A selection of English ESL ice - breaker printables

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)

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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

This is a fun icebreaker ESL speaking activity for teen and adult ESL (EFL) students. It's rather like a 'Find Someone Who' activity except it's BINGO! Students mingle around the class, using the prompts in each square to form questions which they ask to other students. If they get a positive answer, they can cross that square off their grid. When they get 4 in a line, it's BINGO! When they have 3 lines of BINGO! they can sit down. Teacher’s notes are included. 

I have a lot more Icebreaker activities as well as Classmate Bingo activities on my Teacher’s pay Teachers store:

teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tefl-Resource-Studio


Ice Breaker Bingo - Classmate Bingo Speaking Activity

Ice breaker for beginner students. Here are many different suggestions for questions that one student can ask another. Then the other student has to provide an answer that is appropriate for him/her.

Ice Breakers - Conversation Topics for Questions and Answers

This is a bingo for vocabulary practice and mantainance. Its main objective is to get students familiarized with the most common school supplies. 

This game worksheet can be used as a fun activity at the end of the class or as a wrap up in upcoming classes. The cards could also be used for spelling practice, as they contain the name of the noun at the bottom. Printing the cards page twice could aslo serve as memory game. 

The worksheet includes bingo cards and boards, which contents may be expanded to fit students' needs.

School supplies and extra bingo

Begginers code breaker pictionary. Nice for a primary vocabulary motivation, as an ice-breaker or a warmer. 

code breaker alphabet

Which do you prefer? A very nice handout to give to your students! Fun questions to start a conversation with them. Teenagers will love it. 0:)

Coke or Pepsi? (2/2)

The worksheet contains a list of hobbies and interests which you can use either to practise likes and dislikes or skills and abilities. It also works great with new groups as an ice-breaker or you can use it to get to know your one-to-one student. 

Hobbies and Interests Vocabulary

I've made these worksheets for my students to get ready for the test. Students must work a lot with the dictionary in order to find the different word categories. 

The worksheets can be given for homework or as an ice-breaker.

Word Formation Practice for Cambridge First

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

These conversation questions for A1 level are great ice-breakers for students to get to know their classmates at the start of term. They can also be used at any time to develop speaking skills. 


Get the PDF with FREE Teacher's notes here:


https://tefllessons.com/product/conversation-questions-a1/


There are 100 + FREE resources on TEFLlessons.com


Here are some more links to our FREE lessons.


https://tefllessons.com/product/talking-about-films/


https://tefllessons.com/product/social-media-speaking-lesson/


Enjoy :)

A1 Conversation Activity

The task can be used as an ice breaker starting to work with a new class or a warm-up activity after summer holidays. It is a nice way to practice asking and answering questions.

Find someone who

One more part of the task that helps me challenge my students to ask questions. The task is to find out some information about the person. The problem is that students are not given a question form structure. They need to read, understand and make up a nice question on their own. Hope you´ll find it useful! :)
you can donate a little bit and get the whole pack of questions herhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/jullschool/e/103950




27 pages of questions waiting for you.


keep safe and enjoy the task)

Ask me a question activity part 9 (teaching students how to build a question)

Worksheet for Easter Celebration in all countries. Ideal for all children using some common words on Easter! Kids will love it! They can also color it after completing it! 

28 Ice - breaker English ESL worksheets pdf & doc