Every ESL EFL teacher needs a box of tricks. I mean activities that are effective, interesting, challenging and fun. The activities need to be flexible. They need to allow students the chance to immediately practice and absorb the target language.

Every teacher also needs a lot of tricks in that box. Every English class is dynamic, after all. Sometimes the students quickly understand the target material, but other times they require a lot more practice. And sometimes the class is tired or bored, which requires adjustment to the teacher's original plans. And sometimes there's just a few minutes remaining, which would be best filled with an activity.

Newer teachers need to stock their box with all sorts of ideas. Yet even more experienced teachers need to replenish their stock from time to time, else students will grow bored with the same, repetitious activities. So whether you're a teacher new to the ESL EFL field and need activities, or an experienced teacher in need of fresh ideas, take a look at the following activities for your foreign language classroom!

This activity should be used with upper-level students, as the idea of defending one's opinions can prove quite difficult. However, teachers can use this activity with lower-intermediate students if the topics are concrete and easily discussed, such as vacation plans, restaurant plans, and so on.

Step One: The teacher arranges students in groups of four or five to brainstorm solutions, answers, or activities around a theme. The theme should be related to the topic of the lesson. For example:

• Brainstorm five ways to limit global warming.
• Brainstorm five reasons that the death penalty works.
• Brainstorm five ideas for a perfect vacation.
• Brainstorm five ways to stay in love with your partner... forever.

If time is somewhat limited, the teacher may prepare five answers, etc. before the lesson rather than allow students to generate a list.

Step Two: Students in each group now discuss, debate, negotiate, and cajole one another in an attempt to unanimously agree on the best answer. At the end of five minutes, all the students in a group should have agreed on the best solution, answer, or activity. This is considered a win. If everyone can't agree, then this is considered a loss.

Variation One: Students must rank the solutions, answers, or activities in order, from best to worst. Of course, all the students in a group must also unanimously agree on the order. This promotes even greater discussion and careful consideration around a particular topic, but also requires a considerable amount of class time. As such, the teacher should allow students at least ten to fifteen minutes to complete this activity.

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This activity works well as a pre-step to introducing the target language. Students work in groups and brainstorm words on the lesson topic, such as vacations, shopping, food, and so on.

Step One: The teacher places students in pairs or small groups of three. If the groups are too large, then one or two students may only passively listen rather than actively volunteer words. This most often happens with weaker students placed in groups with stronger students.

Step Two: The teacher writes the topic or theme on the board. The topic or theme can focus the attention of the students. For example, if students were to study the future tense, then they could brainstorm vocabulary around vacations to later talk about future vacation plans. The words may then be used when introducing the grammar, when practicing the target structure, or in conversations/activities at the end of the lesson. The teacher should provide a few examples and write these on the board for clarification. Some additional topic ideas include:

• weekend plans
• foods
• jobs
• hobbies
• words associated with directions

Step Three: Students work together and brainstorm vocabulary words. One student should write the words as everyone volunteers vocabulary for the list. Dictionaries should not be used, as you want students to brainstorm and share pre-existing knowledge. The teacher should allot three to five minutes for this step.

Step Four: The teacher may ask for students to say the words aloud as he writes them on the board. Alternatively, students can come to the board and write the words themselves. The teacher may also merge pairs/groups, with each pair/group presenting the information to one another. The vocabulary will be used and reused for subsequent steps in the lesson, so pairs/groups merge more than once to ensure everyone has an identical list of words.

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This activity is quite flexible in the grammar points with which it may be used. Therefore, this activity may be easily applied as semi-controlled practice for a variety of levels.

Step One: Before the start of the class, the teacher thinks of situations that require a reason/explanation for the action. Here are some example situations for upper-level students:

• You yell at your boss.
• You re-gift a present you got last Christmas.
• You take a two-month vacation.
• You go on a date with your best friend's ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.

The teacher should brainstorm at least twenty situations/actions. This will provide enough sentences to use as examples and enough sentences for students to practice with.

Step Two: The teacher presents and practices the target language as usual. Some grammar points that work particularly well with this activity are:

• because/so
• clauses of purpose
• conditional clauses (first, second, or third)

The teacher writes one of the sentences from Step One on the board, then an example reason. If covering the second conditional clause, for example, he might write, "If my boss yelled at me, I would yell at my boss." Additional examples should be offered to clarify the activity's expectations.

Step Three: The teacher now elicits examples from the class and writes these on the board. In quieter classes which don't regularly volunteer information, the teacher may allow students several minutes to think of at least one example. These will then be elicited and written on the board.

Step Four: Students get into small groups. The teacher writes down additional sentences, and students take turns to talk about reasons for each situation with the target language. Each student should present at least one reason, then move on to the next situation/action. The group monitors and offers correction for any mistakes with the grammar.

Step Five: In the same groups, students brainstorm additional situations, as well as the reasons.

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