After a long summer away from the classroom, students often return rusty, shy, and out of the habit of thinking in English. The fastest way to fix that is to get them speaking from minute one. These 10 back to school speaking activities are built to break the silence, recycle the language students half-forgot over the break, and rebuild fluency and confidence for the term ahead.

Every activity works across levels, comes with a suggested time and language focus, and includes a quick note on running it in an online classroom. The first five help students recap their summer; the next five turn their attention to the new term. Together they make a ready-to-run first week of ESL speaking activities that get everyone talking again.

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Why Speaking Should Come First After the Break

The longer students go without speaking, the higher the barrier feels when they finally do. Opening the term with low-pressure, high-interest talk lowers that barrier before it hardens into anxiety. Speaking-first lessons also tell you exactly where each student stands after the summer, and they rebuild the classroom community that makes every later lesson run more smoothly. That is why strong back to school ESL lessons lead with the voice, not the coursebook.

Speaking Activities to Recap the Summer

1. Summer Headlines

Level: A2-C2 | Time: 15-20 min | Skills: Speaking, Past Tenses, Question Forms

Students sum up their summer in two or three newspaper-style headlines ("Local Student Survives Family Road Trip," "Three Weeks, Zero Wi-Fi"). Partners then interview them to uncover the full story behind each headline. The headline format gives shy students a safe, playful way in, while the interview stage pushes real question practice and past-tense narration.

Online: Students type their headlines in the chat, then you pick a few and let the class interview that student in the main room.

2. Talk-Show Interviews

Level: A2-C1 | Time: 20 min | Skills: Speaking, Role-Play, Fluency

In pairs, one student plays a talk-show host and the other a returning "celebrity" with exciting summer news. The host asks lively questions; the guest embellishes freely. Then they swap roles. Role-play frees students from the pressure of strict truth and often produces the most confident, animated speaking of the week.

Online: Send pairs to breakout rooms to rehearse, then invite one or two shows to perform live when everyone returns.

3. Fact or Fiction: Summer Stories

Level: A2-C2 | Time: 15-20 min | Skills: Speaking, Listening, Past Tenses

Each student tells one short summer story. The catch: it can be completely true or entirely invented. The class listens, asks follow-up questions, and votes on fact or fiction. It rewards detail and expression, sharpens listening, and never fails to spark laughter when a wild story turns out to be true.

Online: Students tell their story to camera; the class votes true or false with reactions or in the chat.

4. Guess What I Did

Level: A1-B2 | Time: 10-15 min | Skills: Speaking, Vocabulary, Past Simple

A student describes something they did over the summer without naming it, giving clues while the class guesses the activity ("I wore special shoes, I fell down a lot, there was water everywhere"). It is a gentle way to recycle activity vocabulary and past forms, and it works beautifully even with lower levels who need a low word count to succeed.

Online: The speaker gives clues on mic while cameras stay on; others guess in the chat or by unmuting.

5. Describe Your Summer Place

Level: A1-B1 | Time: 15 min | Skills: Speaking, Descriptive Language, Prepositions

One student describes a place they visited or imagined over the summer while their partner draws it from the description alone. They then compare the drawing to reality. This classic information-gap task drills prepositions, adjectives, and clarification language, and the mismatch between description and drawing is always good for a laugh.

Online: Use the shared whiteboard, or have the listener sketch on paper and hold it up to the camera to compare.

Speaking Activities to Look Ahead to the New Term

6. New Term, Would You Rather?

Level: A2-C2 | Time: 15 min | Skills: Speaking, Justifying Opinions

Pose school-themed dilemmas ("Would you rather have no homework or no exams?", "Would you rather study one subject deeply or many subjects lightly?"). Students choose a side and defend it. A dependable opinion-generator that differentiates itself instantly: beginners give one reason, advanced learners build a full argument.

Online: Students pick their answer with reactions or a quick poll, then unmute to defend it.

7. Goal-Setting Speed Chat

Level: B1-C1 | Time: 15-20 min | Skills: Speaking, Future Forms, Fluency

Students rotate through short one-on-one conversations, each time discussing a different question about the term ahead: What do you want to improve? What will you do differently? What are you looking forward to? The rotation keeps energy high and gives everyone repeated speaking practice with future forms and goal language.

Online: Rotate students through short breakout-room pairs, changing the pairing each round.

8. The Great Back-to-School Debate

Level: B1-C2 | Time: 20-25 min | Skills: Speaking, Persuasion, Debate

Give the class a motion with real bite: "Summer holidays are too long," "Homework does more harm than good," or "Online learning beats the classroom." Teams prepare arguments, then debate with rebuttals while the class votes on the most convincing side. Among conversation activities ESL classes remember, a good debate produces the richest, most spontaneous language of all.

Online: Put each team in its own breakout room to prepare, then debate in the main room with the motion on screen.

9. Class Time Capsule

Level: A2-C1 | Time: 15-20 min | Skills: Speaking, Explaining, Reasoning

The class imagines sealing a time capsule to open at the end of the year. Each student proposes one item that represents who they are or what they hope for this term, and explains why. The group then negotiates which items make the final cut. It blends personal sharing with persuasion and consensus-building, all in English.

Online: Collect suggestions in a shared doc or the chat, then discuss which items make the final capsule.

10. Opinion Corners

Level: A2-C2 | Time: 15 min | Skills: Speaking, Agreeing and Disagreeing

Read out opinion statements about school and learning ("Mistakes are the best way to learn," "Grades matter more than effort"). Students move to a corner of the room labelled agree, disagree, or not sure, then defend their position to the others there. It gets bodies moving, opinions flowing, and every student committed to a stance they have to justify.

Online: Replace the physical corners with reactions, a poll, or asking students to type 1 to 4 in the chat, then have them defend their choice.

For a ready-made lesson on the new-term mindset, Back-To-School Season (B2-C1, 60 min) explores study motivation and back-to-school vocabulary through video and discussion.

Tips to Get Even Quiet Students Talking

Give thinking time: Let students plan or note ideas before they speak. A minute of quiet preparation produces far more confident talk.

Start in pairs, not whole class: Pair and small-group talk feels safe. Move to whole-class sharing only once students have warmed up.

Model first: Do the activity yourself before asking students to. It clarifies the task and shows you are willing to share too.

Hold error correction: In the first weeks, prioritise fluency over accuracy. Note errors for later rather than interrupting the flow.

Turn a Rusty Class into a Talking Class

The goal of these back to school speaking activities is simple: get students using English again before they have time to feel nervous about it. Recap the summer to reactivate what they know, look ahead to the term to give the course direction, and keep the pressure low so everyone finds their voice.

Pick two or three that fit your class, run them in the first week, and you will spend the rest of the term building on momentum instead of fighting silence.

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Speaking-led lessons to try next:

Summer Nostalgia (B1-B2, 60 min): Students reflect on and talk through the summer just gone.
First-day Nerves (A2-B1, 60 min): Students talk through first-day jitters and share experiences.
Back-To-School Season (B2-C1, 60 min): Study motivation and back-to-school vocabulary through video.

Explore the full library of ready-made lessons at esllaboratory.com.