Recommended Level: All junior high grades

Letter Hunt Relay

Description

Break students into teams of four players (max). Each team is given a whiteboard marker (make sure it’s erasable). Each team lines up in front of the blackboard where their letter poster is hung up (one per team).

The HRT/ALT calls out a particular letter. The first student runs up to the board and circles one of the called letters. They then return to their team and pass on the marker. The next student then runs up and does the same. Repeat until all four letters have been found and circled. When a team is finished, they sit down/put their hands on heads etc. Points can then be awarded for 1st, 2nd and so on.

Clean the posters and repeat for round 2 with a new letter.

Notes

  • There are three different versions; upper case, lower case and mixed letters.
  • You can hold up a flashcard of the chosen letter if students need extra help.
  • If your class is too big, they can sit in circles and pass the poster around instead. I’ve only played this game with small classes.

Quick Zone

Description

The students are split into groups. The first row of students is the first group, the second row is the second group, and so on. Give each group a ‘zone’ on the board, and put one or more flashcard in each zone.

A timer is set for around 20-30 seconds, but kept hidden from the students. The teacher points at one card and says the target English, and the class repeats. They then move to the next card, repeat, and so on. Whichever group’s zone the last called card is in when the timer goes off wins one point. The cards can be shuffled for the next round.

Lucky Roller

Description

The students make groups. Each group gets a dice and each student gets a worksheet. The teacher picks 5 vocabulary words and assigns them numbers from 1-5.

The group asks the first player the target English question. They roll the dice and answer using the vocabulary word that matches the number they rolled. If the student rolls a 6, they can pick any answer from 1-5. The student puts a mark under the number they rolled (or picked, if it was a 6) on their worksheet. The group then askes the next student the question and they do the same thing. For each line they can complete, they get one point.

After a certain amount of time, the teacher can change the vocabulary for each number. 

Notes

This game can be done just for an answer without a question, but make sure the students don’t start rushing and not saying the target English!

Similar Games

Quick Lucky Roller

Description

The teacher draws 3 groups on the board – 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6. The students repeat the teacher until the timer goes off, at which point the teacher rolls the dice. If they roll a 1 or a 2, they put a check mark under the 1/2 group, and so on. This continues each round. If the dice roll results in a group that has already been checked in a previous round, it doesn’t count. If all 3 groups can be checked off before the game finishes, the class wins!

Notes

It’s useful to draw boxes on the board to show how many rounds are going to be played, and check them off as you finish each round.

Unlucky Number

Description

The students make groups and get a small whiteboard and marker. They pick 3 ‘unlucky’ numbers within the range being practiced and write them on their whiteboard. Every group starts with 5 points. The teacher then sets a timer and the students repeat them within a time limit. When the timer goes off, if they picked the last number called as ‘unlucky’, they lose one point.

For later rounds, the number of ‘unlucky’ numbers the students have to pick can increase. Another option (perhaps for the final round) is for the students to pick unlucky numbers for another group.

Notes

This game is designed to practice numbers. It can also be used to practice ordinal numbers, dates, or anything else sequential.

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Touch Game

Description

The teacher puts up flashcards on the board, where all the students can see them. The students make groups and put an ohajiki (or eraser, etc.) between them. The teacher calls out the target English and the students repeat. When the teacher touches one of the cards, all the students try to grab their ohajiki. The first student to grab the it wins one point.

Notes

  • It’s best to always gesture towards each card as you call it regardless of if you intend to touch it or not, so the students can associate what you’re saying with the flashcard.
  • Make sure to stand to the side of the flashcards when gesturing towards/touching the cards so all of the students can see clearly!
  • Students who grab the ohajiki at the same time should play janken to decide who gets it.

Similar Games

Quick Janken

Description

The teacher picks one flashcard as the ‘keyword’. The teacher then points at random cards and models the target English, and the students repeat until the keyword is picked. The class then plays janken with the teacher. If they beat the teacher, a students gets one point. If they lose, they lose one point. If they have the same result, there’s no change. 

Notes

The whole class picks rock, scissors or paper when the teacher counts to 3. Make sure to keep the timing consistent!

Boss Game

Description

A flashcard or drawing of a monster is put on the board, with a ‘health bar’. The ‘health bar’ shows the monster’s ‘HP’. The students repeat the teacher until the timer goes off, at which point the teacher rolls the dice. Whatever number is rolled is subtracted from the monster’s ‘HP’. If the monster’s HP goes to 0 before the end of the game, the class wins.

Notes

It’s useful to draw boxes on the board to show how many rounds are going to be played, and check them off as you finish each round.

If you play this game for 5 rounds, then you probably want the monster’s HP to be around 17-20 points. If the class gets very lucky and beats the monster before the game is finished, then you can always draw a new monster on the board!

Lucky Wheel

Description

You can use the wheel however you want for different activities. Here are some examples:

“Me too!”

  • Everyone starts with 5 points.
  • Call out a phrase that the class has been practicing e.g. I like green/I like PE/I can play tennis. Something that they can form their own opinion about. Everyone then repeats the phrase.
  • Then, all students who agree with the sentence i.e. They like green/PE etc. Stand up.
  • Spin the wheel and all students standing receive the result. You can choose what the treasure chest and skull mean (e.g. +10 points/lose all points)
  • Students sit down and repeat with the next sentence.

“Me too! – Writing Edition” (this version is similar and can be geared towards JHS as a main activity.)

Hand out the sentence sheet to each student. Give them 5 minutes to complete the sentence with their own unique answer. You can change the topic of the sentence to whatever you’re studying as long as it can be a unique answer.

  • All students start with 5 points.
  • Randomly select a student to stand up and share their sentence. E.g. During winter vacation, I tried omikuji.
  • All students who also did the same thing during winter vacation stand up. It does not have to be the same as what they’ve written, they just have to have also done that activity.
  • Spin the wheel and all students standing receive the points from the wheel.
  • Students sit down and a new student is chosen to share.