Top 5 Games for Teaching English Online in 2024 [Updated]

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Teaching English Online is really fun. It is a fantastic way to engage students. Now, these days due to the Covid-19 pandemic online teaching has become a trend as well as a necessity for both schools and students. So, in today’s scenario, it becomes very important for us to know how we can make the class exciting and not boring. There are a lot of exercises or online games with the help of that we can make our class more interesting and fantastic.

You have to keep your class energized. Whether the class is for 1 hour or for 30 min. You have to keep the energy up.

Some Interesting Games for Teaching English Online

 

1. Simon Says: This is a classic game that can be used for the students for the online class. It is a classic classroom game. It is also one of the best classroom games for teaching English online.

• . First, you have to start with some action stand up, words like, Jump, sit down. 
• Next, Explain to them that you are going to play a quick and simple game.
• Explain to them the rules of the games clearly.
• Explain to them that they must do the actions only when you say Simon says.
• Explain to them if you don’t say Simon says and they still do the action then they will lose.
• Simon says it is a very easy and interesting game for beginners.

   2.  Find something Beginning with any letter:  After some time your class will want to play some other games. This is another game that will keep your class energetic. This is also one of the best Classroom Games for Teaching English.

• This is one of the simple games. Nothing much to explain.
• Give them 20 seconds. Explain during those 20 secs, that they must find an object with the letter.

• For example, tell them to find something with A and start counting 20,19,18…., then the students will bring something with A Apple or Alphabet. 
• Ask them to talk about the object they have.
• You can also make one of them a teacher and tell others to be a student.
• This is really one of the most simple games. It also increases the knowledge of students.
• This is also one of the most popular Classroom Games for Teaching English.

     3. A Simple Drawing Game: If you have access to whiteboard tan you an use this. The students love drawing.

• They can even draw funny pics of you.
• Guess the drawing, happen will be given some time to draw the picture.
• You can also state a scene to the students and tell them to draw, whether it is a beach or a hill station. 
• They might draw a sun and you might draw a sea. A wonderful experience.
• Always for this activity, you should keep your materials ready with you because you don’t know whether their parents are sitting next to them.

     4. What happens Next Videos: If you go to You tube there are many Teaching   English online videos you can download.

• It is very simple. You can download the video and ask for what happens next.
• Try and find a video that has possible answers.
• Then, they can read the possible answers and choose it, accordingly

always be very creative with your game, if you will be creating your students will be also creative.

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It is also one of the famous Classroom Games for Teaching English.

       Teaching online may be appealing for many teachers due to flexible work hours and interactive discussions. But, you can also face some sort of difficulties.or challenges. There are Some Challenges:

Holding Student’s Attention: while teaching online to kids there must be certain screens open which might be a little distracting. But the best part is that the problems can be solved by certain tools, which I will mention here.

Video Chat: For video chat, skype, and Google Hangouts both are free for some unlimited use. However, skype offers some premium plans that work well and provides premium features. This is a wonderful tool for online tutoring. It is also one of the best ways to teach English online.

Virtual Whiteboard: For subjects like science and maths it becomes very difficult for the teachers to teach with the ordinary keyboard and the mouse. But, with the introduction of the ipads, and whiteboard the problem is solved. The virtual whiteboard satisfies a few conditions:

• Real-Time: Students and you look at the same document with a minimum time.
• Simultaneous: Many people can edit the document at the same time.
• Flexible Canvas: Allows you to upload any document background.
• Persistent: Whiteboard lessons are stored so the students can review the lessons afterward

    There are also Some Good apps to Teach English Online

•   Idroo: It is a good app for teaching English Online. It is free for limited use. It is also compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac, ios, and android.

• Bailboard: It is very fantastic for conducting group sessions. It can accommodate 40 participants at a time.

• Groupboard: It has similar features as idroo and bailboard.

•     WizIQ: WizIQ is a very famous online learning app. It also has an online learning system as the blackboard. If you are running a  school with a large student base then WizIQ is good. 

• Scribblar: Scribblar is unique in the sense that it allows you to directly install a whiteboard into your websites. It is also very useful as it allows us to keep a track of weekly records so the students can refer to the back lessons.

•  Google Docs: Google Docs is very easy to work and share. Even multiple people can work in this at the same time.

 

• Screen Recording: Screen recording is the very best tool.As it records the session. Some good examples of screen recording tools are Camtasia and screencast-o-Matic are very easy to use.

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There are also some good games for Teaching English Online    

• Powerpoint Games: It is one of the best classroom games for teaching English online. If you are teaching through zoom or google hangouts then PowerPoint games can be a good option. On games4esl you can download many PowerPoint games.

• Hidden PPT Games: While teaching kids online hidden PPT games can be a good option. In this game, a picture is hidden behind the colored face. As you go on clicking the image you can see the picture. It is good for kids. They love it.

• Telepathy games: Another famous online game for kids is telepathy. In this game, there are 10 questions in which there are two possible answers. Students must use telepathy to read the teachers’ minds.

• Quiz Games: Quiz games are very useful in teaching English online. It can be a fantastic way to teach English. In this quiz, you have to ask questions and the students will answer and if your answers are in the top 5 then you will be the winner. 
• Flashcards Games: Flashcards games are perfect when you are teaching online. You can download hundreds of flashcards from the internet. You can read some flashcards games on the internet.

• Flashcards Guessing Games: Flashcards games are very effective when teaching English to kids. It is one of the very famous games for teaching English. Choose a flashcard and turn it to the webcam and start guessing it.

• Memory Games: Flashcards can be used for many memory games. It is also one of the best games for Teaching English Online. For example, you have to print two sets of flashcards and attach them to the board with the hidden picture. Then ask the students to choose two pictures hidden in it. If the students match then they will get the point. If they could not guess, turn them to hide the picture again. Memory games like these are examples of simple online games.

•  Activity Videos: Activity Videos are perfect games for teaching English online. These videos are so interesting that they keep the students engaged. There are a lot of videos available. You can search and try it accordingly.

•  Online Vocabulary Exercise: Online vocabulary Exercises is one of the best games for  Teaching English Online. Here in this game, there is a collection of different interactive activities. You can use this game while sharing your screen.

Other Game Ideas For Teaching English Online: There are a lot of games you can play online with you

•  while conducting an online class. Most of these games are very simple and they do not require any preparation.

• Find Something: Find something is a very simple and effective game that you can use while teaching English online to the kids. For example, tell the students to find something which is red. Then ask them what it is. Then they will answer. You can also add it if you want something new.

• I spy Game: The I spy game is a very simple guessing game. It is also a popular classroom game for teaching English online. The game is very simple. You see something in the classroom. Don’t tell the student what it is? Tell them to guess.

Once the student guesses something correctly then it’s their turn.

• Drawing Game: Drawing games are really fun. Children enjoy drawing and they also love colors. Drawing games can be very useful for teaching English Online. It is also a popular classroom game for teaching English Online.

• Simple Show and Say: This is for small kids 3-8 years. Show a flashcard, invite the kids to repeat it. Then say the word again. This game is very helpful in improving vocabulary in kids. For,6-8 years old increase the number and increase the difficulty of the word. This is also one of the best games for teaching English online.

• Say Yes or No: Show the flashcards and ask the students about what is this? Is it a cat?, then allow the kids to apply.

• What’s the sound?: You can use a mobile app for this online game. Stick two or more cards to aboard. Make sounds with the help of the mobile. And ask the kids about the sound. 

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• Pictionary: Pictionary is one of the best online games for Teaching English. It is suitable for 3-8 years old kids. You can either have the pictures or draw them. Then you can ask the students about what it is. Depending upon the kid’s age you can increase the difficulty level.

•   Mystery Box: Mystery box is a fun-filled gaming activity. It is suitable for both online and classroom sessions. You can make the mystery box with the help of the shoe-box. Always put some items related to the theme. If your students are too young to understand the descriptions then you can use the shapes and the color of the object. It is also one of the popular games for teaching English online.

• Scavenger Hunt (3-8years old): Scavenger hunt is a fun-filled activity for kids. A lot of teachers are recommending scavenger games for online classes. This game is played in two groups .first comes,3-6 years, in this group kids are very small. setting a time limit might also be stressful for them. You can include a small number of objects for this.
• 7-8 years: kids in this group generally enjoy more competition. You can also set a time limit.

• The I Spy Game: The I spy game is another type of a guessing game. The game is very simple. You see something in the student’s room, and don’t tell the student what it is. Then start giving clues to the students. The student must guess what object you are thinking. Once the student guesses correctly it’s her turn to look around the room and choose something.

• Drawing game: Drawing games are very interesting for kids. It is a fun way of learning. For example, you can describe a picture that you have drawn, or describe an object and ask the students to listen to your descriptions.

Also Read:  15 Best Books To Teach Kids Online

       Necessary Equipment’s required for Teaching English Online :

•      Laptop/Desktop: For teaching Online a laptop is required. It should be an updated operating system(windows 7)and the latest version of flash. Your laptop should have an HD camera also. You should also have a headset and a receiver.

• Internet connection: A high-speed internet connection is essential. Most of the companies recommend 20 Mbps speed. If you will have a slow internet connection then the class would get interrupted. One of the best ways to manage internet speed issues is to have an ethernet cord which will help you to connect directly to the router and reduce the hassles.

But, Sometimes due to storms or some other external matters like storm or powercut you cannot connect. For such situations, you can use your mobile network hotspots.

• Video Gear: It is a true fact that when we see and hear our teachers we connect with them emotionally. The improved device for video geats is camcorders. With the help of camcorders, you can record a 45 min to 90 min session. But, if you want to teach comfortably and want to hold live sessions webcams are the best choice.

• Audio Gear: A good quality video is very important for teaching kids online. You must ensure that the students are not distracted by the low sound quality or the unwanted sound. For this, you must invest in an audio sound system. The built-in mic is not reliable, so you have to buy a stand-alone mic. The best place to shoot the video is outside the house in the sunlight. For, teaching kids online you should keep in mind something.
• The speaker must be presentable.
• The background sound should be pleasant.
• Avoid shadows of objects in your videos.

•      ESL library.com: It is one of the most popular sites. It also provides wide-ranging online teaching resources. The website offers interactive English teaching resources. To, access their supplies you need to be a member and pay around $55.some short duration subscriptions are also available. The Esl library .com has around 500 ready lesson plans to suit your requirements as well as 2000 printable images and flashcards. This is a  very important resource in teaching English online because, they breakdown the lessons into simple themes. So, the kids can understand it easily.

• ESL Printables.com: It is a good website for teachers who have developed some teaching materials or curriculum of their own. This site has thousands of printable worksheets. You can download it online.

      How to Teach English to kids: Strategies

•      Make it fun: We should always make the class active and fun-filled because kids like activities a lot. Some people believe that kids learn best through play. There are a lot of ways by which you can make learning fun.

•  Games: You can also introduce games in the class. Games make the class more interactive. There are so many games like, Simon says, Mother my I and Memory.

•  Be creative: You should be a little creative in the class because doing the same thing can be a little boring for the kids. You should always come up with creative plans. Always ask your kids questions and answers. You can also arrange for a quiz in the class.

• Art In Class: Kids love art. Kids are very creative. Every child is an artist. You can ask your child to do art-based projects. You can also ask your students to make a collage in different subjects. Using some hands-one materials can also be useful for the kids. Also include flashcards for teaching them they should also be interactive and creative.

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    FAQ

Q-1. Why games are Important in Teaching English Online?

 Games are a very important part when we teach online. Games are a fantastic way to engage students. You have to keep the energy of the class up. To make the class interesting you should include games.

Q-2. What are the top 5 Online Games?

The top 5 online games are, Simon, says, Find something, A simple drawing game

Q-3. How can I Teach Kids Online?

The online teaching market is massive so you can find a lot of job opportunities. You should have a laptop and a good internet connection.

Q-4. What are the basic Techniques for Teaching English Online?

If you are teaching young learners or kids then it is great if you introduce games, songs, rhymes, props, and videos.

Q-5. What Certificates do I need to Teach Kids?

Most teaching jobs around the world should have at least 100 hours of TEFL teaching.

Summary

Teaching English online has become very popular these days. Due to the current Covid-19 situation, it is on-demand now. But, the point is that how can we conduct these classes and make it more interesting for kids. For online learning, it is very important that the audio, video of the teacher should be visible to the kids. The kids have an emotional attachment with the teachers. By introducing games you can make the class more fun-filled and interactive. You can also ask question answers to the kids. There are a lot of online games which are ow theses days used widely by the kids.

• Simon says
• Find something with any letter.
• A simple drawing game
• What happens in the next videos.
• Spinner time-word games.

 I hope you enjoyed reading this article and was informative and useful for you.

You can also add your comments and suggestions.

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