Thursday, June 28, 2012

Who said that? Another blindfold game for key conversations

"Achoo!" 
"Bless you Erin." 
"Thanks"

It's very simple:
One of the students is blindfolded.
Another student approaches and makes a sneezing sound (or whatever their line is)
If the student guesses correctly, he continues the conversation. If not, he says, nope, not me! and the sneezing begins again.
My students loved this game. They liked trying to disguise their voices to trick their classmates. 
I used it in the homeroom, using the teacher as the last blindfoldee--they LOVED that! giggled and went silly when the teacher guessed wrong. If I was the only teacher (as in my afterschool classes, I wouldn't blindfold myself!)

Vocabulary review: TIC-TAC-TOE


This is a much beloved game--with a twist. 
I like to play in teams, it builds confidence and pushes kids to strategize. 
first, present each team with three playing pieces.
 team dino has X X X
Team Fox has O O O
this week we're learning the sentence pattern, "Do you like ..." 
so i have the students choose where to place their game piece by making a statement. If they want to add the piece, they say, Do you like grapes?" I say, Yes I do. 
***here's the twist***
each team only has 3 pieces. 
BUT if they are clever, the students will have to start moving their pieces from one place to another,  in order to maneuver their 3 in a row. In this way, you can never black out, and students must constantly keep making more and more strategic moves. 
If they want to change a piece, they simply re-state the item. For example, according to the pic, O now owns 'carrots,'  but if they want to move it to pear, they say, "do you like carrots?" to which the teacher says, "no i don't. and the student says, " do you like pears?" yes i do 
the piece has been moved. 

play as time allows. 
Simple but brilliant awesome game! 

enjoy! 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hammerman! Learning English Through Songs...and Hammers.


Learn a song.
Break it into parts (6~8 depending on the size of each group)
Students work as a team to memorize their part, and practice singing as a team. Give them time to work it out! 
They get three chances. A student from another team holds a squeaky hammer. If the singers fail, they all are hit on the back with the hammer. GENTLY.
If, however, they succeed on the first try, the "hammerman" gets hit on the back --GENTLY-- by EACH singer!

Activity causes a lot of laughing and hard working. fun game. takes a lot of time!

The Blindfold Game

Get students comfortable asking a question, "Is it a pencil?" 
One student is blindfolded. 
They are given an item, and the class asks "What's That?" 
Student gets three guesses. 
Is it a pencil? 
No it isn't! 
Is it a pen? 
Yes! It is! 
It is easy, simple, great filler game. Kids love it because it involves a blindfold and tricking their classmates. I had been handing out pencils, rulers... and the last student I gave him a chair. The thought it was hilarious. 

If you need to stretch it out, show the item to the students theatrically first: miming a "secret" sign for them so they know not to tell! 

What's This? an ESL guessing game

For this class, students are learning school items (a book, a pencil, a pen, an eraser).
Review and display your vocabulary words. 
Intro Key phrases: 
Is it a pen? a pencil...? etc...etc
               Yes, it is! 
               No it isn't. 
Hide the cards close to your chest. team by team, let them guess using KP 
Answer using KP.
The team that guesses correctly gets a point. 
Make things even more fun by having students come up in your place and do the answering. 

Monday, April 12, 2010

School--Home

*great fun to play outdoors, but it works in the classroom, too!

This is one of my fave. camp games ever. It's called Ship to shore and you've probably played it before if you've ever been in an elem. school gym class, or to summer camp. the idea is simple: run from one end of the class to another. It's a great way to tire kids out who have too much energy. BUT BEWARE! it really revvs up the kids, too.

I played it at the end of class before releasing them to the halls. My korean co-teacher explained the rules as I acted out the motions with the students. then I did the announcing.
you will learn your students personalities, who is a fighter, who will give up their friends to stay in the game...and so on!

ACTIONS:

RUN home (stage)
Run to school (back of the class)
nice to MEET you (2 people-shaking hands)
HELP me! (3 people. one on ground, two on each hand)
This is my friend (three people, arms crossed and shaking together)
LOOK (4 people, looking at somewhere and pointing...make them do a disco while shouting look! )
FREEZE! (students must freeze as they are, and don't move--if they move before OKAY, they are out!)
okay! (kids can stop being frozen)DON'T smile! (all the students who are "out" can try to make the kids who are still "in" laugh w/o touching them. if the "in" student laughs, they are out and must sit down)

Continue game for alotted time or until you have only a few students remaining in the game.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

ENGLISH Ratscrew

It's a lot like Russian ratscrew, as it means everyone is grabbing for cards at the same time.
review vocab 1st then introduce a deck of cards with the same objects on them.
examples:
"Let's play soccer. Let's go fishing"
"Can you play soccer? Can you fly?"
The students must listen to the two teachers' Q & A
If teacher 1 says Let's play soccer, and T2 says "sure!" the kids can grab for the soccer cards.
BUT!!!!!
if teacher says, "Sorry I can't" they must wait.
Kids who have reached for a card at this point are out for the round. they must put their hands on their heads and wait.

*I love this last rule because it gives the slower, but more thoughtful kids a fighting chance against the more aggressive ones. many times, The whole table has had to watch as one or two kids collects all of the table's cards!

*MIX IT UP! make the game more speaking oriented by giving speaking control to some of students in the class.

The student from each table with the most cards @ the end gets a reward.

There are many variations of this game, but I really enjoy playing it this way.