One of the effective methods to strengthen new words in long-memory of your students is including fun competitive games in your lesson plans. Adopting a variety of motivating vocab activities will help your students truly learn the new words for genuine use. Here is a collection of featured common vocabulary games you can implement for your classes:
1-Pictionary
Separate the class into Teams A and B and have them sit on opposite sides of the classroom.
One member from each team goes to the board.
The teacher shows them a word on a piece of paper.
The students have one minute to get their teams to say the item only by drawing visual clues on the board.
The two members mustn’t use written words, verbal clues, or any gestures.
The first team to say the word gets a point.
2-Hot Seat
Divide the class into groups of 5-6 students.
In turn, each participant from a group sits in a chair in front of the class facing their group.
The teacher writes a word on the board, or displays it on data show.
The student in the chair mustn’t see the word.
Then each group have one minute using only verbal clues to get their teammate say the word.
They score 1 point if their mate utters the word in the given timing.
Variation :
The game can be Vise-Versa; The member sitting in the chair should describe the given word to their team to have them say the word. Of course, the team mustn’t see the word but their teammates in chairs.
Instead of describing words, pictures can be used instead, as suggested below:
3- Last one standing
You need a ball to play this game
Ask your students to stand and form a circle. You can divide your class into teams if it’s crowded.
Give the ball to the first student.
That student should shout a word related to a given category and toss the ball at another student.
Whenever each student grabs the ball, they should come up with a different word within the same given theme.
If they repeat a previously said word or can’t manage to think of a new one in a few moments, they must leave the circle and sit on the side-lines.
The game continues until the last student standing who is the winner
4-The Category Game:
Divide the class into groups of 5-6 students.
The teacher writes on the board 6 categories related to the syllabus.
The teacher choose a letter and writes it on the board.
Each team should work together to write down a word for each of the six categories that stars with the chosen word.
The first team to complete all six categories shouts STOP! Then the class must stop writing.
A member of the team fills in the categories on the board.
If each category has filled in correctly by the quickest team, they win the round.
For the next rounds, the teacher chooses different letters
