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[Aphrodite#5]

Does anyone have any game or activity suggestions for children ages 6-14 with very limited English? I searched for other threads and in the games and activities part of the site, but didn't come up with much for kids as young as 6. I need some ideas which don't include lengthy explanations of the rules or directions, b/c the kids don't understand me no matter how much sign language I use or how excessively I smile. Any ideas? They're learning how old are you? And verbs like, "dance", "write", etc. Help, please.

[sock]

I don't really know any 'games' for total beginners, so this thread will help me too, but here are some of the things that I do in my classes.

1. Snake races: The student's are already sitting in rows/clumps of about 6 students each. I yell out a question (how old are you?) the first student has to answer (I'm 6), then ask the second student "how old are you", and she answers and asks... until they get to the end of the row and raise their hands... The winning group gets one point on the board. If they cheat/speak Chinese, I disqualify them (or sometimes deduct a point).

2. Bring one of your students up to the class (a well behaved student that can speak fairly well). Take a pencil box or eraser or some other item, and give it to one of the other students. The student at the front turns around so she is not facing the class and then pounds/drums on the desk while the other students are passing the pencil box/eraser around. When the pounding stops, the person with the pb/eraser has to answer a question that the student in the front asks (you may need to whisper a question in her ear). If they are too young, call out a verb, and make them act it out.

Finally, one student hides his eyes, and I give an eraser to one of the students. The student who had his eyes covered asks "is it a boy or a girl"... The students still sitting say "girl". What color is her shirt (most of the times they can't get this out, and just ask 'what color', but they all can understand)... They say green, and then usually at this point they can figure out who it is...

I hope some of these help, and hope that others have some interesting ideas.

[Roger]

This is a dumb order, of course; kids this age cannot converse in their second language. There is only one option: use English as the language of instruction in other subjects. Of course, you cannot teach them how to write Chinese but you can teach them how to draw, for example. This way they can mentally recreate any object, real or imaginary, and get a linguistic grip on it. Doesn't work with abstract concepts, though.
Ideally, you would instruct them in PE. I for one have always loved just that, and in kindergartens (below 7 years of age) it worked magically well. In primary schools you might run into some red tape but it is worth a try.
I would have them run races on the tracks, jump in the sand pit and do some calisthenics. Also you can group them into teams of four or 5 and have these groups compete against each other. The notion of competition is fairly new to them, so this might instill in them some resepct for the individual's achievements or teamwork.
Teams can also do orienteering. A school yard is big enough to keep them busy for hours.
If you don't get the green light from your superiors for outdoor activities try to teach them grammar-related topics in English (so that they have to use English while learning it). This is how you can correct mistakes before they become permanent fixtures in their English.

[LeiShan]

With the young, I TPR most everything at first. Building vocabulary is pretty easy that way. I also use a lot of songs for right brain development. And, it is surprising how fast even the very little are able to memorize many articles, colors, veggies etc. using song with action.

[mmm... pancakes]

I've found this post to be quite helpful: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=2591

And my e-book of course - plenty of good games and worksheets in there...

[Aphrodite#5]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I also have to mention that my classes are between 30 and 45 students and their desks are crammed into a small space, so there isn't much room for movement. Any ideas for large numbers of attention deficit (not really) primary school kids who can barely move because the desks are so close together? I don't have any way to laminate, and teach over 700 kids a week, so photocopying is a little tricky.

[Girl Scout]

I assume you have a white board/chalk board.

Silly Shape Man

Silly Shape man is used to teach body parts, shapes, and the phrases, "...needs a ..." and "What do you want?"

I start by doing most of it for them the first time.

Say the phrase, "Silly shape man needs a head." Put your hands on your head and/or point to your head. While most of the kids are looking at you say, "I want a star."(or any shape you want) You draw a star on the board. Next, eyes. "Silly shape man needs some eyes" Point to your eyes. Again wait for most of the children to look at you, then say, "I want two squares" You draw two squares for eyes. Go on to nose with the same pattern. Silly shape man needs..." and "I want ..." Continue this pattern to draw the entire body of the silly shape man, body, hands, fingers, legs feet. If you think any of the kids can name a shape ask them, "What do you want?" I suggest you also model "(kids name) wants a ..." as you are drawing the shape.

Once the kids get the idea of the game you will have to do less. Slowly you will be able to stop naming body parts for them. They will be able to pick their own shapes. Eventually they will also start to say the phrases, "I want ..." and "Silly shape man needs..." Later you can also add neck, elbows, knees.

My kids requested this game about one a week for the entire year. They never got tired of it. It also worked well for late beginners up to about nine.