Gettingtoknoweachother(30mins)

Everyonewritesdown:thenumbersfrom15(10,etc)onasheetofpaper,andmust
thinkof5(+)interestingquestionstoasktheirclassmatesthattheyactuallywanttofind
outtheanswersfor(e.g.Whatwasthelastthingyouthoughtbeforeyoufellasleep
yesterday?Whatdidyoueatforlunchtoday?Howmanypairsofshoesdoyouhavein
London?etc).Teachermovesroundcheckingspellingandstructure.
StudentsmoveroundtheclassroomfindingouttheanswersfromEACHotherst.
Studentscanwritedowntheanswersiftheywish.
Goodforanewclass/nearthebeginningofacourse/afteralotofnewstudentshave
joined.
Polarity(515mins)
Allstudentsstandinthecentreoftheclassroom.
Theteachercallsouttwothings(e.g.summer/winter,blue/red,pastperfect/present
perfect,uk/usa,etc)andassignseachofthetwothingsasideoftheroom.
StudentsMUSTeachpickoneofthetwooptions,andmovetotheappropriatesideofthe
room.
Teacherthenassignsgroups(preferablypairstoallowmaximumtalking)ofstudents
fromoppositesides.
Studentsformtheirgroupsandmustexplaintheirchoicetotheirpartner(s).
Repeatadnauseam.
Yes/NoQuestions(1020min)
Brieflygothroughthestructure/formofyes/noquestionsandtheiranswerswiththe
students.
Studentseachwritedownasmany(atlest10)y/nquestionsastheycanwithinasettime
limit.
Explainthatstudentsmustaskeachotheraquestionandtheirpartnermustanswer,then
asktheirownquestion.Checkthestudentsunderstand.
Explainthatthismustallhappenfairlyrapidly.Checkthestudentsunderstand.
Explainthatnobodyisallowedtosayyesorno.Laughattheexpressionsontheir
faces.Studentsgetapointeachtimetheirpartneranswersyes/no.
Studentsaskeachotherthequestions,takingturns,andavoidingansweringwith
yes/no.(Possibleanswersformsinclude:echoing(Ido,Ican,sheisnt,etc),sure,of
course(not),mmhm,etc)
Fairytales(520mins)
Students,inmixednationalitygroups,telleachotheratraditionalstoryfromtheirowncountry.Teacher
monitorsformistakes,andcorrectsattheENDoftheactivity.
EXTRAstudentstakenotesoftheirpartnersstory,andwriteitupforhomework.Thenarratorsmustnot
pausemorethannormal,andthewritersmustmakenotesinEnglish.
ALTERNATIVEStudentstaketurns(onewordeach/onesentenceeach)totellawellknownstorythat
allthestudentsalreadyknow/studiedrecently.

60seconds/topics(515mins)
Onestudentmusttrytospeakforagivenlengthoftimeononespecifictopic.
Theotherstudentsmustlistenoutfor(andpointout!):hesitation/silence;repetition;
deviationfromthetopic/incorrectlanguage.
Whoevercorrectlypointsoutoneoftheabovemistakesmustthencarryonwiththat
topic,etc,etc
OR
Whoeverisspeakingattheendofapredeterminedtimewinsapoint(fortheirteam?)
similartomusicalchairs.
Insmallgroups,pairs,orasaclass.
ReviseVocabulary(520mins)
learnerstaketurnsdefiningwordsfromtheirnotebooks/sheetsfromthelastlesson/week
fortheirpartnertoguess
learnerstake35cardsandhaveaconversationtryingtousethosewords
learnerstake35cardsandgiveatalk(asquicklyaspossible)usingallofthosewords
TopicCardsREQUIRESPREPARATION
Studentstaketurnspickingacardfromafacedownpile,andmusttalkaboutthattopic
for1(2,3,half)minutes,tryingtopause/repeat/hesitate/useincorrectlanguageaslittleas
possible.Theotherstudentscanhelpifnecessarywithprompts,andtimethespeaker.IF
studentsforgetabouttheexerciseandhavetheirownconversations(basedonthetopic
cards!)thenthatsfine,astheemphasisisonfluencyonthegivensubjects.
Ranking
Agroupofstudentsmustarrangethingsinorder.
Either:
Studentsaregiven/decideon12objectstotaketotheDesertIsland/Camping
Holiday/SchoolTriptotheMuseum,andmustconvincetheotherstudentsintheirgroup
totaketheirobject(s).
OR
Thestudentwiththemostinventiveargumentswinsthepoint,notthemost
persuasive/sensible.
TongueTwisters
Pickanytonguetwisterandgothroughitwiththestudents.
Haveacompetitionforthebestpronunciation/fastestrecital/mostnumberofrecitalsina
rowwithoutamistake/etc
Sentencereduction
Seesheetstudentsstartwithaverylongsentence,thenremoveupto3consecutive
wordsperturnsothatitstillmakessense.Theteamtoremovethelastpossibleword(s)
win.

Sentenceconstruction
Studentsstartwithaminimalsentence.Teams(oringroups,individuals)taketurnsto
addclauses(usingkeywordse.g.and/so/but)orwordstolengthenthesentence.
E.g. Ihadadog.
Ihadadogbuthedied.
Ihadadogbuthedied,soIgotacat.
Etc
NeverHaveIEver
Basedonadrinkinggame.
Studentssitinacirclemadeupof[numberofstudents]chairs.Teacherstandsinthe
middle.
TeachergivesaTRUEstatemente.g.IhaveneverbeentoJapan/Mybellybuttonis
pierced.
ALLseated,forwhomthisstatementistrue,MUSTchangeseats.Nooneisallowedtosit
inthesameseattheystartedin.Ifthestatementisnottrue,thatpersondoesnthaveto
change.Whoevergavethestatementmusttrytostealaseat.
Whoeverisleftstandingmustgivethenextstatement.
Extrarulescanbeaddedthemes,tenses,constructions,vocabulary,etc
Intwoteams
Eachteamhasalistof34categories
Eachteammustwritedowntenwordsforthatcategory,buttheymustbethemost
unusual,hardesttoguesswordspossible
Theotherteamthenfindsoutthecategory,andhasoneminutetoshoutoutasmany
wordsforthatcategoryasposs.
Attheendoftheminutethefirstteamgetsapointforeachwordteambdidntguess,
OR,teambgetsapointforeachwordthatahadalreadywrittendown.
Captioncompetition
Findanyphotos/picturesfrommagazines/artgalleriesetc
stickpostitnotestothemasspeechbubbles
studentshavetofillin
voteonfunniest/mostlikely
feelingpoems
pickatheme
everyonewritesashortpoem(5ishlines)comparingittoconcreteimages
e.g.loveislikeawalkonabeach,wet,wild,anddifferenteverydayyougoetcetc
10minstowrite

To write your poems have students choose a feeling like love, hate,
anger, friendship, jealousy, etc. You can brainstorm some ideas
together as a class if you like. Then students write the feeling they
have chosen at the top of their paper as their title. Beneath the title
have the students write a line for each of the five sense. For example:
Jealousy tastes like pickled plums, smells like rotten fish, looks like...,
feels like..., sounds like a traffic jam. Write a poem together as a class
first to get the students thinking and so they fully understand. Then, let
the students write their own poems. Make sure the students use
concrete images and encourage them to let their imaginations run
wild.

Everydayforaweekhaveapicforeachst
everydayeachstwrites1200wordsonitdescription,feelings,apoem,theirreaction,
etc,untileachsthaswritten1000wordsapicisworth1000words!

Vacation Cards
Level: Medium to Difficult
For this activity you will need a deck of cards, and an imaginative
theme that could be crafted into some sort of story. For example, I
choose "send the teacher on a vacation". On the board or overhead
projector make a list like the following. (You could ask your student for
input.)
A-exciting
2-depressing
3-expensive
4-heroic
5-romantic
6-fantastic
7-sad
8-almost fatal
9-cheap
10-dramatic
J-happy
Q-wierd
K-change one option
Prompt the students a little to get them started; perhaps offer a

beginning to the story. They then must continue making an oral story
by drawing one card and continuing the story along those lines. For
example, if they get 4, then the teacher/protagonist must do
something heroic or some kind of heroic event must occur. If the
students draw a K (or whatever card you stipulate), then they can
change one option. This seems to help keep the momentum in the
game. Continue through all cards, with the stipulation that the story
must be concluded by the end of the deck. Obviously there is a lot of
room for variation here. Your word list and theme could be related to
your unit of study.
My students really enjoyed this game; it is most interesting if you
personalize it and insert yourself or a student (assuming he/she
wouldn't mind)
My Party
For my party, Im going to bring.
(anything beginning with c or anything uncountable or anything
ending with a silent e etc students must say what they will bring, and
according to the teachers acceptance or not must guess the rule. first
to guess it (on their turn) starts the next one)
Who/What am I?
Each st receives a post-it note on their back/forehead with a
verb/noun/proper noun on it.
students must ask each other questions until they find out what they
are.
Descriptions
Level:Medium

Writedownnamesofeverystudentinyourclassonpiecesofpaper.

Givethenamestostudents.Trytomaketwostudentsdescribeeachother.

Askthemtodescribethepersonwhosenameisonthepaper.

Aftertheyfinish,givethedescriptiontothepersonwhoisdescribed.
He/shehastofindanywritingmistakesonthepaper.

Studentsworkinpairstocorrectthetwopapers.

Board Race
two (three) lines, 1st person in each line has a pen

the learners behind may whisper (if they shout they will be helping the
other team!) and rub off the board, but may NOT write on the board or
touch the pen
Teacher shouts a word (eg sing) and the learners must write it correctly
in the past simple (past participle, present participle, plural, opposite,
or for low levels, just write it correctly!)
first team to correctly spell it gets a point
Whack the Board
two (three) lines, 1st person in each has a sword (rolled up newspaper)
on the board 2/3 categories (pronunciation of ed / countable vs
uncountable / regular vs irregular / etc)
teacher (or later, chosen student) shouts something (paper!) and the
learners at the front hit (and shout!) the correct answer (uncountable)
Whack the Table
each group/pair has cards with vocabulary/pictures/phonemes/etc on it
Teacher shouts one out/describes it/the opposite and 1st st to slam it
(and say it?) gets to keep it
Sentence completion
On the board put the beginnings (or endings!) of controversial
statements I cant live without. / The best food in the world is
from. / Before I die I want to etc etc
Learners copy them on bits of paper and complete them. Either all
share and discuss, or mix together the bits of paper, then pick one,
guess who wrote it, they explain why.