GAMES - APRIL 2015

7th April 2015
GAMES
Some ideas for practice activities

DRILLS AND VOCABULARY GAMES

1 Where’s the frog?

One student closes his/her eyes. An animal or object is hidden in the classroom. The student who hasn’t seen where has to find it. The other students repeat “Where is the …?”, very quietly if the student who is looking for it is far away, and louder and louder as they get nearer.

2.Say it Three times

Everyone in the class has a flashcard.

Students sit in a circle so that everyone can see their card.

If there is not enough vocabulary for everyone in the classroom to have a different word, work in smaller groups.

One person says one of the words quickly, three times and the person holding that card must say it once before the other person finishes.

If the first person says it three times before the other says it once, then they continue saying more words in the same way. If the second person says the word before the first has said it three times, then they take over and say a word three times.

3. I bet I know.

Put a series of flashcards from a lexical set that the students are familiar with, face down on the blackboard. The students must guess what they think is there, and then get one point for each correct answer. (There’s a …./there are some…)

4 Guess what I’m thinking

One student thinks of five words from a lexical set. His/her partner must guess which words he/she is thinking. They have ten guesses.

5 Happy families

This is a traditional card game, which the students can make themselves and then play. It practises “Have you got…?”/Yes, I have/No, I haven’t and the natural language used to play games.

6 The weather map

Students draw simple symbols for the weather on a map. They must guess the weather on their partner’s map.(A bit like “battleships”)

7 Picasso dictation

One student has a simple line drawing which he/she must describe to another student, who draws the picture. Practises there is/there are, prepositions, comparatives etc.

8 Spot the difference.

In pairs, the students have very similar pictures, with some small differences. They must discover what differences there are without looking at each others pictures.

9 The unfinished crossword.

In pairs, each student has half the answers of a crossword, and their partner the other half. They must complete the crossword without looking at their partner’s copy.

10. TIC TAC TOE (Noughts and crosses)

Put nine flashcards face downon the B/B and number them 1-9

Organise the classs into two toeams and each team takes itinturn to say a number and name the object on the flashcard/spell the word/say the opposite/say another word related to it.

11. The Pools

Put all the flashcards from a lexical set the students have recently learnt, face down on the board. Miss out one or two. Students write number 1  to – the number of cards you have stuck on the board in theirr notebooks , and guess what each number is, writing the name of something next to each number. When all students have written a word next to each number you (very theatrically) show the cards, one by one. Students get one point if they have that card somewhere in their list and two points if the number coincides.

12. Can I have a banana (please)

All students have a set of vocabulary cards (the typical ones from the back of the book).

Allocate ten points to each student.

The teacher says “Can I have a ……….,please” and all students show that card. They lose a point if they show the wrong card, or if the teacher doesn’t say “please”and they still show a card.

AN ADAPTION OF THIS GAME IS FOR THE TEACHER TO SHOW A FLASHCARD AND SAY A WORD, THE CHILDREN STAND UP IF IT IS CORRECT AND DON’T MOVE IF IT IS INCORRECT. THIS CAN BE DONE WITH A STRING ON THE FLOOR, OR RUN FROM ONE SIDE OF THE ROOM TO THE OTHER.

13. Chicken, fish ,sweets

All students have a set of vocabulary cards

The teacher says a sequence of three words and the students have to order them in the same order ie: cake, apple, banana.

The teacher hands over to a student who does the same and then students work in pairs.

14.  Musical flashcards

Play with whole class.Students sit in a circle and pass around the flashcards.

The teacher puts on music and stops with out warning.

The children say what is on the card they are holding at that time.

 15. Vocabulary card bingo

Play with whole class. Each child has a set of vocabulary cards. They chose 4-6 cards (from a set of eight )and lay them face up on the desk.

The teacher calls words out in random order (keeping a record of words ) Children turn cards over as they hear the words

They shout BINGO! When all their cards are turned over.

16. Run to the word.

The flashcards are stuck around the room.

Teachers says Run/walk/skip/hop/jump/swim etc. to the …..(name of the object on the flashcard).

This is a bit boisterous, so you can do the same by just pointing – but it’s not as much fun!!!

A FEW MORE CLASSICS

Pelmanism

Irregular verbs

Vocabulary

Opposites

Spelling

Prepositions

Lexical sets

Go to the market

A/an/some

Vocabulary

Kim’s game

There is/are

There was/were

PERSONALISED ACTIVITIES

Acrostics

For likes and dislikes, using your name. Your partner guesses if you like or dislike the things and then asks “Do you like…? To find out if they guessed correctly.

Can adapt for have got, past,(my weekend), adjectives, personality etc.

Four boxes activity

 I can/can’t/My partner can/can’t. Interview your partner and find at least two things for each box. Eg. I can swim but my partner can’t. My partner and I can speak French, etc. Easy to adapt this “personalised drill” for almost any tense or structure.