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I. Spin/ Quiz bee

(Idea got from ESL Games http://www.eslgamesplus.com/a-an-the-spin/)
Mechanics: Group the class into 4 teams. Let them choose a color to
represent their team. The teams will have to draw lots to determine which
team will spin the article category first, second, third and then fourth.
The article exercises are categorized into four: The first category is worth 10
points; the second category is 20 points; the third category is 30 points; and
the fourth category is 40 points.
Each team will spin the article category in each of their turns. Whichever
team gets the highest score wins.
Category 1= 10 pts
(a) a

(b)an

(c) the

(d) no article

1. I want ____ apple from that basket.

2. ____ church on the corner is progressive.
3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.
4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.
5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today."
6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.
7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain.
8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school.
9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter.
10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.
Category 2= 20 pts
(Exercises from Learnenglishfeelgood.com, 2016
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl-english-articles-new3.html)

(a) a

(b) the

(c) no article

1. Q: What did you eat at the restaurant?

A: Oh, I didn't go out. I ate at _________________ home.
2. Q: What did you buy at the mall?
A: I bought so many things! _________________ sales were incredible!
3. Q: Does he always lie?
A: Yes, he does. He never tells _________________ truth.
4. Q: Why did you punish your son?
A: We punished him because he told _________________ lie.
5. Q: Which resort will you be staying at?
A: We'll be staying at _________________ resort that's closest to the beach.
6. Q: Why were you sleeping?
A: I was sleeping because I had _________________ headache.
7. Q: Why don't you ask her to dance?
A: Me? I don't think so. You're _________________ one who knows how to dance.
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8. Q: Is he working?
A: No, he's on _________________ vacation.
9. Q: Did you make the bed?
A: No, but I took out _________________ garbage.
10. Q: Why do you watch so much _________________ TV?
A: Because there are a lot of good shows on.
Category 3 = 30 pts
(Exercises from Learnenglishfeelgood.com, 2016
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/articles-geographic-names1.html)
(a) the

(b) no article

1. He was born in _________________ New York City.

2. _________________ Nile is a long African river.
3. We're going on vacation to _________________ Dominican Republic.
4. Have you been to _________________ Italy?
5. Los Angeles is in the state of _________________ California.
6. _________________ Rocky Mountains are very high.
7. He lives in _________________ United States.
8. _________________ South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the
world.
9. _________________ Republic of Ireland is in the European Union.
10. Have you ever been to _________________ Netherlands?
Category 4= 40 pts
(Exercises from Learnenglishfeelgood.com, 2016
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/english-articles-with-idioms6.html)
(a) a
(b) the
(c) no article
1. You have to carve out _________________ niche for your business.
2. He struggled to come to _________________ grips with recent events in his
life.
3. Did he ask you to marry him? = Did he pop _________________ question?
4. It's not very complicated. = It's not _________________ rocket science.
5. Their business relationship is on _________________ mend. ( = improving)
6. You have to play by _________________ rules if you want others to respect
you.
7. She thought there were a legitimate business, but they took her for
_________________ ride.
8. They told this to me in _________________ strict confidence.
9. He did it secretly. = He did it on _________________ sly.
10.
He was playing for _________________ time. = He was procrastinating.
II. Snakes and ladders:
(Idea got from eslgamesworld.com, 2016
http://eslgamesworld.com/members/games/grammar/New_Snakes_
%20Ladders/Articles.html)
Welcome to the Snakes and Ladders game.
Group the class into 4 teams. Let them choose a color to represent their
team.
Mechanics: Each team needs to answer the questions correctly to get a
chance at rolling the dice.

2 | Page

Materials: snakes and ladders game board, dice

and article usage exercises.
(Exercises from Learnenglishfeelgood.com, 2016
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/articles-athe2.html)

(a) a
(b)an
(c) the
(d) no article
1. John is ________ best teacher in our school.
2. She has ________ very nice cat.
3. My wife is ________ only person I love.
4. My cousin is ________ police officer.
5. Betty is ________ prettiest girl in our class.
6. There is ________ party at Bill's house tonight.
7. What time are we going to ________ party?
8. Yesterday I saw ________ really good movie.
9. Hurry up! ________ movie starts in 15 minutes!
10. I need to buy ________ new car.

At

beginning of

twentieth century, East Los Angeles became

popular immigrant destination. In

Japanese, and Mexicans all had
Living east of

early 1900s, Russians, Jews,

significant presence in

area.

river and working in nearby factories, or traveling by

electric rail into downtown Los Angeles, immigrants and their children helped
fuel

prosperity of

growing metropolis. By

World War II, East Los Angeles had almost become

community, soon reinforced by
to man the machines in

onset of
exclusively Latino

influx of Mexican workers who arrived

area's burgeoning war industries.

(Source: http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esol-articles-the-a-an3.html)
(Exercises from Learnenglishfeelgood.com, 2016
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/english-article-no-article1.html)
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.

________ Swedish is a difficult language to learn.

________ general's army attacked the city at night.
I like to play ________ basketball.
My parents gave me ________ basketball for my birthday.
She is ________ prettiest girl in the school.
I have ________ idea! Let's go bowling.
I have borrowed ________ money from her before.
My first apartment was on ________ Orange Street.
________ dress she is wearing is blue.
He is ________ real gentleman.

3 | Page

(http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/english-articles-with-idioms1.html)
34. I'm not doing anything important. I'm just killing _________________ time.
35. We had fun. = We had _________________ great time.
36. He made a lot of money. = He made _________________ killing.
37. They were racing against _________________ clock to finish the project.
38. If someone is clumsy, you can say he/she is "all _________________
thumbs".
39. Why do you always have to stir up ( = cause) _________________ trouble?
40. Keep _________________ eye on him and make sure he doesn't steal
anything.
41. A "jack-of-all-_________________-trades" is someone who knows how to do
a lot of different things.
42. We have only begun to scratch _________________ surface. = We have only
begun to find out about something.
43. I will never set _________________ foot in your house again!
44. He'd travel to Australia at the drop of _________________ hat.
45. I've done all I could. _________________ ball's in your court now.
46. I don't do this often. = I do this once in _________________ blue moon.
47. To make _________________ long story short, he lost his job
48. He wanted to show her that he wasn't interested, so he kept her at
_________________ bay.
49. I feel a bit under _________________ weather. I think I'm coming down with
something.
50. P1: Do you know the answer? P2: Piece of _________________ cake!
Everyone knows the answer to that.
III. Sentence Scrabble
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
Students are given words and have to arrange them into
grammatically correct sentences, focusing on the use of
articles. For each new sentence they come up with, they
are given one more word and so have the chance to make
more sentences for even more points. They can win the original words they
start with by guessing the word from the definition by the teacher or can just
choose them randomly from a pack of cards. The team with the most words
when the game is stopped win.
(Exercises from Britishcouncil.org
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-practice/articles)
1. I saw a zebra and a giraffe at the zoo. The giraffe was really tall!
2. She had a cheese sandwich for lunch. The sandwich was delicious.
3. We stayed in a hotel. The hotel had a swimming pool.
4. I've got a red pen and a blue pen. The red pen is my favourite.
5. A boy and his dog went for a walk.
6. There's a white car and a black car. The white car is my dad's.
7. I went on an aeroplane to Japan. The aeroplane was really cool!
8. I had a party for my birthday. Lots of my friends came to the party.
9. I've got a book, a pen and a ball in my bag. The book is from the library.
10. I've got an older brother and a little sister.
IV. Simon Says Listen carefully to the articles
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
4 | Page

http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
This game is a variation of the popular Simon says game.
Participants should only do the action if the instructions are grammatically
and logically correct, if not they should stay still. Once someone did not get it
correctly, they are eliminated.
Example instructions:
Look at the teacher, Point at the tallest
student, Wink at a student, Touch the
student, throw paper, draw a circle, drink
a water, wink at a John (a name of their
classmate), grab the book, touch the hair,
step on a wall, touch chair, clap twice,
raise the hand, unlace the shoe., close the
eye
V. Picture Dictation
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
One student describes a picture they have drawn or have been given
by the teacher to another student, who tries to draw what they hear. When
the picture is finished, it can then be compared with the original. This activity
is a very natural place for the use of articles, especially the generalization
that we use a the first time we talk about something and the the next
time. It is possible to elicit even more use of these forms with pictures where
An apple is
more than one
(which is on the

on the table (making sure there is

apple in the picture) and The apple
table) is red.

VI. Pairwork picture differences

(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
Students are given two pictures that are similar but not the same and will be
asked to find the differences without looking at each others pictures. For
example, the picture where The cat is under the table and the other where
A cat is under the table (there being more than one cat in the picture in the
second case).

VII. Stations
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
Students listen to a word or sentence and react one way if an is
needed and a different way if a is needed. Examples include running and
slapping opposite walls of the room, jumping either side of a line, slapping
5 | Page

two pieces of paper on their table, and pretending to shoot pieces of paper
on different walls. The same game can also be played with a and the.
A. (http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/english-article-no-article4.html)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

(a) a
(b) the
(c) no article
I have a dog, and my neighbors have ________ dogs as well.
Did you hear about ________ dogs that saved the little girl's life?
I don't want to follow ________ instructions that he gave me.
Can you get me ________ chocolate bar from the fridge?
We don't allow this kind of ________ behavior!

B. (http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/english-articles-a-an3.html)
(a) a
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

(b)an

This is ________ comfortable bed.

That is ________ affordable dress.
He is ________ honorable politician.
He is ________ unwilling participant.
This is ________ utopian idea.

C. (http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl-english-articles-new3.html)
(a) a

(b) the

(c) no article

1. Q: What did you eat at the restaurant?

A: Oh, I didn't go out. I ate at _________________ home.
2. Q: What did you buy at the mall?
A: I bought so many things! _________________ sales were incredible!
3. Q: Does he always lie?
A: Yes, he does. He never tells _________________ truth.
4. Q: Why did you punish your son?
A: We punished him because he told _________________ lie.
5. Q: Which resort will you be staying at?
A: We'll be staying at _________________ resort that's closest to the beach.
VIII. Video true or false
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
Prepare a list of things that are seen or happened in a video and write
them as sentences that have articles in them. Change some of the sentences
to make them different to what is seen in the film (e.g. The cat bites the
man when there are several cats on screen and so it should be A cat bites
the man), and maybe mix the sentences up. Students then watch the movie
and shout out any sentences they think they have seen happen, winning or
losing points depending on whether they are right or not.
IX. Song cloze
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
Cloze is a fancy name for gapfill, meaning filling in one missing wordpossibly the most boring activity in language study! Students have to fill the
gaps and then listen to a song to check. In order to practice articles, either
take out the articles or the words straight after them- especially in sentences

6 | Page

like My father is a ____________ where the article gives some clue on which
word is coming next.

I Can See Clearly Now by Hothouse

Flowers
Add articles to the song below
I can see clearly now rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in way
Gone are dark clouds that had me blind
Its gonna be bright sunshiny day
I think I can make now pain has gone
All of bad feelings have disappeared
Here is rainbow Ive been praying
Its gonna be bright sunshiny day
Look around theres nothing but blue skies
Look straight ahead theres nothing but blue
skies
(https://tefltastic.wordpress.com/worksheets/s
X. Definitions game/ Back to the board
(Alex Case, 2009. TEFL.net
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/grammar/fun-activities-for-practising-a-an-the/)
One or more students try to explain which word, phrase or sentence
they have been given without using the words on the card until someone
guesses it. Articles can be brought into this game by using full sentences
(e.g. My uncle is a teacher, or true ones about the classroom like The
teacher is wearing a tie), country and other geographical names (The
United States of America), names of films and songs, quotes, proverbs,
other idioms, etc.
XI. The article wolf is hungry, and he wants rabbit for his dinner!
(From http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/articlesframe.htm)
Mechanics: Group the class into two. The aim of each team is to stop the
wolf from getting in their door. They have to build a brick wall to keep him
out. The wolf gets closer and closer as you build. To build, read the sentence
at the bottom, and decide which article belongs in the sentence. Then click
that article where you want to put a brick in the wall. Remember that you
can't put a brick where it is not touching another brick or the ground.
Each brick must be put into place with the right article in the sentence
below. If a wrong brick is placed, it considered a hole. If the wall of wither
team has two holes together, the wolf can get in and eat the rabbit. The first
team to finish the wall correctly wins the game.
Here comes the wolf! Good luck.

(1)Oh no! I can see __ wolf

(2)I think I'm in __ trouble.

the

7 | Page

an

an

The

an

the

the

an

(3)__ wolf looks very

hungry.
(4)He has __ enormous
appetite

(5)Look at __ big pile of

bricks here
(6)Maybe I can build __
wall.

(7)I'll have to build at __

great speed.
(8)This is __ important job.
(9)I will make __ wall
strong
(10)It will even keep
out __ angry

(12)I can't make many __

mistakes.
(13)I need __ lot of bricks
(14)I must not leave __ hole.

(15)Or __ wolf will get in.

I am __ active rabbit!
Maybe I also need __
cement?
8 | Page