5 Sweet Games For Teaching Phrasal Verbs - FluentU English Educator Blog PDF

1/7/2019 5 Sweet Games for Teaching Phrasal Verbs | FluentU English Educator Blog
FluentU English Educator Blog

Want to speak English naturally?
by EMILY MONACO
Brain Candy: 5 Superb Games

for Teaching Phrasal Verbs
Do away with boring exercises.
Throw out that dull worksheet.
It’s time to figure out a more amusing way to approach

phrasal verbs!
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/teaching-phrasal-verbs/ 1/16
Phrasal verbs can be a tough element of ESL to approach

with your class. Your students have just learned the
definitions of certain words… and now they have to learn
all new definitions that seem to be completely arbitrary!
But once you break out these phrasal verb games, you’ll

see that learning phrasal verbs can be a whole lot of fun.
3 But first things first: Let’s refresh what a phrasal verb is,
exactly, and how you might explain them to your students.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient

and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click
here to get a copy. (Download)
Introducing Phrasal Verbs to Your Class
Simply put, a phrasal verb is a verb whose meaning

changes when it’s accompanied by a preposition or an
adverb. You can find a more in-depth explanation of what a
phrasal verb is here, which is perfect for helping explain it
to first-time learners, and here’s an extensive list of
3 different phrasal verbs.
You’ve been seeing phrasal verbs for years, so the first

3
time you introduce them to a beginner, you may be
surprised at how large and difficult it is to intuit the
difference between the verb to bring and the phrasal
verb to bring up, for example.
Prepositions are some of the hardest words to intuit for

foreign language learners, so when a preposition changes
the meaning of an already familiar verb, it can seem like
public enemy number one as far as your students are
concerned. Luckily, you have the power to change that.
Why Implement Games for Teaching

Phrasal Verbs
This innate difficulty is one of the reasons we love using

games to teach phrasal verbs. Like with prepositions, the
best way to learn phrasal verbs is to use them again and
again, and this repetition is automatic when playing games.
Students have to seek out the verb again and again,
committing its new meaning to memory.
Another reasons games are one of the ideal ways to teach

phrasal verbs is because this is simple
memorization. Students may find that some logic is

involved in getting from the standard form to the phrasal
verb form, but for the most part, these distinctions will not
be automatic for learners. Using a game to help memorize
these differences is one of the best ways to integrate
phrasal verbs into a learner’s lexicon.
In other words, as opposed to with other ESL games,

3 phrasal verb games can be a means in and of themselves
of memorizing these terms. Whereas with other grammar
themes, games should be a reward at the end of the
3 learning process, phrasal verb games can be an important
initial teaching tool.
Feel free to introduce these phrasal verb games as early in

the learning process as the first or second day of teaching.
This will make phrasal verbs a fun topic to learn instead of
a chore!
5 Sweet Games for Teaching

Phrasal Verbs
1. Phrasal Verb Boggle: For a Quick and
Easy Class Intro
This activity is a great intro activity for the second or third

day of learning phrasal verbs. Before your students arrive,
create a boggle board on your chalkboard or whiteboard,
with an assortment of letters. You’ll want to use quite a few
letters, at least a 7×7 square.
When your students arrive, give them one minute to write

down as many phrasal verbs as they can find in the
assortment of letters. You can decide what rules work well

for your class’s level and how much time you have.
For example, when you’re just starting out, you may ask
students to find words that are already within the Boggle
board, where the letters line up into the word, as with
traditional Boggle. As students become more advanced,
however, this can be used like a word scramble, with
3 students being allowed to use the letters in any pattern or
order they like.
3 When creating the board, always place the letters of the

words and phrases you hope your students to find first.
Then fill in the surrounding areas with assorted other
letters. This can also be varied depending on your
students’ level. As students become more advanced, use
frequent English letters like “m,” “n,” “s” and “t,” which will
throw them off. For beginners, use instead more infrequent
letters, like “x” and “z,” so that they have less of a chance
of using the wrong letters.
To gain the most from this activity, be sure to check

everyone’s work. First, ask your students how many words
they found by asking for a show of hands (i.e. “How many
of you found one word? How many found two words? etc.)
The last student with their hand up (so the person with the
most words) gets to come up and write them on the board.
You can then correct as needed, with help from other
students. After the original list is corrected, invite any
students who have suggestions that are not on the list to
come up and add them.
This game is great for remembering the different pairings

of preposition and verb, but because it doesn’t reinforce
the meaning of the words, you should not rely solely on

this game for teaching phrasal verbs.
2. Catapult: For the Digital Classroom
If you have iPads in your classroom or use the computer as

part of your teaching style, then this online game, Catapult,
3 is a great tool for teaching phrasal verbs. The game is
ideally used as a friendly competition-style game, but it can
also be played by just one person or team.
3
The game works as follows: A sentence is presented with
a missing portion of a phrasal verb. Students must read the
sentence and choose from three options to fill in the blank.
The graphics place the team in two towers, and their
phrasal verb skills will help them catapult the other team
out of its tower.
We like this game because it’s simple to understand and

play, making it perfect for short periods of time. This game
is great if you have five or ten minutes left over at the end
of class and need a time-filler. Just split your class into two
teams, and have them line up down the center of the
classroom. Give each classroom a sign or baton to use as
a “buzzer,” and have two students face off for every
question.
It’s also great for quicker students in the classroom;

put students who have finished any in-class work in pairs
and allow them to quietly play a round of this game while
other students finish their work.
3. Charades: To Wake Your Students Up
Getting students up and moving in the classroom is a great

way to keep them focused. Charades is a game that most
students already know, so it’s easy to use for teaching
phrasal verbs.
Write some of the more physical phrasal verbs on slips of

paper and fold them up, placing them into a hat or bowl.
Students can draw the phrasal verb and must act it out
3 without using any words or sign language.
Decide whether hand-raising or calling out is better for this

3 game, based on your classroom and students. Either way,
the person who guesses the phrasal verb correctly gets to
go next!
4. Taboo: For When Charades Gets Old
You can only play charades so many times! Taboo is

another option that not only allows you to change it up a
little bit, but also affords the student an on-the-spot
opportunity to speak a bit too.
Taboo is a card game that you can easily recreate in the

classroom. You can either use folded pieces of paper, as in
charades, or you can make your own laminated cards to
reuse time and time again.
The idea of Taboo is that you must describe a word (in this
case, phrasal verb), without using the words on the card.
Here’s an example:
For “grow up,” a student could say, “This means when

children are getting older.” The student can keep talking
and giving more clues until another student finds the right
answer, but they cannot use the word “grow” or “up.”
For more advanced learners, you can make the game

more challenging by adding a few extra “taboo” words to
each card, such as “age,” “older” and “children” for the
“grow up” card.
3 They’ll have to be more creative in their descriptions, and

might give a clue such as, “When you are born, you are
small, but you do this and become an adult.”
3
5. Phrasal Verb Matching: For Homework

or Pair Work
If you need a short activity to occupy some of your quicker

learners, or want to give students some work to do at
home, phrasal verb matching is a great game to play.
In order to play phrasal verb matching, you will need to

create a series of matching cards with the phrasal verb on
one card and the definition on the other. Your
interpretation of definition can vary; here are a few fun
ideas:
Use an English synonym or approximate synonym of

the phrasal verb
Use a true dictionary definition of the verb
Use a drawing or image of the phrasal verb (many are
physical, so this is fairly easy to do!)
Hand out the cards and allow students to play a matching

game in pairs, placing all the cards face down in front of
them and trying to find the matching pairs. This can also be
used as a solitary activity when timed, for homework or

individual work in the classroom.
Games are a great way to reinforce learning phrasal verbs,

but the fun doesn’t stop here! Be sure to back up your
games with great writing exercises to keep students using
the words they learn, and keep them talking in class so
that they can keep up with the curve!
3
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient

3
and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click
here to get a copy. (Download)
Oh, and One More Thing…
If you like using unique, engaging material in your

classroom, then you’re going to love FluentU! FluentU
takes real-world videos—like music videos, cartoons,
documentaries and more—and turns them into
personalized language learning lessons for you and your
students.
It’s got a huge collection of authentic English videos that

people in the English-speaking world actually watch on the
regular. There are tons of great choices there when you’re
looking for videos for in-class activities.
You’ll find movie trailers, musical numbers from cinema and

theater, news interviews, commercial jingles and much,
much more.
On FluentU, all the videos are sorted by skill level and are
carefully annotated for students. Words come with
example sentences and definitions. Students will be able
to add them to their own vocabulary lists, and even see
how the words are used in other videos.
For example, if a student taps on the word “brought,”

they’ll see this:
Plus, these great videos are all accompanied by interactive

features and active learning tools for students, like
multimedia flashcards and fun games like “fill in the blank.”
It’s perfect for in-class activities, group projects and solo

homework assignments. Not to mention, it’s guaranteed to
get your students excited about English!
If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love

FluentU, the best way to teach English with real-world
videos.
Bring English immersion to your classroom!
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Students Will Love 
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1/7/2019 5 Sweet Games for Teaching Phrasal Verbs | FluentU English Educator Blog

FluentU English Educator Blog

Brain Candy: 5 Superb Games

Throw out that dull worksheet.

It’s time to ﬁgure out a more amusing way to approach

Phrasal verbs can be a tough element of ESL to approach

But once you break out these phrasal verb games, you’ll

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient

Introducing Phrasal Verbs to Your Class

Simply put, a phrasal verb is a verb whose meaning

You’ve been seeing phrasal verbs for years, so the ﬁrst

Prepositions are some of the hardest words to intuit for

Why Implement Games for Teaching

This innate diﬃculty is one of the reasons we love using

Another reasons games are one of the ideal ways to teach

memorization. Students may ﬁnd that some logic is

In other words, as opposed to with other ESL games,

Feel free to introduce these phrasal verb games as early in

5 Sweet Games for Teaching

This activity is a great intro activity for the second or third

When your students arrive, give them one minute to write

assortment of letters. You can decide what rules work well

3 When creating the board, always place the letters of the

To gain the most from this activity, be sure to check

This game is great for remembering the different pairings

the meaning of the words, you should not rely solely on

2. Catapult: For the Digital Classroom

If you have iPads in your classroom or use the computer as

We like this game because it’s simple to understand and

It’s also great for quicker students in the classroom;

3. Charades: To Wake Your Students Up

Getting students up and moving in the classroom is a great

Write some of the more physical phrasal verbs on slips of

Decide whether hand-raising or calling out is better for this

4. Taboo: For When Charades Gets Old

You can only play charades so many times! Taboo is

Taboo is a card game that you can easily recreate in the

For “grow up,” a student could say, “This means when

For more advanced learners, you can make the game

3 They’ll have to be more creative in their descriptions, and

5. Phrasal Verb Matching: For Homework

If you need a short activity to occupy some of your quicker

In order to play phrasal verb matching, you will need to

Use an English synonym or approximate synonym of

Hand out the cards and allow students to play a matching

used as a solitary activity when timed, for homework or

Games are a great way to reinforce learning phrasal verbs,

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient

Oh, and One More Thing…

If you like using unique, engaging material in your

It’s got a huge collection of authentic English videos that

You’ll ﬁnd movie trailers, musical numbers from cinema and

For example, if a student taps on the word “brought,”

Plus, these great videos are all accompanied by interactive

It’s perfect for in-class activities, group projects and solo

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love

Bring English immersion to your classroom!

 What Is ELL? The Complete Introduction to ELL Students,

Comments are closed.

7 ESL Video Activities That

About FluentU Partnerships

By purchasing through our aﬃliate links, you are supporting

© 2019 FluentFlix Limited. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us Follow Us