Students are in pairs/groups and each pair/group has a whiteboard and pen set. ALT/HRT sets a timer and calls the target English. Students repeat. When the timer sounds, all pairs/groups write a number from 1~6. The ALT/HRT then rolls a dice. If any pair/group guessed the number correctly, they get 2 points. If no pair/group guessed it correctly, then the pairs/groups with the closest guess get 1 point!
On the blackboard, place one shape above each flashcard (you’ll need to print two copies of the pieces to have enough for 9 flashcards). Students are in pairs or groups and each pair or group is given the block builder worksheet. Students janken to decide who goes first. Starting from the lower squares, students say the target English and draw the block builder piece for the word they said. The next blocks placed must either be on the bottom line or directly connected to another block placed by another student. Game continues until they cannot place any more blocks in the grid!
I like to use this game for question and answer but it also works for answer only lessons.
If you want to make this into a competition, I add the rule that the student who couldn’t place a block is the loser. This worked well for my JHS students. I haven’t tried it with ES yet.
In the worksheet pdf there are two blank grids and one grid with blacked-out in spaces. If you use the grid with blacked-out spaces, student cannot draw blocks in the blacked-out spaces so it makes it a bit more challenging to place blocks. I haven’t tried this worksheet out yet.
Students are in pairs. On the blackboard are the cards which are each assigned points. ALT/HRT sets a timer and calls the target English. When the timer sounds, the last called flashcard indicates how many points students can win. The pair do janken and the winner gets the points for that round!
Students are each given worksheet. In the three spaces provided, they write three of the studied vocabulary. Students make a pair and ask their partner 2 questions from their three options. They then make a note of their friend’s answer in the spaces provided (I just had my students put a tally mark in either the 〇 section or X section depending on friend’s answer). While the students are doing the activity, ALT/HRT writes a secret value of points under the 〇 and X cards.
When the timer sounds, the students sit down. The ALT/HRT reveals the values for 〇 and X. All students start from 5 lives. They then gain and lose lives depending on the secret values (for example, if 〇 is +1 and X is -1, students gain 1 life for every 〇 marked and lose 1 life for every X marked). Students write their total lives in the heart provided. Students choose three more options for round 2 and the ALT/HRT changes the point value for 〇 and X during round 2.
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!
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.
ALT+T: Demonstration, praise students for good communication
STS: Make pairs, use their cards to practice the target English and level up
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
