Recommended Level: Junior high grade 1

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.

Present/Past Connect 4

Description

This is the classic game of connect four. There are two team colors, red and blue. It’s up to you how you want to divide the class. You can split the class in 1/2 and within each half make groups or do something different. On the connect four board are present tense verbs such as write, read, sit, teach etc. you choose a team to “answer” and they choose a verb. They then announce the past tense of that verb. If it’s correct, you click on the verb to reveal the answer – you then choose which team claims that spot and choose the color. The goal is for teams to get as many rows of four as they can! 

Notes

Don’t use this as is. The vocabulary needs to be chosen for the class and their level/what they’ve studied. It’s easy to edit. You can add other things, too. For example, you can write a Japanese word and the students need to translate it correctly.

Pointing Game

Description

Split the class in half. Assign group A and B (or whatever is appropriate) and set the timer. When you begin pointing and saying the flashcard, the JTE/HRT will point at the A side. The students will repeat. When you move on to the second flashcard, the JTE/HRT will point at the B side. The students will repeat. This will go on until the timer beeps. Whichever team the JTE/HRT is pointing at when the timer goes off gets one point. Repeat the process. 

Notes

You know your students. If they’re going to complain about the winning/losing team, don’t play it. I’ve had a class where the students really went after the teacher for their choices in selecting groups and points. If you think this might cause your teaching partner grief, avoid it. It’s not worth killing the atmosphere for your teaching partner and students!

Battle for Fujieda

Description

The game plays similar to the standard map game with a few changes. Please refer to the attached pdf for rules and how to prepare the slides.

Battle

Description

Put your flashcards on the board. Ask the HRT/JTE to write a number on the board. The goal of our game is to beat that number! Start the timer, begin the process of pointing at the flashcard, saying it and having the students repeat. When the timer beeps, roll the dice and write the number under the 1st flashcard. Continue the process. Between rounds you can point to the numbers under the flashcard, wince/look happy (depending on how well you’re doing) and then point to the HRT/JTE’s. At the end of the game, see who is the winner: the class or the HRT/JTE. 

Notes

We have a lesson plan and flashcards – we know how many words the students are going to be using. Before class, quickly do the math. Say there are seven flashcards, the biggest number on the dice is six therefore on an insane lucky streak, the highest possible number is 42. Ask the JTE to choose a number up to 42. If they choose 100, of course that’s impossible. We need to be able to beat them!

If you have time you could print a picture of a trophy, stick a magnet on the back and put it under the JTE’s number. If we win, we can move it to our number.

It doesn’t matter where the timer stops, we’re writing the rolled number in order. So if we’re on the first round but the timer stops on the fifth flashcard, we still write the rolled number under the first flashcard.

Balloon Pop

Description

Draw a cluster of balloons on the board – nothing fancy, as long as they’re distinct oval shapes with string coming down. Put the flashcards on the board and split them in to two distinct categories: -1 and +1. Set the timer. Point at the flashcards, say the English and have the students repeat. Go between the two categories. When the timer beeps, have the JTE/HRT erase or add a balloon depending on what category the last flashcard was in. The goal of the game is to have at least one balloon left! 

Notes

If you want, you can quickly draw a house (like UP!) or whatever character (Anpanman) or animal you sketch up very quickly and attach them to the bottom of the strings. Give the students something to invest in.

At the start of the game, tell the JTE/HRT briefly that they need balloons. When the first round is done, have the JTE react. If they’re -1, make a show of erasing one balloon. “Oh no!” or make a worried face. If they’re +1, have them cheer or react. Or you can react on their behalf!

Asleep/Awake Powerpoint

Also known as:

  • Asleep/Awake

Description

Rules are the same for playing the Asleep/Awake game.

Prepare the slides with individual words from a target sentence. Arrange students into groups of 5. Determine who will be Player 1, 2, etc.

All students put their heads down and ‘go to sleep.’ One by one they wake up and note their sentence part on their sheet then go back to sleep. When all students have finished, everyone ‘wakes up’ and shares their words. They then work together to complete the sentence and write it on their sheet. I usually walk around with a stamp and stamp their sentence when it’s correct. Repeat for each round of sentences.

A variation for Elementary School can be done with spelling instead of making sentences. Same rules apply but each player receives a letter. After about a minute of thinking time, I then give them a hint e.g. “It’s a food” or “Picture dictionary page 24”.

Similar Games

Lucky Group

Description

The class is broken into groups, and each group is given a number. The teacher puts number cards (as many as there are groups) face down on the board in a random order. One flashcard for the target English’s vocabulary is put on top of each number card.

A timer is set, and the teacher randomly picks one of the vocabulary cards to model the target English. Students repeat them and this continues until time is up. The teacher then reveals which group number was under the last card that was called, and that group wins one point. This continues for as many rounds as needed.

Notes

Even though the cards are being placed face down, the teacher can cheat and have some kind of mark small by each card, to rig the results and keep things more even!

Number Match

Description

A warmup game! It’s pretty simple. You have the flashcards on the board. Ask the JTE to choose a number from 15 – 20. Write the number on the board. Set the timer, say the target English while pointing to the respective flashcard. When the timer beeps, roll the dice. Write the number rolled underneath the first flashcard. Do another round. When the timer beeps, roll the dice and write the number rolled under the second flashcard. Do another round. When the timer beeps, roll the dice and write the number rolled under the third flashcard. 

The goal is for all the rolls to add up to the number the JTE said at the start! 

For example, if the JTE said 20 and the first roll was 6, the second roll was 4, the third roll was 5 and the fourth roll was 6 – that makes 21. So under the fourth flashcard, you would write the rolled number – in this case, 6 – but cross it out. We can’t use it because it is too much. 

Continue on with the game. If the fifth roll is 3, write it under the fifth flashcard but cross it out, it still adds up to too much and so we can’t use it. We need to roll a 1 before we reach the end of the flashcards. If we do roll a 1, great! We were lucky. If we don’t end up rolling a 1 before the game ends, oh well – we can try again next time!

Notes

Students don’t need to produce anything – even if they don’t know numbers yet, they’re not being expected to use them at all aside from looking at them/acknowledging them and as we’re using numerals, the language itself doesn’t matter.

You need to keep up with the math, so keep the numbers low or ask the JTE to track them on the board. This way the students can also visualize it.

If you choose a number between 15 – 20, you’re not going to match the JTE’s number in the first two rounds and you’re unlikely to match it in the third. We set the time, so we can get a lot of repetition from the students in this game even if we do make a match.

Warmup Dice

Description

The teacher places large flashcards for each of the vocabulary being practiced on the board. Under each card, the teacher writes ‘3’. They then write the sum total to the side (for example, if there are 5 cards, the total would be 3 times 5, 15). This is the class’s current score.

The teacher then sets the timer for around 30 seconds. The teacher calls out the vocabulary/grammar and the students repeat. Once the timer goes off, the teacher rolls the dice (or gives the dice to a random student to roll). The number under the last flashcard called is replaced with whatever number was rolled. The current score is updated to reflect the change. This continues for as many rounds as needed.

Notes

To make the game more interesting, the total score can be awarded a certain ‘star value’. For example, assuming the initial score is 15, a ‘1 star’ result could be 10 points or fewer, a ‘2 star’ result could be between 11 and 20, and a ‘3 star’ result could be 21 points or more.

Showing the students these ranges from the start could be used to increase the excitement of each dice roll. Having the initial score be the middle result increases the chance of a change, whether it’s an increase or decrease. The number of points needed to earn each star value will depend on how many flashcards are being used in the game, and what the starting number of points is.