Materials: Small cards

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!

Similar Games

Bomb Game

Also known as:

  • Up/Down Game
  • Timer Game

Description

Students each get a small flashcard with one of the target English vocabulary words on it. A timer is set for around 1-2 minutes. The teacher calls out vocabulary randomly and the students repeat them. If the vocabulary that the teacher calls matches the student’s card, they stand up.

If the student is already standing up, and the teacher calls their vocabulary again, they sit back down. Once the timer goes off, students who are sitting down win one point. Students then change their cards, and start the next round.

Notes

In later rounds, half the class could start standing up while the other half starts sitting down to make the results more unpredictable.

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Race Game

Description

The students put small cards randomly onto the spaces on the board. The teacher picks random vocabulary and the students move an ohajiki onto the matching small card. If they don’t have that card on their board, they can’t move for that turn. For every lap of the board they complete, they get 1 point.

Notes

  • Students can shuffle their cards after a certain period of time.
  • The game can be played solo, or in pairs to reduce the number of boards and cards needed. If the students are in pairs, they work together and share points.
  • If the target English is the question, the students first ask the question to the teacher, who gives their answer using one of the possible vocabulary words.

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.

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.

Similar Games

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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Matching Game

Description

Students get one card each. They make pairs, and use them to say the target English. They then switch cards.

If both students have the same card, they win one point each and both get new cards from the teacher.

Notes

  • This game can be used to practice vocabulary, grammar and questions and answers.
  • If many students get a match at the same time, a large queue can develop in front of the teacher and slow the game down. It’s also possible to have a few decks of cards at the front of the class where students can take a new card themself as they need.

Pictionary

Description

The students make groups. Each group gets one set of small vocabulary cards, one whiteboard and one pen. The first player takes a random small vocabulary card without showing anyone else. They then draw a picture of that vocabulary on the board within a short time limit.

When the time limit is up, the students asks try to guess the vocabulary, using the target English. The first student to guess correctly wins one point. The whiteboard is erased, and next student then picks their card and draws their picture.

Notes

  • The time limit should be very short, even around 20 seconds. The idea is there is not enough time to draw a perfect picture.
  • For younger students, it’s better to have every group ask and answer their questions at the same time to keep the rhythm for the game going smoothly.

Letter Exchange

Description

The students first get a worksheet that has 6 random letters. The students draw the letters in the squares using whatever colour/design they like. When they’re finished, they cut them out.

The students then get a sheet of paper with their name on it written in English, and six letters which were made in the previous lesson (they don’t need to be the ones they made originally). They use the paper to make pairs and ask for letters. If their partner has the letter they asked for, they give it to them.

When they have all the letters to make their name, they can glue them (in the correct order) to their paper.

After class, students can add their own design to the rest of the paper, and glue it to their new name card to use for the next year.

Notes

  • It takes the students a long time to draw their letters, so it is best to split the activity into two lessons.
  • If using lower case letters, the first letter of each name is left for the student to draw on their own name card as a capital.
  • When making the worksheets, make sure you have enough letters for each student’s name – certain letters will be much more common than others. One way to do it is to take each student’s name, shuffle the letters and put them all on one worksheet. This worksheet doesn’t need to be given to the student whose name it was, however. If there are more than 6 letters, add those letters onto the next worksheet that has a short name. If there are left over spaces, fill them with common letters so there are some spares.
  • It’s recommended that the name cards are laminated once finished. The letters will often fall off the card throughout the school year otherwise.

Perfect Set

Description

Students make groups and get a deck of cards. They shuffle the deck and get 5 cards each. The rest of the cards are placed face down in the middle of the group.

The group asks the active player the question, and they answer by putting down one of their cards into a discard pile. They then take one of the face down cards.

The students get one point for each unique card they have when time is up. A timer is set for about 5 minutes, but it is hidden from the students (so they can’t ‘run down the clock’ if they have an advantageous hand and want to stall).