Face unit Games for Elementary ELL

             This resource ( Face Unit Teaching Tips & Game Ideas — ESL/EFL Activity Strategies for Facial Vocabulary) is included in the face for Elementary English Language Learners-Starters.Click here:    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Face-Unit-for-Elementary-English-Language-Learners-10106986

              Games promote effective communication between peers by playing with meaningful and engaging materials.T eaching facial vocabulary in ESL/EFL classes is more effective when students *interact*, *move*, and *use language communicatively*. These practical **teaching tips and game ideas for the face unit** show you how to maximize student engagement — whether you’re using flashcards, matching games, partner speaking tasks, or whole-class review activities.

This is a 5-minute gap-filler for your lesson plan to develop linguistic competence.  It is a Listening wrap up activity Let’s call it Hair Dictation. Hand in a copy of the people cards for the students to color as you dictate to them.

Teacher: Look at Anna, she has short curly red hair. (Continue with the other people, students can also help out saying how people look for the classmates to color)

Print a number template that can be used over and over again. Students will cut the people that they just colored. Describe which person will be in which number.

Teacher: Number 6 is a person with short straight brown hair.

Students will complete placing each person on each number.

Here is a video to clear it up:

This activity can be used to supplement the content of your course book. It is focused on the reinforcement of the vocabulary to describe eye and hair. Print the descriptive sentences cards for a group of students and a worksheet for each student. Have them prepare specific detail sentences to write on the worksheets and draw on the person template. Let your students be creative and then share their work with peers. Students will develop strong grammar skills. Use basic sentences (“This is a nose.” / “She has big eyes.”)

This game is wonderful to see if your students are understanding the adjectives to write the sentences. 

Take a look at the video on how to use the game:

 Recognise and say **facial feature vocabulary** .  Playing constitutes the heart of children’s learning, and it prepares them for life. 

Playing with cards is also considered a teaching tool to improve concentration and develop fluency by matching words with pictures confidently.   

 These can be used as a memory game to match a facial feature to a word or a matching game to play on a table or the floor.

I used this font from Creativa Fabrica. Here is the link. I am an affliate.

https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/spring-is-in-the-air-25/ref/2670802/

A board game to review the new vocabulary in a fun way to increase socialization at the same time. Print one template for every 3 or 4 students. I made the markers by opening a clip and adding a sticker. There are 4 sets of colored cards. When a student lands on a colored space, he/she grabs that colored card and answers that question in order to move. For example. I landed on a blue space, I grab a blue card and read the question: What color is his hair? I answer: blond.

Games promote a sense of achievement.

Writing with these colorful letters. Use the pictures from the game below as a guide for writing the words. Children will work alone doing this to gain self-develpment.

Or use a worksheet as a guide on how to write the words,

Use this printable as a file folder game. Students will match the phrase to the picture.

You can also do it as a cup game. Check the blog post where I have a similar game for Kindergarten. I glued the label to plastic cups and started the matching activity in a different fun way.

LINK: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2020/09/face-theme-for-kindergarten-holistic_25.html

Here is the video:

Wrap it up with a Pocket Chart Activity. Buy or make this versatile tool to enhance the learning experience of the new language as students make sentences interacting with their peers.  Students will make sentence to review the adjective word order.

Sentence Association card game for the hair and eyes on a person.

It comes with prompt cards for the students to find the corresponding picture. This will reinforce vocabulary for both hair and eye descriptions, while also practicing sentence structure.

Emphasize descriptive words by categorizing cards based on hair adjectives (e.g., curly, straight, long, short, blond, brown, black, red) Have the students do the sort under each category.

There is also a category for eye color: black, blue, green, brown.

Have students create their own sentences describing the characters, focusing on proper grammar and sentence structure.

Students take turns describing a card without showing it, while others guess which card is being described.

My example:

I'd like to say something about the spelling concept for blond or blonde. I checked the dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/blond-and-blonde-is-there-a-difference   I suggest that you use how it is on your text book. If there is a spelling that you like me to fix to suit your needs, just let me know. 

When to Use These Teaching Tips

✔ At the start of a vocabulary unit  

✔ During centers / rotation stations  

✔ In partner or group activities  

✔ As a quick daily warm-up  

✔ For formative assessment and review

Using a variety of game formats — paired with clear teaching prompts and sentence frames — helps learners reinforce face vocabulary through *active use*, not just memorizing lists. These strategies build confidence, speaking fluency, and fun in your classroom.

Face Unit worksheets for ESL/EFL — printable reading, matching, and writing activities to practise facial features vocabulary with elementary learners.   Go to this blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2023/09/face-unit-worksheets-for-elementary-efl.html 

Check my other blog for Kindergarten English Language Learners.

https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/