Planning a lesson is no easy task, especially if you're about to introduce a difficult topic. Sometimes, you need a little bit of something extra to really make your lesson flow. For this reason, ESL teachers usually use warmers and fillers. Warmers are used in lessons to ease the students into the topic you're going to present. Along the same lines, fillers are used to reinforce topics or follow up with extra practice for students. BusyTeacher.org has 363 warmer and filler worksheets to make your lesson run smoothly without skipping a beat.
The beauty of using warmers and fillers is that very little planning goes into using them. That’s great because it cuts your planning time by a lot, and also cuts out any awkward downtime in the classroom. These worksheets are helpful when it comes to grammar, vocabulary, writing, or even listening and speaking practice.
These warmer and filler worksheets can be used in several ways. Some can be used as discussion topics to get your students speaking. Some can be used to review grammar topics you have covered in the past. Another great warmer is a writing practice worksheet, which gives students sentences like “This morning I…” and students write down what they did that morning. There are endless possibilities to what you can do in your classroom with these worksheets.
Another great feature of these warmer/filler worksheets is that most can be used for all levels. However, if you need a worksheet for a specific level, the descriptions of all worksheets on BusyTeacher.org show the levels for which they're appropriate . You can even reuse them for your other classes of different levels. Not sure if a certain worksheet is right for your lesson? No problem! Just click on the thumbnail to preview the worksheet and see if it’s right for your class.
Don’t worry about registering or subscribing, since all worksheets on BusyTeacher.org are free to download, and there's no limit to how many you can download! You can use one or two of our worksheets for your lessons every day. All worksheets on BusyTeacher.org were created and submitted by fellow ESL teachers from all over the world. They've been used in classrooms, too - so rest assured that these worksheets are tried and true.
If you have some worksheets of your own that you've found useful in your lessons, why not share them with other ESL teachers to use in their lessons as well? Upload your worksheets to BusyTeacher.org by clicking the link at the bottom of this page titled “Submit a worksheet,” and join the hundreds of thousands of ESL teachers who already use BusyTeacher.org for their lesson planning needs.
Make BusyTeacher.org your number one online resource for worksheets by bookmarking us today. With 363 warmers and fillers, lesson planning will be a breeze. Get started by checking out our most popular warmers and fillers below.
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This worksheet is based around the teaser trailer of one of the films of the Star Wars trilogy - "Episode VIII: The Last Jedi". The first task refreshes in the students' memory the names of the ma ...
This a great warmer you can use to recycle any vocabulary or grammar structures I once read while diving on the Internet for ideas. The game is called Bankrupt. Collect the vocabulary flashcards y ...
Write "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE" on the blackboard. Explain to the students that you are looking for two very strange twins. On a piece of paper hand draw two funny looking brothers very different one ...
I have recently given this activity to my students who are in my conversation class. They work in pairs with a set of cut out alphabets folded where student A will have to pick an alphabet fo ...
Write your street address on the board; you can leave out the house or apartment number. Then give directions from the school to your street, writing key phrases (turn left, go two blocks, take Ex ...
Giving advice is always fun. Pretend to cough and ask students what you should do. Elicit answers such as, “Drink a glass of water,” or “Use a cough drop.” Write various ai ...
Spotting and correcting writing errors is always a challenge for students. Here’s an engaging game for practicing this important skill. Divide the class into three groups, and then writing a ...
Everyone knows grammar charts are dull. But you can liven them up with the old game of telephone. To introduce a new grammatical structure, whisper a sample sentence in a student’s ear. Have ...
Asking how much something costs—and understanding the answer—can be a challenge for second language learners. In pairs, have students decide on a business, such as a restaurant, shoe s ...
Practice contractions through dictation: You’ll say the following sentences out loud with contractions, and the students will write them down in a notebook. Then ask individual students to c ...
This update to the classic is a great way to work on descriptions. Start by saying, “I see something …” and describe the color, shape, and location of an object in the room. The ...
In groups of three or four, students ask each other about their food likes and dislikes. Students should keep asking until they find a food that no one in the group likes. Have a representative fr ...
Write the color of a student’s shirt, jeans, backpack, shoes, or purse on board and ask the class to guess who is wearing the color. Whoever gets the correct answer can write the next color ...
Students can practice the simple past by saying what time they got up, what they ate for breakfast, and how they got to school or work. On the board, write down what time you got up, what you ate ...
Get your students to write 5 or more facts about themselves, fold their piece of paper into a paper airplane then fly the plane across the room. Who ever it lands nearest to, picks up the airplane ...
Getting to know each other - 'Would you like to move in with me?
Time: 20 min
Preparation: Revise how to form questions with the students before you start the activity. Let students imagine they ...
A simple and short activity to introduce classroom language at the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the year I wanted my students to be introduced to the classroom language I expected th ...
Teacher discusses various topics in the class, the children will talk about people, places & things.
Some of the suggested topics are:
a. Your best friends b. People in your family c. Citie ...
Students should be able to identify the name of an animal or bird written on the card and imitate a typical movement of or sound made by that animal or bird so that others can identify the animal ...
This is a fun way to make your students talk like they would talk in a daily life - improvising dialogues. They work in groups with different topics chosen by you or their class mates. It stimulat ...
Divide players into teams, depending on the number of students you have. Ask them to think about the future and what they wish to have then... they will be the inventors! Ask them to give name to ...
Prepare a self adhesive label or post-it note for each young person in your group. Write on it the name of a well-known or famous person. This can be an historical character or current sportsman, ...
Divide your learners into pairs. Ask them to take three minutes to interview each other. Each interviewer has to find 3 interesting facts about their partner. Bring everyone back to together and a ...
Collect together a number of objects and place in a canvas bag. The objects can include everyday items i.e. a pencil, key-ring, mobile phone, but also include some more unusual ones i.e. a fossil, ...
Encourage children to actively learn new vocabulary and read it out to their classmates...if they win! Get them drawing and writing the words they have choosen for the Bingo card. Reinforce and c ...
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