Are you searching for dynamic methods to ignite a passion to teach vocabulary for ESL students? If so, you’re in the right place! We’ve compiled a selection of unique websites that will not only boost your students’ language skills but also ensure they’re having a blast while doing so.
1. Word.tips
Wordtips is a well-known app that helps with vocabulary word discovery. This unique word search tool finds all possible words from your input letters. It is helpful to enhance our students’ vocabulary discovery with this word finder.
I incorporate this in assignments to have my students find the list of words starting and ending with different letters and have them present the words and their meanings to the rest of the class.
2. Thewordsearch.com
Thewordsearch.com offers a variety of word search games that are tailored to help users learn new words and phrases. We can select from an array of topics and difficulty levels. Best of all, I can create my own word search puzzle with Word Search Maker, which is tailored to the vocabulary list relevant to my lessons.
3. Wordshake – by British Council
This is my student’s all-time favorite. Wordshake presents a random 16 letters in a 4 x 4 grid, and students need to discover as many words as possible between 3 to 7 letters within 3 minutes to get points. One key challenge with this game is that a letter cannot be used twice in the same word. Nonetheless, you can easily replicate this using the school whiteboard and play it offline with your own rules and scoring system. Trust me, it’s lots of fun!
4. Freerice
Freerice is an educational trivia game with various topics, including English language learning. Beyond merely building vocabulary, Freerice offers an opportunity for learners to contribute to a global cause. For each correct answer, the platform donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme.
In the English categories, you can find ready-to-play trivia games for ESL vocabulary, English Spelling, English Grammar, English Proverbs and Root Words.
5. Wordwall.net
Wordwall.net has many templates and community resources for various learning and quizzes. Teachers can create customisable resources that can be used to teach and reinforce ESL vocabulary engagingly. You can sign up for free, and the free plan allows the creation of up to 5 resources at once. Once you login, you will gain access to the community search to use and play all the existing resources created by other Wordwall community members.
6. Babadum
Babadum is an interactive game that offers a fun approach to vocabulary building. For instance, the platform offers 1500 words to learn in 21 languages, including English. My students like that the vocabulary learning games are paired with pictures they can easily relate to. Generally, I prefer to use Babadum as a time filler, especially to teach basic vocabulary words to ESL beginners.
7. Baamboozle
Baamboozle is a game-based learning platform with various interesting and trending topics collections. Whether your students are interested in sports, music, or geography, you can find vocabulary games that cater to their interests. This can make learning ESL vocabulary feel less like work and more fun. Each topic is accompanied by fun and engaging pictures and graphics, which gave us so much fun in the classroom. The basic theme that came with the free plan is fun enough for my students.
8. ESL Game Plus
ESL Game Plus is one of the most comprehensive ESL fun learning website that we should all make use of. The content is very well organised, with comprehensive topics and themes-based vocabulary games, such as action verbs, adjectives, animals, body parts, transportation and many more. Other than that, the platform includes various games such as crossword puzzles, word search games, memory games, spelling games and more. Definitely worth exploring.
9. ProProfs Brain Games
ProProfs Brain Games is popular with entertaining and educational games, with most of the features games relevant in facilitating vocabulary learning. Firstly, you can find pre-built themed-based sets of word searches, crossword puzzles, hangman games, and word scramble ready for use. Secondly, the platform also allows you to create your vocabulary list games upon signing up for free.
10. Quizlet
Imagine a digital flashcard platform, but way cooler. Quizlet brings interactive learning to life, with a variety of features like quizzes, games, audio pronunciation guide. By default, the platform feature 500+ million study sets that are readily accessible. Of course, we can also create customised study sets of flashcards on any topic, perfect for learning new words and phrases.
Conclusion
Who says learning can’t be fun? With the help of digital apps and online games, we can blend education with amusement, sparking curiosity and fueling a natural journey into ESL learning. In conclusion, by gamifying ESL vocabulary learning, we transform vocabulary-building into a delightful daily adventure.
