QUICK COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES
Guessing Game
A Tell one student to think of something from a given topic
group (animals, clothing, furniture, food, etc.). Tell the student
to give one clue at a time and ask the other students to guess
the item.
B Tell one student to think of something from a given topic
group (animals, clothing, furniture, food, etc.). Tell the other
students to ask Yes / No questions about the item. Tell them
to continue until they can guess the item.
Dictated Drawing
Tell the students to each draw something. Depending on the
vocabulary that you wish to revise, you can request a person,
a monster, a room, a street with places on it, etc. Then tell the
students to work in pairs. Tell one student in each pair to
describe his / her picture to his / her partner, while the partner
draws the picture. Encourage the student drawing the picture to
ask questions to clarify what he / she should draw. (Where is it?,
Like this?, How many?, etc.) Once the drawing is completed, tell
the students to compare the original drawing with the dictated
drawing. Then tell the students to repeat the process and to do
a dictated drawing of the other partner’s drawing.
Surveys
A Ask the students to suggest free-time activities (or unusual
activities) and write them on the board. Then tell the students
to copy six of the activities from the list on the board and to
walk around the classroom asking questions to find a student
who does each of the activities. Tell the students to find out at
least one other piece of information from the person who
does (or has done) each activity (when he/she does (did) it,
where he/she does (did) it, who he/she does (did) it with,
etc.).
B Tell the students to suggest typical school items and write
them on the board. Then tell the students to copy six of the
items from the list on the board and to walk around the
classroom asking questions to find a student who has got
each of the items. Tell the students to find out at least one
other piece of information from the person who has got each
item (what colour the item is, how many of each item the
student has got, etc.).
C Tell the students to write seven things that they are interested
in. Then tell the students to walk around the classroom and to
ask questions to find someone else interested in each thing.
The first person to find a student interested in each thing
wins.
Paragraph Dictation
Tell the students to work in pairs. Attach several copies of
a paragraph to the walls of the classroom. You can use
a paragraph from a text in your Student’s Book or from any other
source. Tell the students that the idea is for one student from
each pair to dictate the paragraph to the second student as
quickly as possible, but from memory. Explain that the first
student should go to one of the copies of the paragraph, read
a section and then go back and recite it for the second student,
who writes it. Once the whole paragraph has been written, the
pair of students should go together to the copy of the paragraph
on the wall and correct their work. Point out that as they are
working, the first student can point out and help correct any
mistakes that he / she sees.
 Think Ahead ESO 1 Photocopiable © Burlington Books 
Mime
A Divide the students into two teams. In turns, ask a student
from each team to mime something (a routine or activity,
a verb, etc.). Tell the other team to guess what it is. Give one
point for each correct answer given in a full sentence.
B Divide the students into two teams. Give each team a holiday
destination. In turns, ask students from the team to mime
activities that they are going to do (or did, depending on the
tense you wish to practise) on their holiday. Tell the other
team to guess the activity. Give one point for each correct
answer given in a full sentence.
Sentence Chain
Tell the students something that you do every day. (I watch TV
every day.) Then ask a student to repeat what you said and to
add another routine. Continue with each student repeating what
was said before and adding another routine. (I watch TV and ride
a bike every day.) Continue until the chain is too long to
remember. This activity can be used for revision of different
tenses (things you have done, did, are going to do, etc.).
Guess Where You Are
A Ask one student to leave the classroom. Tell the class to
choose a room in the house / place in town / geographical
feature. Then ask the student to come back to the classroom
and to ask questions to guess the place that the class chose.
B Ask one student to leave the classroom. Tell the class to
choose a room in the house / place in town / geographical
feature. Then ask the student to come back to the classroom.
Tell the other students in the class to give clues until the
student guesses the place that the class chose.
C Divide the class into small groups and give each group a strip
of paper with the name of a place (room in the house, place
in town, geographical feature, etc.). In turns, tell each group
to say four sentences about the place (what you can do
there, buy there, etc.), without mentioning the place. Ask the
other groups to guess the place.
Make a Sentence
Divide the class into two teams. Tell a student from one team to
call out a lexical group (food, clothes, parts of the body, etc.). Tell
a student from the other team to say a word from the group and
use it in a logical and grammatically correct sentence. Give a
point for each correct sentence.
Planning a Trip
Tell the students to work in pairs or small groups. Tell them to
decide on a holiday destination. Then tell them to plan the trip.
Depending on the level of the class, you might ask them to
choose the clothing that they will pack, make a schedule for the
trip (things they plan to do each day), make a list of the things
they need to do to prepare for the trip (book hotels, get a
passport, …), etc. Ask them to present their plans to the class.
Write the Dialogue
Ask the students to work in pairs. Tell them to choose a picture
from their Student’s Book (it must be a picture with people in it) or
bring in pictures from magazines, newspapers, etc. for them to
use. Tell the students to write a dialogue that the people in the
picture might have. Ask some of the pairs to present their
dialogues to the class.