The Dice is Right

Description

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!

Block Builder

Description

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!

Notes

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. 

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Don’t Say the Word

Description

All students begin with 5 points. At the start of each round, ALT/HRT choose an unlucky card. ALT/HRT sets a timer and says the target English. Students repeat. However, when the ALT/HRT says the unlucky word, students do not repeat the target English. If they do, they lose 1 point. Reset points between each round. 

Notes

I played this with just the vocab only so I am not sure how it would go if doing the whole sentence or question + answer. 

Pair Janken

Description

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!

+ Life, – Life

Description

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. 

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!

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. 

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. 

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. 

Small Talk Wheel

Description

Using the Wheel

Run the PPT in full-screen mode. Click the arrow on the right side of the wheel to start it spinning. Click again to stop the wheel. Click on the chosen segment of the wheel to reveal the question and answer guide (Try to click the coloured section instead of the text). 

Warm-Up Lucky Card Game

All students receive a coloured card. After checking and practicing the small talk question, everyone stands up and finds a partner. Students janken and the winner goes first, asking the question. The other student answers and then asks the question themselves. After both students have shared their answer, they exchange their coloured cards and find a new partner. After an allocated time (eg. 2min or 5 friends), everyone returns and stands behind their desks.  The coloured cards are drawn randomly from a box one by one. Any student whose colour is drawn is eliminated and sits down. The final colour that is drawn is the lucky card for the day. Those students receive a sticker. 

Notes

You can edit the questions on the wheel. Just scroll through the slides to change the matching question page. 

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