Inggris
PERMAINAN SERU UNTUK SPEAKING SKILLS DENGAN CAT AND MOUSE GAME
Teknik permainan berguna untuk mengurangi kebosanan dalam belajar bahasa Inggris. Selain
itu, permainan juga menghilangkan perasaan tertekan dalam diri siswa. Perasaan tertekan ini biasanya
terjadi pada siswa yang merasa kemampuannya pas-pasan.
Kali ini saya ingin memperkenalkan permainan Cat and Mouse untuk speaking skills pelajaran
bahasa Inggris. Permainan ini diadaptasi dari permainan anak tradisional. Dengan beberapa modifikasi,
permainan ini bisa diterapkan dalam pelajaran bahasa Inggris di kelas.
Aturan permainan
Siswa berdiri membentuk lingkaran. Siswa sebagai Cat berdiri di tengah lingkaran. Nantinya dia
akan mengajukan pertanyaan kepada 1 siswa yang berdiri di dalam lingkaran. Jika siswa yang ditanya
tidak bisa menjawab pertanyaan dalam hitungan 1-5, dia ganti menjadi cat. Siswa tersebut harus
melakukan hal serupa seperti orang pertama. Dia bisa diganti jika siswa yang ditanya tidak bisa
menjawab.
1. Mintalah siswa berdiri membentuk lingkaran. Dengan guru berdiri di tengah lingkaran. 2.
Jelaskan kepada siswa aturan permainan.
2. Mulai permainan dengan guru menjadi Cat terlebih dahulu. Guru memberikan pertanyaan
kepada salah seorang siswa. Tentu saja pertanyaan harus sesuai dengan tema pelajaran.
Misalnya tema "Perkenalan". Maka pertanyaan harus seputar "perkenalan" misalnya: What's
your name?, Where do you live?. Sebelum permainan dimulai, pertanyaan dan cara menjawab
harus dikuasai siswa terlebih dahulu.
3. Siswa yang tidak bisa menjawab ganti menjadi Cat dan meneruskan permainan.
Permainan ini bisa dimainkan dalam kelas kecil dan besar. Jika terdapat siswa di bawah 20, buat 1
lingkaran saja. Tapi untuk kelas besar seperti kelas yang terdiri dari 40 siswa, bagilah menjadi 3 atau 4
kelompok.
Guru bertugas memonitor permainan ini. Guru memperhatikan error dan kesalahan yang nantinya bisa
menjadi bahan evaluasi setelah permainan selesai.
Bagaimana kalau kelas menjadi gaduh dan bising. Biarkan saja karena itu adalah bagian dari kelas
bahasa. Guru hanya mengontrol jika mereka out of context saja.
Permainan ini bisa dimainkan selama 10 menit. Lebih dari itu akan menimbulkan kejenuhan.
Selamat mengajar
GUESSING GAME
Permainan ini dilakukan secara beregu. Cocok untuk mengasah kemampuan mendengar dan
berbicara bagi siswa dari level beginner hingga intermediate.
Permainan untuk pelajaran Bahasa Inggris ini bisa digunakan untuk melatih siswa dalam
menggunakan question tags.
Cara melakukan permainan ini sangat sederhana. Simak langkahnya berikut ini:
Permainan pelajaran Bahasa Inggris untuk melatih siswa agar bisa mendeskripsikan jenis, warna,
corak pakaian.
Agar permainan berjalan efektif, bekali siswa dengan vocabulary berhubungan dengan pakaian.
Beri contoh cara mengekspresikan dalam Bahasa Inggris.
A B A B
A B A B
A B A B
A B A B
2. Beri waktu beberapa menit kepada siswa A untuk mempelajari apa saja yang dipakai oleh siswa yang
duduk di kolom B. Begitu pula siswa B diberi kesempatan untuk mempelajari apa saja yang dipakai siswa
A.
3. Minta siswa B menutup mata. Siswa A mendeskripsikan seorang siswa yang ada di kolom A. Siswa B
harus menebak nama siswa yang dideskripsikan. Lakukan sampai semua siswa A mendapat kesempatan
mendeskripsikan dan B menebak.
4. Ganti siswa B yang mendeskripsikan, siswa A menutup mata dan menebak nama siswa yang
dideskripsikan.
Permainan kosakata bahasa Inggris ini diberi nama "How Many Words Do You Get?" Mengapa
diberi nama demikian? Karena game ini meminta siswa membuat kata sebanyak mungkin berdasarkan
sebuah kata yang diberikan guru.
Cara memainkan game kosakata ini sangat mudah. Persiapannya pun tidak begitu banyak dan
menyulitkan guru. Guru hanya perlu menyediakan kata dan papan untuk menulis.
Cara memainkan game kosakata Bahasa Inggris "How Many Words Do You Get?"
1. Buatlah siswa menjadi beberapa kelompok. Bisa juga berpasangan dengan teman sebangku.
2. Tulislah di papan tulis sebuah kata misalnya INDONESIA.
3. Mintalah siswa membuat 20 kata dengan syarat kata tersebut mempunyai huruf yang berasal
dari kata INDONESIA. Berikan contoh jika perlu, misalnya: DONE, SEA, NOSE.
4. Berikan waktu 10 menit agar siswa menyelesaikan tugas tersebut.
5. Berikan hadiah bagi kelompok yang menemukan 20 kata dalam 10 menit.
Permainan ini sangat bermanfaat untuk menambah perbendaharaan kosakata siswa. Selain itu
permainan ini juga melatih kreatifitas siswa dan meningkatkan kerjasama.
Permainan ini bisa disebut permainan tebak feeling (perasaan) Bahasa Inggris. Kata yang
digunakan adalah adjective yang berhubungan dengan perasaan. Contohnya, happy, thirsty, sad, dan
hungry.
Cara memainkannya:
1. Persiapkan beberapa kartu yang di atasnya ditulisi adjective yang berhubungan dengan
perasaan.
2. Tulis di papan tulis kalimat tanya: Are you ...?
3. Tunjukkan sebuah mimik perasaan yang diambil dari sebuah kartu. Misalnya rasa lapar.
4. Mintalah siswa menanyakan apa yang sedang guru rasakan. Beri contoh: Are you hungry? Jawab
Yes, I am atau No, I am not.
5. Minta satu siswa sukarelawan yang percaya diri maju ke depan kelas untuk mengambil satu
kartu.
6. Minta siswa yang lain menebak apa yang sedang dirasakan oleh siswa sukarelawan sesuai
dengan mimik yang ia praktekkan. Sukarelawan hanya menjawab Yes, I am atau No, I am not.
7. Setelah semua siswa paham permainan, bagilah siswa menjadi dua kelompok.
8. Minta satu siswa dari anggota kelompok maju ke depan dan mengambil sebuah kartu.
9. Anggota kelompok harus menebak perasaan yang diperagakan siswa tersebut.
10. Jika siswa tersebut menjawab Yes, I am maka kartu diberikan kepada kelompok tersebut, tapi
jika menjawab No, I am not, maka kelompok kedua mendapat kesempatan untuk menebak.
11. Lanjutkan permainan dengan memanggil anggota kelompok kedua. Siswa tersebut melakukan
seperti apa yang dilakukan siswa pertama.
12. Lakukan permainan sampai semua kartu selesai diperagakan.
13. Kelompok yang mendapat kartu terbanyak adalah pemenangnya.
Permainan dalam pelajaran Bahasa Inggris banyak manfaatnya. Salah satunya adalah menciptakan
suasana yang nyaman selama proses pembelajaran. Selain itu, permainan juga berfungsi sebagai ice
breaker atau menghilangkan rasa tertekan dalam diri siswa sebelum pembelajaran dilakukan.
Kali ini sekolahoke.com memperkenalkan permainan bahasa Inggris bernama Kata Berkait (Linking
Words). Kata berkait merupakan permainan sederhana yang dilakukan dengan mengaitkan kata-kata.
Bagaimana caranya?
Setelah 8 putaran, hitunglah jumlah kata yang diperoleh masing-masing kelompok. Berilah
hukuman ringan, misalnya menyanyi bersama kepada kelompok yang paling sedikit memperoleh kata.
SECRET MESSAGE
Pesan sebelum bermain
Dalam permainan ini kamu dan kawan-kawanmu berlatih kecermatan dalam membaca pesan/kalimat
bahasa inggris, dan memperdalam “WH-question” (what, who, where, when, which, why, and how)
dan kalimat perintah (command).
Lembar jawaban.
Kartu dari kertas manila ukuran 7X10 cm sejumlah kebutuhan. Pada setiap kartu, ditulis pesan
rahasia berupa kata/kalimat sandi.
Contoh pesan pada kartu :
- Toof – peehs
- Esuom
Aturan permainan
Lembar jawaban.
Kartu dari kertas manila ukuran 7X10 sm sejumlah kebutuhan. Pada setiap kartu di tulis dengan
hurup-hurup dan kata-kata yang masih berantakan atau teraduk.
Contoh perintah dan huru-hurup teraduk pada kartu
Menguji kecermatan
dan ketelitian dalam mengenali kata dan menyusun kalimat yang benar.
Menambah kosa kata/vocabulary.
10 points buat jawaban yang benar.
Kelompok yang paling cepat menjawab dan benar, adalah pemenang dalam periode ini.
Kelompok yang mengumpulkan points terbanyak berhak menjadi pemenang utama (THE MAIN
WINNER).
Kamu dapat juga mempraktekan permainan ini dengan mengirim sms atau e-mail kepeda
kawanmu untuk ketajaman dan kecermatan membaca.
♥
Aturan permainan
Membentuk dua kelompok, yaitu kelompok A dan kelompok B. jumalah anggota harus sama
dan seimbang kemampuannya.
Seorang wakil dari masing-masing kelompok maju kedepan papan tulis yang telah berisi daftar
kata, siap untuk pasang telinga (kelompok A dan kelompok B sama). Nah, begitu disebutkan
sebuah kata oleh guru/juri, wakil dari masing-masing kelompok harus adu cepat member tanda
silang pada kata yang didengar.
Apabila dalam waktu 15 detik sang wakil tidak mampu menyilang kata, maka dilanjutkan wakil
berikutnya dari masing-masing kelompok, hingga semua anggota mendapat giliran. Ingat!!!
Setiap wakil hanya boleh member tanda silang satu kali kalau lebih dari satu kali gugur alias di
diskualifikasi.
Papan tulis, di garis menjadi dua bagian untuk kelompok A dan B. tulis pada papan tulis masing-
masing 20 kata yang telah dikenal (familiar) bagi murud-murid : kata benda, kata sifat, kosa kata
mengenai tempat, dan sebagainya.
Dua buah kapur tulis atau board maker.
Contoh daftar kata :
papan tulis A papan tulis
B
NOTE!!!
Jika 10 kata pada papan tulis telah disilang, daftar kata perlu diganti yang baru.
Materials:
List of words and or flashcards in several written famous names (mixed nationalities)
Examples of word list: 1. Soekarno 2. Alber Einstain 3. Mother Teresa 4. Germany
Method:
Divide the class into two teams, team A and team B or boys and girls. If you like, you might choose them
randomly. Tape a name on the forehead of each student. The amount for each team may vary depends
on the least number of members in a group. The two groups make a long line facing face by face. The
individual student should not see his or her paper, but the others should. Then, like with 20 questions,
only yes or no questions should be asked. Perhaps start from group A the first student and ask "Am I am
man?" If the answer is yes, he/she can ask again, but if the answer is no, it's the next person's turn for
group B. Play until everyone has guessed who he or she is! This can be played with nationalities,
countries, household objects, anything and it's a gas, especially for adult. The fastest group which can
guest who she or he is, is the winner. The winner can be given a reward and the lose team must try
again on the next game.
WORDS PERTISE
Materials:
1. List of words and or flashcards in several setting and theme (kitchen, bathroom, dining room, fruit,
animals, sports, etc)
2. blank sheets of paper
3. whiteboard along with the board marker
Method:
Step 1
The teacher may start with dividing the students into 2 groups of whatever number as you can possibly
build. The students of each group make 2 lines facing the whiteboard. The teacher, then, stands in front,
in the middle of the two groups. The game is started right after the teacher say or shows (in flashcards)
the word that has to be written by the first member of each group without peeking. The game continues
when the teacher say the other words for the other members of the group to be written on the
whiteboard, taking turns.
After finishing the writing session, now the teacher offers extra points by having the pronunciation
session. Each member of the two groups must say the words in correct pronunciation. There are extra
bonuses for those who can pronounce the words correctly.
Step 2
There are two groups competing to be the winner in guessing the words from the mime expression, and
then they say and write the words.
One representative from each group in turns doing mime, giving the clues to be guessed by other
members according to the list of words given by the teacher. The winner is the group which can guess,
write and say the abundant of words in exact forms.
FLAG OF SELF
Notes:
This is the combination of three skills in one game that can be introduced at once. The students will
explore more on imagining how the words look like, knowing the letters that made up the words and say
the correct pronunciation of the words. Plus to have the competition will make it merrier to be the best
team.
Materials:
1. List of words and or flashcards in several setting and theme (kitchen, bathroom, dining room, fruit,
animals, sports, etc)
4. Colorful flags
Method:
The teacher may start with dividing the students into 2 groups of whatever number as you can possibly
build. The students of each group make 2 lines facing the field. The teacher, then, stands in front, in the
middle of the two groups. The game is started right after the teacher say or shows (in flashcards) the
word that has to be written by the first member of each group without peeking. Each member of the
group then must run to grab the group’s flag at the far post passing the table and chair challenge and
return to the teacher to spell the word and write the exact form of the word on the whiteboard.
The winner is the group which gains the fastest time to collect the flags and also spell and write the
words correctly.
Method:
The teacher prepares the setting first by putting the alphabets (in papers or chalk drawing) in the center
of the field in correct order and or for challenging one, can be scrambled.
The game starts by having the students in 5 to 8 to make a long line in front of the alphabets islands. The
teacher, then, asks the students to run and make a circle around the letter mentioned by the teacher,
the loser is he/she who cannot join the circle or the slowest one. For modification, you may read a
sentence explaining on thing with the first letter of the alphabets, and then ask them (the students) to
spell the word.
EXAMPLE: Teacher = every morning I usually drink a glass of milk. The word Milk starts with the
letter…(then the students run to the letter M)
Teacher = OK, great! Now I want A to spell the word MILK
A = It’s M-I-L-K
Teacher = Wow, superb! Great one for you
THE STARS’ KNIGHTS
Materials:
1. List of words in several setting and theme (kitchen, bathroom, dining room, fruit, animals, stationary,
etc)
2. blank sheets of paper
3. pens or pencils
4. Stars from paper
5. costumes of knights and giants
Method:
The teacher prepares the setting first by putting the chairs in 5 for the posts of giants who guard the
princess and await the knights. One team becoming the knights and the other are giants. The knights are
equipped by the things which needed by the giants so they can pass.
The game starts by having the knights to collect 5 things that they assumed will be asked by the giants,
ex. things in the classroom (eraser, pen, pencil, ruler, book, etc). The knights, then, hide the things
behind their back and say the password to the giants, ex. Giant…Giant in the wood, let me bring the
goods for you.
Then the knight keeps continuing to give things for the Giants. The knights only have three chances to
change his/her things for the Giants. If in three chances the Knights couldn’t give what Giants need, then
he/she fails and must be replaced by the other Knights, until there is a knight can pass all Giants and set
free the princess.
ME AGAINST ME
Language Focus: Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Listening building
Usage Level: All Level
Notes:
This game will teach the children how to say the names of the English body parts and how to use them.
Materials:
1. List of words in theme of body parts
2. blank sheets of paper
3. pens or pencils
4. Picture of human body parts
Method:
All you need is an empty classroom and an even member of children. The children make couples and
they disperse themselves. Now you are going to give orders to the children. For example: Head against
arm. Now one child of the couple must put his head against the arm of the other kid.You check if
everyone is doing it alright.
Another order could be "feet against shoulder". After a couple of orders you say the line "me against
me". Then the children must make another couple. And you have to find a child to make a couple with
you. So in this way one child has no couple and then it his turn to give the orders.
Permainan Bahasa Inggris 50 Yes 50 No ini bermanfaat untuk melatih siswa berlatih menjawab
pertanyaan interogasi dengan Yes No Questions (Interogative questions).
Caranya sangat mudah dan cocok untuk level pemula seperti kelas VII atau orang yang pertama
kali belajar Bahasa Inggris.
Kedua, siswa harus memprediksi bahwa pertanyaan itu akan mendapat 20 yes dan 20 no jika ditanyakan
kepada teman mereka.
Ketiga, minta siswa memberi tanda silang pada pertanyaan yang mendapat jawaban No, dan tanda
centang pada pertanyaan yang mendapat jawaban yes.
Keempat, jika seorang siswa sudah mendapat 20 No, maka ia harus mendapat 20 Yes. Jika belum
tercapai, maka harus dibuat pertanyaan baru.
Saya lebih suka menyebut permainan sebelum memulai pelajaran Bahasa Inggris sebagai
Warming up. Siswa perlu dipanaskan dulu agar siap menghadapi pelajaran Bahasa Inggris. Warming up
ini berguna sekali untuk melatih fokus dan konsentrasi siswa. Selain itu menumbuhkan rasa senang
terhadap pembelajaran.
Bagilah siswa menjadi 4 grup. Jika siswa satu kelas sebanyak 40 siswa. Maka tiap regu terdiri 10
siswa. Paling gampang dengan membuat grup per deret.
Beri nama masing-masing grup dengan nama unik. Misalnya grup A diberi nama Crocodile, grup
B Alligator, grup C Snake, dan grup D Dragon. Bisa juga dengan deskripsi bagus seperti Sexy, Hotty,
Crazy, Happy.
Buatlah yel-yel. Misalnya jika di sebutkan Crocodile, siswa harus membunyikan suara buaya:
Aaaarg. Snake berbunyi mendesis: ssssss. Panggil secara bergantian sampai siswa terlihat sumringah dan
semangat.
Buatlah game sederhana. Jika pertemuan pertama bertema perkenalan, mainkan Chain Names.
Nama berantai. Andi, Iqbal, Leli, Icank, Katro dst. Setiap siswa menyebutkan nama, baris dibelakangnya
harus menyebut nama dengan huruf depan diambil dari huruf terakhir nama yang disebutkan baris
depannya.
Setiap grup diberikan alat berupa kertas atau penghapus atau pensil. Selesai menyebutkan
nama, benda tersebut harus diberikan kepada baris berikutnya. Alat yang sampai di baris paling
belakang terlebih dahulu, maka grup tersebut mendapat poin.
Ubahlah permainan setiap pertemuan. Cara paling mudah adalah dengan mengikuti topik yang
akan diajarkan. Jika topiknya buah-buahan, maka siswa harus menyebutkan buah-buahan.
Target: What's your name? My name is Andy/ Kate/ John/ Jenny/ Lisa/
Scott. Extra: Hello. I'm Andy. Scissors, paper, stone (SPS)
Hello. (Stage 1) Greet students with "Hello." When most can say "hello," greet
five students (they reply with just "hello"), counting on your hand to show five.
Unit One Then all the students greet five other students in the same way, and sit down
when finished. (Stage 2) This time the students shake hands and say "hello" to
Let's Talk five different partners. (Stage 3) Put your right hand under your right leg and
Let's Sing shake hands. This is fun! Problem: 12 year old children seem to find this too
childish.
Pages 6 & 7
Scissors, Paper, Stone (SPS). (Stage 1 - presentation) Show the action and say
the words. Students should do the actions as you say, and gradually say the
words, too. (Stage 2 - listening) All the students stand up and everyone does SPS
together, including the teacher. Anyone who is beaten by the teacher has to sit
down. Those with the same as the teacher, or who win, stay standing. Eventually
there is just one winner in the room. If desired, the winner can start the next
round so that the teacher can prompt all students to be saying the words. (Stage
3 - practice) Students practice SPS with one partner. (Stage 4) SPS Three wins to
finish. Students choose a partner and do SPS. The winner gets one "point."
Students change partners and continue. When a student has three wins, they
can sit down. Stop the activity when there are three or four students left. (Also
teach "winner," "loser" and "change" to the "listen and do"
level.) Problem: some students are good at SPS. Many weak students go for
paper first. Good students do scissors, and so win. Excellent SPS students
determine if their opponent is weak or good, and play accordingly.
SPS three wins to finish. Students form pairs and do SPS. The winner asks the
question: "Hello. What's your name?" and the loser replies: "Hello, I'm Hiromi."
Students then change to new partners. A student is finished and may sit down if
they have won SPS three times. Also, do this with the Let's Go student names.
NB stop the activity when there are two or three remaining students to avoid
embarrassing them. (Often such students are weak at SPS.)
Timed conversation chain. Students are in a line. On the command, "Are you
ready? Go!" the teacher starts the stopwatch and the first student asks the
second, "What's your name?" The second responds then turns to the third, and
so on. For the second round, try varying the order of the students. Raced
conversation chain. With teams of equal numbers, students can race to see who
can say the conversation first.
SPS Find your partner. Students each have one of the Let's Go student's
pictures. They have to find another person with the same name.
Find the person. Give each student a Let's Go name-card. One student then
comes to the front returns their card, and chooses another name-card (for
example, Kate) from the six. This student has to find Kate by asking the other
students, "What's your name?" They start with six points, and for each student
they ask, they lose a point. Find the person race. For larger classes, students
from two teams can race to see who finds their name-card first. The winning
team gets a point.
Target: What's this? It's a cat/ book/ desk/ chair/ ruler/ pencil/ bag/ pen/
eraser. Extra: What's this in English? What's this in Japanese?
Three card shuffle. Students in pairs have three cards. Student A puts the cards
face up on the table. Student B tries to remember the order. Then the cards are
Unit One turned face down, and student A can make three changes to their positions by
changing two cards at a time, slowly. Student A then asks, "What's this?"
Let's Learn
pointing to one card. Student B tries to remember: "It's a pen."
Pages 8 & 9
SPS Three cards. Each student starts with three cards. Students pair up and do
SPS. The loser has to select one of their cards. Then they show it to the winner
and ask, "What's this?" If the winner can supply the correct answer, they take
the card from the loser. Then they change to work with other partners. The aim
is to get the most cards and not lose any. When several students have lost all
their cards, stop the game.
What's missing? Students in pairs have all eight cards. Student A takes one of
the cards and gives the other seven to Student B. Then Student A asks: "What's
this?"
Bring me game. Students are in teams. The teacher calls out: "Bring me a ruler."
or just "A ruler, please." The first team to bring one to the teacher gets a point.
Blind questions. Student A closes their eyes and holds onto the corner of page 9
with one hand for reference. Student B takes the other hand and puts Student
A's finger onto one of the pictures in the book. Then Student B asks: "What's
this?" Student A guesses. Students can take turns and count the number of
correct guesses.
Reveal slowly. Hide a card behind another, and show only a tiny corner of the
object. The students have to think or guess what it is.
Eight cards in a row. Start with all the cards face up in a row. Teams of students
say their eight cards. Then they turn over the first card and say all eight again.
They proceed to turn over one card at a time until they can correctly say all eight
cards face down in order.
Target: Is this a book? Yes, it is. No, it isn't. Extra: Is it a book? Is this your book?
SPS Three cards. Students have three cards each. They pair up and do SPS.
The loser has to select one of their cards, but shows only the back of the card to
the winner. The loser asks: "Is this a ruler?" The winner has to guess, "Yes, it is,"
or "No, it isn't." If the winner guesses correctly, they take the card. Students
Unit One
then change partners. The aim is to get the most cards and not lose any. When
Let's Learn several students have lost all their cards, stop the game.
Some More
Brief view only. Show the card but only for a second or two, moving it around
Pages 10 & 11 quickly. Then ask, "Is this a book?" Students can respond by writing "Yes" or
"No" on a whiteboard, or by moving to one half of the room...
Blind quiz. Students are in pairs. They do SPS and the loser closes their eyes.
The winner chooses something to give to the loser and asks, "Is this an eraser?"
The loser feels it and answers, yes or no.
Numbered list (Problem: Assumes that students can recognise the numbers 1 to
8.) Use the pictures on page 11 of the textbook. Each picture is given a number.
Initially, this is in a straightforward order - the top four are one to four and the
bottom four are five to eight. Do not allow the students to write the numbers in
their books, but instead write the numbers on the board. Then ask questions
such as: "Is number one a pencil?" (Variation 1) You can also make this a
speaking activity for practising the numbers: "What number is the eraser?" or
the vocabulary: (Variation 2) "What is number three." Initially the items can be
numbered in simply linear fashion, but later this can be varied. (Variation
3) Also, the items can be labelled with some of the letters of the
alphabet. (Variation 4) This can become a writing exercise. Each team send one
member to the blackboard. When they hear the item, they shout out the answer
to their colleague, who writes the letter on the board. (Variation 5) Students
listen and write the answers on their individual white boards.
Memory Quiz. (Problem: Assumes that students can recognise the numbers 1 to
8.) Number the items on page 11 (see also. Everyone looks at the page for a
short while. Then they all close their books. The teacher asks, "Is number 3 a
book?" Students respond - verbally, physically (moving to the "yes" or "no" parts
of the room) or by writing.
Guess the card. Students are in groups, with two sets of the cards. The cards are
shuffled and placed face down. The first student takes the top card and looks at
it. The next student asks, "Is it a pencil?" If it is not, the third student asks, and
so on until the card is correctly guessed. The student who correctly guesses the
card takes it, and then takes the next card off the pack. The next student in the
circle guesses first.
Telepathic student. Tell one student the telepathic secret before the class (or
take the student outside briefly and explain it just before the activity.) The
secret is that when you point to the top of the card, the student should reply
"No, it isn't," but when you point to the bottom of the card the reply is "Yes, it
is." Put all the cards on the board. The student goes out of the door and the
class chooses one card. The telepathic student is brought back in. Points to one
card (top for no, bottom for yes) and the whole class asks the question - "Is it
the book?" The student says yes at the appropriate card (pointed to at the
bottom) and then goes out for another card. (Problem: of course, this activity
can be used only once in a course. However, you can vary the rule to use it a
second time.)
Return to the owner. Give students some "This is my ..." cards and ask them to
draw some personal items - their bag, text book, eraser, pencil case, ruler, etc.,
and write the word on the card. Also make your own set. (For the following
week:) Photocopy each student's set, and give them their copy. Cut up the cards
and give each child one card at random. Take a card yourself, and ask one
student, "Is this your (bag)?" If they say no, continue until you find the owner.
When you find the owner, give them their card. Students have to return the card
to its owner. Then they come to you to get another card. For each card they
return to its owner, they get 2 points. They must first ask you, "Is this your
(book)?" Students must hide their own photocopied set. At the end, most
students should have their own cards. You may need to put aside some cards if a
student says they have asked everyone and no one said yes (and they don't get
any points for that card.) Students get one point for each of their own cards they
have collected.
Target: Stand up. Sit down. Open/close your book. Point to the teacher. Touch
the desk. Please be quiet. Listen carefully.
Eyes closed TPR. Do the commands with eyes closed (teach "Close/Open your
eyes") Teacher tells those who are wrong to open their eyes and sit down.
Let's Move
Page 12
Four skills test. Make into a four skills test and record the points for each section
in the progress columns of the student's passport. I can hear, I can say, I can
read and I can write.
Listening: Instead of using the pictures in the book, ask the students to write the
Unit One meaning of about 20 items in their native language. Explain that you are testing
their progress, and also your own teaching. Or: use the book for a choice of two,
Let's Listen or make a new sheet with a choice of three pictures.
Page 13 Speaking: The teacher holds up one card and asks a question: "What's this?" or
"Is this a book?" The students have a few seconds to give the correct response.
"It's a book." = 2 points; "Book" = 1 point; "Yes, it is." = 2 points; "Yes" = 1 point.
Reading: Make a simple multiple choice test based on what the students have
been taught so far - probably some simple words only. Or, write a letter of the
alphabet on the board, and the students have just a few seconds to say it aloud.
Writing: Perhaps an alphabet test. Each correct letter (upper or lower case) is 1
point. If the student can write the word, each word is two points.
SPS three wins to finish. Students form pairs and do SPS. The winner starts the
conversation as per p14. When they have finished, they go to other students. A
student is finished and may sit down if they have won SPS three times or they
Unit Two have to finish by doing the conversation with you before they can sit down.
Let's Talk Talk to the others. Students each get a Let's Go name-card. (Andy, Kate, etc.)
Let's Sing and have to do the conversation with the other five LG students.
Pages 14 & 15 Team chain. The first student in the team turns to the second and says, "Hello,
(name). How are you?" The second responds, "I'm fine, thank you." Then the
second student turns to the third and asks the question. Students can sit down
when their team is finished. Also, perhaps pass a "Speech box" flag down the
team. Maybe the student at the far end of the team should start, with the
student at the front responding last and then doing the conversation with the
teacher.
Race to talk to all your team. Students are in teams of six, and each have one of
the Let's Go name-cards. The teacher calls out one name (eg. Andy), and the
student who is Andy has to do the conversation with the other five students in
their team. The first team to win gains a point. For classes of less than 8
students, use a stopwatch to see who is the fastest.
Target: What colour is this? It's red/ yellow/ blue/ white/ pink/ gray/ brown/
black/ green/ purple/ orange. Extra: What colour is your (pencil case)?
Blind questions. Students ask, "What color is this?" or "Is this yellow?"
Let's Learn Picture drawing dictation. Students have a line drawing and a set of colouring
crayons. The teacher dictates colours for each of the parts.
Pages 16 & 17
Questionnaires. Make a simple questionnaire sheet with spaces for five or six
students' names, and two columns for bicycles and toothbrushes. Teach the
vocabulary "bicycle" and "toothbrush." Students ask, "What colour is your
toothbrush?" They write the other student's name, and the colour in the boxes.
Step back slam. (6th July 98) Students in groups of three or four, place a set of
coloring pencils on the table. The teacher says: "Pick up a red coloring pencil."
Students race to be the person to pick up the desired object first. If there is a
squabble, use SPS to determine the winner. For each time that a student wins
they get one point. In subsequent games, they must take the same number of
steps back (away from the pencils) as they have had wins (points). So, if they
have won three times, they walk back three steps. This favours the weaker
students (they remain near the pencils.)
Ask and remember. (6th July 98) Students are in pairs. One student turns round
and holds out their hands behind them. The other student puts 5 coloring
pencils in their hands. The first student asks about each pencil in turn: "What
color is this?" The second student replies. When the first student has asked
about all five pencils, they then say, "This is a red pencil." and get points for each
one they can correctly identify behind their backs, without looking.
Reading. Read the Brown Bear book. Leads to: team quizzes ("What colour is the
bird?"); read and pause - teams or students fill in the next animal; make your
own version of Brown Bear.
Target: What colour is it? It's blue. This is a red and yellow book.
Blind robots. Students are in pairs. Student A is blind and puts one finger on the
brown cat. The other student gives commands - "Touch the pink and grey
eraser." "No! That's the green and white book!"
Unit Two
Let's Learn
Some More
Pages 18 & 19
Target: Raise your hand. Put your hand down. Take out your book. Put your
book away. Pick up your pencil. Put your pencil down. Write your name. Look at
the board.
Numbered list
Unit Two TPR and Vocabulary. Students are in teams. Each team member is given a
colour. There is one of each colour in each team. Either tell each person their
Let's Move
Page 20 colour, or give them a card with that colour. The teacher says, "If you have a red
card, please stand up." Or: "If you are red, please stand up." Or: "The first red to
stand up gets a point for their team." Or: "Reds, please stand up."
Blind TPR commands. Students are in pairs. One student is blind. The other
gives commands: "Pick up your pen. Put your pen away."
Four Skills Test. Include p23 (part 5) as part of the listening test
Unit Two
Let's Listen
Page 21
Throw six to say. Page 21 (part 1). Students in groups of four or five have one
die per group. They take turns to throw the die. As soon as one student gets a
six, the student starts reading the words in order: "This is a book, this is a bag..."
The other students continue to throw the die in order, trying to get a six before
the first student has read all ten words. The next student to get a six starts
Unit Two reading, interrupting the first student. It may be an idea to have the student
who is currently speaking hold up a "speech box" flag, or put on a hat.
Let's Review
Count the guesses. Page 23 (part 4) Students are in pairs. One student chooses
Pages 22 & 23
an item but does not say which one. The other student guesses: "Is it the brown
table?" For each wrong guess, the first student gets one point. This can also be
done with cards.
SPS two wins conversation. Each student gets a LG student identity. In pairs,
they SPS. The winner can ask, "What's your name?" After two wins, the student
can call over their first partner and introduce him/her to the second: "John?
Unit Three Please come here. This is my friend, Kate."
Let's Talk
Let's Sing
Pages 24 & 25
Target: What are these? They're cassettes/ crayons/ pencil cases/ tables/
markers/ notebooks
Numbered list.
Pages 26 & 27 Eight cards in a row. Students work in teams. Start with all the eight cards face
up in a row. The team says their eight cards in order. Then they turn over the
first card and say all eight again. After this, they turn over the second card, and
again say all eight. They proceed to turn over one card at a time until they can
correctly say all eight cards face down, in order.
Rhyming words. What are these? They're bees. What are these? They're chairs.
Ask and remember. Students in pairs have five or six cards each. One student
shuffles the cards and doesn't look at them. This student holds up one card at a
time to their partner asking, "What are these?" The other student gives the
answers. When the first student has asked about all the cards, they then tell
their partner what each card is, again without looking at them. ("These are
pencils.") For each correctly remembered card they get one point.
Target: How many sneakers? One/ two/ three/ four/ five/ six/ seven/ eight/
nine/ ten.
SPS fingers. Instead of "Scissors, paper, stone" say: "How many fingers?" and
then put out one to five fingers. The first person to shout the correct number of
Unit Three total fingers shown wins.
Let's Learn Interlocking hands. (For counting) Students sit in a circle around a table, or on
Some More the floor. They place their hands on the table in an interlocking fashion: i.e. if
students are arranged A B C D E then their hands (left L, and right, R) are BR AL
Pages 28 & 29 CR BL DR CL ER DL AR EL. One student starts, lifting and dropping one hand and
saying "One." The next student in order of the hands (let's say, clockwise), slaps
the table and says two. Continue to twenty or so. Anyone who makes a mistake -
slaps at the wrong time or says the wrong number - is out, and removes their
hand from the circle. A more complicated version allows for a change in
direction by a double slap - and counting down.
Team race. (For counting) Teams stand up and race to count up to 20 and back
to one. The first to finish sits down. An alternative is that students sit, and every
third person doesn't say the number but stands up instead (teams of 5 or 7
students.)
Pair Quiz. Ask questions about things in each other bags or pencil cases. "How
many books?" "How many red pens?"
Surprise quiz. Review plurals such as "What are these?" "They're pencils" using
the teacher's cards. When you have gone through the cards, then put them
down and ask the students in teams, "How many pencils were there?"
Bring me. Bring me three bags/ four pencil cases/ six red pens.
Brief view then quiz. Show a picture with lots of items on it for just one minute.
Students look at it. Then ask the students "How many?"
Find the differences. Students in pairs have two pictures that contain different
numbers of items. They have to find all the differences without looking at their
partner's picture.
Target: Make a circle (or Draw a circle). Make two lines (or Draw a line). Go to
the door. Come here. Count the girls. Count the boys. Draw a picture. Give me
the crayon.
Unit Three
Let's Move
Page 30
Unit Three
Let's Listen
Page 31
Target: Hi, Mom! I'm home. This is my mother. This is my friend, Andy. It's nice
to meet you, Mrs. Hill. It's nice to meet you, too, Andy.
Say all you can from the picture Students are in teams and take turns to give
words or sentences for the picture on page 32. The team gets one point for a
Unit Four word, and two points if they put the word in a sentence.
Let's Talk SPS three wins to finish. Students in pairs do SPS. The winner starts the
Let's Sing conversation: "Hello. What's your name?" Loser: "I'm Namiko. What's your
name?" Winner: "I'm Etsuko. Nice to meet you." Loser: "Nice to meet you, too."
Pages 32 & 33 After three wins the student can sit down (or first do the conversation with the
teacher.)
SPS progressive conversation. On the first win, the winner asks: "What's your
name?" and the loser responds. On the second win, they ask: "How are you?"
and on the third win they say: "Nice to meet you."
Talk to all, team race One student in each team of 6 becomes Kate and another
Andy (or the friend). The other four students are mom (mother), daddy (father),
granny (grandmother) and grandpa (grandfather). (NB. This presumes that the
children learn these words.) On "Go" Kate has to introduce her friend to all the
other members of her family.
Target: Who's he? Who's she? He's my brother/ father/ grandfather/ friend.
She's my mother/ sister/ grandmother/ baby sister. (Problem with "my" in the
sentences.)
Listen for the correct question. The teacher holds up the people cards without
Unit Four looking at them and asks: "Who is he?" or "Who is she?" at random. If the
student replies to the wrong question, they are out.
Let's Learn
Out if you make a mistake. Students stand up. The teacher points at random to
Pages 34 & 35
boys or girls in the class, and all respond: "He's a boy," or "She's a girl." Any who
say the wrong thing ("She's a boy.") or get the wrong sex are out and sit down.
Photograph time. Students are in teams, and each have one of the family cards.
The teacher calls out the order in which the family must stand for the next
photo, and the students put themselves in a line in the correct order. The first
team ready gets a point.
Students stand up. Teacher says: "If you have six brothers, please sit down."
Decrease the number down to "If you have no brothers, please sit down."
Repeat for sisters. Then students can ask each other (eg SPS three wins to
finish) "How many brothers/ sisters?"
TPR and vocabulary. Team members become family members. "Mothers, stand
up."
Target: He's tall/ young/ ugly/ thin. She's old/ short/ pretty/ fat.
Whiteboard drawing. Draw a thin cat, a tall dog. Let students make some
suggestions.
Match and keep. Students have two piles of cards - the relatives and the
Unit Four adjectives. One student chooses a card from each pile. They make the sentence:
Let's Learn "My grandfather is NOT short." or "My grandfather is thin." If the sentence is
Some More negative, both cards are returned to their respective piles. If the sentence is
positive, the student takes the two cards.
Pages 36 & 37
Target: Go to sleep. Wake up. Do homework. Eat dinner. Make a mess. Clean up.
Watch TV. Play the piano. Don't watch TV.
Eight cards in a row. When the card is turned over, the command becomes the
negative: "Don't go to sleep." or whatever.
Unit Four Timed charades. If the team can guess the command in less than 5 seconds,
they get 10 points; in less than 10 seconds they get 6 points, and in under 15
Let's Move
seconds, they only get 3 points.
Page 38
Unit Four
Let's Listen
Page 39
Brief view quiz. Page 41 part 4. Students look for just 30 seconds at the page,
then everyone closes their books.
Mid-term review. Unless the students can already read and write, skip this. If
Unit Four the students can read and copy, perhaps the teacher can write all the answers
Let's Review randomly on the board. When the answers are written, the teacher can then
read them out in order from the board. (Variation 1) Students can look in their
Pages 40 & 41 student books or homework books to find the answers.
Target: Happy birthday. How old are you? I'm seven years old. This is for you.
Wow! A robot! Thank you.
SPS three cards. Students pair up and do SPS. The winner says: "Happy birthday.
How old are you?" Loser: "I'm ten." Winner: "This is for you," (and hands over
one of their cards). Loser: "Wow! A pencil! Thank you." The aim is to give away
Unit Five your presents.
Let's Talk Wrapped up presents. Students wrap one card in a piece of paper and then do
Let's Sing the conversation in pairs. (Sorry, not an excellent idea.)
Pages 42 & 43 SPS find your partner. Students each have an age written on a card. They do SPS
and the winner asks: "How old are you?" Loser: "I'm seven." Winner: "Oh! I'm
ten." If they are different ages, they change cards. If they are the same: (winner:
"Ah! Me, too!) they are finished.
Speaking when the whistle blows. Students are in groups. When the teacher
says, "Go" and starts the stopwatch, the first student says: "Happy birthday.
How old are you?" The second student replies: "I'm ten," then turns to the third
student and initiates the conversation. At one minute, the person who is
speaking has to do a forfeit - eg three press-ups, or five jumps. Then either
continue with the same conversation, or change it: ("This is for you." "Wow! A
pencil! Thank you!"). The losing student becomes the first to do the next
conversation.
Target: What is it? I don't know. It's a yo-yo/ kite/ car/ ball/ doll/ puzzle/ robot/
jump rope/ bat/ bicycle
Choose a card and guess. Students are in groups of up to five. Put five cards on
the table, face up, and the others in a pile face down. The first student chooses
Unit Five one of the cards but doesn't say which one. The next student (on the first
student's left) guesses: "Is it the car?" If it is not, the next student guesses. If it is,
Let's Learn
that student takes the card and the replaces it with one from the pack. If no one
Pages 44 & 45 guesses the card, the student keeps it and a new card replaces it. That student
gets another turn at choosing. This is a variation of count the guesses because
there are ten items.
Target: It's little/ big/ long/ short/ round/ square. It's a long pencil
Let's Learn
Some More
Pages 46 & 47
Target: Can you play with a yo-yo/ throw a ball/ catch a ball/ hit a ball/ do a
puzzle/ jump rope? Yes, I can. No, I can't.
Unit Five
Let's Move
Page 48
Target: How's the weather today? It's sunny/ rainy/ windy/ snowy/ cloudy.
Extra: (maybe) Let's play baseball/ put up an umbrella/ fly a kite/ make a
snowman/ study English.
SPS questionnaire. Students have a map of Japan each with six locations written
Unit Six on. The questionnaire has the six locations in one column, and the weather in
Let's Talk the second column. The teacher has a master sheet with the weather for all six
Let's Sing locations, but on each student's sheet is the weather for only ONE location. The
students have to find out the weather at all the other locations. They pair with
Pages 50 & 51 another student and do SPS. The winner then looks at his chart, chooses one
location where they don't yet know the weather and asks: "How's the weather
in Nagasaki?" If the loser knows, they say, and the winner writes it in their chart.
But if the loser doesn't know, they say, "I don't know."
Homework. How's the weather on Monday/ Tuesday etc. Students keep a
week's log.
Target: How many clouds are there? There are six clouds. Oh no! There's one big
cloud. Flowers/ trees/ puddles. (Problem: I think this grammar is too
complicated at this stage, so I do this as a review of pages 28, 29 only.)
Surprise quiz.
Unit Six
Brief view. Students get maybe eight cards each, with a mixture of singular and
Let's Learn plural, and several cards showing the same items. They look at their own cards
for maybe half a minute or so. Then they have to swap the cards with their
Pages 52 & 53
partner's. They ask questions to see who has the better memory! "How many
trees?"
Make a team quiz. Students in small teams make a set of questions to ask other
teams: eg. "How many cats are there on page 59?" They also write down the
correct answer. When every team has at least eight questions, teams take turns
to ask one question to the other teams.
Target: Where's the kite? It's in the tree. Where are the books? They're under
the table. On/ by. Where are they? Where is it? Problem: the plural is perhaps
too difficult at this stage and maybe the singular is sufficient.
Let's Learn TPR. Put your pencil on your pencil case. Put your book under your chair.
Some More Uno for prepositions. Students have to read the cards before they put it down.
Pages 54 & 55 Alternatively, they can put the card face down - forcing them to say it.
Bingo from Uno cards. Use the Uno cards to make a set of bingo pages.
Target: Can he/she climb a tree/ play baseball/ read a book/ play tag/ ride a
bicycle/ fly a kite? Yes, he/she can. No, he/she can't.
Human bingo. Make a sheet with the twelve "can you" cards (93-98, 111-116)
and "can you write your name?" "Can you draw a picture?" "Can you do
Unit Six homework?" "Can you play the piano?" arranged on a 4 * 4 grid, with space to
write under each one. Students then go round and ask others "Can you play the
Let's Move piano?" or whatever. If the answer is yes, that student signs the sheet in the
Page 56 appropriate square. ("Please write your name here.") Students try to get bingo,
and then go for double bingos. (Idea from FLTeach mailing list)
Find someone who... Use p59 (4). The first student asks: "Can you climb a tree?"
The other student replies yes or no, and the first student writes the other's
name in the appropriate box. They change to other partners and continue. Who
Unit Six can fill the most boxes (yes and no)?
Let's Listen
Page 57
Unit Six
Let's Review
Pages 58 & 59
Target: I'm hungry. I want an apple. I'm thirsty. I want juice. Here you are. Thank
you. You're welcome.
Unit Seven
Let's Talk
Let's Sing
Pages 60 & 61
Target: What do you want? I want ice cream/ cake/ milk/ fish/ chicken/ pizza/
bread/ rice. I want chicken and rice.
Throw all five. Students are in groups of four to six. Each student has five cards
placed face up in front of them. The leftmost card is one and the rightmost card
Unit Seven is five. The students take turns to throw a die. If the student throws a one, they
say: "I'm hungry. I want to eat bread," or whatever number one is. Then they
Let's Learn
pick up the card, pretend to eat it, and put it face down in the same position. If
Pages 62 & 63 the student has already eaten that "number", they say: "I'm not hungry." If they
throw a six, they can choose to eat any one of their remaining cards. If there are
not enough cards photocopy five on a sheet, and then cut slits between them so
that they can be folded in two when eaten. (Idea from Setsuko Toyama, at the
JALT conference October 1997)
Don't take the last card. Students in pairs have the eight food cards, plus card
131 to represent "juice" and the spider card. They arrange the cards in a
pyramid with the spider at the top, and rows of two, three and four below it.
The aim is not to eat the spider. Students can choose to eat one, two or three
items at any one time, but the person who eats the spider - the last card, is the
loser. When they take cards, they say: "I'm hungry. I want cake and bread," or
whatever. (Variation 1) An alternative set of rules is that a student can take
cards from only one line in any one turn, up to all the remaining cards in that
line (e.g. up to four cards from the bottom line.)
Target: Do you want chicken? Yes, I do. No, I don't. I want pizza.
(Collect a set. Students have four of one card. They go to others and ask, "Do
you want chicken?" If the answer is yes, they give the other student the chicken.
Unit Seven The other student then offers the first something. Students should always have
Let's Learn four cards. Problem - not a particularly good activity.)
Some More
Pages 64 & 65
Target: Buy an apple. Wash it. Cut it. Eat it. Buy juice. Open it. Pour it. Drink it.
Can you drink it? Can you eat it?
Three card shuffle Use four cards of one set. Students have to say the four in the
correct order.
Unit Seven Match and keep. Students have two piles of cards - the verbs and the food. One
student chooses a card from each pile. They say: "Can you wash bread?" If the
Let's Move
answer from the other students is: "No, you can't," both cards are returned to
Page 66 their respective piles. If the answer is: "Yes, you can," the student takes the two
cards.
Say all eight. Students get one card each. They show the card to a partner who
says it, and then read the partner's card. Then they change cards and move to
different partners. When they have said all eight cards, they are finished.
(Problem: not a very good activity.)
Unit Seven
Let's Listen
Page 67
Target: What's your favorite color? Red. What about you? I like blue.
Questionnaire. What's your favorite color/ sport/ game/ animal/ TV show/ fruit/
drink?
Unit Eight
Let's Talk
Let's Sing
Pages 68 & 69
Target: Look! There's a dog. I like dogs. What do you like? I like frogs. I like frogs,
too. Birds/ dogs/ cats/ rabbits/ spiders
Unit Eight
Let's Learn
Pages 70 & 71
SPS three wins to finish. Use current pop-stars. "Do you like Namie Amuro?"
Unit Eight
Let's Learn
Some More
Pages 72 & 73
Target: Can it walk/ run/ swim/ fly/ hop/ jump? Yes, it can. No, it
can't. Alternatively, change to: Can dogs run? Yes, they can.)
Unit Eight
Let's Move
Page 74
Let's Listen
Page 75
Board race. Make a track with about 40 squares from start to finish. In each
square put a question or command: "What's this?" "What color is this?" "What
are these?" "How many are there?" "Who's he/she?" "Can you...?" "Please..."
"Where's the....?" "Go back three." Then make another sheet with a space for
the cards for each question type (but "What's this?" and "What color is this?"
Unit Eight can use the same pile, and same for the plurals.) Put a selection of the cards in
their places. Groups have one die and every student uses a coloured paper clip
Let's Review
to indicate their position on the board.
Pages 76 & 77
This is an oral communication activity appropriate for EFL learners in elementary/primary school. (It's
optimal for grades 3-6). This game is designed for practicing "shopping" dialogues and vocabulary.
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" (a bell or other device may be needed to attract attention in
some cultural and classroom contexts) and 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.
*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.
Procedure:
Form two teams (three will work, but two seems to add just the right amount of competitive tension).
Explain the game, with a few examples of answers in search of questions. Ask, 'What's the question?',
and get students to correctly say the corresponding questions for your answer.
Have two players--one from each team--come to the front. Style it like a game show if you like, with the
students standing side-by-side. If you have access to bells or buzzers, it's even more fun.
Next, read an answer to a question and say, 'What's the question?' The fastest player to respond wins a
point for her/his team. New contestants come to the front for a new round.
Rationale: This game forces the students to think backwards a little, so they must provide a
grammatically perfect question. All too often, they are used to answering rather than asking questions,
so this is challenging and useful as review.
1. Teacher takes the toilet paper roll and takes several squares of toilet paper, then hands the roll
of toilet paper to a student. The teacher tells the student to take some, more than three.
2. After everybody in the class has some paper, we count the squares we have, then we have to
tell that many things about ourselves, in English.
This activity works well with substitute teachers also.
The teacher gives a word and asks a student to spell it, and then a second student should say a word
beginning with the last letter of the word given. The game continues until someone makes a mistake,
that is, to pronounce the word incorrectly, misspell it or come up with a word that has been said
already, then he/she is out. The last one remaining in the game is the winner.
This game can be made difficult by limiting the words to a certain category, e.g.. food, tools, or nouns,
verbs, etc.
Bang Bang
Level: Easy
Divide the group into two teams. Explain that they are cowboys and they are involved in a duel. One
student from each team comes to the front. Get them to pretend to draw their pistols. Say "how do you
say..." and a word in their mother tongue. The first child to give the answer and then "bang bang",
pretending to shoot his opponent is the winner. He remains standing and the other one sits down. I give
1 point for the right answer and 5 extra points if they manage to "kill" 4 opponents in a row.
Editor's Note: Instead of saying the word in the students' mother tongue, it would be possible to use a
picture or to say a definition ("What do you call the large gray animal with a long nose?")
Preparation:
Divide the students in to groups of four or five. Then ask the student to make the name for their ships
for example with the names of animals, cities, movie stars or let them find their own favourite names.
Ask them to choose the Captain and the Shooter. The captain's duty is to memorize his ship's name, so
he can reply if somebody call his ship's name. The shooter's duty is to memorize the names of the ships
of 'their enemies', so he can shoot them by calling their ship's name.
Activity:
Arrange all the captains in a circle, the ships' crews must line up behind their captains. The shooter is the
last crew member in line.
The teacher must decide a lexical area of vocabulary, this vocabulary will be used to defend their ships
from the attacks. Every students (except the shooters) must find their own words. The lexical area for
example, "Four Legged Animals". Give the students 1-2 minutes to find as many possible words as they
can and memorize them.
Start the game by calling a ship's name, for example the ship name is "THE CALIFORNIAN". The captain
of THE CALIFORNIAN must reply with a word from the lexical area given, for example he says "TIGER"
followed by his crews behind him one by one, "COW"; "SHEEP" until it is the shooter turns and he calls
out the name of another ship and the captain of the ship called must reply and his crews must do the
same thing. No word can be repeated.
If the captain is late to reply (more than 2 seconds) or his crew can not say the words or a word
repeated or the shooter shoots the wrong ship (his own ship or the ship that has already been sunk) the
ship is sunk, and the crew members can join the crew of another ship.
The teacher can change the lexical area for the next round.
In the last round there will be two big groups battling to be the winner.
Each student is then give one sheet of paper. One student sits at the front of a room. He/she describes
a person and the rest of the class draws the person being described.
It is more interesting if the person being described is known by everyone. Once the student has finished
describing that person then he/she reveals who it is and each student shows his/her drawing. The
laughter from this is hilarious as the impressions tend to make the character in question look funny.
It is a good idea to encourage students to ask the interviewee student questions about who they are
describing.
Sentence Race
A good game for large classes and for reviewing vocabulary lessons.
This is always a hit with kids. For more advanced students, use tougher words.
Draw a target (with points - like a dart board) on the white board or use a cardboard box in the middle
of the room. Then, students make paper airplanes and launch them after they answer your question in
the form of a sentence. I don't except my beginners/low intermediate students to form complete
sentence so I help them to form correct sentences. To my surprise they will repeat the sentence several
times (while I'm helping them) just so they can throw their airplane. For beginner and low intermediate
classes, I recommend formulating questions that lead to 1 or 2 types of answers. This allows for better
memorization. For example, use CAN/WILL questions and write the beginning part of the answer on the
board "I can/will...". I recommend giving a prize to make the target points mean something, thus
peaking their interest.
Write out series of categories like professions (doctor, bus driver, etc.), animals, foods, actions (fishing,
haircut, etc.) then divide the class into groups of 2. One student draws and the other guesses. Next turn,
the guesser draws and drawer guesses. This game works best with the arbitrary stop watch (30
seconds). This is designed for one lesson.
Then for another day take the same categories (or create new ones) and play the same game except
students, this time, act it out (no speaking or noises).
Spelling Contest
First, if you have a large class you have to divide it in 2 teams. then the teacher says a word or a
sentence depending on the level for the students to spell. Students should spell these correctly with not
even one mistake. The team that has more points is the winner
Choose a word which is long, difficult, and unknown to the students, a good word to begin with
is: warmonger.
Without using a dictionary, your students write down a definition. (They can work out the
definition in groups of three). Allow them a few minutes to think and write.
Collect the definitions and read them aloud.
When you have finished reading, they will have to vote which of those is the correct one. (It
doesn't matter if none of them is the correct one)
After they have voted and none of the groups guessed the meaning you read the correct one
aloud.
The idea of this game is to let students be creative and practice writing skills.