Job Discussion Forums

[tw]

OK, I may be good at making lessons interesting, but when it comes to games my mind goes blank. I am aware of various guess-the-word/phrase games. I have classes that have at least 35 students and I want games that FORCES everyone to participate. Does anyone have any ideas other than Hangman and Wheel-of-Fortune? I should also mention that my students are mostly intermediate beginners. Thanks in advance!

[andyscott84]

I got this game from another teacher, it is smiply called the boom-boom game. On the black/white board draw a grid about 5x5 should so it. Label the X and Y axis A, B, C, D, E and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Underneath these squares there are points, a gun and a humburger. You split the class into two teams and ask them questions adding up to the amount of squares you have on the grid. If they get the question right then they can choose a square and get whatever is underneath. Points is obvious, the gun means that the other team will get an extra question and the hamburger means your team will get another.

So before class all you have to do is print out a grid and know where everything is on it and also a list of questions. To get everyone to participate I only let each person answer one question. The team will then convince the usually quiet students to also participate.

This game always goes down well in my students, everyone speaks. I always use it for my revision class.

[Roger]

Games for 35-year olds? Sounds like some contradiction to me. BUt yes, we are, after all, in China.

Here is a suggestion I used with middle-school students and kids at summer camps:

Post lists of consumer items in various locations around your school, preferably far apart, so that your learners have to make some physical effort (which helps to get better vibes out of some).
What you list on those posters is up to your imagination and may depend on the job profiles of your learners. I would try to give them the idea of spending a fixed amount on badly-needed household items they must select from different departments at a department store.
THis is a practical job, related to their personal experience (most will be married), it revolves around spending money (another Chinese "like" activity).
You can vary the degree of difficulty by giving them terse oral instructions as to where they find this or that department; give them a time frame so that they can compete against each other.
Alternatively, you can form groups of 5 to 6, so that each group has to work together and discuss certain issues among them.
A kind of orienterring - it works, and it doesn't require a lot of preparation.

[vikdk]

quoting Roger

[nolefan]

[Roger]

Thanks, Nolefan, for your pointer! Silly me misinterpreting the title. It clearly states in the text "35 plus students".

He didn't say a thing about the age of his learners; however, the lucky bugger got ONLY 35 plus - not 50, 60 or 100!

[GeminiTiger]

[shenyanggerry]

Put them in groups of 5-7 - for some reason, 4 doesn't seem to generate the excitement that one more person gives.
Have each group stand in a circle.
Give each a post-it note and tell them to put the name of a famous person on it and stick to the person's back WITHOUT THEM SEEING THE NAME. Each S has a post-it note on their back
Have them take turns guessing who they are using yes/no questions. Continue until each has had one or two turns.

Model the activity first. i.e. George Washington:
Am I a woman - group says "no"
Am I alive - no
Am I Chinese - no
Am I American - yes
Was I a writer - no
Was I an athlete - no
Was I a politician - yes
Did I die in the last 150 years - no
Was I a president - yes
Was I George Washington - YES

Wander around monitoring throughout the exercise.

[pancakes]

You could try 3-piece.

Give everyone three playing cards (or whatever) each. When you say so, they will all stand up and find a partner. They will say the target language to each other (works best as questions and answers) - one will ask, the other answers, then reverse roles. Once they've done that, they do paper-scissors-rock. The winner takes a card from the loser. Then both students go and find a different partner, and repeats the procedure.

Play for as long as you like; 5-15 minutes. When you shout "stop" everyone sits down. You go around and have the students tell you how many cards they have. The winner is the person with the most cards at the end of the game.

Preparation required is only a pack of cards and perhaps a prize for the winner. This activity keeps everyone moving, everyone talking, and allows the teacher to play too (read: checking pronunciation).

I've used it with students from 4 up to about 18, and they all like it well enough. You need to be watchful for cheaters, though, and for people that go straight to the paper-scissors-rock part without doing the language bit first.

[winterlynx1]

You need a shoe box (preferably decorated in bright colors) and a life-like rubber lizard or snake. Put the rubber reptile in the box and cover. Now, you play 20 questions. (You can post or write the questions they need to ask on the board if their English is a little short.)

As the students get closer to figuring out just what might be in the box, the apprehension mounts. When the animal is guessed, pull the retile out of the box with great fan fare!

Do this at the very end of the class so that some other teacher is responsible for getting the kids down out of the stratosphere.

They love it! They'll want you to do it every lesson for the rest of your life.

[adventuramust]

I love the shoebox idea if for no other reason what the next teacher has to put up with.

I have 80 students in my classes. It is pretty evenly split into 3 groups. The ones in the back either don't want to learn or don't understand anything, the ones on the sides know but don't participate and the ones in the middle know and will participate.

With the size of my classes and the 3 groups, I play some games, but none as active as mentioned or as active as I would like.

I bring in postcards for the winners of my games, but the class size is just so large!

[winterlynx1]

This is an easy one and the kids really seem to like it. You just divide the class into two teams, X's and O's, then play tic tac toe between the two teams Choose a player at random. They have to answer a question in order to get the chance to take a turn.

Another game - put 'fortunes' in balloons (like fortune cookies). Tape the balloons around the room. When a student answers a question or otherwise participates, they get to choose a balloon and read their fortune.

[7969]