How to Teach English Online: Tools, Games & Tips

Teaching English Resources

Explore more teaching strategies and classroom activities in our LexFizz Learning Blog.

Teaching English online means competing with every distraction on a student's screen. The teachers who win do it with structure, interaction, and a few reliable tools. Here's a practical playbook — all of it free.

Start With a Warm-Up

Open with 3–5 minutes of low-stakes fun to get students talking. A quick Spin the Wheel for speaking prompts or a round of Quiz sets the tone.

Make Practice Interactive

Drills don't have to be dull. Turn vocabulary review into Matching Pairs, grammar into Group Sort, and spelling into Word Search. Share your screen or send the link.

Embed Exercises in Your Materials

Every LexFizz exercise can be embedded in a webpage with ?embed=1 — for example <iframe src="https://lexfizz.com/exercises/quiz/?embed=1">. No login, works on any device.

Keep Energy High

Alternate calm and active tasks. After focused reading, switch to an arcade game like Whack-a-Mole to re-energise the room (or the call).

Differentiate by Level

Use the same activity at different CEFR levels by changing the word set. Browse exercises by category — Word Puzzles, Quizzes, Reading & Writing — to match your lesson goal.

End With a Win

Finish on something students can succeed at, so they leave motivated. A short Gameshow Quiz is a crowd-pleaser.

FAQ

Do students need accounts? No — LexFizz requires no sign-up, so you can drop a link into any chat.

Can I use these in class, not just online? Absolutely — they work on whiteboards and tablets too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools do I need to teach English online effectively?

Essential tools: a reliable video conferencing platform (Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams), a stable internet connection, a good quality microphone, and a virtual whiteboard (Google Jamboard, Miro, or the built-in whiteboard in Zoom). Optional but valuable: a document camera for showing physical materials, and interactive platforms like LexFizz for gamified exercises.

How can LexFizz be used in online English lessons?

Share the exercise URL via chat, then either have students open it independently and compare scores or screen-share and run it as a whole-class activity. Flash Cards and Quiz work well for vocabulary checking at lesson start. Gameshow Quiz and Spin the Wheel are excellent as interactive warm-ups or wrap-up activities. Use Cloze Dropdown for reading comprehension tasks.

What are the best interactive activities for online English lessons?

Top activities for online teaching: (1) LexFizz interactive exercises (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation). (2) Collaborative Google Docs for shared writing tasks. (3) Padlet or Jamboard for brainstorming. (4) Breakout rooms for pair and group speaking tasks. (5) Quizzes and polls via Mentimeter or Slido. Mix formats to maintain engagement.

How do I keep students engaged in online English classes?

Change activities every 10–15 minutes. Use a mix of speaking, reading, listening, and writing tasks. Call on students by name regularly to maintain attention. Use interactive tools rather than long teacher monologues. Set small collaborative tasks in breakout rooms. Show genuine interest in students' answers and build on their responses rather than just correcting errors.

Can LexFizz exercises be embedded in online teaching platforms?

Yes. Any LexFizz exercise can be embedded in an LMS (Moodle, Canvas, Google Classroom) or other web page using an iframe with the ?embed=1 parameter. This hides the navigation and shows only the exercise, making it seamlessly integrated into your teaching platform. The embed URL format is: lexfizz.com/exercises/[exercise-name]/?embed=1

How should online English lessons be structured?

A productive 60-minute lesson structure: (1) Warm-up with an engaging activity (5 min). (2) Review of previous lesson or homework (5–10 min). (3) New language presentation with clear examples (15 min). (4) Controlled practice exercises (15 min). (5) Freer production task — speaking, writing, or discussion (15 min). (6) Review, feedback, and homework setting (5 min).

What is the best platform for teaching English online?

The best platform depends on your context. For private tutoring: Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet. For group classes: Zoom with breakout rooms or a specialised teaching platform like Teachable. For asynchronous teaching: Moodle, Canvas, or Google Classroom. For one-to-one tutoring marketplaces: Preply, iTalki, or Cambly. Each has different strengths for different teaching styles.

How do I teach English pronunciation effectively online?

Use screen share to display IPA charts and minimal pair exercises. Record yourself pronouncing target sounds for students to compare with their own audio. Use the Speaking Cards exercise on LexFizz for pronunciation modelling with Text-to-Speech. Short, focused 5-minute pronunciation segments in each lesson are more effective than occasional long pronunciation lessons.

How can I assess student progress in online lessons?

Use: (1) Exercise scores from LexFizz (students can share scores after playing). (2) Google Forms quizzes for written assessments. (3) Recorded speaking tasks for pronunciation and fluency assessment. (4) Error tracking over time using a shared document. (5) Self-assessment checklists based on CEFR can statements. Regular low-stakes formative assessment is more informative than infrequent high-stakes tests.

Are there copyright restrictions on using LexFizz exercises in lessons?

LexFizz exercises are free for educational use — individual tutoring, school lessons, and non-commercial teaching. You may share exercise URLs, embed exercises in teaching platforms, and use them in any educational context without restriction. Commercial use (embedding in paid products) should be discussed with the LexFizz team first via the contact form.

How to Teach English Online: Tools & Games