8 fun activities for the end of your classes

As an ESL teacher, it’s important to lead your students through your lesson whilst ensuring they stay focused and engaged.  Even if your lesson was a huge success, the closing activity is always a great way to sum up your entire lesson.

Check out these 8 fun closing activities that can become a part of your daily teaching routine:

 
1.     Random question draw

Each one of your students must write a question about the same day lesson topic on a piece of paper. All questions get thrown into a bowl and each student gets a chance to draw a random piece of paper. Ask the student to answer the question as far as possible and provide guidance if needed.

2.     Spot the fake! (Vocabulary review)

Write a few words on the board that are relevant to the lesson, along with a few made up or fake words that can pass for real ones, for example:

 Cow, Traq, Pen, Pon, Cup, Smelp, Tiger

 Divide your class into teams and each team gets a different color marker and must decide amongst each other which words they think are the fake ones.

 3.     Musical ball toss

You’ll need some music and balls for this one. Students need to tell you what they’ve learned throughout your lesson. Gather your students and line them up in a circle. In this activity they must throw the ball from one to another. Every time the music stops, the person holding the ball will have to share something they have learned in your lesson.

4.     Journal writing

Another great closing activity is journal entries! This also works well as a daily routine. Ask your students to write down 4 vocabulary words in their journals and ask them to use it in different sentences.

5.     Pictionary

An old classic, but still very effective closing activity. You start by drawing a picture on the board of the target vocabulary item. Whoever guesses it right gets to draw next (show the next participant a picture of the next item). You can either draw the picture yourself and the class works together, or you can divide the class into teams - and each team has a representative that draws.

 6.     Challenge the teacher

Give your students the opportunity to ask questions about the lesson they just had. Answer their questions, but also quiz them to ensure they’re understanding and learning.

 7.     Countdown

Write down nine letters on the board (a good mixture of vowels and consonants) and split the class into 2 – 4 teams. Explain to your students that they must try and make the longest word possible out of the written letters. Have a practice round first so everyone is on the same page and then set a timer for the next round (give them 30 sec – 1 min). Give points for every correct word, the longer the word the more points you score.

8.     Exit Ticket

There are many ways to do this activity. Basically your students need to give an “exit pass” before they can leave the classroom. This could be written or spoken answers (depending on your question). You can ask them to give you one or two new vocabulary words they have learned from your lesson, or already have written questions on sticky notes hidden under random desks and ask the students to answer before they can leave.

These 8 closing activities will have your students leave the classroom feeling like they’ve learned something new. Any one of these is a great way to keep the attention of students during the last minutes of class.