Groups: Class

Block Build

Also known as:

  • Tetris

Description

Draw a 10 block wide by any height square. Pick a random group to answer the question. Show the first card (or ask the question). The group answers with the corresponding sentence/answer. One member from the group picks a random piece out of a box/bag, and places it on the game board. The pieces can’t be suspended in the middle of the board (must follow gravity like Tetris). The group that hits the top line is eliminated, or the game resets. 

Notes

  • If groups are eliminated, it would be best as a warmup game with a small game board.
  • I made this for G5 Unit 8, or any unit where there is no question. For Unit 8, I would pull a random building card, and the group would have to use it’s English phrase, and it’s matching activity (*pulls library* – “We have a library,” “You can enjoy reading”)
  • This should also work with simple question/answer, or anything really.
  • There is probably a way to make this into an input/output game.
  • The file should be printed on A3 so the pieces are large enough.

Preposition Hunt

Description

Students are divided into groups. Groups are shown the screen. ALT/HRT asks the class the question and groups have talking time to think where the item could be. Groups then volunteer. HRT chooses a group, who stands up. The class asks the group the question which the group then answers. ALT/HRT clicks on the square relating to the answer the groups gave. If the group correctly guessed where the item is, they get 1 point. If they did not guess the correct space, another group has a chance to guess. Continue until either the item is found or the class could not find the item. 

Quick Sequence Game

Description

A timer is set, and the teacher picks a card from the first set, and says the appropriate target English. The students repeat, then a card from the second set is picked, with the teacher saying the target English and the students repeating again. If the two cards match (that is, they form a correct sentence like [Vietnam] is in [Asia]), the class gets one point and a card from the first set is picked again. This continues until time runs out.

Notes

  • The game (when the rules specifically as defined above) only works for units with more than one set of vocabularies.
  • The vocabulary sets need to generally make objective rather than subjective statements, for example countries and continents, animals and habitats, and so on.
  • Subjective statements could be used but vocabulary from both sets would need to be preemptively ‘connected’ by the teacher on the board, for example ‘she is [Hanako], she can [run].’

Similar Games

Maths Line

Description

Each flashcard is assigned a random multiplier, for example ‘x2’, ‘+10’, ‘/3’, ‘-20’. A ‘high score’ is written on the board, which is the number to beat (this can be an arbitrary number, the previous class’s score, etc). Students repeat the teacher until the timer goes off, and whichever multiplier that is under the card that’s called last becomes the first part of the ‘maths line’ sum. This continues until there are no more rounds. The result of the sum is written down, and if it beats the ‘high score’, the class wins.

Similar Games

Quick Crossfire

Description

Place the flashcards in an square grid (i.e. 2×2, 3×3, etc). Students repeat the teacher until the timer goes off, and whichever card is called last becomes the keyword. The dice is rolled. If it rolls a 1, the vertical line of cards the keyword card is on are turned to be face down. If it is a 2, the horizontal line is turned around. 3 is left diagonal, 4 is right diagonal, 5 is both horizontal and vertical and 6 is both diagonal directions, all centred from whichever card is the keyword. If a card is already face down when it is selected by the dice, it is turned back to face up.

Notes

If you don’t have enough magnets to turn the cards face down on the board, you can just remove them and put them back up as necessary.

Similar Games

Lucky Carousel

Description

Place six flashcards in a line and roll a dice. The flashcard that matches the number rolled is the lucky keyword. The students repeat the target English with the teacher, who calls out the target English in order from left to right in a loop until time runs out. If the last called target English is the lucky keyword, the class wins one point. Roll the dice again and pick a new keyword for the next round.

Quick Discard Game

Description

The students repeat the target English with the teacher until time runs out. The teacher then shuffles a deck of small flashcards cards and discards one card at a time until the keyword is found. The class gets one point per discarded card. The deck is then reshuffled and continues for the next round.

Tug of War

Description

Split the board into two halves, one half is the students’ side and one is the teacher’s side. Draw a horizontal line between these two sections, with 5 dots either side. Place a circle magnet in the centre of the line. The students repeat the target English with the teacher until time runs out. The teacher and one random student janken. Move the circle magnet one circle towards the winner’s side. When the rounds are finished, the winning team is whichever team has the circle magnet in their half of the board.

Card Collect Game

Description

The class is split into two groups. Number cards are placed under each vocabulary card (the value being hidden from the students).

The students repeat the target English with the teacher until time runs out. The teacher then picks one member from each group to janken each other. The winner gets that card for their group. This continues until the rounds are finished. Then, the secret numbers behind each groups’ cards are revealed. The winning group has the highest total points.

Notes

If the class is too boisterous to pick members to janken, the ALT and teacher could represent one team each and play against each other instead.

Crossfire 2:0

Also known as:

  • Crossfire

Description

Students are in groups and the goal is for the entire group to be seated. They do not need to move their desks, just keep the class as is. We then follow the regular crossfire procedure: everyone stands up and the ALT asks a question. Then we break from tradition. Set the timer to 10/20 seconds. Each group then peer checks an answer between them. When the time is up, students can volunteer to answer. The JTE then chooses one student. The student answers then rolls the dice. Depending on what they roll, select students sit down. The first group to have everyone sitting down wins…until someone rolls a one and everyone has to stand up again!

Notes

Crossfire is often used at JHS as a review game. While students may be answering questions they have previously studied, they’re put on the spot to answer the question with no review time. It’s not a review game. It’s very high pressure, high stress and has a huge amount of downtime for other students. Students can easily pass the entire game doing absolutely nothing. I was asked to play this game at a JHS and couldn’t bring myself to do it, despite the insistence. I went to Paul for advice and this was the result. It’s not a perfect game, I don’t think it really has a place in our classes but it’s a huge step up from crossfire in the current form and it worked well.