English Games for Students
Hello KEy fellas, do you teach English? Are you English teacher? Do you have some difficulties to make teaching learning process in the class more interesting and lively? Hmm well, now I’m going to give you some tips how to conduct English game in the class so that your students don’t get bored anymore and they will like English! Come and get it!
- FROM PICTURES TO STORY
Materials: Lots and lots of photos and pictures cut from magazines The wider the range of pictures, the better the results. Hint: First get 10 pictures of your own. Then give learners a few days, including weekend, to bring in 10 pictures each.
Time: 10 minutes per session.
1. Spread all the pictures face up on a table.
2. Leader and learners stand round the table.
3. Leader begins by choosing two pictures and then tells a very short story, a couple of sentences can do, that links the picture.
4. Learner to the leader’s right then selects two pictures and produces his linking story.
5. Pick and link travels round the table till the leader is reached.
6. Leader picks a third picture and links it into the story he began on his first selection.
7. Learner to the leader’s right then selects a third picture – and so on.
8. Pick and link is continued until all the pictures are used up.
9. Group then vote on whose story was the most interesting and most original.
10. Gather in the pictures and store for use a couple of weeks later.
- ME AND MY SECRETARY
Essentially this activity involves pairing learners in the group. Then each learner will take it in turn to act as the other learner’s secretary, and not only write but deliver his/her letters. The activity usually becomes fast and furious, so 15-20 minutes is enough! Materials: A pile of A4 lined paper, cut in four to produce A6 notelets. Pens/pencils at the ready.
1. Learners are paired with a friend. Or younger learners are paired with older.
2. Explain to learners that they are going to write brief letters to anyone in another pairing. However, in the pairing A and B, if A wants to write a letter to X in the pairing X and Y, A must dictate his letter to B who will not only write it down but deliver it as well.
3. B then returns to A, and dictates a letter to someone in the group that A will write down and deliver.
4. Meanwhile, X is dictating his reply to Y, who will write it down and deliver it to A, who, having completed and delivered B’s letter, must respond to X’s letter.
5. This reads a lot more complicated than it actually is in practice – though learners quickly get tied up in knots as they attempt to keep up with the flow! Leader urges everyone to try and keep up with the pace!
- BITS AND PIECES
Preparation: Get a small bag and fill it with bits and pieces, e.g. feathers, buttons, beads, odd chessmen, small bottles, odd playing cards… in fact any old small bric a brac lying round the house. Do not include anything normally found in classrooms. Bring the back into the classroom. Get everyone to stand around a desk. Dump the bits and pieces on the desk. Ask the class to bring in any 3 contributions they can for the bits and pieces bag. Decline to explain anything at this stage.
1. Everyone, including leader and learners, stand around a desk or table. Pushing two or three desks/tables together is advisable.
2. Dump the bits and pieces on the table. Spread them out.
3. Leader picks up anything he chooses from the table, e.g. a feather, and begins, “Once upon a time… there was a handsome but poor young farm boy who found a magic feather.”
4. Leader holds onto the feather, then gestures that the learner standing on his right should pick up another object and continue the story. Try to explain what’s to be done through gestures rather than verbally explaining the procedure; the magic is stronger this way.
5. After the story has made its way back to the leader, the leader can round out the story and then say, “I think we can do better than that this time.”
6. Leader points to a learner and says, “Begin our story, please.” And off we go… Once upon a time…
- TAKE YOUR PICK
Materials: A short text of about 100 words on any topic whatsoever; fact or fiction.
Preparation: none
Time: 5 – 10 minutes
1. Allow the learners to pair off.
2. Give them a piece of A5 paper; tear up A4 sheets.
3. Leader explains he will read a short text and they should listen carefully. Leader does not explain why he/she is reading the text.
4. Leader explains he will read the text again, and pairs should note down any words and as many words from the text as they want to. Leader should hint the more words the greater chance of success.
5. Leader reads the text again at normal speed while learners scribble down the words they choose.
6. Leader now explains the challenge is for each pair to write one sentence containing all the words they’ve scribbled down. Their sentences should have nothing to do with the original text.
7. Learners fold up their papers containing the sentences and passes them to the leader who unfolds them one at a time and reads them out.
8. Learners decide which sentence was most original and imaginative.
- SOUND CAPTURES
This activity involves a bit of preparation by the leader but it’s usually well worth the effort.
Materials: Short sound sequences on tape captured by the leader out of school.
Preparation: Leader spends an hour one Saturday morning wandering round town capturing brief sound sequences (not more than one minute each) on tape.
The more imaginative the sound captures the better.
1. Leader divides the class into groups of 3 or 4 learners.
2. Leader explains he will play ‘sound captures’ one at a time.
3. Groups are challenged to scribble down notes, not sentences, about the sound captures – who? Where? When? What’s going on? (This is best done one sound capture at a time.)
4. Each group then explains what they think is going on in each sound capture.
5. The leader then explains what is in each sound capture, and learners decide who was closest to the correct explanation.
This activity depends on how imaginative the leader is willing to be. Lots of people are willing to help, e.g. the local barber’s, a local pub, the local library, the farmers’ market, the fish market, the harbour, passing foreign visitors (ask them not-so-obvious questions), the supermarket (but which one?), the florist’s, and so on.
- HIGHER OR LOWER?
Materials: A pack of cards and/or 5 dice
Preparation: none
Time: 5 – 10 minutes
Higher or Lower – with Cards
1. Leader divides class into small groups, 4 or 5
2. Leader turns one card face up
3. Leader challenges groups, in turn, to predict whether the next card will be higher or lower
4. Group may continue as long as predictions are correct - two cards of similar value = incorrect prediction
5. Each group wins the cards they have correctly predicted
6. Continue till cards are exhausted
7. The group who has won the greatest number of cards wins the round.
Higher or Lower – with Dice (4 or 5)
More challenging, more fun
1. Leader divides class into small groups, 4 or 5
2. First group throws the dice, then counts total
3. Second group must decide whether they will throw a higher or lower score
4. Winning group gets 2 points; losers get 1 point
5. Continue round circle until a group achieves 10 points and wins!
- FIZZ BUZZ
Materials: none - Preparation: none - Time: 5 – 10 minutes
1. Everyone sits in a circle
2. First player starts counting -1; second player – 2; third player – 3
3. And round the circle
4. BUT, every time a number with 5 in it, or a multiple of 5 crops up, the player must call out FIZZ!
5. BUT every time a number with 7 in it, or a multiple of 7 crops up, the player must call out BUZZ!
6. AND every time a number comes up that can be divided by both 5 and 7, OR contains the numbers 5 & 7, the player must call out FIZZ BUZZ!
7. Each player starts off with 5 points, but loses 1 point every time he/she makes a mistake. Winner is last player left with any points.
- JUNGLE SAFARI
Materials: none
Preparation: none
Time: 5 – 10 minutes
1 Everyone sits in a circle
2 The circle appoints a Chairperson
3 Each player adopts the name of an animal they might see on a Jungle Safari
4 Players have a few moments to practice making the sounds their animal makes
5 Chairman invents and tells a jungle story which includes the names of the safari animals
6 Every time a player’s animal is mentioned, he/she must respond with the sound of his/her animal
7 When the Chairman mentions the words ‘Jungle’ or ‘Safari’, all players must respond with the sound of their animals
8 At the end of the story, appoint a new Chairman and have another go.
- SAUSAGES
Materials: none
Preparation: none
Time: 5 – 10 minutes
1 Spin the bottle, or whatever, to decide who the first ‘Sausage’ will be
2 The ‘Sausage’ must sit facing everyone else; they sit in a semi-circle
3 When everyone is ready, players in the circle fire questions at the Sausage
4 No matter the question, the Sausage must reply loudly Sausages!
5 Players are attempting to make the Sausage smile or laugh
6 About 2 minutes, timed, for each Sausage.
uuu ,, I like it ,, I'll try to do that .. :D
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty cool, isn't it? You'd better hurry to try them right away. Well, outdoors sound real good!
ReplyDelete