TB Activites Database

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TB Activities Database
Number: Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Ckillc'
OMIIS.
Description:
1
All levels
Chinese Whispers
Nothing, though can be done with word or flash cards
Questions, Sentence structures, Reported speech
I ktoninn / ^noalfinn
L.I o ici 111 / opcaiMiiu
Put the students in a semi-circle and whisper something to the first student,
who then whispers it to the next & so forth. The last student reports what the first
student said to the rest of the class. Have the students move one seat to
the left/right to change who the first & last students are.
Name: Materials needed:
2
All levels
Chinese Whisper-race Markers, Flash cards or words cards
Good for: Skills:
Vocabulary, Sentence structures, Questions, etc Listening / Speaking / writing
Number: Level:
Description:
Number:
Level:
Name:
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Description:
Divide the class into two teams & put them in rows. Put a stack of flash cards or
word cards on the floor. Whisper a word to the first students in either row; have
them whisper it to the next student, who whispers it to the next and so forth.
The person at the end of the row gets up and picks up the right flash or word
card/writes the word on the board. Increase the difficulty-level by using questions
& answers (whisper the question, pick up/answer the answer) or
asking the students to put the words in a sentence.
3
All levels
Running dictation
Cut-up sentences put up in the corridor, question sheet
Vocabulary, Sentence structures, Questions, etc
Listening / Speaking / writing
Divide the class into pairs. Assign a runner and a writer for each pair (later you
can switch halfway through so that the runner becomes the writer, and vise
versa). Give the writers the question sheet & have them read the first question to
the runners. Take the runners into the corridor (make sure they come emptyhanded, no pencils or paper), find the right answer and ask the students to repeat
it to themselves once or twice. Then bring the runners back into the room and
have them recite the answer to their respective writers. Make sure
the writers write it down. Have the writers ask the next question, let the
runners back into the hall-way.. Repeat until all the questions has been answered.
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4
All levels
All change
Chairs in a semi-circle
Sentence structures, Imperatives, Asking & answering Yes/No-questions
Listening / Speaking
Model the question/sentence you want used on the board and make sure there are
no spare seats in the classroom. Ask a few example questions and tell the
students who answer "yes" to stand up and change seats. Once you've done
enough examples for the students to understand the activity, grab one of the
students' chairs yourself while they're changing seats (/remove a chair from the
game). From here on, it's up to the student without a seat at the end of a round to
ask the next question.
5
All levels
Dice drilling
A sufficient number of dice, desired questions / Sentence structures on the
board
Questions / Sentence structures
Model a question / question form you want used on the board and explain the
rules to the students. A higher number means ask the question, a lower number
means listen & answer the question and a draw means ask the Teacher a question.
Play with a student to begin with, and then have students play in pairs or bigger
groups.
Alternatively use one dice and assign a sentence or question form for each side of
it. One student rolls the dice and asks a question/says a sentence to the others in
his group.
Another version is to use one dice, make the students identify the number they
rolled and count clock/anti-clockwise in their groups. The person who gets the
number they rolled has to answer the question and is the next person to roll the
dice.
6
All levels
Question pick-up
Flashcards / Word cards / Question cards / Sentence cards
Questions
Listening / Speaking / Reading
Description:
Divide your class into pairs. Put cards with questions / flash cards / word cards /
unfinished sentences on the floor in the middle of the classroom. Make one out of
each pair pick up a card, read it and ask it to their partner, who answers/finishes or
makes a sentence. Next they put down the card and pick up a new one.
Alternatively do it with smaller prompt cards in groups.
With higher level classes a stage of the activity can be the students writing their
own questions to use.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
7
All levels
Conversation cards
Flashcards / Word cards / Question cards / Conversation cards / Unfinished
sentences
Questions / Sentence structures / Vocabulary / etc
Listening / Speaking / reading
This is a version of the above that doesn't involve students moving around. Divide
students into pairs or larger groups and put a stack of cards upside down on their
desks. One student takes a card and asks the question / says the word. The other
student(s) answers / makes a sentence. With high level classes, alternatively have
the student who picks the card describe the word and the other student(s) guess
what it is.
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Description:
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8
All levels
Don't laugh
Nothing
Question forms
There are a few versions of this game but all rely on the same set-up. Put a few
students at the front of the classroom, facing the rest of the class. Tell these
people that no matter what questions they are asked they have to answer them,
that they are not allowed to laugh no matter what and that if they do, they have to
return to their seats. Now, have other students in class ask questions using either
what you have previously modeled or from the top of their heads.
Description:
Here are a few versions of the game:

Yes or No qs = Assign the students at the front an answer (yes or no). No matter
the question the students have to use that answer.
Wh-questions, Tomato = Assign the students at the front a word with which they
have to answer any question they get.
Wh-questions, truth only = Suitable for higher levels. The students has to answer
any questions they're asked truthfully.
Number:
Level:
9
All levels
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Truth or dare
Nothing
Questions & Imperatives
As the title says. Tell the class that truth means you have to answer any question
and that dare means being told to do something. Give the students a short while to
write down questions as well as imperatives. The activity itself can be conducted
with the entire class or in groups, as a mill drill or even as part of the attendance.
10
All levels
Stand up on yes
Nothing
Yes or no questions, Imperatives
This is a simple activity for drilling yes or no questions. Tell the students that
answering yes means they have to stand up whereas answering no means they
have to sit down. If needed, model it a few times. To begin with, ask a few
questions yourself and check that the students understand the activity. Later on,
rely on stronger students in class to ask the questions.
11
TB1B +
Spot the difference
Nothing / realia
Prepositions of place, Past & present of "to be"
First, check that the students know basic prepositions of place and the past &
present forms or "to be". Use it to describe different students' position in the
classroom (He or she is next to / between / opposite him or her). Next, send one or
two students out of the room. While they are waiting outside, switch a few of the
students around in the classroom. Once you've brought the waiting students back
inside, tell them to try and spot what's different from when they left the room.
Alternatively use realia on an EL table or on the floor (for instance, the pen is next
to / on / under the eraser, etc).
A different version is to present something to the class (say, a student or a thing)
and then send it out of the room. Next have the class describe what you just
showed them.
12
All levels
Guess who / what
Flash cards or word cards
Good for:
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Description:
Number:
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i _________
Adjectives / comparatives / superlatives and other ways for describing people,

animals, places or things
Listening / Speaking / Writing / Reading
This can be done in different ways and on several topics. For people, have the
students describe a person in class without saying his or her name. The other
students listen and guess who it is. To expand on the activity, have the students
write it down first. Later the results can be switched around between groups or
read to the class by one of the students.
If you want the students to describe a place, an animal or a thing (or even people
not in class) you can put words or flash cards on the board for it.
13
All levels
Giving instructions
Desired realia, instruction cards
Imperatives, Prepositions of place
Put realia and a stack of instruction cards on a table in the middle of the
classroom. Check that the students can say where the items are in relation to
one another (for instance the pen is next to / on / in the book). Next, pick up an
instruction card and read it out aloud. Pick one student to carry out that
instruction \pui ine nexi 10 ine / put tne unaer ine laoie, eicj ana have him or her
pick up another instruction card. He or she reads it to the class
ana
anoiner siuaeni io carry oui nis insiruciions, eic.
PICKS
Number:
Level:
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Description:
14
All levels
One-out
Flash cards or word cards
Vocabulary, Sentence structures
I ktpninn / Snpakinn
Put four flash / word cards on the board. Explain to the students that one flash /
word card doesn't fit in and that you're not so sure which. The students have to
give you suggestions and tell you why (for instance, "The cat, because the cat
doesn't like water", etc). Can be conducted as a whole-class activity or as a
team game, and can be expanded on by allowing students to choose the flash
cards themselves and have the class guess which one is out.
Number: Level:
15 TB3A +
Liar Liar / Have you ever... Pen & paper, questions (optional)
Good for:
Skills:
Present perfect
Assuming you have introduced present perfect for experiences, go over "Have
Description:
you ever.." as a question form and either have the students think of their own
questions or supply them with ready-made ones. Have them ask you the
questions; give true answers to all apart from one. Afterwards, tell the students
you lied and ask them what about. Let them guess and allow them to ask you
additional questions ("How was it? / What did it feel like", etc. if any comes up, put
them on the board. If none, this is a good opportunity to teach some) Divide the
class into groups of four or five and tell the students to write down their answers
to the questions; however, for each group one student has to lie for every question
(It shouldn't be the same person who lies for each question). Also tell the students
to think of the answers to any potential questions they might be asked
Once the students are done, tell the students to ask questions and try to find the
liars in the other group.
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19
TB3A +
Snake story, written form
Flash cards / Word cards
Linkers, Grammar, Vocabulary
Reading / Writing
Give each student a paper and explain to them that you're going to write stories.
Have each student write a first sentence on their respective pieces of paper. Next,
tell them to pass their papers to the left. Tell the students to read the first sentence
and write a second sentence on their new papers, and then pass them on to the
left / right. Continue until all students have contributed to each story. As a followup activity you can put the stories up around the room and have the students vote
for the best of the class.
20
All levels
Letter Tile Scrabble
Letter tiles
Spelling
Reading / Writing
Divide the class into teams of appropriate size. Give each a set of letter tiles in a
particular color & name the teams after their colors (yellow / green / red). Using
letter tiles, spell a word on the floor in the middle of the classroom and give
yourself (team teacher) as many points as letters you used. Show the students
how they have to use letters that are already on the floor to spell new words. That
done, allow each team to add words in turns. If they misspell or can't think of a
word in good time, they have to skip a turn and let another team have a go. The
group with the highest number of points toward the end of class wins.
21
All levels
Grammar auction
Grammar
Listening / Speaking / Reading / Writing
Description:
Divide the class into an appropriate number of teams and give them a total of 100
points each. Then write a sentence with a simple grammatical mistake on the
board. Ask the students whether it is right or wrong and how sure of it they are in
percentage (50% sure / 75 % sure & so on). Tell them to write it as well as the
correct form (if they think it's wrong) of the sentence down on a piece of paper.
Check each teams' sentence & number; if they are correct, give as many points as
the number they wrote. If they're wrong, take the same number away from their
points tally. Tell the students that you are going to write more sentences on the
board that might be right or wrong; they can bet points on either, though if it's
wrong they have to say why. From now on do not use percentage, just numbers.
Using appropriate grammar from the course, this can be a good revision activity
for any TB level. It can be expanded on by making the teams put up their own
sentence (right or wrong) toward the end of the game.
Number:
Level:
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22
All levels
Playing cards
A deck of cards
Questions & Answers
Speaking / Listening
First, introduce the symbols and values of the card. Depending on the size of your
class, do not use a full deck (only two or three symbols, only numbers / face
cards). Give each student a card. Next, explain to them that you'll call out a
random number. The student who has it has to stand up and answer a question.
Next, that person has to call out another number and ask that person a question,
and so forth.
Description:
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23
Communicative Crossword
All levels
Crossword sheets
Vocabulary
Make a crossword word sheet with only half the clues on the first sheet and the
other half of the clues on a second sheet; say, clues for down on sheet A and clues
for across on sheet B. Elicit questions to use and divide the class into pairs. That
done, let the students try to solve to solve the crossword by asking each other for
the clues.
Alternatively leave only one clue on each person's crossword, with an empty
crossword and blanks for the clues. Ask the students to stand up and ask other
people in class for their clues in order to solve the puzzle.
Number:
Level:
Name:
24
Lower levels
Spelling bee
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Students
Vocabulary
Speaking / Listening / Writing / Reading
Put a word on the board. Ask a student to come up and write a word that starts
with the final letter of the first word. Next student writes a word that ends with the
final letter of the second word, and so forth. Alternatively do a verbal version
where the students listen and say it instead of writing it down.
25
All levels
Four corners
Sentence structures, Adverbs of frequency, Expressing opinions, etc
Put four or five word cards on the floor around the room; preferably not too close
to one another. Ask the students a question and tell them to go to the word card
that would be an appropriate answer for them (For instance, if you're practicing
expressing opinions, the question could be "What do you think about swimming?"
and the options might be "1 like", "1 don't care for", "1 hate" and "I'm crazy
about"). Make sure they not only go to the word card but also give you an answer.
To make it slightly more difficult, have one of the students asking the questions.
To make it even more difficult, have the students at each option ask each other a
question about it (Why don't you like it? / Why do you do it? / How many times a
week do you.., etc)
26
All levels
Two sides, preferences
Yes / No questions, Sentence structures, Giving reasons
This is slightly different version of the activity above. Tell the students that one
side of the classroom means yes and the other one means no. Ask them a few
Yes/No - questions and have them choose which side of the classroom to go to.
Alternatively give the students two options and tell them to go to the one they
prefer (for instance city vs. country-side).
To up the difficulty level, make some of the students ask the questions. To make
it even more difficult, have the students at each side ask each other why they
chose / answered what they did.
27
All levels
Categories
Whiteboard, Pen & paper
Vocabulary
Reading / Writing
Description:
Divide the students into teams and put a few categories they should be familiar
with on the board. Ask for a letter from the alphabet. Tell the students that you
want a word from each category starting with this letter. Conduct a practice round
together first. Then explain that each word is worth one point as long as no other
team wrote down the same word, that only one word is allowed for each category
and that they only have two minutes to write them down. Play it for a few letters of
the alphabet, checking up on what each team has written at the end of each round.
The team with the most points toward the end of the game wins.
Number:
Level:
Name:
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28
All levels
Crazy Sentences
Flash cards / Word cards, pen & paper
Vocabulary, Grammar
Reading/Writing
Divide the class into groups of two or more and put a mixed stack of flash cards in
the middle of the room. Ask a student from each team to pick up a certain number
of flash cards at random. That done, ask the students to write a
sentence using all the words they got. Once they are done, put back the flash
cards and ask someone to mix them up. Do it for a couple of rounds.
Alternatively this activity could be used as a follow-up to either categories or
Tutti Fruti (i.e. using the words that the students came up with in either of those
activities).
Description:
Number:
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29
All levels
Pictionary
Flash cards / Word cards, Whiteboard
Vocabulary, Structures
Divide the class into teams and bring two students to the white-board. Tell them to
be quiet, either show them a flash card or whisper a word to them and ask them to
draw it on the board. The first team to guess what the picture is gets a point.
To increase the difficulty level, use words that consist of two or more simpler
words and tell the students that they may only draw individual parts of the word
(for example, hairbrush. The student may only draw hair & brush). Alternatively do
a backward version where the rest of the class see's the picture and has to tell the
drawers what it is in English. If competitive, the first drawer to finish a decent
illustration of what he heard earns a point for his team.
30
All levels
Tutti Fruti
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Whiteboard, Pen & Paper

Spelling, Meta language (optional)
Reading / Writing
Somewhat similar to the activity above, this game is more of a filler than
educational of nature. Divide the students into teams and draw a grid on the
board with numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. Ask for a letter of the alphabet and tell the
students that you want a word for each number (as in a word with so and so many
letters) that's starting with that letter. Give one point a word. The group with the
most points at the end of the game is the winning team.
Alternatively use Meta language points instead of numbers and ask for, say, a
verb, a noun, an adjective, a preposition and an adverb starting with that letter.
Give one point for each word. The group with the most points at the end of the
game is the winning team
31
All levels
Telephone numbers
Students
Telephone English, Dialogues, Numbers
Speaking / Listening / Writing
Put your birth-date on the board. Ask for the students to do the same. That done,
model calling on the phone and explain to the students that their birthdates now
are their phone-numbers. Pretend to dial one of the numbers on the board
(preferably that of a strong student in the class), reading it out loud as
you do, and say start talking to him / asking him questions / ideally doing a
dialogue you've previously introduced. When you finish the dialogue, ask the
student to call someone else in class. Repeat as few times you want or until all
students have participated once.
Consider following up by making students write their own telephone conversation
in pairs.
Number:
Level.
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CLFIHC'
OKIIIS.
Description:
, """"IS- 7:
32
MM
levels Pass the flash cards
Nothing / White-board and markers

Vocabulary, Questions, Sentence structures, etc
opeaKing / Listening
This is a conversational variant of pass the parcel. Divide students into pairs and
model questions you want the students to use on the board. Give a flash card to
each pair and have them ask each other about for however long their
language level allows them to. Stop them at an appropriate time and make them
pass their flash cards to the left / right. Give them a reasonable amount of time to
ask about their new flash card until you switch them around again, etc etc.
uan De aone just as wen wun topics or worci caras at mgner levels.
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33
All levels
Word association
Students, flash cards / Realia
Vocabulary & Categories
Asks the students to stand up in front of their chairs. Explain to them that you'll
tell them a category and that they have five seconds to tell you a word from it. If
they can't think of a word they have to sit down.
With higher levels, alternatively have to think of something they associate with a
word and why.
34
All levels
Spelling relay
Markers / Word cards
Vocabulary & Spelling
Reading / Writing / Listening
Divide the class into teams and spread out two sets of word cards at one end of
the room. Tell the students a word and ask them how to spell it, though make it
clear that only one person a team may stand up and that they may only get one
letter at the time. When a student has fetched a letter he or she must sit down
and let another person sit up. The first team to spell the word (on the board,
using bluetak, or even on the floor) is the winning team.
Make them pick up the letters using chopsticks for laughs and upped difficulty.
Alternatively use the board and a marker a team.
Number:
Level:
Name:
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Description:
NUmKer:
Level:
Name:
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35
All levels
Spin the bottle
Empty bottles
Asking and answering questions
Model the question forms you want used and place an empty bottle in the
middle of the classroom. Spin it once and ask the student who the bottle is
pointing at. Once they have answered the question, have them spin the bottle
again and ask whoever the bottle chooses for them. Can be played as a wholeclass activity or in smaller groups.
36
All levels
Battleships
Battleship grids
Vocabulary / Questions / Ordinal numbers
Skills:
Description:
Number:
Level:
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Number:
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Listening / Speaking / Reading / Writing

This is a classroom version of the actual game that can be done either individually
in pairs. Provide each student with a grid and a set of vocabulary items you want
them to use. These vocabulary items are the "ships". First have the students place
their ships, then pre-teach the question / phrase you want them to use and put
them face-to-face. They have to find where on the grid their opponent's items are
(A1, C5, etc).
Alternatively use a small grid (three or four columns) and assign a category to
each column (for example in the living room, in the bedroom and in the kitchen).
First have the students fill out the grids with items for each category. Next, put the
students face-to-face and pre-teach an appropriate question (for example "Do you
have a in the kitchen / living room / bedroom?"). First to guess what their
opponent wrote for one or all categories is the winner.
37
All levels
Jeopardy
Whiteboard, Appropriate questions and answers
Questions and answers
Speaking / Listening / Writing / Reading
Divide the class into teams and explain to them that you will tell them a sentence.
They have to think of a question to which the sentence could be an answer. If
they're first to answer correctly they earn points for their respective teams. The
sentences can be supplied verbally, one point an answer, or you can draw a proper
grid on the board with topics and difficulty levels (more points for more difficult
questions) and let the winner of a round choose next topic and difficulty level.
To expand on the activity, follow up with a final round where each team thinks of a
sentence to tell the class. Other teams have to guess the question form and bet
however much of whatever points they collected over the first stage of the game. If
they're right, they get their points. If they're wrong, their points go to the team that
wrote the question.
38
All levels
Logic Puzzle
Cut-up clues, Grid sheet (optional)
Vocabulary, Prepositions of place, Grammar
Speaking / Listening / Reading / Writing
Description:
Divide the class into groups, draw a 3 x 3 grid on the board and provide the
students with nine vocabulary items. Tell them each vocabulary item has a place in
the grid and that they have to find it (assign a relevant name for the grid; a field for
vegetables, shelves in a toy store for toys).
Next, give the each group a set of clues (These should be prepared before-hand
and should not tell you the exact location of an item, but rather its relationship to
another item in the grid). Make sure that each student gets at least one or two. Tell
them to read the clues to their group in order to figure where each item belongs in
the grid.
This is just an example of a communicative lateral thinking activity. Plenty more
can be done with some time and preparation.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
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39
All levels
Guess the outfit
Students, flash cards (optional)
Yes / no - questions, Vocabulary
Put the students in two rows, back to back, and model the question "Are you
wearing..." + relevant answers. Students have to guess what the person behind
them is wearing. Switch students around a few times to extend activity. Throw in
adjectives to make it slightly more challenging (i.e. "Are you wearing a green
sweater?", etc)
Can be done with body parts or adjectives as well, or even with flash cards that
the students are holding.
Description:
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
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Description:
40
All levels
Dominoes
Domino cards, EL-table (optional, the floor can be used)
Vocabulary
Speaking / Listening / Reading
This is another activity that requires quite a bit of preparation. Make a set of
domino cards for however many teams you want in your class. Randomly put
either pictures and written forms of vocabulary, items associated with one another
or words and definitions on them (or any other alternative you can think of). Set up
the activity by having the students look at the cards and match them to the best of
their ability in their groups (this is a basic activity in itself). Once they're ready to
start, explain to them that the point of the game you're about to play is to get rid of
as many domino cards as possible. They can only put down cards in turns and if
they make a mistake, they have to wait until the next turn. Start by putting a card
down on the middle of the table. If the first team can match one of their cards to
either end of yours, they may. If they haven't within a reasonable amount of time,
move on to the next team. The group with the least amount of cards toward the
end of the activity is the winning team.
Number:
Level:
Name:
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Number:
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41
All levels
Guess the outfit
Students, flash cards (optional)
Yes / no - questions, Vocabulary
Put the students in two rows, back to back, and model the question "Are you
wearing..." + relevant answers. Students have to guess what the person behind
them is wearing. Switch students around a few times to extend activity. Throw in
adjectives to make it slightly more challenging (i.e. "Are you wearing a green
sweater?", etc)
Can be done with body parts or adjectives as well, or even with flash cards that
the students are holding.
42
Lower levels
Game-show
Vocabulary
This is a simple way of drilling vocabulary. Put flash cards of words you have
introduced on the floor or the white-board so that the students can't see them. Ask
them where something is. They turn a flash card around; if they're right, they keep
it, if they're wrong, they put it back. Go on until every vocabulary item has been
found.
43
All levels
Memory
Flash cards and Word cards
Vocabulary
Speaking / Listening / Reading
First, divide the students in pairs and give them a set of flash cards and word
cards a pair (ideally the flash cards and the word cards are on different colored
paper). Tell them to match the pictures to the words. That done, tell them to put the
cards upside down and mix them up. Now, tell them to take turns and pick up one
flash and one word card. If they get a match, they keep it. The person who got the
most matches at the end is the winner.
Can also be done as a whole-class activity with flash cards and word cards on
the floor.
44
Lower levels
What's missing
Vocabulary
Skills:
Description:
This is yet another way to cover vocabulary. Put a set of vocabulary items on the
board or the floor and give the students a moment to look at them. Next, tell
the students to close their eyes for a second. While they're not looking, remove
an item and ask the students what's missing.
Alternatively write a list of vocabulary on the board and give the students a minute
to go over them. That done, take them off the board. Now ask the
students what the words were.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
45
TB1B +
Interviews
Pen & paper
Questions & answers
Speaking / Listening / Writing
This is a role-play activity that can be done on a variety of topics. Depending on
what you're doing, set up a relevant context (radio interview, job interview, TV
interview, etc) and divide the class into interviewers and interviewees. Depending
on their level, you can have each person think of individual questions and answers
at this point. That done, pair up each interviewer with an interviewee and get
started.
To extend activity, switch pairs around after a few minutes.
Number: Level:
46 All levels
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Travel Poem
Pen & Paper
Vocabulary
Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Assuming you've taught your class the senses, bring them on a walk around
school and talk about what your senses register in different rooms. Next, divide
the class into pairs and tell the class that you'll give them ten minutes to walk
about on their own. Over these ten minutes they should choose a few places in the
school and write down what they can see, hear, smell and perhaps even feel there.
Description:
Once your students have finished, you can ask the pairs to swap papers around
and give them five to ten minutes to find which places the other groups wrote
about. Alternatively bring them back into the classroom, have students report
what they wrote (as a whole-class or pair to pair activity) and the listeners to
guess which room they're talking about.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
47
All levels
Hangman
Whiteboard
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Vocabulary
There are plenty of variations of this filler. You can do the classic version,
asking your class for letters to work out the sentence you want on the board.
Alternatively you can ask them questions for each letter; having figured out the
answer, the students put the initial letter of the answer keyword into the puzzle.
Another version is to only think of a word. The students have to ask questions in
order to guess the verb. Every question as well as every wrong guess adds a
line to the hangman drawing.
Each version can be done by a student.
Number:
Level:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
48
TB3A +
now wen
QO
you Know me
Prepared questions & answers
Questions & Answers

Reading / Speaking / Listening Thte activity renuires a hit of oreoaration You need
a set of cards for each
groups with relevant questions (whichever question forms you want to use,
though it is perhaps better for conditional practice) and three possible answers.
Model with the whole class by reading one of the cards (question and answers)
out loud. Tell the students to guess what your answer will be. Give the student
who first guesses the right answer your card. Now, divide the class into groups of
three or four and give them a set of cards each. Tell them to put them in a stack
upside down. The students have to draw cards in turns and read them to their
groups. The listeners have to guess which answer they'd choose and collect as
many cards as possible.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Number:
Level:
Name:
49
All levels
Question match
Questions cards, Situation cards
Past simple, Questions
Reading / Speaking / Listening
Prepare a few sets of cards (as many as how many groups you want) with simple
situations on them and cards with questions on for each individual student. Each
question should match with one of the situation cards. Divide the class into pairs
of four and five, give each group a stack of situation cards and each student a set
of question cards. Start the game by turning up a situation card. If any student has
a relevant question (for instance, "What did you eat?" for "1 went to dinner last
night.") they may put their card on the table. Tell the class that the first person to
lose all of his or her cards is the winner.
50
All levels
Fashion Show
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Nothing
Vocabulary
This is a good way to review clothes and accessories. Elicit what a model does or
perhaps even show the class a video clip of a catwalk show. Next, tell the students
that you're going to have a fashion show in the classroom. Model first. Then
assign one student to be a reporter and another to be a model; have the reporter
describe the model's outfit as he or she walks around the room (to up the class
participation, have listening students ask questions; "Where was it made", "What
is it made of") That done, the model becomes the reporter and another student
stands up to be the model.
Do until each student has participated at least once. Alternatively divide the class
into groups and have each group prepare their own show.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
skiii^-
Description:
51
All levels
Dictation
Pen & Paper / Dictation Handout
Vocabulary
Prepare a story handout with omitted words. Explain to the students that you're
going to tell them a story; they have to listen, follow the storyline on the handout
and write down the missing words. Repeat the story twice or thrice to give all the
students a fair chance of finishing the activity.
Alternatively divide the class into pairs and give each student one half of the
complete story, the other half with words left out. The students have to read their
half of the story to their partner, who has to listen and try to fill in the gaps on his
copy. As they move on to the second passage of the story they switch roles.
For a simpler version, skip the story and use simple vocabulary only.
Number:
I
AIIAI'
LCVCI.
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Number:
Level:
52
All levels
Question gap fill
Prepared handouts
Vocabulary, Question production
Similar to a pair dictation, prepare two separate handouts with, say, two different
parts of a story. Each part of the story should have words left out as well as
question prompts in brackets. The students have to look at the question prompts,
ask their partner and write down his or her answer. Once finished, have the
students read the results - most likely it's a rather hilarious story.
53
All levels
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Gist hand clap

Book listening, Hands >.>
Vocabulary
Listening
This is a good activity for gist-listening. Put words or flash cards you've taught on
the board. Tell the students to clap their hands (or any other simple action you'd
rather have them do) when they hear one of the words. Concept-check first by
telling them words to see whether they do it or not. That done, play the listening.
Afterwards, ask the students how many times they clapped and what the words
were.
54
All levels
Put the lyrics in order
CD (optional), Cut-up lyrics
Listening
Reading / Listening
Give the students a cut-up version of the song lyrics you want to use and tell them
that you're going to listen to a song. Next, start the CD / start singing and have the
students try to work out in which order to put the sentences. Be prepared to sing
or play the CD a couple of times before they get it all right.
A good follow-up to the activity could be to actually sing the song.
Number:
Level:
Name:
Materials needed:
Good for:
Skills:
Description:
Number: Level:
Name: Materials
needed: Good for:
Skills:
Description:
55
All levels
Ispy
Pen & Paper
Vocabulary
This is a simple way to review vocabulary. Originally you tell the students the
initial letter of a thing you see ("1 spy, with my little eye, something beginning
with..."). This is a good enough activity with lower level students. For higher level
classes, have the students describe the item they're seeing or thinking about
using more advanced language.
56
All levels Bingo Pen & Paper Vocabulary
Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening This is a basic

activity that's good for reviewing vocabulary. Hand out grids to each student
(5x5,4x4 or however big or small you want) and tell them to write a word in each
square. It's best to limit the vocabulary to a category or two (food / adjectives for
people / etc). Tell the students to listen to the words you call out
Number:
and check them if they are on their grids. When they get: a full row (down, across
or diagonally) they call out "bingo".
57 TR9R +
Levei. Name: Materials needed:

Good for:
Clfillc
1 UC.LJ ~
Murder game Prepared sentence prompts Past continuous
oKIIIS.
Reading / opeaKing / Listening Tell the students that

there was a murder at EF last night. According to the police investigation the
murder occurred at about 5 PM. Now, tell them that they, as students at EF, are all
suspects. All but two of them.
Description:
Number:
1 ouol'
Assign two students to be police officers and send them out of the room. That
done, hand out answer prompts to all the other students. Two of the students'
answer prompts have a logical flaw to it (eat breakfast, for instance); these
students are the murderers. Tell the students that when the police ask them
questions they have to answer what they have on their paper.
Now, let the police officers back in and elicit what to ask the suspects ("What were
you doing at 5 PM yesterday?"). Have the police walk around and question the
class (as well as write down the answers, if you so wish) until they've found the
robbers. It will probably take them several turns.
58 TB2B +
Alibi game None

Level.
Questions
and Answers Reading / Writing / Speaking
Name: Materials needed: Good
/ Listening This is a good follow-up to the activity above. Establish who the
for: Skills:
murderers are and ask the class how sure they are about it. Then tell the class
that the murderers have an alibi. Teach what an alibi is and tell the murderers to
leave the room in order to get their stories straight.
Description:
While the murderers are sorting out their stories, setup the rest of the class to be
a court. Divide it into two groups and tell them they'll interrogate each murderer in
turns. If needed, elicit a few questions they could ask. Tell them to write down the
answers and try to find any differences to the murderers' stories. Next, let the
murderers in and have the groups interrogate them for five minutes each. Toward
the end of the activity, have the entire class report what they found out and say
whether the murderers are guilty or not.

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_______________________OMDA .

Name: Materials needed:

Good for: Skills:

Vocabulary, Sentence structures, Questions, etc Listening / Speaking / writing

Here are a few versions of the game:

Adjectives / comparatives / superlatives and other ways for describing people,

Name: Materials needed:

Whiteboard, Pen & Paper

levels Pass the flash cards

Nothing / White-board and markers

Listening / Speaking / Reading / Writing

Prepared questions & answers

Questions & Answers

Gist hand clap

Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening This is a basic

Levei. Name: Materials needed:

Reading / opeaKing / Listening Tell the students that

Alibi game None

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