39 ESL Vocabulary Activities: For Teenagers and Adults - Jackie Bolen, Jennifer Booker Smith 2015

Review race
Games and activities for all levels

Skill: Writing

Time: 5 minutes

Materials: Large paper (one piece per group) or whiteboard and markers (at least one per group)

Some students tend to look at each lesson as a discrete unit, forgetting that they are parts of a whole. This activity gets them using what they have learned. It’s a great warm up activity. I’ve also used it before a test, both to boost their confidence and to give them one last bit of review time.

To play, divide students into groups of 4-5 and give each group at least one marker. If you are not using the whiteboard, also give each group one piece of A3 or butcher paper. Give students a time limit of 2-3 minutes to list all of the vocabulary words they can remember from the previous lesson. With higher-level classes, have students add a synonym, antonym, or brief definition. The group with the most correct words wins.

Procedure:

1. In advance, prepare markers and optionally, a piece of A3 or butcher paper for each group.

2. Divide students into groups of 4-5.

3. Have students work together to list all of the vocabulary they can remember from the previous lesson within the time limit of 2-3 minutes.

4. For higher-level classes, have students add a synonym, antonym or brief definition of each word.

5. The group with the most correct words wins.