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We all know how important it is to take the lead on a topic and ensure that students are engaged and prepared to learn. For this reason, most ESL teachers concentrate their efforts on warm-ups and icebreakers, leaving end-of-lesson activities to be neglected most of the time. We often find ourselves so engrossed in our teaching that, when we look at the clock, we realize there is not much time left, so we just tell the students what they have learned for the day and summarize the main points of the lesson. This gives an abrupt ending and prevents students from reflecting on the lessons they have learned.
Here are some examples of closure activities that I like to do in my class. These can be used for the remaining three to five minutes of class time:
Play BINGO!
Show the class a list of vocabulary words you covered today, and have them choose five to write down in their notebooks. Explain a word at random from the list, without giving the definition away. If students believe they know the definition of a word, they can check it off. The first player to check off all five of their selected words wins the game.
Gamify Quiz
Give students a quick recap of the lesson and some fun exercises to do on Kahoot to finish it up. Use the remaining time to have them answer a survey question.
Challenge the Teacher
Allow them to come up with questions about the lesson for you to respond to. You can then ask them more difficult questions to see if they can outsmart you.
Exit Pass
Asking students to produce something, either in writing or verbally, as a means of leaving the classroom is a nice method to wrap up the lesson. This is also known as the "Exit Ticket" strategy, in which students give you something as they walk out the door.
There are several ways to use this strategy:
- Write questions or vocabulary words on ten sticky notes and hide them under random desks. Students who sit where the post-it notes are will answer the questions before leaving the room.
- Ask the students to tell you aloud one or two new vocabulary words they have learned from your class today.
- Ask the students to self-rate their understanding and write down one or two things they would like to know more about in the next lesson.
Round Robin
Ask students to form a circle and ask them to answer a review question (e.g., What have you learned today? or Share one vocabulary you have learned today). Working clockwise, each student will vocally give an answer until a full circle has been completed. Since each student can only give one thing, this gives more students a chance to respond. Round Robin is a brainstorming technique that encourages contributions from all participants.
Snowball Fight
Ask students to write a question on a piece of paper regarding the lesson for the day. Then, after a short while, tell them to crumple the paper and have a "snowball fight." After a few more seconds, have students pick up a paper and face a partner. They will then read the question and share the answer with each other until the bell rings.
This works really well with elementary and middle school students.
Journal Entry
The main idea is to constantly offer your students an opportunity to reflect on the lessons you teach. You can also use journal writing as a routine for closure. For example, students can write three to five vocabulary terms and use them in a sentence. They can also respond to a reflective question regarding the subject you covered.
Think, Pair, Share!
Since most ESL lessons are theme-based (e.g., Food, Countries, Family, and Friends), you can pose a higher-level question for this activity.
- Give students two minutes to consider their response.
- Then, give them two or three minutes to share their answers with each other.
Think, Pair, Share! is a good closure activity to go beyond vocabulary words.
Conclusion
Students are more inclined to reconsider before leaving for their next class if they realize that the exercises at the end of the lesson are an essential component of the entire instruction!
