Groups: Pairs

Beat the Hero

Description

Students are in pairs and each pair has a set of target English flashcards and a set of hero flashcards. Both sets are shuffled and placed in two separate piles face down. On the blackboard, write a number from 2~10 above each flashcard. Students janken to decide who plays first.

Students open a target English flashcard and say the target English. They then open a hero card.  Each hero card has an HP value written on the card. If the value of the target English they opened is equal to or higher than the HP value of the hero card, they get one point. If it is lower, they do not get any points. This continues until all cards have been opened. They shuffle the cards and play again!

Level Up Cards

Description

Each student gets 3 cards. They decide an order for them – their top card is level 1, their middle card is level 2, and their bottom card is level 3. They make pairs and practice the target English, using the vocabulary shown on their top card. If their partner gives an answer that matches their current top card, they ‘level up’, becoming level 2 and moving their top card to the bottom.

They continue making pairs and levelling up until time runs out. If they can find a match for all three of their cards, they go back to their first card which becomes level 4, and so on.

Roles

ALT+T: Demonstration, praise students for good communication

STS: Make pairs, use their cards to practice the target English and level up

Notes

If the game runs long, the rules could be flipped to ‘level down’ – if the students find a match, the lose a level rather than gain one.

Imposter Birthday

Description

 ALT/HRT has the birthday cards made in the previous lesson and also secretly puts in a number of fake birthday cards (number of fake cards depends on the number of students in the class). The cards are shuffled and handed out to the students at random. Make sure students don’t have their own birthday cards. 

Students make pairs and interview each other about the birthday written on the card they are holding. They record the information. Once both pairs have said the target English, they make a new pair. This continues for as long as you want. At the end of the interview time, the HRT reveals that there are fake birthdays in the cards that were handed out. Students now go through their interview sheet and see if they can spot the fake birthdays!

Notes

I played this with a smaller grade 5 class (13 students) and it worked really well since they know each other’s birthdays very well. 

A Group B Group

Description

Students are in pairs and each pair has a set of small flashcards. On the blackboard are an even amount of flashcards, divided into two groups: A and B. The students decide who will be student A and student B. The cards are shuffled and placed in between the students.

Students take turns opening the flashcards and saying the target English. If the card they opened matches their group (for example if student A opened a card from group A) then they get one point and the card is put off to the side. If the card they opened does not match their group (student A opens a card from group B) then that student doesn’t get a point and the card is put off to the side. This continues until all the cards have been opened. Students count how many points they have, then shuffle the cards for another round!

Janken Bingo

Description

Students make pairs and share a sheet. One student is a “O” the other is the “X”. The ALT/HRT/JTE sets the timer and the class repeats the target English. When the timer beeps, students play janken. The winner goes first and places their shape on their BINGO sheet. The loser goes second and places their shape. Reset the timer and continue playing. The goal is for the students to get three of their shapes in a row. At the end of the game, see how many BINGOs students could get. 

Notes

  • This game needs a demonstration. 
  • If you can orchestrate the demonstration to show blocking your partner, the students (in my experience) get a little more excited. 
  • In the past I’ve made the board too small. A bigger sized board is better because it gives the students space to spread out a little and have a real chance at making a BINGO or blocking their partner. 
  • Common questions after the demonstration include asking if diagonal and overlap counts as BINGO. 
  • If you made the board bigger, you could play in groups. 

Similar Games

Blockbuster

Description

Students make pairs. The ALT/HRT/JTE sets the timer and says the target English. Students repeat. When the timer beeps, students play janken. The winner makes their move. They can choose any color block and draw it on their shared board. They then write their initial on the color block they used. If the color block is initialled, they can not use that shape again. The ALT/HRT/JTE sets the timer again and the game continues. The student who can’t place a block is the loser.

Notes

  • The game follows the rules of other popular falling block games. Starting off, students can only place the blocks on the very bottom line and from there, they can place them on top of another block.
  • This game can be played in a group but you need to change the rules. 
  • A block can’t be placed if there is no space on the board or if their block will go above the top line. 
  • Just because a student wins janken a lot does not mean they’re guaranteed to win. I’ve had winning students block themselves into a loss. Sometimes students also draw and make a perfect grid. 
  • This game definitely needs a demonstration.
  • This can be played as an output game but the nature of the game is quite exciting and students tend to go straight to janken and block placing and skip the English – I think it’s better suited to a controlled input game. 
  • The example I’ve uploaded includes vocabulary for daily schedule. 

Make 20

Description

Students are each given a worksheet and write a number in each space (I did 1~15 in my lesson). 

Students then make pairs and exchange the target English. Students can choose if they write their friend’s answer down or not. If they choose to write it, they cannot erase it. Once both students have done the question and answer, students make a new pair and exchange the target English.  Again, students can choose to write down their friend’s number or not. 

The goal is to get exactly 20 items. So if their friend’s number will make them go over 20, they cannot write the number down. Once they get exactly 20 items, they score one point. They start from 0 and try to collect 20 again!

Snap

Description

Students are in pairs and each pair has a set of small flashcards (one set per student). For round 1, students begin with four of the same flashcards. The cards are shuffled and placed face down in front of each student (make sure that the students cards don’t get mixed with their partners cards). Set a timer for about 3 or so minutes. 

At the same time, students choose a card and turn is over. Both students say the target English for their cards. If they opened matching cards, they get one point and the cards are placed in the centre face up. If they are not matching, the cards are turned back face down. This continues until all cards have been matched. If students want, they can coordinate what cards to open to get the matching card. When all cards are opened, they divide the cards between themselves, shuffle them and add an extra card each (they should now have 5 cards each). This continues until the timer sounds. 

True or False

Description

Each student gets a worksheet and writes down their true answers for each option on the worksheet.

Students make a pair and janken. If you are only practicing the answer, the winner of janken says their answers first. If you are practicing both question and answer, the loser of janken asks the question and the winner answers.

The student giving the answer can either say their true answer or they can say a fake answer. Their partner then guess if they told the truth or lied by saying yes or no. If they guessed correctly, they get one point! If not, 0 points. Once both students have had a chance at answering and guessing, they make a new pair!

Notes

I played this for unit 3 of grade 6 for ‘I [schedule] at [time]’ so I made a worksheet where they wrote the true time they did each thing. From that they then could tell the truth or lie. But for simpler units (for example grade 3 unit 4 ‘do you like ~’) you might not need a worksheet.

Similar Games

Secret Keyword Game

Description

Students are in groups and each pair has a set of small flashcards. They shuffle the cards and place them face down between themselves. Students janken to decide who plays first. 

Player one chooses a card, opens it and says the target English. They then get that card and put it near them. Player two then does the same. This continues until all the cards are gone. Once all groups have finished, the ALT/HRT reveals the secret keyword! All students with that card get one point! 

Students shuffle the cards and wait till the next round begins. ALT/HRT chooses a new keyword. 

Notes

I would recommend that between the rounds, have the pairs wait until all pairs have shuffled and placed their cards so pairs start at the same time. This will help prevent some pairs sitting there for a while waiting for other groups to finish.