Classroom games

These games have been designed for students according to their level.

Level 1 (Beginners, Elementary & Pre-intermediate)

1. The sentence construction game.

Preparation:

This game should be printed out, stuck onto cardboard and then cut into small cards, each one with one of the sentences on it. The same should be done to each of the symbols.

How to play:

Low level students will need a copy of Viv's flow charts for the present simple 1 & 2. The student turns over a card with a sentence, and then turns over a symbol card indication whether an affirmative statement (+), negative (-) or 'yes/no' question (?) should be formed. If the sentence card turned over already has a question mark on it, then there's no need to turn over a symbol card as a 'wh' question will have to be formed.

The game:

Viv's Sentence Construction Game (symbols)

Viv's Sentence Construction Game (sentences)

2. Bingo Time!

Preparation:

After teaching how to say the time in English, this game can be used to practice any form (24 hour clock, formal (two fifteen) or informal (quarter past two).

Print out the clocks and cut them up so that there is one for each student. The arrow on the left points up, so when handing out the cards, make sure that the students have got the clocks the right way up!

Print out the control. Either the teacher (recommended) or one of the students keeps this.

How to play:

After teaching the two questions for asking for the time given at the top of the control sheet, associate the first question with "Time" and the second with "When?". Go around the class choosing students to ask one of the questions according to the prompt. Answer with the times in the target format on the control sheet, and after spoken, cross them off the control. The first student to complete their sheets has to read out all the times on their card. "BINGO!" can be replaced with any appropriate sentence like "I know what the time is!" etc. Read the times out at normal pace and don't repeat them. If no one wins, you can always play the game again next class! As always in a game like this, playing for a small prize will increase class motivation, which is usually high for this type of activity anyway.

The game:

Bingo Time! (clocks)

Bingo Time! (control)

Level 2 (Intermediate)

1. Grammatical Snakes and Ladders

(adapted from an idea published in 'Recipes for tired teachers')

Preparation:

This game should be printed out onto two pages (you may need to use a photocopier to enlarge them). Get a piece of cardboard large enough for both pages (one above the other), and fold it in half - like a Scrabble board. Stick the copies onto each half of the card (so it can be folded in half and easily stored an transported) .

To play you will need a dice and counters for the number of students playing (up to 5 is recommended).

How to play:

Each student takes turns to throw the dice and move their counters. When they land on a square, they have five seconds to say whether the sentence is correct or incorrect. If it's incorrect, they have ten seconds to correct it. Students who run out of time, or get it wrong go back five spaces. If only one student is playing, I recommend that if they land on another square with a sentence, the same process is repeated, but for groups this may be skipped. Of course, students landing on snakes automatically go down them, and with ladders they go up if they get the sentence correct (I don't let students go up ladders if they land on them as part of a penalty). A further optional penalty is to move students who speak in their native language during the game back ten spaces!

The game:

Viv's Grammatical Snakes and Ladders (intermediate)

2. Modal verbs of deduction Pelmanism game

Preparation:

Make as many copies of the game as you need for groups of three or four students. Print them onto cardboard so that the game can be used again. If you like, change 'Sao Paulo' in this game to the name of a city near where you live.

How to play:

Shuffle the cards and put them in a pile face down on the table. Each student takes a card and turns it over. If the writing is in red, the student has to transform the sentence using a modal verb of deduction. If the writing is in blue or green the student has to say "POSSIBLE", "PROBABLE" or "IMPOSSIBLE".

After this, the teacher shuffles the cards again and puts them all face down on the table in a grid (4 X 6).

The student(s) turn over a card. If the card is blue or green they must say "POSSIBLE", "PROBABLE" or "IMPOSSIBLE". If the card is red they have to say "MIGHT, MAY OR COULD", "MUST" or "CAN'T", then "PRESENT" or "PAST" and "SIMPLE" or "CONTINUOUS" (or you could ask them to make the transformations again). Then the same student turns over another card and does the same. If the cards don't match, the student turns both cards back in the same position and then the next student (or the teacher) has a go. When two cards match, they are removed from the grid and the same student who got the correct match has another go. The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

The game:

Viv's modal verbs of deduction pelmanism game (intermediate)

3. Conditionals game

Preparation and materials are on the link below:

Viv's conditionals game (intermediate)

Level 3 (Upper-intermediate & Advanced)

1. Gerund and infinitive game

Preparation:

Print out the sentences, cut them up and paste them onto card. Cover them with transparent sticky-back plastic and then cut out the squares of cardboard. On the back of all of the sentences in red, put a red dot. Put a blue dot on the back of all the blue sentences.

How to play:

Put all of the cards face down on the table. Each student takes a card with a red dot and a card with a blue do. They then have to make a sentence, choosing whether to use gerund, infinitive or infinitive without 'to'. Any combination of red and blue cards should make a natural sentence, but sometimes the student may have to decide which verb is most appropriate (e.g. 'getting home' v 'going home').

The game:

Viv's gerund or infinitive? game (upper/advanced)

2. Numbingo

Preparation:

Print out the checklist and cards. If you would like a lasting game, paste the checklist (two copies) and bingo cards onto cardboard and then cover with sticky-back plastic. Otherwise, the cards can be photocopied and then written on by both students and teacher. The colour written at the bottom of each card will be necessary when checking for the winner. If you decide to make the permanent version of the game, you will need a supply of small tokens (squares or circles of card) for both the students and the teacher to cover the numbers which have been called out. There are 13 numbers on each card and 120 numbers on the checklist. You'll need to have pre-taught numbers (including telephone), decimals, fractions, dates, years, time, and prices (in pounds, euros and dollars).

How to play:

Let each student choose one card (the teacher should hand them out face down, so that s/he can't see which student has which colour), then slowly read out the numbers on the checklist in random order. When someone shouts out 'Bingo!', ask them the colour of their card and then get them to read out all the numbers on their card. Confirm on the checklist that the student has actually eliminated numbers which have been called out (this is why you need the second copy of the checklist with the permanent version - one version will have lots of numbers covered by tokens). When playing the game in a group, I recommend having some sort of prize (a red or blue pen, for example). This game can also be used when teaching one to one, but you will only need three cards for the student to choose from - the first three have the easily identifiable colours of red, blue and orange.

The game:

Viv's 'Numbingo' game - Checklist (upper/advanced)

Viv's 'Numbingo' game - Bingo Cards (upper/advanced)

3. Modal verbs of deduction Pelmanism game (upper-intermediate)

Preparation:

Same as for the intermediate level version above except:

If the card is blue or green they must say "POSSIBLE", "PROBABLE", "IMPOSSIBLE" or "DESIRE". If the card is red they have to say

"MIGHT, MAY OR COULD", "MUST", "CAN'T" or "SHOULD''.

Grid = 4 X 8

4. Modal verbs of deduction Pelmanism game (advanced)

Preparation:

Same as for the intermediate level version above except: