Time: 5 minutes

Monster Game

Description

Divide the class into groups and assign each group a flashcard on the blackboard. You can either draw or prepare the monsters (I found pictures on Irasutoya and printed + laminated them because you need multiple monsters). 

Place or draw the first monster on the board. Assign the monster health points (I recommend keeping it under or just above 10 so more groups have a chance to win points) and secret points (I used number flashcards and put it face down on the blackboard. The teacher sets a timer and calls the target English. Students repeat the teacher.

When the timer sounds, the last called flashcard indicates the group that gets to attack the monster. Either the teacher or a student volunteer from the group rolls a die. Subtract the number from the monster’s health points. If the monster’s health reaches 0, the monster is defeated. The secret points are revealed and awarded to the group that defeated the monster. The next monster is brought out.

The game continues as such until either all monsters have been defeated or time has run out. Group with the most points at the end of the game is the winning group!

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Bomb Sweeper

Description

Put all cards on the board, and hide the star and bomb card under any two cards. Repeat with the students until the timer goes off. Remove the last card called. If there is nothing under it, the class gets one point. If there is a star, the classes’ points are doubled. If there is a bomb, the round ends and the class keeps whatever points they gathered. Reset and try to get more points the next round. 

Notes

  • You can introduce more special cards as you go to make it longer. Please comment if you discover any good variations!
  • This could be used as a warmup or input game depending on your variations and delivery.
  • The could also be turned into a group game, although I’m not sure how they would hide the special cards. Please comment if you find a good method.

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Balloon Pop 2.0

Description

There is a PowerPoint with five balloons. Behind each balloon is a point. Have the ALT/teacher choose a number. The vocab flashcards should be on the board and labelled 1-5. You can add more balloons if you have more vocabulary or you can put two flashcards under one number, i.e. “Red, yellow” – 1, “blue, green” – 2. It’s up to you how you manage it.

Set the timer and have the students repeat, when the timer goes off, you can pop the balloon that matches the number flashcard you landed on. The goal is for the students after three tries to have beaten the ALT/Teacher’s number. You can pop the balloon each round or wait until the game is over to pop them.

Joker Game

Description

Playing cards are placed face down on the board, one for each group. Set a timer and call the target English. The students repeat the teacher, and when the timer sounds, all the playing cards are revealed. The group that has the ‘joker’ is out. This continues until only one group is left, who are the winner!

Notes

  • The ‘playing cards’ do not need to be actual playing cards. Anything where there is one ‘out’ card will work. For example, every card could be ‘red’ except for one ‘blue’ as the joker.
  • The quickest way to make groups is just have each line of students be a group – this way, no one needs to move their desk or shuffle around.
  • Normally it’s problematic to have groups or players eliminated in a game, as it takes away their motivation. In this case, the whole game should take less than 5 minutes and there is still the interest of who will win or lose. As with all warmup games, it comes down to presentation!

Quick Lucky Dice

Description

The entire class versus the teacher. Assign 3 numbers to the class and 3 to the teacher 1-6 (e.g class = 1,2,3 and teacher = 4,5,6). Set a timer and call the target English. Students repeat the teacher. When the timer sounds, roll a dice. If it lands on one of the three numbers assigned to the class, the class gets 1 point. If it lands on one of the three numbers assigned to the teacher, the teacher gets 1 point. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game is the winner!

Teacher Race

Description

A race track is drawn on the board with a start and finish line and 8 spaces in between. The teacher is assigned a magnet and the class is assigned another magnet. Both are places on the starting line. A timer is set and the students repeat until the timer sounds. A die is then rolled first for the teacher. The teacher’s magnet is moved as many spaces as rolled. The die is then rolled for the class, and their magnet is moved as many spaces as rolled. The first magnet to cross the line is the winner!

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Lucky Dice

Description

Students are in groups of 4. Each student is assigned a number 1-4.

ALT/HRT sets a timer and calls the target English. When the timer sounds, the ALT/HRT rolls a die. If a 1 is rolled, then all students numbered 1 get 1 point. If a 2 is rolled, then all students numbered 2 get 1 point. If a 3 is rolled, then all students numbered 3 get 1 point. If a 4 is rolled, then all students numbered 4 get 1 point.

If a 5 is rolled, all students get 1 point. If a 6 is rolled, all students lose 1 point.

Notes

The first time I played this we used a spinning wheel instead of a die which also worked well.

Timer Dice

Description

STS make groups and get a set of cards. Each group picks 3 cards. At the start, all cards are worth 3 points. The STS repeat the HRT/ALT as they call out the vocabulary until the timer goes off. The HRT/ALT then rolls a dice. The number from the dice becomes how many points the last card that was called is worth. After 6 rounds, the game is finished and the groups see how many points their 3 cards are worth in total.

Notes

  • The number of cards each group picks will depend on how many total cards there are in the set. The more cards in total, the more cards the students should pick at the start of the round (a good amount is roughly 50%).
  • The amount of cards picked can change each round to add a sense of development in the game.

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Card Battle

Description

  • Students get pairs and a set of cards. Split the cards evenly between them, leaving one out (kept secret!). Students can see their own cards, but are secret from their pair.
  • The teacher gives values 1-9 to each card on the board. Higher cards win, except a 1 will beat a 9.
  • Janken. The winner asks the question, and loser answer with any of their cards. Loser then asks the question, and the winner answers with a card.
  • The card with the higher value wins, and that student gets 1 point.
  • Check points and switch pairs every few minutes.

Notes

  • With multiple sets of cards this could be done with a group, although I haven’t tried it.
  • You could do this with just the answer as well.
  • 1 beats 9 so the 9 card isn’t too strong. Feel free to experiment with different values and rules to make it more difficult/strategic. 
  • Inspired by the board game Stratego.

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Quick Race

Description

The class is divided into 3 groups, with flashcards divided evenly and assigned to each group. A ‘starting line’ is drawn on one end of the board and a ‘finish line’ on the other, with 8 spaces between. Each group is assigned a magnet which is placed on the starting line. The students repeat the target English with the teacher until the time is up. The teacher then rolls a dice. Whichever group was assigned the flashcard that was last called moves forward as many spaces as was rolled. The first group to cross the finish lines wins!