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org/c/
games1.htmlGames & Activities
for the ESL/EFL Classroom
A Project of The Internet TESL Journal

This is a place were English teachers can share games and activities that they have
found useful in the classroom. If you know a game or an activity that works well with
ESL/EFL students and it is not yet listed here, please submit it.
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Each Game on Its Own Page | Many Games Per Page(This Section)

Number of Submissions: 132

The newest addition is at the top of the page.

Bad Fruit: A Shoppers' Nightmare

Level: Easy to Medium

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.

Materials: "produce" and play money.

Object of Game: To accumulate as many products as possible.

Students are divided into clerks and shoppers.

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.

Students then switch roles.

*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.
Submitted by: Mike Yough

What's the Question?

Level: Any Level

Type of Activity: listening and speaking

Purpose: review question forms previously studied in class

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.
Submitted by: Tim

Toilet Paper Icebreaker

Level: Any Level

This activity is used as a "getting to know you", icebreaker on the first day of class.

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 toilet paper is such an attention getter.

Submitted by: Linda LeBlanc

Chain Spelling (Shiri-tori)

Level: Easy to Medium

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.
Submitted by: Huang Shufang

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?")
Submitted by: Liz

Battle Ships - A Vocabulary Game

Level: Easy to Medium

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.
Submitted by: Agung Listyawan

Describing Appearances & Characteristics of People

Level: Easy to Medium (Low to low intermediate)

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.
Submitted by: Darrell

Sentence Race

Level: Any Level

A good game for large classes and for reviewing vocabulary lessons.

1. Prepare a list of review vocabulary words.

2. Write each word on two small pieces of paper. That means writing the word
twice, once on each paper.
3. Organize the pieces like bundles, 2 bundles, 2 sets of identical words.
4. Divide the class into 2 teams. get them to make creative team names.
5. Distribute each list of words to both teams. every student on each team should
have a paper. Both teams have the same words.
6. When you call a word, 2 students should stand up, one from each team. The
students must then run to the blackboard and race to write a sentence using
their word.

The winner is the one with a correct and clearly written sentence.

This is always a hit with kids. For more advanced students, use tougher words.
Submitted by: Thomas D. J-B

Paper Airplane Game

Level: Any Level

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.
Submitted by: Ell Saunders

Pictionary (Game 1) - revamp - Charades (Game 2)

Level: Any Level

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).
Submitted by: Ell Saunders

Spelling Contest

Level: Any Level

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
Submitted by: Revolle Soyer

What's the Meaning?

Level: Medium to Difficult

You, the teacher, may need a dictionary do this activity.

  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.

Then you can have the students to discuss their writings.

Catching up on your ABC's

Level: Any Level

This game is short and simple. Write the alphabet on the board. Throw a bean bag to
someone and say a word begining with the letter A. This person must catch the bean
bag, say a word begining with the letter B and then throw it to another person This
third person says a word begining with the leter C and so on.

Obviously the game is meant to be played fast. If played with higher level students
you may not want to write the alphabet on the board. There are many ways to change
the game to make it adaptable to your level of students.
Submitted by: Adam in China

Secret Code

Level: Any Level

I sometimes give instructions to my students written in code that they have to interpret
before completing tasks. I've used this at various levels:

Here's an example: to revise alphabet and simple present verbs/vocab.

 Tell students the code e.g. each code letter represents the letter that comes
before it in the alphabet a is b, m is n, 'dbu' is cat etc.
  Then they decode their message and do the task:
o xbml up uif cpbse - walk to the board
o kvnq ufo ujnft - jump ten times

To make it more difficult, I've ...

 used more complex codes,

 let them work the code out for themselves,
 have not defined where words end,
 have given more complicated tasks or vocabulary
 or given them half an instruction which they must decode and then find the
classmate with the other half of their task information.

This activity can be used to review or practise vocabulary or structure or simply be a

different way to introduce the topic for the day's class -- each student gets one or two
words to decode and then the class work to put all the words together.
Submitted by: Karen Mack

Crazy Story

Level: Any Level

This is an activity that will make your students speak in class and be creative.

 Ask students to write a word on a piece of paper and tell them not to show anyone. This
word should be a verb (or whatever you'd like to rewiew).
 The teacher starts telling a story, then stops and chooses a student.
 That student will continue the story and must use his/her word. This student then chooses
the next student to continue the story.
 The last student must end the story.
 After the story is over, the students then try to guess what words each student has written
on his/her paper. The student who guesses the most words wins the game.

Submitted by: Luciana Pinheiro

Classroom Rules: Must and Mustn't

Level: Easy to Medium

  Prepare small pieces of paper each with either one thing students must do or one thing
students must not do.
 Tell the students that they are supposed to form sentences that explain classroom rules.
 Divide the class into groups (of 4 if possible, so that everyone gets a chance to speak).
 Give each group the pieces of paper.

The winning group, the group that finishes first, reads their sentences aloud. (Each student of the
group reads one or two sentences depends on size of group.)

It's an easy game and the preparation does not take too much time. You can make as many rules
as you wish.

Submitted by: Sijeta Braha

Digital Camera Scavenger Hunt

Level: Easy to Difficult

This game may require students to leave the classroom depending on how you set it up.

Make a list of things students must take photos of. Then put your students into teams, each with
their own camera and have them go out and take the photos. The team that comes back first with
all the photos is the winner.

Some ideas for lists are:

 bus, taxi, car, bicycle, etc.

 restaurant, post office, mail box, traffic light, etc.
 In the classroom: pencil, pen, eraser, blackboard, etc.
 Around the school: principal's office, copy machine, cafeteria, etc.

For further review of vocabulary, have the students look at all the photos and identify other
things that appear in each photo.

Taboo

Level: Medium to Difficult

This game is a simplified version of the board game "Taboo".

Before class, create several index cards. On each card write one word in a large font with a circle
around it, and underneath write 2-4 related words in a smaller font. The goal is for students to get
their teammates to guess the circled word. They can say anything they like to try to make them
guess, except for the words written on the card.

Divide the class into groups of two, and write each group on the board to keep track of points.
Place a desk in the front of the room facing the class, so that someone sitting it has their back to
the board and can't read it. Place another desk in front of it, so the teammates are facing
eachother.

Pick a team to go first, and have them choose a card. Have the teammates decide who will guess
and who will talk. The guesser sits with their back to the board. On the board, making sure the
guesser can't see, write the circled word as well as the other taboo words. The talker then has to
try to make their partner guess the circled word without saying it, or any of the other words.
After they guess it have another group come up. When all the groups have gone, do it again and
have the teammates switch roles.

My students really enjoy this game, so much so that they often give the guesser clues even when
it is not their team! It's a great way for students to practice forming sentences, and it forces them
to use words and structures they might otherwise not use.

Submitted by: Mike Amato, Boston, MA, USA

Beep Game

Level: Easy to Medium

Choose around 10 volunteers to come and stand in a line at the front of the classroom. The first
student in line must begin counting from 1, and each student in turn calls out the next number.
However, every 4th number must be replaced by the word "beep" (or buzz etc.). Following a
"beep" the next student in line must call out the next number, and not the number that has been
replaced. For example, 1, 2, 3, beep, 5, 6, 7, beep, 9 etc.

If a student hesitates too much or makes a mistake he/she must sit down, so eventually only one
student remains. Whenever a student sits down, begin from 1 again. See how far you can get!

Submitted by: Caroline Berry

Words Beginning with a Given Letter

Level: Medium to Difficult

The teacher chooses a letter from the alphabet. Then each student must say a word that begins
with that letter. If a student repeats a word that has already been said, then he/she is out of the
game. The game ends when only one student remains. That student is the winner. In high level
classes students lose if they say a past form of the verb. Example:see-saw. You can increase the
difficulty by adding a timer. Only allow each student 5 seconds to think of a word.

Counting Liar Game

Level: Any Level

This game is similar to the Alphabet Liar game except it deals with numbers and adding the "S"
sound at the end of plural nouns , all you need is a deck of cards.

Divide the students into groups of 4 to 6. Deal all the cards from the deck to the students. The
player who has the 2 of Spades begins. This player puts down his 2 of spades and any other 2 he
has in his hand FACE DOWN in a pile and procedes to say "one 2" or "two 2'ssss" then next
player procedes to put down his 3, then 4, then 5 etc...

Let's say the player doesn't have the card he is supposed to put down, for example a 3, the player
must try to "lie" or fool the other players into thinking he has the card so he can play... if other
students have any doubt they shout "liar" if the player was lying he then pick up the pile at the
center of the table. If the player who is accused of lying was telling the truth it is the player who
accused him who must pick up the pile in the center.

All players MUST put down a card when it is their turn, even if they do not have the required
card. The game is over when one of the players has no more cards.

I use this game to help practice the "s" sound at the end of plural nouns cause most students have
a tendancy to say "there are 2 dog" rather than "there are 2 dogssssss" this game really helps the
message get through. ***For better explanations see the alphabet liar game.***

Submitted by: Jeffrey Kelso

Act Out an Activity

Level: Easy to Medium

This is a game-like activity to teach continous tense.

One student simply acts out some activity (e.g.cooking) and the other students guess what that
student is doing. The student who guesses correctly acts out another acitvity...

Submitted by: Lucia Liskova

Vacation Cards

Level: Medium to Difficult

For this activity you will need a deck of cards, and an imaginative theme that could be crafted
into some sort of story. For example, I choose "send the teacher on a vacation". On the board or
overhead projector make a list like the following. (You could ask your student for imput.)

 A-exciting
 2-depressing
 3-expensive
 4-heroic
 5-romantic
 6-fantastic
 7-sad
 8-almost fatal
 9-cheap
 10-dramatic
 J-happy
 Q-wierd
 K-change one option

Prompt the students a little to get them started; perhaps offer a beginning to the story. They then
must continue making an oral story by drawing one card and continuing the story along those
lines. For example, if they get 4, then the teacher/protagonist must do something heroic or some
kind of heroric event must occur. If the students draw a K (or whatever card you stipulate), then
they can change one option. This seems to help keep the momentum in the game. Continue
through all cards, with the stipulation that the story must be concluded by the end of the deck.
Obviously there is a lot of room for variation here. Your word list and theme could be related to
your unit of study.

My students really enjoyed this game; it is most interesting if you personalize it and insert
yourself or a student (assuming he/she wouldn't mind).

Submitted by: Rebecca

Headmaster Game

Level: Medium to Difficult

Have each student take out a piece of paper and their dictionary. Write on the board:
You are the new headmaster of this school. You have two years to make this the perfect school.
You can have as much money as you want, but you must spend it all in 2 years.

 What changes would you make immediately?

 What changes must be gradual?
 What would you do to make it a better school?
 What changes would you make?

Be specific. For example, don't say hire better teachers. You must say how you would find better
teachers or what kind of teachers you would hire. Also, remember you must think like a
headmaster, not like a student! Making school easy and letting the students do no exams or
homework will not make parents happy!

Give the students 15 minutes to work alone. Then put them in groups of 3-5 with a leader to
organize their thoughts. Each group's leader will give its "report" to the other students during the
following class period.

If your students have a small vocabulary you can help them out by listing on the blackboard
areas of discussion: teachers, buildings, classrooms, activities, dorms, lunchrooms,curriculum,
sports, playground, library, bathrooms,schedules,music, art,etc.

This is a great activity for all ages. We always run out of time!

Submitted by: Victoria Throop

Can You Find What Is Different?

Level: Easy

Ask a volunteer to go out of the classroom. While the student is out of the room, the other
students change their sweaters, shoes, coats and so on. Bring the student who went out of the
classroom back inside. He/she has to guess the differences (speaking in English, of course.)

Submitted by: Raquel Fiol

Guess the Letter on Your Back

Level: Easy

This game is used to practice the alphabet. Divide students into groups and ask them to stand in
line and give the students in the front of the line a piece of chalk to write on the blackboard.
Then write with your finger a letter on the back of the students at the end of the line. They must
do the same with the student in front of him/her and so on. The students with the chalk try to
guess the letter and write any word that begins with that letter on the board.

Submitted by: Raquel Fiol

Fold-over Stories

Level: Any Level

This is an old favorite. Give each student a sheet of blank paper. Write the following words on
the board in a vertical line: WHO, WHAT, HOW, WHERE, WHEN, WHY. Explain that
everyone will be writing a sentence story. Write an example on the board, explain, asking for
suggestions.

1. Tell them to write someone's name at the top of their paper, i.e., their own, a classmate's,
the teacher's, a famous person that everyone knows; fold the paper over once so no one
can see it, then pass the paper to the person on their right.
2. Write on the received paper what the subject did (suggest funny or outrageous actions),
fold it over and pass it on to the right.
3. Continue to write one line, how they did it (adverbs), fold and pass; where-pass; when-
pass; and last of all, why (because...) and pass it one more time.
4. Have the students unfold their stories, and read them silently. Help anyone who cannot
read what the others wrote, or doesn't understand.
5. Ask one student at a time to read "their" story aloud, or turn the stories in for the teacher
to read. Funny!

Submitted by: Vicki Konzen

Descriptions

Level: Medium

 Write down names of every student in your class on pieces of paper.

 Give the names to students. Try to make two students describe each other.
 Ask them to describe the person whose name is on the paper.
 After they finish, give the description to the person who is described. He/she has to find
any writing mistakes on the paper.
 Students work in pairs to correct the two papers.

Submitted by: Nguyen Nhu

Guessing the Word from a Drawing

Level: Any Level

 Ask one student to be in front of the class. Give him/her a word that can not be seen by
other students.
 He/she will draw (on the blackboard) a picture expressing the concept of the word.
 The rest of the class have to guess the word.
 If you are keeping score, the one who drew the picture gets the point if the class can
guess the word.

Submitted by: Nguyen Nhu

Reviewing Tenses

Level: Any Level

Preparation:

 Print out three sentences (negative, positive, and question) of the tense you want to
review.
 Cut each sentence into words.

The Activity:

 Students work in groups.

 Give each group of students words of a sentence and ask them to make the sentence.
 Draw a table on the board and ask students to tick sentences at suitable positiions,
positive, negative, or question.
 Ask students to make rules of the tense.

Example:

 Three Sentences:
o I am a student.
o I am not a student.
o Are you a student?
 The Rules:
o TO BE at the present simple
I am a student.
o Positive: S + am/is/are + O.
I am not a student.
o Negative: S + am/is/are + not + O.
Are you a student?
o Question: (Ques words) + am/ is /are + S + O?

Submitted by: Nguyen Nhu

Find Parts of Speech of Words in a Sentence

Level: Any Level

 Prepaire cards with parts of speech. Give these to your students.

 Write the sentences on the board.
 Ask your studnets to find parts of speech of words in the sentences.
 You can divide the class into teams to make the games more fun.

Example: Your sentence:

I WENT TO SCHOOL YESTERDAY.
pronoun verb preposition noun noun
Submitted by: Nguyen Nhu

Think Fast!

Level: Any Level

A game for revision (review). It also works well for the last 5 minutes of class

The teacher prepares a list of items for revision e.g. word fields, grammar, facts. In class he/she
explains the procedure. Three to five volunteers leave the classroom and wait till their turn has
come. The teacher appoints a student to take the exact time and another to take down a tick for
every correct answer. No repetitions! (Set up or negotiate rules on pronunciation.) Then the first
player is called in.

 Teacher: You have 20 second to name as many things as come to your mind.
 Your topic: Parts of the body / London sights / plays by William Shakespeare / the places
in a town / traffic signs / weekend shopping-list / etc.
 Ready, steady, go

Once all volunteers have done their bit, award a small prize (e.g. a sticker) to the winner of the
round. Then ask the class for additions before you pick the next item. Then pick the next item.

Allow more time (30 or 40 seconds) for longer answers: What have you done so far today? /
What did you do last weekend? / School rules: What do students have to do? What are they not
allowed to do? / etc.

If this game is played in groups, they should be evenly balanced.

Submitted by: Gertraud Muraoka

Alphabet Liar Game

Level: Any Level

 Take a pack of letter cards, mixed up. It is better if it is not a complete alphabet, and there
are some duplicate cards.
 Deal all the cards out to the players
 Students take it in turns to play cards face down. They must go through the alphabet,
starting from 'A', playing one card face down and saying the letters in Alphabetical order.
 Even if they do not have the card to be played for that turn, they must play any card and
pretend it is the card they said. Say the sequence has gone A,B. The next player must play
a card and say C, even if he has not got an C.
 If any player does not believe that someone has played the real card, he can say: "You're
a liar" and turns the card over. If the card has the letter which was said, the challenger
picks up all the cards. If it is not, the liar picks up all the cards in the pile. The winner is
the first one to finish all their cards.

Submitted by: Raquel Fiol

Survivor Spelling Game

Level: Any Level

Use this activity to review vocabulary:

Make a list of vocabulary covered in previous lessons. Have students stand. Call out a
vocabulary word. The first student begins by saying the word and giving the first letter, the
second student the second letter of the word, the third student the third letter, and so on until the
word is spelled correctly. If somebody makes a mistake they must sit down and we start from the
beginning again until the word is spelled correctly. The last student must then pronounce the
word correctly and give a definition in order to stay standing. The student who is left standing is
the "survivor" and wins the game. I usually give them some type of prize. If all the students
remain standing we have a pizza party at the end of the week.

The students love it and it is a great way to practise vocabulary!!!

Submitted by: Josie Saieva (Canada)

What's Your Name?

Level: Easy (Raw beginners)

One student sits in the front of the classroom (usually in the teacher's comfortable chair) with his
back to the other students. The teacher then points to students in the class and asks "What's your
name?" The student indicated must respond "My name is__________" with either his own name
or the name of someone in the class. The student in the front cannot see who is speaking. The
teacher says to him, "Is it___________?" and he must say "Yes, it is" or "No, it isn't". If the
student in front is correct, he gets to stay there, but if he's mistaken, he changes place with the
student who fooled him.

To make the game more interesting, the students are encouraged to disguise their voices.

I always do this with my beginners at the beginning of the year, but always at the end of the
class, and for not more than 5 to 10 minutes. (My beginners are elementary age.)
Submitted by: Nancy Quebec

Human Bingo - Getting to Know You Activity

Level: Any Level

Have the students divide an 8.5" x 11" paper into 9 squares (two vertical lines / two horizontal
lines. The middle square is the "free" space. Next, put a list of 5 questions on the board (these
can vary in difficulty). For example:

1. What is your name?

2. Where are you from?
3. How long have you been in the USA?
4. hat is the strangest thing you have eaten here?
5. (they make a question)

The students must then interview 8 different people in the class to fill in the bingo page. Each
square on the paper represents one person's answers. When they have written all the answers
from one person, they go on to someone else until all of the boxes on the paper are filled. When
everyone has finished, the teacher uses the class list to call off names. For example, if the teacher
says, "Who has Rodrigo?", the students who interviewed Rodrigo would then provide the
answers he gave to the bingo questions.

It's a fun game that gets students speaking right away. It usually takes a while to complete.

Ball Game

Level: Any Level

Students stand up in a circle around the teacher. A ball is tossed to a student and the
teacher asks a question, e.g.: "Say a color". The student then responds and throws the
ball back to the teacher.The teacher then throws the ball to another student and asks
another question. For higher levels, you can ask such questions like "Give me the past
participle of an irregular verb". This is a fast game, and it is great for reviewing
vocabulary.
Submitted by: Ashraf Abu Ghazal

Getting to Know a Little More about Your Classmates

Level: Any Level

The teacher gives every student a piece of paper on which they write a sentence about
their personal life. This sentence can be about school, family, music, friends, the last
vacation, etc. For example "I went to the beach last vacation" or "I always study for
my exams" or "I have two brothers" etc. When they finish writing their sentences they
fold the paper and give it to the teacher.

It is very important to tell students before writing the sentence that the information
they are going to write is "a secret" and not to show it to their classmates. If they have
a question about something, they should ask it to you instead of a classmate. Tell
students to write their names on the papers.

After collecting all the papers, ask the students to write the numbers from one to 10
(or 20, depending on the number of students you have in that moment in the
classroom) in their notebooks. After that, the teacher reads the sentences in random
order (without saying the name of the student), and the students write the names of the
people they think wrote sentences.

After reading all the sentences, say the question number and read the sentence again
for each piece of paper and ask the students to name who they thought wrote it.

Then tell the students the name from the student who wrote that sentence. Students
should write (C) for correct guesses and (I) for incorrect guesses.

This is one way for studnets to start knowing a little more about their classmates.
Submitted by: Lic. Carmen Martinez

Draw the Teacher

Level: Any Level

This game helps to teach children the names of facial parts.

Divide the class into two teams. Then draw 2 ovals shapes on the board. Then yell
"Draw the teacher's eyes!" and the two leading students from each team run up and
draw your eyes on the oval. Then yell "Nose!" which is drawn by the next two
students. And so it goes. The student get a ball out of this as they have permission to
make fun of their teacher, and your image can get to look pretty distorted. You can
add other features, such as nose or ear hairs. This will also work if you want to do
body parts as well. Just draw the basic torso instead of ovals.

If the kids are unsure as to which facial/body part you're talking about, just point to it.

At the end say both images look pretty good and call it a tie.

Another variation on this could be for naming parts of animals. The resulting picture
would be a monster. i.e. peacock's tail, snake's head, elephant feet, bat's wings, etc.
Submitted by: Tindros

Acting Adverbs

Level: Easy to Medium

This activity is a great way to introduce the idea of how adverbs affect the way a verb
action is done. Divide the blackboard in two and write as many verbs on one side and
as many adverbs on the other as you can (get the class to come up with them). At this
stage you can also teach how adjectives 'turn into' adverbs by writing down adjectives
e.g. angry, happy, and adding the 'ily'. Then divide the class into two teams and
perhaps give them goofy team names (I find they enjoy giving each other names).
Then get one team to choose a verb and adverb combination and the other team has to
act it out, e.g. talk crazily.

My experience with this activity has been with younger learners where some kind of
reward is offered at the end like stamps or being the first team to leave at the end of
class. You can think of your own reward (or penalty) to motivate your class. It can be
a lot of fun with both the actors and the 'directors' enjoying making fools out of
themselves or watching others make fools of themselves.
Submitted by: Thomas Jackson

Suppose That

Level: Easy to Medium

This works well as a fluency activity

1. You are the black sheep of your family. Explain to us why.

2. You won a motorcycle and you are planning to embark on a voyage. Explain
where you go.
3. You arrive face to face with a person who you owe 100 dollars to. What do you
say?
4. You help an old woman across the street. It turns out that she is a magician. To
thank you, she offers you four wishes. What do you ask for?
5. You arrive home at midnight, you open the door and ......
Submitted by Sholdstock

Cut-Up Sentence Kabadi

Level: Any

This is a combination of a basic TEFL game and the Indian(?) game Kabadi(?).

Prepare some cut up sentences from the grammar or vocab area you've been working
on and place them on a table at the front of the class. Arrange the students into teams,
standing behind a line or marker. They have to run to the table and arrange the words
into correct sentences, however, they are not allowed to breathe in. To prevent this the
students have to repeat 'kabadi' over and over. If they stop saying the word they have
to return to their teams. The first team to correctly arrange all their sentences is the
winner. This can get a bit wild but it's fun.
Submitted by John Mehers

Writing Idea

Level: Medium to Difficult

I asked my students to write in their daily journals what rules they would like to see
implemented in our classroom and which rules they beleived would benefit our class
the most. I then asked them to imagine how it would be if we had no rules in our
class, in our school, and in the world. I asked them to weigh the pros and cons of this
idea and write whether or not they would like to experience or live in this type of
environment.
Spin Zone

Level: Any

Each set of partners receives a top. One learner says as many sentences or words in
the target language as he can before the top stops spinning. His partner counts. The
student who says the most words wins. We had fun letting the winners compete in
"spin offs". I like to give stickers to all and candy to the winner!
Submitted by Amanda Dunaway

Prepositions Game

Level: Medium to Difficult

Prepare a text that contains prepositions. Take out the propositions and print them on
a separate sheet, then cut this sheet so that each preposition is on a piece of paper,
then put all of them in an envelope . Divide the class into groups and give each group
an envelope. Tell the students that you are going to read a text and whenever you raise
your hand they should bring a suitable preposition and put it on your desk and that the
fastest team would get points. Read the text with each groups' order and cancel a point
for each mistake. Finally read the text with correct prepositions. You can play this
game with adj as well as a,the and an.
Submitted by: Luma Ashoo

Martian

Level: Medium to Difficult

Tell your class you are a Martian and you are inhabiting a human body to study
human ways. You then ask about virtually anything in the room, and ask follow up
questions:

What is this?
It's a pen.
What's a "pen"?
You use it to write.
What is "write"?
You make words with it on paper.
What are "words"?
ETC...

You can make it as difficult as possible for your higher level students; at some point,
though, you'll need to say "OK, I understand", and go to the next object. Even your
best students will eventually get stuck on this one!
Submitted by Chris Mattson

Punctuation Game

Level: Any Level

I came up with this game to help the students understand what the marks of
punctuation are. Draw a period (.), a comma (,), a question mark (?), exclamation
mark (!), and an apostrophe (') on the board and leave a few inches between each
symbol. Tell the students the name of each and have them repeat each name. When
they are comfortable with the names, begin by pointing to each one in succession.
Once they are proficient at this, speed up the pace. This is where it gets fun. Once they
are able to say the names in order, change the order on them. Speed up each time
through to get the kids excited. As a final tactic, have each student go through the
names of the symbols at a slow pace and then speed up. I give the one who can say the
most right a piece of candy or a sticker. Have fun and you'll see a big improvement in
their punctuation.
Submitted by David R. Henry

Good Morning Balls

Level: Any Level

1. You have three different coloured balls, (they should be very light weight,
samll balls).
2. Get the class to make a circle.
3. Then give three people a ball.
o Red Ball - Good Morning
o Green Ball- How are you?
o Blue Ball - Fine thank you and you?
4. The class members pass or gently throw the balls and the person who receives
them says the meaning of the balls.
This is fun and gets the class going first thing in the morning.
Submitted by Robyn Cooper-Pollard

Air-write

Level: Any Level

One person "writes" letters, words, numbers, shapes etc: in the air and others guess
what it is. Can be done in pairs, as a group, along a chain.
Can also be played as back-write, that is, writing the letter/word/... on the back of
another and they guess what it is.

Lost in a Jungle

Level: Medium to Difficult

This is a game suitable for a class of pre-intermediate and up. The game can be done
in groups of three to six students. It keeps everyone involved even the quietest
students.

The Teacher prepares a list of say 20 items and writes the list on the board or gives
copies to groups. This is a list of things that people may need if they're lost in the
jungle and things that they may not need.

For example:

 A pack of canned food

 50 meters nylon rope
 Knife
 Torch
 Tent
 Cellular phone
 6 gallons of water
 Petrol
 Alchohol
 Blankets
 Candles
 Matches
 ...
Then, the students in groups decide on 5 itmes on the list which seem essential to all
of them.

This usually takes a whole session since they all come up with different ideas.
Sometimes a creative student chooses an item apparently irrelevant, but when he/she
explains how to use it, everyone agrees!

Intonation Fun

Level: Medium

Use this activity to underline the importance of intonation when your students, as they
often do, talk like robots. Basically, get them to say the words in quotation marks in
the contexts that follow.

'Hello'
to a friend
to a friend you haven't seen for 3 years
to a neighbour that you don't like
to a 6 month old baby
to someone you have just found doing something they shouldn't
to someone on the phone when you're not sure if they are still on the other end

'Goodbye'
to a member of your family as they are going through the boarding gate at the airport
to someone who has been annoying you
to a child starting his very first day at school

'How are you?'

to someone you haven't seen for 20 years
to someone who has recently lost a member of the family
to someone who didn't sleep in their own bed last night

'I never go to pubs'

by a person that totally disapproves of drinking alcohol to someone who often goes to
pubs
as a response to someone who has told you they sometimes go to pubs
said before: '�but I quite like discos.'

'What have you done?'

to someone who claims to have fixed your television only that now it's worse than
before
to someone who is scolding you for not doing anything when you suspect the same
about them.
to someone who has just done something very bad and which has serious
consequences

Truth or Lie?

Level: Any Level

This isn't really new. I got the idea from a book and have expanded on it a bit. It can
be used at any level from pre-int. up. It can be used just for speaking practice but it's
particularly useful if you're doing present perfect for past experiences. It works soooo
well! The students just love it! Lots of question and past tense practice. Even the quiet
ones will talk!
Based on a group of three (it can be done in pairs, or fours if you write some more
questions), each student has a piece of paper with five questions on it (see below) and
takes it in turns to ask the person on their left one of their questions. The student
answering the question must answer 'Yes I have.' regardless of the truth. The student
who asked the question can then ask as many further questions as he likes in order to
help him decide whether the truth is being told or not. Obviously, sometimes they'll be
telling the truth. The third student can also join in with questions, thereby 'ganging up'
on student B. Listen how students fabricate stories in an attempt to avoid questions!
When the first student feels he's heard enough he says 'No further questions' and
writes 'True' or 'False' next to the question. The game then carries on (student B asks a
question to student C and so on) When all the questions have been asked the papers
are passed to the left for marking i.e. the truth is revealed. The highest score out of
five wins.
This game will really open your eyes to people's ability to LIE.
Here are the questions. You can use different ones, obviously.

Have you ever�

spoken to a famous person?
danced on a table in a public place?
been trapped in a lift?
taken an illegal drug?
sung karaoke?

Have you ever�

appeared on television?
left a bar or restaurant without paying?
written graffiti on a wall?
appeared in a photograph in a newspaper?
chased a criminal?

Have you ever�

done a very dangerous sport?
won a medal or trophy?
missed a flight?
stayed in a five-star hotel?
swum naked in the sea?

A typical exchange might be something like:

- Have you ever swum naked in the sea?
- Yes I have.
- Where did you do it?
- Erm. On holiday in Majorca.
- Who were you with?
- Some friends.
- What were their names?
- Erm...etc.

Submitted by Bradley George

Syllable Game

Level: Medium

Write a difficult word on the board for example

ACCOMMODATION.

Then clap your hands while saying the word. Repeat as necessary.

Then ask them to count the claps in ACCOMMODATION. There are 5 handclaps.
Get students to clap and say ACCOMMODATION.

Tell students these handclaps are called SYLLABLES and that every word breaks
down into one or more syllables. Briefly practice saying "syllables."

On the board underneath ACCOMMODATION draw 5 medium sized boxes. Put the
correct number underneath each box.

Clap and say the first syallable of ACCOMMODATION and ask your students which
letters should go in box 1. They should say AC (some might say ACC.)Repeat this
process until all of the letters are in the correct boxes. So now you should have

Box1 AC Box2 COM box3 MO Box4 DA Box5 TION

Then choral drill the letters like this.

Teacher: Which letters are in Box1?

Students: AC

Teacher: and in Box2?

Students: COM

Continue this until all 5 boxes (syllables) have been covered.

Then ask a student to give you the contents of BOX1 and 2. Then ask another to give
you the contents of box 2 and 3. Then 3 and 4. then 4 and 5.

This gradual building of the word helps them not only to understand the rhythm and
concept of syllables, but also helps them to fix the spelling in their minds.

Once they grasp the concept of syllables, Write some 3,2, single syllable words on the
board and get the students to work out how many syllables the word has, and then get
them to put the letters into the correct boxes
Submitted by Gary Pownall. Greenwich Community College. London. UK

Karaoke

Level: Difficult

-for larger classes

Preparation: choose songs that are easy to understand and somewhat enjoyable.

1. Divide the students up into groups of 4-5 people.

2. Give each group a different song. Have them figure out all the words to the song.
Make sure that not just one person is doing the work, but that it is a group effort.

3. Give them the entire class (one hour) to work on it. Next class, have them return to
their groups to practice one time.

4. You then have the group as a whole, stand up and sing along with the recording.

-this is fun for the students if they all participate and work together.
-choose both popular and silly songs to keep their attention and interest
Submitted by Melanie Dutton, University of Texas at El Paso

Getting To Know You

Level: Medium to Difficult

-for larger classes

1. Give each student an idex card
2. Have the students pair up and write the name of their partner on their card.Give
them five or six questions that they must ask each other such as:
-Where were you born?
-What is your favorite color and why?
-What did you dream last night?
3. Make sure that they write down the answers to these questions on their card. When
they are done, have them each choose a new partner.
4. They will then tell their new partner about their old partner based on the questions
answered. Each person will record this information on the other side on the index card
(the index card is only to help them remember everything).
5. Once they have finished, they each stand up in front of the class and tell everyone
what they learned about one of their classmates.

-this helps them to develop their communication skills and helps them get comfortable
with speaking and interacting with all the students in the class
Submitted by Melanie Dutton

Extreme Situations

Level: Medium to Difficult

The point of this activity is to make difficult questions involving choosing a course of
action in extreme situations.Usually This situations will involve feelings, prejudices,
ethics,,etc.

Examples 1:

You are on a deserted island. There is a motor boat and you are the only one who
knows how to drive it. It is up to you to decide which people of the following people
you are going to take with you in the boat. There is space for only you and 3 more
people.

Here they are:

 a prostitute
 a drug addict
 a dying old man
 a doctor convicted of malpractice
 a child pornographer
 a convicted criminal
 (Note: You should adjust the list to suit the students in your class. Delete some
if you find them offensive. Add others that you think would generate good
discussion.)

Example 2:

You find a wallet with $50,000 and the ID of its owner. That money is exactly the
amount of money you need to cover the expenses of a delicate operation for your
daughter. She needs that operation to survive. What would you do with the money?

And you can create new extreme questions to challenge students to speak.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez portegaj63$$$hotmail.com

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

Level: Medium to Difficult

Divide the group in pairs.For this activity you get two apparently iqual pictures.You
can get this pictures in puzzle books or internet. Give one of the pictures to a student
an the counter-picture to his/her partner. Make the students sit far from his/her partner
in order to describe the picture without looking at the counterpicture. The point of the
game is to detect the differences without using body language or looking at the
partner's counter-picture. The team that finds all the differences first is the winner.

This activity is specially good for those students who are reluctant to speak.

TRAFFIC LIGHT QUESTIONS

Level: Any Level

This games works especially with adult students who are reluctant to speak about
personal issues.
Prepare three cards (a green, a yellow, and a red one) with six questions each. The
questions on the green card are easy and not personal, and the ones on the red card are
more difficult and personal. Each student throws a dice twice. The first time is to
decide upon the color of the card (1 or 2 = green card; 3 or 4 = yellow card; 5 or 6 =
red card) and the second time is to choose the question.
Submitted by M�nica Bresso

TELL ME WHY

Level: Medium to Difficult

The point of this game is to try to answer questions. We often take for granted many
things but if we consider them carefully sometimes they are not necessarily
logical.These questions are intended to make students speak. In most of the cases
there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. Here are some examples:

If you're so WISE can you tell me WHY:

Some birds have wings but never FLY.

not all the monkeys have a tail BEHIND.

Leopards have spots and TIGERS STRIPES.

Grooms dess in black and BRIDES in WHITE.

People wave their hands when they say good BYE.

The ocean�s blue and so is the SKY.

Our EYES shed tears when we CRY.

We must WRITE letters from left to RIGHT.

Roosters crow in the mornings at six or FIVE.

People trhow RICE to the groom and BRIDE.

We strech and yawn when we feel so TIRED.

As you can see I repeated the /ai/sound to create a special sensation to the ears.These
questions can also help you to teach pronunciation and intonation if you read them
with the proper rhythm.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez [email protected]

LISTENING EXERCISE (SONG PUZZLE)

Level: Medium to Difficult

I really like this activity because it is easy and fun. Students will say English is music
to my ears!

For this exercise you will need the lyrics of a song in English.You will need several
copies, one for each student .Cut the lines of the song .The students will try to put the
song in order.You will play the song as many times as necessary.The student who
finishes first is the winner.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez [email protected]

FOUR-LETTER-WORDS

Level: Any Level

This game has nothing to do with offensive words.I play it just for fun and the
students like it a lot.You will be amazed to see how many different words can be
generated from a single word!

1.-The teacher writes a four-letter word (not a bad word but word made up four
letters)on the board.
For example:

The teacher writes on the board: TIME

2.-Students will take turns generating words from the first one.The idea is to change
only one letter but generate a miningful word.

TEACHER.-TIME
STUDENT1.-DIME

3.-Any letter can be change.Only one at a time, but not on the same place
consecutively.Example:

TEACHER.- TIME
STUDENT1.- DIME
STUDENT2.- LIME (Wrong you should change any other letter but not on the same
place consecutively).

TEACHER.- TIME
STUDENT1.- DIME
STUDENT2.- DOME
STUDENT3.- COME
STUDENT4.- CAME
STUDENT5.- CANE
Etc.
Etc.

The teacher has to limit the time the students take to write the words (may be 20
seconds). The students score a point for each meaningful word they write. If a student
takes too much time he loses his turn. Finally the student who makes more points is
the winner.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez [email protected]

MEMORY GAME (Long and Short forms)

Level: Medium to Difficult

RULES: The same rules as the regular memory games(the only difference is they are
going to match the long forms with the sort forms).
Foreign students sometimes do not realize there are many reductions in English. They
feel frustrated when they are not able to understand spoken English. This is in part to
because they are not aware of short forms. A way to help them is by showing same
expressions in both short and long forms. Examples:

want to- wanna

going to-gonna
ought to-outta
because-'cause
a lot of- alotta
see you-seeya
got to-gotta
let me-lemmi
give me-gimmi
what have-wattav
etc.

I advise the teacher to read aloud the cards when the students pick them up in order to
encourage them to repeat and learn them.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez [email protected]

SPELLING REVIEW

Level: Medium

This activity will make students rewiew spelling in a funny way. You can create
similar spellings as the following ones:

I.1.2.C.U = I want to see you

R.U.O.K? = Are you O.k?
I�s T = Iced tea
I.C.Q = I seek you
I.O.U. = I owe you
E.Z. = Easy
B.Z. = Busy
I.1.T = I want tea
I.8 = I ate
U.2 = You two/ you too.
Y? = Why?
[email protected] = See you at nine
2E.Z.4U = Too easy for you
R.U.D.Z? = Are you dizzy?

stand
------ = I understand
I
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez [email protected]

PRONUNCIATION BINGOS

Level: Medium to Difficult

THIS BINGO IS FOR NOUN-VERB STRESS

I came out with this idea while I was teaching pronunciation in Mexico. The idea is to
make a bingo game contrasting the the pronunciation of nouns and verbs with the
same spelling.(Use a stress mark (�)to show the students that nouns are stressed in
the first syllable and verbs on the second).Examples:

pr�gress-progr�ss
pr�sent-pres�nt
pr�test-prot�st
c�ntract-contr�ct
d�sert-des�rt
r�bel-reb�l
s�spect-susp�ct
c�nsole-cons�le
c�nflict-confl�ct
r�cord-rec�rd
c�nvict-conv�ct
�nsert-ins�rt
p�rmit-perm�t
etc.

When you name the cards let the students listen to the words but not look at them.
This way they will be able to distinguish the difference.

------------------------------------------------------
MINIMAL PAIRS BINGO
The same can be done to teach minimal pairs.Examples:

sit-seat
but-bat
bought-boat
saw-so
base-vase
etc.

P.D.MAKE THIS GAME INTERESTING BY GIVING SMALL PRIZES TO THE

WINNERS.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez [email protected]

SAVED BY THE BELL

Level: Medium

I discovered this game while watching T.V. With some modifications the idea of the
game is the same:

1.-Place a buzz or bell inside a waste basket(a clean one, of course).

2.-Get a light ball that fits into the basket.

3.-The student will make a shot with the ball.If the student scores the bell will
ring(saved by the bell) , if the student fails a indiscreet question will have to be
answered by him/her.

4.-In advance, prepare as many cards with indiscreet questions as possible. For
example:

Have you ever cheated in a final test? Have you ever stolen something? Have you
ever had two or more boy/girlfriends at the same time?Have you ever gotten a ticket?
If so why?Have you ever had a nickname? If so, which one? etc,etc.

The point of this game is to practise asking and answering in a fun way. However, you
have to be very careful with the questions you write on the cards!(some questions may
be very offensive if you are not careful).
Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez
THE GAME OF TRUTH

Level: Medium to Difficult

I learnt this game when I was chatting with a brazilian girl.It is a very simple but
interactive game. As you know people always as the same questions in chats over and
over again.What do you do? How old are you? etc. She asked me if I wanted to play
THE GAME OF TRUTH. I say yes of course! Here are the rules:( I made some
changes for the English classroom)

1.Make a lot of small cards with interesting topics written on them, such as:
LOVE,JEALOUSY,PIRACY,MONEY,SMOKING,SEX,DINKING,CLONNING,BR
IBING,FRIENDSHIP,DEATH PENALTY,PHYSICAL
PUNISHMENT,FAMILY,etc,etc.Look for topics that make students
speak.Sometimes even CONTROVERSIAL ones.

2.-Every student in the class will take turns in taking a card.He or she will talk a little
about the topic in the card he or she selected. For example:

MONEY: for me money is very important , but is not the most important thing.It is
only a way to reach things.Success is not measure by the money you can get,etc,etc.

3.-Allow student to express their feelings even if it is not their turn. Remember the
main point of this game is to make students speak!However don�t lose the control of
the class.

P.D.If you select very interesting topics I garantee everybody will try to answer the
questions even when is not their own turn.This activity is excellento "to break the ice"
and to help you know each other in the classroom.

Submitted by Pablo Ortega Ju�rez

Invitation to an Annual Dinner

Level: Any Level

Pre-activity: The teacher should have taught students about prepositions.

Activity:In pairs, students are required to write a dialogue of about 12-15 exchanges
based on an invitation card given by the teacher.
Sample invitation card:

INVITATION TO EXECS BUSINESS ANNUAL DINNER

DATE: 24 JUNE 2001

PLACE:PALOMA BALLROOM, DE PALMA HOTEL
TIME: 7.30 AM
ATTIRE: FORMAL

Allow about half an hour to prepare the text and about 3 minutes to present it in class.
Ask students to be as creative as possible.

Students get to practice prepositions as well as Wh-questions. I find that my students

enjoying themselves while pretending to invite their friends to the annual dinner.
Submitted by Kaarthiyainy Supramaniam, MARA University of Technology

Movie Review

Level: Any Level

This could be carried out in pairs or in groups of 3-4.

Pre-activity:The tearcher should have taught students about adjectives and adverbs.
Activity:
students can choose a favourite movie, cartoon or television series to review. They
should talk about the main plot, actors and actresses, provide a synopsis and tell why
they have chosen that particular movie. Once they have discussed and edited their
movie review, they would have to present in front of the others, and hand over a copy
of the edited text to the teacher to be correceted.They may also include pictures to
make their movie review more interesting.
Submitted by Kaarthiyainy Supramaniam

Story telling & Memory Game

Level: Any Level

Ask the children {at least 5 to 6} to sit around in a circle

Ask one child to say a sentence in a story form e.g "once there was a boy".The next
child will have to repeat that sentence and add something more to it like "once there
was a boy whose name was John"In this way the children keep building up a story as
well as remembering what the previous sentences were.The child which forgets a line
will go out of the game.This game not only improves a child's memory but also
encourages him/her to be creative in story telling.
Submitted by Mrs.Ranjani.R.Gehani

Teacher

Level: Any Level

I'd like to work on games is classroom. I have got students of any levels and games
are a good practise to motivate students in classroom. I'd like to have more
instructions of how to work with them and if there are more suggestions of the source.

Best wishes,

Marta Leone

Mini Plays

Level: Medium to Difficult

The teacher makes up a little discussion which she reads or gives to a couple of
children to read. E.g.

Mum: Bye, now. Be careful!

John: Yes, Mom. I will.
Mum: Don�t forget to write.
John: No, Mom. I�ll write every day.
Mum: Call me when you get there.

And then the teacher chooses one aspect to the plays that will be improvised based on
this short discussion. E.g.

"Your plays must ne about a situation where somebody is leaving away. What
happens? What do you say? You have 5 minutes to practise a little play in groups of
2-5."
In five minutes the plays will be presented and some vocabulary can be marked, if you
feel like it. The kids love making plays and they are pretty good in improvising
incredible plays even in few minutes.
Submitted by Virpi, Finland

Active Brainstorming

Level: Any Level

This activity can be made to fit nearly any level, and works in class sizes of 6 to 40.
The aims are to not only to generate lists of relevant vocabulary around a theme, but
to invigorate the class with a rather noisy and rambunctious activity.

To begin with, the teacher must select three or four vocabulary subcategories within a
theme, for example with a theme of housing/describing rooms, the subcategories
might be things found in a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen; in a sports theme,
there might be team, individual, and non-competitive sports. Students are then paired
up and asked to generate ideas together for each subcategory, preferably under a time
limit to keep things pacey, much as in any brainstorming exercise. Then pairs should
be grouped into 2,3,or 4 larger teams (depending on class size, logistics, etc.) to
share/compare ideas and lengthen their lists if possible.

Now comes the wild part. The black/whiteboard is divided into sections, one for each
subcategory, and one student from each group is called up and handed a piece of chalk
or a marker of a color assigned to each team. There must be one color per team, eg.
the blue team, the yellow team, and so forth. The designated writers for each team are
not allowed to bring any paper up with them. Instead, their team members must shout
out ideas which can be put under each/any subcategory, including the correct spelling
of same. With all teams shouting at the same time, a seemingly out of control, but
quite enjoyable atmosphere pervades. The object is to be the team with the most
words on the board at the end.

It is best to stop every minute or two and change designated writers so that all can get
a chance. Also, depending on how strict the teacher wishes to be, groups which use L1
might have their entries ereased. It is also a good idea in big classrooms to move the
teams as far away from the board as possible, so as to increase the pandemonium.
Finally, the teacher shouts "Stop!", and the scores for each team are tabulated.

This activity will take between 30 and 50 minutes, has been used successfully with
groups ranging in age from 16 to 65, and would seem to suit younger learners as well.
The only materials required are a rather large board and as many different color
markers or pieces of chalk as there are teams.
Submitted by: P. Bruce Riley

A Variation on Bingo

Level: Any Level

Instead of making the cards yourself, have your students make them.

1. Get a set of review quesitons from your classes text book or trivia type stuff
that they should know. Make sure the questions cover a variety of grammar
points that you have studied.
2. Give each student a blank bingo grid.
3. Get the students to fill in the bingo grid with the proper answers to the
questions.
4. Go over the answers just to make sure every one has got it right etc...
5. Now start the bingo game, except instead of reading off the answers, read the
questions. this gets them thinking listening and writting/reading (three out of
the 4 ain't all bad eh?)

The Miming Game

Level: Any Level

This is a simple game which requires little preparation. Divide your students into
groups of 2 people(there may be two groups or more). Give each group a sentence that
includes grammar and/ or vocabulary already practised, and underline the words that
should be guessed exactly. One of the students in the group has to mime the sentence
and the other has to guess. Of course the other groups will also be allowd to guess,
which will create competition.
Submitted by Cris

Bingo Adapted

Level: Any Level

Use basic Bingo board (3x3 0r 5x5 with the middle crossed out)
1. Simple vocabulary bingo
From the list of words the students (Ss) are required to learn they select 9 (or 24) .
Teacher to call Bingo 2 or three times until everyone knows their card.

2. Teacher calls the words. Ss with those words have to shout them out. Only the first
one to shout gets to cover the square.

3. Grammar point or sentence structure.

Call the words. The first student to shout out their word in the the required structure
gets to cover the square.

eg. To use the present perfect.

After practising the vocabulary Ss have to say I've been a nurse or never been a nurse.
NB the truth is not important. I was happy with I've been a village once as long as
they knew what was wrong.
Gets very competitive and noisy.
Do not do with a hangover unless you get the winning student to be the bingo caller.
Submitted by jo

Find Someone Who ...

Level: Any Level

Get some questions from:

Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/questions/

Write some of them on the board and ask students to talk to each others as follows:

Find someone who...

..has already finished his/her Christmas shopping?
etc.

After a given amount of time, have the students tell the rest of the class who they
found.
Submitted by Juan Silva

The Alphabet game

Level: Any Level

This game is used to practice alphabet and check their vocabulary. Do as a

competition. Divide Students into groups of five ( it depends on the number of
students you have) and ask them to stand in line. give to the students of the front a
marker to write on the whiteboard.Then draw with your finger an imaginary letter of
the alphabet on the back of the students at the end of the line. They must do the same
with the student in front of him/her and so on. the students with the marker are
supposed to run to the board and write any word that begins with that letter. Students
love it!
Submitted by Andr�ia Martins

Associations Using the Subjunctive Mood

Level: Medium to Difficult

This game is very useful to teach the subjunctive mood.

All your students take part in this game. One of the students goes out of the room. All
the rest think of one student (he or she should be present). The student who went out
of the room comes in and asks "If this person were a vegetable (fruit, sweet, animal,
car, nature, flower, city etc) what vegetable ( fruit, sweet, animal etc) would he be?"

One of the students answers in a full sentence: "If he were an animal he would be a
dog" for instance

After some questions and answers the student who is asking the questions should
guess who it is and the game begins again with another student going out of the room.
Submitted by L.Voronina

Making Words from Letters in a Long Word

Level: Medium to Difficult

This game is a good activity for learning new words and for reviving some word
knoweledge and for giving a teacher time to prepare other tasks for students.

The class is to be divided into 2-3- teams. Give each team a dictionary and write on
the board a long word. Students should compose different words from the letters of
this word. After some time, the teams give their words. the team that has the most
correct words wins.

For example:

RETRIBUTION

return tribute iron notion note tone rib tube bruit tent tribe bur button rent burin nob
bite burr run route tire tore bent bet bonnet rub nib net nub bin nut bit rube ruin rob rot
unit union unite tier tie tin tint tone toe brute burn brunt butt butter riot tot tenet tenure
terrier retro bone boot born bout totter tote tour bore

Then you can ask them to learn these words.

Submitted by Shipulin Vladimir

BETTING/AUCTION

Level: Any Level

CLASS SIZE: 40

PREPARATION
Prepare a worksheet with 20 or so sentences using grammar points you have recently
taught. 2/3 of the sentences should include a grammatical mistake. Make fake money,
it is more realistic if you use the currency of whichever country they are living in.

PART ONE
Divide the students into teams of 5 or so. The students then have 10 minutes to study
the worksheet and decide and mark which sentences are correct (0) or incorrect (X).

PART TWO
Each team receives a set amount of money.
The instructor(s) reads one sentence (select sentences from the list in random order).
The instructor begins to auction off the sentence. The students should try to buy only
the correct sentences. The students bid and the instructor sells to the highest bidder.
(This is really fun!)
The instructor tells whether or not the sentence is correct.
IF the sentence is correct the team wins the amount which they bought if for. If it is
incorrect the team looses the amount which they bought it for. ANY team may win the
lost money buy stating the incorrect sentence correctly. (YOU WILL BE SHOCKED
TO SEE EVEN THE QUIET STUDENTS SCREAMING FOR YOUR
ATTENTION).
IF the sentence is CORRECT and NO ONE bids on it, ALL TEAMS must pay a fine.
After all the sentences have been read the team with the most money wins!

The students seem to really enjoy this game!

Submitted by Trish in Japan

The Brag Game

Level: Medium

This is a simple game I've made up to practise Present Perfect. You make up about
20-30 sentences in Present Perfect describing various activities one would share to
brag. For example: "I've eaten lunch with Al Gore".
"Spielberg has asked me to play in his next movie". Students draw a slip of paper with
a statement like that, he/she says it aloud to the group and they try to outdo him/her by
thinking up a statement which would be more impressive. It might look something
like this:

Student1: "I've eaten lunch with Al Gore"

S2: So what? I've eaten lunch with Bill Clinton!"
S3: So what? I've eaten lunch with Al Gore and Bill Clinton"
S4: So what? I've eaten Gore and Clinton for lunch"
When they can't come up with something, they just say WOW looking impressed and
move on to the next statement.

S1: Spielberg has asked me to play in his new movie.

S2: So what? I've asked Spielberg to play in MY new movie.
S3: WOW

They seemed to have fun with this game.

Submitted by Andrzej J. Czopek

Adding to the Story: OHPs in the classroom

Level: Any Level

Adding to the Story: OHPs in the classroom

  By: Christine Canning-Wilson,
 Email: [email protected]

Aim: To give students further practice in expanding paragraphs.

Materials Needed: OHP transparencies/pens/ OHP machine

Stage One: Photocopy a background scene on to a transparency. Next, put it up on the

wall next to the white board. Ask students to write down ideas about the place.
Ask the students to predict what is going to happen today in the town,
mountainside,etc....

(Before the class, photocopy onto an OHP different people or animals that can be cut
out and dropped into the scenary or the background)

Next, say "perhaps" to their suggestions and then begin to add a transparency
character to the scene. Elicit from the students information and questions about the
person. Keep adding characters and letting students discuss possibilities and changes
for the story.

After that, in groups ask students to write a story about the scene. Ask them to
describe the environment and atmosphere in the first paragraph and to start to tell the
story thereafter.

When the students complete their stories, pass the papers aroung for other groups to
read and peer edit before asking the original group to tell their story about the
illustration.
Submitted by Christine Canning-Wilson, CERT, Higher Colleges of Technology

Group Dialogue

Level: Any Level

Following a simple warm-up where each person must say a word associated with the
word mentioned by the person before him or her, I have them repeat the same
procedure but with complete sentences, as if it were a discussion between two people.
For example: student 1, "Hi how are you Joe?"; student 2, "Oh pretty good Sue. How
about you?"; student 3, " Well, not so good."; student 4, " Why not?", etc. The
dialogue must procede in such a way that the last person concludes the discussion and
they bid each other goodbye. You never know where the conversation will lead and
it's excellent for listening, even without a point system!
Submitted by Tim Morgan

Present Continuous Videos

Level: Any Level

I've used this activity in just about every class I've ever had, it's suitable for any age
group and any level but the best thing about it is that it requires almost no preparation.

You'll need a video. I usually use Mr Bean but anything will do as long as it isn't
dialogue heavy and has a lot of action.

The students will need a piece of paper and a pen. Arrange students in two rows and
seat them back to back so that the video can be seen by one row (watchers) but not by
the other (writers).

Explain to the watchers that they are to describe the action taking place on the screen
using the present continuous, they can also describe clothing, people, anything really
but try to keep the focus on the action.
The writers have to listen carefully to the watcher sitting behind them and write down
as much information as they can.

Keep this going for about five or ten minutes (or as long as a Mr Bean sketch) then get
them to swap chairs and play a different sketch/segment for the new row of watchers.

Put the students into two groups according to row. They must now pool their notes
and create their own version of events. Good past continuous practice!

I usually get them to share their stories with the other group and then at the end let
them watch both segments again and compare their version with what actually
happened.

Lots of listening, speaking, writing and lots of fun.

Submitted by Vanessa P.

Twenty Questions

Level: Any Level

Using 3X5 file cards I cut and pasted a number of articles from a catalogue. I write on
the board questions such as
Would I find this in the house? (If not assume it is outside)
Does it weigh more than 10 pounds?
Does it have wheels?
Does it have a motor?
Does it make noise?
Do you have one ?
Would you like one?
Can you eat it?
Can you wear it?
Is it used in the summer? (if not therefore it is used in winter)

Students work in pairs and may answer only YES or NO and keep track of the number
of questions. You can use many more questions perhaps using words that are new or
different.
your email address does not work!!!!
Annette Delanghe [email protected]
Submitted by Annette Delanghe

Essay Planning Made Easy

Level: Any Level

My students find it hard to brainstorm ideas,plan what to write and present balanced
opinions. This activity seems to help because it works from a fun speaking base.
Use big pieces of paper. Write a different word within a group on four pieces of paper
and stick in different corners of the room(eg. animals: horse, elephant, dog, monkey)
Tell the sts to go and stand next to the (animal) you like best/fear most/want to be"
etc. Students go to corners and justify their choice to other students.
This can be done in various ways to suit the situation; I sometimes end up with teams
having to offer and counteract arguments publicly across the room. The topics can
become more abstract, depending on the level of the students.
Finally, bring the activity together by choosing the basis of an essay topic,eg "The
Rainforests". Elicit single words for the big pieces of paper, eg 'fuel/building
materials/ oxygen/medicines (the brainstorm) and stick them on the board. Then invite
students to sort them into two overarching groups; eg reasons for forest conservation
or reasons for using the wood (the plan) Repeat the verbal argument 'game' in teams
but keep notes of the submissions on the board or on paper(the body of the essay)
Finally write a sentence on the board eg:
"Although it is important to ___ because ___(give one reason) I believe it is more
important to ___ because (give two main reasons."
Students then go to one of the two main groups they broadly agree with and produce
their final pronouncement(the conclusion).
Review the process overtly. Get the students to write in groups next time, then go it
alone with the same methods.
Submitted by Jane King, New Zealand

The Grandfather

Level: Any Level

Objective : to practice the numbers.

Procedure :

Students are sit in circle. Then, they are given a number. One of them or the teacher
can be the Grandfather. The game goes like this.

A : When the grandpa died, he left twenty cups of wine.

( the person who has number 20 answers :)

B : why 20 ?
A : So, how many ?
B : what about 2 ?

( the person with number 2 says : )

C : why 2 ?
B : So, how many ?
C : what about 3 ?

(and so on..)
The winner is the person who does not hesitate and make a mistake. Advanced
students must play the game in English. But if you have beginners, the game can be
played in the students� mother tongue ; however, numbers must be said in English.
Students need to be attentive, otherwise they are asked to leave the game.
Submitted by Hermilo Gomez Hernandez - Universidad de Quintana Roo, Mexico
MIMES

Level: Easy to Medium

THIS GAME IS VERY USEFUL TO PRACTICE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

STRUCTURES. yOU HAVE TO GIVE TO EACH STUDENT A SMALL CARD
WITH AN ACTION (i.e. YOU ARE DANCING). THE STUDENT HAS TO MIME
THE ACTION IN FRONT OF THE CLASS AND EACH STUDENT IN TURN
WILL TRY TO GUESS WHAT HE'S DOING POSING A QUESTION LIKE: "ARE
YOU DANCING?". THE STUDENT WHO MIMES HAS TO ANSWER "YES I
AM" OR "NO I'M NOT". THIS WAY PUPILS PRACTICE AND HAVE FUN!
Good luck!!!
Gloria from Italy ([email protected])
Submitted by Gloria

NAME THE PLACE

Level: Any Level

First prepare a list of places about 20 on seperate pieces of paper and then divide the
students into groups of 4-6. One member of the group chooses a piece of paper and
between the group they prepare a dialogue or mini-theatre based on their place. When
all the groups have prepared their work they take it in turns to read or play them out
and the other students have to guess the name of the place it is taking place. A time
limit can be based on the level of the students. I find this works very well with student
who do not have enough confidence to just speak without preperation, but after the
exercise they gain a lot of confidence by trying to speak by not looking.
Submitted by Gina Tuncer( practical teacher in Turkey)

A variation on the "NAME THE PLACE" activity above is to do the same but
put times of the day on the slips of paper. Students have to write a dialogue
sketch to get students to guess the time of day. Stop

Level: Medium to Difficult

STEP 1:

On the top of a page each student writes the following: category names:
NAME, PLACE, ACTION, ANIMAL, OBJECT, FRUIT/VEGGY and TOTAL.
STEP 2:

Someone starts saying the alphabet, A, B, C...etc. then someone else

interrupts the alphabet-teller shouting : STOP!!!

STEP 3:

Let us suppose the alphbet-teller was interrupted on letter "K". All the
participants in the game would try to find words that start with "K" to fill out
the category chart. For example one may write: Kansas for "PLACE", koala for
"ANIMAL", key for "OBJECT", kiwii for "FRUIT" and so on.

STEP 4:

The participant that finishes filling all categories first shouts STOP!! And all the
others should stop writing.

STEP 5:

The participants compare their words. The words repeated by two players are
worth 50 points. the words repeated by three or more are worth 25. The
words that are not repeated by anyone are worth 100 points. The empty
categories are "0". Each player adds up all the points he got for the letter in
turn and put the result in the "TOTAL" At the end of the game all the subtotals
are added and the one who gets the highest score is the winner.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega-Ju�rez

Verb Review Game

Level: Any Level

This game can be played in teams or individually, depending on the size end
knowledge of the students.

Step 1:

The teacher gives the students 5 minutes to review a list of both regular and
irregular verbs.
Step 2:

Then the teacher writes something like this on the board : "things we do with
our feet"

Step 3:

The students then have exactly one minute to write all the verbs related to
this topic, such as: walk, kick, dance, run, jump, etc.

Step 4:

After the time is up, the teacher checks the students' lists of vebs. Each verb
counts for one point. Any verbs appearing in more than one list are
elliminated.

Then the teacher writes another topic on the board, "things we do with our mouth",
for instance.

The student or team with the most points is the winner.

NOTE:This game can be used to review ot only verbs but also adjetives, nouns etc.
Submitted by Pablo Ortega

Create Your Own Similes

Level: Easy to Medium

1. Present a few similes and the sample sentences to the class. Write the
sentences with underline.
Ex. - The baby's skin was as white as snow.
- Finishing up the project by himself,the boy was as
- proud as a peacock.
2. Prepare flashcards with one adjective on each. Students pick out one card in
turn and create similes by using the adjective on the card. Emphasize that
unique ideas are welcome. Instructor shouldn't be judgmental, and accept any
similes as long as they are logical.
Ex. - as big as Mt. Fuji / as soft as a cotton candy
Students compare their ideas and discuss which ones are interesting or funny.
 3. If time allows play a song which includes a simile, for example the jazz song
"As deep as the ocean" and discuss the usage and effectiveness of the simile.

This activity fosters students' creativity and encourage their active participation in
the lesson.
Submitted by Mari Nakamura

Finding the best person for the job

Level: Any Level

The idea of this activity is to review or learn personality adjectives.

Tell the students that they are the owners of a cafe and they have to choose a new
waiter/waitress from a list of four applicants for the job.
The teacher's preparation involves thinking of four personality adjectives for each
applicant.Give the applicants a name and a colour. One applicant should be ideal for
the job, two neutral and the other totally useless. After this the teacher writes each
adjective on a separate card using a different colour pen for each applicant. Four
applicants,four colours,sixteen adjectives altogether.
The next step is to arrive at work early before the students and hide the cards in
sixteen different places around the classroom.
When the class starts, you explain the activity by telling the students their aim is to
decide which applicant is best for the job.There are four applicants, each with their
own colour and a total of sixteen words. The pair that finds all the words and chooses
the best applicant first are the winners. But first they have to find the cards!
Pair the students off. Student A stays put while student B searches for the hidden
words. When a word is found B must read it, (without alerting the other
searchers )return to A and quietly say the word.A writes the word, keeping words of
the same colour together. If B forgets the word or the correct spelling,he /she has to
return to the word. A and B should swap roles after a number of words have been
found.
At the end of the activity stick all the words on the board, in their colour groups,under
the correct name. All the students can then discuss why the applicants are/are not
suitable for the job.
The job could be changed depending on what sort of adjectives you would like to
focus on as could the number and dificulty of the adjectives.
Submitted by Colin Guest
Village Fair

Level: Easy to Medium

Aim: To practise interrogatives ; suggestions ;acceptance ; refusal etc.

Each student decides what wares he is carrying to market to sell. Also what he wants
to buy to take home.
Melee' : Students move around classroom trying to sell their wares ; haggling over
prices , quantities etc.
They use language such as How about...? ; Could you make that...? ; That's a deal ; No
deal etc.
End of 10 minutes all students report to rest of class what sales they made , what they
couldn't sell and what they bought.
Depending on the proficiency of the class , language help may be provided at the
beginning.
Submitted by Parvathi Krishnan India

Writing on Shirts

Level: Easy to Medium

1. The pupils say slogans/blessings/funny proverbs, etc.

2. The teacher writes them on the blackboard.
3. The pupils then write their favorite slogans with special markers on T-shirts.

Advice

Level: Medium to Difficult

Aims: To practise giving advice and suggestions. To trigger creative

contributions. To generate interaction from a simple raw material.

1 Get a student to say the first sentence below to his neighbour. The
latter makes a suggestion, and goes on to utter the next of my sentences,
and so on.
2 If the students are a bit cold, do the following; get them all to write
down a piece of advice for the first sentence on a page-give them time.
Then, you can go around the class enjoying the wide variety of
contributions which are sure to ensue.

(I actually did the uttering of the sentences, and allowed the students to
propose the advice).

Note: For some sentences you may get really boring answers, devoid of any
thought-get them to modify it, change it a bit, spice it up, use
creativity!

I HAVE A HEADACHE.

I HATE WORKING.

I FEEL SAD.

I WANT TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.

I LOVE PEOPLE.

I AM ALWAYS LATE.

I KEEP LOSING MY CREDIT CARD.

MY FRIENDS DON'T WANT TO SEE ME.

I HAVE A RED NOSE.

I AM ALWAYS CRASHING MY CAR.

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET SOME PEOPLE.

IT WOULD BE GREAT TO BE RICH.

MY STOMACH IS HUGE

I AM VERY INTELLECTUAL.

MOTHER SAYS I AM ATTRACTIVE.

YOU SHOULD + INFINITIVE
YOU OUGHT TO + INFINITIVE (FORMAL)
IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA IF YOU + PAST SIMPLE
IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD ...
YOU HAD BETTER ... + INFINITIVE
YOU WILL HAVE TO + INFINITIVE
IT IS TIME YOU + PAST SIMPLE
WHY DON'T YOU ... + INFINITIVE
YOU COULD ALWAYS ... + INFINITIVE
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT ... + ING
IMPERATIVES (Don't ... Do ...)
Submitted by Gerard Counihan

Animals for a Day

Level: Medium to Difficult

Activity A

Show the students a photocopied list of many different animals (mammals,

amphibians ...), and ask them to choose, individually and without speaking,
an animal they would like to be for a day. Give them a minute. Then
(something they won't be expecting), get them to write a few sentences,
once again working alone, about their day, or their thoughts-as the animal
they have chosen. Give them a few minutes.

Needless to say, you will be surprised by the imagination of your students,

many of whom, I believe, love to indulge in moments of escapism-something
us teachers know all about!

For example, I had a group of five female students, three of whom chose to
be dolphins, one an eagle, and the last a bear.

What I got from one girl:

"I am a bear and I live with my friends in a mountain. I am happy, but when
I see a hunter I attack him, but when I see a tourist I shout at him".

A second:
"I am a dolphin, but I am sad because they have put me into a pool, where I
cannot move like before ...".

Activity B

Now, what you can do is get the students to read/tell their story, adding
in extra bits as they go along.

Activity C

Now, you can ask them why they chose this animal, and then go on to pick up
on what they said, expanding it into a session of exchanges between the
students, involving yourself if you feel like it.

Activity D

Get a blank page and draw a circle in the centre. Then, place the words
"animal in captivity" inside the circle. Give each student a copy of the
page and tell them to do an INDIVIDUAL brainstorming exercise on the words
in the circle. That is, get them to draw lines from the circle, each line
leading up to a word or image suggested by the animal's situation. Give
them all a few minutes to do this.

This, we can call a word-map, or even a mind-map.

Next, get each student to read out the ideas that came spontaneously into
their heads as they thought. You can all marvel at the number of
differences-or similarities that arise, and go on to discuss the matter of
captive animals.

Don't forget to question students on why they put in such and such a thing.
Watch out for strange concepts!

Put all the pages together so that the students can somehow see the work
carried out by the rest.

Perhaps now, as a group, they could all focus on the main aspects of
animals in captivity.

You could then move on to debate issues like endangered species, whale
hunting ...
Activity E

(B) TIGERS KILL TOURISTS (B)

Get the students to debate, or role play, the following incident: Two
German pensioners alighted from their car in a Spanish nature park in order
to get a better picture (christ!) of the tigers, who were relaxing in the
shade of a tree at the time. They were, bluntly, torn apart. There were
signs up in many languages warning people to stay in their cars ...

Should the animals be put down?

Should they be in nature reserves in the first place?
Etc

Activity F

Here, you could mention the pros and cons of having a domestic animal-a
pet-at home.
Submitted by Gerard Counihan

Animals, Our Friends

Level: Medium to Difficult

In February of 1998, a Somerset (UK) man was trapped under a fallen van he
had been repairing. As he cried for help and darkness fell it seemed he
would be left there all night; his leg had been caught beneath the wheels.
The area was rather isolated and nobody heard his cries-except a parrot
perched on a caravan in a nearby camp site. The bird mimicked the man's
cries, which is apparently normal behaviour for this type of animal, and
alerted two men working in the area. These reversed the van off the injured
man, who, in the end, only had slight injuries.

Activity A

Have you ever been in a similar situation? Has an animal ever helped you in
some way?

Activity B
Do you think animals are necessary for humans? Why?

Examples:

Company
Protection
Cosmetic testing
...........
...........

Activity C

List the most helpful animals, and why.

Examples:

1 The elephant can transport us and pull trees

2 Dogs keep us company
3 Spiders eat flies
4 Cows give us meat and leather
5 .....................
6 ..........................

Activity D

Negative points associated with animals

1 They bite humans

2 They answer the call of nature anywhere
3 They bark and wake us up at night
4 .............
5 .................

Activity E

Should we use animals to test drugs and cosmetic products on? If your
answer is "no", what way do you suggest instead? Humans? Robots?

Activity F

When you are at home, studying or watching TV, and you see a fly or a
spider, what is your first reaction? Do you normally kill it? Why?
Submitted by Gerard Counihan
Mystery Object

Level: Any Level

I am teaching my Level 1 writing students how to describe things by means of process

(First second then), extended definition (for instance/compare-contrast), and
directions (N.S.E.W./right, left, etc). We have done these things one at a time but my
students are continually making learning leaps beyond the simple assignments and I
want to reward them for their abilities while making sure they have the basics down.
Also, we will soon be studying the correct form for personal letters and I think they
are ready to move on. We did these two fun assignments:

Imagine a terrible disaster has befallen our class here at the University (Monsoon,
earthquake, rainstorm, snowstorm, tornado, flood, etc.) Write me a letter in which you
describe this event and tell me exactly how you responded (I ran out the door and
turned left! I ran straight ahead to the end of the hall and looked right and left. etc.).

We had such fun with this assignment! Everyone got into the drama! Exciting
assignments like this really test the basic understanding of sentence construction as
well as show them how all these forms work together in a paragraph. It was clear
when they began to put all of the various forms together that some of them had not
completely understood directions when they were not directly connected with the
book example of street directions (North, South, and Right, Left). After this adventure
in creative writing, however, they all felt that every sort of description was easy. So,
we went on to another adventure that was even more fun!

Assignment 2: Write me a letter in which you tell me a wild story or an outrageous lie
about yourself! (Everyone looks up outrageous in their dictionary). I provided them
with stamped envelopes and these letters were actually mailed to me -- so I had the
additional fun of getting personal letters in the mail. These letters were the best
writing they had done so far and were, in addition, hysterically funny (one of my
Turkish students warned me that he was a space alien and that the information he was
about to tell me was "specific and secret!"). The following week, I helped each
student with grammer mistakes and then read the corrected letters aloud in class.
Everyone enjoyed this (particularly the public praise and appreciative applause) and
they also saw that there were many ways to tell a story and still use correct English
writing style. Two of my students had difficulty with sentence construction when they
let their imaginations run in this way so they were provided with a topic
sentence/supporting sentence review tool and they then wrote me a third letter while
constantly referring to their topic/supporting sentence diagram. The improvement in
their writing was astonishing.

I always encourage imaginations running wild; the greatest portion of my student's

training tends to be incredibly focused and detail-oriented and an occasional stretch is
important. Also, my father, who was an orchestra conductor, told me that when you
are about to begin a new piece with the orchestra you do not start by practicing each
section and then, when the sections are perfect, putting them together. You start by
playing the entire piece through! You tell everyone not to be concerned about their
mistakes, but just to try and keep up. Naturally this first "stagger through" sounds
terrible! But the psychological result is that when you are done every musician says to
himself, "I can do this!" Obviously, they do not want to look bad in the group, so they
will self-discipline themselves to improve.

Role Play: The Exclusive Picture

Level: Medium to Advanced

 Time: One hour, including follow-up debate.

 Language: As many speech acts as are possible. "Divergent"approach (see The
Internet TESL Journal" for a good article by Patricia K. Tompkins).
 Organization: Small group (in my case, 7).
 Warm-up/Preparation: Each student compiles a fictitious character profile(or
merely thinks up a few ideas on what he mightsay in the context).
 Procedure: Teacher asks for volunteers, or appoints them ifthe students are
stalling too much.

Background:

The editor of a newspaper, whose sales are not going well at the moment, has just
received a very graphic photo of a horrendous accident involving a school-bus and
which occurred on a nearby motorway due to heavy fog. In the photo, you can see the
injured and dead strewn around the crash scene. The rest is easy to imagine. The
problem is whether to publish it or not. The image could shock, all the more so if it is
on the front page. Should not the victims be left in peace, and not appear on the cover
of a newspaper. Then again, perhaps by publishing this photo, the editor seeks to
educate would-be careless drivers, or would-be drink-drivers. Of course, why should
these victims be used as free advertising? Also, it is news, and nobody can fault a
journalist for airing a story and photo. Moreover, the photo will attract, perhaps, new
customers; people have a morbid interest in the misfortunes of others, it is said.

Role players:

 The editor, quite young.

 The photographer who took the shot, single.
 The accountant, married with two children.
 A journalist-relative of one of the victims-in favour ofpublication,
 married (with or without children).
 A second journalist, single, who is against publication.
 More journalists from various sections of the paper.

(The ages and marital status may be altered as you see fit).

Facts on newspaper:

 Employs fifty workers, most with children.

 Is on the verge of closure.
 Serious newspaper.

Follow-up:

Teacher collects main arguments raised and writes them down in order to fully tease
out what was said, the validity/logic of same.

A more open " casual" group debate can ensue in the wake of the role play.

Variation:

Instead of a photo, it could be a nasty story about a local hero/personality.

Off-shoot Activity:

 The role of newspapers in society.

 What sells newspaper.
 Why do we buy newspapers.
 Will they disappear in the future?
20 True or False Items

Level: Easy to Medium

Print this out and give it to your students.

1. I never go to bed after 1 am

2. I study English more than 2 hours a week
3. I had a great time at secondary school-I loved it
4. My ambition in life is to get a permanent job
5. My parents started giving me pocket money when I was five
6. I don't mind wet days, there are still plenty of things to do
7. I really believe that motorbikes are dangerous
8. Parents spoil their children nowadays
9. The beach is for relaxing and doing nothing
10.I am an adventurous person
11.I never run for a bus-I can catch the following one
12.In the end, most people are very nice
13.I absolutely hate Mondays
14.I have never stolen anything-never
15.People who smoke are crazy
16.Tall men/women are more interesting than small ones
17.People who watch more than 2 hours of TV a day are wasting time
18.Spending 4,000 pesetas on a permanent is immoral
19.Keeping animals at home is cruel
20.I am intelligent

Word Grab with Songs

Level: Any Level

This is a wonderful activity if you think your class needs waking up a little.
Choose a song that the students have or have not heard before. Choose 10-15 pieces of
vocabulary from the song and write them on separate pieces of paper. With lower
level groups you may want to pronounce the words with the students first. Stick each
word to the board with putty (blue tack). Put the students into 2 teams each one in a
line before the board. Play the song. When the 2 students at the front of their line hear
a word in the song that is on the board they must race each other to grab that word
from the board (this can get quite violent!). They then go to the back of the line and
it's up to the next pair. The team with the most words wins.
I don't usually stop the tape so don't choose words that come one after the other. If
you want to make it more difficult you can put red herrings up. You can usually play
the song a couple of times until they get all the words.
Submitted by Nicola Turner

Is Your Conversation Style Feminine or Masculine?

Level: Medium

The following activity is loosely based on Conversation Analysis readings, so nothing

is hard and fast doctrine. It seeks to be thought-provoking and there may be a grain of
truth in some of the statements below. Remember also that men and women express
themselves differently according to the make-up of the conversation group. That is,
the group may be mixed gender, all male or all female, hence the type of exchanges
will be different-the atmosphere too. Furthermore, the group may be friends, work-
mates, academics, a meeting ....

If nothing else, it should generate chat.

Put yes (Y) or no (N) for the sentences below.

Generally speaking, when I converse with people I know:

 I am a blunt person
 I criticise people
 I am a little sarcastic
 I ask a lot of questions in a conversation, to find out about people, their
thoughts, etc
 I rarely admit I am wrong about something when I am in a conversation
 I make eye-contact and use body language in conversations
 I generalise
 I get personal with people in conversations; I may even gossip about a mutual
friend
 I compliment people spontaneously
 I use four-letter words, coarse language
 I like to talk about myself
 I am a good listener
 I prefer to talk about non-personal topics, such as unemployment, the economy,
current affairs ...
 I usually talk about personal problems, people, their way of being, hopes,
desires, my family ...
  I get personal when I write a letter to someone, but not face to face in a
conversation
 I help to keep a conversation flowing, I am not provocative, controversial,
confrontational ...
 I like to get my say, get in a few comments, no matter what the topic
 I don't assert something, but I might preface a comment with "I think, I
suppose, perhaps"
 I talk a lot
 If I ask a question, it is generally a yes-no answer I am looking for
 I don't mind talking about a situation where I was embarrassed,humiliated and
so on

** Results ** (A personal view)

Men, it is said, are more assertive, sarcastic, long-winded, non-personal and so on,
while women are collaborative, personal and happy to take a back seat in many chats-
it is said. So, working on the previous assertions-and more-you can score the test the
following way:

4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 21 would be more feminine traits-generally speaking The
rest, male.

Once again, the activity should not give rise to aggressive exchanges.
Submitted by Gerard Counihan

A Conversation Idea - Rate the Apparatus

Level: Medium

Activity A

The many household apparatus/machines/gadgets we use at home make life a

little bit easier; the micro-wave oven heats things up quickly; the fridge keeps
perishable goods fresh; the washing-machine cleans our clothes and saves us
time. So, when put to the test, which of these machines/apparatus could we
do without-IF WE HAD TO. In other words, which of these machines is the
most important, generally speaking. Get your students to make a list of ten
common ones, and then get them to list them in order of perceived necessity
(for want of a better word). Here is a list I gleaned from my pupils, don't
show it to the pupils at first.
Refrigerator
Washing machine
Shower
Toilet
Tea/Coffee maker
TV
Radio
Telephone
Light bulb
Cooker

Of course, these items must be rated according to perceived necessity, and

the rating must be justified. Reasons for a choice must be given. Students
will debate the "top" necessity and so on, down to the least important
item.

Activity B

Are these things necessary?

The activity A could branch out into further items we use to make life
easier and, presumably, make life better. For example:

Perfume
Hair driers
Mirrors
Walkman
Cigarette lighters
Special wine glasses
Mobile telephones
Curtains
Expensive furniture
Sweets and savouries
Etc ...

The idea is not to embark on an ethical crusade, but simple to get people
thinking and speaking in English. All of this is, crucially, backed up by
realistic reasons for the comments made. Some of the items above are by no
means original, but they are everyday things which are part and parcel of
our lives.
Can you think of more normal, common-or-garden items which could be
dispensed with?
Submitted by Gerard Counihan

A Conversation Idea - How Do You Kill Time?

Level: Medium

Here is a simple idea to generate chat among your students. We all know
that there are moments during the day when we have nothing to do, no plans.
For example, when you are waiting for a teacher, a friend and so on. How do
we occupy these periods of time, either mentally or physically? For
example:

Activity A

What do you do during the TV advertisements?

Make a list of what the students say

(My students got these)

Talk to my sister
I read something, anything
I get up and do something
I go to the bathroom (!)
I change channels
I look for something to eat or read
I call a friend
I water the plants
I put on some food for the next day
I phone Pizza Hut
I put the children to bed
I brush my teeth
I unload the washing machine/put clothes on line
I rush to do the washing-up

You can also get the students to tick off the ones which they regularly do
and check the most common activities
Activity B

Ways to pass the time/occupy your mind/self when you are:

In a bus queue
Waiting at a supermarket check-out
In a doctor's waiting-room
Waiting for your boy/girlfriend on a cold day-outdoors
In a cinema/theatre, waiting for the film/play
In a traffic jam
In an airport/train station
In a lift/elevator
Getting your hair done/cut
Etc ...
Submitted by Gerard Counihan

Tell me about myself

Level: Any Level

This game works well with students at pre-intermediate level or above and can be
adapted accordingly. It is an original way of introducing yourself (as a teacher) to a
class for the first time, but could also be used later on.

Prepare in advance, on an overhead transparency or white-board, a mind map of

yourself. Instead of using sentences to describe your life, use single words, numbers,
dates, symbols and illustrations where possible.
For example I include information about my life in England, names of siblings, date
of birth, name of hometown etc. (My hometown is Stoke-on-Trent which I then
illustrate with a cup and saucer - the Potteries, and a football - Stoke City FC. It keeps
them guessing.)
I include information about my husband (name and illustration of job) children
(names, ages, birthdays). You can add your shoe size, height, illustrations of your
hobbies etc. I draw a needle and thread - sewing, a pair of skis - I enjoy skiing, and a
pencil - drawing.
Any kind of information can be included. Use your imagination! I live in Sweden and
draw a picture of a snowman with a cross through it to illustrate that I don�t like the
winter!
Get your students to tell you what the information means. For example.
  July - is that when your birthday is?
 Does the cup and saucer mean you drink tea?

Try and get a good mix of obvious and less obvious information. For example, when I
drew a fish (to illustrate that I kept tropical fish) it provoked questions like:

 Do you eat a lot of fish?

 Do you enjoy fishing?
 Is your star sign pisces?

Give them a clue if they�re having problems guessing.

This game has worked wonderfully for me in many classes of varying levels. To
follow up, get you students to take a few minutes to prepare something similar
individually, and then work in pairs guessing what the information means about their
partner.
Submitted by Dawn Garnheim, Sweden

People Who ...

Level: Any Level

An activity whose aim is to complete sentences and also take advantage of the
contributions in order to generate debate and interaction.

How: Just hand out the following sheet with the heading

PEOPLE WHO ...

and tell the students they have to complete the sentences with realism-not just adding
on a grammatically correct ending.

PARK THEIR CARS ON THE FOOTPATH ...

WHO DON'T PAY TAX ...

WHO THROW LITTER ON THE GROUND ...

WHO GIVE MONEY TO CHARITIES ...

EAT CRISPS AT THE CINEMA ARE ...

WHO DRINK AND DRIVE ...

WHO TRAVEL A LOT ...

WHO SAVE LOTS OF MONEY ...

WATCH TV ALL DAY ...

GO TO THE OPERA ...

EAT FROG'S LEGS ...

CLIMB EVEREST ...

HUNT WHALES ...

EAT TOO MUCH ...

DRIVE TOO FAST ...

JUMP QUEUES ...

WHISTLE AT GIRLS ...

SMOKE IN PUBLIC SPACES ...

EARN A LOT OF MONEY ...

THROW THEIR OLD COOKER INTO A FIELD ...

SNORE ...

Etc .......... (Add more!)

NB: The idea is to get personal, individual endings. For example, for

"People who eat crisps in the cinema ...",

I got:
annoy me
should eat them before the show
make a lot of noise
have a right to do so (!)

As you can see, everybody has a different answer-and opinion. The latter is what
generates talk.

So you kill two birds with one stone: You practise grammar and you get students
talking.

Submitted by Gerard Counihan

FLY SWAT!

Level: Any Level

Divide your class into 2 groups.

Choose 2 ss. and ask them to go to the back part of the classroom and turn back.
Display on the blackboard 20 vocabulary words and over 10 of them paste "flies"
made of cardboard paper with a piece of velcro on them.
Give both ss. a fly swatter with the other side of velcro on them.
The objective on the game is that you will say a word and ss. will turn back and run to
"fly swat" the word that has the bug over it. The ss. who "kills" the fly has to spell the
word and then he will score a point for his team.

With the fly swatter and the velcro flies, you can invent many different games. Try
it!!!

I�ve worked with 4, 5 and 6 graders and they love this game.
Submitted by Guillermo Flores Grajales

pop

Level: Medium

Name Six

Level: Any Level

This game is fun and challenging at the same time. It can be adapted for virtually any
subject and any grade level. It allows the students to review material they've learned,
without having to get out a pencil and paper and answer questions from the text.

 Arrange 6 chairs in a circle and choose one person, the teacher or another
student, to stand outside the circle.
 Give someone in the circle a stuffed animal, the funnier the animal the better!
 The person outside the circle states what the person holding the animal has to
name six of.
 The person then starts moving the animal around the circle and the other
players pass it around.
 The player must name six of the objects before the animal gets back to him or
her.

For example, let's say that you have just finished a vocabulary unit on animals. The
person standing outside the group may say something like,"Name six animals that
have fur." The person sitting in the circle begins namimg six animals and at the same
time, the stuffed animal is being passed around the circle. If the player cannot name 6
animals with fur by the time the stuffed animal reaches him, he has lost and it's his
turn to stand outside the group and stunt the other students.

My students absolutely love this game and so do I because it requires no prep time!! It
may take the students a few times before they become successful at the game, but
eventually I'm sure it will become one of their favorites. I hope you have as much
success with Name Six as I have had.
Submitted by Sammie Leyder

Career Letters

Level: Medium to Difficult

My high school students have enjoyed this activity very much. It helps them think
about more possibilities for a future career and is a great writing activity. They also
learn how to write a business letter by writing a real letter.

Many ESL students have limited knowledge of career possibilities. Far too many
think only in terms of becoming a mechanic or a secretary. So first you discuss with
them some of the opportunities they have.

Students choose a career field and then write a letter to a school requesting
information about that field. It could be anything from astronomer (local or out-of-
town university) to electrician (technical institute) to travel agent (yes, there are travel
agency schools!)

You help them perfect the letters and mail them out. When they get a reply, share it
with the class.
Submitted by Dale Garratt

Learning Months of the Year

Level: Easy

To teach younger ESL students (K-3) the months of the

year, take lamented pictures representing the months:

January-snowman
February-heart
March-shamrock
April-umbrella/bunny/Easter egg
May-flowers
June-sun/watermelom
July-flag
August-sailboat/?????
September-apple/schoolhouse
October-pumpkin
November-turkey
December-Christmas tree/Menorrah

Have the students tell you which picture goes with each
month, or put the pictures in order by month
Submitted by Jeannie LaFlame

Personal Survey

Level: Easy to Medium

Here is a light-hearted idea to get pupils talking in conversation class. I have adapted
an idea I found in a gossip magazine.

TEACHER TIP
Get your students to fill out this mini survey. You can ask them questions at the end of
the exercise or go through the answers as they are made. Obviously, you don't dwell
on the "childhood" question too much-it's meant to be a bit of fun. But you should get
some mileage from the "white lies" one.

PERSONAL SURVEY

Did you have a happy childhood?

When do you tell white lies? Tell us one.

The most capable person in your country?

Favourite novelist?

Proudest moment?

Worst moment? (last week if necessary)

Most hated song/music at the moment?

The last piece of music you bought?

Were you good at school?

The greatest influence on you? (parents, friends ...)

Current bedside reading material?

Where will you go when you die?

What do you admire most about yourself?

One of your main faults?

A small crime you once committed? (anything at all)

Music you would like played at your funeral?

Submitted by Gerard Counihan

My Town
Level: Any Level

Activity A

Do you like the town/city you live in? Why? Why not?

Activity B

Teacher makes a list of the positive points mentioned by the pupils. Discuss common
and original comments.

Activity C

Teacher makes a list of negative comments about towns/cities mentioned

Activity D

THE PERFECT TOWN/CITY:

The class now makes a list of the characteristics of a perfect town/city. For example,
these could include:

Bicycle paths
No smoke
No cars
Sports facilities
No violence
Beautiful buildings
Culture

Activity E

Compare your town/city with another one you know, and make a list of the comments.
Some examples:

My town is noisier than X, because ...

My city is more boring than Y, because ...

You can go on to mention aspects such as

Pollution
Poverty/Wealth
Green areas
Amenities
Transport
Health
Crowding
Cost of living
Selfishness ...

Activity F

The best town/city you have ever been to/seen?

Submitted by Blabla Profesor Donosti

Class Mixer

Level: Any Level

This game can be played with a range of different levels. It can be used purely as a
mixer/ice breaker or can be adapted to reinforce target gambits, grammar or
vocabulary by directing the 'chat' portion of the game. This game is essentially an
adaption of the old 'Who am I?' game. Start with a 'chat' either in rotating groups or in
an interview format. This portion sets the level and focus of the game. For example a
low intermediate class might be instructed to ask all of their classmates a series of
"Have you ever...?" questions. A more advanced group might be told to talk to all
their classmates about a certain topic, leaving the specific questions up to them. With
a lower level group I find a note taking form to be useful. After the chat portion, do
the 'who am I' game using your students' names. They must use the same target
language to ask yes/no questions and find out who they are.
Submitted by Michelle Harkness

Add a Word

Level: Any Level

Rationale: Students practise grammar and syntax.

Materials: None.

Levels: All levels, though better for more advanced students, because the game is
more fun at a quick pace.
Method: One student begins a sentence by saying only one word. A second student
must say a word which continues the sentence. A third must continue, and so on, until
someone says a word that does not fit syntactically or grammatically. If the sentence
comes to a logical end without error, the next student may say "period" and begin a
new sentence with a new word.

The teacher may suggest a topic to get things started. What the students say may also
be recorded and played back, so the class can discuss the error that stopped the
sentence.

Example:

Teacher: The topic is 'pets'.

First student: "My . . ."
Second student: ". . . dog"
Third student: ". . . has . . ."
Fourth student: ". . . spots . . ."
Fifth student: ". . . brown . . ."

The sentence would stop here. The teacher would ask the students why, hoping
someone explains that the adjective 'brown' normally comes before and not after the
noun 'spots'.
Submitted by Stephen MacDonald

Time Indicators

Level: Any Level

Rationale: Students practise using different subject pronouns, verb tenses, and the
time words and phrases that go with them. They must also be able to recognize
different forms of the same verb, especially irregular verbs.

Materials: None.

Levels: All. Beginners can play using only four verb tenses (present, past, future, and
present progressive). More advanced can play using all the tenses.

Method: One student says a time word or phrase (e.g. next year, a few days ago). A
second student must complete a sentence using the proper verb tense. That student
then says a different time word or phrase. A third student uses it to form a sentence,
but may not use the same verb or subject pronoun the second student used.

Verb tenses may be repeated if necessary, but verbs may not, and subject pronouns
may be repeated only after they have all been used once.

The game can continue as long as the teacher wants, though two runs through all the
subject pronouns is an appropriate length. The teacher may write the full sentences on
the board, but should at least keep track of which subject pronouns and verbs have
been used.

Example:

First student: "At the moment . . ."

Second student: ". . . I am sitting in a classroom."
Second student: "Last year . . ."
Third student: ". . . they went to Europe."
Third student: "Every day . . ."
Fourth student: ". . . she takes the bus to work."

Flip a Card

Level: Any Level

Rationale: Students develop vocabulary and, at higher levels, practise proper word
order by forming sentences.

Materials: Standard deck of playing cards.

Method: For each card from ace to king, assign two letters of the alphabet, and write
these on the board. Assigning letters can be done at random, but it is logical to have
some sort of order, e.g.:
A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

For beginners: Flip a card. The student must think of a word beginning with one of the
letters that card represents. If, for example, the card is a 3, the student must say a word
beginning with C or P. Variation: The word must fit a category, e.g. animals,
occupations, etc.

For higher beginners and intermediate: Flip a certain number of cards-say, seven.
Each student must write down a sentence using words beginning with the given
letters, in order. If the teacher so wishes, the students can work in small groups.
Students then read their sentences aloud.

For advanced: Taking turns with each card flipped, students orally form
grammatically and syntactically correct sentences. For example:
Cards: A, Q, K, Q, K, 6, 8, 7, 5, 4, 4, 10, 2, K, 2, 2, 8, 9, A, 7.
Sample sentence: A lovely monkey laughed merrily, for his green
elephant drank quickly while orange zebras brought over hungry,
intelligent, naughty giraffes.

Submitted by Stephen MacDonald

Bingo! (with irregular verbs)

Level: Easy

The teacher prepares a 5x5 grid with 25 irregular verbs in the past tense in each
square. Make enough variations of these grids so each student has one that is slightly
(or very) different.

The teacher then calls out the verbs in their present tense form until a student gets five
in a diagonal or horizontal row. Bingo!

While it may seem time-consuming to make the grids, they can be used over and over.
This game is received very enthusiastically because often, students are already
familiar with it. It is great as a warmup activity and can have many variations (past-
participle, time of day, vocabulary)
Submitted by Sharon Stokoe

"Jeopardy"

Level: Medium to Difficult

Select 4 or 5 categories - either general (I normally use countries, sports, animals,

food and drink and names) or areas from the textbook that is in use - and then divide
the board into three - assigning each area with a point score (100, 200, 300 - etc...).
Divide the class into teams, or get them to work individually and ask them to select a
category and a score.
Countries Sports Animals F&D Names
____________________________________________

1
0
0

____________________________________________

2
0
0

____________________________________________

3
0
0

____________________________________________

During your preparation time, think about the easiest and hardest answers for each
category and the level of the students and consider how many possible answers there
are for each letter of the alphabet (in the case of sports: Archery, Basketball, Cricket,
Diving, Equestrian, etc).

If a team or individual is unable to answer or gives a incorrect reply, then that letter
remains in that point range until someone answers correctly. If a stalemate situation
ever occurs - give correct answers and encourage the students to repeat them a few
times, so as they will remember them.

This game is lots of fun, and my students always want to play.

For variation, you can draw a soccer park or basketball court on the board and assign
areas in the same way.
Submitted by Stephen John Morrison
Adverbial Charades

Level: Any Level

Each student is given a card with a familiar adverb on it--i.e. quickly, angrily, loudly,
happily. Then the class tells the student to do something so they can guess what
adverb is on the card. They can tell the student to do things in pantomime, like drink a
bowl of soup, or really do it in class, like open a door or take a book from the teacher.
(Can't recall where I read this idea, but it is fun and can be played in teams.)
Submitted by Gail Shuster-Bouskila

Who am I??

Level: Any Level

You can use use this with any subject. Write the names of famous people (mixed
nationalities) on small pieces of paper. Tape a name on the forehead of each student.
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 with
yourself and ask "Am I am man?" If the answer is yes, I can ask again, but if the
answer is no, it's the next person's turn. 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 students!!
Submitted by Laura Loder

Guess the Object

Level: Any Level

The teacher prepares cutout pictures that are pasted or taped to index cards. One
student selects a card and must describe it in English until another student can guess
the object. This is very much like "20 Questions" but instead of the challenge being to
ask questions, the bonus is on the cardholder to verbalize the description.

The teacher should be careful to select pictures that reflect the vocabulary level of the
students. Simple objects, like "baby", "door" or "car" are good for beginners. Later on,
more complicated pictures that suggest actions, scenes and relationships could be
used, like: "mother bathing child".
Submitted by Betsy Walker

"Tic Tac Toe" or "Noughts and Crosses"

Level: Any Level

This is a good game for a revision or for a reader's discussion. Divide the class into
two groups. Draw a grid of nine squares on the board and write a number on each
square (from 1 to 9). Prepare nine questions and set one question for each number.
The groups call out the numbers and if they answer the question correctly, they get the
point. The goal of the game is to make a line (either horizontal, vertical or diagonal).

Question and Answer Game Activity

Level: Any Level

Usually students answer comprehension questions after a reading. Why not have
students create their own comprehension questions? I have and it works well,
especially if this activity is turned into a game. I do this by having students in small
groups work together to write questions about the text. Only questions which can be
answered by the text are allowed. Opinion questions are not allowed. After groups
finish writing their questions, they ask their questions to another group which must
answer within a specified amount of time (the teacher decides the time according the
class level). If the answer is correct and given within the time period, the answering
team receives a point. If the answer is incorrect or not found within the time period,
the questioning group receives a point, but they must inform the other group of the
answer. Each group takes turns asking and answering questions.
Submitted by Greg Goodmacher

Kim's Game on Video

Level: Any Level

The traditional "Kim's Game" uses a tray full of objects to stretch the memory and
vocabulary of the players. This version uses moving pictures. Therefore, a larger
range of vocabulary, word classes, and phrases can be elicited.

To Play
1. Select any sequence that scans over a large number of objects, people or includes
many actions.

Examples:

 The opening of "Masterpiece Theatre"

 The opening of "Miami Vice"
 The toy store in "Home Alone II"
 A display of quiz game prizes

2. Allow players to view the segment once. They are not allowed to take notes.

3.Individually or in groups, form a list of as many of the objects, people or actions in

the scene as can be remembered.

4. Play the scene again using still frames to check off the things on the list. Score one
point for each correct item but minus one for any item on the list that is not in the
scene.

Variation
Narrow the range of things allowable on the list.

Examples:

 Things that start with (pick a letter of the alphabet).

 Things that are (pick a color or quality).
 Things made of (pick a material).
 Things used for (pick an action).
Submitted by Donna Tatsuki

Video Scavenger Hunt

Level: Any Level

Choose a movie, a series of TV commericals or any other video-taped resource that
you like or that learners are familiar with and compile lists of things for viewers or
listeners to find. It is also possible to prepare a library of films and allow the players
to search the tapes.

Each team gets a different list. If only one machine is available, a time limit may be
set and the team that finds the most in the alloted time wins. It is also possible to
assign this as a week long hunt (on student's own time). In such a case, one tape or
many tapes can be used.

Here are some suggested categories:

Information: Ask players to find specific facts or figures. These facts may be verbal or
visual. Information found on charts, graphs and in the closing credits of a film are
good sources.

Counts: Count the number of times a certain word is said in a clip. Count the number
of people or objects of a certain quality (eg. people who are male, or people wearing
blue, or objects made of wood). Count the number of people doing a particular
activity (eg. people who talk to a particular character, people sleeping in class, people
boarding a train). Count the number of times a particular action is performed (eg.
number of times a character goes up and down stairs, crosses a bridge, lights a
cigarette).

Scenes: Find a particular scene (eg. a love scene), location (eg. a river, Paris), view or
social activity (eg. a picnic, a speech).

Speech Acts: Find an example of a speech act. (eg. inviting, refusing, requesting,
making an introduction, apologizing).
Submitted by Donna Tatsuki

Concentration Using an Overhead Projector

Level: Any Level

This is a game for the overhead projector. It is a version of the game "Concentration"
in which students flip over cards of items to find matching pairs. For the overhead
projector you will need to make a grid of squares on a transparency. Five squares
across by four down. I make the square about 1.25 inches on a side. At the top of the
grid write the letters THINK, one letter over each column. Down the left side of the
grid write the numbers 1234, one number to each row. Make a transparency of your
grid. Next, cut out cardboard or heavy paper "tents": small rectangular pieces just
large enough to cover each space. I call them tents because they have a little flap
which I use to pick them up. Prepare the game in advance. You have to think of ten
pairs of any item. For example, ten pairs of opposites, ten pairs of irregular past tense
forms (get,got) or ten pairs of a picture and a word. Write (or draw) one word or
picture in each space in a random fashion. Place the transparency on the OHP (with
the light off) and cover each space. When you turn the light on, the students will see
the grid but each image or word will be dark. (You will be able to see the words and
images illuminated through the paper)

TO PLAY: Instruct the students (and model of course the first time) that they are to
pick two squares by calling out a number and a letter for each square. For example T2
and N4. You uncover the spaces as a students calls out the letter. If the two spaces
uncovered are a match write the student's name in the spaces with a marker and toss
them a prize (a piece of candy serves nicely). If the two spaces are not a match, cover
them back up and call a different student. As spaces are uncovered, excitement builds
in the classroom until the last two spaces. Since these are obvious winners, you can
take the opportunity for teacher inspired humor and call on either the class "comic"
making a big display of "Are you sure?" or any other individual who maybe had
repeated incorrect answers.

An individual game usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes to complete.

If you keep several transparencies of the grid handy, you can prepare a game pretty
fast for the last part of the class. If you are doing a unit on irregular past tense, you
can prepare a grid using the specific verbs that you reviewed in the lesson.
This game was introduced to me by veteran Los Angeles Unified School District
teacher Vida Hellman (now retired).
Submitted by Barry Bakin ([email protected])

Prove it

Level: Easy to Medium

Give your students one or more statements to prove or disprove. The statements can
tie in with the topic or the grammar point of the class. Examples: Nobody in this class
likes winter. Everyone here can draw a Volkswagen Beetle car.
Students talk to as many other students as possible to prove/disprove the statements.
Then they give feedback to the class: 'This statement is not true. There are at least 5
people in this class who like winter.
Submitted by John Raby ([email protected])

What's the Word?

Level: Medium to Difficult

On an index card, write a word (example: school) and write 4 or 5 key words that
cannot be used to describe that particular word. (Example: teachers, blackboards,
students, desks, tests) Any other words can be used except for the words written on
the index card. A sample card would look like this:

SCHOOL

teachers
blackboards
students
desks
tests
Submitted by Sandra Duncan

Twenty Questions

Level: Any Level

First one member of the class chooses an object, an occupation, or an action which
ever you decide. Then members of the class try to discover what it is by asking
questions which can be answered by "yes" or "no"
For example, if the subject is "occupations" then the questions might be like these.
Do you work in the evenings?
Do you work alone?
Do you work outside?
Submitted by Sandy Herman
Simon Says

Level: Easy

This game which is often played by native-speaker children is very useful in the ESL
classroom. The person chosen as "Simon" stands in front of the classroom and issues
commands. The rest of the class only follows these commands if prefixed with the
words "Simon says". If someone follows a command not prefixed by "Simon says", he
is out of the game. The last person remaining becomes the next "Simon". Some
examples of commands are: stand up, sit down, touch your left ear, say "yes"
Submitted by Joe Brooke

Whispering Game

Level: Easy

Divide the class into two teams. Line up the players. If there's an odd number of
players, one can be the teacher's "helper". The teacher or his helper whispers a
message to the first person of both group A and group B. The game only starts when
both players know the message. Then each player whispers the message to the next
player in his group sucessively until the last player gets the message. The team which
can repeat the message first and correctly receives a point. Start the game over with
the second student of each group becoming the first ones in line.
Submitted by Vera Mello

Hangman

Level: Any Level

Divide the class into two teams. On the blackboard, draw spaces for the number of
letters in a word. Have the players guess letters in the word alternating between the
teams. If a letter in the word is guessed correctly, the teacher writes it into the correct
space. If a letter is guessed which is not in the word, the teacher draws part of the man
being hanged. The team which can guess the word first receives a point, then start the
game over.
 10 Best Games for ESL Teachers
Abroad

Emma Lander

Emma Lander is a Freelance Copy and Content Writer. She is a qualified EFL teacher and has taught in
the UK, Scandinavia and South Korea. She is a...

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Published October 8, 2013

Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language. Whether
you’re teaching adults or children, games will liven up your lesson and ensure that your students
will leave the classroom wanting more.

Games can be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give
students a break when you’re tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few
minutes left to kill. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of games that you can play
with your students. EFL games are used to test vocabulary, practice conversing, learn tenses - the
list is endless.
This list of ten classic ESL games every teacher should know will help get you started and
feeling prepared. Having these up your sleeve before stepping into the classroom will ensure
your lessons run smoothly, and, should things get a little out of control, you’ll be able to pull
back the attention of the class in no time.

Don't have a job yet? Check our teaching job board for the latest openings around the world!

1. Board Race
There isn’t an EFL teacher I know who doesn’t use this game in the classroom. Board Race is a
fun game that is used for revising vocabulary, whether it be words from the lesson you’ve just
taught or words from a lesson you taught last week. It can also be used at the start of the class to
get students active. It is a great way of testing what your students already know about the subject
you’re about to teach.

 Why use it? Revising vocabulary; grammar

 Who it's best for: Appropriate for all levels and ages

How to play:
First, watch this helpful video of real teachers using this game in the classroom by BridgeTEFL:

This is best played with 6 students or more - the more, the better. I’ve used it in classes ranging
from 7-25 years of age and it’s worked well in all age groups. Here's a step by step explanation:

 Split the class into two teams and give each team a colored marker.
 If you have a very large class, it may be better to split the students into teams of 3 or 4.
 Draw a line down the middle of the board and write a topic at the top.
 The students must then write as many words as you require related to the topic in the form of a
relay race.
 Each team wins one point for each correct word. Any words that are unreadable or misspelled
are not counted.

2. Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie

Call My Bluff is a fun game which is perfect at the start of term as a ‘getting to know you’ kind
of game. It is also a brilliant ice breaker between students if you teach classes who do not know
one another -- and especially essential if you are teaching a small class size.

The game is excellent for practicing speaking skills, though make sure you save a time for after
the game to comment on any mistakes students may have made during the game. (I generally
like to reserve this for after the game, so you don't disrupt their fluency by correcting them as
they speak).
With older groups you can have some real fun and you might be surprised what you’ll learn
about some of your students when playing this particular EFL game.

 Why use it? Ice-breaker; Speaking skills

 Who it's best for: Appropriate for all levels and ages but best with older groups

How to play:
 Write 3 statements about yourself on the board, two of which should be lies and one which
should be true.
 Allow your students to ask you questions about each statement and then guess which one is the
truth. You might want to practice your poker face before starting this game!
 If they guess correctly then they win.
 Extension: Give students time to write their own two truths and one lie.
 Pair them up and have them play again, this time with their list, with their new partner. If you
want to really extend the game and give students even more time to practice their
speaking/listening skills, rotate partners every five minutes.
 Bring the whole class back together and have students announce one new thing they learned
about another student as a recap.

3. Simon Says
This is an excellent game for young learners. Whether you’re waking them up on a Monday
morning or sending them home on a Friday afternoon, this one is bound to get them excited and
wanting more. The only danger I have found with this game is that students never want to stop
playing it.

 Why use it? Listening comprehension; Vocabulary; Warming up/winding down class
 Who it's best for: Young learners

How to Play:
 Stand in front of the class (you are Simon for the duration of this game).
 Do an action and say Simon Says [action]. The students must copy what you do.
 Repeat this process choosing different actions - you can be as silly as you like and the sillier you
are the more the children will love you for it.
 Then do an action but this time say only the action and omit ‘Simon Says’. Whoever does the
action this time is out and must sit down.
 The winner is the last student standing.
 To make it harder, speed up the actions. Reward children for good behavior by allowing them to
play the part of Simon.

4. Word Jumble Race

This is a great game to encourage team work and bring a sense of competition to the classroom.
No matter how old we are, we all love a good competition and this game works wonders with all
age groups. It is perfect for practicing tenses, word order, reading & writing skills and grammar.

 Why use it? Grammar; Word Order; Spelling; Writing Skills

 Who it's best for: Adaptable to all levels/ages

How to play:
This game requires some planning before the lesson.

 Write out a number of sentences, using different colors for each sentence. I suggest having 3-5
sentences for each team.
  Cut up the sentences so you have a handful of words.
 Put each sentence into hats, cups or any objects you can find, keeping each separate.
 Split your class into teams of 2, 3, or 4. You can have as many teams as you want but remember
to have enough sentences to go around.
 Teams must now put their sentences in the correct order.
 The winning team is the first team to have all sentences correctly ordered.

5. Hangman
This classic game is a favorite for all students but it can get boring quite quickly. This game is
best used for 5 minutes at the start to warm the class up or 5 minutes at the end if you’ve got
some time left over. It works no matter how many students are in the class.

 Why use it? Warming up / winding down class

 Who it's best for: Young learners

How to play:
In case you've never played, here's a quick rundown.

 Think of a word and write the number of letters on the board using dashes to show many letters
there are.
 Ask students to suggest a letter. If it appears in the word, write it in all of the correct spaces. If
the letter does not appear in the word, write it off to the side and begin drawing the image of
a hanging man.
 Continue until the students guess the word correctly (they win) or you complete the diagram
(you win).

6. Pictionary
This is another game that works well with any age group; children love it because they can get
creative in the classroom, teenagers love it because it doesn’t feel like they’re learning, and
adults love it because it’s a break from the monotony of learning a new language - even though
they'll be learning as they play.

Pictionary can help students practice their vocabulary and it tests to see if they’re remembering
the words you’ve been teaching.

 Why use it? Vocabulary

 Who it's best for: All ages; best with young learners

How to play:
 Before the class starts, prepare a bunch of words and put them in a bag.
  Split the class into teams of 2 and draw a line down the middle of the board.
 Give one team member from each team a pen and ask them to choose a word from the bag.
 Tell the students to draw the word as a picture on the board and encourage their team to guess
the word.
 The first team to shout the correct answer gets a point.
 The student who has completed drawing should then nominate someone else to draw for their
team.
 Repeat this until all the words are gone - make sure you have enough words that each student
gets to draw at least once!

7. The Mime
Miming is an excellent way for students to practice their tenses and their verbs. It's also great for
teachers with minimal resources or planning time, or teachers who want to break up a longer
lesson with something more interactive. It's adaptable to almost any language point that you
might be focusing on.

This game works with any age group, although you will find that adults tire of this far quicker
than children. To keep them engaged, relate what they will be miming to your groups' personal
interests as best as possible.

 Why use it? Vocabulary; Speaking

 Who it's best for: All ages; best with young learners

How to play:
 Before the class, write out some actions - like washing the dishes - and put them in a bag.
 Split the class into two teams.
 Bring one student from each team to the front of the class and one of them choose an action
from the bag.
 Have both students mime the action to their team.
 The first team to shout the correct answer wins a point.
 Repeat this until all students have mimed at least one action.

8. Hot Seat
This is one of my students’ favorite games and is always at the top of the list when I ask them
what they want to play. I have never used this while teaching ESL to adults, but I imagine it
would work well.

Hot Seat allows students to build their vocabulary and encourages competition in the classroom.
They are also able to practice their speaking and listening skills and it can be used for any level
of learner.

 Why use it? Vocabulary; Speaking and Listening

 Who it's best for: All ages and levels
How to play:
 Split the class into 2 teams, or more if you have a large class.
 Elect one person from each team to sit in the Hot Seat, facing the classroom with the board
behind them.
 Write a word on the board. One of the team members of the student in the hot seat must help
the student guess the word by describing it. They have a limited amount of time and cannot
say, spell or draw the word.
 Continue until each team member has described a word to the student in the Hot Seat.

9. Where Shall I Go?

This game is used to test prepositions of movement and should be played after this subject has
been taught in the classroom. This game is so much fun but it can be a little bit dangerous since
you'll be having one student in each pair be blindfolded while the other directs them. So make
sure to keep your eyes open!

It is also excellent for the adult EFL classroom, or if you're teaching teenagers.

 Why use it? Prepositions; Speaking and Listening

 Who it's best for: All ages and levels

How to play:
 Before the students arrive, turn your classroom into a maze by rearranging it. It's great if you
can do this outside, but otherwise push tables and chairs together and move furniture to
make your maze.
 When your students arrive, put them in pairs outside the classroom. Blindfold one student from
each pair.
 Allow pairs to enter the classroom one at a time; the blindfolded student should be led through
the maze by their partner. The students must use directions such as step over, go under, go
up, and go down to lead their partner to the end of the maze.

10. What’s My Problem?

This is a brilliant EFL game to practice giving advice. It should be played after the ‘giving
advice’ vocabulary lesson has taken place. It is a great way for students to see what they have
remembered and what needs reviewing. This game works well with any age group, just adapt it
to fit the age you’re working with.

 Why use it? Speaking and Listening; Giving Advice

 Who it's best for: All ages and levels
How to play:
 Write ailments or problems related to your most recent lesson on post-it notes and stick one
post-it note on each student’s back.
 The students must mingle and ask for advice from other students to solve their problem.
 Students should be able to guess their problem based on the advice they get from their peers.
 Use more complicated or obscure problems to make the game more interesting for older
students. For lower levels and younger students, announce a category or reference a recent
lesson, like "Health", to help them along.

These games will keep your students engaged and happy as they learn! Remember, these are just
ten on the hundreds of different EFL games that you can plat with your students. As you get
more confident in the classroom, you can start putting your own spin on games and eventually
make up your own.

Whatever the age of your students, they’re guaranteed to love playing EFL games in the
classroom. An EFL classroom should be fun, active and challenging and these games are sure to
get you heading in the right direction.

What games do you love to play with your ESL students? Let us know in the comments!