Compiled ESL Activities - Activity Directions - Updated Sept 13th, 2014

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COMPILED ESL ACTIVITIES

Collated Learning Materials for all levels.

9/13/2014

Compiled by Edward Pye


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Foreword This book is a collection of EAL activities, warmers, reviews, games, time-fillers and games that I have compiled in my time as a language teacher. Some were created by me, but most are passed on from many teachers I have worked with. Determining their origin was a lot of extra work, so please excuse the lack of referencing. This book is not for profit, but simply for passing on ideas and making prep easier for teachers. Most activities have a specific focus, but many can be adapted for different themes, levels, cultures, ages and duration. What works in one classroom may not work in another, so making these activities appropriate/relevant to your students, I leave up to you. This book also has a matching Supplementary Materials book that has all the handouts that match with these activities. Enjoy.


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Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................... 1

Introductions & Ice Breakers ................................................................................................. 11

1. SNOWBALL FIGHT – Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking/Energy Boost .............................................. 11

2. LIAR LIAR – Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking/Creative Thinking ..................................................... 11

3. TIMELINES – Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking ................................................................................. 12

4 CLASSIFICATIONS – Introductions/Idioms ............................................................................................... 12

5. TOILET PAPER ICEBREAKER –Speaking .................................................................................................... 13

6. YOUR LOGO – Introductions/Art/Being Creative .................................................................................... 13

7. CONCLUSIONS – Introductions/Speaking/Writing/Visual Comprehension ............................................ 13

8. JOHARI’S WINDOW – intros/personal info/speaking ............................................................................. 14

9. STRING INTRO - Speaking ........................................................................................................................ 16

10. POCKET PRESENTATION – Introductions/Speaking .............................................................................. 16

11. THREE IN COMMON – Introductions/Conversation ............................................................................. 16

12. RAINBOW CONVERSATION STARTER – Introductions/Warmer/Conversation..................................... 17

13. YOUR FAVORITES – Introductions/Warmer .......................................................................................... 18

14. RANDOM QUESTION – Introductions/Conversation ........................................................................... 19

15. COMMON BOND – Introductions/speaking .......................................................................................... 20

16. CHALLENGE - Introductions.................................................................................................................. 20

Energy Boosting Warmers ....................................................................................................... 21

17. HOT SEAT - Review/Warmer/Energy Boost ......................................................................................... 21

18. MOLECULES – Warmer/Speaking/Making Questions/Energy Boost .................................................... 21

19. NO YES, NO NO GAME – Speaking/Energy Boost ................................................................................. 22

20. MOVE YOUR BUTT – Speaking/Listening/ Energy Boost ....................................................................... 22

21. LINE UPS – warmer/review/active ........................................................................................................ 23

22. HUMAN KNOT – Warmer/Energy Boost ............................................................................................... 24

23. DARLING, I LOVE YOU... – Warmer/Active/Fun .................................................................................... 24

24. FIND YOUR PARTNER – Comprehension/Fun/Energy Boost................................................................. 25

25. BODY BUILDER – Warmer/Review/Speaking ........................................................................................ 25

Quick Warmers & Reviews .......................................................................................................................... 26

26. QUESTION OF THE DAY – Warmer/Review/Speaking ........................................................................... 26

27. WORD OF THE DAY – Warmer/Review/Speaking ................................................................................. 26

28. ON THE WEEKEND – Warmer/Speaking ............................................................................................... 27


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29. ACROSTICS – Warmer/Vocabulary/Speaking ........................................................................................ 28

30. NEW WORDS – Warmer/Vocabulary .................................................................................................... 28

31. SHOUT OUT – Warmer/Review/Speaking............................................................................................. 28

32. ANYTHING GOES – Warmer/Speaking .................................................................................................. 29

33. MISSING LETTERS –Vocabulary/Critical Thinking .................................................................................. 29

34. PICTIONARY – Warmer/Review/Fun/Vocabulary ................................................................................. 30

35. DRAW/SPEAK/ACT – Warmer/Review/Fun/Vocab ............................................................................... 30

36. NAME SIX – Warmer/Review/Fun ........................................................................................................ 30

37. FRONT TO BACK – Warmer/Review/Vocab/Time Filler ........................................................................ 31

38. WORD ASSOCIATIONS – Warmer/Vocab/Time Filler ............................................................................ 31

39. WHAT AM I DOING? – Active/Comprehension/Energy Boost .............................................................. 32

40. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? – Warmer/Speaking ...................................................................................... 32

41. THE MOON IS ROUND – Fun/Comprehension ...................................................................................... 32

42. THE MEMORY GAME – Warmer/Review/Fun/Vocab ........................................................................... 33

43. THE CATEGORY GAME – Warmer/Review/Fun ..................................................................................... 33

44. OUTBRAG – speaking/present perfect .................................................................................................. 33

45. COMPOUND WORDS – Vocab/Review/Time Filler ............................................................................... 34

46. BATTLE THE BAG – Warmer/Review/Vocab/Fun .................................................................................. 34

47. TOURNAMENT KNOCKOUT – Warmer/Review/Fun ............................................................................. 34

48. TABOO - Review/Warmer ..................................................................................................................... 35

49. STORE SNAP - Review/Vocabulary ........................................................................................................ 35

50. BALL BOMB – Speaking/Energy Boost .................................................................................................. 36

51. JUMBLED SENTENCES – Warmer/Review/Time Filler ........................................................................... 36

52. SENTENCE RACE – Warmer/Review/Writing ........................................................................................ 36

53. SENTENCES of 3 – Fun/Sentence formation/Concentration ................................................................ 37

54. MEGA MEMORY – Review/Warmer/Vocab/Memory........................................................................... 37

Longer Warm-up/Review Activities .................................................................................. 38

55. FIND SOMEONE WHO – Warmer/Speaking/Review/Energy Boost ...................................................... 38

56. TRADING SENTENCES – Review/Energy Boost /Grammar .................................................................... 38

57. AGREE OR DISAGREE – speaking/debating ........................................................................................... 39

58. ODD ONE OUT – Warmer/Creative Thinking/Vocab ............................................................................ 39

59. READ N RUN – Warmer/ Reading/Writing/Speaking/Listening ............................................................ 39


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60. CONSTRAINED WRITING – Warmer/Writing/Creative Thinking ........................................................... 40

61. 20 QUESTIONS –Speaking/Listening ..................................................................................................... 41

62. JEOPARDY – Warmer/Review/Fun/Question Formation ...................................................................... 43

63. DICTOGLOSS –Listening/Team-Work/Writing ..................................................................................... 43

64. TELEPATHS – Warmer/Review/Vocabulary .......................................................................................... 44

65. I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT – Warmer/Speaking/Time .......................................................................... 44

66. SPOT THE DIFFERENCE – Communicating/Prepositions/Vocabulary ................................................... 45

67. CIRCLE OF DEATH – Review/Energy-Boost ........................................................................................... 46

68. FAMILY FEUD – Vocab/Review/Warmer ............................................................................................... 48

69. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR /1 MIN SPEECH– Speaking/Listening/Comprehension ................................. 48

70. ROTATING STORY-TELLER – warmer/creative/story-telling/speaking .................................................. 49

71. SCATTEGORIES –Warmer/Vocabulary .................................................................................................. 49

72. WRITE/DRAW/WRITE –Warmer/Comprehension/Drawing ................................................................. 50

73. GAME OF THINGS –Writing/Comprehension/Speaking/Fun ................................................................ 51

74. REPETITION/HESITATION/CORRECTION – Speaking/Listening/Comprehension .................................. 52

75. PICTURE STORIES – Information Gap/Speaking/Comprehension ......................................................... 52

76. WHAT’S SUITABLE? - Speaking/Warmer/Interviews ............................................................................ 53

77. TALKING CARDS – Speaking/Sentence Formation ................................................................................ 53

78. MAGAZINE TREASURE – warmer/review/speaking/reasoning ............................................................. 53

79. BOARD BOGGLE – warmer/vocab/fun .................................................................................................. 54

80. WHAT’D HE SAY? – Warmer/Sentence Formation/Review .................................................................. 54

81. IMPOSSIBLE – Warmer/Speaking .......................................................................................................... 55

82. WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN… – Warmer/Speaking ................................................................................ 56

83. BATTLESHIPS – Warmer/Review/Sentence Making ............................................................................. 57

84. SENTENCE RELAY – Warmer/Review .................................................................................................... 58

85. ANSWER ME – warmer/speaking/Q&A ................................................................................................ 58

86. KEY WORD – warmer/speaking/listening ............................................................................................. 59

87. SELF TRIVIA – review/question formation ............................................................................................ 60

88. THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE – Speaking/Comprehension/Active .......................................................... 60

89. STRIP STORIES – Speaking/Q&A ............................................................................................................ 61

90. QUICK REPLIES – Speaking in casual situations ..................................................................................... 62

91. VOCAB 369 – vocabulary/sentence formation ..................................................................................... 63


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92. I LOVE MY LOVE – Vocabulary/Writing ................................................................................................. 63

93. COMMUNICATION RACE – Warmer/Energy Boost ............................................................................... 64

94. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE –Warmer/Speaking ........................................................................................... 65

95. SILENT COMMUNICATION – Warmer/Comprehension ........................................................................ 66

96. 1 MINUTE SPEECH –Speaking/Listening ............................................................................................... 67

97. FINISH THE SENTENCE – Reading Review/Critical Thinking .................................................................. 67

98. PICTURE VOCAB ROTATION RACE – Warmer/Vocab/Review/Energy Boost ........................................ 68

99. SENTENCE GRIDS – Warmer/Review/Filler ........................................................................................... 68

100. KILLER – Warmer/Review/Fun ............................................................................................................ 68

101. THE MESSAGE KING - Review/Technology ......................................................................................... 69

102. STORY TELLER – Speaking/Writing/Sentence formation/Creative Thinking ...................................... 69

103. OUTBURST – Warmer/Vocabulary ...................................................................................................... 70

104. ROTATION REVIEW BOARD GAME – Review/Speaking ...................................................................... 70

105. WHISPERS – Warmer/Review ............................................................................................................. 71

106. WHISPER/DRAW/WHISPER/DRAW – Warmer/Review ...................................................................... 71

107. CONNECTIONS – Warmer/Review ...................................................................................................... 72

108. VOCAB DOMINOS – Warmer/Review ................................................................................................. 72

109. RE-REPORTING – 3rd person/speaking ................................................................................................ 73

110. SOLUTION RACE – “would you like…” ................................................................................................. 73

111. WANT/HAVE/NEED STRIKEOUT – warmer/grammar ......................................................................... 74

112. NEGATIVE/POSITIVE GIFTS – like/don’t like ........................................................................................ 75

113. GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS TENNIS – speaking/idiom ........................................................................... 75

114. VOCAB SCAVENGER HUNT – vocabulary/comprehension .................................................................. 76

115. AGREE TO DISAGREE – speaking/opinions .......................................................................................... 77

116. Q&A ROTATION - speaking ................................................................................................................. 77

Theme-Focused Activities ........................................................................................................ 78

117. MURDER – speaking/indirect questioning .......................................................................................... 78

118. SPEED DATING – speaking/Q&A ......................................................................................................... 79

119. MYSTERY BOX – Speaking/Senses ....................................................................................................... 80

120. PERSUADE ME – Warmer/Speaking/Persuasion/Marketing .............................................................. 80

121. LYRIC RELAY GRAB – Listening/Music ................................................................................................. 81

122. THE LOVE TESTER – Comprehension/personality/relationships ........................................................ 81


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123. THE LOVE TESTER 2 - Comprehension/Personality/Relationships...................................................... 83

124. HELLO VAN GOUGH – Art/Giving Directions/Prepositions ................................................................. 84

125. CLASSROOM ART GALLERY – Art/Speaking/Comprehension ............................................................. 84

126. SCAVENGER HUNT – Warmer/Review/Active .................................................................................... 85

127. THE NEWLYWED GAME – Warmer/Speaking/Question Formation ................................................... 85

128. MAFIA – warmer/speaking/reasoning/crime ..................................................................................... 86

129. TRAVELOCITY – Travel/comparative-superlative/money/presentation ............................................. 87

130. VENUS AND MARS – Gender Differences/Q&A .................................................................................. 88

131. DETECTIVE –Creative Thinking/Speaking/Crime ................................................................................. 88

132. CULTURAL EXPLORERS – cultural differences/speaking/comprehension .......................................... 89

133. TRAVEL THE WORLD – travel dialogues/Role-play game .................................................................... 91

134. WHAT WILL THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? –Speaking/Drawing/The Future ............................................. 92

135. PUSH & PULL – Speaking/Influencing/Q&A ........................................................................................ 93

136. CAN YOU FOLLOW DIRECTIONS? – Reading Comprehension/Following Directions .......................... 94

137. WEEKLY BUS –Time/Active ................................................................................................................. 95

138. THE LOVE DOCTOR – Warmer/Speaking/Relationship Problems ....................................................... 95

139. CRIMINAL INTENT – Writing/Crime/Speaking .................................................................................... 96

140. PEOPLE WHO – Speaking/Opinions .................................................................................................... 97

141. PERFECT MATCH – dating/speaking.................................................................................................... 99

142. EASY PERSONALITY QUIZ – comprehension/reasoning/personality .................................................. 99

143. FLAWS AND QUALITIES – intros/speaking/writing ........................................................................... 100

144. CELEBRITY PAIRS –Speaking/Listening/Entertainment ..................................................................... 100

145. FEMININE OR MASCULINE – Gender/Personality/Speaking ............................................................. 101

146. WORLD CONQUEST – speaking/strategy game/positives & negatives ............................................ 102

147. BUILDING THE EE’MO – Culture/Problem Solving/Team Work/Speaking ........................................ 104

148. SOCIABILITY PERSONALITY TEST – speaking/personalities/comprehension .................................... 105

149. WHAT KIND OF STUDENT ARE YOU? – study styles .......................................................................... 107

150. ZOOM – Information Gap/Speaking ................................................................................................. 108

151. GREEN CARD – speaking/questioning/Q&A/dating .......................................................................... 108

152. TOUR GUIDE – speaking/tourism ...................................................................................................... 109

153. VALENTINE’S – personality/writing/speaking ................................................................................... 109

154. INTERVIEW GAME - Q&A/speaking/jobs .......................................................................................... 109


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155. WE ARE THE WORLD – warmer/active/geography ........................................................................... 110

156. CALENDAR PUZZLE – Problem Solving/Time ..................................................................................... 110

157. STAND UP AND BE COUNTED – Advanced Warmer ......................................................................... 111

158. REAL LAW/FAKE LAW – Creative/teamwork/reasoning/laws .......................................................... 112

159. CONVINCE ME – Warmer/Speaking/Persuasion............................................................................... 113

160. PROVE IT – warmer/speaking/Q&A .................................................................................................. 113

161. WEEKLY BUS –Time/Active ............................................................................................................... 113

162. HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING – Hypothetical Choices/Speaking ....................................................... 114

163. ALIBI – Warmer/Speaking/Crime ...................................................................................................... 114

164. VIDEO MATCHUP – Visual Comprehension ...................................................................................... 115

165. ENGLISH POKER – warmer/vocab/sentence formation .................................................................... 115

166. THE FORTUNE TELLER – future tense/review/vocab/”want to” ....................................................... 116

167. EASY QUIZ QUESTIONS – trivia/comprehension ............................................................................... 117

168. STRATEGY AUCTION – Speaking/Reasoning/Art ............................................................................... 118

Problem Solving & Creative Thinking ............................................................................ 119

169. SURVIVAL ISLAND – Creative Thinking/Reasoning/Speaking ........................................................... 119

170. SURVIVOR NASA – speaking/reasoning ............................................................................................ 119

171. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? – Visual Comprehension/Speaking/Future Tense ................................... 120

172. WORD PUZZLES – Parallel Thinking/Warmer .................................................................................... 120

173. PARALLEL THINKING –Speaking/Comprehension/Question Formation ........................................... 120

174. PARALLEL THINKING #2 – Creative Thinking/Speaking/Comprehension ......................................... 121

175. APOCALYPSE – Creative/Critical Thinking ......................................................................................... 122

176. BLUEPRINTS – Creating & following directions/comprehension/”should” ...................................... 122

177. THEM’S THE RULES – permission/speaking/brainstorming .............................................................. 123

178. PAPER AIRPLANE PREPOSITIONS – creating instructions/comprehension ....................................... 124

179. PLASTIC CUP PYRAMID – warmer/team work .................................................................................. 124

180. RIDDLE ME THIS - Parallel Thinking/Comprehension/Riddles ......................................................... 125

181. DROP THE EGG – Fun/Active/Team Work ........................................................................................ 126

182. RANSOM NOTE – sentence formation/creative ............................................................................... 126

183. ASSOCIATION PUZZLE – word connections/vocab ........................................................................... 127

184. VACATION CARDS – Story Telling/Speaking/Comprehension .......................................................... 128

185. 3 PICTURE STORY – story telling/team work .................................................................................... 129


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186. ANIMALS FOR A DAY – Creative Thinking/Schedules/Writing .......................................................... 129

187. MY WIKIPEDIA – Writing/creative thinking ...................................................................................... 130

188. HEROES AND VILLIANS – creative/speaking/reasoning/superheroes .............................................. 131

189. CLASS ELECTIONS – politics/creative thinking/writing ..................................................................... 132

190. MAKE YOUR OWN COMPANY – Creative/Team Work/Q&A ............................................................ 133

191. MAKE YOUR OWN COUNTRY – Creative/Team Work/Presenting .................................................... 134

192. MAKE YOUR OWN GAME – Creative/Team Work ............................................................................ 134

193. MAKE YOUR OWN NEWS CAST – Creative/Team Work/Role-Play ................................................... 134

194. MAKE YOUR OWN RESTAURANT – Creative/Team Work/Role-Play ................................................ 135

195. MAKE YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER– Creative/Writing .......................................................................... 136

196. CREATE A FACEBOOK GROUP – Writing/comprehension ................................................................. 137

Grammar Focused Activities ................................................................................................. 138

197. SENTENCE AUCTION – error identification & correction/grammar.................................................. 138

198. OBEY MY ORDER –Time Phrases/Writing/Speaking ......................................................................... 138

199. COMPARATIVE DICE –Comparatives/Sentence Formation .............................................................. 139

200. I HAVE NEVER – Present Perfect/Speaking/Comprehension ............................................................ 139

201. DILEMMA – “Would you rather”/Reasoning/Speaking .................................................................... 140

202. PAST TENSE ACCUSATIONS – Past Progressive/Speaking ................................................................. 141

203. ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY CALLOUT – grammar/review .................................................................. 142

204. PRESENT PERFECT REPAIRS – Modeling present perfect/review ..................................................... 142

205. 3 PART SENTENCES – sentence formation/review/grammar ........................................................... 143

206. CRAZY COMPARATIVES – Grammar/ Comparatives/Speaking ......................................................... 143

207. ENGLISH RUMMY – Vocab/sentence formation ............................................................................... 144

208. COMPARATIVE CLUES – grammar/ comparatives/speaking/comprehension .................................. 145

209. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES – “If I was – I would“/sentence formation ........................................... 145

210. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES 2 - “If I was – I would“/sentence formation ......................................... 145

211. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES 3 - “If I was – I would“/sentence formation ......................................... 146

212. PASS THE COUNTABLES – Count/Non Count .................................................................................... 146

213. ERASER MADNESS – Grammar/Sentence Structure Review ............................................................ 146

214. PERMISSION CARD GRAB –Grammar/Specific Language ................................................................. 147

215. PRESENT CONTINUOUS MIMES – Present Continuous/Active/Comprehension .............................. 148

216. PRESENT CONTINUOUS SOUNDS – present continuous/active/comprehension ............................. 148


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217. PASTCONTINUOUS FREEZE – past continuous/active/review .......................................................... 149

218. SUBJUNCTIVE ASSOCIATIONS – Warmer/Speaking/Grammar ......................................................... 149

219. PRESENT CONTINUOUS SHOUT OUT – Brainstorming/present continuous ..................................... 150

220. PRESENT CONTINUOUS ARTIST – Present Continuous/Comprehension .......................................... 150

221. SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT ARTIST – Comprehension/Sentence Formation/Review ............................ 150

222. PRESENT CONTINUOUS MAGAZINE SEARCH – Present Continuous/Listening ................................ 151

223. NOT GETTING THROUGH – Present Continuous/Speaking/Making Appointments ......................... 151

224. PREFERENCE BINGO – “I prefer…” .................................................................................................... 151

225. PRESENT CONTINUOUS DIARIES – Speaking/Making Appointments ............................................... 152

226. TIME ZONES – Present Continuous/Listening/Comprehension/Speaking........................................ 152

227. GAMBLING GRAMMAR – Error Identification ................................................................................... 153

228. LOST AND FOUND – Possessive Pronouns/Sentence Formation/Speaking ...................................... 153

229. PRESENT PERFECT SCAVENGER HUNT –Active/comprehension/present perfect ............................ 154

230. THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT - Sentence Formation/Vocab Association ........................................ 154

231. ADVERB CHARADES – Adverbs/Comprehension/Sentence Formation ............................................ 155

232. GO/PLAY/DO – grammar/speaking ................................................................................................... 155

233. BOUNCE – Future tense/Speaking/Review ....................................................................................... 156

234. PERSONAL PRONOUNS BATTLESHIP – pronouns/introductions/review .......................................... 157

235. WORD CONNECTORS - Grammar/Connecting Words ...................................................................... 158

Pronunciation & Intonation .................................................................................................. 159

236. TOUNGE TWISTERS – speaking/pronunciation/fun .......................................................................... 159

237. NUMBERS PRONUNCIATION – pronunciation/comprehension ....................................................... 160

238. PRONUNCIATION COUNT DOWN – Pronunciation ........................................................................... 161

239. BANANA BANANA – Pronunciation/Intonation/Fun ........................................................................ 162

240. KNOCK ON WOOD PRONUNCIATION – pronunciation/reading ....................................................... 162

241. INTONATION FUN – warmer/pronunciation ..................................................................................... 163

242. THE ACTOR’S VOICE – Pronunciation/Intonation ............................................................................. 164

Role-Plays .......................................................................................................................................... 165

243. EMOTION/SITUATION MATCH UP – Speaking/Role-play/Creative Thinking .................................... 165

244. COMPLAINT MENU – complaining/role-play/speaking .................................................................... 165

245. ROLE-PLAYS – Role-Play/Speaking/Reasoning .................................................................................. 166

246. PLAYING HOUSE – Role-Plays/Medicine/Doctors/Symptoms .......................................................... 168


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247. LISTED ROLE PLAYS – Role-Plays/Speaking/Opinions ....................................................................... 170

248. AGATHA’S WILL - role-play/creative/speaking ................................................................................. 173

249. A SHOPPER’S NIGHTMARE – Role-play/Shopping ............................................................................ 174

Mental Stimulation ...................................................................................................................... 175

250. BRAIN BUTTONS – mental stimulation ............................................................................................. 175

251. CROSS CRAWL – mental stimulation ................................................................................................. 175

252. REBEL FOOT – mental stimulation/fun/warmer ............................................................................... 175

253. HOOK UPS – mental stimulation ....................................................................................................... 176


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Introductions & Ice Breakers

1. SNOWBALL FIGHT – Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking/Energy Boost

Summary:

Fun and active introduction game. Level/age:

Intermediate – advanced class (4 or more.)

Theme:

Basic introduction sentences (or other.)

Skills:

Sentence formation and Q&A

Materials: 3-4 Small pieces of paper for each student to use as snowballs.

Time:

20-30min

This game is good for a class warmer or an introduction activity. Give students 3 pieces of scrap paper and have them write 1 thing about themselves on each piece. The information can be anything but you may want to model some grammar on the board for the students first “I am from __________” or “My favorite hobby is _________” To make the game more interesting have them write more interesting sentences about themselves. Once that is finished tell the students that they are going to have a snowball fight – they must screw up their pieces of paper and throw them at each other. Give them a minute or so and let the chaos ensue – make sure the pieces of paper get thoroughly distributed around the class. Once the minute is up tell them each to pick up 3 pieces of paper. They must open the paper and find the students that those sentences belong to by going around and asking questions. The first student to find all 3 is the winner.

2. LIAR LIAR – Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking/Creative Thinking

Summary:

Students must pick who is lying and who is telling the truth.

Level/age:

Intermediate-advanced (adult)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, questioning

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Have all the students in the class write 3 true but strange or interesting statements about themselves that no one else would know on a piece of paper along with their names. e.g. I was in a rock band or I met Brad Pitt... Students should write their name on the paper but not to show their sentences to anyone else, they are a secret...Collect all the pieces of paper and divide the class into 3 or 4 teams. To start the game you need to call up to the front of the class one student from each team. From the pieces of paper choose the statements from 1 of the students at the front and read them aloud without saying who they belong to. All the students at the front then have to pretend that those statements are theirs while the rest of the class has to find out who the statements actually belong to. Each team gets to ask one question to each of the students to try and trip them up on the truth of the statements. Each team then guesses which student they think the statements belong to and get points for the correct answer.


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3. TIMELINES – Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking

Summary:

Students write up their personal timelines.

Level/age:

high beginner – advanced classes

Theme:

Introductions/past tense Skills:

Targets introduction language, time prepositions, other basic vocab etc.

Materials: Paper for the students, tape, scissors Time:

40mins+

Before class, teachers prepare a timeline of their life. Teachers show their example, explain the idea, give the students paper, and have them prepare one. Tell students to list at least five or six events and not to put their names on the timelines. Collect them, when the students finish, number them, and tape the time lines up around the room. Students then need to walk around the room and interview each other to determine which timeline belongs to which classmate. Students can ask either open ended information questions (When were you born?) or yes/no questions (Did you get your first kiss in 1995?), but cannot ask the interviewee's number. After students have determined which timeline belongs to which student, or after a set time, remove the timelines from the walls and ask students who is who. Alternately, this activity can be done with any information that you want to extract from the students. They could write short bios, stories about their experiences or things they want to do in the future. The possibilities are endless.

4 CLASSIFICATIONS – Introductions/Idioms

Summary:

Students examine the line between stereotypes and generalities

Level/age:

High Intermediate – Advanced (All ages)

Theme:

Classifying people, objective information

Skills:

Materials: - Time:

The classification game can be a quick icebreaker or a more complex activity. For the purposes of this example, we will treat this activity as a quick icebreaker. Before splitting the room into teams of four, explain the concept of “pigeon-holing someone,” which means classifying someone as something or stereotyping someone. You can also explain other idioms that describe people, “night owls” for example. It should be made clear that this type of classification is subjective and sometimes judgmental. Instruct the participants to introduce themselves to those in their team and quickly discuss some of their likes, dislikes, etc. After the introductions, reveal to the teams that it will be their job to discover how they should classify themselves- as a team- into two or three subgroups by using criteria that contains no negative, prejudicial, or discriminatory judgments. Examples of these subgroups can include night owls, morning people, pizza lovers, couch potatoes, gamers , homebodies, B-Boys, movie lovers etc. To extend this activity, students can then rotate into different teams, explain their classifications and then find new ones in their new teams.


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5. TOILET PAPER ICEBREAKER –Speaking

Summary:

Fun introduction method for any level.

Level/age:

Any level.

Theme:

Introducing yourself. Skills:

Sentence formation.

Materials: Roll of toilet paper. Time:

20 min+ depending on number of students.

Take a roll of toilet paper to class and instruct each student to take as many sheets of the roll as they like. Students will often be cheeky and take lots, however the joke will be on them because once everyone has their sheets of paper, they have to say one thing about themselves in English for each sheet. This activity can be done with Jelly Beans, cards, almost anything.

6. YOUR LOGO – Introductions/Art/Being Creative

Summary:

A self-describing activity using personal logos.

Level/age:

intermediate – advanced classes

Theme:

self-descriptive language Skills:

Creative thinking & Speaking

Materials: Paper and pencil Time:

20min+

Each person is given a blank name tag. Explain to the group that corporations are recognized by a specific logo or symbol. (McDonalds arches, 3M, Apple Computer's Apple, etc.) They are given 5 minutes to draw their personal logo. This logo should reflect their personality, their interests, major or anything they would like other people to know about them. Then give the group time to mingle and see what each other’s logo looks like. When it looks like the entire group has mixed, instruct everybody with a similar logo to form a small group. You may be surprised at how many similarities there are in your group.

7. CONCLUSIONS – Introductions/Speaking/Writing/Visual Comprehension

Summary:

Students draw conclusions from props

Level/age:

Intermediate-advanced (all ages)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Visual comprehension, Speaking, Writing

Materials: Props from home Time:

40mins+

This activity works well as a review for the phrase “drawing a conclusion” but is also good as an introduction activity. Have all the students bring a prop to class. Something that reveals something interesting about that student – a photo is good but make sure that student doesn’t appear in the photo. Put the props around the room and then in small groups have students go to each one and draw a conclusion about who the owner might be and what the object says about them. Have them write down their conclusions and then bring the class together and see which team was the most accurate.


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8. JOHARI’S WINDOW – intros/personal info/speaking

Summary:

Students divide info about them into categories

Level/age:

intermediate - advanced

Theme:

Self-evaluation Skills:

Speaking, Q&A

Materials: - Time:

30mins

This is an exercise which increases self-awareness by encouraging sharing, self-disclosure and feedback. Start by drawing the following diagram of Johari's Window on a flip chart: (diagram below) Now ask the participants to draw their own Johari Windows on a sheet of paper and to fill the panes with:

Information about themselves they want to share, or

Aspects of themselves that they would like feedback on

Areas that they would like to explore. For example, in Pane 1, they could list things that are generally known about themselves — hobbies etc. This could form the basis for an open sharing or introductory session. In Pane 2, they could identify the feedback they would like to receive about their behaviour, mannerisms etc. This could form the basis for small-group sessions. Pane 3 could include aspects of themselves that they have not told anyone before, but they might be willing to share during a one-to-one or small-group session. Pane 4 could include areas that they would like to explore in a counselling session or with the help of the group — their future, how they would react in a particular situation...


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JOHARI’S WINDOW

Pane 1

Things I Know About Me

Things Others Know

Pane 2

Things Others Know

Things I Don't Know

Pane 3

Things I Know

Things Others Don't Know

Pane 4

Things I Don't Know

Things Others Don't Know


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9. STRING INTRO - Speaking

Summary:

Introduction activity for the whole class.

Level/age:

Beginner – advanced classes, any age.

Theme:

Introductions. Skills:

Sentence and question formation.

Materials: Ball of string. Time:

20min

Put the students in a circle. You hold the yarn and introduce yourself. "My name is _____. I am your teacher. I am from _____ etc." Then hold on to the end of the string and throw the yarn to a student across from you. He then introduces himself and throws the yarn to another student, while holding the string. The game continues until everyone is holding the string. The second round I have them throw the string back to the person that threw it to them and ask that person a question relating to their 1st sentence while rolling the ball back up.

10. POCKET PRESENTATION – Introductions/Speaking

Summary:

Creative speaking activity Level/age:

Intermediate +

Theme:

How your things relate to you Skills:

Speaking

Materials: Anything in your pocket Time:

15-30

Have everyone in the group select one (optionally two) items from their pocket or purse that has some personal significance to them. They introduce themselves and do a show and tell for the selected item and explain why it is important to them.

11. THREE IN COMMON – Introductions/Conversation

Summary:

An active fact finding activity Level/age:


Theme:

Personal details Skills:

Speaking, comprehension

Materials: - Time:

10-20min+

Break into groups of three. The objective is for each group to find three things they have in common, but not usual things like age, gender or hair color; three uncommon things. After allowing 5 – 10 minutes to converse, each group shares with the larger group the three things they have common. You can change groups around to make it last longer.


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12. RAINBOW CONVERSATION STARTER – Introductions/Warmer/Conversation

Summary:

Color based intro and speaking activity

Level/age:

high intermediate – advanced classes

Theme:

Personal opinions and ideas. Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

10-20 min

The object of this small group exercise is to get the group to quickly meet the other members. The facilitator calls out a color of the rainbow: - for example RED:

Red: typically is the stop/turn- off color - each member talks about something that is an obstacle in their life

Orange: is the motivation color - what motivates them

Yellow: is the inspiration or creativity color - what was the best idea they've had

Green: is the money color - what they plan to do for money, or the dumbest thing they ever did for money.

Blue: is the sky's the limit color - what is your favorite fantasy about your future?

Indigo: is an odd or different color - what is the most daring thing they ever did.

Purple: is the color of royalty - if you were ruler of the universe for a day - what is the first thing you would do?


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13. YOUR FAVORITES – Introductions/Warmer

Summary:

A quick game to discover student’s favorite things.

Level/age:


Theme:

Favourite’s Skills:

Writing and reading.

Materials: Pieces of paper Time: 15-25min

What/who/where is/are/was/were your favorite:

A. Animal, Actor/Actress, Album

B. Biopic, Body Part, Blog, Breakfast, Band

C. Country, City, Culture, Clothing, Comic

D. Dream, Dinner, Date, Dance, Drink

E. Exercise, English Word, Educational Institute

F. Food, Free-time Activity, Film, Family Member

G. Game, Grammar Point, Grandparent

H. Happy Memory, Historical Figure, Hobby, Hemisphere

I. International Airport, Invention, Instrument, Ice Cream

J. Japanese Dish, Jargon, Journalist, Job

K. King, Knot, Kind Act

L. Laugh, Love Story, Location, Lunch, Language

M. Magic Trick, Magazine, Music, Mysterious Event

N. Noise, Nut, Night Time Activity,

O. Occupation, Outside Activity, Odour, Organic Food

P. Poem or Poet, Place, Police Show, Politician, Phone

Q. Quote , Quiz Question, Quarter of the year

R. Roast Meal, Reggae Song, Recreational Activity, Restaurant

S. Song, Singer, Sport, Sportsperson, Superhero

T. Form of Travel, TV Show, Tool, Teacher

U. “Underdog” Story, University, Unique Talent, Upmarket Store

V. Vacation Spot, Vehicle, Villain, Voice

W. Kind of Weather, Water Sport, Word, Work

X. Music Mix, Flex, Example of a Role-model, Extreme Sport

Y. Young Performer, Yoga Position, Yearly Activity, Yoghurt

Z. Zoo, Zombie Movie, Pizza

One student chooses a letter and then each student in the group writes down an answer for each of the favorites. The cards are shuffled and redistributed. Each student reads aloud the card they picked up and the group discusses who might have written it. Students write their guesses and the most correct guesses is the winner.


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14. RANDOM QUESTION – Introductions/Conversation

Summary:

Alternative introduction activity Level/age:

High intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Finding out about more in-depth things about people.

Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

15-40min

“Random Question” is just a set of more in-depth introduction questions that you can use instead of the same old tired “What’s your hobby?” questions. It should promote discussion and give students a better understanding of other student’s personalities. You can use these like a survey or write them all up on the board and have students answer them randomly. (Works better with older and more advanced students.)

Did you have a happy childhood?

When do you tell white lies? Tell us one.

The most capable person in your country?

Favorite novelist?

Proudest moment?

Worst moment? (last week if necessary)

Most hated song/music at the moment?

The last piece of music you bought?

Were you good at school?

The greatest influence on you? (parents, friends ...)

Current bedside reading material?

Where will you go when you die?

What do you admire most about yourself?

One of your main faults?

A small crime you once committed? (anything at all)

Music you would like played at your funeral?


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15. COMMON BOND – Introductions/speaking

Summary:

Introductions activity Level/age:

All levels

Theme:

Common bonds Skills:

Speaking, personal descriptions

Materials: several different colored pieces of paper

Time:

20 – 40mins

Introduce the game by showing students how to write introductory sentences about themselves; I am from New Zealand... I like playing soccer etc... Give each student several different colored pieces of paper (or playing cards, so one student gets all 2s, the next all 3s etc.) and explain the rules of the game. Each student must collect a piece of paper from all the other students by finding common bonds between them. Students must stand up and walk around the classroom asking other students about things that they might have in common. So student 1 might say “I have a part-time job, do you have a part-time job?” If student 2 answers yes then student 2 must give student 1 a piece of their paper. The first student to collect a piece of paper from all the other students is the winner. To make this game a little more difficult you might want to have rounds with different topics, for example – round 1 – hobbies. Round 2 – favorite music etc...

16. CHALLENGE - Introductions

Summary:

Card play game for introducing yourself.

Level/age:

High Beginner - advanced

Theme:

True or false Skills:

Speaking and comprehension

Materials: Cards Time:

25min+

Take a deck of cards and give each student an equal number of black and red cards (6 cards each is a good number, 3 black, 3 red.) The black cards are the truth cards and the red cards are the lie cards. When it is a student’s turn they must make a statement about themselves which is either a lie or the truth and then lay (face-down) one of the corresponding colored cards in the middle of the group. If they have laid down a red card they have told a lie and a black card they have told the truth. At this point the other students will not know if what the student said is the truth or a lie so they can do 1 of 2 things. 1 - they can assume what the student said is the truth and remain quiet in which case the card remains in the middle and the game moves to the next student OR 2. if they believe the student is lying they can challenge them by saying “challenge!” The student then flips the card – if the student is caught in a lie then they must take any cards that are in the middle, if they are telling the truth then the student who challenged must take the cards. The student to get rid of all their cards first is the winner.


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Energy Boosting Warmers

17. HOT SEAT - Review/Warmer/Energy Boost

Summary:

Fun and active review activity Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:


Materials: Chairs, board Time:

20mins +

Divide the class into 2 teams and put 2 chairs at the front of the class facing away from the board. One student from each team must come to the front and sit in the “Hot” seat. The teacher writes a word or sentence on the board (which the seated students cannot see) and then the other students in the team must try and explain this word to the seated students without using the word. The first team to get the answer gets the point and the team with the most points is the winner.

18. MOLECULES – Warmer/Speaking/Making Questions/Energy Boost

Summary:

Active Question and Answer Game Level/age:

Any Level (Under 30s)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Q&A

Materials: Large Space Time:

20-40mins

To begin this game, ask the students if they know what molecules are. Give them the example of H20 and once they’ve speculated, show them how hydrogen and oxygen are molecules and they come together to make water. Explain to the students that they are going to move around the classroom like molecules until the teacher yells out a number. If the number is 3, for example, the students should quickly make groups of 3. The students who cannot make groups of 3 are out and they must come up with a question for the other groups to answer – it can be any conversation question or something that reviews what you have been studying. Students who are already out should discuss amongst themselves. When they have discussed the question, quickly elicit some answers and then play another round with the students who are out moving to the side. The last 3 students remaining in the game are the winners.


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19. NO YES, NO NO GAME – Speaking/Energy Boost

Summary:

Students fool each other into saying yes or no.

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence Formation, speaking, alternative language use

Materials: Something to use as chips/tokens Time:

10-15min

Firstly, give each student a certain amount of chips or tokens that they will play with during the game. The students must stand up and go around the class asking questions to different students. Within each conversation the student must try and get the other student to say “yes” or “no.” If they can do this then the other student must give them one of their chips. The idea of the game is to get students thinking outside of the square and to answer with different responses than the usual yes or no which can be an easy trap to fall into.

20. MOVE YOUR BUTT – Speaking/Listening/ Energy Boost

Summary:

Present perfect sentence formation activity

Level/age:

intermediate – advanced

Theme:

present perfect language and past participles

Skills:

Speaking, listening comprehension

Materials: chairs Time:

20mins

Get all the students sitting on chairs in a circle then stand in the centre and say: "Swap chairs if you have been to Europe...” ‘eaten rice', 'seen a movie starring Tom Cruise'. If the students have 'been to Europe' (or whatever) they MUST swap chairs with another student who has also stood up. The first time they do this - stay where you are. The second time - quickly sit down in one of the free chairs - this of course leaves one student standing in the middle and now he/she has to say "Swap chairs if you have ever/never ...". As they play, the students will realize that the more general their sentence is the better, because more students will move. If only one student stands then they swap with the speaker, if no students stand the speaker just makes another sentence. This can be done with lots of different grammar points – present perfect works well but so does present continuous and present simple.


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21. LINE UPS – warmer/review/active

Summary:

Students line up in order to win Level/age:

beginner – advanced

Theme:

any kind of sequential language Skills:

Comprehension, organization

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Students must line up according to their position in any kind of sequential list. Put the students into 2 teams and have them line up in two parallel lines at the front of the class. The teacher gives a condition and the two teams have to line up in that order. Examples of order:

According to birthdate day/month/year

Height

People in family

hair/leg/arm/finger length

Hand/foot size

How many times you have done something – been skiing/seen a movie/spoken to your family this month etc

How many things you have (or had) – cars/boyfriends/girlfriends/money/cards in wallet/books in bag/Japanese meals etc

The last or first time you did something (by date)

How strongly 1-10 you agree with a statement


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22. HUMAN KNOT – Warmer/Energy Boost

Summary:

Students tangle and untangle themselves

Level/age:

Any

Theme:

Team work Skills:

Giving directions, teamwork

Materials: - Time:

10-15mins

Group students in teams of 5 or more students. Have them stand in a circle. Each student needs to put on hand into the middle and hold hands with another student. THE ONLY RULES ARE, YOU CANNOT HOLD HANDS WITH THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU and YOU CANNOT HOLD BOTH HANDS WITH THE SAME PERSON. After you are holding one hand, put your second hand in and hold someone else’s hand. Now, you have a 'Human Knot!'. The students need to try to untangle themselves WITHOUT letting go of their hands. Encourage them to use directions such as STEP OVER, GO UNDER, TURN AROUND, GO THROUGH. They will soon have the hang of it! The best part of this is when you say nothing at all! Join in and let them guide you. They love to play teams against teams, to see who can unknot themselves the quickest. There are only 2 ways to successfully 'UNKNOT'. 1. First, you will have one circle again, all hands joined but some may be facing inwards and others outwards. 2. Second, you will have two joined circles.

23. DARLING, I LOVE YOU... – Warmer/Active/Fun

Summary:

Students must make other students smile using the dialogue.

Level/age:


Theme:

Love Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

This one doesn’t have a lot of English practice in it but it’s a lot of fun. It’s also more for older students, teen – university age is good. Clear out a space in the classroom and have the students all stand around in a circle. You’ll have to model it for the students or else they’ll be too shy to try it themselves – explain to them that there is one dialogue that you will practice, it goes like this; “Darling, I love you so much...won’t you please smile for me...” “You know I love you too, but I will not smile for you...” You can change the dialogue up to be more wordy but that’s the general gist. So, to model the dialogue you should jump in the middle of the circle and explain that the person who is in the middle must choose a student in the circle and say the dialogue with them to try and get them to smile, the person in the outside circle has to try and not smile. It sounds easy but it’s actually very hard...to model the game I usually pick out a student who I know will break and approach them very theatrically - I find being more theatrical will get the students more interested in the game. You say the first line of the dialogue and


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the student in the circle must reply with the second without smiling. If they do smile then they have to take the place of the person in the middle. This works well for a while and there will be a lot of laughs but it will soon get boring so to spice the game up make it so that when a person from the circle smiles then they must both stay in the circle and they can then both try to get people in. The last person to not smile is the winner.

24. FIND YOUR PARTNER – Comprehension/Fun/Energy Boost

Summary:

Students try to find their partners by matching the context

Level/age:

All levels (good for younger students)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Comprehension

Materials: Cards with objects in SM book Time:

10-20mins

This activity doesn’t have a lot of production practice but it is a good activity to get students energized and matched up with someone in the class. Students each get a card that has an animal or type of person on it. The teacher will give an example of something that these creatures do and the students have to act this way to find their partner in the class. The first students to find their partners sit down Feeling hungry Eating Having fun Meeting a friend Feeling happy/scared/nervous/angry Looking for a boyfriend/Girlfriend

25. BODY BUILDER – Warmer/Review/Speaking

Summary:

Students draw pictures from information gap

Level/age:

beginner-advanced

Theme:

Bodies, Anything Skills:

Speaking

Materials: Cut up strips of parts of something Time:

10-20mins

Each student gets a secret part of the body that they have to explain to another student who uses that information to draw the body part and complete the picture of the person. The activity can be done with anything. The students choose what their part will look like and have to explain it to the other student without saying the word. Give students 5 minutes with each partner and then rotate to another. They can look at each other’s pictures as they go.


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Quick Warmers & Reviews

26. QUESTION OF THE DAY – Warmer/Review/Speaking

Summary:

Students discuss interesting questions

Level/age:

Intermediate-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

10mins

This can be a very easy and continuing warmer and there are many websites that have regular “word of the day” words. Put students into small groups and give them an interesting question to discuss. Once they are finished the groups can be rotated to compare answers or discussed with the class as a whole. As a follow up you can have the students write an extended answer for homework.

27. WORD OF THE DAY – Warmer/Review/Speaking

Summary:

Students discuss new vocabulary Level/age:

beginner-advanced (good for children)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Similar to Question of the Day. Give the students several new vocabulary words and ask them to discuss the meaning and then come up with sentences that utilize these words. This activity works well with slang or idioms. Have each group write their sentence on the board and then go through them examining the meaning and errors.


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28. ON THE WEEKEND – Warmer/Speaking

Summary:

Students try to guess what people did on the weekend

Level/age:

beginner-advanced

Theme:

Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

15-30mins+

This activity works well on a Monday. Put the class into 3-4 teams (the more teams you have the longer this activity will take.) Instruct teams to choose 1 person from each of the other teams. If they already know what that person did on the weekend then they should choose someone different. Have the teams discuss what they think their chosen students did on the weekend using the structures below and have them write their answers on a piece of paper. When time is up, bring the class back together and have each team go through their guesses from number 1-6. If they get number 1 correct they get 1 point for their team and they can continue onto number 2 (worth 2 points) if they get that correct then they can go onto number 3 and so on. However, teams must consecutively get their guesses correct, if any of their guesses are wrong then they continue to give their answers but they get no more points. If they get all 6 correct they get 21 points. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.

Discuss…

1. one specific place/event that this person went to… 1 Point

2. one person that they met at this place… 2 Points

3. one activity they did at that place… 3 Points

4. why they went to this place and did this activity… 4 Points

5. how they got to that place… 5 Points

6. what time they went there… 6 Points


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29. ACROSTICS – Warmer/Vocabulary/Speaking

Summary:

Students come up with connected vocabulary

Level/age:

Any level/Age scaled

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Vocab recall, speaking

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

This activity can be done in many different ways. The most basic way is to write a word on the board and have students come up with words that are related to that word and which begin with the letters in the word. Another, more interesting way to do it is by having students come up with their own words. You can trick the students by asking everyone to choose a thing from a certain category e.g. Choose a country you want to travel to… to which a student might choose “America.” Then, for each letter of that word, students then have to come up with something that they connect to America. Give them 10mins to come up with answers and then check with the class. Students read out their acrostics and get a point for each word that makes sense. Ask students to justify their connections to add a speaking element to the activity.

30. NEW WORDS – Warmer/Vocabulary

Summary:

Students make new words from old Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

comprehension

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Write a longer English word on the board and tell the students they must make new words from the letters of that word. The team or student who can make the most new words is the winner. A good idea is to take 2 or 3 names of students in the class and write their names on the board to use for letters.

31. SHOUT OUT – Warmer/Review/Speaking

Summary:

Students think of vocabulary under pressure

Level/age:

All levels (good for younger students)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, recall

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Put students into small teams or pairs (the more in the team, the more difficult the game is) and give each team 2 or 3 lives. Give the students a category e.g. animals, body parts or fruits then quickly go around the class with each team having 3 seconds to shout out something from that category. The only catch is that all the students


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on the team have to shout out their answer at the same time. If they do not simultaneously shout out their answers or repeat something then they lose a life. Last team standing is the winner. This activity seems a little childish but it is great for having students quickly and accurately have to discuss word choice. It requires energy, focus and gets teams bonded quickly.

32. ANYTHING GOES – Warmer/Speaking

Summary:

A creative thinking question forming activity

Level/age:


Theme:

Questions Skills:

alternative thinking and sentence formation

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Students try to come up with as many different answers to one question as they can. The teacher asks

something like, “How many fingers do you have?” The first student will probably say, “I have ten

fingers.” The next student can say, “I have more than nine fingers.” The next, “I don’t have sixteen

fingers.” The next, “I am an alien, so I have sixty fingers” etc. Try to get them to use any grammar point

that they have ever covered.

33. MISSING LETTERS –Vocabulary/Critical Thinking

Summary:

Students have to navigate a letter maze.

Level/age:


Theme:

Words with similar letters Skills:

Vocab, creative thinking

Materials: - Time:

15-25mins

Think of a five-letter word, for example ‘heart’, and for each but one letter write a dot on the board, revealing only one of its letters, e.g. _e_ _ _ Students call out a five-letter word, e.g. ‘fears’. The teacher writes that word on the board circling the letters that appear in the secret word as well and putting a square around the letters that not only appear in your word but are at the right place (e, a and r in my example). The goal is to find out the teacher's word in maximum five tries (hence the name; there are going to be five lines and five columns.)


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34. PICTIONARY – Warmer/Review/Fun/Vocabulary

Summary:

Drawing and comprehension game Level/age:

beginner – advanced classes

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Drawing, comprehension

Materials: Board + good drawing tools Time:

15-30mins

Divide the class into teams. 1 student from any team comes up and is given a word or sentence which they must then draw on the board. The first team to guess the word or sentence gets 1 point. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.

35. DRAW/SPEAK/ACT – Warmer/Review/Fun/Vocab

Summary:

A mixture of Pictionary, hot-seat and charades

Level/age:

Modified for any level

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, drawing, acting, comprehension

Materials: Time:

15-30mins

This game mixes Pictionary, hot-seat and charades. There are several ways to play; you can divide the class into 3 teams and have 1 student from each team performing one of each of the tasks for a word or sentence or you can have any number of teams and just have 1 student come up and have them randomly select draw, speak or act. If they choose draw they must draw the word or sentence and the first team to guess gets a point, if speak they must describe the word or sentence without using the word or sentence and if act then they must act out the word or action without speaking.

36. NAME SIX – Warmer/Review/Fun

Summary:

Vocabulary race game Level/age:

Beginner – advanced (maybe younger ages)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, vocab

Materials: Something to pass around the circle Time:

10-20mins

This game is fun and challenging at the same time. It can be adapted for virtually any subject and any grade level. It allows the students to review material they've learned, without having to get out a pencil and paper and answer questions from the text. Arrange 6 chairs in a circle and choose one person, the teacher or another student, to stand outside the circle. Give someone in the circle a stuffed animal, the funnier the animal the better! The person outside the circle states what the person holding the animal has to name six of. The person then starts moving the animal around the circle and the other players pass it around. The player must name six of the objects before the animal gets back to him or her.


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For example, let's say that you have just finished a vocabulary unit on animals. The person standing outside the group may say something like, "Name six animals that have fur." The person sitting in the circle begins naming six animals and at the same time, the stuffed animal is being passed around the circle. If the player cannot name 6 animals with fur by the time the stuffed animal reaches him, he has lost and it's his turn to stand outside the group and stunt the other students. My students absolutely love this game and so do I because it requires no prep time!! It may take the students a few times before they become successful at the game, but eventually I'm sure it will become one of their favorites. I hope you have as much success with Name Six as I have had.

37. FRONT TO BACK – Warmer/Review/Vocab/Time Filler

Summary:

Students link words through letters Level/age:

beginner-advanced (good for children)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

20-30mins

The first student must say a word and then the next student must say a word that begins with the last letter of that word and so on. I give them 5 seconds and if they cannot answer then they lose a life – either for themselves or for their teams. A double letter e.g. America – makes the game change direction. If they say something that has already been answered then it doesn’t count. I write the words on the board as we go. Mean teachers will make them lose a life for repeating.

38. WORD ASSOCIATIONS – Warmer/Vocab/Time Filler

Summary:

Students come up with word association chains

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:


Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Make out a list of words which are relevant to the class. Put the students in a circle and give them 3 lives each. Say the first word to the first student who must immediately think of an associated word. The game then moves to the next student who must say something associated to the previous word. If the students take too long or say a word that has already been said then they lose a life. If they say a word that doesn’t seem associated then another student can say “challenge!” the student must then explain the connection between the words. If the other students deem it inappropriate then they lose a life. The last student standing is the winner.


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39. WHAT AM I DOING? – Active/Comprehension/Energy Boost

Summary:

Students create actions with props and other students guess

Level/age:

Beginner - advanced

Theme:

Creative thinking Skills:

Miming, creative thinking

Materials: Various props Time:

10mins

Students mime the different actions you can do with one object that has a various shape or color. The other students try to guess what the student is pretending the object is to get a point for their team.

40. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? – Warmer/Speaking

Summary:

Active miming game Level/age:

Beginner – advanced

Theme:

actions Skills:

verbs and comprehension

Materials: - Time:

10-20min

The first student starts by miming an action. The next student in the circle must ask them “What are you doing?” to which the first student must answer something different to the action they are doing. The student who asked must then do the action that the first student said but when asked by the next student must say something different and the game continues. Put the students into 2 teams and give each team a certain amount of points. When they make a mistake like taking too long to do the action or doing the wrong action their team is minused points. Teams that lose all their points are out and the remaining team is the winner.

41. THE MOON IS ROUND – Fun/Comprehension

Summary:

Students must find the pattern Level/age:

All levels – younger ages

Theme:

Anything. Skills:

Comprehension/listening

Materials: - Time:

10mins+

While tracing a simple picture of a face on the desk in front of you, you say "the moon is round, has 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth." and invite everyone else in turn to do exactly the same as you. BUT the secret is, you must do a little cough before you start, and this is the key to doing it correctly. Students will concentrate very hard on saying the sentence correctly but invariably miss the cough. Sometimes people get the cough by mistake, feel triumphant, and are then dismayed to find they get it wrong next time round. As it slowly dawns on people what the secret is, you can end up with everyone doing it together, putting in an enormous chorus of coughing and choking at the start, and the one or 2 still in the dark STILL don't get it..


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42. THE MEMORY GAME – Warmer/Review/Fun/Vocab

Summary:

Students try to remember as many items as they can

Level/age:

All levels, all ages

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Memory, Vocab

Materials: - Time:

15mins

This is a very easy and often played game which is sometimes known as “A ship came into the harbour…” The student who starts can start with a phrase like “In my bag, I have…” or “A ship came into the harbour carrying…” and then they say an object. The next student then has to say the same sentence but repeating what the first student said along with their own object. The next student then does the same but with all the objects. You can play by giving each student 2 lives, so when they can’t remember an object or they make a mistake, they lose a life. The last student standing is the winner.

43. THE CATEGORY GAME – Warmer/Review/Fun

Summary:

Students try to name as many objects from a certain category

Level/age:

All levels, all ages

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Memory, Vocab

Materials: - Time:

15mins

Have one student start by saying a category and an object in that category. Examples include – Fruit, Vegetables, Car Brands, Soccer Players, Land Animals etc. The next student then has to say something from the category as well. You can play by giving each student 2 lives, so when they make a mistake or repeat something, they lose a life. The last student standing is the winner.

44. OUTBRAG – speaking/present perfect

Summary:

Students try to out-do each other. Level/age:


Theme:

present perfect Skills:


Materials: Brag strips in SM book Time:

20-40mins

You make up about 10-20 sentences in Present Perfect describing various activities one would brag about. E.g. "I've eaten lunch with Al Gore". Students draw a slip of paper with a statement like that and say it aloud to the group. Anyone in the group can then attempt to out-brag that student. It might look something like this: Student1: "I've eaten lunch with Al Gore" S2: So what? I've eaten lunch with Bill Clinton!" S3: So what? I've eaten lunch with Al Gore and Bill Clinton" S4: So what? I've eaten Gore and Clinton for lunch" When they can't come up with something, they just say WOW looking impressed and move on to the next statement.


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45. COMPOUND WORDS – Vocab/Review/Time Filler

Summary:

Students try to make the most compound words

Level/age:

low intermediate – advanced classes

Theme:

Targets compound words and vocab memory

Skills:

Vocab

Materials: - Time:

10-15mins

Put the students into teams and then give them a word that can be made into several compound words e.g. game – game play, game time, gamesmanship... Give the students several minutes to talk together and write down as many as they can. The team with the most compound words is the winner.

46. BATTLE THE BAG – Warmer/Review/Vocab/Fun

Summary:

Teams battle to answer question Level/age:

Modified to any level

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Reading, answering questions

Materials: Bag, pre-made questions Time:

20-30mins

Before the game, prepare a set of questions (15-20 questions- any type questions) including recently taught structures. Write them on pieces of paper. Then put them in a bag. Find an ordinary ball. Divide your class into two groups. And have them make two circles. Give the ball to one group and give the bag to the other group. Play music. Students must pass the ball and the bag to the next student next until the music stops. When the music stops the student with the bag in his/her hand draws a question and asks it to the student with the ball in his/her hand in the other group. If he/she can answer it, they stay in the group and the student with the bag goes out of the game. If they cannot answer it perfectly, they go out of the game and the student with the bag stays in the group and group exchange the ball and the bag. Teacher goes on pausing the music until there are 3 or 4 students left in a group. The group with students remaining wins the game.

47. TOURNAMENT KNOCKOUT – Warmer/Review/Fun

Summary:

Question answering knockout tournament

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:


Materials: 2 Desks Time:

20-30mins

This activity can review anything that requires quick memory recall – vocab works well but it can be done with images, cue cards or questions. Put the class into 2 teams. At the front of the class have 2 desks facing each other with 2 bells or noise making devices. Bring 2 students up and give them 3 questions or cues. The first person to answer correctly stays up and the other student goes back to their team and is replaced by another student. Teams get a point for each correct answer and a winner can only stay at the front for a max of 3 turns but if they do they get 2 bonus points.


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48. TABOO - Review/Warmer

Summary:

Students try to explain a word without using related words

Level/age:

Intermediate+ any age

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Vocab, Speaking, Comprehension

Materials: Taboo Cards in the SM book. Time:

Similar to “Hot-seat” except there is a list of words that the students cannot use to explain the word to the student guessing. Taboo lists can be found in the SM Book.

49. STORE SNAP - Review/Vocabulary

Summary:

Students review language using a fun card game

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced with scaling

Theme:

Different Stores (Or anything) Skills:

Vocab, Quick Thinking

Materials: Cards for each team Time:

25mins+

Put the students into teams - if they are a higher ability, you need a larger team (up to 8) , lower ability, smaller (up to 6). You need a pack of cards for each team. Tell each student that they have to choose a type of store (or a name) that they would like to represent, for example, Music store, clothes store, fruit and vegetable store, etc...They should tell the rest of their team who they are, and everyone should be different. Deal all of the cards out to each student in the team. They SHOULD NOT look at the cards. Starting with the oldest student in the group, they turn over a card and place it in a pile in front of them. The next student then turns over a card (ONE AT A TIME) and places it on their own pile. Play continues until there are two students with the same number. Here, the two with the same must shout out an object they can buy in their opponents store BEFORE the opponent can shout out something in theirs. There can be no repeats, and once one person has said something, it cannot be used by anyone else. The person who says the object first, gets to keep the two piles of cards. The aim is to get the most cards as possible. Play continues with the next person. It is much harder to remember all the stores than it seems, and the students have to work hard not to repeat. To make it even harder, all the students can turn over their cards at the SAME TIME so they may have to think of things for 2,3, or 4 stores at once. Another option is having two different packs mixed together. This game can also be used for categories, so rather than a store the students pick a category.


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50. BALL BOMB – Speaking/Energy Boost

Summary:

Students must try to get rid of the bomb by making correct sentences.

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence formation

Materials: ball Time:

10-20mins

Have the students sit in a circle and then pass around a ball. As they get the ball they must say an English sentence e.g. this is your ball, not my ball (or any form that you’ve been studying) and then pass it onto another student. If they get the sentence wrong then they have to keep the ball. While they are doing this there is a timer counting down. If a student is caught in possession of the ball when the timer gets down then they lose a life – last student standing is the winner.

51. JUMBLED SENTENCES – Warmer/Review/Time Filler

Summary:

Review practice putting together sentences.

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Comprehension, writing

Materials: whiteboard Time:

15-20mins

Divide the class into 2 teams and have 1 student come up from each team. Take a sentence you’ve been studying and write it jumbled on the board. The first student to write the sentence correctly gets a point for their team. Alternatively, you have the two teams line up and have a relay i.e. one student goes to the board and writes the first word then the second student writes the next and so on until the sentence is complete. 1 point for the first team and 1 point for having the correct answer.

52. SENTENCE RACE – Warmer/Review/Writing

Summary:

Students race to write sentences Level/age:


Theme:

Writing under pressure Skills:

writing, comprehension

Materials: whiteboard Time:

10-20mins

Very simple game that involves dividing the class into 2 teams then having 2 students come to the front. The teacher calls out a sentence or word that the students must then race and write on the board. 1 point for your team for correct spelling and 1 point for being the first one finished.


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53. SENTENCES of 3 – Fun/Sentence formation/Concentration

Summary:

Counting sentence activity Level/age:

Intermediate - advanced

Theme:

Fun Skills:

Listening, speaking

Materials: - Time:

10-20 minutes.

This game plays out a little bit like the drinking game “3s.” Put the students in a circle and tell them to start counting. At any number with a 3 in it or a multiple of 3 the student has to say a word that continues the sentence. So for example the 1st student will start and say 1, the next student 2, the 3rd student will start the sentence… e.g. 1, 2, “The” 4, 5, “cat” 7, 8, “is” 10, 11, “drinking” “milk” (13 has a 3 in it.) and so on. Give students 3 lives and if they say the wrong thing then they lose a life. The last student remaining is the winner.

54. MEGA MEMORY – Review/Warmer/Vocab/Memory

Summary:

Visual memory and recall activity Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Visual recall, vocab, concentration

Materials: Photos or props Time:

20-30min +

Select any visual sequence that scans over a large number of objects, people or includes many actions. Allow players to view the segment once. They are not allowed to take notes. Students make a list of as many of the objects, people or actions in the scene as can be remembered. Play the scene again using still frames to check off the things on the list. Score one point for each correct item but minus one for any item on the list that is not in the scene. Variation Narrow the range of things allowable on the list. Examples: Things that start with (pick a letter of the alphabet). Things that are (pick a color or quality). Things made of (pick a material). Things used for (pick an action).


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Longer Warm-up/Review Activities

55. FIND SOMEONE WHO – Warmer/Speaking/Review/Energy Boost

Summary:

Q&A activity Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking/listening

Materials: Find someone who worksheets in the SM Book or your own creation

Time:

15-40min depending on Qs

The old classic... Make up a list of things that students might have in common. They can be anything – “has been to another country.” “Ate cereal for breakfast.” “has been on a boat.” 15 sentences should be enough – give the students the sheet and then have them go around the class finding students who have done these things. The first student to get all the things is the winner. FIND SOMEONE WHO IDEAS

Experiences (present perfect)

Hobbies (like/dislike)

Favorite sports/food/entertainment etc (verbs)

Talents (can/can’t)

Possessions (have/don’t have)

Future plans (want/will/going to)

56. TRADING SENTENCES – Review/Energy Boost /Grammar

Summary:

sentence matching activity Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Making correct sentences

Materials: 2 sets of broken sentences. Time:

20-30 min+

This activity can be used with any grammar form that has 2 parts. First you will need to make sentences on small pieces that you will then cut up into 2 pieces. It works well with conditionals and it’s funnier if there are some crazy matches in there. e.g. If I was rich – I would buy a new car. If I were a monkey – I would eat a banana. You’ll want to make at least 6 pairs for each team. Mix up the pairs and then hand out equal amounts to each team. At first the students have to try and match up their sentences but if they can’t then they have to try and trade with other teams to get the correct matches. The team that matches all the sentences first is the winner.


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57. AGREE OR DISAGREE – speaking/debating

Summary:

Discussion activity for any number of students

Level/age:

high intermediate-advanced

Theme:

General Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

20-40mins

Have students make 2 lines facing one another so that each student has a partner. The teacher calls out a marginal statement on any discussable topic. The students must quickly process the statement and decide which side they will take, agree or disagree. The first student to say their preference gets to argue that side. The other student must argue the opposite even if they have the same opinion. After each statement has been discussed, rotate the students so that everyone is constantly changing partners.

58. ODD ONE OUT – Warmer/Creative Thinking/Vocab

Summary:

A comprehension/problem solving activity

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Vocab comprehension, speaking

Materials: Odd one out sheets in SM Book Time:

10-20min+

Before class prepare a list of categories with 4 items in each one except 1 item is the odd one out. You can do this with anything and everything including what you have been studying. Put the students into teams and give them a set amount of time to pick the odd items. The team with the most correct is the winner. Obviously you can level this activity for the students you are teaching. At a more advanced level you can throw in some really ambiguous answers and then have the students explain why they chose what they did. Below are several odd one out handouts from beginner to advanced.

59. READ N RUN – Warmer/ Reading/Writing/Speaking/Listening

Summary:

Students race to collate information. Level/age:

Beginner - advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Reading, writing, listening, speaking

Materials: Prepared Review Sentences Time:

40-60mins

Put the students into pairs with one student being the writer and one the reader. They must take turns going to a set passage in order to relay information back to their partner. The first pair to get all the information written down is the winner.


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60. CONSTRAINED WRITING – Warmer/Writing/Creative Thinking

Summary:

Team writing activity that challenges students to think creatively

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Writing, Creative thinking

Materials: - Time:

30mins+

Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form.

Lipogram: a letter (commonly e or o) is outlawed.

Palindromes, such as the word “radar”, read the same forwards and backwards.

Pilish, where the lengths of consecutive words match the digits of the number π.

Alliteratives, in which every word must start with the same letter (or subset of letters; see Alphabetical Africa).

Acrostics: first letter of each word/sentence/paragraph forms a word or sentence.

Reverse-lipograms: each word must contain a particular letter.

Twiction: espoused as a specifically constrained form of microfiction where a story or poem is exactly one hundred and forty characters long.

Anglish, favouring Anglo-Saxon words over Greek and Roman words.

Anagrams, words or sentences formed by rearranging the letters of another.

Aleatory, where the reader supplies a random input.

Chaterism Where the length of words in a phrase or sentence increase or decrease in a uniform, mathematical way as in "I am the best Greek bowler running", or "hindering whatever tactics appear".

Univocalic poetry, using only one vowel.

Bilingual homophonous poetry, where the poem makes sense in two different languages at the same time, thus constituting two simultaneous homophonous poems.[1]

One syllable article, a form unique to Chinese literature, using many characters all of which are homophones; the result looks sensible as writing but is incomprehensible when read aloud.

Limitations in punctuation, such as Peter Carey's book True History of the Kelly Gang, which features no commas.

Mandated vocabulary, where the writer must include specific words, chosen a priori, along with the writer's own freely chosen words.

Give the students a constraint along with a topic and then award points for length of sentence and if it makes sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_technique

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipogram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabetical_Africa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reverse-lipogram&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twiction&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleatory

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chaterism&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univocalic

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bilingual_homophonous_poetry&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_writing#cite_note-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_syllable_article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_literature

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carey_%28novelist%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_History_of_the_Kelly_Gang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma


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61. 20 QUESTIONS –Speaking/Listening

Summary:

Students ask questions to find out who the person, place or thing is

Level/age:

Intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

speaking, listening

Materials: Post-its of famous people, places or things

Time:

30min

Before class, come up with a famous person, place and thing for as many students as you have in the class and write them on post-its. In class attach them randomly to students backs so that they get 1 of each category but are not able to see the information. Students then go around to other students and have 20 ask yes/no questions to find the answer to each one. They should switch partners when they get one and the first student to get all their post-its is the winner.

Famous People Famous Places Things

1. Barack Obama The Louvre, Paris A police car

2. Albert Einstein The Pyramid of Giza, Cairo An Old Apple

3. Marilyn Monroe The White House, Washington My Wrist

4. Brad Pitt The Statue of Liberty, New York A big-screen TV

5. Nelson Mandela The Eiffel Tower in Paris An Alligator

6. Bill Gates St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow A Tent

7. Tiger Woods The Great Sphinx at Giza Backyard

8. Michael Jordan The Great Wall in China A knife and Fork

9. Mahatma Gandhi The Taj Mahal in Agra A Smart Phone

10. Elvis Presley Machu Picchu in Peru July (A Month)

11. Steve Jobs Big Ben in London A cigarette

12. Leonardo Da Vinchi The Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai An Electronic Dictionary

13. JK Rowling Tower of Pisa, Italy A Microchip

14. Madonna Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro A Basketball

15. Michael Jackson Loch Ness in Scotland A Tire

16. Taylor Swift Mount Fuji in Japan A Chocolate Cake

17. Adolf Hitler Stonehenge in the English county of Wiltshire

A Castle

18. Lionel Messi Niagara Falls A Diet

19. David Beckham Angkor Wat at Cambodia Microsoft (a Company)

20. Queen Elizabeth Mount Everest on the border of Tibet and Nepal

A Puppy


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Difficult

Famous People Famous Places Things

1. Beyonce Blue Domed Church in Santorini, A remote Control

2. Stephen King The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen A Steam Engine

3. Muhammad Lascaux in France A Particle

4. Isaac Newton Mecca in Saudi Arabia A Printing Press

5. Jesus Christ Mont St. Michel in France Garbage Truck

6. Buddha Bran Castle in Transylvania, Romania Disease

7. Confucius Agia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey The Internet

8. Christopher Columbus Brandenburg Gate in Berlin Welfare

9. Galileo Galilei Acropolis of Athens, Greece the government

10. Charles Darwin Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain A Rubber Chicken

11. John F Kennedy Ayers Rock, Australia A Corner Store

12. Henry Ford Mount Eden crater in New Zealand A LASER

13. Jim Carrey Easter Island in the Polynesian Triangle, A Surgeon

14. Leonardo DiCaprio Capitol Hill in Washington DC A Polar Bear

15. Miley Cyrus St. Peter’s Cathedral at Vatican City Deforestation

16. Hillary Clinton Mount Rushmore in South Dakota A Banana Cupcake

17. Oprah Winfrey Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe

The Flu

18. Bruno Mars The Grand Canyon in Arizona A Homeless Person

19. Mao Tze Auschwitz in Poland A Weapon

20. The Dalai Lama Forbidden City in Beijing A Walrus


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62. JEOPARDY – Warmer/Review/Fun/Question Formation

Summary:

Activity based on Jeopardy Level/age:


Theme:

General knowledge/questions Skills:


Materials: Jeopardy topics/answers Time:

30-40mins

The teacher must prepare a template that can be used in class. There are several websites that provide projectable templates (http://jeopardylabs.com/) or the easiest way to do it is to just write the values on post-its and then write the answers underneath them on the board. You can decide what the values are and modify the game for whatever level you are teaching. Put the students into small teams (or as individuals) and have one student choose a value. When the answer is revealed the 1st student to make a correct question for that answer gets the value. The team/student with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

63. DICTOGLOSS –Listening/Team-Work/Writing

Summary:

Students try to remember a story 15 words at a time

Level/age:

Low Intermediate – Advanced (Any age)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Comprehension, Memory, Team-work

Materials: Prepared story (Example Below) Time:

45mins+

Have a story prepared before the class that matches the level of the students. Explain to the students that you are going to read the story to them twice and that they should write down the 15 most important words in the story, but they can ONLY write 15 words. Have them prep their notebooks then read. Once this is finished, tell them to look at their words and see if (in their heads) they can recreate the full story from the words including all the details. Next, read the story again and have them write down 15 more words but this time pair each student up with a partner, give them 5 minutes and have them compare their words and memories to recreate the story. Finally, read the story a third time, students can write 15 more words and this time, partner 2 teams together so there’s now 4 students per team. Give the students 15 minutes and tell them to write the full story, verbatim. Bring all the final copies to the front and compare each sentence to the original – the team with the closest to the original gets a point. The team with the most points is the winner. EXAMPLE - A CRAZY SIGHT! Once I saw an amazing thing that was unforgettable! When I was travelling in Indonesia I went to a remote island that was famous for hunting whales! I went there and when I arrived there were two dead whales on the beach! The next day the whole village came to the beach and to cut up and share out the whale. It was a little disgusting but also unbelievable. I’ll never forget seeing all the villagers who worked so hard taking every piece of the whale

http://jeopardylabs.com/


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off of the beach!

64. TELEPATHS – Warmer/Review/Vocabulary

Summary:

Vocab recall game testing you and your partner’s knowledge.

Level/age:


Theme:

Vocabulary Skills:

word association, vocab review and memory

Materials: - Time:

15-25mins

Put Ss into pairs and show everyone a word. Give them 1 minute to individually come up with as many word associations with that word as they can. They can write anything associated which may include opposites, adjectives, synonyms etc. When the time is up have the students read out their words – they get 1 point for each word they wrote that is the same as their partners. The winner is the team with the most points at the end.

65. I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT – Warmer/Speaking/Time

Summary:

Students make appointments to discuss something

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Time, Making Appointments Skills:

Speaking, Telling time

Materials: Clock Handout in the SM Book Time:

30mins

This activity works well when prefaced by an “Appointment Making Dialogue” lesson. In the first part of this activity, give all the students in the clock handout from the Supplementary Materials Book. Have them walk around the class and meet up with other students. They should make an appointment to meet that person at a certain time on the clock. They should come up with a question that they will discuss at that time. Each student should write the other’s name at that time and then go to another student and do the same thing. Obviously they should not double book appointments. Once all the students have filled up their clocks, the teacher yells out a time. The students have to consult their clocks and find the student who they have an appointment with, meet up with them and discuss the question they agreed on. Give them 3-4 minutes to discuss and then yell out another time.


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66. SPOT THE DIFFERENCE – Communicating/Prepositions/Vocabulary

Summary:

Students find differences in their pictures through conversation

Level/age:

Beginner - advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, prepositions

Materials: Spot the difference example in the SM book

Time:

20-30min

There is one example of a spot the difference in the supplementary materials book but there are many on the internet that can be used in class. Or if you are versed in photoshop, you can create your own out of anything. Leave one picture alone, but make a few alterations on a copy of the picture that indicate minor differences. Make enough copies of each for half the class. Pair students together allowing one person to have a copy of picture A and one student to have a picture of copy B. Ask the students (without allowing them to look at the partner’s picture) to find the differences between the two pictures through verbal negotiation.


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67. CIRCLE OF DEATH – Review/Energy-Boost

Summary:

Students play various English games based on the popular drinking game

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, listening, spelling

Materials: Cards, Rules below Time:

40mins+

This is an adaptation of a popular drinking game but it works extremely well as a fun and engaging English activity. It does require a lot of explaining however so be prepared for that. You will need a deck of cards and a print out of all the possible games and rules for each card. (There are many different variations on games so you can choose which ones you think will work for your class.) Before the class begins you will want to write all the names of all the games up on the board with the corresponding card so students can see them as you play. Spread the cards out on the table face down in a circle and tell the students to listen carefully while you explain the rules. Circle of death rules: 2s – Q&A. The teacher will ask a question and the student must answer perfectly. If they do they keep the card. If not the question goes to the next student in the circle to see if they can answer. Thequestion continues until a student can answer it perfectly. 3s – Chain sentence. Students must make sentences saying only 1 word each at a time. The sentences can finish and start again but if a student makes a grammatical mistake they give 1 card to the student who started. 4s – Spelling. If a student chooses a 4 they must spell a word that the teacher gives them. If they spell it correctly they keep the card. If not, the word goes to the next student who can try to spell it – the word goes around the circle until it is spelled correctly. That student gets to keep the card. 5s – Error Correction. The teacher writes a sentence on the board with a mistake in it and the student must try to correct it. If the correction is right then they can keep the card, if not it goes to the next student ala the spelling game. 6s – Steal. If a student picks the 6 then they can steal just one card from any other student. 7s – OH MY GOD. If a student picks a 7 then everyone plays OH MY GOD. The game begins with the student who picked the card saying “OH.” The game then moves clockwise with the next student in the circle having to say “MY” the next student then says “GOD” and as they say it must also look at another student anywhere in the circle. That student must then start the game again with “OH” and then the game moves around the circle clockwise again. If a student takes too long to say their word or says a word out of turn then they must give one of their cards to the student who originally chose the 7. Usually I play 1 or 2 rounds but it is designed to be a quick game so encourage students to up the pace. 8s – Sing a song. This is pretty obvious, to keep the card the student must sing a chorus of an English song.


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9s – Category game. If a student picks the 9 they must name a category such as fruits or animals and then everyone goes around the circle (clockwise) saying something in that category. If a student repeats something that has already been said or takes too long then they must give a card to the student that began the game. 10s – Memory game. Similar to the category game, the student who picks the 10 must start the game by saying “I have a _____ (noun)” e.g. backpack. The game then moves clockwise to the next student who must repeat that sentence and add their own noun e.g. “I have a backpack and a pencil.” The game then moves around the circle with each student repeating the previous nouns and adding their own. The game obviously gets harder as it goes further around. If a student makes a mistake or takes too long then they must give one card to the student that began the game. Jacks – Snake eyes. Snake eyes is very easy and a lot of fun. The student who picks the Jack is the snake eyes; anyone who makes direct eye contact with this student must give them one of their cards, so the key is to not look at the snake eyes at all. This card is a running card so the student can use it anytime and as many times as they want UNTIL the next Jack is chosen. Once another student picks up a Jack they become the snake eyes and the previous snake eyes loses their power. Queens – Question master. Question master is similar to snake eyes in that it is a running card – you can use it as many times as you want whenever you want (so long as you are the current question master.) Basically if you are the question master and someone answers you then they must give you a card. So the key for other students is if the Question master asks you a question – DO NOT ANSWER. Kings – Chin master. Again chin master is a running game to be used as many times as the student pleases (until the next King is picked.) If the chin master puts their hand to their chin then all the other students must do the same – the last student to do so is the loser and must give the chin master a card. It’s a game that requires a lot of concentration from everyone in the group. Aces – Make a rule. The ace is the ‘make a rule’ card which means that that student can decide any rule for the group e.g. “whenever you pick up a card you must do a quick dance...” or “Whenever someone says “apple” all the boys must jump.” If a student fails to obey a rule then they must give the rule maker a card. For games that require the whole group (OH MY GOD, memory and category game) I tell the students that any running games (chin master, snake eyes and question master) get put on hold until they’re finished because they can disrupt them. So as you go through the deck students will accumulate cards and then the student at the end with the most cards is the winner.


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68. FAMILY FEUD – Vocab/Review/Warmer

Summary:

Vocab recall game. Level/age:


Theme:

Any family feud topics Skills:

Vocab recall

Materials: Family feud Topics in SM book Time:

30-40mins

Pre-prepare a family feud game pack, this includes making a set of open questions each of which will have 4-6 surveyed answers. There are many in the Supplementary Material Book but this website also has thousands of topics - http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=107362

Give them 5 minutes to determine their family name and who is who in the family (the father, the sister, the grandmother, the uncle….they choose) and decide on who the captain will be (the captain should be the person who is the strongest in English in order to take decisions for the team if needed. Two students come up front where the teacher has put a small desk and some kind of buzzer device. Ask the first question and the students must hit the desk when they know the answer. The quickest to answer allows his/her team to play. If the person who hits the desk does not have the right answer, the opposing contestant gets a chance to answer…If they hit the desk at the same time, the one with the most popular answer gets it. The teacher then asks the same questions to the other contestants of the team. They are allowed three strikes to get all the answers. After three strikes, the other team gets a chance. The captain of that team will give an answer with the help of his family. And if the opposing team doesn’t get it either, the point finally goes to the team who started the question.

69. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR /1 MIN SPEECH– Speaking/Listening/Comprehension

Summary:

Students must predict what other students will say

Level/age:

High Intermediate – Advanced (Any age)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking/listening

Materials: - Time:

30mins+

Put students into small even teams. Choose one student from any team and have the other students in the class decide on a topic for them. Popular topics include: Travel, family, Love, Home Country etc. but it can be anything. Once the topic is chosen, that student must leave the class for 3 minutes and make some notes so that they can speak on the topic for 1 minute when they come back in. While he/she is gone, the teams get together and come up with a list of 15 words that they think that student is going to say when they come back and give their speech. When the time is up, the student comes back and gives their speech – the teams have to listen carefully and give themselves a point when they hear the words they have chosen. Keep a running tally of points then get another student up with a new topic. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.

http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=107362


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70. ROTATING STORY-TELLER – warmer/creative/story-telling/speaking

Summary:

A creative thinking/comprehension story-telling activity

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

story formation, story-telling, comprehension and re-reporting

Materials: Photos of various things Time:

40-60mins

Lay out a good range of 'people' and 'setting' photographs from magazines, catalogues etc face down on a table. Put students into groups of three or four and where possible arrange the room so that these groups are spaced well apart and not too close to the laid-out pictures. Have the students come up one at a time and randomly select a picture. Individually a team will put their pictures together to come up with a story. If a team’s pictures are too random then you might allow them to swap. Story creation proceeds. Group members can be encouraged to make very short notes, or a flowchart or spider graph style diagram to help them keep the story in mind. When groups have come up with a story, the members of each group play Rock, paper, scissors to decide who will be the first story-teller and who will be the first listeners. The loser has to stay behind and tell the group's story to two or more listeners from another group, while the other group members move to the next group to hear that group's story. Remind the storyteller to arrange the pictures in story sequence so that the listeners can see them clearly, and stress that listeners will have to pay close attention to the story they are about to hear, asking questions if anything is unclear, since one of them is going to have to tell it again her/himself. After the two 'new' listeners have heard the story and asked any questions they want to, they also play Rock, paper scissors. The loser again stays behind to tell the story, while the previous storyteller and the other listener(s) move to the next group. The story is told again. Even if a chart or diagram has been left behind, minor-to-drastic alterations may occur to stories in the re-telling, but this can add to the fun. If you do overhear serious revisions, you might have students contrast the versions they heard at the end of the activity.

71. SCATTEGORIES –Warmer/Vocabulary

Summary:

Students recall as many items from a category based on a letter.

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Vocab recall

Materials: Scattegories lists in the SM Book Time:

15-40mins

Give students empty category lists such as animals, food etc and allow them to choose letters. They are then given a time limit in which to think of as many words as possible beginning with that letter in that category. Students get one point for any correct answer, however if any students have the same answer as another student then there are no points for them. The idea is to try and think of unique answers.


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72. WRITE/DRAW/WRITE –Warmer/Comprehension/Drawing

Summary:

Students write sentences based on drawings

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Writing, Comprehension

Materials: Sheets of A4 paper Time:

40mins+

Give every student a piece of A4 paper and have them fold the paper up into 5 segments. Have the students write their name in the first segment and then give them 5-10mins to write several sentences about something. It can be anything – what they did on the weekend/What they want to do in the future/An interesting holiday etc. Make sure the topic allows them enough leeway to write a few interesting sentences. When time is up, the students should pass their paper around to the student next to them. The next student must read the sentences and then in the next segment, draw a picture to illustrate the sentences. Give them about 5-10 mins and then all the students rotate their papers again but this time have the students fold the first written segment over so that the next student cannot see the sentences. The next student must look purely at the pictures and then write several sentences to explain them. Repeat this process switching from writing to drawing but making sure to fold the paper every time so that the next student cannot copy the sentences or pictures from the previous turn. When all 5 sections are finished, collect all the pieces of paper and quickly go through them with the class picking out the ones that have the closest sentences from the first segment to the last. They are the winners.


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73. GAME OF THINGS –Writing/Comprehension/Speaking/Fun

Summary:

Students try to guess who wrote what…

Level/age:

Advanced (good with class or teams of around 12)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Writing, Comprehension, Intuition

Materials: Game of Things Lists Below and lots of cut up strips of paper

Time:

40mins+

This activity works well with smaller groups of individuals but you can make small teams if you have more students, have them discuss and write 1 answer as a team. Give a strip of paper out to each student and then choose one of the “things” from the list below. Read out the thing and give the students 5-10mins to write something on their strip of paper that they think applies to this thing. For example; if the teacher reads out “Things you shouldn’t keep in your pocket…” then a student may write “A chocolate bar.” Another may answer “Money.” All the strips are then handed back to the teacher who reads all the answers out to the class but keeps the identities of the writer’s secret. Students can then discuss with each other who they think each strip belongs to. Once they think they know, one student (or team) starts by trying to identify one of the writers. If they get it correct, they get a point and another go. If incorrect, the game moves to the next student or team who can try and link an answer to a student or team.

Things… You shouldn’t keep in your pocket You wouldn’t want to find out about online You shouldn’t share over the dinner table You would never do You shouldn’t put in your mouth You shouldn’t do at a funeral You do when people aren’t looking You shouldn’t lick You wouldn’t do for a million dollars That are harder than they look You shouldn’t do in a hospital You shouldn’t do at your English School Your parents would kill you for You would ask a psychic You find in a library That smell terrible You shouldn’t say when trying to make a good impression Not to tell your mother You would do if you were a giant You shouldn’t tie to the roof of your car You don’t want to find in your bed You can never find You shouldn’t do when naked


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74. REPETITION/HESITATION/CORRECTION – Speaking/Listening/Comprehension

Summary:

Students must listen for other student’s errors.

Level/age:

High Intermediate - Advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking/listening/error correction

Materials: - Time:

10 -20 mins

Firstly, explain to the students what the 3 words mean. Secondly, choose a student and give them a set amount of time depending on the level. For lower levels 1 minute is good but you can go up to 3 minutes if they are really high. So, the class chooses a random topic for the chosen student to talk about (you can give the chosen student a short amount of time to prepare if you want) and then let them start. The other students must listen for the 3 errors - repetition, hesitation and corrections – when they hear one of these mistakes they yell out. E.g. Speaking student “Last night I went to the…the nightclub” Listening student – “REPETITION!!” The student that spotted the mistake then takes over the speaking and must continue the speech while the other students monitor their errors. The speech may switch hands many times before the time is up but whoever is speaking at the end of the time period is the winner. This game can be pretty daunting for unconfident students so keep it relaxed and don’t put too much pressure on anyone.

75. PICTURE STORIES – Information Gap/Speaking/Comprehension

Summary:

Students try to put together a story via pictures

Level/age:

intermediate – advanced (all ages)

Theme:

Anything Skills:

speaking

Materials: Cut up images from a short story Time:

20min+

For this activity you will need to images from a short story. Comic strips or comic books work well. Put students into 4 small teams and give each team a quarter of the images from the story. Give them 5 -10 minutes and have them discuss what they think is happening in the whole story from just their pictures. Rotate each quarter of the images through all of the teams and have them discuss each set as they see them developing the overall story as they go. Once teams have been through each set of pictures, have the teams write down what they think they overall story is. The team that is closest to the actual story is the winner.


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76. WHAT’S SUITABLE? - Speaking/Warmer/Interviews

Summary:

Students think of suitable questions for interviews

Level/age:


Theme:

Jobs, Interviews Skills:

Speaking, question formation

Materials: - Time:

Put students into teams and then give them situations where they have to ask one question to determine a person’s suitability for that situation . Baby sitting Police Officer Head Chef

Soccer Coach PHD Student Father/Mother

President Crocodile Hunter Bus Driver

Once students have created questions, have them rotate around the room and ask these questions to other students.

77. TALKING CARDS – Speaking/Sentence Formation

Summary:

A general Q&A activity Level/age:


Theme:

General information questions Skills:

general question and answer, speaking, general vocab

Materials: Cards in the SM book Time: 20-30min+

You distribute the cards among your students. If you have a large class, use two packs of cards. The student answers the corresponding question to that card. The student is awarded 4 points for a complete answer, 3 points for a reasonable answer, 2 points for an incomplete answer, and 1 point for any answer at all. If your class is up to it, you can get them to award the points.

78. MAGAZINE TREASURE – warmer/review/speaking/reasoning

Summary:

Students search through magazines to find vocab examples

Level/age:

beginner-advanced

Theme:

reading and visual vocab identification

Skills:

Comprehension, team work

Materials: Magazines, scavenger hunt list in the SM book

Time:

30mins

1. Obtain some subject-appropriate (but different) magazines that would be of interest to your class. Popular magazines, teen magazines, cooking, home magazines, etc. 2. Review each magazine and compile magazine-specific lists of 15-25 random items that they must find. Alternatively, you could give them a simple idea and they have to find something that represents that idea. 3. Divide the class into two or more teams and give them the handout. (It can be modified for whatever topic you’re studying.) 4. Before giving each team a list and a magazine, explain the game to them through a couple examples. Have a mock list and magazine and illustrate what they are about to do.


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5. Do not explain the vocabulary words- you know your class level and can pick words that you have studied and need practice remembering and using. The words can be funny and creative, can be descriptions of people, adjectives and colors, rooms in a house, clothing, you name it!!! 6. Each team should pre-determine a labeler, a cutter, and someone to mark off each word that is found. Everyone should look through the magazine together, but upon finding one of the pictures, one person should cut it out, one should label the picture with the right word, and the other should check off or cross out the word from the list. This promotes teamwork, organized communication, and gives all levels a role which they can perform. 5. Start the clock. Give the teams about 20 minutes to finish or until the first team completes all words on the list. You will witness a lot of laughter, discussion, and participation. Among adult learners, competition can be a wonderful motivator!! 6. Upon completion, the group must organize the words in the appropriate order written on the list. That involves someone reading the word and someone locating the picture (with the correct label) and placing it in order. This repeats the English word identification process. 7. Wait for the others to finish. Each group should then elect a reader and a presenter. The reader will read each word and the presenter will show the correct picture. There can be much discussion over whether or not the picture is a true representation of the listed word! If it is correct and it is labeled, they get a point. The team with the most correct pictures wins the round!

79. BOARD BOGGLE – warmer/vocab/fun

Summary:

A word identifying game Level/age:

Modified for all levels

Theme:

Vocab Skills:

language memory and spelling

Materials: Boggle board Time:

20mins

You can buy the boggle game which works well or you can use online boggle generators (http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/brad/boggle/braggle.htm) and show them using multi-media. Put the students in teams and get them to try and find as many words in the boggle as they can in an allotted time. The team that finds the most words is the winner.

80. WHAT’D HE SAY? – Warmer/Sentence Formation/Review

Summary:

Students make script for pictures Level/age:

low intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence formation/captioning

Materials: Pictures, cartoon strips (without words)

Time:

20-30mins

Get some photos or cartoons and have the students make the captions for them. With strips the sentences should flow into full dialogues that sum up the situation. Encourage full sentences and creativity. When the students are finished review their dialogues and see which ones were closest to the real dialogues.

http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/brad/boggle/braggle.htm


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81. IMPOSSIBLE – Warmer/Speaking

Summary:

Students try to outdo each other with conditions

Level/age:

High intermediate - advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, reasoning

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Divide the class into 2 teams. The first member of the starting team begins by coming up with some kind of plan for the weekend (e.g. “I’m going to take the train to the seaside tonight. The 1st member of the other team must then reply with a reason as to why that plan is impossible e.g. “The last train leaves at noon” or “The weather forecast says that there will be a tidal wave.” The 2nd member of the first team then has to say how they will change their plans, e.g. “Really? In that case I’ll go to the mountains instead.” To which the 2nd member of the other team must come up with a reason to why it is impossible. The team can help the members as it is their turn but only give them a limited time to come up with an answer. If they are too slow or cannot come up with something then the other team gets a point.


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82. WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN… – Warmer/Speaking

Summary:

Students discuss what to say in common situations

Level/age:

High Intermediate- Advanced

Theme:

Common Situations Skills:

Speaking, Conversation

Materials: Situations Below Time:

30mins

This is a very general activity that can be used as a general warmer or speaking practice. Put students into small teams and give them the situations below. Give them 15-20mins and have them discuss what they would say in each of the following situations. Bring the class together and go over their responses. You can give them points for the best answers if you want.

What Do You Say When? What do you say in each of these circumstances? Work in a group to discuss what you can say when: 1. you don't understand what someone is saying… 2. you want to invite someone to sit down with you… 3. you want to pass someone in a narrow space… 4. you are with a group of people and you want to smoke… 5. you want someone to go through a doorway before you… 6. someone near you sneezes… 7. you hand a paper to someone… 8. someone mentions that it is her birthday… 9. someone is about to walk into something… 10. you learn that a friend's father has died… 11. you want to offer someone a seat on a bus… 12. someone is wanted on the phone… 13. you want to know the time and don't have a watch… 14. you don't agree with what someone is saying… 15. you need to borrow someone's umbrella to go out for a minute… 16. you want to signal a server in a restaurant… 17. someone pushes into line in front of you… 18. you get a wrong number on the telephone…


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83. BATTLESHIPS – Warmer/Review/Sentence Making

Summary:


Level/age:


Theme:

taught vocab or grammar Skills:


Materials: Battle ship board in the SM Book Time:

30-40mins

Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Have the students draw up a 10x10 grid on two different sheets of paper. For lower levels the left hand side (y-axis) of the grid can be labeled alphabetically and the lower side (x-axis) can be labeled with simple categories such as food, animals, jobs, cities/countries, hobbies etc. Each player/team proceeds to then fill in one grid with vocabulary :- an A food, an A animal, an A job etc. For more advanced classes, place more complicated category combinations i.e. a European animal, an ancient city etc. Alternatively you can use grammar forms along each axis and have the students make sentences using that grammar. The students are then to draw battleships on their grids - I suggest one battleship that covers three spaces, two that cover two spaces and three that cover one space. The students can place their ships horizontally or vertically anywhere on their grid. Explain to the students that their second grid is a map of their opponents space. One team begins by describing one of their own vocabulary i.e. " a yellow fruit ". The opponent guesses "banana" and then examines their own grid for the space of "B-fruit". If there is a battleship on that space they must declare "HIT" and if there is not they must declare "MISS". In the occurrence of a "HIT" the describer is given a second turn. It is his/her aim to "SINK" the battleship by scoring successive hits to the vessel by "bombing" or guessing the spaces up-down-beside the given space. If the battleship is merely a single space battleship then it is sunk by a direct hit. When a battleship is destroyed the guesser declares "HIT AND SINK". In the case of a "MISS" the turn is then given to the opponent to describe a word and to bomb the opponents space. Each team can map where they have bombed their opponent by marking a circle on their spare grid for a "MISS" and a cross for a "HIT". Continue this successively until all of one teams battleships are sunk or time is out.


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84. SENTENCE RELAY – Warmer/Review

Summary:

Students put sentences together Level/age:

beginner-advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence Formation

Materials: - Time:

20mins

Have students line up in 2 teams. Half the team will be positioned at one end of the class and the other at the other end with 2 piles of scrambled words. Students have to make 2 sentences, 1 at each end of the class. 1 student will run from one end of the class to the other – they must always exchange a card at each end. The first team to finish their sentence gets the point.

85. ANSWER ME – warmer/speaking/Q&A

Summary:

Students discard by getting students to say the words on their cards

Level/age:

Low intermediate-advanced

Theme:

trickery Skills:

Speaking, questioning

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

In this game you get a point if you make another student say something. For example, if one student is holding a card with “Yes, I will” on it and they manage to get that response from one of the people in their group, they can discard that card and score one point. Give each student between four and eight pieces of paper (the same number for each student) and show or tell them the group of words or phrases they can choose from asking them to write one on each piece of paper. These pieces of paper are then shuffled up and dealt out in each group. Students take turns trying to get the responses on their pieces of paper from their partners, Example – Student 1 asks student 2 “What time do you usually eat lunch?” while holding a card with 12 o’clock on it. If Student 2 answers with 12 o’clock then student 1 can discard the card. The student to get rid of their cards first is the winner. There are so many uses for this game. Here are some examples: Short answers – “Yes I do, No I won’t, maybe” etc... Adverbs of frequency “Usually, sometimes, always” etc How do you feel about…? I love it/ don’t mind it/ can’t stand it How does… make you feel? “sad, happy, angry” etc Numbers


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86. KEY WORD – warmer/speaking/listening

Summary:

Students listen for key words from the other team

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, listening

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

Put the class into 2 teams and give each team several pieces of scrap paper. On the paper make them write random words or phrases – the stranger the better. To start the game 2 students from 1 team go up to the front and are given one of the slips of paper from the other team. To give the game a little bit of direction the teacher can also give the students a topic on which to speak although this is not essential. The 2 students must have a conversation for 1 minute while their team listens and tries to guess which word is the key word. If the team can guess the word then they get a point.


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87. SELF TRIVIA – review/question formation

Summary:

Students create their own trivia quiz Level/age:


Theme:

Any learned language and facts Skills:


Materials: Time:

30-40mins

Have students think about several categories such as; sports, entertainment, current events, geography, history etc. and write 1 question for each category. When everyone is finished go around the class and students ask their questions while the other students answer. Check the answers and the student with the most correct is the winner.

88. THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE – Speaking/Comprehension/Active

Summary:

Students pass on vital information through memory

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking, listening, comprehension

Materials: - Time:

15-30mins

First explain the idea of “rumors” to the students. You can do this by explaining the origin of the idiom “through the grapevine.” Put the students into teams of 4 or more, order each person in the team and then split them up around the class. 1s with 1s, 2s with 2s etc. Have a list of prepared rumours to give to the number 1s in each team. I usually have something funny or unusual about students in the class (but be careful with this.) The rumour should contain several pieces of vital information. E.g. Did you hear about Steve – he went to a nightclub last weekend, he drank too much and then fell asleep in the nightclub!! I emphasize the fact that there are 5 pieces of vital information in this rumour ... Who – Steve, where – a nightclub, when – last weekend, what – he fell asleep in a nightclub, why – because he drank too much. Tell your rumour to the number 1 students who must then go to the number 2 students in their team and transfer the story to them. The story travels around the class until the last students relay it back to the teacher. If the details are incorrect they must go back and find out from each link in the chain. First team finished gets the point.


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89. STRIP STORIES – Speaking/Q&A

Summary:

An interactive story ordering activity Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Indirect questioning, speaking

Materials: Time:

20-30mins

Select a story and break it up into sections/lines so that there is one section for each student/team. Each section should have enough information in it so that it can be connected to the next or last sequential section. Print each section onto a strip of colored paper and make enough copies of each strip for each student/team in the class. So if there are 6 students or teams you should have a story with 6 sections/lines – each student/team gets 6 pieces of paper on it with the same section/line. Each team/student gets one section and then they must go around the class trying to find the students whose section connects with their own. The students are not allowed to directly read their sentence. They can only give indirect information about the section and what happens in it. If the students sections are sequential then they can give one another a strip. The idea is to get all the different colored strips and then put them together to make the full story. The first team/ students to do so are the winners. Strip Story Example – Tom’s adventure

Start: Tom is a student from New Zealand. He is studying interior design at University.

He has many friends in his interior design class and they often go out to eat Vietnamese food.

When they are at the restaurant they love to eat pho soup because Tom really loves noodles.

He first ate the soup when he traveled to South East Asia in 2008.

While he was there he visited many beaches and swam a lot.

He loves swimming because it is really good exercise and he likes to keep in good shape.

He also usually plays tennis with his girlfriend, Susan.

Susan is a receptionist in a local business and she loves cats.

Tom and Susan have 2 cats called Lulu and Gandalf.

They play together and sleep in the sun. Finish.


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90. QUICK REPLIES – Speaking in casual situations

Summary:

Students work on casual replies Level/age:


Theme:

Informal situations Skills:

Speaking, informal language

Materials: - Time:

15-25mins

Tell the students that they are with friends in, say, a cafeteria. It is a cloudy day outside and there is a lull in the conversation. The teacher will then say something to get the conversation going. The students should try to reply as casually and quickly as possible – students get points for the first correct response and the most natural response. Situation and Statement examples:

Hey! It's the end of the month!

Ouch! I've cut my finger on this page.

Someone looking at a newspaper: You know guys, this town we live in really IS a beautiful place.

Someone looking at a holiday photo of himself: Jeez, I look awful here.

Someone who is broke: I'd have another coffee, only I don't have any money left.

Someone looking at a newspaper: That was a terrible accident in X, wasn't it?

Someone looking towards the street: It must be raining, I see an umbrella up outside.

Someone whispering: See that man over at the counter, he's just put a cake into his pocket.

Someone looking at a newspaper: Actors are lucky people, aren't they?

Someone looking at the TV in the cafeteria: People watch too much TV.

Someone watching a mother/father with young children: They shouldn't allow kids in here. Notes: The teacher can say the spontaneous comments and then get the students to reply spontaneously. You can change the setting to, say, a meeting, a hospital, a school ... I found that students tended to take too long, and ended up constructing wonderful, logical, grammatical sentences (not to mention polite). For example, to "Ouch! I've cut my finger", I got: "You must go to hospital"! and "Cover it" (?) Fair enough, you can also opt to just practice simple, correct sentences, but what the activity wants to encourage is realistic, fast replies, which are elliptical in many cases like in native-native exchanges. You could even allow the students to give their long-pondered sentences, and then remind them that they are with friends, that people in real-life don't normally wait 20 seconds for a reply to a spontaneous remark. I actually did this, and found that people understood the point, accepted it and enjoyed thinking up more CASUAL replies.


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91. VOCAB 369 – vocabulary/sentence formation

Summary:

Students compete to make the longest sentence using the vocab.

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:


Materials: - Time:

20-30mins

Firstly, on the board, elicit all the vocab for the topic you are studying. This can be a mixture of learned, assumed and unknown words and make sure the vocab list includes a variety of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Put the students into small teams and start the game… Students start with 3 words to make a sentence – they can use any words they want but they get 1 point for every word from the vocab list that they incorporate into the sentence. Give them a minute or 2 to come up with their sentences and total the points. Students get 6 words in the 2nd round and 9 in the 3rd – The team with the most points at the end is the winner. NB - You can change the amount of words you give them to anything, the point being to try and get the students thinking about how the topic’s words operate in a sentence.

92. I LOVE MY LOVE – Vocabulary/Writing

Summary:

General vocab activity Level/age:

high beginners – advanced

Theme:

Vocab Skills:

Brainstorming vocab by letter

Materials: - Time:

15 min +

Give the students each a piece of paper with the following paragraph on it: I love my love with a __ because s/he is _______ and ________. His/her name is _________, s/he lives in _____________ where she works as a ____________. His/her favorite food is _________ and in his/her spare time s/he likes ____________. The students must then take turns saying the paragraph out loud, going through the alphabet filling the blanks with words starting with the appropriate letter. For example, I would start with something like: I love my love with an 'A' because she is adorable and attractive. Her name is Anne, she lives in America, where she works as an actress. Her favorite food is apples, and in her spare time she likes archery. The first student would then say: I love my love with a 'B' because he is boring and bigoted, his name is Boris etc.


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93. COMMUNICATION RACE – Warmer/Energy Boost

Summary:

A non-verbal communication activity

Level/age:

Beginner-advanced

Theme:

Basic instructions Skills:

Comprehension skills and vocab.

Materials: Action forms printed for students Time:

15-20min +

Divide the group into pairs and give one person in each pair a card with a set of simple tasks that they must make their partner do. They can communicate in any way but they cannot use any major related words. The first pair to get through all the tasks is the winner. Variations include allowing only body language and/or not allowing students to say the words. Actions 1

Actions 2

Partner 1 Partner 2 A. Scratch my back A. Shake my hand B. Pick up the pen B. Nod your head C. Stand on the chair C. Pick up the book D. Smile D. Touch your stomach E. Close the door E. Say Goodbye F. Say Hello F. Write a letter G. Jump 3 times G. Run in a circle H. Touch the desk H. Look at the teacher I. Wave your hand I. Do a dance J. Sit down J. Clap your hands

Partner 1 Partner 2 A. touch the wall A. Give me a high 5 B. Hit the table B. swim C. act cute C. Pick up a chair D. dance D. clean the desk E. bow E. cry F. say “nice to meet you” F. touch a window G. play baseball G. brush your teeth H. drink something H. wash your hair I. snap your fingers I. whistle J. hop J. act angry


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94. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE –Warmer/Speaking

Summary:

Moving warmer for 8+ students Level/age:

High beginner-advanced (adult)

Theme:

Distance and personal space Skills:

Speaking, question making, answering

Materials: Ruler for every student Time:

25-40mins

Give each student a ruler and a set of tasks Tasks

1. Tell another student a secret. 2. Tell another student something personal and confidential. 3. Tell another student something confidential. 4. Tell another student something personal. 5. Tell another student something general. 6. Tell another student something public. 7. Tell another student something trivial.

Extra Vocab – whisper, close friend, confidant, colleague, full voice You will probably have to explain the task and the vocab first. Once that is done, tell them to go around the classroom talking to whichever student they want to complete each task with. Once they have asked and answered a question with a student get them to measure the distance between each of them – the goal is to find out how much personal space people create when talking about various situations AND who they choose to tell. Once the students have a variety of measurements run through the following relationships and ask the students how close they think people usually stand together for each task. Now have participants compare their responses to the averages. Most of your participants should have a response that is close to this model. Have group discuss incidences when they felt someone stood too close. What feelings does this evoke? Here are the average American distances for these activities: 1. Very close___________ (tell a secret to a friend or close family member) - Average American distance: 3 to 6 inches. 2. Close ____________ (Whisper, it’s a confidential matter with a close colleague) - Average American distance: 8 to 12 inches 3. Near_____________ (Whisper, it’s a confidential matter with a colleague of the opposite sex) Average American distance: 12 to 20 inches. 3. Personal ____________ (Normal conversation with any colleague) Average American distance: 20 to 36 inches. 4. Neutral____________(Normal conversation when person is not well known to you; subject matter is general and you are speaking in a full voice) Average American distance: 4 1/2 to 5 feet 6. Public_____________ Loud conversation; subject matter is general and you are speaking in a slightly voice) Average American distance: 5 1/2 to 8 feet. 7. Across the room_____________(Loud voice; talking to a group): 8 ft to 20 feet


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95. SILENT COMMUNICATION – Warmer/Comprehension

Summary:

Intro/warmer for 4+ students Level/age:

High beginner-advanced (adult)

Theme:

Communication Skills:

Comprehension, acting, writing sentences

Materials: Pencil and paper Time:

25-40mins

Put the students into partners – preferably students that don’t know each other very well. Students think of things about themselves that their partners would be unlikely to know. Neither person can talk. Students then convey the message to each other using only gestures or drawings. He/she is not allowed to write words or numbers. Students have paper and pencil to write down the message they think is being conveyed. (It is important that the other student not see this message). At the end of the exercise all participants come back together. Go around the group and each student reads what they thought the message had been. Very few messages are correctly interpreted. Most will understood a few central ideas or words but misinterpret the full message. As a follow up you can ask students to describe how it felt to describe an event this way. This game can be played with several variations – one involves students rotating around all students and trying to guess the messages. Ideas for messages are as follows: Last year, I was sick. I had surgery on my .......... I hurt myself.... During the vacation I went to ......... A funny thing happened in my class the other day....... It makes me feel uncomfortable when people................ Last night I dreamt that................................ Something I really like to do in my spare time is............................


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96. 1 MINUTE SPEECH –Speaking/Listening

Summary:

Students make spontaneous speeches

Level/age:

Advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

10 -20 mins

Divide the class into 2 teams and have them write random speech topics for the other team. Choose a student and have them choose a topic. They must then spontaneously talk about that topic for 1 minute. The teacher can rate their performance on fluency, content, grammar and dead speaking time.

97. FINISH THE SENTENCE – Reading Review/Critical Thinking

Summary:

Vocab trading game to make full sentences.

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence formation

Materials: Post-its Time:

10-15mins

This activity requires some logistical planning to start with – first, look at the numbers of the class and see how many equal teams you can create, i.e. 12 students could make 4 teams of 3. In this example, you would write 4 sentences on the board, but remove 3 words from each sentence. If there were 6 teams of 5 you would write 6 sentences with 5 words removed from each. Remember, the difficulty/length of this activity depends on the difficulty of the passage so keep that in mind. Write the correct words for the blanks on post-it notes then randomly distribute the cards amongst the students. Students must first determine where their word fits into the blanks. and then determine what the other missing words in that particular sentence might be. They then try to find other students who they think have the missing words in their sentence and then get their post-its up on the board first. The team to successfully find each other first and finish the sentence is the winner.


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98. PICTURE VOCAB ROTATION RACE – Warmer/Vocab/Review/Energy Boost

Summary:

Active vocab recall race Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:


Materials: paper Time:

20-30mins

Put up pictures of certain vocabulary around the classroom then put students into teams. The teams must rotate around the pictures with one student labeling one thing on one picture as they go around. The fastest team is the winner.

99. SENTENCE GRIDS – Warmer/Review/Filler

Summary:

Grid based sentence formation activity.

Level/age:

beginner – advanced levels

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence formation, idea connection

Materials: - Time:

25-35mins

Draw a 6x6 grid on the board with whatever vocab you want to review going vertically and horizontally. Verbs and nouns work well, e.g. play, dance, sing, eat, run, give + ball, car, game, song, steak, shoes. The students roll 2 die to get their combination of words so 1+1 would be play and ball...”I am playing with a ball.” If they can make a sentence using those 2 words then they get the grid. Alternatively you can let the students choose the grid and try to get a bingo/tic-tac-toe/connect 4. You can also introduce a 3rd dice for tenses 1-2 past tense, 3-4 present and 5-6 future.

100. KILLER – Warmer/Review/Fun

Summary:

Killers try to kill students while asking questions

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything. Skills:

Q&A

Materials: - Time:

20-30mins

Have all the students write their own questions reviewing any of the grammar you have studied. Once this is done you must choose some killers (maybe 2 for every 12 students.) Have the students all put their heads down/eyes closed as the teacher comes around and taps 2 students on the shoulder. These students are now the killers and they must try to kill as many students as possible during the game by making direct eye contact and winking at them. Without letting the other students know the identity of the killers get them all to stand up. Give them 5-10 minutes to go around the class asking their questions. The student who asks the most questions in this time will be the winner but they must try and avoid the killers. Students can only ask 1 question to a student at a time and then they must change. If they meet the killer and get winked at then they are killed and the must quietly go and sit down. When time is up count up how many questions students were able to ask and the one with the most is the winner.


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101. THE MESSAGE KING - Review/Technology

Summary:

Students race to text each other English sentences.

Level/age:


Theme:

Technology/telephones/modern life Skills:

Comprehension, spelling

Materials: Cell phones. Time:

20-30mins

Divide students into pairs and make sure they have each other’s phone numbers. Bring one of each pair to the front and make them put their phones out in a row on a desk at the front of the class. Write down a pre-taught sentence for those students and show it to them. They must memorize it and tell it to their partner who must then text it in English to the original partner’s phone. The first phone to buzz (with the correct sentence) gets the point for their team.

102. STORY TELLER – Speaking/Writing/Sentence formation/Creative Thinking

Summary:

A sentence formation and vocab identification activity

Level/age:


Theme:

Story Telling Skills:

verb usage and sentence formation

Materials: Paper Time:

25-40mins

Ask students to write a word on a piece of paper and tell them not to show anyone. This word should be a verb (or whatever you'd like to review.) The teacher starts telling a story, then stops and chooses a student. That student will continue the story and must use his/her word. This student then chooses the next student to continue the story. The last student must end the story. After the story is over, the students then try to guess what words each student has written on his/her paper. The student who guesses the most words wins the game. Alternately, this can be done as a writing activity.


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103. OUTBURST – Warmer/Vocabulary

Summary:

Vocab shouting activity Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Speaking

Materials: Outburst categories + lists Time:

20-30mins

Prepare a list of categories (perhaps related to what you have been studying.) Along with 10 words that are related to that category. When it is a team’s turn give them a category and 1 minute to yell out (or write down) as many words that they can that are related to the category. They get 1 point for each answer they get that is the same as your list. The team with the most points when all the categories are finished is the winner.

104. ROTATION REVIEW BOARD GAME – Review/Speaking

Summary:

board game review Level/age:


Theme:

Mix of grammar and vocab Skills:

Sentence formation

Materials: The Handout Board in the SM Book Time:

20-30mins

Divide the class into small groups of 2 – 4 students and have them get a marker of some sort. An eraser works well. Students start at the first square and have to make as many true sentences as you can about the topic in the box your counter is on. After each sentence your group will tell you if the sentence is true or not. If your sentence is wrong, stop speaking and move on one square for each correct sentence you said, for example: Student A “To get to your office go out of this door” Student B “That’s right, one square” A “Then turn left” B “That’s correct, two squares”

A “Then go up to the 7th

floor”

B “Sorry, that’s not right. My office is on the 8th

floor. You can move 2 squares. Now it’s my turn” Play then passes to the next person. When you reach the “Special Challenge” square, stop there until you next turn (you can never go straight past). When your turn comes again, your group must ask you any question about a classmate, for example “How old is she?” If your answer is correct, you can move back to the “Start” square, score one point for a complete circle, and continue the game. If your answer is wrong you have to stay on the “Special Challenge” square until your next turn. Continue playing until your teacher tells you to stop. The person who has the most points (has been around the board most times) is the winner.


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105. WHISPERS – Warmer/Review

Summary:

Whispering message transfer game Level/age:

beginner – advanced (Good for younger ages)

Theme:

anything Skills:

Speaking, listening, writing

Materials: Prepared sentences Time:

30-40mins

Have students line up in their teams with the student at the front nearest the board. The teacher goes to the back of the line and gives a word or sentence to the students at the back of the lines. That student must then whisper the word to the next student in the line. The word makes its way down the line until it reaches the student at the front. That student must write the word on the board. The first team to correctly write the word gets 1 point. The students then rotate with the student at the front of the line going to the back. The team with the most points after all the students have had a turn is the winner.

106. WHISPER/DRAW/WHISPER/DRAW – Warmer/Review

Summary:

writing and drawing activity Level/age:


Theme:

Minorities, being marginalized, opinions

Skills:



20-30mins

This activity is similar to whispers except it includes drawing into the activity. Have the students line up in 2 teams (sitting.) Give the word or sentence to the first student who must then draw a picture of it to the next student, that student then whispers what they believe the picture to be to the next student who then draws and so on until the last student who should say the word out loud or write it on the board. First team finished correctly gets the point. Alternate how you begin the game (whispering or drawing) so that all the students get a turn doing all the actions.


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107. CONNECTIONS – Warmer/Review

Summary:

Students try to make connections between different vocab

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:


Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Put students into teams and have them write down a series of 20 words on individual scrap pieces of paper, 1 word per piece. The pieces of paper then get given to another team and placed face-down on the desk. The starting student must choose 2 pieces of paper and try to establish a connection between them by any means necessary. This could include the letters in the word, the meaning, the category they belong to – any meaningful connection is acceptable. They must explain the connection to the rest of their group who will decide if it’s okay. If it is then that student keeps the cards and the next student goes – if they cannot make a meaningful connection then they must replace the cards and the next student goes. Once all the cards are gone the student with the most cards is the winner.

108. VOCAB DOMINOS – Warmer/Review

Summary:

Students connect domino words together.

Level/age:

beginner –advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence formation

Materials: Vocab dominos cards in the SM Book

Time:

30-40mins

Create sets of domino vocab cards where by each card is divided into 2 spaces with a word in each one. There should be a variety of words so students can make sentences. You can add pictures to make the words more identifiable. Deal out the cards to the students and they have to play the game like dominos whereby they match up their cards to another on the table. If they can’t make a match then they must take another card from the pile. Cards can go vertical or horizontal but obviously the grammar has to be correct. The first team to get rid of all the cards is the winner. Here is a basic set of domino cards but you can add in any that you have been teaching.


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109. RE-REPORTING – 3rd person/speaking

Summary:

Students practice changing person by re-reporting the 1st sentence.

Level/age:


Theme:

Changing person, past tense Skills:

Speaking, grammar

Materials: - Time:

10-15mins

Have the students re-report events to the class to practice the use of changing person and past tense. The teacher starts with “I like chocolate...” and then throws the ball to another student who has to say “The teacher said that he liked chocolate...” They then throw the ball to another student who says “The first student told me that the teacher said that he like chocolate...” The activity can be done with the whole class or in smaller teams.

110. SOLUTION RACE – “would you like…”

Summary:

Students offer solutions to various problems.

Level/age:


Theme:

conditional clause - would you like, Skills:

problem solving, vocab


First you will need to teach the idea of feelings and needs with the grammar point of “would you like...” You can model the dialogue – “I am hungry” (I feel hungry) “Would you like some water?” “Yes please/no, thanks” “Here you go...” “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” Then you’ll need to elicit solutions for the various feelings, so you can say to the class something like “I feel hot...” and the students have to yell out a solution e.g. “use a fan.” There are many feelings you can run through with answers “I feel sad” “I am bored” etc As you elicit responses you should have a student recording them on individual cards. Divide the class into teams. Put all the cards in the back of the room and stand in the front. The first member of each team comes up. I call out, "I'm hungry." The students race to the back, find the right card, bring it to me and ask, "Would you like a cake?" I say, "Yes, I would like a cake." "Here you go." "Thank you." to which they must respond, "You're welcome." Their team gets two points. If I say I'm hot and someone brings me a fan and another person brings a glass of water, I'll accept both. If they bring a reasonable item back, but not what I intended or can't complete the dialogue, that's one point. As the game progresses, I will call out two things, emotions or states-of-being that might go together or feelings that could have more than one answer.


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111. WANT/HAVE/NEED STRIKEOUT – warmer/grammar

Summary:

Students play tic-tac-toe with grammar

Level/age:

High beginner - advanced

Theme:

Want/need/have Skills:

Grammar, speaking

Materials: This handout Time:

15-30mins

Write your answers in any order in the boxes below, make sure that you only write nouns.

Condition You Other students

1. Something you want

2. Something you have.

3. Something you need.

4. Something you had, but don't have any more.

5. Something you have, but don't have any more.

6. Something you don't have and don't want.

7. Something you have, but don't need.

8. Something you have, but seldom use.

9. Something you have and often use.

Now talk to your classmates and try to guess 3 of their items. If you guess 3 you get 3 points.

You can ask 1 yes/no question for each guess. The student with the most points is the winner.

Try to use sentences like - “I think you have a teddy bear, but don't want it anymore." "I'll bet you have a bicycle, but seldom use it." “I guess you have an Iphone but don’t need it.”


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112. NEGATIVE/POSITIVE GIFTS – like/don’t like

Summary:

Teams battle to make sentences using positives and negatives

Level/age:

Modified for all ages

Theme:

positives, negatives, likes, dislikes, must etc

Skills:

sentence formation

Materials: - Time:

20-30mins

On the board draw a square and divide it into 4 boxes. In the two left hand boxes write the requests. In the two right hand boxes write the replies with opposites matching each other...

Questions/Requests… Responses…

I like ___________Can I have ___________? NO!! Because_________________

I don’t like ________ Please don’t give me _________

YES!! Because________________

Divide the class into two teams and have one student come up from each team. They play rock, paper, scissors to decide who will question and who will answer. The winner decides who will start with a question while the losing team decides if the question will be negative or positive. The questioning team must make a sentence (through the student at the front) in line with the grammar in the negative request box, if positive then positive. The reply team then has a short time to reply to the request (through the student at the front) but it must always be opposite, so if the request team asks for Ice cream then the reply team must say no and give a reason why not. If the request team says they don’t want a punch in the face then the reply team must say why it would be good for them. If the reason is valid then the reply team gets a point and two more students come up the front. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.

113. GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS TENNIS – speaking/idiom

Summary:

Students use the “Good news, bad news” idiom to get points

Level/age:

high intermediate – advanced

Theme:

“The good news/bad news is...” Skills:

creative thinking

Materials: - Time:

15-30mins

First off give the students examples of good news and bad news. You can get as extreme as you like depending on your class’s comprehension level. Bad news: extra homework, bad weather, car accident, death…basically whatever gets the point across. Good news: less homework, class finishing early, wedding, etc… After these elicit more ideas from the class. Teach them sentence: “The good news is..., however, the bad news is...” After all or most of the students understand split them into two teams. One team will write good news on strips of paper, while the other team writes bad news. Give them a few minutes for this. One team will start by serving and will read out one of their news items. To return the hit the other team must think of an opposing news item. They get a certain amount of time to do this and if they can


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do so successfully then the ball goes back to the other team’s court where they must think of something to reply with. When a team cannot think of something the opposing team is awarded points.

114. VOCAB SCAVENGER HUNT – vocabulary/comprehension

Summary:

Students search for words they think other students won’t know.

Level/age:


Theme:

Vocab Skills:

Comprehension

Materials: Area that has written vocab Time:

20-40mins

Put the students into small teams (2 or 3) and tell them that they are going to go out of the classroom and find 3 words that they think the other teams will not know. For each word they find that another team doesn’t know they get 1 point. If they find any words that the teacher doesn’t know they get 5 points. Give them 5-10 minutes to walk around and find vocab and then come back to the class to test the other students. Write 1 team’s words up on the board and give the other teams 1 minute to discuss what they think they meaning may be. If they know the meaning they get a point, if not the team who found the word gets the point.


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115. AGREE TO DISAGREE – speaking/opinions

Summary:

Debating based activity Level/age:


Theme:

Debating language such as “In my opinion...” “I tend to think...” etc.

Skills:

Speaking, presenting

Materials: Prepared marginal statements Time:

20-60mins

The teacher divides the room into four corners: agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, and disagree. Then the teacher makes a statement like "Movie stars deserve to be paid huge sums of money for what they do." The students move to the corner that best depicts how they feel about the statement. The students in each corner have a few minutes to discuss why they feel this way and then their group presents. Depending on the type of statement made by the teacher, this game can be very serious, very funny, very political etc... Cultural differences among students are highlighted in this game and debate can get intense.

116. Q&A ROTATION - speaking

Summary:


Level/age:

high intermediate-advanced

Theme:

General Skills:

Speaking

Materials: Time:

30-40mins

Have all the students lined up with one another in even pairs with a set of questions. When the teacher says go the students must talk to their partner about the first question. When the teacher says stop 1 half of the students rotate around giving everyone a new partner. They then talk about the second question and so on. 1- My favourite possession is ......................................................................................... 2- When I was in primary school I .......................................................... 3- One of my best friends in high school................................................... 4- Once I fell in love with ............................................................................... 5- My first boyfriend/girlfriend....................................................................... 6- The subject that I liked a lot ....................................... because.................. 7- The subject that I hated was .........................................because................. 8- In the past I never ......................................................................................... 9- One of my worst character traits is .................................................................. 10- One of my best character traits is .................................................................... 11- My friends like/dislike me because...........................................................


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Theme-Focused Activities

117. MURDER – speaking/indirect questioning

Summary:

An indirect Q&A game Level/age:


Theme:

Crime Skills:

Speaking, indirect questioning

Materials: - Time:

40-60mins+

Divide the class into teams. The teams should have at least 2 people in them but more is fine. Begin the game by eliciting vocab in these 3 categories; Murder Weapon, scene of the crime and suspect (with suspect’s occupation.) You may have to explain these categories first but once that’s done I encourage the students to be as colorful as they like in coming up with items for these categories. As you are getting ideas from the students write them up on the board – also have a student or students writing each individual idea down on pieces of scrap paper. Depending on how many teams you want will depend on how many items you’ll need to elicit. If you have 3 teams you’ll need 10 items in each category, if you have 4 teams you’ll need 13 items in each category – basically each team will take 3 items from each category so if you have extra teams then add on 3 extra items. When you are finished eliciting the ideas collect the pieces of paper with the ideas on them (separated in their individual categories) and randomly choose 1 item from each category. Do not show these items to the students – these are now the actual murder details and it’s each team’s job to discover what those 3 pieces of paper are. Now divide the remaining pieces of paper between the teams – each team should get 3 items from each category so each team will have 3 murder weapons, 3 suspects and occupations and 3 places. They must look at their items, make sure they know them and then memorize or write them down, making sure not to show the other teams their items. Game play – now the game is ready to begin. You should explain to the students that they must go to the other teams to find out what items they have so that they can eliminate all the items off the lists and uncover what the 3 items were that the teacher chose...BUT they cannot ask the other teams directly, they must use indirect questions...so a student cannot go to another student and ask “Does your team have a hammer?” they must ask indirectly, for example “Does your team have an item that hits nails?” In this way students broaden their understanding of the items without saying it explicitly. The students from the other team must answer truthfully when asked a correct question. That student can then cross that item off the list. Give the students 10-15 minutes for their initial round of questioning then stop them and tell them to go back to their teams. You will find that in the first phase of questioning it will be chaotic – students will be asking about the same items to the same students and a team may not have got anywhere, however when they meet again tell them to compare notes and then come up with a strategy for the second round of questioning – in the second round most students will be far more organized and will try and root out certain items. Only give them 5-10 more minutes the second time around. When that time is up call them back to their groups and get them to collaborate and try and guess what the items are. Write their guesses up on the board and then go through and eliminate the incorrect answers from the original lists. The team that has the closest answers to the correct one is the winner.


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118. SPEED DATING – speaking/Q&A

Summary:

Students question each other as if speed dating

Level/age:

High beginner - advanced (adult)

Theme:

Relationships, introductions Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

This is a fun activity that can be used on older students to practice discussion skills. Firstly, introduce the question “What do you look for in a boyfriend/girlfriend?” Elicit ideas from the students about what they look for in an ideal partner as well as eliciting how you would ask somebody about this... The students will come up with things like – good job, similar interests, handsome etc so you should write these up on the board along with the questions they would need to ask to get this information from someone e.g. “What do you do?” “What are your hobbies?” etc Choose some of these things and then tell the students that they are going to write a dating profile for themselves. There are 2 ways you can do it – either have them write a made-up profile or have them write about themselves for real. If there are students in the class who are self-conscious then it’s a good idea to just have them make up profiles – they can get creative this way too. If the students are more mature they can write their own profile. (I find that a lot of students actually like being more self-reflexive, but it can backfire so be weary.) Once they are finished tell them that they are going to do speed dating. Explain the process and then organize the class into 2 rows. A good way to do this is in 2 circles that rotate around one another. Tell the students that they have 3 minutes to have a date with the student opposite them and they must ask as much information about the student as they can in that time. They should try to remember it or write it down for later when they decide who they want to date. Once the 3 minutes is up everyone rotates onto a new student and this continues until everyone has rotated through everyone. Once it’s all finished bring the students together and either discuss together or in teams about who they would want to date.


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119. MYSTERY BOX – Speaking/Senses

Summary:

Students describe mystery objects. Level/age:


Theme:

Senses Skills:

description and comprehension

Materials: A mystery box with objects. Time:

15-20min+

Bring a mystery box to class with various objects in it. The objects should have completely different textures and shapes. Choose 1 student to come up and put their hand in the mystery box. The students must describe the feeling to the other students and they have to try and guess what the object is.

120. PERSUADE ME – Warmer/Speaking/Persuasion/Marketing

Summary:

Students become marketers for the worst products

Level/age:

Intermediate +

Theme:

Marketing/advertising/shopping/buying & selling/language of persuasion

Skills:

Speaking, Listening

Materials: Persuade Cards from the SM book Time:

Firstly, you will need to print about 6-10 copies of the “persuade me” product cards (below) and have them cut out. You should also prepare something to use as money. Printed money from a dollar store works well. You can introduce the activity by having the students discuss – “What is the worst product you have ever bought and why?” Divide the class into 2 teams – the marketers and the consumers or buyers and sellers. Give each consumer a set amount of money and each marketer 6 or so copies of the same product card. Give the marketers a few minutes to come up with some marketable points for their product. While they are doing this the consumers can talk together about what new products they might need or want. Once this is done, have all the marketers stand up and go to the consumers to try and sell their products using persuasion. Tell the consumers that they are looking to buy 3 xmas presents and they have to spend all their money. Give them a set amount of time and the marketer who sells the most of their product is the winner. You can then play again by reversing all the roles and giving the new marketers new sets of product cards.


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121. LYRIC RELAY GRAB – Listening/Music

Summary:

Song lyric grab game Level/age:


Theme:

Comprehension Skills:

listening

Materials: Strips of paper, MP3 player Time:

15-25mins

This is a wonderful activity if you think your class needs waking up a little. Choose a song that the students have or have not heard before. Choose 10-15 pieces of vocabulary from the song and write them on separate pieces of paper. With lower level groups you may want to pronounce the words with the students first. Stick each word to the board with putty (blue tack). Put the students into 2 teams each one in a line before the board. Play the song. When the 2 students at the front of their line hear a word in the song that is on the board they must race each other to grab that word from the board (this can get quite violent!). They then go to the back of the line and it's up to the next pair. The team with the most words wins. I don't usually stop the tape so don't choose words that come one after the other. If you want to make it more difficult you can put red herrings up. You can usually play the song a couple of times until they get all the words.

122. THE LOVE TESTER – Comprehension/personality/relationships

Summary:

A personality quiz focused on love Level/age:


Theme:

relationship vocab and personality traits

Skills:

Comprehension

Materials: The quiz Time:

20mins

The answers given to the questions have been shown to have a relevance to values and ideals that we hold in our personal lives. The analysis follows: 1. You are walking in the woods with someone. Who is it? This person is the most important person in your life. 2. You see an animal. What is it? The size of the animal is representative of your perception of the size of your problems. 3. What is your interaction with the animal? The severity of the interaction you have with the animal is representative of how you deal with your problems. (passively/aggressively) 4. You walk deeper in the woods. You enter a clearing and before you is your Dream House. What size is it? The size of your dream house is representative of the size of your ambition to resolve your problems. 5. Is your dream house surrounded by a fence? No fence is indicative of an open personality. People are welcome at all times. The presence of a fence indicates a closed personality. You'd prefer people not to drop by unannounced.


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6. You enter the house. You walk to the dining area and see the dining table. What is on the table and what is around the table? If your answer did not include food, people, or flowers, then you are generally unhappy. 7. You exit the house through the back door. Lying in the grass is a cup. What is the cup made of? The durability of the material with which the cup is made of is representative of the perceived durability of your relationship with girlfriend. For example, Styrofoam, plastic, and paper are all disposable, Styrofoam, paper and glass are not durable, and metal and plastic are durable. 8. What do you do with the cup? Your disposition of the cup is representative of your attitude towards girlfriend/boyfriend. 9. You walk to the edge of the property, where you find yourself standing at a body of water – what kind of water is it? The size of the body of water is representative of the size of your sexual desire. 10. How do you cross the water? How wet you get in crossing the water is indicative of the relative importance of your sex life.


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123. THE LOVE TESTER 2 - Comprehension/Personality/Relationships

Summary:

Another personality quiz focused on love

Level/age:


Theme:

relationship vocab and personality traits

Skills:

Comprehension

Materials: The quiz Time:

20mins

1. You are walking to your boy/girlfriend's house. There are two roads to get there. One is a straight path to take you there quickly, but is very plain and boring. The other is significantly longer but is full of wonderful sights and interesting things. Which one do you take to get your significant other's house, short or long? 2. On the way you see 2 rose bushes. One is full of red roses, the other full of white. You decide to pick 20 roses for your boy/girlfriend, of any color combination. What number of white and red do you pick? (you can pick all of one or any combo of the two). 3. You finally get to their house. A person you don’t know answers the door. You can have them get your boy/girlfriend or go get them yourself. Which do you do? 4. You go up to you boy/girlfriend's room, but nobody is there. You decide to leave the roses. Do you leave them by the windowsill or on the bed? 5. Later, it's time for bed. You and your boy/girlfriend go to sleep in separate rooms. In the morning when it’s time to wake up you go in their room and check on them. When you arrive, are they awake or asleep? 6. Now it's time to go back home. Do you take the short, plain road or the longer, more interesting road? NOW THE ANSWERS 1. The road represents your attitude towards falling in love. If you take the short road, you fall in love quickly and easily. If you take the long road, you take your time and do not fall in love as easily. 2. The number of red roses represents how much you give in a relationship, while the number of white represents what you expect in return. For example, if you chose 18 red and 2 white, you give 90% and expect 10% in return. 3. This question represents your attitude towards handling relationship problems. If you asked the family member to get your significant other, then you like to avoid problems and hope that they will solve themselves. If you went to get them yourself, then you are a more direct person and like to work out problems immediately. 4. The placement of roses determines how much you like to see your boy/girlfriend. Placing them on the bed means you like to see them a lot, while placing them on the windowsill means that you are alright with not seeing them as much. 5. This is representative of your attitude towards their personality. If you find them asleep, you love your boy/girlfriend the way they are. If you find them awake, you expect them to change for you. 6. The road to home tells how long you stay in love with someone. If you chose the short road, you fall out of love easily. If you chose the longer one, you will tend to stay in love for a long time.


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124. HELLO VAN GOUGH – Art/Giving Directions/Prepositions

Summary:

Students must give drawing directions to other students

Level/age:


Theme:

Vocab, prepositions, art Skills:

Speaking, drawing

Materials: Large paper, drawing materials Time:

40mins+

Put the Ss into pairs and then line up a single row of desks in front of the board – have one set of the paired students sit at the desk facing the board and one set of students facing away from the board. Give the students facing away from the board a large piece of paper and something to draw with. To start the game either have a set of large pictures prepared (or draw them yourself) of vocab and grammar you have been studying. Put the pictures on the board and the students facing the board must describe the pictures to the students facing away who must draw them. Give them a set amount of time to describe everything while the other student furiously draws. When time is up collect all the pictures and put them up on the board next to the actual picture. Write the pairs up on the board and have them vote for which picture is the most accurate and/or best. They cannot vote for their own picture. Switch the partners around and do it again – the team with the most votes at the end is the winner. Alternatively you can pre-teach “Art” vocab e.g. realism, surrealism, abstract, depicts etc and then when the pictures are finished have all the students come up to the board and use their language to critique the pictures using the vocab they have learnt.

125. CLASSROOM ART GALLERY – Art/Speaking/Comprehension

Summary:

An art discussion/critique activity Level/age:


Theme:

ideas and language about art critique

Skills:


Materials: Art photocopies Time:

30mins+

Before class, put up modern art print photocopies all around the classroom. As students arrive they will notice the art on the walls and will be intrigued. It is best to say as little as possible at this point. To begin the class, ask everyone to get up and have a more careful look at all of the prints. Have students sit down and talk with their partners: Some ideas for discussion include:

The price of these works and why they are so expensive.

Is it art? Why or why not? What is art? What's the point?

Is it worthwhile?

How do these paintings compare to art in the students' own cultures?

Which ones do students like? Dislike? Which are the strangest?

What do they mean?


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126. SCAVENGER HUNT – Warmer/Review/Active

Summary:

Students race to find various things Level/age:


Theme:

following instructions/directions Skills:


Materials: Scavenger hunt list Time:

30mins

There are several ways to do the scavenger hunt that will focus on different areas. If you want to focus on following directions then you should prepare a set of instructions that the students can follow to find various objects. You can focus on lots of different language e.g. “Turn right and take 15 steps...the object is next to the blue sign.” Alternatively you can get the students to find various objects such as ‘something purple’ or ‘a warning sign.’ This gives them a little bit more freedom and is less prep but is less structured also. So once you’ve set out some instructions, put the students into teams (2-4 works best) and send them out. The first team to get back with the answers is the winner. Also these days most students will have some form of camera so you can get them to take photos as proof of their answers.

127. THE NEWLYWED GAME – Warmer/Speaking/Question Formation

Summary:

Students quiz couples on their habits

Level/age:


Theme:

Marriage, life Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, question formation, recall

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Choose students from the class to make four sets of “newlyweds.” There will be four “husbands” and four “wives.” Choose a theme, such as food, work, weekends, or relatives, to give the couples a focus in preparing their “marriage.” Have the newlyweds go out of the classroom to talk to each other about their habits in the topic they have been given. Give them a short amount of time in which they should try to get to know about their partner. Have the remaining students come up with a list of questions (based on the theme) that will be asked to the couple. Possible questions: What does your wife put in her coffee? What is her favorite fruit? What food does your wife hate? Where does she like to go for dinner? How does she like her eggs/steak cooked? When you have four or five questions and the students have had about 10 minutes to get the necessary information, recombine. Have the “husbands” and “wives” sit on opposite sides of the room, facing each other. Write the couples’ names on the board to record points.


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Both “husbands” and “wives” should write down their answers as other students read their questions. (Other students watch to make sure there is no eye-contact or hand signals between them.) When all the questions have been asked and the answers written read the questions again, but this time the couples show what they have written. If the answers match the couple gets points.

128. MAFIA – warmer/speaking/reasoning/crime

Summary:

Role-play activity in which students try to find the mafia members.

Level/age:


Theme:

Crime Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, reasoning

Materials: Role-play cards Time:

40mins+

To prepare this activity write one of 4 roles on enough pieces of paper so that each person gets one. Depending on numbers 3/4 will be Mafia, 1 Policeman, 1 Doctor and all the rest will be citizens. Give each group member a part and explain that no one else is to know who is who as the aim of the game is to root out the "mafia.” Explain that at night the mafia will kill someone, the doctor will save someone and the policeman will investigate/ find out about someone. Next, tell everyone to close their eyes. Say something like: "Citizens of ___ go to sleep". Next invite the mafia, and only the mafia to wake up. Between them the members of the mafia will "kill" one of the group. Get them to agree on and point to their victim. Tell them to go back to sleep. Next ask the doctor to wake up. Ask him who he wants to save, again asking that it be communicated through gestures. Should the person being killed and the person being saved be one and the same, the murder will have been averted and so the process will have to begin again. Finally wake the policeman up. He will point to the person he's investigating and you will either nod indicating yes that person is mafia, or shake your head, no they're not. Finally ask them all to wake up. Say something like: "Last night in ___, there was a brutal and bloody murder and _____ was killed. We know that 4 people among you are members of the mafia and responsible for this murder. Citizens who do you want to accuse?" It'll take a few minutes to catch on that it could be anyone and the accusations will begin. "I accuse X because he has a wonky moustache" or some such. X will then have to defend himself. Nobody is to admit to being mafia and they will soon catch on that it is either the loudest people who are accusing everyone, or the quietest that don't want to draw attention to themselves, that are guilty. As each accusation is made and the individual makes his defense a group decision will need to be made on whether or not to send that person to prison. Ask everyone to vote and the majority decision sticks. Once they get sent to "prison" ask them if there were in fact mafia or not at which point they must tell the truth. As each person gets sent down or at appropriate intervals, stop the proceedings as another day ends, and a new night and a new murder occur...Explain that both the Policeman and Doctor are allowed to tell what they know, but also explain that a crafty mafia member might lie and say he's the policeman to try to point the finger away from himself. The Mafia may also accuse one another, as each person is only really concerned to keep themselves out of prison. Also one a person is dead, or has been sent down they are no longer permitted to participate as they may know, or think they know things. The mafia are likely to kill anyone they feel is on to them. There's no set pattern to how the discussion should go just let them argue it out among themselves, giving advice if and when you feel it's necessary.


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129. TRAVELOCITY – Travel/comparative-superlative/money/presentation

Summary:

Quiz and creative presentation activity

Level/age:

All levels

Theme:

Travel, money Skills:

Answering questions, speaking, creating

Materials: Fake money, questions below Time:

50mins +

To prep this activity photocopy a bunch of money (the more the better) and come up with a range of geography/travel trivia questions ranging from easy to difficult in a series of different categories (a bit like Jeopardy) There are questions and categories below (or make your own.) Put the students in teams and write up your categories with money values on the board. Then start the game. Teams choose a category and money value to try and win that amount by answering the question corresponding to the amount. As they win give them the actual photocopied cash which gives them more of a sense of ownership for what they will do later in the activity. Once all the questions are answered and all the cash is doled out tell the students that they are going to use the money they have won to plan their own vacation. They may only use the amount they have earned and they must include everyone in their team. Have them present their vacation plans to the rest of the class. Easy - $20 Cities: What is the capital city of England? London Landmarks: In what country can we find the Eiffel tower? France Nature: What is the highest mountain in the world? Mt Everest Countries: What is the largest country in the world? Russia Languages: What is the most widely spoken language in the world? Chinese (Cantonese & Mandarin) Other: What continent is the EU in? Europe Medium – $40 Cities: What is the capital city of Germany? Berlin. Landmarks: In what city would you find the great pyramid? Cairo. Nature: What is the longest river in the world? The Nile. Countries: Name 3 countries that begin with the letter A? Languages: What language is spoken in Ireland? English Other: What is the currency in England? The Pound. Difficult – $60 Cities: What is the biggest city in Canada? Toronto Landmarks: In what city would you find the Mona Lisa? Paris. Nature: In what 2 countries would you find Niagara Falls? Canada and America Countries: Which country lies between Finland and Norway? Sweden Languages: What country uses the Cyrillic alphabet? Russia Other: Which country has a red star in a white circle on its flag? North Korea Really difficult $80 Cities: What is the capital city of Mongolia? Ulaan Bataar. Landmarks: In what city would you find the Blue Mosque? Istanbul. Nature: What is the world’s largest ocean? Pacific Countries: What country used to be called Kampuchea? Cambodia Languages: Which country has Hebrew as their official language? Israel. Other: What is the name of the currency in Italy? The Euro.


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130. VENUS AND MARS – Gender Differences/Q&A

Summary:

Girls and boys try to outsmart each other.

Level/age:


Theme:

Gender knowledge Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, Q&A

Materials: - Time:

20-40mins

I start this quiz game for intermediate to advanced secondary school to adult students with a 15-20 minute conversation about differences between men and women. Specifically, I try to elicit whether women and men are interested in different things in life, talk about different subjects, learn different things as they grow up. Students are often quite opinionated on this subject! Next, I ask all the women in the class to form a group at one end of the classroom and all the men on the opposite side. It doesn't matter that there are the exact same number of men and women, but it should be close. Then I ask each group to come up with ten questions that they believe most people of the same sex could answer, and most of the opposite sex couldn't. The main criterion is that they believe at least 75% of people of their own gender would know the answer. Of course, the questions also have to be grammatically correct. Finally, each team takes turns asking the other the questions -- with really surprising results! For instance, as a female teacher, I could not believe that not one man in my class knew what Louis Vuitton makes, and we all had a good laugh when the men asked the women which direction was north and they pointed to all 4 corners of the room.

131. DETECTIVE –Creative Thinking/Speaking/Crime

Summary:

Students try to find the guilty party Level/age:

Intermediate-Advanced (Better for older students)

Theme:

Crime Skills:

Speaking, Question Formation

Materials: Strips of paper, one with an x on it Time:

30mins+

At the beginning of the class, discuss different crimes with the class and then elicit one interesting crime that has happened in the school. Choose five students to be “suspects.” The five draw slips of paper from a bag. Four are blank. The student who chooses the one with an X is the “criminal” The five do not tell the rest of the class who the “criminal” is. Divide the rest of the class into groups of four or five and have them brainstorm questions to ask the “suspects.” While the rest of the class is brainstorming, take the five “suspects” outside. The four without the X should think of answers or an alibi for the questions they will be asked. Work with the “criminal ” to help him/her to look or sound evasive and give contradictory answers. Reassemble the class with the five “suspects” sitting in front of the room. The groups take turns questioning the “suspects.” After a time limit or when they have run out of questions, the groups decide who the “criminal” is.


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132. CULTURAL EXPLORERS – cultural differences/speaking/comprehension

Summary:

A creative culture exploration activity

Level/age:


Theme:

cultural differences, exploring and reporting

Skills:

Following cultural rules, Q&A

Materials: Cultural rules below Time:

40-60mins

To set up this activity it makes sense to do a class on cultural differences. You can teach and explore the differences between several different cultures in terms of sign or body language, greetings, customs etc. A good lesson plan for this is showing students various cultural customs and having them try and guess which country that custom comes from. After this tell the students that they are going to become cultural explorers. Divide the class into 2 (or more) groups and separate them so that they can’t see each other. At this point you can either give them their own customs or you can have them make up their own – things to focus on could include; How do they say hello? How do they say goodbye? Expressing yes/no/I don’t know/what? What body language do they commonly use? What do they eat? Differences between men and women communication Any different language/conversation rules In the next stage, explorers from each culture travel to the other culture with instructions to interact and observe the foreign group's body language, conversation rules, sex roles, etc... During this stage each group has foreign guests. Give them three to five minutes to interact. Then the foreigners return to their home cultures and report their observations to their partners. After this, a new group of explorers leaves for the foreign culture and the process is repeated until all students have spent time exploring and observing the foreign culture. Each group discusses how the two cultures differ and what they share in common. In the last step, all members of the two cultures come together in one class. Representatives from each culture express their assumptions about the other culture. Each group tells the other group if the assumptions are correct. If the assumptions are incorrect, the groups teach their rules of social interaction. To start with students can be given the pre-made cultures below and act out the roles. The other team has to figure out the rules of the culture. In the 2nd part the teams can invent their own cultural rules and in the same way the other team has to guess what those rules are. The cultural rules for the CHISPA & PANDYA cultures are below…


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You are a Pandya: 1) You prefer to talk to people from your own culture instead of people from other cultures. 2) You only speak when spoken to. You do not like to start conversations with outsiders. 3) You are always very formal. You say ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ and never use first names only. You always use ‘please’ ‘thank you’ ‘excuse me’ and so on. 4) Women have more status than men. Women should always accompany men. 5) Men do not talk directly to women from another culture. They talk through the woman who is with them. 6) Men also do not make eye contact with women from other cultures and if a women touches a man, it is scary. Your woman companion should take you away quickly. 7) It is scary when a woman from another culture tries to talk to you. 8) Men do talk to other men. 9) Among your own people, you can speak to men and women freely. 10) You like to have very short conversations. You do not like to talk for a long time. If someone tries to talk to you for a long time, you will walk away.

You are a Chispa: 1) You are an informal and friendly culture. You like to talk to new people. 2) You call everyone by their first name. 3) You use a lot of slang and informal expressions. 4) Men and women are equal in your culture and there are no separate roles. 5) You are very outgoing. You like making friends and talking to people from other cultures. 6) You like to talk for a very long time. If someone walks away, you follow them and keep talking. 7) You believe it is good for women to talk to men and men to talk to women, especially from outside cultures. That way everyone learns something. 8) You like to touch people, shake hands, touch the shoulder while you are talking to someone. 9) You have no problem talking to anyone. 10) You laugh loudly a lot.


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133. TRAVEL THE WORLD – travel dialogues/Role-play game

Summary:

Students try to plan trips while travel agents try to make money

Level/age:


Theme:

travel language, dialogues Skills:

Q&A, bargaining

Materials: Travel schedules, maps in the SM Book

Time:

40mins+

Students are split into either travelers or travel Agents. The travelers must travel all the way around the world from their current city and back while the travel agents must try and make as much money off these travellers as possible. Travellers can go West or East but they must try to find the fastest and/or cheapest way to complete their voyage. There are 2 winners – the traveller that spends the least money in the quickest time and the agent who makes the most money. Materials 1) It's good to give each traveler (or traveling pair/team) a route map. 2) You will also need the fake money. 3) Ensure that you make enough travel tickets for each traveler/team. Post up the different schedules and travel companies advertisings around the room. There are 2 flight schedules (A and B) Give out one of these to each travel agent or team of travel agents. If there are travel agent teams they only get a copy of one of the flight schedules. This way they have different flights to offer, making the game competitive. Also, give the travel agents lots of plane tickets, a fixed amount of money (change) and an advertising brochure. Explain to the travelers that they:

Sell tickets to travelers at a negotiable price.

Can't change the times/dates listed on the schedules.

Can't make a mistake writing out tickets.

CAN'T SPEAK their native language!

Travelers/traveler teams are given the route map and money. Tell the travelers to plan their route first by using the map and looking at the posted flight schedules.

Explain to the travelers that they:

Must travel from their home city and back as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Tickets (travel time/dates) must connect. (This depends upon teacher/level)

Must look at all the agents to find the best prices (Bargaining). Basically, after this, it's a race to see who can make it around the world first. Winners can be judged by speed and also by who traveled the cheapest. Travel Agents/teams are judged by how much money they make.


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134. WHAT WILL THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? –Speaking/Drawing/The Future

Summary:

Students describe and draw the future

Level/age:

Intermediate – Advanced (All ages)

Theme:

The future, technology Skills:

Speaking, Comprehension, Drawing

Materials: Pieces of A4 paper Time:

30mins+

Give students a question card and a piece of paper and then give them 10mins and have them meet another student in the class. They should ask their question to their partner and then draw their response. When time is up, have them rotate to another student and repeat. At the end of the activity , collect the pictures and go over some of the interesting ones with the class. Ask your partner and draw What will the cars look like in 3000? amount of wheels colour material engine names of brands fuel

Ask your partner and draw What will women look like in 2050? amount of eyes/ears/noses… hair colour and length body parts language

Ask your partner and draw What will houses look like in 3000? amount of floors material windows architecture

Ask your partner and draw What will the clothes look like in 3000? colour fabric design names of brands way of distribution

Ask your partner and draw What will the computers look like in 3000? design brands software keyboard/mouse… monitors

Ask your partner and draw What will men look like in 3000? amount of eyes/ears/noses… hair colour and length body parts language

Ask your partner and draw What will the clothes look like in 2020? colour fabric design names of brands way of distribution

Ask your partner and draw What will the computers look like in 2020? design brands software keyboard/mouse monitors

Ask your partner and draw What will men look like in 2020? amount of eyes/ears/noses… hair colour and length body parts language

Ask your partner and draw What will the cars look like in 5000 amount of wheels colour material engine names of brands fuel

Ask your partner and draw What will women look like in 5000 amount of eyes/ears/noses… hair colour and length body parts language

Ask your partner and draw What will houses look like in 5000 amount of floors material windows architecture


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135. PUSH & PULL – Speaking/Influencing/Q&A

Summary:

Students try to find their influencing style.

Level/age:


Theme:

Influencing people Skills:

Speaking, Q&A

Materials: Paper and pen for recording Time:

30mins

This is a good exercise for practising influencing and negotiating. Participants will also get an insight into their influencing style. Participants work in pairs and take turns to be the ‘influencer’. You also need an audio recorder for each pair. The influencers should choose something that they believe the other person should do. It could be an activity such as: taking up some form of exercise giving up smoking joining a club or society

or buying a product such as: a 3-D television a hot tub a tablet computer

or agreeing with a strong opinion such as: politics education environmental issues

The influencers try to influence the other person in a manner that they would normally use. The other person should be moderately resistant to persuasion. Record the exercise. After 5 minutes, the exercise should stop and the participants should reverse roles. Again, record the exercise for 5 minutes. After exercise the participants should listen to the recordings and note how many times the influencer made a statement (gave information) and how many times they asked a question (sought information). If the influencer gave information more than 5 times as seeking information, the influencer has a strong ‘push’ style. A ratio of between 3–5 to 1 indicates a moderate push style, and a ratio of between 1–3 to 1 is an average level. If the influencer sought information more times than giving information, then the influencer is said to have a ‘pull’ style.


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136. CAN YOU FOLLOW DIRECTIONS? – Reading Comprehension/Following Directions

Summary:

Students get a lesson in following directions

Level/age:


Theme:

Directions Skills:

Reading

Materials: Test below Time:

15mins

Give students the following directions and tell them to read them extremely carefully before they follow the instructions. Three minute test:

1. Read everything before you do anything. 2. Put your name in the upper right hand corner of this page. 3. Circle the word 'name' in sentence two. 4. Draw five small squares in the top right-hand corner. 5. Put an X in each square you have just drawn. 6. Put a circle around each square. 7. Sign your name under the title of this page. 8. After the title write 'yes yes yes'. 9. Underline sentences number seven and eight. 10. Put an X in the lower left-hand corner of this page. 11. Draw a triangle around the X you have just made. 12. On the back of this page multiply seventy by thirty. 13. Draw a circle around the word 'top' on sentence four. 14. Loudly call out your first name when you reach this point in the test. 15. If you think you have carefully followed these directions, call out 'I have carefully followed the

directions'. 16. On the reverse side of this paper add 107 and 278. 17. Count out in your normal speaking voice from one to ten. 18. If you are the first person to get this far, shout out loudly 'I am the first person to get this far

following these instructions.' 19. Punch three small holes in your paper with your pencil here . . . 20. Now that you have finished reading carefully, do only sentences one and two.


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137. WEEKLY BUS –Time/Active

Summary:

Students practice days by lining up. Level/age:

beginner

Theme:



Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

This game works best when reviewing days of the week so I will model it in this way. Firstly, set up 7 chairs (one for each day of the week) in a vertical row similar to what a bus would look like. If you are doing it in teams then you will have to set up 2 rows of 7 chairs. Next give each student a day of the week. Tell them that the chairs represent the rows of a bus and the first one is the driver. Now, the teacher yells out a random day and this student becomes the driver. That student must sit in the driver’s seat and the rest of the students must line up sequentially. If you are playing with 1 team then the last student to sit down is out. If you are playing as teams then the first team to have everyone sit down in correct order gets a point.

138. THE LOVE DOCTOR – Warmer/Speaking/Relationship Problems

Summary:

A Q&A advice activity Level/age:


Theme:

giving advice for relationship problems

Skills:


Materials: - Time:

20-40mins

Before the activity starts it is relevant to do a class on advice columns and giving relationship advice. You can have students read columns and summarize them and then answer questions such as; Is this good advice? Would advice in your country be different? What advice would you give? Have you ever had a problem like this? Then, have students write out a love/relationship problem. They have to come up with something but in no way should they feel obligated to reveal anything of a personal and private nature. On the contrary, should be inventive in dreaming up situations. Set up the class with pairs of desks in various locations. Allocate half the class as doctors and half the class as patients and tell the students that they will now be going to various clinics to get advice for their problems. The doctors should give any advice they feel pertinent. After a short while have the patients go to another doctor to get second opinions. You can rotate around as much as possible and at some point swap the doctors and the patients. Afterwards you can call the class together and discuss some of the more unusual problems together and what is the best advice for these problems.


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139. CRIMINAL INTENT – Writing/Crime/Speaking

Summary:

Students play both criminal and criminal investigator.

Level/age:


Theme:

Crime Skills:

Creative thinking, speaking, Q&A

Materials: Worksheet in the SM book Time:

40-60mins+

To start off as a class, elicit different types of crime asking all the WH questions like what kind of crimes are there? Where would it be committed? Who would do it? When? Why? How? Write the students answers up on the board. Once you have a good collection of options the teacher chooses a random crime selecting from the varying details from the board but keeps it secret from the rest of the class. Then, put the students into pairs and have them create their own crime organization and crime using the information on the board. Each pair must come up with gangster names, a criminal gang, a low down on their criminal activities including places, weapons, equipment, what they steal/do etc and a story on their most recent crime. Encourage them to be creative, crazy criminals are fun. The teams must also create criminal investigator for their team and a series of questions that they think a criminal investigator might ask a criminal when investigating a crime. Once this is finished, give each student a certain amount of fake money with which they can bribe criminals with. The teams then split up and go around the room to meet other student from other teams. The students are given about 5 minutes to both answer questions (as a criminal) and ask questions (as an investigator) with another student. When you are the investigator the money is used to bribe the criminal for more information. Obviously the more money you offer the more info the criminal should offer. The idea is that the students rotate around the room finding information and giving out information. Once the students have gone around most of the students the teams come back together and pool their info. At this point the teacher reveals what the crime details they chose from the board were. The students must talk together and decide (based upon the info they have got from the other students) which criminal organization is most likely to have committed this crime. Everyone presents their information saying who they suspect and why. The team that comes out as the most likely suspects get arrested and the team that has the most bribe money is the winner. Follow Up Discussion Questions: 1. Who was the worst criminal? Why? 2. What was the worst crime? Why? 3. Which criminal was the pettiest? 4. Which criminal was the smartest? Why? 5. What are good/appropriate sentences for each of the criminals? Why?


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140. PEOPLE WHO – Speaking/Opinions

Summary:

A relative pronoun activity for giving opinions

Level/age:


Theme:

Opinions Skills:

Speaking

Materials: People who topics Time:

20min+

Hand out the following sheet and tell the students they have to complete the sentences with their opinions not just adding on a grammatically correct ending. They can give advice, or their feelings about those people. The idea is to get personal, individual endings. E.g. "People who eat crisps in the cinema…” “Annoy me...” “Should eat them before the show...” “Make a lot of noise...” “Have a right to do so!” As you can see, everybody has a different answer-and opinion. The latter is what generates talk.

PEOPLE WHO... PARK THEIR CARS ON THE FOOTPATH ... WHO DON'T PAY TAX ... WHO THROW LITTER ON THE GROUND ... WHO GIVE MONEY TO CHARITIES ... EAT CRISPS AT THE CINEMA ARE ... WHO DRINK AND DRIVE ... WHO TRAVEL A LOT ... WHO SAVE LOTS OF MONEY ... WATCH TV ALL DAY ... GO TO THE OPERA ... EAT FROG'S LEGS ... CLIMB EVEREST ... HUNT WHALES ... EAT TOO MUCH ... DRIVE TOO FAST ... JUMP QUEUES ... WHISTLE AT GIRLS ... SMOKE IN PUBLIC SPACES ... EARN A LOT OF MONEY ... THROW THEIR OLD COOKER INTO A FIELD ... SNORE ... SPIT... DO VOLUNTEER WORK... GO TO A NIGHTCLUB... SING IN THE SHOWER...


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141. PERFECT MATCH – dating/speaking

Summary:

ESL activity based on the TV show – Perfect Match.

Level/age:

Intermediate – advanced (Older students)

Theme:

Love, dating Skills:

Speaking, writing,


30-40mins+

1. First explain idea of perfect match, telling them that this game will tell them who in their class would be their ideal boy/girlfriend. Then get everyone in the class to write 3 questions they would like to ask a potential boy/girlfriend e.g. what would be your ideal date? What kind of things would you do to make me love you? 2. Pick a boy or a girl and tell them to hide behind the door…if you are able to have a screen this game works better. If it is possible to divide the class without any students being able to see then you can put all the girls on one side and all the boys on the other. 3. One sex will chose 3 students to be suitors while the other will chose 1 student to be the questioner. The teacher acts as host, and asks the 3 students the questions the person behind the door has written. Suitors write their answers down and the teacher relays the information back to the student. Once all the questions have been asked and answered the questioner choses either student A, B or C.

142. EASY PERSONALITY QUIZ – comprehension/reasoning/personality

Summary:

Personality test Level/age:


Theme:

personality types and character vocabulary

Skills:

Comprehension, reasoning

Materials: The quiz questions Time:

15-20mins

First write down you three favorite animals in order of importance. Next write down three adjectives for each animal that reveal something about their character/personality. Students need to be encouraged to seek positive adjectives. The first animal--for example mine is dog and I wrote down--loyal, friendly, intelligent--Interpretation--This is how I view myself. Second--Horse--beautiful, strong, smart--This is how others view me. Third--Cat--funny, clever, mischievous --This is how I really am.


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143. FLAWS AND QUALITIES – intros/speaking/writing

Summary:

Students guess what other students flaws and qualities are

Level/age:


Theme:

personality traits Skills:

Writing, speaking, reasoning

Materials: Slips of paper Time:

20-40mins

Ask each student to write, on separate pieces of paper, one of their qualities and one of their flaws. Put all the papers in a bag. Now, one after the other they will pick a piece of paper from the bag, read its contents to the other students. The next step is to discuss and decide as a group who gets the quality-flaw, and what makes them say that. Don't hand the paper to anyone before you reach unanimity. After this first round some people will end up with 2 qualities and no flaws, or vice versa, some people have nothing. When all the papers are handed out, help them discuss so that each person has one quality and one flaw. Once this is done, have each student make a short speech about why he doesn't have the qualities-flaws the others attributed him-her. During the last round the class will make the last changes. At the end ask the students to raise their hands if they have the 2 pieces of paper that belonged to them originally. Them ask them to raise their hand if they only have 1 of the original papers. This game can last a very long time, but it never gets boring. I've even done it with beginner adults and it was a great experience. It's good for people who work together because it might be too personal for people who don't want to disclose during their classes!

144. CELEBRITY PAIRS –Speaking/Listening/Entertainment

Summary:

Students find their celebrity partner with indirect questions.

Level/age:

High intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Celebrity couples Skills:

Indirect questioning, speaking, listening

Materials: Cut out celebrity photos Time:

10-20mins

Before class cut out photos of celebrities but cut them in two. When you want to do your activity tape the half celebrities to the students backs and make them go around finding their partners. The students must describe the celebrity to the other person without mentioning their names. The students must find their partners based on description alone. When the pairs come together they tape their celebrity together and that is their team name. The activity can be modified to review previous classes or any vocab you want e.g. have half a lion or an apple.


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145. FEMININE OR MASCULINE – Gender/Personality/Speaking

Summary:

Personality test focusing on the difference between men & women.

Level/age:


Theme:

Differences between communication styles of men and women.

Skills:

Comprehension, reading, reasoning

Materials: Statements below Time:

20-30mins

The following activity is loosely based on Conversation Analysis readings, so nothing is hard and fast doctrine. It seeks to be thought-provoking and there may be a grain of truth in some of the statements below. Remember also that men and women express themselves differently according to the make-up of the conversation group. That is, the group may be mixed gender, all male or all female, hence the type of exchanges will be different-the atmosphere too. Furthermore, the group may be friends, work-mates, academics, a meeting etc. If nothing else, it should generate chat. Put yes (Y) or no (N) for the sentences below. Generally speaking, when I converse with people I know: I am a blunt person. I criticize people. I am a little sarcastic. I ask a lot of questions in a conversation, to find out about people, their thoughts, etc. I rarely admit I am wrong about something when I am in a conversation. I make eye-contact and use body language in conversations. I generalize. I get personal with people in conversations; I may even gossip about a mutual friend. I compliment people spontaneously. I use four-letter words, coarse language. I like to talk about myself. I am a good listener. I prefer to talk about non-personal topics, such as unemployment, the economy, current affairs ... I usually talk about personal problems, people, their way of being, hopes, desires, my family ... I get personal when I write a letter to someone, but not face to face in a conversation. I help to keep a conversation flowing, I am not provocative, controversial, confrontational ... I like to get my say, get in a few comments, no matter what the topic. I don't assert something, but I might preface a comment with "I think, I suppose, perhaps." I talk a lot. If I ask a question, it is generally a yes-no answer I am looking for. I don't mind talking about a situation where I was embarrassed, humiliated and so on. ** Results ** Men, it is said, are more assertive, sarcastic, long-winded, non-personal and so on, while women are more collaborative, personal and happy to take a back seat in many chats-it is said. So, working on the previous assertions-and more-you can score the test the following way: 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 21 would be more feminine traits-generally speaking The rest, male. Once again, the activity should not give rise to aggressive exchanges.


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146. WORLD CONQUEST – speaking/strategy game/positives & negatives

Summary:

ESL activity based on the game “Risk”

Level/age:


Theme:

World conflict Skills:

Speaking, strategy, sentence formation

Materials: World map, white board Time:

1hr+

This game is based on the popular board game RISK and is a lot of fun for smaller groups. Firstly, divide the class into teams (2 or 3 to a team is preferable) or if you have a smaller class you can do it as an individual activity. You will need to prepare a map of some sort. A multimedia projector onto a magnetic whiteboard is the best way but if you don’t have that then you can just draw a basic map on the board.


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Placing Armies… 1. Put students into teams and tell them that they are going to grow their armies by making positive sentences about the countries they want… Give them a few minutes to think about what countries/territories they want and then start the army placing. 2. To choose a country the team must make a positive sentence about that country with each student saying 1 word in the sentence consecutively. They get 1 army for each word in the sentence so for example; Team 1 will say “We want Canada because Canada has many trees for building houses.” (1 word per student.) There were 11 words in the sentence so that team would get 11 armies on Canada. 3. Give each team an army limit, so they can only have say 30 armies total, this means students have to be careful about which countries they want and how many words they will use in each sentence. 4. At this point the game is a free-for-all so if the sentence is incorrect then it’s a fail and any other team can jump in and take that country with a correct sentence. Once all the teams have put armies on various countries it is time to start the game. Game play… 1. When it is a team’s turn they can choose to either build more armies (by making a positive sentence) or to attack another country and killing their armies (by making a negative sentence.) 2. If a team chooses to continue building armies then they get one chance to make a sentence (as above) and they can place the armies they build on any territory they want. If the sentence is incorrect they lose their turn and it goes to the next team. If they choose to build then they cannot attack and vice versa. 3. When a team chooses to attack they can only attack another country that borders one of theirs. 2. Once this is decided a representative from each team will play rock/paper/scissors and the winner can choose to go first or last. 3. When attacking the teacher gives the teams a topic to make a sentence about (perhaps about the countries involved or reviewing something you’ve been studying) and then those 2 teams must come up with a negative sentence to kill the other team’s armies. 4. Each word in your team’s sentence kills one army from the other team’s but it must be a correct sentence, it must be delivered 1 word per student at a time and it must be delivered within the time limit. E.G. Student 1 – “Canada” Student 2 – “isn’t” Student 3 – “very” Student 4 – “warm.” This would kill 4 armies from the other team, however if the sentence is incorrect it kills none and the other team goes. 5. The teams battle it out killing each other’s armies by making sentences. When a team has no armies left the other team can take over that country. 6. Give each team 1 turn to take over a country and then go onto the next team so that students aren’t waiting too long to have a shot at making sentences. 7. Once a team kills everyone else they are the winners. Or if you have limited time, the team that has the most remaining armies is the winner.


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147. BUILDING THE EE’MO – Culture/Problem Solving/Team Work/Speaking

Summary:

An interactive problem solving activity

Level/age:


Theme:

Culture, problem solving Skills:

Speaking, Q&A,

Materials: Information cards in the SM book Time:

40mins+

This is an interactive game where students have to distinguish relevant information from irrelevant and then co-operate with each other to share info and solve the question. You can divide the class into small teams or do it with individuals, but you should divide the information cards evenly between everyone. If you want to make the task quicker and easier then take out some of the erroneous information cards. INTRODUCTION (To be given or read aloud to participants) Let me tell you about the House of Ee'aloro! Every ten years, the people of the small planet Ee'aloro'ala, build a great stone 'house' in honour of their god Ee'aloro. The house must be rebuilt every ten years because the winds on the planet are powerful enough to knock it down in that time! The formal name for this house is 'Ee'aloro'moo', but in everyday conversation people call it the 'Ee'mo'. The Ee'mo is solid, with no empty space inside, and in shape it is almost, but not quite, a cube. It is a great honour to be allowed to help build the new Ee'mo, and the construction teams are chosen mainly by a lottery, although for religious reasons some of the workers are selected from special groups in Ee'aloro'alan society. The House of Ee'aloro is constructed by manual labour, without any machines, and according to tradition is must be completed within two Ee'aloro'alan weeks. The questions you have to answer: On which day of the week is the construction of the Ee'mo completed? What is a te'rappa? Which way up does the Ee'mo stand? Does the Ee'mo face east, or west? You may tell other people the information on your cards, but you must not show your cards to anyone else.


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148. SOCIABILITY PERSONALITY TEST – speaking/personalities/comprehension

Summary:

A yes/no question based personality test

Level/age:


Theme:

personality types, characteristic language

Skills:

Comprehension, listening

Materials: Test below Time:

20-40mins+

This activity is designed to get the students talking, and so should not provoke moments of tension or embarrassment. It should be done with humour. To introduce the test - elicit and talk about types of personality. You can introduce the following terms and see what students associate with them;

The star

The prankster

The complainer

The pedant

The shy boy/girl

The flatterer

The serious person

The cultured person Get the students to define, in their own way, each of these arbitrary names. They are supposedly, the main types of characters. Are there any more types of people? The extrovert? The introvert? Here are some definitions of the above terms:

The star: Always tries to talk about himself, and hates it when the chat moves into unknown territory.

The prankster: Great fun, but a bit tiring after a while, especially if the conversation is serious.

The complainer: Never happy, always giving out.

The pedant: Pretending to know more, and shows it off. In the end, people avoid rather than admire him.

The shy boy: He can make those who don't know him feel uncomfortable, and trigger sympathy in others. A complicated social animal.

The flatterer: Manipulates people. At first, we like it, but in the end ...

The serious person: No visible sense of humor. Makes others uncomfortable, seems to set the pace sometimes. However, he doesn't have to be boring, and can make a good friend. Trustworthy.

The cultured/learned person: Usually, a highly valued person, because we like to be with people who know more than us. Once he doesn't show it off!


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Discussion… Get your students to select the heading, or their mix of headings, which most fit(s) their personality. Which trait predominates most? Have they parents or work-mates who conform to one or more of these headings? Their boss? Their partner? Are there any other categories not mentioned here? Are there any gender-based differences? Are people a mix of all of these notions? Once you have had a thorough discussion it’s time to test the students – have them answer these questions:

1. When you are introduced to a stranger, do you normally become tense? 2. Do you try to be the centre of attention of groups? 3. Do you consider yourself a successful person, socially speaking? 4. Do you find it difficult to demonstrate in public some of your personal skills (such as telling

jokes, dancing, singing ...)? 5. Do you have problems when speaking in public? 6. Are you happy/satisfied with your own image? 7. Would you eat alone in a crowded restaurant? 8. Do you feel quite skilled at socializing 9. Do you accept praise gracefully and naturally? 10. During meetings/encounters with strangers, do you listen more than speak? 11. Do you show your feelings to friends you don't know very well yet? 12. Do you go red when someone shouts after you in public? 13. Do you feel inferior when introduced to an important person? 14. Do you often think that your contributions to a debate can be relevant? 15. When you are going to be presented in public, do you sweat, shake a bit, and feel insecure...? 16. Would you be able to imitate a famous person?

Calculate your score. If you said YES to questions 1, 5, 10, 12, 13 and 15, give yourself a point for each YES. If you said NO to questions 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14 and 16, give yourself a point for each NO. If you scored less than 6, your ability to make friends is acceptable. Between 6 and 10, you have/have had difficulty relating to other people socially. More than 10 points, new situations and getting to know new people is hard for you.


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149. WHAT KIND OF STUDENT ARE YOU? – study styles

Summary:

A true/false personality test Level/age:


Theme:

Ideas and language for different types of students, learning strategies, motivation

Skills:

Comprehension, self reflection

Materials: Questions below Time:

20mins

Answer the following questionnaire by putting a True (T) or a False (F) after each sentence.

1. I often study English, at home, in a library, on the train. 2. I need English for my work, to pass an exam, to get a job. 3. I don't like making grammar mistakes when I speak English. 4. I began learning English because my parents felt it was necessary for the future. 5. I love speaking English with other learners of the same level. 6. I go to English conversation classes because I simply want to, not because I have to. 7. I think my teachers should force me to speak more in conversation class. 8. I would love to go on a year-long world tour, even if I had little money. 9. If I don't speak in conversation class, it is because the topic/task is bad. 10. I watch English-language TV and films in English-even though I understand nothing! 11. I hate it when one person does all the talking in conversation class. 12. Quite often, I am happy just to listen to the teacher. 13. I often feel a little stupid when I talk in conversation class. 14. I think the teacher is what motivates a student most. 15. I prefer learning grammar, vocabulary, etc to speaking English. 16. I wish I could go to a conversation class every day instead of just twice a week. 17. Basically, I think a conversation class should be for practicing the grammar you have just learnt. 18. I regularly ask the other students questions and comment on what they say in conversation

class. 19. I am a woman.

Interpretation A, E, F, H, J, P, R = True. This, basically, indicates a self-motivated, hard-working learner. It also indicates desire to socialize, to meet other races and cultures. This is what language is for. The perfect student: A talker and a worker! B, D, G, I, K, N = True. There is a strong sense of being "obliged" to learn, which is not self-motivation. Not a crime, but the learner must want to achieve for himself. Also, this type of learner blames his performance on others/external factors. This may not be the ideal ingredient for a good communicator/worker. C, O = True. This can mean that you are a perfectionist. You pay attention to formal detail. Can be good, but it can also be an obstacle to communication. An anxious talker. G, I, K, L, N = True. This implies a degree of passiveness. If you want to talk, don't think about it-act! This learner could also lack self-motivation. A sporadic talker. M = True. It happens everybody at the beginning. But you must get over this after a few classes. You will Q = True. This is a big issue. But how can you talk about the world with a few set phrases? You may be a traditional learner expecting a traditional class. Remember, the ultimate aim of English is to communicate.


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S = True. Bingo! It is said that women work harder-at languages too. They also miss fewer classes than men. As with everything related to motivation, it is impossible to be categorical, i.e. seemingly negative factors can end up motivating some learners. Also, some of the above statements may apply to several interpretations.

150. ZOOM – Information Gap/Speaking

Summary:

Students try to find a sequence by asking for information

Level/age:

Intermediate-Advanced

Theme:

Art, sequences Skills:

Speaking, Critical Thinking

Materials: Zoom book or pictures from the SM book.

Time:

25mins+

This problem solving activity requires the wordless, picture book entitled, “Zoom” by Istvan Banyai. This book features 30 sequential pictures that work together to form a narrative. The book should be fairly easy to find, as it’s been published in over 18 countries. The pictures can even be laminated to prolong their usage. Hand out one picture to each participant, making sure a continuous sequence is being used. Explain to the participants that they can only look at their own pictures and must keep their picture hidden from other participants. Time should be given for the participants to study their pictures because each picture will contain important information that will help the participants solve the problem of putting them into order. The ultimate goal is for the group to place the pictures in sequential order without looking at one another’s pictures. The participants can talk to each other and discuss what is featured in their picture. This activity brings coworkers together and gets them communicating with the common goal of solving a problem, but it also allows for leaders to emerge and take control of the task.

151. GREEN CARD – speaking/questioning/Q&A/dating

Summary:

Students question details of imaginary 1st dates.

Level/age:

Intermediate – advanced (adult)

Theme:

Dating, immigration Skills:

Question/sentence formation

Materials: - Time:

30mins

This is a more romantic version of The Alibi Game where students pretend to be a couple and make up the story of when they first met. The other students then question them separately on the details of that first moment, e.g. what perfume she was wearing and who was standing near them. Put the students into boy-girl pairs and tell them to invent a story of how they met and their first dates. The students then come in front of the rest of the class one at a time. The class questions them to see if their stories match the other student. The class then decides whether or not they will grant the green card or not.


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152. TOUR GUIDE – speaking/tourism

Summary:

Visual comprehension activity focused on being tour guides

Level/age:


Theme:

Culture Skills:


Materials: Photos of tourist destinations Time:

20-30mins

Give out photos of various cultural oddities from the country in question explaining to the students that you have a friend that wants to know what each thing is. The students must explain and define the photo acting as a tour guide. Get students to give as much information as possible including the use of the photo, the context, history and similar items.

153. VALENTINE’S – personality/writing/speaking

Summary:

Students try to guess who the Valentine’s card is for.

Level/age:


Theme:

grammar - like/looks like, personality vocab and appearance vocab

Skills:

Writing, speaking, comprehension

Materials: Paper or cards Time:

20-30mins

Have the students write their own Valentine’s cards by writing 4 sentences describing another students physical appearance on the front of the card and then 4 sentences on the inside describing their personality. One student then comes up and reads the description allowing the other students to try and guess who it is.

154. INTERVIEW GAME - Q&A/speaking/jobs

Summary:

Interview based Q&A activity Level/age:


Theme:

creating interview Q&A, jobs Skills:

Speaking, Q&A

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Pre-teach the students the vocab related to interviews e.g. dedicated worker, personal skills etc or if it’s schooling teach them SAT score etc. With the students make a series of lists (half as long as the number of students you have) including:

The best schools or companies...

What’s good about them...

What’s bad about them...

What those places would be looking for in potential applicants...

Positive skills/character traits...

Negative skills/traits...


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Divide the class into 2 – applicants/interviewees and interviewers. Secretly give each applicant a number which corresponds to a set of skills/talents/lack of and give each interviewer a card which has a company or school and the things that they are looking for at that school. The applicants then go around trying to get into the best company/school while the interviewers try to get the best applicants. No one knows who is who but when they have finished doing the mock interviews they must choose who they want.

155. WE ARE THE WORLD – warmer/active/geography

Summary:

Students locate themselves in a classroom microcosm

Level/age:

intermediate – advanced (works better with multi-cultural class)

Theme:

Geography Skills:

Comprehension, geographic knowledge

Materials: - Time:

10-15mins

This works better in a bigger space, but if you don’t have one then the classroom works. Pretend the space is a map of the world and the students are going to geographically represent it. You as the teacher choose where you will be located – you can say something like – “I am in Vancouver” and tell them to position themselves in a spot that represents where their country would be in relation to where Vancouver is. Give them a certain amount of time and if they are not in position when the time is up they are out. Make sure to give them directional instructions so they know which direction North, South, East and west are.

156. CALENDAR PUZZLE – Problem Solving/Time

Summary:

Visual comprehension activity focused on being tour guides

Level/age:


Theme:

Culture Skills:


Materials: Photos of tourist destinations Time:

20-30mins

Give out photos of various cultural oddities from the country in question explaining to the students that you have a friend that wants to know what each thing is. The students must explain and define the photo acting as a tour guide. Get students to give as much information as possible including the use of the photo, the context, history and similar items.


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157. STAND UP AND BE COUNTED – Advanced Warmer

Summary:


Level/age:


Theme:

Minorities, being marginalized, opinions

Skills:


Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

This activity is designed to demonstrate how we are all members of a minority at one time or another. At the end of this exercise I often ask participants which items they were reluctant to stand up for and why. We also discuss how it felt to be standing with only a few other people. It must be emphasized that this activity will not work if the items are not changed to meet the needs of your training program and your geographical location.

Stand up if..... • you speak another language • one of your grandparents speaks another language. • you consider yourself old. • you feel your profession is respected by others. • you consider yourself a member of a minority group. • you see yourself as disabled in any way. • someone in your extended family has an alternate sexual orientation. • you think you are really good at your profession. • you consider yourself well educated. • you consider yourself financially secure. • one of your parents came to the U.S. from a foreign country. • one of your(great) grandparents graduated from college. • you have traveled outside of North America.


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158. REAL LAW/FAKE LAW – Creative/teamwork/reasoning/laws

Summary:

Students choose whether laws are real or fake

Level/age:

intermediate –advanced

Theme:

Laws Skills:

Comprehension, reasoning

Materials: List of laws Time:

20-30mins

Firstly, prepare a list of silly, but real laws (http://www.dumblaws.com) Print out this list and cut the individual laws into strips. Divide the class into however many teams and appoint captains or "group speakers." Then, instruct them to think of some fake laws (typically in the format: of "It is illegal to...") and write the laws on strips of paper you have given them. Collect the strips of paper from the class, but before you do so, check for correct format and grammar. Then, mix them together with your own laws. Randomly choose a law and read it out to the class. Give the class a few moments to decide on whether the law is real. Then, have the captain of each group impart upon you a group-decision. If you selected one of your own laws and a particular group guesses that it is true, then that group is to be awarded a point. If that group feels it is fake, then you - the teacher - award yourself a point. If you selected a law composed by one of the groups and a particular group guesses that it is fake, then that group receives a point. If, however, that group guesses that it is true, then the group who composed it receives a point for fooling that group. A group who fooled, for instance, three other groups would, thus, receive 3 points. At the end, tally each team's total number of points and declare the winning team.

http://www.dumblaws.com/


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159. CONVINCE ME – Warmer/Speaking/Persuasion

Summary:

Students convince the teacher to give them a prize.

Level/age:


Theme:

Persuasion Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

10-25mins

Tell students that you are going to give them a present. However, only one student will receive the present. In order to receive this present, the student must convince you through his / her fluency and imagination that he or she deserves the present. It's best to use a wide range of imaginary presents as some students will obviously be more attracted to certain types of presents than others. Examples: A computer, a gift certificate for $200 at a fashionable store, a bottle of expensive wine, a new car. Students can bargain and give any reason for them to get the prize including rubbishing other student’s reasons.

160. PROVE IT – warmer/speaking/Q&A

Summary:

Students prove or disprove the teacher’s theories.

Level/age:


Theme:

Finding info about other students Skills:

Speaking

Materials: - Time:

20-30mins

Give your students one or more statements to prove or disprove. The statements can tie in with the topic or the grammar point of the class. Examples: Nobody in this class likes winter. Everyone here can drive a car. Students talk to as many other students as possible to prove/disprove the statements. Then they give feedback to the class: 'This statement is not true. There are at least 5 people in this class who like winter.

161. WEEKLY BUS –Time/Active

Summary:

Students practice days by lining up. Level/age:

beginner

Theme:



Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

This game works best when reviewing days of the week so I will model it in this way. Firstly, set up 7 chairs (one for each day of the week) in a vertical row similar to what a bus would look like. If you are doing it in teams then you will have to set up 2 rows of 7 chairs.


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Next give each student a day of the week. Tell them that the chairs represent the rows of a bus and the first one is the driver. Now, the teacher yells out a random day and this student becomes the driver. That student must sit in the driver’s seat and the rest of the students must line up sequentially. If you are playing with 1 team then the last student to sit down is out. If you are playing as teams then the first team to have everyone sit down in correct order gets a point.

162. HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING – Hypothetical Choices/Speaking

Summary:

A theoretical Q&A activity Level/age:


Theme:

hypothetical situations and what other students would do

Skills:


Materials: Cards in the SM book. Time:

20-30mins

Divide the class into teams of 3-5 students and give the group a set of situation cards. When it is a student’s turn they must choose a situation card and read the question and possible answers to the group. Before the students answer the student asking the question must secretly choose which option they think the other students will choose by writing it down on a piece of paper. The students then talk together to get a majority decision. If they are undecided students must try to persuade and convince the class of their answer. The questioner gets 1 point for each guess they get correct. The student with the most points at the end is the winner.

163. ALIBI – Warmer/Speaking/Crime

Summary:

Students try to mismatch other team’s alibis.

Level/age:


Theme:

Questioning stories Skills:

creative thinking

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Divide class into two teams – 4 investigators and the rest suspects, then team the suspects up into groups of 2. One team of two is given a card which means that they are the criminals, they have a set and quite vague alibi. On the board show the class various parts of information that an alibi could consist of: *where were they... *what were they doing... *how long were they doing it for etc Tell the students to be specific – then give the class 10 minutes exactly to come up with either – for the suspects – an alibi story, or the investigators – a set of questions to ask the suspects. The suspect teams then have to split up with 1 student going out of the room while the investigators question them looking for inconsistencies in the two stories .


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164. VIDEO MATCHUP – Visual Comprehension Summary:

Students match onscreen actions to prepared sentences

Level/age:

Intermediate

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Visual comprehension, speaking

Materials: Video Time:

As long as your video

Students watch a video and shout out if they see anything that is exactly the same as what is written on their worksheet or the whiteboard, e.g. “Mr Bean is putting his head into a turkey”. This can be combined with practice of typical confusions by some of the sentences being slightly different from what’s on screen (”…into a chicken”).

165. ENGLISH POKER – warmer/vocab/sentence formation

Summary:

Students use a poker format to make sentences

Level/age:


Theme:

Grammatical sentences and vocab identification.

Skills:

Grammar, sentence formation

Materials: English poker cards in the SM book Time:

30mins +

This game is basically the same as poker except the winning hands of poker are replaced by the ability to make pairs/trips/quads as well as the most complex sentence using the words that are on the cards. First you must make a set of 40 or so cards each of which have 3 words on them from different grammatical groups (pronouns, articles, link words, verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, different tenses etc.) You will also have to make some fake money to bet with. Each student gets 2 cards that have various words on them. They may be able to make a sentence right away which is good for them – it’s like holding a pocket pair and they can bet on that accordingly. Now comes the turn cards – in this version only 3 cards are turned total, 1 at a time. After each card is turned the students can check to see if they can make a sentence and then bet on their sentences accordingly – obviously the longest sentence that can be made is the best hand so students really have to search for more complex sentences to have a better hand. At any time they can raise, call, fold and bluff just like in real poker. These are words you will probably have to teach them before you start. Ascending English Poker hand order: Pair of nouns or verbs Pair of adjectives or adverbs 3 of a kind – nouns/verbs 3 of a kind – adjectives/adverbs 4 of a kind – nouns/verbs 4 of a kind – adjectives/adverbs 3 word sentence 4 word sentence 5 word sentence 6 word sentence


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166. THE FORTUNE TELLER – future tense/review/vocab/”want to”

Summary:

Students discover what their futures will be like.

Level/age:

Beginner – intermediate (better for younger ages, older students might find it a little immature.)

Theme:

Future life Skills:

Vocab, future tense grammar.

Materials: - Time:

40mins +

To prep this activity you can start by getting the students to discuss: “What do you want to have in the future?” and “What don’t you want to have?” Have the students think of the following categories - Car/house/job/husband/wife/money/children/country etc… Once this is done you can model the use of “want to” “will” etc – you can even get into things like “probably” and other adverbs of probability which can be fun in itself. Once this is done you are ready to start. Write the categories up at the top of the board; Car House Job Country Husband Wife Money Children... Beneath each category you will need to elicit and write 4 good things and 4 bad things (of that category.) So for house you may have Palace, mansion, penthouse, country house... and cardboard box, studio, under the bridge, and in a car. Coming up with the lists is actually a lot of fun and the students love it but make sure for the bad lists you choose some real bad ones – this makes the game more exciting later. Once this is done, tell the students that they are going to have their fortune told by simply choosing a number between 2-9. Choose a student and make them choose a number between 2-9. Once the student has chosen you go through the complete list and cross off the items that occur on that number. For example if a student chose 3 then you would eliminate items like this; 1. Palace 2. Mansion 3. Penthouse 1. Country house 2. Cardboard box 3. Studio 1. Under the bridge 2. In a car And then the first item of the next list...I usually count as I do it to help the students understand that it is not the first item chosen but the one remaining that they will be their future - this gives them a great deal of anticipation as the items whittle down and great amounts of joy as one of their fellow students discovers that in their future they will be living in a cardboard box. The last item in each category is the future of the student who chose that number.


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167. EASY QUIZ QUESTIONS – trivia/comprehension

Summary:

Trivia game Level/age:


Theme:

Comprehension and general knowledge.

Skills:


Materials: Questions Time:

20-30mins

Students should listen and answer the questions, either by putting their hands up or by writing the answer. It can be done in teams or as individuals. Art and Literature: 1.Who wrote Julius Caesar, Macbeth and Hamlet? (Shakespeare) 2.Who cut off Van Gogh's ear? (he did) 3.Who painted the Mona Lisa? (Da Vinci) 4.What's the most important book in the Muslim religion? (The Koran) 5.Who painted the Sistine Chapel? (Michelangelo) Entertainment: 1.Name one American rap singer 2.What is the name of Harry Potter’s school? (Hogwarts) 3.In which city is Hollywood? (Los Angeles) 4.Who is the main character in The Lord of The Rings (Frodo) 5.Name two of the Beatles (Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul Mcartney, George Harrison) Geography: 1. Name one American city and one American state. 2. What's the highest mountain in Africa? (Kilimanjaro) 3. Which country has the largest area: Australia, Brazil or India? (Brazil) 4. Which is the largest ocean? (Pacific) 5. What's the smallest country in the world? (Vatican City) History: 1.Who is on the one dollar bill (George Washington) 2.Who was the first man on the moon? (Neil Armstrong) 3.When did the First World War start? (1914) 4.Who did Lady Diana Spencer marry? (Prince Charles) 5.Who is the prime minister of England (Tony Blair) Wild Card: 1.How many colors are there in a rainbow? (7) 2.What language has the most words? (English) 3.What are the four top teams from the World Cup 2002 (Brazil, German, Turkey, Korea) 4.What's the fastest passenger plane in the world? (the Concorde) 5.Who invented the electric light bulb? (Thomas Edison) Bonus Round Questions (if needed, each one 500 pts) 1.Which planet is nearest the sun? (Mercury) 2.Who said E=mc2 (Einstein)


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168. STRATEGY AUCTION – Speaking/Reasoning/Art

Summary:

Students bid to get their top 3 paintings

Level/age:


Theme:

Art, auctioneering Skills:

strategic bidding

Materials: Painting images Time:

30mins+

First, gather about 20 or pictures or postcards of famous paintings. SECOND, print a bunch of money in large denominations. THIRD, title the pictures on the back. Next, divide the class into partners or small teams. This exercise works best with about 4 to 6 teams. Tell the teams that they have about 10 minutes to agree on one top 6 list for their team. When they are finished that, they then have to pick their least preferred painting. Once the teams are finished they each get the same sum of money. (I usually give 2,200,000 dollars.) Then they are told that the auction will begin and it will be a maximum of 10 or 15 minutes. This time limit is important because it is not possible to auction off all the paintings in that time period. The object of the game is for each team to attempt to buy three paintings on their top 6 list. They are disallowed from buying the one on their least favoured list. The top bidder gets each painting. The rules are simple, but the strategy can get complex, leading to bidding up, or bluffing. Other teams don't want you to get three. Start the bidding at any price you want. The first painting usually goes cheap, but then they catch on that time is fast running by and the bids get more wild. At the end, the gavel falls and the auction is over even there are many paintings left.


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Problem Solving & Creative Thinking

169. SURVIVAL ISLAND – Creative Thinking/Reasoning/Speaking

Summary:

Students prepare for being stranded on an island

Level/age:


Theme:

Reasoning Skills:


Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Tell your students that they are going to be going on a cruise, however the boat is going to crash and they will be left stranded on a desert island – they will only be able to take 5 items with them. They must choose their items from this list; a pencil, a radio, a knife and fork, a metal bowl, a towel, a sewing kit, a camera, a miniature bottle of whiskey, a map of the world, a box of matches, a toothbrush, a mirror, a novel, some antiseptic ointment, a compass, a magnifying glass, an axe, a rope, a cellphone, a teddy bear, sunglasses, a hat and a baseball bat. As you tell them the list you should elicit the uses of these items. Then, individually the students have to come up with a list of the 5 items they would take. They can ask the teacher questions about the island before they decide what items they are going to take. Once they are finished, divide them into teams and have them come up with a team list. Once all the teams are finished get all the answers and discuss which team has chosen the wisest. A variation on this game would be to do it geographically by teaching the geographic differences between several different islands in different places and then getting the students to make their lists based on the island.

170. SURVIVOR NASA – speaking/reasoning

Summary:

Students debate the merits of various jobs and people

Level/age:


Theme:

Survival Skills:

Speaking, reasoning

Materials: - Time:

15-30mins

Start with this story: An asteroid is coming to hit planet Earth and all life will be destroyed. NASA is sending a spaceship to colonize and inhabit another planet. The spaceship has space for 3 extra people. The directors of NASA are holding interviews with possible candidates to join the new civilization. Write down different professions on a pieces of paper and distribute to your students. (don't choose obvious professions such as doctor or engineer) The most fun professions are those that make the students work on their persuasion skills. Some of the ones that worked well were: baker, karate expert, gardener, English teacher, dentist. The students have a few minutes to prepare their argument, and then plead their case. The other students listen and then ask questions to the one making the presentation. (such as: 'what exactly is a


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gardener to do in space?) They can use their imagination, perhaps they could say that Aliens live in the new planet. After the students make their presentation and have answers questions, have them vote on who they would select to go to space.

171. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? – Visual Comprehension/Speaking/Future Tense

Summary:

Students discuss what could happen next…

Level/age:


Theme:

Future tense, giving opinions Skills:

Speaking, visual comprehension

Materials: Suspenseful Video or photos Time:

30-40mins depending on how many things you prepare

Get a series of action photos or videos that have a strange action or event happening in them. Divide the class into teams and with each shot get them to discuss together to figure out what happened next. Get each team’s answers, correct any grammatical problems and then the closest team gets the point. Team with the most points is the winner.

172. WORD PUZZLES – Parallel Thinking/Warmer

Summary:

Students try to solve the word puzzles

Level/age:

Low intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Puzzles Skills:

Parallel/creative thinking

Materials: Word puzzle handout in the SM book

Time:

20-30mins

Give the students the sheet in teams or by themselves and have them solve the word puzzles. First one to finish is the winner. Puzzles in the SM book...

173. PARALLEL THINKING –Speaking/Comprehension/Question Formation

Summary:

Students try to solve parallel thinking problems in groups.

Level/age:

High Intermediate-Advanced

Theme:

Parallel thinking Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, Question Formation

Materials: Parallel Thinking Problems Below Time:

40mins+

Put students into small teams and give them the problem. Give teams 3-4 minutes and have them discuss the problem to find the answer. Once time is up, teams can ask 1 yes/no question each, they then get another 3-4 minutes to figure it out, then more questions until the answer is found.


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174. PARALLEL THINKING #2 – Creative Thinking/Speaking/Comprehension

Summary:

Students try to solve parallel thinking problems in groups.

Level/age:

High Intermediate-Advanced

Theme:


Speaking, comprehension, Question Formation

Materials: Parallel Thinking Problems Below Time:

40mins+

Put students into small groups, cut the questions up into strips and give one out to each group. Give each group about 3 minutes to solve the problem and write their answers on a piece of paper. When time is up, teams pass the question onto the next team. Rotate through as many questions as you have time for and then check the answers as a group. Alternately, you can just give the teams all the questions and have them discuss.

Score Over 35. You are a true lateral thinking Guru. 28 to 34. Very good. 21 to 27. Quite good. 15 to 20. Average. Under 15 - Watch The Matrix, The Simpsons and Dr Who a few more times.


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175. APOCALYPSE – Creative/Critical Thinking

Summary:

Students discuss what they would save from modern society

Level/age:

Intermediate-advanced (older ages)

Theme:

End of the world Skills:

Speaking, Critical Thinking

Materials: - Time:

20mins

The Apocalypse is near and the ministry of the Apocalypse have built an ark that is big enough to save some people as well as some world-wide valuables that will help the survivors start civilisation in the new world. It is up to you and your friends to decide what precious creatures and treasures will survive to the next world. Have students discuss in groups, 6 occupations that would have to go on the ark, 6 types of animals, 6 things in general, 6 seeds for food you would grow you would put in the ark that will survive the Apocalypse.

176. BLUEPRINTS – Creating & following directions/comprehension/”should”

Summary:

Students create directions for other students to follow

Level/age:


Theme:

Creating directions Skills:

Sentence formation with should, comprehension, teamwork

Materials: Lego pieces Time:

30mins

Divide the class into teams or 3 or 4 and give them 6-10 pieces of lego. The students must design something from their lego pieces – it doesn’t have to be wonderful or amazing but it must resemble something that most people would know and recognize. As they are building their project they must keep detailed instructions of what they are doing. When they are finished they will give their instructions to another team without the title of their project. The other team must follow the instructions and try to guess what the other team made.


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177. THEM’S THE RULES – permission/speaking/brainstorming

Summary:

Students brainstorm different rules Level/age:


Theme:

Permission/regulation - “you can/can’t...” “it’s okay/legal to...”

Skills:

Speaking, writing, team work

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Model the use of permission language and show how it is used. Put the students into small teams and have them come up with as many rules as they can from the following situations. Give them a short amount of time and the team that comes up with the most gets the point. Rule situations:

Driving rules in your home country/other countries

School rules

Your family house rules

Hospital rules

Gym/swimming pool rules

Movie theater rules

Library rules


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178. PAPER AIRPLANE PREPOSITIONS – creating instructions/comprehension

Summary:

Students give instructions on how to build planes

Level/age:

high intermediate – advance

Theme:

Creating and following instructions.

Skills:



40mins+

Print out a step by step diagram explaining how to make a paper airplane. Have a different design for each group. The ones I used were fairly complex, but you could go simpler if needed. Put students in groups and have them write directions corresponding with the pictures (for example: Step one-fold the paper in half vertically. Step two-make two triangles out of the top corners...) It gets them to work on directional words, spatial prepositions, shapes, phrasal verbs, imperatives, etc. Then have them swap papers and follow another team's instructions. Knowing that someone else has to read it and understand and follow their directions forces them to be really clear and descriptive. Then have a contest to see whose plane flies the farthest...

179. PLASTIC CUP PYRAMID – warmer/team work

Summary:

Students must make cup pyramids by directing each other.

Level/age:

Beginner to advanced

Theme:

Team work Skills:

Directing

Materials: Cups, rubber bands Time:

10-20mins

Take a bunch of plastic cups, rubber bands and pieces of string... If you have 4 to a team you should have 1 rubber band, 6 plastic cups and 1 length of string (10 inches) for each student. Instruct the students to tie their individual lengths of string to the rubber band at regular intervals – they are then ready to begin. The students must work together to stack the cups into a 3 tier pyramid. They do this by pulling their individual lengths of string to stretch the rubber band around the cup and then using team co-ordination to move the cups into position.


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180. RIDDLE ME THIS - Parallel Thinking/Comprehension/Riddles

Summary:

Problem solving quiz using riddles. Level/age:


Theme:


Listening, comprehension

Materials: Riddles below Time:

20-30mins

Divide the class into teams and give them the following riddles. The team who can get the most answers is the winner. 1. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain on Earth? Mount Everest (it just hadn't been discovered). 2. Clara Clatter was born on December 27th, yet her birthday is always in the summer. How is this possible? Clara lives in the southern hemisphere. 3. In what years do Christmas and New Year's fall in the same year? They fall in the same year every year. New Year's Day just arrives very early in the year and Christmas arrives very late in the same year. 4. A farmer has 17 sheep and all but 9 die. How many are left? 9 5. There were an electrician and a plumber waiting in line for admission to the International Home Show," One of them was the father of the other's son. How could this be possible? They were husband and wife. 6. A butcher in the butcher shop is 5' 10" tall. What does he weigh? Meat. 7. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be? The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it and hung it up to dry. 8. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away? Charcoal 9. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Sure you can: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow! 10. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching! The letter "e," which is the most common letter in the English language, does not appear once in the long paragraph.


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181. DROP THE EGG – Fun/Active/Team Work

Summary:

Students come up with a method to avoid breaking an egg

Level/age:

Beginner – advanced (older is better to avoid mess)

Theme:

Team work Skills:

creative thinking, problem solving, team work

Materials: balloons, eggs, string, A4 paper, sellotape

Time:

20-30mins

First divide the class into small teams. Give each team two balloons, a ball of string, two sheets of A4 paper, a roll of tape and a raw egg. Using only the materials provided they must figure out how to drop the egg from a standing position on a chair without it breaking on the floor. They can protect the egg in any way they want but the only thing they cannot do is lower the egg with the string. Give them 15 -20 minutes. They must of course only speak English. This is a great way to lead into a decision on teamwork and problem solving skills. They constantly have to listen and give instructions. Leaders will rise and job sharing will have to take place to complete the task. With a competitive group reward the most creative. After 10 minutes have them demonstrate their creations. I have them act like a research team that need to name their project and create a team name pushing the team spirit thing.

182. RANSOM NOTE – sentence formation/creative

Summary:

Students create a ransom note using magazines

Level/age:

Beginner - advanced

Theme:

Anything Skills:

Sentence formation

Materials: Magazines, scissors, glue, paper Time:

20-30mins

Put the students into small teams and give them random magazines and a time limit – within the time they have to cut out random words from a newspaper or magazine to make coherent sentences. To make the game more interesting you can give them different themes to make sentences about.


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183. ASSOCIATION PUZZLE – word connections/vocab

Summary:

word association puzzles Level/age:

Intermediate– advanced

Theme:

any taught vocab Skills:

Making associations/connections between words

Materials: The graph below Time:

15-25mins

Tell the students to think of any word you have been studying. In the example I have used the word ‘punishment.’ Students must fill in the graph using any words they can think of associated with the center word much like brainstorming. The tricky part comes, however, where the students must make sure any connected boxes must also contain associated words (which they should be able to justify.) Afterwards you can have a general discussion with each group justifying their choice of words.

ANY THEME


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184. VACATION CARDS – Story Telling/Speaking/Comprehension

Summary:

Students create a story following card based prompts

Level/age:


Theme:

Story telling Skills:

Identifying and using adjectives, creative thinking.


30mins

For this activity you will need a deck of cards, and an imaginative theme that could be crafted into some sort of story. For example, I chose "send the teacher on a vacation". On the board or overhead projector make a list like the following. (You could ask your student for input.)

Ace - exciting

2-depressing

3-expensive

4-heroic

5-romantic

6-fantastic

7-sad

8-almost fatal

9-cheap

10-dramatic

Jack - happy

Queen - weird

King - change one option Prompt the students a little to get them started; perhaps offer a beginning to the story. They then must continue making an oral story by drawing one card and continuing the story along those lines. For example, if they get 4, then the teacher/protagonist must do something heroic or some kind of heroic event must occur. If the students draw a K (or whatever card you stipulate), then they can change one option. This seems to help keep the momentum in the game. Continue through all cards, with the stipulation that the story must be concluded by the end of the deck. Obviously there is a lot of room for variation here. Your word list and theme could be related to your unit of study.


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185. 3 PICTURE STORY – story telling/team work

Summary:

A creative story telling activity Level/age:


Theme:

Story telling Skills:

creative thinking, sentence formation and situational language

Materials: Magazine Time:

30-40mins

Choose three pictures from a magazine. The first picture should be of people that are in some sort of relationship. The other two pictures should be of objects. Have students get into groups of three or four students to a group. Show the class the first picture and ask them to discuss the relationship of the people in the picture. Show them the second picture and tell them that the object is something that is important to the people in the first picture. Ask students to discuss why they think that object is important to the people. Show them the third picture and tell them that this object is something that the people in the first picture really don't like. Ask them to once again discuss the reasons why. After you have finished the activity, have the class compare the various stories that they came up with in their groups.

186. ANIMALS FOR A DAY – Creative Thinking/Schedules/Writing

Summary:

A creative writing activity Level/age:

high beginner – advanced

Theme:

Animal lives Skills:

Creative thinking, writing, presenting

Materials: - Time:

30-40mins

Make a list of animals with the students eliciting both well-known animals and prompting exotic ones too. Write them up on the board as you go and make sure everyone knows what they are. As you list them you can ask questions such as “Where does this animal live?” “What does it eat?” ”Is it dangerous?” etc. Once you have a comprehensive list tell the students to choose an animal they would like to be for a day. Once they have chosen, tell them to write 5-6 sentences about the day they just had as that animal. What did they do? Where did they go? What other animals did they meet? Let them be creative and you will be surprised with some of the things they come up with. When they are finished writing have them present their sentences to the rest of the class. The other students must listen and then ask a question about that student’s day. The teacher can interject with questions at any time too.


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187. MY WIKIPEDIA – Writing/creative thinking

Summary:

Students predict what Wikipedia will say on a subject.

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything, countries Skills:

Writing, reading

Materials: Internet connections Time:

30-40mins

This is an activity 'about' the internet, but it doesn't start online. In fact it has to start offline: the idea is that students try and predict the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for their town, region or country. Before the lesson, make sure there is a Wikipedia entry in English for the place you're going to talk about. During the lesson, access to the internet in class is useful, though not essential; you could use print outs at the comparison stage. Ask students to work in pairs or groups. What facts would they include? What are the important things to say it? One way to do an activity like this is to start with students working on their own, then ask them to compare with a partner and agree a shared text, then get into small groups and make a further draft. They can share these drafts before the next stage. If you can go online, do it now. Invite the learners to compare their own entries with the actual Wikipedia entry. What similarities and/or differences do they notice? What language features do they recognise in the 'official' text? What are the organising principles behind the Wikipedia entries? If you like, you can add an element of competition by awarding a point for everything they correctly predict. Extension: Change the task to focus on different Wikipedia entries. In each case the task is the same, to predict and compare their paragraph with the real thing. For example: a favourite singer an actor a sportsman or football team a character in a film or story Ask them to write an 'imaginary' Wikipedia entry. These can't be compared with a real one, but can be displayed around the class or shared on a blog. Here are some ideas for an imaginary Wikipedia entry: my family our school someone they know and admire (this could be someone in their family, or a friend) me at the age of 50 – all the things I've achieved


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188. HEROES AND VILLIANS – creative/speaking/reasoning/superheroes

Summary:

Students make and battle with their own heroes and villains.

Level/age:

High Intermediate-advanced

Theme:

Superheroes, good and evil Skills:

Speaking, presenting, reasoning,

Materials: Worksheet in the SM book Time:

40-60mins

Teach vocab and idioms then go through the rest of the first page with students. The alter egos are Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Ironman and Captain America. Give out pre-prepared slips of paper to each student that say either hero or villain on them. The students must keep this secret as it will be their team later in the activity. Elicit super powers from the students writing them on the whiteboard. You will need around 15 different powers. Make sure none of the powers are too omnipotent. Try and direct the answers to more of the minor powers that super heroes have like x-ray vision and flight. Later students will have to explain and justify how one power can beat another. Next instruct students to create their own super heroes (or villain). They can do this as individuals or in small teams. They can only choose 1 of the elicited powers for their hero and must come up with the following things: A super hero name. An alter ego – what is their occupation? Personality? A costume, catchphrase and weakness. A heroic (or villainous) act they performed. Students should keep their heroes powers and weaknesses secret from other students. Now students or teams need to find their sides – Hero or Villain. Everyone gets up and walks around the classroom asking the other students questions about their character. The students can’t ask directly about the hero’s powers but they can ask about their heroic or villainous act. Obviously the members of the villain team will do bad acts and the hero’s good acts. Once students find all the members of their team the battle is set to begin. The teacher announces that the teams are battling for power of New York city. Villains always go first. The first villain comes up and explains their super powers and how it can be used. The hero team then gets a chance to send up a hero to battle the villain. The hero team should choose a student that has a hero with the powers able to beat the villain. Once both students have explained their powers and how they could beat the other student the teacher decides which one is the winner. The winner stays at the front of the class and the villains get to send up the next student they think can beat the hero. If one team thinks they cannot beat the other team then that team gets 1 point. The team that has the last remaining character gets 2 points and the team with the most points is the winner.


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189. CLASS ELECTIONS – politics/creative thinking/writing

Summary:

A creative thinking campaigning based activity

Level/age:


Theme:

Politics Skills:

Speaking, writing, creative thinking

Materials: Drawing materials & Worksheet in the SM book

Time:

40mins+

With the class you should first decide where the elections are taking place and what the problems are with this city/country. You can lead into this activity by talking about electoral processes in different countries and the various discussions that arise from elections. Put the class into teams of at least 3. Tell them to choose one student as their class president candidate, at least one student as a campaign manager and at least one student as a citizen. If you have more than 3 per group those extra students can choose between being campaigners or citizens. The objective is to get other students to vote for your candidate. Give the teams the worksheet and have them come up with a campaign strategy that is going to appeal to the other citizens in the class and get that student elected. How will they solve the problems of the city/country? What campaign promises will they make? What would they change? How are they better than the other candidates? What scandals have other candidates been involved in? (Be careful with this objective.) What is the campaign slogan/theme? Once this is all done, it is time to campaign which is done in 2 parts – firstly, the campaign managers and candidates go around the class to the citizens and outline why they should be elected and tell other students about the above information – the campaign managers should take the lead on this. The next part is the debate – the candidates will come to the front and the citizens will ask them questions about anything they want. The candidates will debate and argue over the issues giving the citizens a better idea of who they want to vote for. Once the debate is done it is time to vote. Citizens will anonymously put their ballots into a box and then the votes will be tallied. The only rule of voting is that you cannot vote for the candidate from your team. Once the president is chosen you can have a class discussion on why they chose that candidate and what the potential advantages and disadvantages of this selection will be.


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190. MAKE YOUR OWN COMPANY – Creative/Team Work/Q&A

Summary:

Students create their own companies and hire employees

Level/age:


Theme:

Business, interviews Skills:

Creativity, speaking, interviewing

Materials: Create a company handout in the SM book

Time:

60mins+

This lesson works great when studying business English. Put the students into small teams and have them come up with a company. They will have to come up with all the info for the company: Name? Where is it based? How many employees? What do you make/do? How do you do it? Who buys your product? How do you market it? Business hierarchy? Students can use the handout below to make their companies and once that is finished the students should present their companies to the class. At that point it is time to hire people for their company. Give the students some time to both create questions that they will use in the interview process as well as a fictional work persona that they will use to be interviewed with. Once all this is finished tell the students that the interviews are going to begin. Divide the existing company teams into 2 – interviewers and interviewees. The interviewers will stay at their company and interview people to work at their company. The interviewees will use the persona they have created to go for interviews (in case their company goes bankrupt.) The interviewers should take note of the students they think will be good for their company because they will choose people to hire at the end. The interviewees should take note of which companies offered the best deal – they should ask about wages, benefits, perks, working hours etc. Make sure to tell the students this because they often will not take the initiative. Once the students have seen 4 or 5 people – swap them around so everyone has a chance to interview and be interviewed. At the end bring the company teams back together and give them some time to talk together and decide on who they want to hire. All the students should also say which companies they want to work for. If there are companies and employees who choose each other they are the winners.


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191. MAKE YOUR OWN COUNTRY – Creative/Team Work/Presenting

Summary:

Students create a new society Level/age:

Advanced

Theme:

Law, Society Skills:

Speaking, critical thinking

Materials: Handout from SM book Time:

50mins+

Put students into small groups and have them follow the handout to create their own country. This activity is a good follow up to a lesson on society, laws, demographics, equality etc. When students are finished, have them present their new country to the class.

192. MAKE YOUR OWN GAME – Creative/Team Work

Summary:

Students create their own game Level/age:


Theme:

Sports, games Skills:

Writing, planning, presenting

Materials: Handout from SM book Poster paper, writing materials

Time:

50min

Put students into small groups and have them follow the handout to create their own game. This activity is a good follow up to a lesson on sports & hobbies. When students are finished, have them present their new game to the class and then have other teams come in and actually play the game to see if it’s any good.

193. MAKE YOUR OWN NEWS CAST – Creative/Team Work/Role-Play

Summary:

Students create a TV News cast Level/age:

Advanced

Theme:

News, Media Skills:

Speaking, critical thinking, presenting


50mins+

Put students into small groups and have them follow the handout to create their own news cast. This activity is a good follow up to a lesson on news, media etc. When students are ready, have them play out their news cast to the class. Each student should play a different role.


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194. MAKE YOUR OWN RESTAURANT – Creative/Team Work/Role-Play

Summary:

Students create a new restaurant Level/age:

Intermediate- Advanced

Theme:

Food, Cooking, restaurants Skills:

Speaking, critical thinking, presenting


50mins+

Put students into small groups and have them follow the handout to create their own restaurant. This activity is a good follow up to a lesson on food, cooking, going out etc. When students are finished, customers are going to come to their restaurants and they must serve them. Split each team up into servers and customers. Have the servers stay at their desk and rotate the customers around to the next restaurant. Customers will be given a limited amount of money and they must go to the restaurants to find the best food and service. The customers can choose the food they like from the menu and they must also give a tip. The tip is based on how good you think the service is. The team with the most money at the end is the winner.


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195. MAKE YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER– Creative/Writing

Summary:

Students create a full newspaper Level/age:

Advanced

Theme:

News, media Skills:

Speaking, Interviewing, Writing

Materials: Handout in the SM book Time:

Several classes

This activity should follow a lesson about newspapers and the media in general. Make sure to look at the different kinds of newspaper section. As a class, have the students decide what kind of journalist they would like to be and what kind of story they want to focus on. On the board write:

community & local news world news sports human interest business horoscopes weather advice column editorial

Have each student choose a section and then with the class, brainstorm ideas that each student could write about and students they could interview for that story. It is a good idea at this point to match students up with interviewees so that everyone is being interviewed. Have students plan out their stories, do some research and interview the appropriate people, then write their articles. They should submit it to the teacher for editing first and then have a rewrite. There are lots of online templates for newspapers, so if you have time, you can organize their writing into the real deal. It adds a lot to their satisfaction in completing the task and gives them a good souvenir of that class.


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196. CREATE A FACEBOOK GROUP – Writing/comprehension

Summary:

Making and maintaining a facebook group for class students

Level/age:

High Intermediate-advanced (adult)

Theme:

IT - Facebook Skills:

Reading comprehension

Materials: Access to internet Time:

Give students Multimedia instruction on how to create a group on facebook. A virtual tour of your own page is quite engaging. Obviously, you should make sure your FB photos are appropriate for students and also feel comfortable giving students a lot of info about yourself. The class (or larger teams) should talk together to find common threads for creating their group, the main one - for improving your English. Students then create the pages with various students assigned to taking care of the tasks involved i.e. writing info, uploading photos, inviting others to the group etc Tasks _

post a short random writing assignment to the wall of the group.

Post a photo of you and explain what is happening in it.

Look at other student’s photos – comment or ask a question about the experience.

Create an event invite that will go out to the group.

Post a link in the group to: Your favorite website An interesting article you found Youtube clip Good English learning websites


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Grammar Focused Activities

197. SENTENCE AUCTION – error identification & correction/grammar

Summary:

Students bid on correct sentences. Level/age:

Modified for all levels.

Theme:

Grammar. Skills:

Error correction

Materials: List of correct and incorrect sentences in the SM book

Time:

30-40mins

Write up 15 sentences – some correct and some with mistakes. Give a sheet of paper with the sentences to teams of students and let them look at the sentences. The worth of the sentence is based on how many mistakes are in it. If there are many then the sentence is worth very little but if it is perfect then it is worth a lot. Give the students fake money and allow them to bid on each sentence as they come up. Then go through and check the sentences with the students who see how much hidden value they have accrued. There is a list of sentences in the Supplementary Materials Book, but really it should be modified for your level and lesson plan…

198. OBEY MY ORDER –Time Phrases/Writing/Speaking

Summary:

Students make directions for other students to follow using time phrases.

Level/age:

High beginner-advanced

Theme:

Until, before, after, as soon as Skills:

Sentence formation, speaking, comprehension


20-40mins

Firstly, model the use of the time clauses – until, before, after and as soon as. You can give the students examples of orders such as “Everyone stand up as soon as I say GO!” Then have students write their own orders – 1 order for each time clause. Write the names of the students on the board and you are ready to start. To play - One student reads out one of their directions and the other students must follow the direction. If a student following the direction makes a mistake or is the last student to follow the order then they get an x against their name on the board. Everyone reads out their orders and at the end the student with the least xs is the winner.


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199. COMPARATIVE DICE –Comparatives/Sentence Formation

Summary:

Students roll die to make comparative sentences.

Level/age:


Theme:

comparative language Skills:

Comparing, sentence formation

Materials: 2-4 die Time:

20mins

Elicit sets of nouns on the board that students can compare. You could include the following categories:

Countries

Cities

Celebrities

Animals

Students Try to get 6-12 nouns for each category. Next, put the students into teams and have die to pass around. One team must choose a category and then roll the die to get the specific nouns to compare. Then you can play that either that team has to make a comparative sentence with those nouns to get a point, or the first team that makes a comparative sentence gets a point.

200. I HAVE NEVER – Present Perfect/Speaking/Comprehension

Summary:

Students win chips by learning about other’s experiences

Level/age:


Theme:

Experiences, present perfect Skills:

Present perfect sentence formation

Materials: Chips or cards Time:

30mins

Have the students sit in a group and give them a certain number of chips or cards. On the student’s turn they must tell the rest of the group one thing they have never done. If another member of the group has done that thing then they must give one chip to the student who made the sentence. If no one has done the activity then the student making the sentence must give everyone else in the group a chip. After a while the students will start to understand the game and start targeting other students i.e. one of the boys will say “I have never worn makeup” to get chips from all the girls. The student with the most chips at the end of the game is the winner.


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201. DILEMMA – “Would you rather”/Reasoning/Speaking

Summary:

Students propose conditional situations and guess the responses

Level/age:

advanced

Theme:

conditional clause would Skills:


Materials: - Time:

20mins

First put the students into teams and then choose one student from each team to come to the front - give them a “would you rather dilemma” such as would you rather fight Mike Tyson or fight a dog - the student has to read the dilemma and then choose which option they would take. The rest of the students in the team then discuss amongst themselves as to which choice they think he would do. If they guess correctly then their team gets a point. There is also a board game called Zobmondo that works on this premise and has some truly disgusting “would you rathers.”


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202. PAST TENSE ACCUSATIONS – Past Progressive/Speaking

Summary:

Students make past progressive accusations which must be rebuffed

Level/age:


Theme:

Past Progressive, making questions Skills:


Materials: - Time:

20-40mins

Students are given a list of strange actions and ask their partners to come up with innocent reasons why they were doing those things, e.g. “When I saw you, you were painting over your windows. Why were you doing that?” “I was turning my whole house into a big flag to celebrate Independence Day”. It is important that they say the “When I saw you…” part each time, to make the use of the Past Continuous realistic. Some actions... When I saw you...

you were patting your boss on the head

you were flirting with a stranger on the bus

you were wearing a shabby tracksuit and other casual clothes at a wedding

you were beating a pensioner up

you were hanging out with a group of 11 year old kids

you were writing insults on the board

you were bumping into lots of passers-by

you were pouring ink into your line manager’s coffee

you were peeling a potato with a pair of scissors

you were playing wheelchair basketball in a hospital ward

you were breaking pieces of coral off the Great Barrier Reef

you were upsetting a hospital patient

you were blaming your cousin for breaking your aunt’s vase (even though you broke it)

you were sitting on the edge of a cliff

you were taking the wheels off your gran’s wheelchair

you were standing in a line to receive free meals for homeless people

you were shouting rude words at your next door neighbour

you were climbing over the fence into a closed fairground

you were being arrested

you were wearing your mp3 player at a gig

you were struggling to pick up a 5kg weight

you were calling one of your siblings names

you were flirting with someone else’s spouse


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203. ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY CALLOUT – grammar/review

Summary:

Students try to get other students to use the grammar on their cards

Level/age:


Theme:

Adverbs of frequency Skills:

Speaking, Q&A, grammar

Materials: Cards with frequency adverbs on them

Time:

20-30mins

Make two teams of students, each person has cards from a set with adverbs of frequency (sometimes, never, only once, etc.) Nobody knows who has which kind of card. One person from team A asks person on team B a question, trying to get them to respond with the adverb they have on their card. So, if I am on team A and have the card NEVER, I will ask a student from team B: "How often do you speak English at home?" Hopefully they will say "never" and I will get a point for my team. If not, OH WELL! Then a person from team B repeats process and so on.

204. PRESENT PERFECT REPAIRS – Modeling present perfect/review

Summary:

Students practice present perfect using a broken down house.

Level/age:

Intermediate – advanced

Theme:

House repairs Skills:

Present perfect sentence formation

Materials: Drawing Time:

20-30mins

On the blackboard draw a house, for example, with a broken window, a broken window, with graffiti on the wall etc... Make your students draw it on their notebooks and then, when finished, start asking questions: What changes/repairs does the house need? Show your students how to answer "The fence needs to be repaired / the grass needs to be cut"… After that, ask your students to draw another house but now with all the necessary changes in other for the house to look tidy and pretty according to them. Now, after finishing, pick one of your students' "master pieces" and show it to the whole group and ask them – “What has been changed in the new drawing?” Give an example of the answer E.G. The walls HAVE BEEN PAINTED. Continue picking your students works and asking questions.


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205. 3 PART SENTENCES – sentence formation/review/grammar

Summary:

Students make sentences using random words

Level/age:

Beginner - Intermediate

Theme:

Tenses, pronouns, positive/negative and basic grammar forms.

Skills:

Sentence formation

Materials: 3 boxes, slips of paper Time:

You need three boxes. The first should be labeled Tense, the second labeled Pronouns and the last labeled Positive/Negative. In each box have slips of paper related to the label. For instance, in Tense - have future, past, present. In Pronouns - I, you, he, she, they, we. In Positive/Negative you will have one with positive and the other with negative. Each student comes up to the front of the classroom and pulls out one slip of paper from each box. The teacher then calls out an infinitive verb and the student must say a sentence for the class using that verb with the Tense, Pronoun and Positive/Negative slips they pulled. If they get it correct - that student gets 2 points. If it is incorrect, another student can steal. I usually play that the first hand I see up gets to try. If they get it correct - they get one point. After each correct sentence is said aloud by a student - all students must write it down on a piece of paper to turn in at the end of class. This way, they are practicing written and oral grammar.

206. CRAZY COMPARATIVES – Grammar/ Comparatives/Speaking

Summary:

Quick thinking comparative activity Level/age:

beginner – intermediate

Theme:

Comparisons Skills:

Comparative sentences, speaking

Materials: Flashcards Time:

10-20mins

Similar to Comparative dice but with flashcards. Have flashcards with nouns on them and two lines of students. The first two students in each line must come up and pick up a card and the first student to make a comparison of the two is the winner and gets 1 point for their team.


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207. ENGLISH RUMMY – Vocab/sentence formation

Summary:

Students use the rummy format to make sentences

Level/age:


Theme:

grammar vocab groups – nouns, verbs, adjectives etc

Skills:

Sentence formation.

Materials: English Rummy Cards in the SM book

Time:

30-40mins

To play this game you will need to prepare a set of cards (40-50) with 3 words on each card. (For this game you can use the English Poker cards.) The words will be a mixture of words from the various grammatical categories – nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs etc. Give each student 6 cards each which they can look at. Set the rest of the cards (face down) in the center with 1 card from the top next to the pile face-up, this will be the discard pile. At the beginning of each turn the student must pick up 1 card which they can choose from either the discard pile or the store (the face down pile.) Once they have done this they are ready to play. The aim of the game is to get rid of your cards by making sentences. The student will look at their cards and try to make the longest sentence possible using only 1 word from each card. They then lay the sentence down for everyone to see. In future turns students can change and add to their sentences using new cards that they get. They can make or change 1 sentence per turn and at the end of the turn they must discard 1 card. The round stops when a student gets rid of all their cards, at this point everyone counts their points. You get 1 point for each word in a sentence and if they can make a 6 word sentence then they get double points. You are minused 1 point for each card you still hold in your hand. The student with the most points is the winner and you can usually play multiple rounds.


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208. COMPARATIVE CLUES – grammar/ comparatives/speaking/comprehension

Summary:

Students must give comparative clues to their team

Level/age:


Theme:

Comparative adjectives Skills:

Comparative sentence formation

Materials: Prepared comparable nouns. Time:

20-30mins

Prep about 10-20 pieces of paper that have 2 comparable nouns on them i.e. Korea/China. Divide the class into 2 teams and have one student from one team come to the front of the class and choose a piece of paper. That student must choose one of the nouns and then try to get his team to guess the other noun by using comparisons. For example if the student chooses China then he must get his team to guess china (he obviously cannot say the word China) by comparing it to Korea e.g. “it is bigger than Korea.” It can be turned into a comp by giving points to the first team to get the answer or by timing the speed of the answer. Include yourself and a famous star to get some laughs.

209. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES – “If I was – I would“/sentence formation

Summary:

Students must continue the chain using the “If” condition

Level/age:


Theme:

“If” conditional Skills:


Materials: - Time:

10-15mins

The teacher starts by introducing the conditional “If I was rich...” The next student then has to continue the sentence – “If I was rich I would live in France.” The next student then has to continue the game with a conditional based upon the last sentence; “If I lived in France...” and onto the next student and so on.

210. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES 2 - “If I was – I would“/sentence formation

Summary:

Students try to match “If” and “I would” clauses

Level/age:


Theme:

“If” conditional Skills:

Writing, Speaking, comprehension

Materials: Paper Time:

30-40mins

Give students 2 pieces of paper. On 1 piece have them write some “if” conditions; E.G. If I was rich… If I had 3 arms… On the other piece have them write some “I would” sentences (not related to their “if” sentences) E.G. I would play the guitar. I would shout loudly Once this is finished have the students circulate around the class talking to other students trying to find the most sensible match for their conditions. If they find a sensible match they get 1 point.


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211. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES 3 - “If I was – I would“/sentence formation

Summary:

Students create conditional sentences using crazy nouns.

Level/age:

beginner - intermediate

Theme:

Conditionals Skills:


Materials: - Time:

20mins

Write several different crazy nouns on the board (the same amount as the students) i.e. monkey, the president, a killer, Tom Cruise etc... Then have the students make a sentence using “If I were” and one of the nouns. E.g. “If I was a monkey I would throw my poop.” Once it is used it cannot be used again so students end up competing for the word.

212. PASS THE COUNTABLES – Count/Non Count

Summary:

Students try to collect all of one category.

Level/age:

beginner – high intermediate

Theme:

count/non count nouns Skills:

Comprehension, identification

Materials: flashcards Time:

10-15mins

Have a large collection of count and non-count flash or word cards. Give them out randomly to the students so they have an equal amount each (maybe 6 each.) The teacher then says “pass” and the students must quickly pass one card to the left. The object of the game is to get all countables or all non countables cards in your hand. When one student has all of one category they yell stop and they get a point. This game can be modified using any kinds of flash cards e.g. animals/food/jobs etc...You can also put the class into teams and have them group-decide which cards should be given away.

213. ERASER MADNESS – Grammar/Sentence Structure Review

Summary:

Students compete to accurately change a sentence’s meaning.

Level/age:

Low intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Sentence structure Skills:

Comprehension, vocab

Materials: - Time:

15-30min +

On the board write “Subject – modal – adverb of frequency – verb – object” with a sentence to demonstrate e.g. ”Children should never eat candy.” (Or any grammatical structure.) Divide the class into teams and then as you go around each team they can change any word they like from the sentence. There are several ways to play... 1. Students can race each other in a relay style to make changes to the sentence – the first team to change the sentence fully (and have it make sense) is the winner. 2. Students race against the clock – everyone plays as 1 team and you go around the class – 1 student changing 1 word at a time. The teacher gives the students a set amount of lives and if they take too long to change a word or change one incorrectly then they lose a life.


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214. PERMISSION CARD GRAB –Grammar/Specific Language

Summary:

Language review of asking permission…

Level/age:

pre intermediate – advanced

Theme:

Permission language - would you mind, is it okay if I, do you mind if I, can I, could I etc.

Skills:



30-40mins

Put students into teams of at most 4 (each student being one suit in a deck of cards.) Give each team a certain amount of playing cards which they must randomly arrange in pile on the desk. They must try to pick up their own cards and if there are other players cards on top of theirs they must ask permission from that player to move it. The number of the card will correspond to what permission sentence that have to use to move that card but if they make a mistake they lose their turn. Give the class a certain amount of time to play the game and at the end the student with the most cards is the winner.


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215. PRESENT CONTINUOUS MIMES – Present Continuous/Active/Comprehension

Summary:

Students mime present continuous sentences

Level/age:

Beginner - intermediate

Theme:

Present continuous Skills:

Comprehension, acting

Materials: Prepared continuous sentences (examples in SM book)

Time:

10-20mins

Students mime whole Present Continuous sentences until the other students say the whole correct sentence. It is important they don’t stop until people guess to give the idea of an action in progress.

216. PRESENT CONTINUOUS SOUNDS – present continuous/active/comprehension

Summary:

Students guess present continuous sentences

Level/age:


Theme:


Comprehension, sound effects

Materials: Prepared continuous sentences Time:

10-20mins

Choose any one of the sentences below and try to make the sound. Can your partner guess which sound you are making without opening their eyes?

You are knocking on the table

You are opening and closing your book/ some papers

You are hitting the lenses of your glasses

You are hitting a ballpoint pen on the table

You are clapping your hands

You are shaking your ballpoint pen

You are shaking some paper

You are kissing/ air kissing

You are sneezing

You are shaking your chair

You are kicking the table

You are punching the chair

You are moving your chair

You are dropping your book/ some papers on the floor

Choose any one of the sentences below and try to make the sound effects using your mouth. Can your partner guess which sound you are trying to make without opening their eyes?

You are drinking soup

The telephone is ringing

You are using an air conditioner remote control

You are playing a computer game

You are crying


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217. PASTCONTINUOUS FREEZE – past continuous/active/review

Summary:

Students try to guess what other students were doing

Level/age:


Theme:

Past continuous Skills:

Speaking, acting

Materials: - Time:

20mins

Have 1 student come to the front and put on a blind fold – once it is on, all the other students have to do some kind of continuous action. When the teacher says stop all the students must freeze in the pose that they are in. The student at the front takes the blindfold off and tries to guess what one of the students was doing. E.G. He was playing soccer. If they get it, they swap with the student they guessed, if not they stay up and continue.

218. SUBJUNCTIVE ASSOCIATIONS – Warmer/Speaking/Grammar

Summary:

Students try to guess who students are by using subjunctives.

Level/age:

intermediate to advanced

Theme:

Subjunctive Tense Skills:

creative activity, speaking, subjunctive mood

Materials: - Time:

20-30min

All your students take part in this game. One of the students goes out of the room. All the rest think of one student (he or she should be present). The student who went out of the room comes in and asks "If this person were a vegetable (fruit, sweet, animal, car, nature, flower, city etc) what vegetable (fruit, sweet, animal etc) would he be?"

One of the students answers in a full sentence: "If he were an animal, he would be a dog" for instance

After some questions and answers the student who is asking the questions should guess who it is and

the game begins again with another student going out of the room.


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219. PRESENT CONTINUOUS SHOUT OUT – Brainstorming/present continuous

Summary:

Students compete to say continuous sentences.

Level/age:


Theme:


Speaking, sentence formation

Materials: Pictures of busy scenes Time:

10-20mins

For this activity the teacher can use any scene they think appropriate – the classroom, outside, a busy picture etc. The students compete to say or write as many things that are happening in that scene. Each correct sentence gets 1 point. Where’s Waldo scenes work well for this activity.

220. PRESENT CONTINUOUS ARTIST – Present Continuous/Comprehension

Summary:

Students race to draw a picture of a Present Continuous sentence

Level/age:


Theme:


Comprehension/drawing

Materials: Board, markers Time:

10-20mins

Put the class into 2 teams and bring 1 student from each team to the front. Give them equal board space and a marker. Give the students a present continuous sentence and have them race to draw a picture of it, e.g. “Two men are dancing on a table”. The first team to guess the sentence gets one point.

221. SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT ARTIST – Comprehension/Sentence Formation/Review

Summary:

Students draw parts of a sentence and the others have to put the sentence together

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Comprehension/drawing

Materials: Board, markers Time:

10-20mins

Put the students into teams. Get one student to come up from each team and give them a different word from a sentence. E.G. The policeman/is chasing/the ugly/criminal If you divide it up into 4 parts then you will need 4 students. Give each one a part of the sentence (not necessarily in order) and make them draw their picture on the board. The other students have to look at the pictures and try to put the sentence together. The first team to get it gets the point.


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222. PRESENT CONTINUOUS MAGAZINE SEARCH – Present Continuous/Listening

Summary:

Students race to find a present cont picture

Level/age:


Theme:


Listening, comprehension

Materials: Magazines Time:

10-20mins

Students race to find a picture matching the Present Continuous sentence they hear as quickly as possible, e.g. “A man is wearing sunglasses” or “Some animals are running”. This can be done with students have the same or different magazines; with flashcards, photos or other loose pictures; or with pictures in the textbook.

223. NOT GETTING THROUGH – Present Continuous/Speaking/Making Appointments

Summary:

Students give excuses using present continuous.

Level/age:


Theme:


Sentence formation

Materials: - Time:

10-20mins

For this activity divide the class into 2 groups – people trying to make appointments at the doctor’s office and the office receptionists. The problem is that there is only 1 free appointment time for all of next week – the doctor is busy at every other time. The receptionist has to choose what time the doctor is free and for all other times they will have to make an excuse I.E. “He is meeting a client” or “He is flying to New York in 5 minutes”. The student making the appointment gets 3 chances to get the correct time and if not they have to rotate around to the next receptionist. Once everyone has rotated around the room see if anyone found a free appointment time – the student with the most appointments is the winner. This can be used for present and/ or future uses of the Present Continuous tense.

224. PREFERENCE BINGO – “I prefer…”

Summary:

Preference language bingo activity Level/age:


Theme:

preferences language e.g. “I prefer/like...”, comparatives.

Skills:

Grammar, comprehension

Materials: Bingo boards Time:

Firstly, the teacher reads the question on the preference card – “Do you prefer Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio?” At which point the students write their choice in a random blank space on the card. Read all the cards until all the blanks are filled then fold the preference cards and put them into a can or bag. Pick random students to draw cards, read the question and then state their preference. "I prefer Brad Pitt." The first student to get a bingo is the winner.


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Notes: You can get several phrases to state preferences so the students can choose. "I like Brad Pitt better than Leonardo DiCaprio" etc.

225. PRESENT CONTINUOUS DIARIES – Speaking/Making Appointments

Summary:

Students must find time to meet other students

Level/age:

Beginner-intermediate

Theme:

Making appointments Skills:

Speaking, sentence formation

Materials: Paper, diaries Time:

20-30mins

Students try to find a gap in their diaries when they can meet. This can be done with real diaries with imaginary arrangements added to fill it up and make the activity more challenging, or with role-play diary pages. It can also be done as a mingling task, or as emailing or telephoning practice. Have the students walk around the class talking with other students and making times to meet. In an easier but less realistic task than Present Continuous Diaries, students are given two slightly different diary or schedule pages and have to find the differences between them by asking and answering questions with the Present Continuous for future arrangements.

226. TIME ZONES – Present Continuous/Listening/Comprehension/Speaking

Summary:

Students make sentences about what people are doing in other countries

Level/age:

Intermediate

Theme:


Speaking, listening, comprehension

Materials: - Time:

10-15mins

A student secretly chooses a country and describes what (most/some/a few) people in that country are doing now until someone guesses where it is. A map with time zones drawn on can help for this. That student then makes a sentence for other students to guess. You can make it competitive by putting them into teams. In a similar way to Time Zones, students describe what one of their family members is (maybe) doing now until the others students guess what the relationship is. To make it more challenging, they can start off with vague clues (”This person is breathing”) and the people guessing can have a limited number of guesses.


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227. GAMBLING GRAMMAR – Error Identification

Summary:

Students identify incorrect sentences and lay down bets

Level/age:


Theme:

Any taught grammar Skills:

Error identification, correction


20-30mins

Divide the class into teams and give them a certain amount of copied money each. This can be done for correct answers whilst teaching the initial grammar. Write 3 sentences on the board (1 correct and 2 incorrect) and have them bet on which one they think is correct. 1 student in the team should choose the answer and the rest should bet the amount of money to promote conversation within the group. The only rule is that you cannot bet all of your money on one sentence. It may be a good idea to set betting limits depending on how much money each team has. The winning teams have the bet money divided between them and the team with the most money at the end of the game is the winner.

228. LOST AND FOUND – Possessive Pronouns/Sentence Formation/Speaking

Summary:

Language repetition activity Level/age:

beginner – intermediate

Theme:

possessive pronouns Skills:

Possessive sentence formation

Materials: Personal items, bag Time:

10-20mins

After modeling the grammar for possessives, ask the students to empty their pockets or purses and choose 2 items (keys, wallets, phones, cosmetics, etc) to put in an empty bag. Make sure that everyone knows the name of the item. Firstly, model the activity by pulling out one item at a time and asking "Hey! Whose pen this?" The owner must yell out "That's my pen." Then ask again "Whose pen is this?" The class must point to the owner and say "It's his/her pen." Ask the question again. The class must respond with "It’s Tom’s pen" or "It's his." then ask Tom "Is this yours?" Tom must answer "Yes, it's mine."


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229. PRESENT PERFECT SCAVENGER HUNT –Active/comprehension/present perfect

Summary:

Students race to complete tasks Level/age:

Low Intermediate-advanced

Theme:

past participle/present perfect Skills:

Comprehension,

Materials: Time:

After explaining how the present Perfect works, show your students a list of tasks. E.G.

Putting 3 chairs upside down.

Opening the windows,

Collecting 10 coins,

Writing some sentences on the board.

Collecting some cell phones, etc... Now divide the class in pairs and tell pairs they'll have 1 minute to do the list of tasks, explain they must decide who's doing what. Set the time and everybody starts the race! After the minute you say “Stop” and now the SS have to say what they've been able to do. E.g. "WE have collected 7 cell phones, we have written 2 sentences on the board, etc." The group that completes the list of tasks is the winner.

230. THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT - Sentence Formation/Vocab Association

Summary:

Students link nouns together in sentences

Level/age:


Theme:

Linking words Skills:

Sentence formation, linking words, past tense.

Materials: - Time:

20mins

This is a game based on the old tune – “This is the House That Jack Built...this is the dog that chased the cat that chased the rat that ate the straw that lay in the house that Jack built." Divide the class into small teams and give them a certain number of nouns to link together, for example hat, horse, car, beer, dad... So their answer maybe “This is my dad who drank the beer that sat in the car that raced the horse that wore a hat...” or something to that effect. Once the students come up with an answer correct any grammar mistakes and give points for creativity and logic.


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231. ADVERB CHARADES – Adverbs/Comprehension/Sentence Formation

Summary:

Students guess what adverb from the action

Level/age:

Beginner – low intermediate

Theme:

Adverbs and verbs.

Skills:

Comprehension, miming

Materials: Adverb cards Time:

10-20mins

Each student is given an adverb --i.e. quickly, angrily, loudly, happily. Then the class tells the student to do something so they can guess what adverb it is. They can say any action, like drink a bowl of soup, or really do it in class, like open a door or take a book from the teacher. First team to guess the correct answer gets the point.

232. GO/PLAY/DO – grammar/speaking

Summary:

A verb identification game Level/age:


Theme:

various sports, places Skills:


Materials: Cards in the SM Book Time:

20-30mins

Give out one pack of cards to each group of two or three students and ask them to spread the whole pack across the table face down, so that no cards are on top of one another. The first person should turn over two cards face up. If they can say how the two things shown are similar in some way (e.g. “You use a racket in both sports” or “They are both places with water”) they can keep the cards and score two points. Each explanation can only be used once during the game (so that they can’t just say “They are both sports” each time). If they can’t find a connection between the two cards they have to turn them back over and put them back in the same places they came from, then play passes to the next person. Discuss some of the similarities they came up with. Useful ones to mention for the later stages are ball sports, team sports, places and words ending in -ing. If they don’t mention which verbs are used with these nouns, bring up the subject and ask them to work together to put the activities that are used with play + noun, go + noun, go to + noun and do + noun into these four columns. Once this is established have them play the game again but this time using the verb as the connector between the words. When the first team finishes stop the game and go through each team’s connections making sure they have them correct. The team with the most points wins.


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233. BOUNCE – Future tense/Speaking/Review

Summary:

Students ask risqué questions about other’s futures

Level/age:


Theme:

Future life Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, question formation

Materials: cards Time:

30-40mins

Set the students out in a circle and put a set of cards in the middle facedown. Give students a list of topics and/or vocabulary that is related to the future, e.g. “retirement” and “ambition”. You should also include some that are a bit more risqué like “remarry”, “bet” and “holiday romance”. When it is their turn a student picks one word or topic (either their own choice or random, depending on how you want them to play the game) and then makes a future question from it. They can make any question they like, e.g. “What would you do if your husband lost all your money betting on the horses?” The student must also choose another student that they want to answer the question – that student then turns over the top card from the pile – if the card is red then they must answer the question and the questioner keeps the card (worth 1 point.) If the card is black however the questioned student has the choice to either answer the question and keep the card or make the questioner answer the question themselves (in which case the card goes back in the pile.) The student at the end of the game with the most cards is the winner. Note; This game can be changed to any grammar point but works well with the more risqué topics of future life.


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234. PERSONAL PRONOUNS BATTLESHIP – pronouns/introductions/review

Summary:

Students use the battleship format to practice personal pronouns.

Level/age:

beginner-advanced

Theme:

Personal pronouns, personal info Skills:

Speaking, Q&A, sentence formation.

Materials: Battleship board in SM Book Time:

40mins +

1. First, the students must make sentences about themselves using possessives. E.G. My name is John, my favorite sport is soccer, my hometown is Seoul etc. 2. Then, go around the class and have the students read out their sentences. As they are doing this the other students must listen and remember the information to use later in the game. VARIATION – you can start this off as a survey where students must walk around finding out the information about the other students by asking questions. When students meet another student they must tell them something about the last student they met and then ask another question. 3. Split the class into teams and give them the battleship board. Students must write the names of the students in order in the numbered spaces at the top of the board and then place their battleships in various places around the board. 4. Battleship placement – Each team can place 5 boats on the grid either vertically or horizontally.

Type of ship Grid Size

aircraft carrier 5

battleship 4

submarine 3

destroyer 3

patrol boat 2

5. Then the game begins. Teams can talk together to see which squares they are going to attack, then they must make a possessive pronoun sentence to attack that square. E.G. Team 1 – John’s favorite sport is soccer or His favorite sport is soccer. The sentences must be grammatically correct in order for the turn to count and if the sentence correctly corresponds to a grid square that the other team’s boat is in, then that counts as a hit to the boat. Once all the squares for that boat have been hit then the boat is sunk. The first team to sink all the other team’s boats is the winner. 6. Students can also use plural possessives e.g. our/your/their if they can remember common threads between students. E.G. Students can say – John and Sally’s favorite sport is soccer OR Their favorite sport is soccer, which would take up two grids and give the students extra sinking power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrol_boat


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235. WORD CONNECTORS - Grammar/Connecting Words

Summary:

Students explain connections between objects using connecting words

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Vocab, Speaking, Comprehension

Materials: Connection Handout in the SM book.

Time:

Put students into teams of 4-5. Write connecting words on individual strips of paper and give one set

out to each team. Connecting words could include:

and but or so neither either because although even though too

Give each team the picture handout. One student in a group starts by choosing a word slip and trying to

make a relationship sentence linking the first pair of pictures. This activity requires great creativity and

lateral thinking, and even students who randomly pull the same word for the same pair of pictures

won’t come up with the same relationship.


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Pronunciation & Intonation

236. TOUNGE TWISTERS – speaking/pronunciation/fun

Summary:

Students try to say the tongue twisters correctly

Level/age:

All levels

Theme:

Speaking Skills:

Speaking, pronunciation

Materials: Twisters below Time:

10-20mins

Tongue Twisters can be used as a warmer or a type of punishment in any game or teaching activity. It is also a fun way to improve pronunciation. 1) The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. 2) Madame Minnie made a mound of many melons. 3) Nimble Lily never learns. Little Nina knows now. 4) The red bug bled on the black bug’s bed. 5) Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. (Say 3 times quickly. This is a good one to board and do with the class to intro this activity) 6) What noise annoys an oyster? A noisy noise annoys an oyster? 7) She sells seashells at the sea-shore. Are the seashells she sells, seashells for sure? 8) Silly Sally is shaking some sugar on her shiny shoes. 9) The rat ran through the river with a lump of raw liver. 10) They think that this Thursday is the 30th. 11) Jolly General Jimmy Jones joked with Japanese John. 12) How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. 13) The zoo’s zebras swam through the zebra zone. 14) Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where is the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? 15) Don’t dilly dally in Denver or disdain your daily duty. (2 times quickly) 16) Little Luke lost a lot of labeled letters. If Little Luke lost a lot of labeled letters, where are the labeled letters Little Luke lost?


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237. NUMBERS PRONUNCIATION – pronunciation/comprehension

Summary:

Students identify problem pronunciation

Level/age:

Beginner - advanced

Theme:

Pronunciation Skills:

Listening pronunciation

Materials: List of problem words. Time:

15-30mins

Choose 10 words with sounds that the students have been having trouble with. For example if your students are having trouble with the S and TH sounds then you can use these words 1. Think 2. Sink 3. Thing 4. Sing 5. Thigh 6. Sigh 7. Thank 8. Sank 9. throw 0. Sew Write the words and numbers up on the board and divide the class into 2 teams. 1 team will choose a student from the opposite team and give them a sequence of words to read out. For example; 4-1-0-5-8 (sing, think, sew, thigh, sank) That student then reads that sequence of words to their own team, each of which write down what they think is the number sequence. That team gets points for each correct number-word. The teams then swap and you play until all students have had a turn.


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238. PRONUNCIATION COUNT DOWN – Pronunciation

Summary:

Pronunciation listening activity. Level/age:

Beginner - advanced

Theme:

Pronunciation Skills:

Listening comprehension

Materials: The worksheet below/digital timer Time:

5-15mins

Print out the work sheet and give one to each student. The idea of the game is for the students to listen to the teacher’s pronunciation in order to go down the list and get to a final number. As the game progresses the teacher reads the sequence of words faster making it more difficult to distinguish between the words. Each student is given 2 lives and each time they get the wrong number they lose a life. Once they lose all their lives they are out, while the student to live the longest is the winner. In the 1st round the teacher should read all the words in 5 seconds. In the second round it should go down to 4 seconds, then 3, then 2 then 1 with students being eliminated the whole way down. Word sequence variations: Puzzle 1.

Cash – say – light – road – rate =32

Cash – they – light – road – late = 23

Catch – they – right – load – late = 1

Catch – say – right – load – rate = 10

Cash – they – right – load – late = 17 Puzzle 2.

Think – thank – cloth – dog – walk = 1

Sink – sank – clock – duck – work = 32

Sink – thank – cloth – duck – walk = 19

Think – sank – clock – dog – work = 14

Sink – thank – clock – dog – walk = 21


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239. BANANA BANANA – Pronunciation/Intonation/Fun

Summary:

Students can only speak using the word “Banana”

Level/age:

Any level (good for younger students)

Theme:

Intonation Skills:

Intonation

Materials: - Time:

20mins

Put students into pairs and have 1 student facing away from the board so that they cannot see it. Write an emotive sentence or phrase on the board and explain to the students who can see the board that they will have to read the sentence to their partner BUT they can only say the word “BANANA.” The idea is that students have to use their intonation and expression to get the message across. The activity is meant to illustrate how important intonation is in expressing something so that might be something to touch on before doing the activity.

240. KNOCK ON WOOD PRONUNCIATION – pronunciation/reading

Summary:

Students identify sounds. Level/age:


Theme:

Pronunciation identification Skills:

Listening, prediction

Materials: Passage modeling selected pronunciation problems

Time:

20-40mins

Choose a passage that is level appropriate for your class and that also has lots of examples of a pronunciation point you want to go over. Firstly model the pronunciation for the students and go over some words that might have those sounds. Once this is done, have the students look over the provided passage and predict which words have this sound, then start reading. The class reads the passage one word per student at a time, except when a student comes to a word that has the sound instead of saying the word they have to knock on the desk – the game then moves to the next student who must decide if the previous student is correct or not by either knocking on the desk (for approval) or by speaking up to say that they’re wrong. This continues around all the students so if the initial student who knocked is correct then there will be a round of knocks which goes back to that student. If the student gets knocks from the whole class then they get 1 point. If a student challenges that students sound identification correctly then the challenger gets the point. The student with the most points at the end of the passage is the winner.


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241. INTONATION FUN – warmer/pronunciation

Summary:

Students practice saying common phrases in different tones

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Pronunciation, Intonation

Materials: - Time:

20mins

Use this activity to underline the importance of intonation when your students, as they often do, talk like robots. Put them into pairs and have them practice saying the words in quotation marks in the contexts that follow. When they have had some fun practicing bring the class together and test to see which students have the most accurate intonation. Model it for them if they are way off base. Encourage them to be theatrical and exaggerated, this gives them a better feel for the expression needed.

'Hello' To a friend.

To a friend you haven't seen for 3 years.

To a neighbor that you don't like.

To a 6 month old baby.

To someone you have just found doing something they shouldn't.

To someone on the phone when you're not sure if they are still on the other end.

'Goodbye' to a member of your family as they are going through the boarding gate at the airport.

to someone who has been annoying you.

to a child starting his very first day at school.

'How are you?' to someone you haven't seen for 20 years.

to someone who has recently lost a member of the family.

to someone who didn't sleep in their own bed last night.

'I never go to pubs' by a person that totally disapproves of drinking alcohol.

to someone who often goes to pubs.

as a response to someone who has told you they sometimes go to pubs.

'What have you done?' to someone who claims to have fixed your television only that now it's worse than before.

to someone who is scolding you for not doing anything when you suspect the same about them.

to someone who has just done something very bad and which has serious consequences.


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242. THE ACTOR’S VOICE – Pronunciation/Intonation

Summary:

Students practice saying common phrases in different tones

Level/age:


Theme:

Anything Skills:

Pronunciation, Intonation

Materials: - Time:

20mins

This activity is very similar to intonation fun, just with a few different examples and tasks. It can be used as a warmer to inject some life into the class. The teacher can model some of the examples first and then partner students and have them practice with each other.

1. Say “hello”: i) in a happy way ii) in a sad way iii) in a bored way iv) in a sexy way v) to a friend vi) to a customer

1. Say a person’s name: i) in an angry way ii) like you love that person iii) like you hate that person

1. Say “Come here now”: i) to a dog or cat ii) to a kid who has been naughty iii) to a very shy person

1. Say “So Long or Goodbye”: i) to a person you are happy to see leave ii) to your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife iii) to somebody that you will never see again iv) to somebody you don’t know well, or you just met


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Role-Plays

243. EMOTION/SITUATION MATCH UP – Speaking/Role-play/Creative Thinking

Summary:

Students create role-plays to illustrate an emotion in a situation

Level/age:


Theme:

Emotions Skills:

Speaking, Creative Thinking

Materials: A dice Time:

30mins+

Put students into small groups. 3 is good. Write 1-6 on the board and elicit 6 different and interesting situations from the students. Then do the same again but this time elicit 6 different emotions. Now, have a student from each team roll the dice twice. The first number will indicate the situation and the second will indicate the emotion. Once both of those are decided, give each team 5 minutes to come up with a role-play that illustrates both of their ideas. When time is up, have them come up and display their role-play.

244. COMPLAINT MENU – complaining/role-play/speaking

Summary:

Students role-play making complaints to various people

Level/age:


Theme:

Complaints Skills:

Speaking, reasoning

Materials: Complaint topics Time:

30mins+

1. On the board write "NEIGHBOR COMPLAINT MENU" then ask around the class for sample complaints. Write them on the board. The board might look like this: NEIGHBOR COMPLAINT MENU

They always have noisy parties.

The dog barks all night.

The children are really naughty.

There is always trash in front of the house. 2. Put students in groups of 3 and have ready an A4 sheet of paper for each group. Each sheet of paper has one of the following headings:

NEIGHBOR COMPLAINT MENU

BOSS COMPLAINT MENU

BROTHER/SISTER COMPLAINT MENU

HUSBAND/WIFE COMPLAINT MENU

FRIEND COMPLAINT MENU

RESTAURANT MANAGER COMPLAINT MENU

BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND COMPLAINT MENU and so on....


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Each group of students then chooses one of the complaints topics and begins to write complaints on their sheet of paper (as you modelled on the board). 3. Rotate the complaint menus every 3 or 4 minutes so each group gets to work on each menu. In this way they get a feel for the different kind of complaints. 4. Once the menus have rotated right round the class or the sheets of paper are full of complaints tell the students to stop writing and model the final part of the activity - the role-play. Pick up one menu (Neighbourhood Complaint Menu) and address a pair of students saying: "Look, you are my neighbors and I'm not very happy. My first complaint is that you always have noisy parties." The "neighbor" students will apologize and try to make excuses and then you continue through the complaints.... "Also, there is always rubbish in front of your house..." 5. Finally, pair the students up. Give this student one of the complaint menus. The students then begin to role-play. Be sure to rotate the students and menus around to keep the topic material and responses fresh.

245. ROLE-PLAYS – Role-Play/Speaking/Reasoning

Summary:

Students practice speaking in quick role-play situations

Level/age:


Theme:

Various situations Skills:

Speaking, Q&A, conversation

Materials: Role-play situations Time:

30mins

Role play 1 – WORLD TOUR Student A You’ve just arrived in your first country at the beginning of your world tour. You’re worried about money and so you’d like to find a cheap hotel to stay in. Try and convince your friends that this is the best option. Student B You’ve just arrived in your first country at the beginning of your world tour. You want to start your holiday in style and stay in a nice hotel. Try and convince your friends that this is the best idea. Student C You’ve just arrived in your first country at the beginning of your world tour. Your friends have got different ideas about where they would like to stay. Listen to them and decide who you agree with. Role-play 2 – ROBBED Student A You’re now in your second country but unfortunately you’ve just been mugged and have lost your bag with your passport, air tickets and money in it. You’re at the police station to report the theft. Student B


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You’re now in your second country but unfortunately your friend’s bag’s been stolen. You’re at the police station to help your friend. Student C You’re a police officer. Two westerners are in your police station to report a theft. You don’t believe their story. Ask them a lot of questions to find out if they are telling the truth. Role-play 3 – CALLING HOME Student A Because of the mugging you phone home to talk to your parents. You want your parents to send you some money urgently because you have no money left. Reassure your parents that everything is OK and get as much money as possible. Student B You are Mum. You are upset about what has happened to your child. You don’t want to send him/her any money because you want him/her to come back home immediately. Student C You are Dad. You are upset about what has happened to your child. You don’t want to send him/her any money because you want him/her to come back home immediately. Role-play 4 – NEW COUNTRIES Student A You’re in Malaysia and you’ve fallen in love with Asia. Now you really want to go to Thailand because you’ve heard they’ve got the best beaches in the world. Try and convince your friends to come with you. Student B You’re in Malaysia and feel quite happy. Your two friends have got very different ideas about where to go next. Listen to your friends and then tell them what you would like to do. Student C You’re in Malaysia but you want to leave. You are tired of travelling and you miss your home and your home cooking. Try and convince your friends to come home with you. Role-play 5 - LOVE Student A You’re ecstatically happy. You’ve fallen in love with a boy/girl from the country you are visiting and you’ve decided you want to buy a house on the beach and live there forever. Tell your friends about your big decision. Student B Your friend has something important to tell you. Listen carefully and then respond: You think your friend’s gone mad and he/she is going to make a terrible decision. Think of all the reasons why his/her plan is crazy and convince him/her to come back home with you. Student C Your friend has something important to tell you. Listen carefully and then respond: You think your friend’s gone mad (crazy) and he/she is going to make a terrible decision. Think of all the reasons why his/her plan is crazy and convince him/her to come back home with you.


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246. PLAYING HOUSE – Role-Plays/Medicine/Doctors/Symptoms

Summary:

Students role-play as patients and doctors to try and figure out what the problems are

Level/age:

High Intermediate – Advanced

Theme:

Medicine Skills:

Speaking, Listening, reading, Research

Materials: Handouts in the SM book Time:

1hr+

This exercise is designed for students to explore the vocabulary and ideas of health and medicine through competitive role playing. If the class is high enough you can introduce this activity by doing a full lesson on House MD. The ideas work excellently together and then after watching you can offer the students the chance to be House themselves. For lower levels something like Scrubs might work better. Firstly, put students into small teams and give them the symptoms handout. Tell students to go through the list and discuss which symptoms they know and what symptoms and sicknesses they have had before. Next, divide the class into 2 even sides – Doctors and patients. Hand out the role play cards for doctors and patients. If you have less students and don’t want to give out all the cards then just minus the corresponding patient – doctor cards from the pack. Tell both sides to read their and discuss with each other the meaning of the vocab on the cards. Make sure they ask the teacher if they aren’t sure of anything. Now the game begins. Students all stand up and the 2 sides mix. The patients are told that they must go and find doctors who can help them with their problems before they get worse, while the doctors have to help the patients as well as trying to convince them to come to their hospital for treatment. Doctors can also recommend other doctors to go to based on the symptoms. Students mingle for a set period with the teacher calling out for them to change partners every so often. When the time is up the patients should have a good idea of what doctor they want treatment from while doctors should have a clue about what patients they will be able to cure. Do a round-up of the patient’s choices for doctor and vice versa When patients have chosen a doctor, the patient and that doctor pair up and they must go and re-search the symptoms online to see if they can find the matching disease. Doctors and patients then give a presentation on that disease with diagnosis and treatment plan. Points are awarded for most creative diagnosis, most accurate and best treatment plan. Each patient card has a set of symptoms that match to a specific condition/disease as well as the specific doctor who might diagnose and/or treat the condition.


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Playing House Answers Some of the symptoms may lead to different diagnoses but that’s ok so long as students are researching something. At the end there are points for most creative diagnosis, most accurate and best cure.

Patient & Condition

Doctor

Patient 1 – Hay fever Dermatologist

Patient 2 – Diabetes General doctor

Patient 3 – Bi polar disorder Psychiatrist

Patient 4 – Retinal Detachment Optometrist

Patient 5 – Pregnancy (girl) Obstetrician

Patient 6 – Carpal Tunnel syndrome Rheumatologist

Patient 7 – Athlete’s foot Podiatrist

Patient 8 – Heart Attack Cardiologist

Patient 9 – Swine flu ENT

Patient 10 – Parkinson’s disease Neurologist

Patient 11 – Kidney infection Urologist

Patient 12 – Bruxism (Teeth grinding) Dentist


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247. LISTED ROLE PLAYS – Role-Plays/Speaking/Opinions

Summary:

Students take on social issues with role-play

Level/age:


Theme:

Various Skills:

Speaking, comprehension, debate

Materials: Role play scenarios Time:

30-40mins

This is an open ended role play where the students are encouraged to take their roles on and expand on the situation using any language they can. There are conflicting debate topics hidden within the role plays so students should be able to take sides fairly easily. The activity can be done as teams or just as individuals with a partner. PARENTS VS GRANDPARENTS

Role Play A You are the parent of a six-year-old girl. You are doing your best to bring up your child, and you are moderately strict. The big problem, you feel, is your own parent (your daughter's grandparent), who lives with you. He/she is always spoiling your child. You want this to stop, and you will now complain to your parent. Here are some examples of the behavior that upsets you: Giving her too much candy & too many sweets in general (cakes, etc.) Allow her to leave her meals half-eaten. Letting her watch too much TV Buying her too many toys Allowing her to stay up as late as she likes Buying her whatever she wants in the supermarket (Think of MORE!) You remember that your parent was much stricter with YOU when you were a child! You will speak first. Say, "Mom/Dad, could we talk, please? There's something I've been meaning to discuss with you." Then listen and respond. Role Play B You are the parent of a grown-up child who has a six-year-old daughter. You live together, and these past six years you have really been enjoying being a grandparent. You feel it's more fun than being a parent, because you have all of the pleasures of parenthood without the heavy responsibilities. In recent years, your philosophy of child-rearing has changed. You now believe: Children should enjoy food & eat what they like. Forcing a child to eat can lead to weight problems. TV helps develop a child's imagination. Toys & other playthings are essential to a child's development. Children have lots of energy, and shouldn't be put to bed too soon. It's best to let children learn to make decisions (about shopping, etc.) Right now you son/daughter wants to speak with you. He/she will speak first. Listen and respond.


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DRUNKEN FRIEND

Role Play A It is late at night. You are at a party with a close friend. He/she has drunk several alcoholic drinks and is intoxicated. You have not drunk any alcohol yourself, and are sober. Now the party is ending. The host(ess) is saying goodnight. Your drunken friend came to the party in his/her own car. It is a twenty-minute drive home. You came by train, and were planning to return the same way. But now you are worried about your drunken friend's safety. He/she seems to be in no condition to drive home. What will you do? (you must decide and do it!!) You are worried that your friend:

will have an accident

might be arrested by the police

may injure or kill an innocent person

will lose his/her driver's license

will not be covered by insurance

may be hurt or killed Person B (your drunk friend) will speak first. Listen and respond. Role Play B It is late at night. You are at a party with friends. You have drunk several alcoholic drinks and are quite intoxicated. You are in a very cheerful mood, feeling great. You had a wonderful time at the party. It is ending, and the host(ess) is saying goodnight. One more close friend is also leaving now. He/she is sober, and planning to go home by train but You came to the party in your own car.

It is a twenty-minute drive home.

You feel confident that you can drive home, because you:

have done it many times before

know the way home very well

have been much drunker than this before

are sure that the streets are empty now

are a very good driver YOU WILL SPEAK FIRST. In a slightly drunken voice, say to your host(ess), "Well, goodnight, and thanks a lot for a wonderful evening." Then listen and respond. Be STUBBORN about wanting to drive home!! Role Play C It is late at night. You have been hosting a party at your apartment. Now the party is ending, and you are saying goodnight to two good friends. One has drunk several alcoholic drinks and is quite intoxicated. The other has not drunk any alcohol. Your drunken friend came to the party in his/her own car. It is a twenty-minute drive home. Your sober friend came by train, and was planning to return the same way. But now both of you are worried about your drunken friend's safety. He/she seems to be in no condition to drive home. What will you do? You must decide something and do it! Person B (your drunk friend) will speak first. Listen and respond.


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INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE

Role Play A You are a young person who has decided to marry someone you love who comes from another country (for example, America). Today you'll tell one of your parents of this decision, and ask for his/her approval. Below are some of the reasons why you think your international marriage will be successful (think of other reasons by yourself): You feel that in such a marriage, you will: develop a broader point-of-view enjoy more straightforward, honest communication share cultural backgrounds have a chance to travel or live overseas be able to raise bilingual children You will speak first. Say, "Mother (or Father), I have decided to marry a man (or woman) from (name of country). I hope that you will give your approval." Act your part! Listen carefully to your partner!

Role Play B You are the mother or father of a young person who has decided to marry someone who comes from another country (for example, America). Today your child will tell you of this decision, and ask for your approval. Below are some of the reasons why you think this international marriage will not be successful (think of other reasons by yourself). Argue against the marriage, but in the end, decide for yourself whether or not to give your approval. Below are some of your concerns (think of others by yourself): You worry that in such a marriage, your child will: quarrel too much over different ways of thinking have a limited relationship because of language barrier have difficulty with different customs, foods, etc. risk being separated from family and relatives raise children who are confused about their cultural identity (which culture they belong to) Your child will speak first. Listen, then think and respond to what he or she says. Act your part! Listen carefully to your partner!


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248. AGATHA’S WILL - role-play/creative/speaking

Summary:

Students create characters to get in on Agatha’s will.

Level/age:


Theme:

Wills Skills:

Creating personas, reasoning

Materials: Role-play cards Time:

30-40mins

Agatha Rich, a wealthy business woman, has just died. She did not leave any details as to who gets everything in her estate. All her friends, relatives, and basically anyone who even knew her for a day, are going to have a meeting with her lawyer(the teacher) to convince him that they should get the goodies. Write up a list of what is included in Agatha's estate. You can make it as outrageous as you want. The list I had included things like a cottage in the Rocky Mountains, a mink coat, a luxury yacht, a house in Spain, a mansion...I had about 14 different things on the list. Provide each student with a character card that shows how they know Agatha. (i.e. sister, son, ex-husband, neighbour, magazine reporter, business partner, crazy man from down the street who is convinced Agatha loved him, but just never said so...) Either you can create them, or the students can. Ask the students to be prepared to answer some of the following questions: How are you related to Agatha? What is your name? Where do you live? Where do you work? Why do you deserve the things you want from Agatha's estate? What did you do for Agatha in the past? What did you do for her recently? Basically, they are creating a character with a whole story, and not just a name. I allowed them to write out their created format on a piece of paper and bring it to the meeting. On the day of the "meeting" go over the items from the estate with the students. Have them check off three or four items that they want. Then the fun begins. The lawyer can ask the questions that were covered in the preparation with the students, but don't limit it to that! Throw in some other questions to make them think. (ie. How much money do you make a year? Is Agatha's sister telling the truth?)The other characters can jump in any time they want to comment on what someone has said. At the end of the meeting, the lawyer will have to make his decision as to who gets what.


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249. A SHOPPER’S NIGHTMARE – Role-play/Shopping

Summary:

Students buy and sell goods to win Level/age:

beginner to intermediate

Theme:

Shopping Skills:

Bargaining, speaking

Materials: Fake money, something to represent goods

Time:

40mins

Firstly divide the students into clerks and shoppers. The clerks set up "stands" to allow easy access for all shoppers (e.g. around the outsides of the room with their backs to the wall). The shoppers are given a set amount of money* (e.g. dollars, euros, pounds, etc.) and begin at a stand where there is an open space. Students shop, trying to accumulate as many items as possible (each item is 1 unit of currency). Periodically, the instructor will say "stop" and randomly call out a name of one of the products. Students with that product must then put ALL their products in a basket at the front of the room. The remaining students continue shopping. Students who had to dump their products must begin again from scratch (with fewer units of currency). The student with the most products at the end wins. Students then switch roles. *It is recommended giving students as much money as possible since students who run out can no longer participate. Alternative play for more advanced students: Clerks set the price of items. Shoppers have the option of negotiating the price. There are two winners in this version: The shopper who accumulates the most products and the clerk who makes the most money.


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Mental Stimulation

250. BRAIN BUTTONS – mental stimulation

Summary:

Mental stimulation and refresher for tired students.

Level/age:

Any

Theme:

N/A Skills:

N/A

Materials: - Time:

5min

This exercise helps improve blood flow to the brain to "switch on" the entire brain before a lesson begins. The increased blood flow helps improve concentration skills required for reading, writing, etc. Put one hand so that there is as wide a space as possible between the thumb and index finger. Place your index and thumb into the slight indentations below the collar bone on each side of the sternum. Press lightly in a pulsing manner. At the same time put the other hand over the navel area of the stomach. Gently press on these points for about 2 minutes.

251. CROSS CRAWL – mental stimulation

Summary:


Level/age:

Any

Theme:

N/A Skills:

N/A

Materials: - Time:

5min

This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension. Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching. Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.

252. REBEL FOOT – mental stimulation/fun/warmer

Summary:

Students engage brains and body together

Level/age:

Any

Theme:

Body/brain connection Skills:

-

Materials: - Time:

5-10mins

Have the students sit on their chairs, lift their right foot and make clockwise circles with it. Then tell them to draw a figure 6 in the air with the finger on their right hand. The foot should start going in the opposite direction. Ask the students what they think this means about your brain and your body. The main point is that thinking controls behaviour.


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253. HOOK UPS – mental stimulation

Summary:


Level/age:

Any

Theme:

N/A Skills:

N/A

Materials: - Time:

5min

This works well for nerves before a test or special event such as making a speech. Any situation which will cause nervousness calls for a few "hook ups" to calm the mind and improve concentration. Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles. Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top. Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the center of the chest. Stay in this position. Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time.

Documents

Compiled ESL Activities - Activity Directions - Updated Sept 13th, 2014