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CREATIVE WARM-UPS AND TIME FILLERS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ENGLISH

LANGUAGE CLASS

Article · January 2018

DOI: 10.18355/PG.2018.7.1.4

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CREATIVE WARM-UPS AND TIME FILLERS FOR A SUCCESSFUL
ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASS

Klaudia Paulikova

doi: 10.18355/PG.2018.7.1.4

Abstract
Applying creativity into foreign language teaching is becoming more and
more important for teachers. Moreover starting lessons in the most
appropriate possible ways is one of the key factors for
a successful classroom. For this reason, using creative and innovative
techniques and activities as warmers and time fillers can be beneficial not
only for future teachers but also for the in-practice ones desiring to cheer
their lessons up. The paper focuses on introducing warmer and time filler
activities from a theoretical point of view, which is underlined by researching
their benefits and overall influences on the teaching process.

Key words
creativity, warm-ups, time fillers, English teaching

Introduction
Teaching a foreign language most of the times requires not only high
proficiency of language and good knowledge of methodology, but it many 41
times also cries for some extra that could be provided in order to meet the
criteria of a lesson to be called “successful.” It is the teachers’ creativity in
the lessons, which helps the learners gain and retain motivation and assists in
the development through their language studies. Good teachers, as Gajdacova
Veselá and Kovácikova (2016) point out, are able to make any topic an
interesting one when it comes to foreign language education, all depending
merely on the way it is dealt with. Creativity at lessons can, as a result, be
approached from various angles. Looking at it from the viewpoint of lesson
starters and time fillers, however, it can be stated that it plays quite an
important role in language education. There is a simple reason for that.
Similarly, as all the first impressions in life are extremely important, so do
the beginnings of lessons determine the overall success of the teaching
process, especially in terms of catching attention or sustaining the interest of
the learners.

Warm-up activities and TIME fillers

Being the very first thing the learners at the lesson do, a well-chosen and
planned warm-up becomes the most essential piece for setting the tone of the
upcoming minutes. Cotter (2014) explains that a fun warming activity not
only creates a relaxed atmosphere with raising the levels of energy but also
makes the learners switch into the “English mode,” which apparently helps in
detaching from the world outside the classroom, where English is not used.
Zakhareuski (n.d.) adds that a good warmer can moreover prepare the
learners for the topic of the lesson itself, which can introduce the upcoming
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 structures, thus giving them an idea about what to expect. The same applies
for time fillers. Either for filling up time when finished too early, or for
loosening the lesson between two more straining exercises, time filling
activities are a fantastic way for smoothing the transition periods, keeping the
learners engaged and, last but not least, refilling them with the energy to go
further (Cox, 2015).
The current day and age offer the teachers endless possibilities in choosing
the most appropriate activities for starting off their lessons. It is completely
up to their choice; whether they are going to opt for verbal, kinaesthetic,
audial or visual activities, the most important factor is to make the class alive.
Verbal warmer and time filler activities are an excellent way for practicing
previously acquired language or grammatical structures (Spratt, 1994).
Considering the great variety of learners and even greater variety of the
existent learning styles, it becomes almost essential for considering audial,
visual or kinaesthetic stimuli in the classroom just as much an as the verbal
ones (Helgelsen, 2002).
Having a look into the context of audial activities, for instance, it becomes
evident that they are most frequently used with younger learners. Ward (1980)
remarks the numerous linguistic, psychological and social benefits these
activities tend to bring forth, from teaching correct rhythm, stress, and
intonation through motivation of learners up to the mutual cooperation they
encourage. Thagard (2011) moreover adds that audial language stimulation,
besides of creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom and allowing
every student to participate, helps in reviewing previously acquired language
42
and picking up new language much more easily. What is also important,
however, is that all these great benefits are also applicable to the older
learners if not with all age groups, as well. Activating specific parts of the
brain and connecting up with the language centre, audial activities are found
as an enhanced way for gaining, storing and then reusing pieces of
information.
Visual input has greatest benefits for learners considered to be visual types of
learners. These activities not only make the lessons themselves more
attractive by adding shapes, colors and visual movements into the lessons,
but also help the learners “see” the content they are learning (Stancampiano,
2013). They may contribute to easier learning and language understanding
and ease the pressure of difficult tasks, such as working with literary or
scientific texts (Yunus et al., 2013).
Kinaesthetic language input has recently been considered as one of the most
powerful tools for successful language teaching. Looking at kinaesthetic
activities from the viewpoint of the human brain, it becomes evident that
language acquisition takes part in the left hemisphere, whereas physical
movements make the right hemisphere involved, as well. This results in both
hemispheres working at the same time, which is seen as a great advantage in
not only energizing the students but also making them more willing to work
(Promislow, 1999). Moreover, Helgelsen (2002) adds that by releasing
endorphin and dopamine into the body while practicing physical movements
the students get a bigger chance for understanding the patterns and learning
the structures more easily than by omitting these.
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Drawing a sharp line between the kinds of activities is, however, almost
completely impossible. Especially these days, when the world offers
thousands of kinds of methods, approaches, techniques, and activities, which
many times have the tendency to blend the kinds of input. It results in using,
whether knowingly or unknowingly, techniques and activities offering
multisensory input, which, as studies show, tends to be extremely popular
and beneficial. Varnes (n.d.) explains the countless benefits of multisensory
language learning in easier language acquisition, making the lessons more
attractive, activating learners’ brains and adding efficiency to the overall
teaching process.
Whatever kind of activity a teacher chooses for the start of their lessons, it is
vital that they think it over in advance and plan it well. The numerous
benefits of these activities are subject to further investigation, which, in the
following part of the article, gives supplementary details of how the warm-
ups and time fillers work in real classroom conditions.

Reseach
The study used qualitative research based on investigating the importance of
using warm-up and time filler activities. It involved researching a class of
university students, whose level of English was ranging from level A2 to B1
of the Common European Framework of Reference. The respondents of the
study were exposed to English classes once a week for ninety minutes
through the course of a thirteen week semester. The study involved twenty-
six respondents, who were chosen according to convenience sampling.
43
The study was planned and conducted according to previously set objectives
and research questions. The researcher’s aims were:
1. to find out what benefits the warmers and time-fillers had on the lessons
of English
2. to find out the reflections on the activities from the respondents
Based upon these, two research questions emerged:
1. What benefits do the warmer and time filler activities have for foreign
language education?
2. What are the reflections of learners on the given activities?

Activities
There were four warmer, and four-time filler activities are chosen for the
research. The warmers were applied at the very beginnings of the lessons
and their duration ranged from five to ten minutes. The time filler activities
were generally applied after a more difficult task (working with a text,
working with new vocabulary, writing task) and their duration was also
ranging from five to ten minutes.
The four warmer activities were chosen and planned in accordance with the
lesson plan for every lesson they were used at. The first activity was a verbal
gap-filling activity. The learners were handed papers with a short text, which
included the vocabulary practiced on the previous lesson. The learners' task
was to fill the missing words into the text according to their own choice with
the aim of making the text as creative and funny as possible.

Slavonic Pedagogical Studies Journal, ISSN 1339-8660, eISSN 1339-9055, Volume 7 Issue 1, February 2018
 The second warm-up was a kinaesthetic brain gym exercise. The learners
were asked to work in groups of four. Each of the members of the group was
labeled with the numbers one to four. They were asked to count from one to
four, making sure those learners spoke up, who correlated with the number.
After a few rounds, they were asked to replace saying "one" with a clap of a
hand. After another few rounds they were asked to replace "three" with a
snap of the fingers, then "four" with a stump of the foot and finally "two"
with a hit into the table.
The third activity was a visual activity. The learners were shown a situational
picture, which was corresponding to the topic of the given lesson, but the
learners did not know about it. The learners were asked to form groups of
three and discuss the picture. They were asked to focus on the background
story of the situation, on the possible outcomes and the items present in it.
After the group discussion, they were asked to compare their findings with
the rest of the class. At the very end of the activity, they were explained the
real situation with all the information necessary for moving forward.
The very last warm-up was an audio-visual activity, which included listening
to a song and competing for winning most of the heard words. The learners
were told to form groups of three and were dictated a set of words, which
were written on separate straps of paper. The words were then placed in front
of the groups, and a song was played. The task of the learners was to listen to
the words in the song which they had previously written down. As soon as
they heard a particular word, they were supposed to pick it up as fast as
possible to win it. The winner of the competition was the one who had most
44
words.
The time filler activities were also chosen and planned in accordance with the
topic of each of the lessons. The first time filler was an alphabet game. The
learners were asked to work in pairs and write down words for all the letters
of the alphabet on a given topic under a specified time limit.
As the second time filler, the learners played a word chain game as a whole
class activity. They were supposed to keep the word chain by saying words
beginning with the last letter of the previous words. The student not able to
say a word in five seconds was out of the game.
Another time filler applied was a role-play. The learners were distributed
role-cards with their tasks on them and asked to perform their roles in groups
by preparing the role-play. When they were ready, they performed in front of
the class. The class then evaluated the performances and chose the wittiest
and funny one as the winner.
Finally, the fourth time filler was a whole class activity. The learners were
supposed to create a story by adding up sentences one by one. The first
sentence of the story was given in advance, and they were asked to follow
one rule - stick to the previously specified topic.

Methods
Based on the nature of the research, there were two methods chosen for
investigation – observation, and questionnaire. The observation was
conducted on eight lessons, and it focused on the phenomenon of using
warmer and time filler activities throughout the lessons and their benefit for
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learning languages and overall success of the lessons. The observation was
happening simultaneously with the lessons, and the received information
were recorded by the researcher after the lessons. There were four lessons
observed where warmer and time filler activities were not used and four
lessons where the activities were used. The main fields of observation were
the willingness of the learners to cooperate, their levels of energy for
fulfilling tasks, concentration and overall atmosphere at the lessons. The
collected data were analyzed, compared and processed for obtaining the
results.
The questionnaire was afterward handed to all the respondents with ten items
based on the research questions. Its main objective was finding out what
reflections the respondents had on using the warm-up and time filler
activities with regard to their personal viewpoints, opinions, and feelings
about the investigated topic. The questionnaire was created by the researcher
herself and was a non-standardized one, adapted in order to meet the criteria
set in the planning phase of research. The items of the questionnaire were
divided into three subsections. The first subsection focused on the lessons
where warm-up and time filler activities were not used. Its aim was to
discover how the learners perceived the lessons and themselves at the lessons.
Moreover, it aimed at finding out how enjoyable and manifold the learners
found those lessons. The second subsection was centered at the lessons where
warmer and time filler activities were used. The respondents were asked to
describe their feelings and impressions with regard to the activities and their
overall willingness to cooperate. The last subsection asked the respondents to
45
express their standpoints towards the possible benefits/deficiencies of using
warmers and time fillers. They were also asked to make a general comparison
between lessons where creative warm-ups and time fillers were used as
opposed to those where such activities were absent.

Reseach Results
After the evaluation of the collected data, the information was processed into
results. The following part examines the outcomes gained via observation of
the researcher and the questionnaire administered to twenty-six respondents.

Results of observation
Based on the four main fields of investigation, it was found out that the
warmer and time filler activities used throughout the course of the study were
found rather enjoyable by the learners. Considering the overall atmosphere at
the lessons, it must be stated that the lessons with these activities appeared
more relaxed and filled with positive energy. Comparing them to the lessons
where warmers and time fillers were not used, the overall interest in the
subject matter itself was raised, as well. Due to the fact that both the warmers
and time fillers were connected to the topic of learning, the students got more
drawn into the happenings in the classroom, performed better and enjoyed it
more.
That was interconnected with their willingness to cooperate, as well. They
were performing the activities with joy and interest, and as the activities were
set to be enjoyable and competitive, the learners were eager to fulfill all the
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 given tasks. Their willingness to fulfill more difficult tasks (before and after
these activities) was also raised.
Even though it cannot be stated that the learners' concentration was higher on
the lessons where warmers and time fillers were used, it became evident that
after performing the warm-up activities the learners got more energized and
refreshed. Considering the levels of energy, as the last field of investigation,
it became evident that the warm-up activities were found very refreshing and
energizing as the lessons took place in the early mornings. The activities for
filling time while lessons were ongoing were also found very beneficial.
They not only helped the learners release the excessive levels of energy but
also reactivated their interest in the lessons. Thanks to the filler activities,
which were applied around the halftime of the lessons, the learners did not
become dull or bored, as they did on those lessons where creative activities
were not used at all. Due to the fact that the learners were working in pairs or
small groups they were enjoying the activities very much.

Results of the questionnaire

The analysis of the results of questionnaires was categorized according to the
three main subsections of the questionnaires: lessons without using warmers
and time fillers, lessons with time fillers and warmers and the learners'
standpoints towards the possible benefits and deficiencies on using these
activities.

Lessons without warmers and time fillers

46
The results of the first category showed that the vast majority of the
respondents reflected the lessons without using warmers and time fillers as
average and ordinary. They claimed that they could not find any difference
between those lessons and any other lessons or subjects they attended.
However, they added that it was very hard for them to find motivation and
will for working at the very beginnings of the lessons, as they were taking
place in the early mornings.

Lessons with warmers and time fillers

To the second subsection, which focused on lessons where time fillers and
warm-ups were used, the respondents collectively reacted that the use of
creative warmer activities was very important and beneficial for the overall
success of the lessons of their foreign language studies. One of the
respondents also commented that:
“As we are starting the lessons very early in the mornings, these activities
always wake and cheer us up. Even if we did not start so early, they still
would be very beneficial, because they are a pleasant and playful way how to
get us, the students involved in the subject. And I am sure that also thanks to
these we are improving. Moreover, they help us develop creativity and
thinking skills.”
The respondents also noted that the warmer and time filler activities
influenced their ability in expressing themselves more clearly and speeding
up the process of learning. Moreover, they mentioned that the activities

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released their stress, thus helped them in concentration, which resulted in
better performances.
For the importance of using extra time filler activities throughout the course
of the lesson all the respondents collectively agreed that they were extremely
important and advantageous for various reasons. One of the main reasons, as
they stated, was that the activities helped them refill their bodies and minds
with energy, which was necessary for being able to move further in the
lessons. Another reason was making the lessons more relaxed and enjoyable.
One of the respondents supported this by their statement:
“It is very important for me to be able to release stress while studying hard,
especially by doing some activities, which are funny and relaxing.”

Benefits and deficiencies of warm-ups and time fillers

The very last subsection was centered at the standpoints of the respondents
towards the benefits and deficiencies of using warmers and time fillers. As a
result of the questionnaire, it can be stated that all the respondents had very
positive reflections on the used activities. None of them remarked any
deficiencies for using neither warm-up nor time filler activities. There were,
however, many benefits that were highlighted.
The respondents noted that they found the activities very helpful and
beneficial for their disburdening nature. They moreover added that these
activities not only helped in building good relationships between the students
but also had positive effects on the mutual relationships between the learners
and the teacher:
47
"These activities build bridges between the teachers and their students, as the
students feel the interest and the caring of their lecturer. It is not only about
plainly explaining the new things to be learned, but also about caring to
make the lessons interesting and enjoyable."
The respondents also saw a great advantage in refilling themselves with
energy. The noted that after warm-ups and time fillers they felt more
energized and ready for the upcoming tasks. Another advantage that was
mentioned was creating a positive atmosphere for the lessons. The
respondents claimed to feel more relaxed and fearless due to the humorous
and pleasant nature of the performed activities. One of the learners added:
"I was very scared of speaking in English at first, but I think it is getting
better. These lessons help me to improve."
Another great benefit noted by the respondents was the fact that the warmers
and time fillers often offered a funny and playful way for practicing the target
language. They remarked that even though they felt that the nature of those
activities was relaxing, they did not stop working and using the language,
which was very important for them.
Last, but not least, the respondents mentioned that because of the very early
hour of their lesson they often felt extremely tired and unprepared to perform
in a different language. The warm-ups, as they stated, helped them to switch
their thinking in the target language on and get drawn into the happenings.

Slavonic Pedagogical Studies Journal, ISSN 1339-8660, eISSN 1339-9055, Volume 7 Issue 1, February 2018
 Conclusion
The results of the study do not only work as a very positive feedback to the
information depicted in the introductory part of the paper but also offer
background information for numerous English teachers on how important
and beneficial using warm-ups and time fillers on the lessons is. These
findings may serve as guidelines for teachers when considering the
application of such activities on their lessons with the possible outcomes and
results they may achieve. In case that the teachers opt for applying warm-ups
and time fillers and devote enough energy and time for preparing them well,
their lessons of English will most possibly become filled with relaxed and
positive atmosphere, which, naturally, is going to affect the students and the
overall process of teaching, as well. The students might get more drawn into
the happenings in the classroom, which can result in longer attention and
better concentration. In addition to these, the overall performance at the
lessons may be enhanced, as well. This may result in the students raising the
levels of motivation, which can encourage them to study harder and more.
The overall positive atmosphere created by these kinds of activities can
improve the learning conditions and contribute to achieving overall success
throughout the course of teaching and learning process.

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Mgr. Klaudia Pauliková

Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra,
Faculty of Education
Drážovská cesta 4,
94974 Nitra
Slovakia
[email protected]
49

Slavonic Pedagogical Studies Journal, ISSN 1339-8660, eISSN 1339-9055, Volume 7 Issue 1, February 2018

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