Classroom activities for ESL student

Prepared and planed classroom activities for ESL students are very important. Students not only listen to our speech but also participate actively. Their involvement aims to strengthen the exposure to the language-learning target. Here are some activities that involve students’ tasks.

1. Doing interview

Students interview their classmates, other students from different classes or teachers and school members. They are allowed to work out. They can interview their other students in the sport field, canteen, or school office. Teachers had better divide the students into groups. Ask a student to be an interviewer and others records and write the dialogues. Here are some tips for teachers to arrange this activity.

· Prepare sort of questions to ask. The questions should have correlation with today’s topic.

· Divide students into groups. Two or three students of each group are good.

· Make the rules of the task because students will work out.

· Give students opening conversation of interview.

· Limit the time.

· Prepare worksheet or chart to fill in.

· Decide who wants to be the interviewees.

· Border the school area where all students can go.

· Give five or six minutes break after they finish the task.

· Hand in all students’ work to the teacher.

· Discuss the result of the interview

· Call for students to retell of the interview ( they still work in groups)

· Give score to students’ work.

2. Observation or simple research.

This task is good for working in-group. Students with visual learning style will enjoy this activity. The observation or research objects can be varied. When today’s topic is about food, students can make research traditional food from around the world. Internet, magazines, and newspapers are great sources of information. Here are some preparations to do observation or make research.

· Decide a topic to observe.

· Divide students into groups.

· Prepare worksheet to fill in.

· Use internet connection.

· Find sources of information from magazines or newspapers.

· Ask students to put picture of the food they observe on the worksheet.

· Ask students to gather information about the topic. ( for example : food: where is it from?, how does it taste?, what ingredients to make it?, when best time to serve?, what nutrition in it?, and many others)

· Ask students to write all information in good paragraph.

· Type on computers.

· Publish on blogs, school webs, school bulletin, and wall magazines.

· Put the members’ name on the published works.

· Don’t forget to score all the students work.