explore ways to include factoids, stories, metaphors and more to create “hooks”. A great activity to help students develop strong introductions.

How to Write an Introduction: Lead Types

Creating an attention-grabbing lead isn’t always easy but it’s very rewarding to students when they are able to create engaging introductions. This activity provides great practice to build better introductions!

How to Write an Introduction: Lead, Bridge, and Thesis

Let’s combine it all! This activity helps students use thesis statements, bridges and leads to write strong essay introductions.

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First Day of School Activities for High School English , Fun Writing Assignment

Google Apps™
Easel Activity

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High School English First Day Activities Middle School ELA Curriculum 9th Grade

Identity Poetry Writing Unit Activity - Middle School ELA - High School English

Back to School | Beginning of the Year Activities for High School English

Fun Halloween Activity for History or English Classes: Famous Figure Tombstones

Google Drive™ folder

First day School Speed Dating Icebreaker: High School English class activity

Ethos Pathos Logos Fun Activity : Ethos Pathos Logos Advertisement Project, Notes

April 8 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Fun Activities Middle and High School

Back to School Ice Breakers Middle School High School English First Day Activity

Fun Creative Writing Activities Learning Stations for High School English

Holiday Activity Middle High School English Persuasive Writing Ugly Sweater

Thanksgiving Activity Middle High School English Persuasive Writing TurkeyPardon

High School English Back to School Activities

MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH ELA Fun Holiday Activities Crossword Mad Libs Word Search

Fun Grammar Activities & Sentence Structure Reference Sheet BUNDLE

Thanksgiving Activity for High School English | Creative Thanksgiving Project

Argument Writing Activities Bundle for AP Language and High School English

English Christmas Escape Room

Lord of the Flies Fun Activities Group Project: Character Analysis with rubric

Google Slides™

Thanksgiving Jeopardy Activity for Middle/ High School English Classes

Context Clues: SAT Vocabulary Color by Number Growing Bundle test prep fun

Thanksgiving Activity Middle High School English Figurative Language Maze Review

Winter Activities for Middle High School English : Holidays, Christmas, New Years

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ESL Lesson Plans – Complete With Fun Games And Activities

Welcome to our ESL Lesson Plan page. On this page, you can find many ESL lesson plans on many topics for kids and beginner English language learners. All of these ESL lesson plans are complete with games, activities, and printable materials. You will also find links to other useful resources at the bottom of each lesson plan.

Latest ESL Lesson Plans

All the ESL lesson plans here are ready-made ESL lesson plans complete with flashcards, classroom activities , board games , PowerPoint Games , and other ideas to make learning English fun. The lesson plans below are arranged by topic. What lesson would you like to view today?

Adjectives Lesson Plan
Adverbs Lesson Plan
Animals Lesson Plan
Body Parts Lesson Plan
Can / Can’t Abilities Lesson Plan
Clothes Lesson Plan
Colors Lesson Plan
Comparative Adjectives Lesson Plan
Christmas Lesson Plan
Classroom Objects Lesson Plan
Daily Routine Lesson Plan
Days Of The Week Lesson Plan
Family Lesson Plan
Farm Animals For Kids
Feelings And Emotions Lesson Plan
Food Lesson Plan
Future Tense Lesson Plan
Gerunds And Infinitives Lesson Plan
Idioms Lesson Plan
Jobs and Occupations Lesson Plan
Months Lesson Plan
Numbers 1 to 20 Lesson Plan
Past Tense Lesson Plan
Phonics A to Z Lesson Plan
Prepositions of Place Lesson Plan
Prepositions of Time Lesson Plan
Present Continuous Tense Lesson Plan
Rooms In A House Lesson Plan
Seasons Lesson Plan
Sports Lesson Plan
Superlative Adjectives Lesson Plan
Telling The Time Lesson Plan
Transportation Lesson Plan
How’s The Weather? Lesson Plan
What’s This? / What’s That? Lesson Plan

IMAGES

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Guided Writing Exercises For Esl Students
Pin on ESL Board Games for Classroom
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Fun English Worksheet
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VIDEO

Fun English Activities for kids
8 Fun-English activities & ice-breaking in English Camp x Oxford Language Centre
Boost Your College Applications: Top 28 Extracurricular Activities At Home! || @RifatAbrarJowad
ESL Hula Hoop Games and Activities
ENGLISH CLUB ACTIVITIES
THE VLOG #12: Homecoming

COMMENTS

PDF Vocabulary Games and Activities
5. The collective term for music, art, theatre, literature, etc. (7) 6. A large, printed picture or notice put on a wall, in order to decorate a place or to advertise something.
42 Engaging English Activities For High School
Below is a list of fun and creative activities for high school students. It includes a variety of English language learning experiences—from poetry to writing and more! If you're ready to engage your students while helping them increase their language skills, read on! 1. Paint Chip Poetry. This is a fun activity that's easy to understand ...
48,081 High schoolers English ESL worksheets pdf & doc
A selection of English ESL printables with high schoolers. Log in / Register. Worksheets. Powerpoints. Video Lessons. Search. Filters. Browse Topics: Grammar Topics General Topics. SELECTED FILTERS. Clear all filters. English ESL Worksheets. ... 48,081 High schoolers English ESL worksheets pdf & doc. SORT BY. Most popular. TIME PERIOD. All-time ...
PDF 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
Draw a Picture, but Someone Else is Talking 46. Charades with Speaking 47. 20 Questions 48. Running Dictation 50. Toilet Paper Icebreaker 51. My Name is _____ and I like _____ 53. My World 53. Games and Activities for Higher Level Students 55. The "Expert" Conversation Activity 55.
15 Fun Poetry Activities for High School
Here are 12 great songs to analyze if you aren't sure where to start: "Across the Universe" by the Beatles. "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. "Chasing Pavements" by Adele. "Infinity" by Mariah Carey. "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes. "Counting Stars" by One Republic.
39 Fun ESL Games and Activities for an Exciting English Classroom
Use some fun ESL group activities to liven up your lessons! Choose from our list of 39 games, from classics like Hangman and Telephone, or new ones like Fly Swat and Secrets. Either way, your students will love these ESL activities for the classroom and learn important English skills at the same time. Let's dive in!
Fun High School English Language Arts Activities
December 21, 2020. 4 Min Read. To help your learners discover their own writing styles and embrace reading, check out the fun high school language arts activities below. Support students' voices with hands-on English lessons on how to analyze poems, podcasts, and arguments, complete with videos, downloadable worksheets, and more.
25 High School English Activities You'll Want To Try Right Now
This activity was a hands-down favorite event for my eighth grade students. Those speaking and listening standards can be tough to master, and high school English activities like this helped us get there. 15. Read, solve, and create murder mysteries Brooke Naumoff Brooke Naumoff. My students in both middle and high school love true crime.
5 Fun ESL Lesson Plans for High School Students
4. Hero Awards. The Hero Awards ESL lesson plan is a great way to get your high school students thinking deeply in English, as well as having them think about what values a good person has. This lesson plan is perfect for two one-hour classes, which will give your students time to prepare their presentations.
Printable ESL Worksheets for Teachers (Word & PDF)
These are the ESL worksheets for young students, and for beginner and elementary level students. ... you can download all worksheets in PDF and Word format, edit and print them for your lessons. Have fun teaching! Beginner and Elementary Level (A1-A2) ... Check these ideas for engaging and fun ESL lesson activities which you can use to easily ...
Fun English Activities for High School Students
This activity will get students thinking critically without fear of embarrassment. Assign a set of questions. The questions should require high-level thinking and an answer of 3-5 sentences. You may want to display a rubric delineating your expectations. Listen to students whine and complain while inwardly giggling.
Fun Activities For English Class High School
Ten or more labels can make a great scavenger hunt. In addition to being fun for students, a Scavenger Hunt is an excellent way to review classroom procedures. Another fun activity for your English class high school students is a 3 Things Writing Activity. You'll need to have each student choose three things and describe them to their partner.
14 Creative English Activities for Teenagers Guaranteed to ...
Level: All levels Focus: Vocabulary and listening comprehension Price: $299 per year for a minimum of 10 users (teachers and students) The FluentU program includes quizzes, flashcards, a robust video library and more—all based on authentic video content.That means students can learn with English-language vlogs, movie clips, trailers, funny commercials and more.
1,333 High school students English ESL worksheets pdf & doc
School rules (must and mustn't) This is a reading comprehension about school rules. Three pupils speak about the school rules in their schools. The students have to read the three texts and fill in the... 15664 uses. A selection of English ESL high school students printables.
ESL Activities and Games for Middle School & High School
Even more ideas here: Fun activities for middle school students. #1 Team Games for Teenagers: Running Dictation 4-Skills ESL Activity. If you're looking for an active, 4-skills ESL activity that teenagers will love, ... When you teach English to middle school or high school students, it can be quite challenging. However, here are a few tips ...
PDF YWAM Montana
YWAM Montana
7,346 Fun English ESL worksheets pdf & doc
A selection of English ESL fun printables. Christmas fun activi. 39661 uses
12 Fun ESL Speaking Activities for Teens or Adults
12. Story Chain. 1. Interview Pop. Student level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced. Type of Lesson: Group or Individual. This is a great one for students to have fun and be creative. Put students in pairs, or you could also carry this one out in a one-one lesson. Students choose one person they want to interview.
9th, 10th, 11th, 12th Grade Worksheets
High School Worksheets. The 9th-12th grade band materials support student learning for students at the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade levels. Many items can be used to teach basic skills that will be necessary for ninth through twelfth graders to master reading, writing, and spelling skills. Locating materials by grade band can help ...
6 Super Fun Games For High School Students
2: The Liar Game. This next activity is very versatile and can be used in almost any high school class. To play, you're going to need some 'game cards'. If you're teaching vocabulary, these can be small flashcards, or if you're teaching reading, these can be cards made from a passage of text split up into sentences.
Fun English High School Activities Teaching Resources
Perfect for back to school with high school or middle school ELA students, this EDITABLE, NO PREP, GOOGLE SLIDES activity bundle is the perfect way to get your school year off to
ESL Lesson Plans
Welcome to our ESL Lesson Plan page. On this page, you can find many ESL lesson plans on many topics for kids and beginner English language learners. All of these ESL lesson plans are complete with games, activities, and printable materials. You will also find links to other useful resources at the bottom of each lesson plan.