How to Host Your Own English Language Olympics

As the year comes to a close, celebrate everything that your students have learned with this fun review of the year’s English lessons. Here’s how to host your own English Language Olympic Games.

Host Your Own Olympics in Your Classroom

1. 1

   Assign Teams

   You don’t have to put your students in teams to play these language games, but giving ESL students a partner does tend to decrease their stress and make fun activities like these even more fun. So think about creating teams of two to four amongst your students. Mix skill levels as well as the cultures of your students.
2. 2

   Create Country Flags

   Have students create fictional countries that they will be representing. In their teams, have students choose a name for their country andcreate a country flag.
3. 3
4. Host the Events
   The events are probably the most fun part of your English language Olympic Games. You have lots of flexibility to design events based on your students’ skills and what you are studying in class. Here are some ideas to get you started. Remember for each event, you will want to award points to the top three teams – five points for first place (gold), three points for second place (silver), and one point for third palce (bronze). It’s up to you whether you have one person from each team compete in each event, requiring your students to strategize who will participate in each event, or have everyone from each team compete in each event, which will give you a read on every student’s skills. At the end of each event, take a few minutes to hold a metal award ceremony. Have the top three scoring teams come to the front of the room and award them prizes for the round. If you like, choose three awards – gold, silver, and bronze – to use for every award ceremony. Let each team who won an award keep it in their possession until the next award ceremony at which time they return it to you and you pass it on to the top three teams for the next event.

Consider Vocabulary Diving

Use this event as a review of all your vocabulary words for the year. Write each word on a small slip of paper, and put it in a bucket. This will be your pool. Then, have one person from each team take turns “diving” their hand into the bucket and choosing a word. They will then have sixty seconds to write a sentence on the board, which clearly shows the meaning of the word they chose in their dive. If the sentence shows the meaning of the word, score five points. If it is also perfect grammatically, score another five points. Play as many rounds as you like and then award medals to the teams according to their scores in the event.

Check Equestrian Spelling Jump

While Olympic riders race to complete a jumping course in the quickest time, your students will race all at once to reach the end goal while spelling words. In essence, this is a spelling bee, but in Olympic style. To prepare, scatter several papers around your classroom floor or another open playing area. Tell students these papers are like rocks in a stream, and they will have to step from one to another to get to the goal. No two people can occupy the same spot at the same time. Students will have to choose what they think is the shortest route from their starting position to the goal. Have teams draw for the order in which they will play. On each team’s first turn, they begin at a designated starting spot. Give the player a word to spell. If that person spells the word correctly, he or she may jump to a square of their choosing. Then the next player goes. If a person spells a word incorrectly, they must return to the starting point. If they miss the square on their jump (both feet have to land entirely inside the paper) they must return to the starting point. Students will have to decide if they want to spell more words and take more careful steps or if they want to take bigger jumps in hopes of getting to the finish faster. The first person to reach the end wins gold, the second silver, and the third bronze.

Fill in the Blank Archery

Firing arrows in your classroom probably isn’t a good idea, but you can easily set up a dartboard for this simple game. First, choose the skill you want to test. - it might be a particular grammar point or comprehension questions on something your class has read. Then set up your dartboard with a line down the middle. Label one side A and the other side B. When students compete in the event, ask each person a question on the target structure and give him or her a choice of answers between A and B. The student must choose what answer they think is correct and then throw the dart at that side of the board. Award one point to the team if the dart lands on the correct answer. If the dart misses the board completely, subtract one point from their score. At the end of the game, the top three scoring teams are awarded metals.

Apply Vocabulary Wrestling

How many synonyms do your students know for common words? How many items can your students name from a given category? Find the answers in this simple vocabulary faceoff. Students from two teams come to the front of the room and face each other. You announce a category, such as sports. The players must then take turns giving an item from each category until one person cannot think of another one. The last person able to give an item for the category scores a point. Play enough rounds so each team has the same number of turns and award the top three scoring teams at the end of the event.

You can create other games of your choosing, or do an encore of in-class exercises after giving them an Olympic sounding name. Add up points for all the medals your students won, and award the final prizes in the closing ceremony.

Do you do any fun end of the year reviews with your students?

What are your favorites?

How To Motivate Students: Top 10 Ways

Even the best students have days when they are not motivated for classroom learning. With a little nudge from you, you can turn those dreary days into successful classes in their ESL careers.

Here are 10 more ways you can motivate your students today.

10 Teacher-Tested Ways to Increase Your Students' Motivation Quickly and Easily

1. 1
   Children fulfill the expectations that the adults around them communicate. This does not mean that every student will score 100% on every test we write. It does mean that if you communicate to a child that he or she is failure, he or she will fail. If you communicate to that same child that he or she will succeed; you will often find that that is the outcome. With every opportunity, encourage your students that they are making progress in their language learning. Point out to them the areas in which you see progress and improvement. For areas in which a student struggles, try to portray a picture of what success will look like. Encouraging your students to visualize their success will aid them in accomplishing those goals you set before them.
2. 2
   Making sure you are teaching to all the learning styles in your classrooms is another way to motivate your students. It is unrealistic to expect an auditory learner to be successful and motivated if her sole instruction comes from reading a textbook. Likewise, a kinesthetic learner will be frustrated listening to his teacher lecture class after class. Make sure, as you plan your lessons, that you are teaching to all the learning styles in your classroom. If you do, you will engage students who might otherwise struggle to pay attention in class.
3. 3
   When a student disengages from class, it is a good opportunity for you the teacher to notice what methods you are using in class. Although some practices may be fine for most students, timed tests, independent learning time, self checking methods, for example, there will be students who not only do not connect with these methods but who suffer negatively when you use them in your classroom. If a student begins to disengage, be aware of the methods you are using and look for patterns. Though it is difficult to meet every need of a classroom full of language learners, you can take pains to avoid certain methods when it is possible to help certain students perform better in class. This will also help you be intentional about using a variety of methods with your class further engaging all of them.
4. 4
   Sometimes motivating your students is as easy as changing the material you are using. For most teachers, the school chooses a curriculum that they expect each teacher to follow in his or her classes. Even when this is the case, it does not mean that you cannot bring additional resources to class. Sometimes students are turned off by the style or approach of certain curriculum authors. Bringing a different perspective into the class will reengage your students who are turned off by your current materials. In addition, it will challenge those who are already seeing success from the assigned curriculum.
5. 5
   Varying your environment can also be just the thing a reluctant student needs to find fresh motivation. Field trips are always a great way to learn in a practical setting, but even if that is not possible, take your class outside for today's lesson. Your students may also benefit from a class meeting in the library or in another classroom. You can still meet your daily class goals even if you take your class beyond the classroom walls. Try setting your students to research at the library, observe another class, or listen to native speakers in a public area. There is always language to be learned, so meet your listening, speaking, and reading goals outside the confinement of students' tables.
6. 6
   Providing students with accountability is an important element of being a teacher. Without the idea of a deadline and a grade, many students would never have the self-motivation that is required to successfully learn a language. Be clear with your students when you tell them your expectations. Make sure they know the deadline for a project’s completion and what standards you will use to assess that project. You may alsoconsider contracting grades with your students who are at more advanced levels. When you contract grades, your students sign a contract which outlines the requirements to receive an a and a b. Do not give options for lower grades. The student selects which grade he or she will receive in the class and then must complete those requirements satisfactorily. From the start of class, your students know what they need to accomplish, and they know that their success is completely dependent upon themselves. This will get them to be self motivated learners and help them engage themselves in the learning process.
7. 7
   Have you ever seen a child, or perhaps you have one, who is angelic when in public and a terror at home? Some young people have similar behavior patterns when it comes to the classroom. For you they misbehave repeatedly, but a substitute teacher would never know it. You can break them out of this pattern by bringing outside influences into your classroom. Invite a guest speaker or trade classes for a period with a fellow teacher. The change in style and authority, even for a short period, may be enough to spark some motivation in your students who have become accustomed to your teaching style and expectations.
8. 8
   Competition is a great way to motivate students. We do not suggest posting grades publicly or otherwise embarrassing your students, but there are many ways to foster a friendly spirit of competition in your class. Games are fun for reviewing and they motivate and engage students. You can also group your class into teams and set them to a challenge. Who can collect the most authentic examples of the grammatical structure you are currently studying? Which team can write the most entertaining skit with this week’s vocabulary words? Whatever you are studying, there is some way to add some competition to the mix.
9. 9
   One never fail motivational method you can use with your students is giving rewards. Tell your students that if everyone in class earns an 80% or higher on a test you will have a pizza party. Tell them that with successful completion of the class novelyou wills spend a day to watch the movie together. Even something as little as a sticker on a teenager’s paper can be enough to spark some giggles and winks but with it some fresh motivation. Design your rewards to your students’ personalities, and tell them what your plans are. Students look forward to even the simple pleasures that you can dole out on an ordinary day.
10. 10
    Finally, though not as enjoyable as other techniques to motivate, consequences of certain actions can also be a motivator to students. Make your expectations clear, and communicate to your student what the consequences will be to certain behavior or work ethic. No one likes to be punished, but when positive reinforcement and lively change ups do not work, sometimes there has to be negative consequences to your student’s actions. Keep your students after school if you have to.Communicate with a child’s parents if possible and when necessary. Discipline should be a last resort motivator and only used sporadically.

Everyone struggles to be motivated at some point. When you see your students in that place, try some of these fun ways to engage and enliven your class. If all else fails, it may be time for some consequences.

Variety is enjoyable for students and teachers alike. Avoid getting stuck in a rut and your students will probably find themselves motivated without you even trying to make it happen.