WHAT'S THE ADDRESS?

WHAT’S THE ADDRESS? (Concentration/Memory game)

Age level - any
Proficiency level - low intermediate and above
Mateiral - Flashcards (with pictures) and sheets with words/expressions
Objective - To practice vocabulary or grammar structures

Prepare flashcards and sheets with the words/expressions you want to practice. On the blackboard, write letters and numbers, and place flashcards (A, B) and words/expressions (C,D), facing the board.

                        A                     B                     C                     D

1

2

3

Divide the class into two groups. Each group asks for two addresses (A-3 and C-1, for example), to try to match words/expressions to the correct pictures.

VARIATION - Instead of practicing vocabulary, you can use this game for questions and answers, if clauses, simple past + past continuous, active or passive voice, etc.

ENDLESS STREAM

ENDLESS STREAM

Age - Young learners

Proficiency level - basic to intermediate

Material - Board and markers of two different colors

Objective - To activate previous knowledge of vocabulary; to practice vocabulary

Divide the class into two groups (boys and girls, or any other criterion). Write a word on the board (let’s choose THINK, for instance) and ask one student from one of the groups to write a word that starts with the last letter of the word you wrote (KEY, or any other). A player from the other group has to write a word that starts with Y, and so on. Words cannot be repeated, and the group that fails to write a word loses.

VARIATION

This game can be played in pairs, with students writing their words on a sheet of paper.

To make it more challenging, you can restrict the words to one category. For instance, if you are teaching the past tense, ask students to write only the past of irregular verbs.

TIC TAC TOE

• Material needed – board and marker
•  Age/Proficiency level - any
• Objective - To practice any grammar point, vocabulary (synonyms, opposites, definitions), verb tenses, irregular/regular verbs, etc.

RULES

• Divide the class into two groups, O and X.
• Draw a grid like this on the board. 

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9

You can either place slips on the grid or have a list of items corresponding to the numbers in it. Let’s say you are practicing irregular pasts. You would have a list of 9 irregular verbs and students would give you the past participle of the verb corresponding to the number they had chosen. This is more practical because you don’t need to write big slips of paper.

• Have groups take turns choosing a number. If they can complete the task correctly, put their symbol on the grid. The group that finishes one line first wins.

MATCH OR MISMATCH

Age level - Teens and above

Proficiency level - This activity can be adapted to every level, but it works better with intermediate and above.

Material - Slips of paper

Objective - To put clauses together and analyze them grammatically and logically. students also have the opportunity to correct the ones that don't match.

• Give each student two slips of paper.
• Ask them to write, say, a sentence beginning with "if".
• Collect all the slips and make a pile on the table.
• Ask students to write the complement to their clause on the second slip.
• Collect these too, making a second pile on the table.
• One by one, students stand up and pick one slip from each pile, reading them aloud for the group. The class will judge whether the final sentence is logical or not. If not, they have to change it so that it does.

Example: If it rains tomorrow                        my parents will give me a present.

It is not logical, so they need to change either the if clause or the result clause so as to make them logical. The result can be: If it rains tomorrow, I will stay home.

If I get good grades, my parents will give me a present.

Beginning students can write a noun and an adjective, an indefinite article and a noun, a quantifier and a noun, etc.

AGREE, DISAGREE, UNSURE

Age level - teens and older

Proficiency level - Good for intermediate and upper levels.

Material - Three big signs (AGREE, DISAGREE, UNSURE); a list of controversial, polemic statements

Objective -  this activity enhances discussion and opinion giving.

• Prepare three big signs that read AGREE, DISAGREE, UNSURE.
• Place them on three different corners of the classroom.
• Pose a controversial statement like, "I think women shouldn't ask men out."; "Poverty is a problem that only governments can solve."; "It's OK to keep something valuable that you have found."
• Students move to one of the corners and are given some time to talk and support their opinion.
• To wrap up, volunteers are invited to share their opinions with the whole group.

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