Time: Less than 5 minutes

The Money Game

Description

Give each student three random cards. It would be great if they get at least one reverse card. Students stand up and find a partner and practice the grammar structure. They then play “rock, paper, scissors.”

Without showing the cards, the winner picks one from the loser’s hand. There are three scenarios:

  • If the winner picks a money card (100 or 200), the round ends.
  • If the winner picks a reverse card, the loser gets a turn.
  • If both the winner and loser pick two consecutive reverse cards, the round ends.

If a student runs out of cards, they ask the teachers for two more cards. The student with the most money wins the game.

Notes

It would be great if each student gets at least one reverse card.

Crossfire 2:0

Also known as:

  • Crossfire

Description

Students are in groups and the goal is for the entire group to be seated. They do not need to move their desks, just keep the class as is. We then follow the regular crossfire procedure: everyone stands up and the ALT asks a question. Then we break from tradition. Set the timer to 10/20 seconds. Each group then peer checks an answer between them. When the time is up, students can volunteer to answer. The JTE then chooses one student. The student answers then rolls the dice. Depending on what they roll, select students sit down. The first group to have everyone sitting down wins…until someone rolls a one and everyone has to stand up again!

Notes

Crossfire is often used at JHS as a review game. While students may be answering questions they have previously studied, they’re put on the spot to answer the question with no review time. It’s not a review game. It’s very high pressure, high stress and has a huge amount of downtime for other students. Students can easily pass the entire game doing absolutely nothing. I was asked to play this game at a JHS and couldn’t bring myself to do it, despite the insistence. I went to Paul for advice and this was the result. It’s not a perfect game, I don’t think it really has a place in our classes but it’s a huge step up from crossfire in the current form and it worked well. 

Elimination

Description

Show students 9 possible points they could get. Secretly write/place the points under each. Repeat with a timer. Reveal the points under the last card called. Those points are gone. Keep repeating until you are left with one card. The class then gets the points from the last card.

Notes

  • A possible variation is having one more point card than vocab words. Those points go to the teacher (secret is best). The goal is to have more points than the teacher at the end.
  • I say 9 possible points. This is based on how many vocab words you have. 

Similar Games

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.

Similar Games

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!

Similar Games

Quick Acchi Muite Hoi!

Description

Students repeat the target English until the timer goes off. The teacher then counts to 3 and everyone looks either up, left, right, or down at once. If a student looks in the same direction that the teacher picked, they lose that round.

Quick X and O

Description

Draw a 3×3 noughts and crosses/tic-tac-toe board. Label each square from A-I. Set the timer for ~30 seconds, and repeat the target English until the time is up. The teacher then picks one of the spaces (referencing the letter in that square) and marks it with an ‘O’. A random student then picks a space, which the teacher marks with an ‘X’. For the second round onwards, toss a coin or roll a dice to see who goes first out of the teacher or students. If either the teacher or the students can get three of their ‘O’ or ‘X’ marks in a row, they win. If there are no spaces left at the end, it’s a draw. 

Notes

  • This game will last between 3 and 5 rounds, depending on when one team wins.
  • It’s best for the teacher to not pick the centre space first, as better to give the students a chance to pick it to have an advantage.