Warm-ups+and+Fillers


 * //Most of us may be familiar with these situations:

· It is time to start class and only a handful of students have arrived. Perhaps the concept of punctuality is different in their culture or maybe getting to class on time is simply a challenge because of the busy lives adult learners lead.

· You have completed your lesson for the day and there is still 15 minutes left of class time! Somehow your plan went much quicker than you anticipated.

In both situations, some activity is needed to fill the time. What are warm-ups and fillers you use successfully with your classes? //**


 * Submitted by Sandra Peterson:**

Here are some things I've done for the students who arrive at class before the majority :

1. Sentence scrambles - I write and cut up various sentences and give one at a time in a paper clip to a student. Often they are recycled spelling sentences. The students need to put the words in the correct order and then copy them in their notebook.

2. Spelling word scrambles - same idea only it's only the spelling words cut up into individual letters.

3. Read to the teacher - I have various leveled reading books that students can read out loud to me for 5 minutes. In the past, I've kept a reading log so I and the student can track their progress.

4. I Spy game - students take turns spying something in the classroom or in a book. Other students have to guess. Students need to use complete sentences. For eg. the student who is "it" needs to say the complete sentence "I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter __" or "something that is green or large", etc (an adjective or a comparative adj.) Students need to ask the complete question, "Is it a__ _?"

5. Chain games - I start by saying a sentence and each student repeats the previous sentence and adds something of their own. The topics can be anything you want to practice, such as specific vocabulary or grammar construction, or just to get to know the students. For eg. something I like, or something I did yesterday, or how many children I have, or something I'm wearing. As the students repeat previous sentences they need to change from the first person to the third person. Eg. "I like to eat pizza for dinner." Student #2 "Sandy likes to eat pizza for dinner, and I like to eat tacos." etc.

Unfortunately, I don't usually finish any lesson early, so I don't need end of class fillers. I have saved a few minutes for dictation - usually not something totally new, but either revisited spelling sentences, or something from a reading or grammar exercise we'd been doing. The above starters could probably be used as well. My co- teacher often does Hangman with her group, using spelling words.


 * Submitted by Lynn Nicodemus:**

I am no longer a teacher, but I’d like to share some things I did as a teacher:
 * 1) Tell a story. Sometimes it was a news story; other times a personal story or an interesting story someone told me. They really liked to hear stories about my personal life—they liked the cultural information and just getting to know me more.
 * 2) Play hangman with current or review vocabulary—not very inventive, but they liked it.
 * 3) Exit interviews: I’d have the students line up at the door and ask them review questions as they went out. It always happened that as students finished and went out the door, they would stand waiting on the outside of the room to see what questions others had and to see if they got them correctly or not. So, rather than teaching in the room, I had students on both sides of the doorway learning. It moved them to a different place, physical posture and learning mode. It usually took about 10 minutes. I was able to get a clear idea of how well material was mastered also.


 * Submitted by Kathy Myers:**

Good topics! I have to admit, though, that I have not experienced the phenomenon of finishing an entire lesson plan before the class time runs out! I think I need instruction in how to avoid __overloading__ my lesson plan, which is an ongoing issue for me! The first bullet, however, re: late-arriving students, is one I can readily identify with in my classroom. The ways in which I deal with this issue are:

1. I make it clear in the syllabus and opening day discussions that class begins promptly at _ and demonstrate WHY it is important to be on time. The words alone don't seem to have much effect on my students, but if I point out, over the first few class sessions, just how much we accomplished in the first 15-20 minutes of class, they can more readily grasp the disadvantage of missing important materials/discussion and also how disruptive it is to have students meander in late.

2. I collect homework and review graded homework/exams in the opening few minutes of class, so if they are late without informing me ahead of time, or calling in (they have a phone number to contact me or the TA before class, about late arrivals or absences) I do not accept their homework. They also miss the opportunity to self-correct quizzes and exams, getting the correct answers, which I project on the 'ELMO', for those questions they answered incorrectly. I try not to be hard-nosed about this, if it involves a student who is normally good about arriving on time or calling in, but focus these consequences on those for whom late, unexplained arrivals are a chronic issue.

3. When I have a larger group of students who are __legitimately__ late-arriving on a regular basis due to work hours, I adjust my class routine to fit the situation. We often do 'round robin' activities to get started, reviewing learning from the previous class. We stay as a whole class, so small-group work isn't being interrupted, but do a "round the room" activity, something fun but with the intent of pulling up the learning objectives from the previous class. The students seem to always enjoy this type of activity, it's low stress, and helps with recall of the previous class material without being 'tested" in a more formal setting. Another practice I use at the beginning of class is to divide the group into 2 teams (which can be a bit unruly in a class of 30 students, but they always seem to pull it together after a couple initial minutes of chaos!). The two teams challenge each other in some manner of review that I set up for them. This way, if a few stragglers enter the room, they can just jump in to one team or the other and immediately participate in the review time that is remaining, without interrupting the proceedings. I like this type of activity at the beginning of class, as it helps students to let go of their work/home issues and fatigue, to recall the learning objectives from the previous class and to feel an immediate part of the group even if they have arrived a few minutes late.


 * Submitted by Contee Seely:**

[|Cathy's Cards] are great for any time.

**Submitted by Helen Tucker:**

Here are a couple activities I use:

When class is supposed to begin and many people haven't arrived:
 * form conversation groups with 5-6 question cards using current vocabulary (I accumulate these)
 * if you have the tech, show a short video from the news, a newspaper article, or a song from YouTube
 * If you think people are late "just because", do a dictation. My students like them (even though I don't), and if they show up in the middle of it and miss the exercise, they'll try harder to be on time.

If I have time left before class is dismissed:
 * Students can ask me questions about myself. If they form the question correctly, I'll answer it. If not.....
 * Practice the directions (north, south.....) Establish where 'north' is in the classroom. Then ask individuals, "Where is Maria in relation to you?" Ans: " Maria is southwest of me." This is good for CASAS prep. "In the classroom, who is closest to Hawaii?" etc.....
 * Teach a phrasal verb or idiom for the day.
 * Have students think silently for a minute about what they learned that day. Each writes one item on a post-it. Before the class enters for the next meeting, put the post-its up where students will see them when they walk in the door. The teacher can see what what impressed the students, students will be reminded of the last lesson, and students who were absent can get an idea of what they missed.


 * Submitted by Kathleen Lex:**

**I have a variety of activities that I use first thing in the morning that seem to motivate people to show up on time.

1) dictation from a passage of the previous day, vocabulary words we are using, etc. 2) teach a song - I usually use a song focusing on an idea, or a grammar concept we are learning 3) use a song for a cloze exercise 4) give a pop "quiz" - basically a review of previous day/week

I've tried silent reading or journal writing, but that didn't seem to bring people in on time, and when they started late, the activity lasted longer than I had planned.

The favorite two "there's still time left" activities are: 1) hangman - I draw a number of lines corresponding the # of letters in the word and the hangman's noose sometimes I divide the class in half or just have each person take a turn depending on the level, it could even be a phrase (if we're covering phrasal verbs, for example) with a few letters as clues

2) the Pyramid game - with a group of index cards I've made up containing a variety of words in a particular category, a volunteer will come up to describe the word without using it in the description example: the word is napkin - could be made out of paper or cloth, used to clean your mouth or hands at a meal...**

I do two things to start off my level 1-2 class.
 * Submitted by Gretchen Bitterlin:**


 * 1) Before class begins, I put a short exercise on the board – maybe 5 items. It could be a cloze exercise of the week’s spelling words or a fill in the blank grammar ex. reviewing something from the day before. This allows early birds to be engaged while they are waiting for class to begin. When class begins we correct that exercise and it usually brings up other questions the students have.
 * 2) We begin the class with the news of the day. I write sentences on the board about whatever is new. The first sentences always is “ Today is Friday, June 4, 2010…” The next sentence is usually about the weather. Then I elicit from the students what is new – something in the news or something about themselves. I write the information in short easy sentences and they copy it. Then they take turns reading the news to the class. This is a community builder and confidence builder for those who like to read the news to the class. It also provides an opportunity to teach key vocabulary for something that is happening in the World, e.g. earthquake or oil spill, etc.

By the time we do the above, the class has all arrived and we can begin the key lesson for the day.


 * Submitted by Jack Bailey:**

Class Starters 

Re starting class with upper levels: Give a writing assignment that can be a half sheet of paper maximum. Engages students and brings in own experiences. Topics: my weekend, favorite TV program, my work day, daily routines, future plans, weekend plans.
 * Submitted by Richard Page:**


 * Submitted by Kristi Reyes:**

Fillers: Here are some ideas for filling the time if your lesson runs to quickly

1. Extend a reading by having students read aloud to each other in pairs. As one student reads, the other notes words that the reader mispronounces or has difficulty pronouncing. Then the pairs switch. When everyone has finished, ask sentence by sentence (for a short text) or paragraph by paragraph for words students noted. Have a mini pronunciation lesson/practice using these words. 2. Do a classroom assessment technique (CAT). Ask students to write on a small piece of paper what they learned today and/or what they don't understand and/or what they want to practice more in the class, etc. Use the information to plan follow-up lessons, review, adjust your instruction. 3. Have students write three things about themselves that their classmates do not know on a small piece of paper. Ask them not to write their names on the paper. Collect the papers, showing students how to correct grammar/spelling as they give you their papers. Redistribute the papers (not to original students) and have each student read the sentences (or read the sentences yourself). Students should try to guess who wrote the sentences. i usually include a paper with sentences about myself.

• Ask students to name a song they like. Find the song on YouTube. Have students listen and do a dictation exercise (maybe not the whole song -- could be just a minute or two). Then they can compare what they think they heard with a partner. Show the lyrics by using a lyrics sites such as [] or just google the name of the song and lyrics (example: We are the champions lyrics). • Teach an idiom. See [|Go English], [|Idiomsite], [|Self-Study Idioms]. If there's still a lot of time, ask students to write a short story or dialog (individually or in pairs) using the idiom. They could then read their stories and/or perform their dialogs. • [|What Was There?] (memory, vocabulary) • [|20 Questions] • [|Daily English Show on YouTube] Conversation Questions at [], [], [], [], [], [],
 * If you have a computer in your room, try:**
 * [|EnglishTrailers]
 * [|Grammar Ninja]
 * [|English Games]
 * [|Karaoke English]
 * [|LingualNet Learning English Through Movies]
 * [|Online English Games]

See [|ESL Monkeys Time Fillers]for several ideas and [|Boggle's World ESL] has level handouts, games, ice-breakers, word searches, and more.

• Make up a story on the spot (or read something you have at hand). Tell students that they will hear a few grammatical errors during the story. Ask them to raise their hand when they hear an error made and correct the errors. Intentionally introduce errors into the story, but read the story as if the errors were perfectly correct. • Choose a topic that you feel will interest the students. Ask students to write five or more questions about this topic (students can also come up with the questions in small groups). Once they have finished the questions, they should interview at least two other students in the class and take notes on their answers. When the students have finished the activity, ask students to summarize what they have found out from the students they have interviewed. • Ask students to choose a room in the home or a particular subject area. Students should put this room or subject area into the middle of a piece of paper and then think of all the various related vocabulary, such as the various types of objects found in a room, and add these words around the central room or subject. Under each of these further categories, students should list the various objects in the category. • Write a long sentence or a short paragraph on the board. In teams, students take turns erasing either one, two or three consecutive words. The sentence must still make sense, gramatically, afterwards. If it doesn't, replace the words and move to the next team. Carry on until no further reduction is possible. The winning team is the one that removes the most words. Have a look at these examples of sentences. (Variation: Do the opposite - start with one word and have students replace it with two or three, expanding the sentence). • Start with one letter on the board, say "S". The first student then thinks of a word beginning with "S" and adds the next letter, for example "ST". The next student then thinks of a word starting with "ST" and adds another letter, and so on. If someone in the group thinks there is no such word, he can challenge the writer to name his/her word. If there is no such word, the writer is out, but if he/she was thinking of a real word, then the challenger is out. The winner is the last student remaining. • Ask students to write three things which are true about themselves, and two which are not true (but believable). Students take turns reading their sentences to the rest of the group, who must discuss, and ask questions to the reader, and try to find out which of his/her sentences are true. A good ice-breaker is to do this yourself first so that they get the idea - write the five things about you on the board. • Dictate the first line of a different story to each of several groups. They have a few minutes to continue the story, and then pass their piece of paper to the next group, who read the story so far and add the next part. Carry on until the stories reach their original groups, who then conclude and read out the stories. To focus on a particular language point or item of vocabulary, you can do this orally as a chain story: Give the first sentence, then have the first student continue the story. They must at some point use the tense, or structure, or word (allocated beforehand), that you want to work on. Carry on until all the students have contributed.
 * Others I have heard of and/or found on the Web:**

From Developing Teachers.com: • Spot the difference. 2 pictures - the same but with a few differences. Without looking at each other's, describe and find the differences. • Find someone who. • Word association. Go round the class, each student giving a different word connected with previous one given. • Cut up story/conversation - put in order. • Match headlines and articles. • Call my bluff - give three definitions of a word & guess which is right. • Brainstorm all words connected with area. • 20 questions - give whether it is animal, vegetable or mineral & stds guess what it is in only twenty questions. • What's the situation. Students discuss where they might hear the sentence. • Brainstorm all words that melt, are green, etc.... • Odd man out. Give group of words and decide which is different e.g. hat, tie, bus, trousers. • Different uses. Students think of as many different uses for different objects e.g. a brick. • Picture dictation. One describes a pic & the other draws. • Chain story - A begins, B continues with a sentence, C then adds another sentence etc. • Memory. Look at pic for 45 seconds. Turn over and describe. • Lies. One student tells rest/partner about self but lies 3 times. At end others say what lies were