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.
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.
The students fill out questionnaires to give their answers relating to the target English. The teacher collects all their papers and picks a random one. The students ask questions and the teacher answers as the ‘mystery friend’ (the student whose paper they picked). Students can volunteer to guess who the mystery friend is, and when they guess correctly the teacher picks a new questionnaire.
Students each get 3 random small cards. They make pairs, ask questions and answer using the target English and one of the cards they have in their hand. They then janken, and the winner can choose which of their cards they will exchange with one of their partner’s cards (also of their choice).
When time is up, the teacher picks a lucky card. Students get one point for each card they have that matches the lucky card.
The teacher can pick multiple cards to be lucky, certain cards can be worth more points than others, or there can simply be one lucky card.
Students make pairs. The teacher calls out random vocabulary words and the students repeat. When the teacher calls ‘go’, the students play janken with their partner. The student that wins janken gets one point.
Students make pairs. Each student has one open hand (the ‘dinosaur’) and one closed hand (the ‘hamburger’). A vocabulary word is picked to be the keyword. The teacher or ALT calls random vocabulary words and the students repeat them. When the students hear the keyword they use their ‘dinosaur’ hand to try to ‘eat’ (i.e. catch) their partner’s ‘hamburger’ hand. The student that does this first wins one point.
Students make pairs and each hold a length of string in their left hand. The teacher picks one vocabulary word to be the keyword. They call out random vocabulary words and the students repeat them. When students hear the keyword, they try and grab their partner’s string. If they can, they win one point.
Students make pairs and get a set of vocabulary cards. They also get one ‘ohajiki’ (a counter/game piece) each. Both students put their ohajiki on top of any card they like.
The teacher calls out random vocabulary words from the set currently being studied, and the students repeat them. When the teacher says the vocabulary that matches the card the student placed their ohajiki on, they win one point. They then put their ohajiki onto a new card.
Students can change pairs between rounds.
The teacher says the vocabulary in any order. The students repeat. When they hear the keyword, the students try to grab the dice. The student that grabs it first can then roll the dice to see how many points they win.
Students make groups and each get a set of cards with the target English on them. The teacher picks a keyword from the set. The students put an eraser (or pen lid, ohajiki, etc.) in the centre of their group.
The teacher/ALT says the vocabulary in any order. The students repeat. When they hear the keyword, the students try to grab the eraser. The student that grabs it wins one point.
