Great Ways to Use Write the Room in the ESL class

What is ‘Write the Room’?


‘Write the Room’ is a straightforward concept, but one which works very well. You can hang words or phrases around the room or stick them in unexpected places. Children should be active and engaged, searching the area for specific words, before copying them down. What you do from then on can differ depending on the activity. Overall, this is a successful method because students become fidgety if they sit for too long, and they enjoy having the opportunity to search the room. It also allows them to have a legitimate chat with a friend who sits elsewhere in the classroom while still discussing work. Win-win situation (especially if you give them clipboards – because everyone loves to feel important)!

The Alphabet

Knowing the alphabet in English and being able to identify a range of words starting with each letter sound are essential skills for ESL learners. Using this ‘Write the Room’ pack to support your students in developing this skill could be just what you (and they!) need. There is everything you need contained within the collection. Simply print, cut, laminate and cut again, then display the word/picture cards around the room. For your more advanced learners, challenge them to think of extra words to add to each section containing the letters of the alphabet. This could even open the possibility of introducing children to proper nouns and recognising upper- and lower-case letters equally.

Countries and Nationalities

Some countries and nationalities sound similar to the way in which way we say them in our mother tongue, although some actually look the same but sound completely different. This is one massive reason why it is so important that ESL learners focus on these words. Using this countries and nationalities ‘Write the Room’ pack, your pupils can have fun while practising. Furthermore, the pictures that you display contain the flags of the nations, which is an added bonus. 

Rhyming Words

This activity takes the least preparation of them all as you use items which already exist within the classroom, you just add sticky notes or stickers as the labels. Compile a list of words and pictures which rhyme with classroom objects, such as men which rhymes with pen, into a table with a second column. Students should look around to room to find the items that match because they rhyme. For more advanced learners, instead of writing the word, include only a picture and expect them to write the word. You could even avoid labelling items within the classroom for these, and children should come up with their own.

St. Patrick’s Day

Understanding parts of speech, especially nouns, verbs and adjectives, is imperative for any learner of English. This St Patrick’s Day-themed parts of speech pack for ‘Write the Room’ is perfect for adding a bit of interest to what could otherwise be somewhat dull. As well as identifying the words, students can also be asked to categorise them as to whether they are nouns, verbs or adjectives. To stretch your more advanced learners, encourage them to pick a noun, verb and adjective to use within a sentence.

Fables

Fables teach children a lot, and this pack of fable-related ‘Write the Room' resources can too. The subject area is versatile. Using the printed resources, you could display them around the room and ask learners to simply copy the key words as they walk around. To push them further, ask them to use them within sentences. As they will have learned all about the fable you are focusing on, you could ask them to retell part of the story using the words they have found. The possibilities are endless!

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