Recommended Level: Junior high grade 2

Double Puzzle

Description

Students make groups and each receive a set of puzzle pieces. The pieces have a split up picture on one side and parts of a sentence on the other.

The groups must first find out what the picture is, then flip the cards over and put the sentence in order. The sentence will have a blanked out word which is represented by the picture on the other side (e.g. if the picture is of a dog, the missing word in the sentence will be ‘dog’.).

The students write their answers on their worksheets. When they have their answer, they raise their hands and read it to the teacher. If the answer is correct, they get a new set of puzzle pieces.

Notes

  • Printing the template double-sided should line up everything as intended, but it might be best to do a trial run first.
  • The first puzzle is an enlarged version intended to be used for a demonstration.

Hex

Also known as:

  • Hexagon Game

Description

Each pair of students gets a worksheet that has several hexagons in a grid. Each hexagon has an image that represents a vocabulary word that the students have been studying. The goal is to try and make a complete line from one end to the other.

One player marks their hexagons with circles, and tries to go from the top to the bottom. The other marks with crosses, and tries to go from left to right. Each turn, a student marks their hexagon and asks their partner the question that matches the vocabulary word in that space.

The first player to complete a line wins. Once a student has picked a certain hexagon, their partner cannot pick that same space. Students can ‘block’ their partner’s line by picking a space that interrupts it.

Notes

The example worksheet can be printed double-sided, which lets each pair play 3 games. After that, they will either need a new worksheet or to erase their previous spaces to continue playing.

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Concentration

Also known as:

  • 神経衰弱
  • Shinkeisuijaku

Description

The students make groups, and each group gets two sets of the vocabulary cards. All cards are shuffled and placed face down.

Once they have decided an order, the first student turns over a card and says the matching vocabulary or grammar. They do the same with a second card. If the two cards match, they can take the pair and try again. If they don’t, they must turn both cards back over to the face down position and the next player’s turn starts.

Once all the cards are taken, they can be shuffled and played again. The winner is the player with the most cards.

Notes

  • This game can be used to practice either just vocabulary or grammar. It can also be used to practice asking and answering questions – the group can ask the player a question who then answers it based on the card they receive.
  • Some students try to shuffle the cards on every turn. While this won’t make the game unplayable, it does defeat the purpose of trying to memorise which card is which, so it’s best to discourage it!

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Connect 4

Description

Students make pairs and a Connect 4 worksheet. Each student takes turn in picking a space and saying the associated target English that matches the picture. The first student to get an unbroken line of 4 wins. Students can ‘block’ their partner by picking a space that interrupts their partner’s line.

Notes

  • One way to play this game is with either one student drawing circles on their chosen spaces, and the other drawing crosses. If students use pencil, they could erase their marks between each round.
  • Another way is for the students to use ohajiki or small cards to put down on top of their answer. This makes it easier to reset the game between rounds, but logistically it means there would be a lot of materials needed for each student and it may not be practical.

Jeopardy

Description

Students are divided into groups and given a whiteboard. The first group chooses a category and value to reveal a question. All groups then write their answer to the question within a given time limit (more time for difficult questions) and hold up their boards. Groups that give a correct answer receive points for that question. Each group then changes their writer and the next group selects a question.

Notes

If your class could struggle with the numbers, use simple points like 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 instead of the dollar values. Credit to Johanna Liang for the original template.

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Who are you?

Description

Each student recieves one sheet of six characters (2 per page) and secretly chooses one character. They then give their partner one hint at a time using “I like…” and the partner guesses which character they are.

Eg. “I like cats.” “Are you Keisuke?” “No. I like bananas.” “Are you Yui?” “Yes, I am.”

The number of guesses determines how many points they receive. Students then find a new partner and choose a different character. Tally up points after the aloted time.

Notes

Currently playing this game with JHS1 as they are revieiwing “I like…” in chapter one. Could also be played with 5th/6th ES.

Donut Game

Also known as:

  • Circle game

Description

Students get a deck of cards and place them face down in a circle. They play janken to decide who goes first.

The player turns over one card in the circle and uses that card to say the target English. Then, he/she puts that card face up in the center of the circle. If the card they turned over matches the card turned over on the previous turn, they take all the discarded cards from the center.  Once there are no cards left in the circle, the students count the cards they took. They get one point for each card they have. Then, they shuffle and play again.

Notes

  • This game can be done to practice just vocabulary or grammar. It can also be used to practice asking and answering questions – the group can ask the player a question who then answers it based on the card they receive.

Scattergories

Description

Students keep the sheet in their folders to take out whenever we play scattergories for a warm-up activity. The ALT chooses a letter and the students write the letter in the center of the grid. Students then have 5-10min to write a word for each catagory that starts with the chosen letter. I let them use their textbooks/dictionaries to help. For scoring points (if you want to), students share their answers and anyone with a unique answer gets 1 point.

Exploding Kittens – Year Review Game

Description

Students make a group and within each group, students choose a number (1-5). To start, the HRT chooses a letter from the game and the ALT reads the question that is revealed behind that letter. In their groups, students peer check the answer. The HRT then chooses a number and the corresponding student stands up. The HRT then chooses a group. Everyone else sits down apart from the one student from the chosen group. They answer the question. After correctly answering, the question the students in that group can either roll a dice or choose how many cards to draw a. The cards reveal their points or penalties. The group chooses the next letter on the game board and we repeat.

Notes

This is a JHS Grade 1 whole year review with question taken from the Here We Go! English course. It has been designed for JHS Grade 2 to play in their first ALT class as a warm up but is also suitable for JHS Grade 1 at the end of the year.

You can decide how to assign points – students can roll a dice to decide how many cards to draw (4+ and the risk of a penalty card is very, very high), students can decide in their group or you can decide how many cards can be drawn at the start of the class.

Slide 12 needs to be edited – the answer is set for April.

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Janken Soccer

Description

Students make pairs and each get game board with a soccer pitch on it, and a ‘soccer ball’ card. They also get a set of cards with the vocabulary on them. They shuffle these and put five on to the game board. First they janken. The loser asks the question. The winner answers. The winner moves their ‘ball’ one space towards their goal.

If one student wins enough times in a row and moves all the way to their partner’s goal, they score one goal (get one point) and the ‘ball’ goes back to the centre, while shuffling a new set of cards onto the board.

After a few minutes, pairs can change.

Notes

  • This game can be used to practice vocabulary, grammar and questions and answers.
  • If using the template version, print it at A3 size and the spaces will be the right size for small (roughly 9.2 x 6.5cm) cards to go on top. You can print and use the small ‘soccer ball’ cards, or the students can use an ohajiki or an eraser (or something similar) from their pencil cases.
  • If using the worksheet version, change the images in each section as needed to fit the current lesson’s target English.

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