Around the World July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary-any, warm-up, warm-ups.1 comment so far
From Genki English
A great, great way for kids to compete as a class by pairing up “around the world”. Basically, you start at one end and two students compete with flashcards, questions, greetings, janken math, anything. The student who wins gets to move forward to the next student, while the loser sits down… Go to this activity »
The Lines Quiz July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary-any, warm-up, warm-ups.add a comment
From Genki English
An easy way to drill a class of students on anything from vocabulary to questions and answers, by having them compete in lines. Go to this activity »
Talking Cards July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in card-games, warm-up.1 comment so far
From ITESLJ
This is a key to questions to be asked based on which card a student draws. Good for an ice breaker, especially with a new class. Go to this activity »
ESL Warm-up Magical Question Box July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in questions, warm-up.add a comment
I used this countless times in my 1st grade junior high classes last year, and it worked great.
Aims: to practice listening to questions and giving the right answer gramatically
Materials: a little box with lots of questions written out.
The students form teams based on their columns of seats. They all stand up and face you. Pick a student in the front row to pick out a question for your magical mystery box. Unfold the question and ask it.
Only the students in the first row can answer the question after raising their hand. The first student with their hand up gets called on, and they must answer the question correctly.
Example:
Q:”Where are you from?”
A: “I’m from Japan”
Q: “What time did you get up this morning?”
A: “AT 7 o’clock”.
Etc…
When a student answers correctly, they can sit down. The rest of the first-row students move to the back of their team, and the students next in line come forward to answer the next question.
The kids like it if you make a dramatic act out of the choosing of the quesiton, and with a lively atmosphere, they really enjoyed it.
Shiritori July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in vocabulary, warm-up, writing.add a comment
This game is popular in Japan for practicing vocabulary. The students form teams and if there’s 3 teams, you write a word at the top of 3 different columns on the board. When you say “go!”, the first student from each team goes up to the board and writes a word that begins with the ending letter of the word on the board. Then the next student from the team comes up and does the same thing with the word the last student wrote on the board.
The game continues for a specified amount of time, likely 2 minutes or so, and the team with the most words on the board at the end wins.
Here are some sites that discuss this game:
Jigsaw Conversations July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in sentence-making, warm-up, writing.add a comment
Aims: comprehension / conversation, review, warm-up
Materials: a conversation prepared, jumbled script copies
Write five topics of conversation on the board accompanied by pictures. 1st Year could be about playing sports, 2nd Year about what you did at the weekend and 3rd Year describing something or someone. With your JTE, act out a conversation that corresponds to each in turn of the five pictures. It’s probably best done twice.
When you’ve finished all five, distribute scripts of the conversations to the students cut up line by line and jumbled up, all 5 mixed together. Have the students in groups and give each group a set.
Groups then put the dialogue back together from what they remember you saying, being prompted by the picture, and, importantly, asking you. First group to complete the dialogues wins.
Example: (for 2nd year):
What did you do on Sunday? / I played tennis. / Who did you play tennis with? / I went with Ken. / Did you enjoy it? / Yes, very much.
People BINGO July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in greetings, vocabulary, warm-up.add a comment
From Three Wise Monkeys
Aims: “how are you?” / warm-up
Materials: 2-4 months with dates
This is a great game that I’ve used a number of times to get the students awake and to fill a little extra time at the beginning or end of the class.
Basically, the teacher asks the class a question, and when one student answers, the teacher writes that answer on the board, and no one can use that answer again. Then, another student must answer the same question with a different response, and continue until everyone is sitting, or you decide to play a BINGO game at the end, etc. Go to this activity »
HINT: Adaptable, good for any grade warm-up.
Spelling Bee July 30, 2007
Posted by serenden in alphabet, pronunciation, vocabulary, warm-up, writing.add a comment
Aims: Any / Vocabulary
Materials: lots of letter cards
Say the target word, after which it’s the students’ task to select the letters which spell the word, and then align themselves (holding a card or cards) in correct order. When they think they have the spelling right they call out to the teacher,”We’re ready!”
If the word is misspelled, they have the chance to try again. When they have the spelling right, give them an ordinal number (1st team, 2nd team…), and have them sit or crouch down. As well as being a useful teaching device, this makes it easier to see the other teams, and also to score after the turn is complete.
Scoring:
Ex: simply ask, “Who was the 1st team?” etc., and award points to that group. If there are 6 teams, 6 points are awarded to the 1st team, 5 to the 2nd, 4 to the 3rd, etc.. At the end of your time, tally the points on your scoreboard and reward the winning team.
THOUGHTS: This is probably best for beginning of 1st grade junior high, or elementary school students learning the alphabet.
