Board games for Elementary English Language Learners

 Find a themed game board in each unit for teaching elementary English language learners. This kind of games are very engaging and interactive for your students. You can adapt all the games to suit your players to encourage participation, right here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Board-games-for-Elementary-English-Language-Learners-11333780

Is this something that you would include in your lesson plan? Maybe not? Would like to? Well, read and see if you are up for it.

Take a look at the engaging ESL board games for elementary English — fun printable games, classroom activities, and speaking prompts to boost vocabulary and fluency for young learners.

Use the board games as a review of the new vocabulary of the unit. It is a fun repetition of the words. The markers are also included with each board game. So, just grab the dice. Each space has a color. Players have to move along the path. When they land on a space, they have to say the name of that color and show an item in that color.

Create a motivated and positive classroom atmosphere, where students know that there will be an enjoyable learning game to wrap up the class. Players will describe the colors of the space they landed on besides the number: It’s an orange twelve.

Games help with memory skills that are crucial for English language retention. That’s another reason for printing and having the games ready to play. The objective of the game is to navigate through the various spaces on the game board, learning and practicing vocabulary related to different facial features.

Board games are a very informal way of assessing your student’s language proficiency in communicating. Are they using the language enough? Are they struggling to move along the board?

Players will navigate through the various spaces on the game board, answering questions related to family members with the cards in the game, light or dark green.

Another House unit activiti with a board game.Players will move their family members game pieces by correctly identifying the rooms of the house. The first player to reach the finish line wins.

Add a twist to the pet unit board game, but it works with any other theme. Players have to describe the pet they landed on in order to take that pet into their pet shop.

Students can do more than just identifying the word but saying a phrase or complete sentence in order to get the food card. The more food cards a player has, he/she is the winner.

Players move their game pieces around the Toyland game board, by completing challenges such as miming how to play with the toys they land on.

This set of board games helps students develop:

• Vocabulary recall and recognition  

• Speaking fluency through repeated use  

• Listening comprehension during gameplay  

• Turn-taking and communicative interaction  

• Sentence formation and accuracy

When to Use These Board Games

• After introducing a vocabulary set  

• For review sessions  

• During small group stations  

• As a fun speaking practice lesson  

• For mixed-level classrooms

All the board games are included in each unit and in the Bundle, right here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-English-Language-learners-teaching-Units-Starters-BUNDLE-11215540

Questionnaire Worksheets for Elementary English Language Learners

 Questionnaires are interactive and encourage active participation.Each unit has a set of questionnaire or survey worksheet to print and include it in the lesson plan.  Students will actively engage in collecting data and practice all language skills. ELL Teachers can find the worksheets to do your questionnaire activity here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Questionnaire-Worksheets-for-Elementary-English-Language-Learners-11315049

Make speaking practice meaningful and fun with these Questionnaire Worksheets for Elementary ESL and ELL students!

This resource includes engaging surveys that encourage students to ask and answer simple questions, record information, and interact with their classmates. These activities help build confidence while practicing everyday English in a natural way.

The questionnaires are ideal for:   Morning work, Pair work, Speaking centers, Icebreaker activities, Whole-class surveys, Fast finishers, Homework projects

Topics included:

⭐ Family

⭐ House,⭐ Pets,⭐ Food and Drinks,⭐ Toys,⭐ School Supplies,⭐ Colors,⭐ Numbers,⭐ Face and Hair,⭐ Clothes,⭐ Playground,⭐ Calendar,⭐ Birthday,⭐ Weather,⭐ Zoo Animals,⭐ Furniture, 

⭐ Community Helpers,⭐ Fruit and Vegetables,⭐ Physical Description,…and more!

Students will practice: ✔ Asking and answering questions. ✔ Listening to classmates. ✔ Recording information. ✔ Building vocabulary. ✔ Using complete sentences. ✔ Conducting simple surveys. ✔ Sharing results with the class.

Great for:  Elementary ESL, EFL Classrooms, ELL Students, Newcomers, Speech Practice, Conversation Activities, Back to School, Literacy Centers, Small Groups,

How to Use the Questionnaires

Students walk around the classroom asking their classmates simple questions. They record the answers on their worksheets and then share their findings with the class. Teachers can extend the activity by creating tally charts, graphs, class discussions, or writing activities based on the collected information.

Benefits for Young Learners

These activities help students: ✔ Practice real-life conversations. ✔ Build vocabulary. ✔ Improve listening skills. ✔ Gain confidence speaking English. 

✔ Develop social interaction skills. ✔ Learn to ask and answer questions naturally.

 The worksheets are easy to prepare and can be used throughout the school year to make speaking practice fun and meaningful. They are a great addition to any Elementary ESL, EFL, or ELL classroom and help create a communicative learning environment where every student can participate successfully.

I hope your students enjoy these questionnaire activities as much as mine do. Happy teaching!

All the worksheets are included in each unit and in the Bundle, right here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-English-Language-learners-teaching-Units-Starters-BUNDLE-11215540

Go to my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/rosamelia_eslteacher/

Graphing for Elementary English Language Learners

 Include graphing in your lesson plan as a valuable teaching tool for your students to integrate English and Math.

The resource is available here:      https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Graphing-Worksheets-for-Elementary-English-Language-Learners-11309998                                                                                                                       

                                 

Graphing can be challenging for English learners because it requires students to understand questions, categories, and results — not just numbers. Many students can count but struggle to explain information using language. These graphing activities support both math understanding and English communication by helping students talk about data in simple, meaningful sentences.  Check the video!                                            

It will enhance the understanding of mathematical concepts such as counting.

It will promote language development,using speaking and listening. Students will express themselves orally to show their opinion. Ask questions about the graphs

It will foster critical thinking skills where the students will compare, contrast and draw conclusions about the results.

It will provide an engaging learning experience. It is an interactive activity. Students will manipulate the data and interpret the results.

Show the visual representation of the results on the board.

Adapt the graph to the different students that you have in class.

Check these ideas:

The favorite toy worksheet can lead to a speaking activity. They will draw their favorite toy and write a short text. When all the worksheets are done, have the children walk around and find another student or group of students with the same favorite toy. Stand together. Then, graph the results.

Teacher: How many trains are the favorite?
Students: two!

Graphing the favorite food. Do this one as a simple survey by placing the options on the board, using the flashcards: pizza, hamburger, chicken, fries, hot dog, salad. Create a bar graph on the board as they will come with their worksheet and place it under their option bar. Tally the results.

Here is another example with the pet unit to make a bar graph on the board, to add variety have the students write sentences about the favorite pet winner, such as: The favorite pet is the dog. I like dogs.

There is a worksheet to do a pet ownership graph. Students will draw the pet they have at home.  Grap showing the number of students who have dogs, cats, etc. And students with no pets at home.

The favorite room of the house can be graphed, but add the variant of the color. Tell your students to color the room of their choice. You will count the favorite room and the color as well.

Use the number of rooms of the house worksheet to graph. Discuss with your students that homes have different quantities of rooms. Graph by writing the numbers 1 to 5 for bedrooms basically which will vary in the results

Make a list of the school objects for the favorite items. They have to choose from the list and draw on the worksheet. Do the graph as survey. Each student will stand up with the worksheet and say: My favorite worksheets is the pencil.

Create a tally chart to record the number of votes for each school subject.

Give a twist to the graph for the favorite color. Place colored balloons at several parts of the classroom. After the students finish their favorite color worksheets. Have them find the balloon of their favorite color and stand right there. Tally the results.

Graphing gives students a visual way to understand information while using real language. Instead of answering abstract questions, learners can point, count, compare, and explain results using simple English. This makes graphing an ideal activity for ESL classrooms.

When to Use Graphing Activities with beginner to low-intermediate ESL / EFL students

• After a vocabulary unit  

• As a speaking review lesson  

• During math + language integration  

• For class surveys or opinion questions  

• As a calm, structured lesson after active games

I hope you include any of these graph ideas into your lesson plan. All the worksheets are included in each unit resource. All of them are in the BUNDLE:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-English-Language-learners-teaching-Units-Starters-BUNDLE-11215540

If you have any other graphing option, let me know! Just write a comment below.

There are a lot more ideas and resources to check at Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/ei98srl/esl-elementary-teachers-materials/

Categories Card Games for Elementary English Language Learners

 Playing categories is beneficial for your students into their vocabulary expansion or review. It promotes critical thinking to select the correct category. It is great for word association. Useful for learners that are staring English at the age of six, seven and maybe even older.   Find it here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Categories-Card-Games-for-Elementary-English-Language-Learners-11296159

Print this fun and educational card game for Elementary ESL teachers in Primary One. The cards have different and relevant categories: school, numbers, toys, pets, rooms of the house, pets, family, face, food. Use to practise categorizing vocabulary with speaking and matching games.

Shuffle all the categories vocabulary cards and place them on a table.

Players can take turns drawing a card and placing it under the category that it belongs.

The game ends when all the cards are under each category. You can have several groups work at the same time by printing several sets.

Adjust the game to your students in class to have the most fun and interaction possible.

You can also make a poster using the cards and bring it in to the class. Have the students play using their notebooks. name a category and have the students write all the words form the units they can recall in a set time. Players can share their set of words and see who could write the most words on that category. Do you have any other idea? Well, please share in the comments box.

These card games help students practise:
• Vocabulary sorting by category (animals, foods, colors, actions, etc.)  
• Speaking and explaining category choices  
• Question and answer dialogues (“Is this a fruit or vegetable?”)  
• Listening comprehension in group games  
• Critical thinking and vocabulary recall

When to Use These Categories Card Games

• As a warm-up or review game  

• During vocabulary units  

• For pair practice and discussions  

• In small groups and ESL centers  

• As a review before tests

Teachers! I do have another blog for younger students with ideas, activities and resources. Check it out:

www.eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com

Tic Tac Toe Game for Elementary English Language Learners

 Love this simple and interactive game that can be used with 2nd and 3er grade,5th graders ELLs.  Use it to help reinforce the new vocabulary, as in my example, the school unit words. A game that total beginners or students with English form pre-school can play with no problem.

Print all the small cards from the unit and the templates for the tic tac toe, all X and O for playing noughts and crosses as some know it.

Cut all the small cards.

Create your own grid. Draw a grid on a piece of cardboard of 9 spaces arranged in 3x3.

All the units from the Bundle to teach Elementary English Language Learners have the same small cards to implement the game. So, it is just preparing it once and play it throughout the teaching of any unit.

Here is the link to the bundle: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-English-Language-learners-teaching-Units-Starters-BUNDLE-11215540

 Once students know how to play, they can do it alone in groups of two or more.

Place the small cards that you have used for the unit with the vocabulary, in this case the school unit.

Explain that one student (or two) will be team X and the other team O. They will place their mark on the grid by correctly naming the school item small card or using it in a sentence, etc. that is in chosen space. If the answer is correct that student or team will place the marker on that space covering the word.

Play continues until one student or team gets three marks in a row wither horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Students can play multiple rounds by changing the small cards with the school items to new words.

Here is the same game with the numbers 1 to 20 small cards. Find more here: https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2023/08/numbers-1-to-20-small-cards-for.html

 

The family unit tic tac toe. Check the blog post: https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2023/09/family-unit-teaching-tips-for-small.html

So, hope you will make you own game! I would love to see it. Here’s my email: ei98srl@gmail.com

Please follow my TPT Store!          https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia