Multilevel ESL Games

Teaching in a multilevel ESL classroom presents a unique set of challenges. Trying to balance the needs of all of your students is much easier when you introduce activities that can span a broad range of abilities and allow each student to participate at his or her own level.

If you are already accustomed to using ESL games to teach vocabulary and grammar, it will be simple for you to adapt and integrate them into your multilevel classrooms. A picture card Q&A game works well as a starting point, and then you can move on to written and oral exercises and hands on direction following activities.

Name the Thing

Pair your advanced students off with your beginners for this game. Each pair should be given a set of five picture cards - two of which match, and three alternates that are similar to the matched pair as well as to each other. For example, the pictures can all be of cars, with differences in color or style.

The four differing cards are laid out in front of the advanced student, while the beginner holds the match to one of them. The first student can ask questions about the card the second student is holding. This allows a gradual elimination of the choices in front of them until they ascertain which is the correct match.

It is harder to come up with the questions than the answers, so the advanced students ask the questions. This game can later be turned around; then the advanced student can hold the mystery card and give clues which gradually lead the less experienced students to choose the correct picture.

This can be demonstrated for the class at the beginning of the semester, and their assigned homework be to find and bring in sets of similar pictures to make the sets of cards. Then the game can be played throughout the year, first using sets with large differences between the pictures then moving on to more difficult match-ups.

Jigsaw Reading

This multilevel ESL game allows you to assign portions of an article or story to the student whose reading level matches the difficulty of the sentence or paragraph. The first step is to select a reading that will break easily into sections of varying difficulty, and to pre-teach both the vocabulary and grammar to your multilevel classroom (simple games can be used for pre-teaching as well).

Advanced students will be given longer, more challenging paragraphs to read aloud to the class, and beginning students shorter, easier sentences. Line them up and have them read the story in order, then ask each one to present a short summary - in writing if possible, or orally as individuals where appropriate.

As a finale to the class, have the students work together to assemble their pieces of the story back into article form. This can be checked against the original to see if they got the reconstruction correct, with the intermediate and advanced students helping the lower level students.

How it's Made

Another excellent way to bring ESL multilevel activities into the classroom is to do simple everyday tasks which involve assembling something. A sandwich made with peanut butter spread on one slice of bread and jelly spread on another, then the two placed sticky side together is a fun way to learn how to give and follow directions (plus you end up with a snack at the end of the class).

Building a small model, such as a Lego car is another possibility. The instructions can be blown up on a copier to make them larger and each student given a step to complete. Beginners can do simple steps and advanced learners more complex ones until the task is done.

If you decide on this route, have one model for every three to four students. This allows them to split into small groups to figure out what order the steps should be performed in and how to carry them out - yielding more time for speaking practice.

Variant: Another option for this multilevel ESL game when you are using a model that does not come with written instructions is to require each student to describe what they plan to do before they attach the next piece. This works especially well with puzzles. Advanced students can be detailed, describing the particular piece they choose to attempt to fit in, where they think it might go and why; intermediate learners can simply say 'I think this might be part of - ' or 'yes, it fits/ no, it doesn't fit'. Beginners, if the terminology is too complex for them to translate, can be allowed to say any sentence from the day's lesson in English correctly in order to qualify for a turn to try to attach a piece. You can add a little friendly competition by having separate multilevel ESL groups race to complete a puzzle first

By using multilevel ESL activities in your classroom, you can ensure that your advanced students are not bored and that your beginners are not left behind. This method allows each individual to participate at their highest level of capability, and provides a group environment where all have an equal chance of success.

Happy teaching!

ESL Multilevel Activities and Games
Fun ESL games and ideas for successful teaching