A selection of English ESL coolers printables

After years of teaching ESL and training TESOL teachers, I have compiled an anthology of tried and tested warmers, coolers and fillers. There are some old classics, as well as new ideas. Hope you enjoy! Any contributions welcomed, e-mail me: teacherdianarenke@gmail.com

Warmers, Coolers & Fillers Teachers' Handbook

This engaging Minecraft-themed worksheet is designed to spark students' creativity and imagination, making learning fun and interactive. It includes a variety of activities that encourage kids to think critically about how to enhance their favorite game. Starting with comprehension questions, students will reflect on ideas such as flying dragons and underwater cities, solidifying their understanding of the text. Group discussions foster collaborative thinking as students share and debate their favorite new features. A creative writing task gives students the chance to brainstorm and write about their own unique Minecraft improvements, followed by a research activity where they explore and describe additional ideas from the internet. The DIY Minecraft mod section challenges them to solve common in-game problems with innovative solutions, promoting problem-solving skills. For homework, students can choose to draw a comic strip or create a video, helping them visualize and present their ideas creatively. This worksheet not only enhances reading and writing skills but also integrates technology and art, making it a comprehensive tool for engaging young learners in a subject they love. Teachers will appreciate its versatility and the way it captivates students' interest, encouraging active participation and creative thinking.

Five Awesome Ideas to Make Minecraft Even Cooler!

In Part A, students look at Sky's facial expression for each activity and fill in the blank with "likes" or "doesn't like."  In Part B, they will fill in the blank to express whether or not they like the activity listed.  I had these copied front and back and passed them out as half-sheets to save paper.

Hobbies-likes/dislikes

Shops in town crossword with pictures and numbers.



Note: This is a corrected version of the existing "shops-and-shopping-warmers-coolers"-worksheet - with key!



Shops and shopping crossword

Mingle activity with twenty questions each with superlatives as part of the question. Students talk with their classmates and write down the answers they\'re given. 

I like to write some answers on the whiteboard and see if my students can guess which questions they\'re the answers to. 

Super Superlatives Survey

Simple mingle activity done in the present simple with twenty questions, each requiring two answers. Students ask their classmates then write down the answers they\'re given. Can be used as an icebreaker, warmer, filler or a review of vocabulary or use of the present simple. 

Answer Quest

The words are in code. The code is the number value of the letters of the alphabet. A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 etc… all the way up to Z = 26. 

In teams, your students must translate the codes into words as fast as they can. For example: 7-1-13-5 = GAME. The clues get harder as the round goes on. 

Present to your students as a worksheet or write the clues at the board and use as a guide. The topics are countries, fast food and chemical elements. 

Alphabet Race

15 questions using every-day scenarios to practice verbs in the Past Simple Tense. Can be used as a reading/writing worksheet, or as verbal Q&A. 

Past Simple Verbs practice sheet

Mad lib story about a day out that goes horribly wrong. For a mad lib, students should write the vocabulary they're going to use on the second page first then put the twenty words they've chosen into the story. However, it can also be done straight if you prefer. Good for parts of speech, grammar, sentence & story construction.

A day at the football match - Mad libs

Mingle activity with twenty questions each containing an adjective and requiring two answers. Students talk to their classmates and write down the answers they\'re given. Adjectives are given in alphabetical order from A-T.

Answer Quest: Adjectives

Mingle activity with twenty questions mostly done in the present simple with two examples of the second conditional. Students talk to their classmates and write down the answers they\'re given. The vocabulary and concepts are more advanced than the first Answer Quest. 

Answer Quest 2

I created this worksheet to mirror the language taught in Fun for Movers 4th edition Unit 2. There is also a Word Scramble worksheet which recycles the same language. Enjoy!

Animals, Animals... Crossword

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

For personal or classroom use only. Uploading on other internet sharing platforms or any commercial use NOT PERMITTED. Share Alike.

Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License

how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

27 Coolers English ESL worksheets pdf & doc