WarmErs, FiLLErs and CooLErs - LoveTEFL

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Warmers, Coolers and Fillers
Why do we use them?
To reiterate, fillers are not always going to be used in every lesson you teach. If you
have your lesson timed out well and all the activities go as planned you probably will
not need a filler. However, it never hurts to have one ready for when there is a hiccup
or two. You may bring in a solid lesson plan, but the students may just surprise you and
power through it. They may finish the material quicker than you anticipated or you may
have made too much room for questions, or maybe the student that often asks the
most questions is home sick. Whatever the reason, you need to be ready.
Remember though, fillers ought still to be quick. If there is space for a filler chances
are it is not going to require a long activity, a quick game will suffice. In addition,
like the cooler the filler will often come at the end of the lesson, so try and choose
something that will help you to sum up the lesson, do not create more questions for
the students. A quick game or puzzle activity which uses some of the vocabulary from
the lesson would be great.
Fillers can also be used to help change the pace of a lesson. If you’re mid-lesson and
the pace seems to be very slow you can do a quick filler to re-energise the room before
proceeding with the rest of the lesson.
Finally, what are coolers?
Coolers are activities that are given at the end of every lesson. They are a great lesson
cap and can really help to sum up for students what they have learned during the
lesson. Repetition is the key to learning after all.
Why do we use them?
To sum up your lesson, to keep students focused and to calm down over-excited
students. Coolers that are quick and to the point, topical and fun! Fun doesn’t
necessarily have to mean loud! Remember, quickness is important. Coolers are not
meant to take up a lot of time, because they mark the end of a lesson. The cooler will
come right at the end of the lesson and so it will follow several activities some of them
quite long and even some that might be a bit boring and so the last thing students will
want at the end of their lesson is something that drags the lesson out. Students want
to get going at the end of a lesson so you need to keep them focused.
If you have very enthusiastic students and they are very excited you need a way to
calm them down so you can end the lesson well. Coolers are great for this, think of an
activity that will get your students seated, calm and quiet and at the same time keep
them focused on using the language.
Enclosed in this book are 100 ideas for warmers, fillers and coolers. It is advisable
to read through them and adapt them to make them appropriate for your class.
Remember, all classes are different so what make work for one may not work for
another. Feel free to adapt them to suit you and your classes.
We hope you enjoy them!
The LoveTEFL Team
Warmers
Fillers
Coolers
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