Bring a roll of toilet paper to class. Set the roll on your desk. Ask the students if they know what the roll is called. Take a few squares of paper and tell the students to take what they need. Explain that each piece of paper represents one piece of information that each person will share with the class. Give the students five minutes to write down what they want to share with the rest of the class. Starting with yourself, go around the classroom until everyone has had a turn. This game is good for all levels of ESL.
Create ten ESL level appropriate sentences. Write, in large letters, one word of each sentence on individual pages. Divide your students into groups of two or three. Give each group the stack of words that make up the sentences. Instruct the students to make grammatically correct sentences out of the words they are given. Push desks back so that there is room to generate the sentences on the floor. This exercise helps to reinforce grammar rules and also helps students understand English grammar structure.
Divide your students into groups of two. Have each pair of students make up a crossword puzzle from the previous week's vocabulary. When all groups are done, have them swap puzzles. Give the class 30 minutes to finish the puzzle. Have a prize for the pair who has the most words completed at the end of the time.
Bring a popular TV show to class. Have your class watch a scene from the show. Ask the students to write down what they understand from the show. Watch the scene again. Invite your students to make adjustments to their notes about what they understood. Watch the scene one more time. Ask the students what they observed and understood. Help them understand idioms and slang that they did not comprehend. This exercise will help students with their listening skills as well as introduce them to English slang and conversation.
Bring several children's books to class. Place your students in groups of two or three and have them read to each other. Request that each student read the same book aloud to her fellow students. Move among the groups listening and correcting pronunciation. This exercise will promote listening, comprehension and pronunciation in your students.