EFL Icebreakers and More | You'll Never Guess

If you're looking for something to do in class on the first day of class, or even in the first couple weeks... or anytime, this is an activity that will help the students engage with each other, use genuine language, and learn a bit about each other. Turning it into a guessing game with points will get them involved even more!

How It Works:

LESSON: Guess and speculate about information
OBJECTIVES: a) Get to know others b) use speculation language
LEVEL: appropriate for most levels and ages except little kids
TIME: 4-6 minutes
MATERIAL: Post-it notes or small pieces of paper.

The Set Up:

ESL Icebreaker Game: You'll Never Guess

• Give each student a post-it note or a small piece of paper and have them divide it into 4 boxes.
• ​Create a category for each box. (You can see an example above.)
• Write a word for each category. Each word must have a reason for why you wrote it.
• A partner tries to guess why partner one wrote the given word. 

Pro Tip:

Create your own rules and adapt the game play and categories for your class and your style.
      Possible adaptations could be: 
​         - each partner gets up to 3 guesses per word
         - the partners go back-and-forth until the first one answers correctly
         - award points
         - create a story based on your partner's words.

Be flexible and use several adaptations if the students are enjoying the activity

Easter Egg Lesson:

Community - This is abstract enough that students usually feel comfortable letting loose a bit during this activity. Sometimes, you'll get some real moments during this.

Fluency Expression - Take time to teach "You'll never guess". Include that it's usually followed up by a 'W' word. (Ex. You'll never guess who I saw today.)

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