Your search for fresh, effective activities for ESL students is over. At Top Teaching Tasks, our comprehensive collection of ESL teaching activities takes the stress out of lesson planning and puts the joy back into language teaching. From our popular inferring activities to advanced language exercises, we’ve covered every aspect of ESL learning.
Whether you’re teaching primary school newcomers or guiding advanced learners through complex language concepts, our ESL resources provide the perfect blend of educational value and engagement. Explore the collection of fun activities to teach English to second language learners below!
Save time and know your students are completing follow-up activities that build a range of reading and literacy skills. This resource provides games and activities for the Ready to Read Phonics Plus Kākano Seed Level reader: Dot to Dot, found in New Zealand schools. ***This resource is provided in A4 paper size and British spelling.***…
Develop your students’ reading comprehension with this comprehensive resource, focused on the non-fiction article “The Biggest Swim” from the Level 3 June 2024 School Journal. Great as an addition to your structured literacy program. Enhance Your Students’ reading comprehension skills with Science of Reading Principles. This teaching tool engages students in deep comprehension strategies, vocabulary…
We’ve put together a set of reading response and writing activities for the School Journal Story Library text: Living the Dream – An Interview with Mana Vautier. This resource has everything you need to learn more about becoming an astronaut. This School Journal Story Library text covers content great for Year 6 and has a…
Our Year 4 Tier 2 Vocabulary Teaching Slides offer an interactive, effective approach to expanding vocabulary knowledge. These slides are designed to integrate seamlessly into structured literacy programs, enriching students’ word comprehension—key to boosting reading and writing skills. Studies indicate that vocabulary development significantly enhances academic success, particularly in reading comprehension. The refreshed New Zealand…
This pack is for Years 4 to 6 students reading the MoE Fact Finders decodable text: How to Catch a Fish. The focus is adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs and short vowels. What’s included: Two-page activity sheet: Word Reading: ten focus words from the book, with a Quick Draw. Comprehension Questions: the four question types recommended…
How do scientists know the sea is rising? This ready-to-teach unit gets Year 5 and 6 students asking that question and finding the answer in the evidence. It’s built around “Rising Seas” by Kate Potter (Connected, Level 3, 2014). The article opens on a wrecked roller coaster in the Atlantic after Hurricane Sandy, then heads…
Add Paul Mason’s gripping School Journal Story Library text, “Frogs,” to your reading programme with this ready-to-use resource pack. Ideal for Year 7 and 8 students working at a Year 6 reading level, this unit blends deep comprehension with narrative writing and curriculum-aligned tasks. In a stark post-apocalyptic wasteland, young scavenger Tane stumbles upon four…
Save time and know your students are completing follow-up activities that build a range of reading and literacy skills. This resource provides games and activities for the Ready to Read Phonics Plus Kākano Seed Level reader: Mud, Mud, Mud, found in New Zealand schools. ***This resource is provided in A4 paper size and British spelling.***…
Transform your phonics instruction with these vibrant, evidence-based Spelling Rules Suffix Posters. Perfect for structured literacy classrooms, structured intervention, or home learning! Are you looking for an easy, effective way to explicitly teach suffix spelling rules? This comprehensive set of classroom posters simplifies abstract phonics rules into manageable, highly visual steps. Each poster breaks down…
Develop your students’ reading comprehension with this comprehensive resource, focused on the non-fiction article “Daylighting Streams” from the School Journal Level 3 June 2024. Explore kaitiakitangi, conservation, environmental change and the impacts of urban planning. Great as an addition to your structured literacy program. Enhance Your Students’ reading comprehension skills with Science of Reading Principles….
Enhance Your Students’ Reading Comprehension with Science of Reading Principles. This comprehensive resource based on the article ‘Incredible Insects’ from Junior Journal 70, will develop your students’ reading comprehension while also developing key content knowledge. It is a great addition to your Year 3 structured literacy program. Incredible Insects – Junior Journal 70: This article…
Enhance Your Students’ Reading Comprehension with Science of Reading Principles. This comprehensive resource based on the article ‘What is an Insect?’ from Junior Journal 70, will develop your students’ reading comprehension while also developing key content knowledge. It is a great addition to your Year 3 structured literacy program. What is an Insect – Junior…
Save time and know your students are completing follow-up activities that build a range of reading and literacy skills. This resource provides games and activities for the Ready to Read Phonics Plus Kākano Seed Level reader: To the Top, found in New Zealand schools. ***This resource is provided in A4 paper size and British spelling.***…
Save your time and know that your students are completing follow-up activities featuring a range of reading and literacy skills. This resource provides games and activities for the Ready to Read Phonics Plus Kākano Seed Level reader: Pop and Mop found in New Zealand schools. ***This resource is provided in A4 paper size and British…
We’ve put together a set of reading response and writing activities for the School Journal Story Library text ‘Home: Stories from New New Zealanders” by Kate Paris. ‘Home: Stories from New New Zealanders” is a non-fiction text that shares the real-life migration stories and settlement experiences of four young immigrants and refugees adjusting to life…
Our foundation-level ESL activities create a supportive environment for new English learners. Speaking and listening exercises form the core of this level, transforming potentially daunting concepts into enjoyable learning experiences that reinforce fundamental language structures.
Our intermediate activities for ESL students build on basic foundations and focus on developing more complex language skills. Conversation practice materials include reading comprehension and interactive exercises that improve understanding and critical thinking. Guide students from basic sentence construction to confident paragraph writing and strong inference and composition skills.
Our advanced ESL activities offer sophisticated language development opportunities for learners ready to refine their English mastery. Challenge students to think critically while expressing complex ideas fluently with more complex language exercises.
If you’re looking for ESL teaching activities that deliver results, our comprehensive collection stands out in the New Zealand education landscape for all the right reasons.
Whether teaching a diverse classroom of beginners or guiding higher-level students, you'll find materials that can be easily adapted to suit your teaching style and students' needs. Our collection ranges from back-to-school activities that help students settle in, to advanced language exercises for confident learners.
Moving beyond traditional worksheet-based learning, we’ve created interactive activities that excite students about learning English—from speaking exercises that build real-world confidence to writing activities that develop academic skills. Plus, with regular updates and new additions to our collection through our membership subscription, you’ll never run out of fresh and fun activities to teach English and keep your ESL lessons dynamic and effective.
We comprehensively design our ESL teaching activities to support every stage of the English learning journey. Each resource is carefully calibrated to match specific proficiency levels, ensuring students are appropriately challenged without feeling overwhelmed.
Our activities feature built-in flexibility that makes them particularly effective when you need to adjust the difficulty level up or down to match your student"s needs. Every activity comes with extension options for quick learners and additional support materials for those who need extra practice.
We update our ESL teaching resources monthly, ensuring you always have access to current and engaging materials. When you sign up for a membership subscription, you receive automatic access to all new and updated materials, along with helpful notifications about fresh content. This means you"ll never miss out on new activities that could benefit your students.
Absolutely. Since modern language teaching happens in various settings—whether one-on-one with a student or managing a lively classroom of 30—you can easily adapt our activities for ESL students to suit your teaching environment, ensuring consistent learning outcomes regardless of the setting.
From building basic conversation skills to mastering academic English, our resources provide the perfect blend of educational value and student engagement. Transform your ESL teaching experience with our comprehensive collection of fun activities to teach English.
Join our community of successful teachers; explore fun ESL teaching activities from Top Teaching Tasks today!
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