After 3 years in Korea, it's time to say goodbye. I just wanted to share a lot of the templates and games that I use especially as time fillers.
Worksheets: Cryptogram Generator:
http://www.kidzone.ws/puzzles/cryptogram/This is an amazing worksheet that can easily fill an entire 40-45 minute period. I usually give it out blank, and then start them with a few good hints, like "e" and "t", then try to let them figure out other letters on their own. I slowly give them more hints as the class goes, which helps to dictate the pace that they finish.
Recommended grades: Elementary 5th+
Word Search Generator:
http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.phpThis is pretty simple, but very flexible. You can make very small word searches for younger students, or larger, more complicated ones for older students. I usually have the students write the Korean meaning of the word to the right of the English. Also, I usually change the setting to lower case, as lower case letters should be practiced more.
Recommended grades: Elementary 3rd+
Crossword Puzzle Generator:
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.aspCrossword puzzles are a good way to fill out about 10-15 minutes. You can make them as thorough or simple as you want, and they can be tailored to any age.
Recommended grades: Elementary 3rd+
Bingo Card Generator:
http://osric.com/bingo-card-generator/This is a really cool way to incorporate English into Bingo. You can create randomly generated cards with the target language, so every student has a different card. Another way is to have students populate blank sheets themselves, but that take quite a long time, so this is a good way to make Bingo much shorter.
Recommended grades: Elementary 3rd+
ABC Path:
https://www.brainbashers.com/abcpath.aspThis is more of a puzzle than an English activity, but it gets the kids thinking, which is great. The idea is to fill the entire board with A to Y. The next letter must be adjacent to the previous letter either beside, above/below, or diagonally. Also, the letter must be present in the row, column, or diagonal dictated by the outer letters. It sounds confusing, but it's pretty easy to explain. It's great to activate deductive thinking in kids, and while it's not strictly an English activity, it is a good way to fill some time and use your students' brains well. There's a new puzzle every day, so you can always find a new one. Just print it out, and let the kids go at it.
Recommended ages: Middle School+
Web-Based Games:Hangman:
http://hangman.no/You can prepare your word list ahead of time and just save the password. This allows you to recall your prepared word list later. Maybe the imagery is a little violent? But, I've never heard any complaints.
Recommended grades: Elementary 5th+
Connect 4:
http://www.heavymetagaming.com/eslgames/connect4.htmlThis is a game that I created. It allows you to put images above the columns so the students must use target language. Or you can simply leave those blank and the students can say "1" to "7". It takes a little while for the students to understand the strategy, but once they get it, they love this game.
Recommended grades: Elementary 4th+
Avengers Bomb Game:
http://www.heavymetagaming.com/eslgames/avengers.htmlTake some time to learn how this works. Once you figure out how to populate slides correctly, this is waaaay easier than any powerpoint bomb game. Also, you can just send yourself the text via email instead of a bulky powerpoint file. It incorporates fun clips from the Avengers movies and keeps track of the scores. It also has a fun wheel mechanic that adds a lot of great excitement and randomness to the game. This does take some time to load, so be patient. It's worth the effort. Works best in Chrome.
I may add more to this list later. Hopefully this helps the new incoming crop of teachers.
