These could work well as a warmer or a cooler but perhaps aren’t substantive enough to work as a filler. With every word spelt, at least 3 questions can follow over the item of vocabulary taught, such as what it is/does, where they can be seen, and so on.
Category: Warmers
Countable & Uncountable nouns games
I think these could work work as a filler but also as a warmer or a cooler. Always expend on the language presented and encourage students to use it and write sentences on the board.
Headless Sentences
If you note the level prescribed (upper-intermediate) this tells you that the vocab is too high and that it needs to be toned down for lower levels. An alternative could be to set group tasks to explain the sports/pastimes they don’t know (quite difficult). The nouns can be substituted for more familiar sports, or changed to countries, cars, football grounds, food types, anything more or less according to the level. This could work as a cooler but is okay as a warmer.
Tiny Town
This would work well as an introduction to prepositions or perhaps a refresher if made harder. The building names can be substituted to those more culturally relevant and perhaps even a more culturally relevant map. For a fun version the buildings can be substituted for something more interesting and more amusing, which themselves might provoke discussion. The directions could be given as part of a narrative about someone’s visit to town with discussion about why they went to those places. A short story can be given first, which partially explains why such places are visited. For adult classes, things like ‘massage parlour’ and pharmacy (for viagra) can be included.
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