One of the challenges of working in large classes, such as Vietnamese public schools, is the limited resources you that are available in class. Fortunately there are a lot of cheap and portable options you can bring with you. One of my favorites is the mini-whiteboard and its super-cheap knock-off; a piece of paper in a plastic sleeve. Either teaching tool will give you a ton of great student-centered options for your young EFL students. In this post, I’ll share why I love mini-whiteboards and several options for how you can use them in your English lessons.
Quick and Easy EFL Teaching Tool
I’ve worked in a lot of different Vietnamese public school in Saigon. As a teacher, I have walked into quite a few classrooms that just had a chalkboard and a few bits of chalk for me to use. That’s not a lot, especially compared to a lot of English centers that provide modern electronic whiteboards, Internet, and even tabs for students to use in their lessons.
I don’t like being so limited, so I always carry a bag of supplies with me. And, quite often, that bag had a stack of mini-whiteboards and markers for students. Later, a teacher introduced me to another great option – plastic sleeves with paper. These were even cheaper, lighter, and easily disposable if a student got a little too excited. I only had to take care to protect them from torrential downpours and make sure to collect them all, along with any markers I gave out, back from students once we were done.
Plastic sleeves have another great advantage. You can print pictures or grids on paper and then slip those into the plastic sleeves. This makes a great, reusable handout that students can draw or write on.
Now, one of my other favorite resources is just a stack of A4 paper that’s been cut into halves, thirds, or quarters. These work great for all sorts of student-centered English activities and games, but I often sense that students get an extra kick out of writing on their mini-whiteboards compared to a scrap of paper.
Also, it’s a lot easier to see what students have written on their boards in marker from across the room compared to anything written in pen or pencil.
In addition, it’s really easy for kids to quickly wipe their mini-whiteboards clean. This means they can play several rounds of a game without needing any new materials.
Finally, don’t make the mistake of thinking that each and every student needs their own mini-whiteboard. A lot of English games and activities work great in pairs or small groups and teams.
So what can you do with this excellent EFL teaching tool?
Mini-Whiteboard Games and Activities
Dictations
Mini-whiteboards work great for dictation activities. This includes spelling and writing dictations, but also drawing dictations. These are when either you or a student calls out something like a letter, a word, a phrase, or a sentence for everyone to write or draw. This works especially well for low-level students working on basic alphabet, phonics, and spelling skills.
One of my favorites is also to slip a picture of a house interior or a bedroom into the plastic sleeves. Students then listen and write where I tell them each family member is in the house, or draw where different toys are located in the bedroom.
Download: STT Family – Rooms in a House
As I said before, mini-boards and markers make it easy for you to quickly check your students’ answers even from across the room of a large classroom. It’s also easy for students to erase their answers for the next round.
You can also make dictations into a student-to-student activity. Just get your students to take turns telling each other what to write or draw.
Guessing games
Another great option is to use this EFL teaching tool for guessing games. This could be as simple as getting students to write down their guess for what flashcard you’re holding towards your chest.
Or, in a more advanced option, you could describe something like a zoo animal for them to guess at.
You can make activities even more student-centered by getting students to play against each other. One of my favorites takes inspiration from the classic board game Battleships.
As an example, let’s use the house interior picture from above. This time, two students or two pairs of students play against each other. They write who is in each room of each house on their boards. They must also keep their sheets secret from the other team. Then, each side takes turns guessing which family member is in which room.
For example:
- Student 1: “Is mom in the living room?”
- Student 2: “No, she isn’t.” “Is dad in the kitchen?”
- Student 1: “Yes, he is.”
When a student guesses the correct location, their opponent crosses out the family member. The first student to guess all the family members’ locations correctly is the winner.
As a side note, with younger students it helps to limit the number of family members and rooms to just 3 or 4 each at the most. Otherwise, it can get to be too long and challenging for them.
In addition, when I try something like this I also always play one round with the whole class guessing where I put things. This helps them they catch on to the idea. Then, I’ll demonstrate with a TA or strong student in front of the class. That really helps students, especially 7 and 8 year-olds, to grasp the game quickly.
Related Post: Show, Show, Don’t Tell with Demonstrations in EFL Instructions
Bingo
Mini-whiteboards also work great for Bingo. You can either give them blank boards and have them draw a grid or provide a grid in a plastic sleeve. Just make sure the girds are big enough to accommodate writing with a marker.
Quiz Games
You can always play little quiz games with your students as well and have them write their answers on mini-whiteboards. They work great for getting everyone to show their answers at the same time.
Find Someone Who
Mini-whiteboards also work great as a tool to help students speak with each other in activities like Find Someone Who. This is where students write their answers to one or a few questions. They then walk around and talk with each other while trying to find someone with the same answer as them or a specific answer you’ve indicated to them.
In a simple example, you could have each student write three things about their daily schedule such as; when they get up, have breakfast, or have a shower. They then walk around and ask their classmates for their answers. When they find someone with the same answer as them they then write that student’s name next to their own answer. Students get to stop when they find all three answers or time runs out.
Clean Up Routine
Finally, don’t forget to teach and use a clean up routine so you can collect all of your materials back. For example, you can have a TA or students help you collect items or have everyone pass their mini-whiteboards back up to the front. Also, leave yourself plenty of time. Don’t wait until the bell rings to start collecting things. That’s a great way to have to go back to the shop to buy more boards!
What other ways can you use mini-whiteboards in your lessons? Share your ideas for this awesome EFL teaching tool in the comment section below!
