Since I have almost finished teaching, I thought I’d share a few of the lessons I have done with my classes. So, for those of you who are maybe thinking about taking a break and volunteering overseas next year, or if the new PT volunteers happen to find this, here’s a whole bunch of games and activities that I’ve done with my classes this year and worked well.
Do You Like Me
Get students to sit their chairs in a circle (best to move tables out the way). Have one person stand in the middle of the circle and take their chair away, so you have one less chair than people. The person in the centre goes round the circle and asks each person “do you like me?” The person they asked can then either say “yes” or “no”. If they said “yes”, the middle person moves on. If they say “no”, the middle person asks “why”. The person who said “no”, then has to come up with a reason as to why they don’t like them. For example, “I only like people who wear glasses”. Everyone in the circle that wears glasses then has to get up and swap chairs, while the person in the middle also tries to get a chair, thus leaving one new person in the centre of the circle. All excuses as to they don’t like the middle person must start with “I only like people who…”
Students love this game, and it’s great for finding out all the class crushes!
Tsunami
This game is crazy, wild and I strongly advise never playing it with 150 people!!
Again, students sit their chairs in a circle (tables out the way) with one person in the middle so there’s one less chair than people. The person in the middle can give the circle 2 instructions – “left” and “right”. When the middle person calls one of these instructions, the rest of the circle should move one chair in said direction. The middle person has to try and sit in a chair while the rest move, leaving a new person in the centre.
After a while, introduce 2 new instructions (so there’s 4 in total) – “double left” and “double right”. When called, the circle has to move 2 chairs in said direction. Again, the middle person has to try and sit in a chair.
There are then 2 more instructions introduced (6 in total now) – “triple left” and “triple right”. Yup, you got it! They now move 3 chairs in that direction as the centre person tries to get a chair.
You’re finally at the last instruction which is “tsunami”. With “tsunami”, the students have to run to get any chair in the room, except for the chairs beside them.
When they have the hang of those instructions, you could maybe try including other elements. For example, “triple left while jumping”. The students will then have to jump 3 seats to the left.
There will be many falling children, possibly a few broken bones or chairs, but they love playing this! It is really noisy and chaotic so I strongly advise not playing it when you have a headache!
7-Up
This game is a little harder to explain and takes the students a while to understand but is fun when they get it.
Students stand in a circle around the room (no need for chairs or tables to be moved this time). One person should start by saying the number 1. As they say “one”, they should a fist on their opposite shoulder (for example left hand on right shoulder). The shoulder they put their hand on determines the direction the game goes in (left hand on right shoulder means the game goes to the right). The person to the right then says “two”, again while putting a fist to their shoulder. They don’t have to follow the same direction the person before them went in, they can send it back if they choose to. You do this until you get to the number 7. With 7, the person that says it should put their hand above their head and say “seven up”. Again, whichever way their hand is pointing, is the way the game goes (if their hand it pointing to the right, the person to the right starts with number one again).
If a student makes a mistake (says the wrong number, does the wrong action, or goes when it’s not their turn), they sit down and are out of the game
When you get to the final 2 people, they should go head-head and play as fast as they can. The first to make a mistake is out and the other wins.
As I said, a bit complicated and confusing but students enjoy playing it.
Splat
Always a favourite as a child, this game involves one kid in the class shooting the rest.
Again, in a circle (no chairs or tables need to be moved), one student stands in the middle. They have a gun (obviously just one made from their fingers, if they had a real one then I’d be worried!). They can shoot anyone in the circle and say “splat”. Whoever they shoot, must bend down as fast as they can. The two people on either side of them then try to shoot each other, also saying “splat” as they do so. Whoever shoots first remains in the game, and the other goes back to their seat as they are out.
However, if the original person (the one who was shot by the person in the middle of the circle) does not bend down fast enough, they will be shot by the people next to him and will be out.
When you’re left with 2 people in the circle, they then stand back to back. The middle person will count up to 20 as the two contestants slowly walk away from each other. At any number between 1 and 20, the person counting will shout “splat” and the other two have to turn round and shoot each other. Whoever shoots first, wins the game.
Always fun and the kids love having the chance to ‘shoot’ each other!
Silent Killer
This is just another name for the ever popular Wink Murder, and if you haven’t played that before then I’m disappointed!
Students sit in a circle as one person volunteers to be the detective. The detective stands outside (make sure they can’t see or hear inside the classroom), and you pick a murderer. Make sure everyone inside the room knows who it is. Call the detective back in and it’s their job to find the killer.
The killer must look around the circle and wink at other people in order to kill them. If you are a victim, you must die a very dramatic death and make it known to the detective that someone else has died. The detective has to look around and see who is winking and killing the rest of their class. Detective has 3 guesses.
If the murderer kills everyone before the detective has found them, or if the detective guesses incorrectly 3 times, the killer must reveal himself and the detective will remain the detective for another round.
If the detective catches the killer, then the murderer becomes the detective and you pick a new killer and start again.
You can make it harder for the detective and increase the number of killers. As you increase the killers, increase the number of guesses.
The more dramatic the deaths, the funnier the game!
Board Race
All this game requires is board pens and 2 teams.
Split your board into 2 sections, and your class into 2 teams. In the middle of the board, write a topic. It can be anything from food to celebrities. Give each team a pen, and 2 minutes to write as many words as they can relating to that topic (for example, if the topic was food, then they could write plate or pasta etc.). For each word that is spelt correctly, and relating to the topic, award 1 point. If a word is unrelated or spelt incorrectly, take away 2 points. The team with the most points, wins.
The best way to keep the class organised during this is to line each team up and let each person write one word before passing the pen back to the next person. However, my classes are anything but organised, so they all like to run up to the board all at once and just shout words!
If your classes are older, you could lower the time limit to make it harder.
My students love this game because of the sense of competition.
Simon Says
This classic is popular with students and it’s great for getting them talking and moving.
You’re at the front, giving instructions such as ‘jump’. However, students can only follow the instruction if you say “Simon Says” before it. For example, “Simon says jump”. Students then must jump.
If you just simply say “jump”, they shouldn’t not jump. If any do jump, they’re out.
This is fun if you make it ‘Student Says’. Get a student up to give instructions and make them use their own name instead of Simon.
Great as a quick activity to wake the class up if they all starting falling asleep!
What Am I
This is a homemade game of the game I’m sure you all played as a child!
Get some sticky notes and write different things on them. They can be anything; objects; animals; food; clothing… absolutely anything.
Stick a word to each students back, making sure they don’t see what their own one is.
Students should find a partner and they should check what word each other has. They then ask a series of yes/no questions. These questions can only be answered with yes or no. A list of questions I use are below.
By the time they reach the end of the questions, they should have a rough idea as to what they are and be ready guess.
When they have it right, it’s now the other partners turn to ask questions.
After both partners are done, you should give them a new word and get them to work with someone else in the class.
This game is always great fun and guarantee a few giggles!
Questions I use:
- Do I have legs?
- Could I be a pet?
- Am I an animal?
- Can I swim?
- Do I make noise?
- Can I be eaten?
- Do I have hair?
- Can I be worn?
- Can I fly?
- Am I a vegetable?
- Am I heavy?
- Am I alive?
OR
Another way to play this game is to make a PowerPoint of celebrities (if you don’t have access to a projector, you can just write names on the board). Have one person sit at the front of the class, with their back to the board. Have a celebrity behind them and get the rest of the class to describe the person. If the descriptions are good enough, the person at the front should be able to guess who they are.
You can also do this with other objects, but my classes are slightly obsessed with celebrities so loved this version!
Paper Plane Game
First things first, give the students a piece of paper each and get them to make a paper plane. As they do that, you should make a target on the board (like an archery or darts target), and have a score for each ring.
When the paper planes are finished, line students up. Ask first person a question. This can be a random general knowledge question, or a reflective question on something you’ve covered in class previously. If they answer correctly, allow them to throw their plane at the target. Take note of their score. They go to end of the line and you ask the next person a question. When you get back to the start of the line, start again and add the next score to everybody’s existing one. Whoever has the highest score by the end, wins the game.
However, if somebody answers a question incorrectly, they go to the end of the line and miss a turn.
Kids love a competition and enjoy this game because it’s different and it’s not every day your teacher gives you permission to play with paper planes!
Stop the Bus
Split students up into teams of 3 or 4 (or for older, more advanced students, get them to work individually).
Get each team to make a table with the following headings:
- Letter
- Animals
- Colours
- Food
- Clothes
- Countries
- Sports
You should then pick a letter of the alphabet at random (maybe best to have a bag of letters you can pick one from). Students then work in their teams to write one item to go under each topic with said letter. The first team to finish shouts “stop the bus”. When this is shouted, all other teams must stop. The team that stops the bus, if all are correct, get a point. Team with the most points at the end, wins.
To make it harder, you could add a time limit for each letter.
What’s The Question
Split class into 2 teams.
Have two players, one from each team, come to the front. Style it like a game show, 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.
This game forces the students to think backwards a little, so they must provide a grammatically perfect question. They are used to answering rather than asking questions, so this is challenging and great for building confidence.
Promoting a Product
Although this one is not a game, it’s still fun and active.
Split class into groups of 4.
You should have a bag of ‘products’ (random bits and bobs). Get each to pick one ‘product’ from the bag, and give them a piece of poster paper.
Explain to the class that they are salesmen and they have to convince me to buy their product. They should be as creative as they can, for example, if their product is a key, then they could promote that as the key to success. Give them a set amount of time to create their poster, and then have them present it to the class. This never gets boring as everybody has different ideas, even if they happen to have the same product, and the students love nit-picking other groups ideas and asking questions about their designs.
Although not all of these activities seem as if they help with teaching English, the students are still learning as long as you give the instructions in English. As they are playing the games, they will be trying to remember the instructions, and since you gave them in English, they will remember them in English. And they love to have fun, which these activities guarantee!
kftravel 