5 Amusing Homework Ideas That Will Leave Your Students Begging For More

As teachers, you want to help your students by giving them home tasks that are relevant, meaningful, and engaging. However, not every student work with the same enthusiasm and some might rightly detest the idea of homework as it seems a little overwhelming. In such cases what can you do?

How about combining games with learning? Here are some alternate entertaining homework ideas to create more memorable lessons.

5 Great ESL Homework Ideas For Students

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Here are 5 enjoyable homework ideas for language students:

1. Cafe Hopper

Cafes are one place that never ceases to amaze you and hence most people really love to check them out. On that note, this will be an easy task to assign to your students. You can ask them to visit various cafes and then decide what could be their homework task in the cafe of their choice.

Some fun ideas could be:

• Read the menu and place an order in English.
• Take a photo of their favorite cafe and share the similarities and differences with the class.
• Speak to a stranger in English and ask fun questions about their life.
• Talk to the barista about their favorite beverage they like making.

This stress-free homework will not only be enjoyed by your students but they can also enjoy some mouth-watering dishes from the menu.

2. Tik Tok Star

There can be no fun social media applications like Tik Tok. Here you can not only watch songs and videos from the creators but can also create your own remix to catchy tunes. Show some fun examples of some famous Tik Tok videos and guide them about how to create their own videos.

Here are some fun ways to use Tik Tok for learning:

• Ask the students to choose their favoriteTik Tok song.
• Encourage them to lip sync or enact trending audio and save it in the gallery without having to post it on the platform.
• Ask them to share their creation with you and the class the next day.

Depending on the location and age of the student Tik Tok might not be an option and it might be easier to teach adults with social media rather than kids.

3. Go To The Movies

Now, who doesn't like going to the movies? As you are already discovering that homework does not have to be conventional and what can be more fun than watching their favorite movie? In case, they cannot go to a physical theatre, this task can be done at home as well.

Here are some ideas to make them go to a movie as part of their homework:

• Ask them to select and watch a movie of their choice in English.
• Ask them to write a summary of the movie that watched or describe their favorite scene.
• Have them give a movie review in the next class.
• Encourage them to act out their most liked scene with their family member or siblings in English.
• Make them create an advertising poster of the movie with captions, texts, and drawings in English of course.

If they are struggling to find movies on their own, you can recommend some depending on their age and the genre.

4. Interview A Stranger

This might be intriguing and scary for some and might need the participation of the parents. You can brief the idea to parents over a call or formal meeting and for young learners, you can ask them to interview their parents. This will encourage conversation and enhance their communication skills.

Here are some sample questions that can be asked as a part of the interview:

• When you were my age what activities or hobbies were you most fond of?
• What was the best thing about going to school?
• What were the types of sports you were interested in when you were young?
• What was life like for you as a child?

Have them choose at least 4-5 questions and report their findings to the class the next day.

5. Let’s Go To A Karaoke

Karaoke knows no age bar and it interests younger kids and adults alike. For this, you don't have to ask your students to actually go to a karaoke booth, but they can sing and dance their hearts out from the comfort of their homes. There are a lot of fun English songs available for karaoke and you can ask your students to select their favorite.

Here are some ways to have a fun karaoke night at home:

• Ask them to search for their favorite karaoke lyrics online by typing the name of the song in the search bar.
• Encourage them to sing the song as a task and ask their parents or family members to record it.
• If they have a problem figuring out a song you can give out your suggestions or ask them to take their parent's help.

Depending on the age and English proficiency of the learners, guide them to pick out the songs and encourage them to participate.
 

Why Spoil All The Fun?

As you already saw, homework does not have to always be boring and you as an educator can make learning a lot more fun. Since your ESL students have a life outside school and there is a lot that they have to do, assigning homework that doesn’t feel like a task at all is ideal. Using these entertaining techniques, you can allow your students to be creative while they are learning English. However, if you want to teach English as a profession, consider pursuing a TEFL Course in Thailand to plan your lessons innovatively and create an enjoyable experience for the learners.