Are you a boring ESL teacher? If you start class without an interactive icebreaker or warm-up, the answer may be "yes." Putting your students in the English "zone" with an engaging warm-up exercise will get them thinking and speaking in English -- and ready for your lesson.

Timed Warm-Ups

A warm-up activity with a sense of urgency will get students primed for the rest of the class. Split students into teams and tell them they have one minute to list as many items as possible that are part of a category you write on the board. It can be anything, depending on your students' level -- clothes, furniture or jobs, for example. The group with the most non-repeated answers wins. Alternatively, write five unrelated words on the board and tell teams they must write a story, incorporating all of the words, in three minutes.

Artistic Warm-Ups

Before class, make level-appropriate lists of words for each student. Write three to five words on a small paper square for every student. Each list should contain different words. Split students into teams. One person from each team receives a square and a space on the board. He must illustrate each word on the list and get teammates to guess the word. The first team to guess all the words wins. Alternatively, record yourself describing a person, place or thing. Use a pace that is level-appropriate for your students. Distribute paper and colored markers to students. Play the recording. Students must demonstrate comprehension skills by drawing what they hear.

Active Warm-Ups

Get a beach ball, or other type of soft ball, and tell students to stand in a circle. Explain that you will pick a category and then toss the ball. Whoever catches it must say a word in that category. Once done, she throws it to another person, who must repeat the process. Set a time limit (three seconds, for example). If the catcher exceeds the time limit, she must leave the circle. If your classroom is sufficiently spacious, get students active with a form of dodgeball. Clear a path for walking across the room, pick a "punisher" and tell the rest of the class to stand at the back of the room. The punisher gets the ball. Tell him to choose the students who will move based on physical characteristics. For example, he can say, "Anyone wearing jeans today must move." Students who fit the description must walk to the other side of the classroom while the punisher tries to hit them with the ball. If hit, students are out.

Dramatic Warm-Ups

Before class, make a list of five completely unrelated words. Introduce and explain the concept of improvisational acting. Tell them that improv is often funny because actors are not allowed to prepare a script and must say and do whatever comes to mind in order to incorporate all the concepts. Write your list on the board, split students into teams and tell them they have one minute to brainstorm a short play that incorporates the words in the list. Remind students that all team members must speak. For lower-level students, it may be beneficial to teach improv as a whole lesson first, and to practice it in class before using it as a warm-up.