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Another Wonderful Collection of Games for any level
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How to teach the four skills
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Games and activities for teaching english as a second language :
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Title: 2 min Speed
Type: Concentration Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: Timer
Procedure: Set a timer for 2 mins. Challenge the students to see how many times they can recite the vocabulary words in 2 mins. For example, if you are learning the months of the year, see how many times the students can say all 12 months in 2 mins.
Comments: Good for practicing fluency and retention. Can change the time limit depending on needs.
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Title: 4 corners
Type: Active Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: None
Procedure: One student is it and stands in the middle of the class with their eyes closed. Each corner is represented by a vocabulary word. The students have 10 seconds to choose a corner to go to. It calls out one of the vocab words and the students standing at that corner are out. Continue until only one person is left and that student becomes the it for the next round.
Comments: Not very intensive on English speaking, but very fun.
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Title: ABC back drawing
Type: Concentration game
Target: Alphabet
Materials: None
Procedure: The teacher draws a letter on the back of the first student. The student then tries to decipher which letter was drawn and draw the same letter on the next student’s back. This continues until the last student must draw the letter on the board. I usually play the same as the Telephone game, class against the teacher. Every time the class gets the letter wrong, I get a point. Every time the class gets the letter right, they get a point. It’s really motivating for the students and develops class co-operation on a common goal.
Comments: This could be altered so that the student must say the letter out loud in stead of drawing it on the board. Or they must say the sound that the letter makes instead of the name. Or they must say a word that starts with the letter.
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Title: Angry Gorilla
Type: Active Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: flashcards, angry gorilla cards
Procedure: Have a pile of flashcards that you want to review. Mix in a few angry gorilla cards. Turn a card over and the students should say the word three times. If the angry gorilla card is turned over then students run to the safe zone and the angry gorilla (the teacher) tries to catch them. The caught student becomes the gorilla through an initiation dance (pounding of fists on the chest).
Comments:
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Title: Ball throw
Type: Active Game
Target: Any vocabulary or sentence patter
Materials: Ball
Procedure: Throw the ball to a student. The student catches it and says a word or sentence, for example, “I like apples.” They throw to the next student who says a new word or sentence such as “I like pizza.” This continues until all the children have had a turn.
Comments: This is a very simple game and fun for younger students. However, endless variations can be made to make it suitable for all levels. For example, the students must repeat the process and remember who threw to them and who they threw to as well as what the person before them said. The first person says
“I like apples” and then throws to S2. S2 says “He likes apples. I like pizza.” Then throws to S3. S3 says “She likes pizza. I like Kim Chi.” This continues until it reaches the first student who starts the pattern over again. Everyone tries to remember the pattern of the ball and what they said. Another variation is to do the above and then add more balls into the mix so that after the first 2 students have gone throw another ball and the students must continue the pattern with more balls. Or else who can speed up the rhythm of the throwing.
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Title: Balloon Game
Type: Active game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: Balloon
Procedure: Practice vocabulary words. The students then stand in a circle and a balloon is hit into the air. The object of the game is to not let the balloon hit the ground. But when someone touches the balloon, they must say a vocabulary word. If the balloon touches the ground, or someone hits the balloon without saying a word the round is over. Count how many touches you can get to and try to beat your own record.
Comments: This could be altered to practice a sentence form instead of vocabulary by having the students hit the balloon and say one word from the sentence at a time in order instead of random vocabulary words.
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Title: Balloon Relay
Type: Active Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: Balloon
Procedure: Divide students into teams. Each team is split in half and stands in line opposite from each other as in a relay. The first student must walk to their team with a balloon between their knees without it falling. Once they get to their team they have to tell the next person a vocab word that I have given them. The next person repeats it 5 times and then takes the balloon between their knees. Then they walk to the other side, pass it to the next person and say the next vocab word. The first team to finish all vocab words is the winner.
Comments:
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Title: Banana Tree Game
Type: Game
Target: Review
Materials: picture cards
Procedure: Divide the class into 2 teams. Draw a banana tree on the board with about 9 rungs up the tree. Each team has a mascot (monkey picture cards work well). The object of the game is to climb the tree the fastest to get to the bananas. The climb a rung at a time by answering questions correctly. The first group to get the bananas is the winner.
Comments:
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Title: Battleship
Type: Concentration game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: None
Procedure: Divide the class into 4 or 5 teams. The teams are now crews on a Battleship at war with the other ships. One person on each team is the captain, another person is the shooter and the rest is the crew. Each ship has its own name. The captain’s job is to answer when their ship is called, the shooter’s job is to call out another ship’s name and the whole crew must each say a vocab word. The teacher starts by calling out the name of a ship. The captain answers first by saying a vocab word, for example, let’s say the theme is food, they answer by saying bananas. Each crew member of that ship follows by saying in turn another food word until the last crew member is the shooter. The shooter himself says a food word and then calls out the name of another ship. That ship’s captain must answer and their crew must say food word until the shooter calls out another ship. If the captain doesn’t answer quickly (2-3 seconds after their ship is called), their ship is sunk. If the shooter can’t say the name of another ship quickly or any crew member can’t say a vocab word, their ship is
sunk.
Comments: Can be made harder by not allowing students to repeat vocab
words or else their ship is sunk.
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Betting on Mr. Monkey
Type: Game
Target: any conversations
Materials: Picture cards, fake money
Procedure: Hand out fake money to the students. Ask each student a question from the target theme (i.e. under, on, in) about Mr. Monkey such as “Where is Mr. Monkey?” Each student answers where they think he is, for example “He is on the table,” “He is under the chair,” or “He is in the box.” In order to bet the students must place a bet from their fake money, like 1 dollar.
Record their predictions. Then pull out one of the picture cards at random. The students who guessed correctly get the money in the pot. The students can buy candy or prizes with their money at the end of the game.
Comments: Other suitable conversations would be “What is Mr. Monkey doing?” ‘What is Mr. Monkey eating/wearing?” etc.
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Title: Bingo
Type: Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: paper and pencil
Procedure: Students draw a 3×3 (or bigger) grid and fill in the squares with vocabulary words. Call out vocab words at random and the first student to get a line or any other formation decided upon is the winner.
Comments: Students can also draw instead of writ the vocab words in the squares.
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Title: Body Clock
Type: Active Game
Target: Time
Materials: circle marked on the floor
Procedure: Ask students to make the hands of a clock with their bodies inside the circle on the floor. Yell out certain times and students should make the time with their bodies. For example, if the time is 3:30 they can point their hands toward where the 3 would be and bend at a 90 degree angle to show the time. Can be played just for fun or as teams.
Comments:
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Title: Button, Button
Type: Game
Target: Can you help me?
Materials: A button (or a small coin)
Procedure: In this game there is one searcher and one hider. The hider has a button cupped in his hands. The rest of the students are all in a line with their hands cupped in exactly the same way. The hider then slides his cupped hands in between the others hands all the way down the line. Except, secretly, he drops the button into someone else’s hands somewhere along the way. The student who receives the button from the hider should not give any indication that he has the button because we don’t want the searcher to know. Then when the hider is finished everyone asks the searcher grasshopper, “Button, Button, who has the button?” Then searcher should guess who he thinks has the button by asking “Can you help me?” If the student he guesses doesn’t have the button they should answer, “Sorry I can’t” but if he guesses correctly and you have the button you say “Sure I can” and then give him the button. Repeat with new searchers and hiders.
Comments: Perhaps could be altered to focus on another conversation theme.
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Title: Card Collection
Type: Game
Target: Any conversation
Materials: mini cards
Procedure: Each student gets a collection of cards of a certain number and on a certain theme. They write their name on the back. Then they find a partner and ask the target question such as “What do you do?” to each other. Both students answer such as “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a lawyer”. Then they do Rock Paper Scissors and the winner takes the other person’s card. Repeat with new partners.
Most cards wins. Return the cards to each person at the end of the game.
Comments:
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Title: Charades
Type: Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: None
Procedure: Students are divided into 2 teams. One person from one team comes up to the front where the teacher gives them a vocabulary word to act out. The team tries to guess the word. If they get it correct the team gets one point. Teams alternate turns and the team with the most points wins.
Comments: If the words are easy to guess you can make it harder by limiting the time to act it out, limiting the time the students have to guess, limiting the number of guesses and having the team say the answer together in unison.
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Title: Circle It!
Type: Active Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: None (or picture cards)
Procedure: Divide students into 2 teams. Write the vocab words on the board. 2 students from each team race to circle the word I say with a piece of chalk, say the word and then return the chalk to their team. The fastest team per round gets a point
Comments: Can also be used with picture cards on the board, but instead of circling the card they just touch the card.
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Title: Clap Attack
Type: Concentration Game
Target: Any vocabulary, song or chant
Materials: None
Procedure: Students stand in a circle with their hands overlapping, each student right hand is in front of the others and their left hand is behind. Practice passing the clap; the first person brings their right hand over to clap the right hand of the next person. The left hand always stays in place. They clap should be passed around the circle. Then add in the chant and clap to the beat of the chant.
For example, use the chant “Cinderella, Dressed in yella, Went upstairs to kiss her fella. She made a mistake, and kissed a snake. How many doctors will it take? 1! 2! 3! 4! 5!” The 2 students who are supposed to clap on the count of 5 have a duel to slap each other’s hands. The person on the right tries to clap the person’s on the left’s hands. The person on the left tries to remove their hand so that the person on the right misses. Whoever is successful (clapping the other’s hand or making the other person miss) is the winner. The loser is removed from the game. The 2 students must have the duel on the count of 5, no waiting or fudging the time or else it gets complicated. Make sure the students say thechant and don’t just clap. The last 2 students standing have the final duel by one person putting both hands on top and the other putting their hands on top. They clap and switch hands position to the beat of the chant until the count of 5. On 5 the person on top tries to clap the bottom persons hands and the bottom person tries to remove their hands. The successful person is the winner.
Comments: You can use any song or chant or even simple vocabulary words to play this game
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Title: Clap-clap
Type: Active game
Target: Any conversation pattern
Materials: None
Procedure: Make up actions for the answers to the question. For example, to practice “What’s the weather like?” “It’s cloudy/rainy/sunny/windy, etc” make up actions for each answer such as “It’s cloudy”=cover your eyes, “It’s rainy”= fingers wave in the rain motion, “It’s windy”=sway side to side, etc. Then
students stand in line all facing the teacher. Everyone says the question together in unison “What’s the weather like?” and then clap 2 times together.
Immediately after the second clap, each student answers and does the action to go along with the answer. The teacher also answers and does an action. Any student that does the same action and answer as the teacher is out. The last student standing is the winner
Comments: Could be used to practice only vocabulary words and instead of saying a question just say the theme of the words. For example “Animals, animals, clap-clap” then everyone does the action and says an animal vocabulary word.
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Title: Clothes Relay
Type: Active Game
Target: Clothes vocabulary
Materials: Old clothes
Procedure: Students line up across from a pile of clothes in teams. The first student runs to the pile of clothes and picks one thing to put on. Then they yell the name of the clothes 3 times and run back to the line. They pass the clothes to the next person who must wear it and run and choose something else to wear and yell it’s name 3 times. The team to get all their items on the fastest is the winner.
Comments: Can also be done as a whole group and try to beat their previous times.
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Title: Clueless
Type: Game
Target: Any vocabulary
Materials: Word or picture cards
Procedure: One student has a card pinned to their back or stuck on their forehead. The rest of the class knows what the card is and gives the students hints about it until they can guess their card.
Comments: Can be used to practice more than just vocabulary by having the students answer in full sentences, and having the student ask questions about their card.
PART2
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Don’t miss these Featured Posts :
Another Wonderful Collection of Games for any level
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
How to teach the four skills
________________________________________________________________________
